You are hereTell Us a Story, Steve Lamson
Tell Us a Story, Steve Lamson
Another installment of the hit column. Click on the picture to make it bigger.
"This photo is from 1996 and it was the last year of the steel framed CR250. The first thing that pops into my mind is how good this bike was. It was one of the best ones I have ever ridden. All those early nineties CR250’s were so good. The ‘96 bike was a whole lot better than the ’97 bike that’s for sure. That first year of the aluminum frame wasn’t the greatest, there was a lot of development left to do on that bike. That year supercross was tough for me, I had some decent finishes but in the outdoors, I killed it. Nine wins out of twelve and I was on a roll for sure. Supercross never came easy to me, I had some decent races and a lot of podiums but never won one. In ’95, I came within half a lap of winning Charlotte but it didn’t happen.
That next year in 97, there was a lot of pressure and McGrath and I got into it at the first round of supercross and people thought that I was paid to go in there and take him out or something. That was just dumb.
My Fox gear is sweet, I like my look this year. I wore Yoko in ’94 but when Honda did a team deal with Fox, I was forced to switch to them but it was good, the money was ok. Those helmets were awesome and I love the way that Troy Lee painted this up and the Arai’s were better back then. I loved the way they fit. I always wore a chest protector when I was a kid and never stopped wearing one. I always thought about a footpeg in the back or something like that. I took it off a few times and never felt comfortable so I always raced with it. I took some flack for it as well, I got bugged about it now and then. Bailey would always bag on me on TV as well, he’d say ‘I don’t know how this guy is doing it, it’s 110 outside and he’s wearing that chest protector’ but it really didn’t bother me.
This was my best year financially as well I made a lot of money in bonuses and my salary was pretty high as well. When I won the 125 title in ’95, they bumped my salary up and it was pretty high.
Mike Gosselaar was my mechanic and each and every week, my bike was perfect. I don’t remember ever having a problem. Goose, MC and I were great friends and Honda was always so good for me, even in the bad times. MC and I were helped each other at the nationals with line selections and stuff like that."
When Steve won his last national at Hangtown... I talked tom him prior to the race and I told him he would win. Well he proved me right... He was confident butI think surprised as were alot of people... BUT not me I could see it in his eyes that day...
1. We were at that 95 Charlotte race and were very disappointed when McGrath stuffed his own teammate that close to the end.
2. Why do so many people remember Lamson only winning a title because Hughes chain came off and he had to push his bike across the finish line? As great a story as Ryno's efforts were, Lamson already had the race won so the incident was a non-issue in the championship. Lamson won the 125 title more than once, even after missing several rounds one year.
3. How great was Lamson on a 125? The year he whipped everyone at the des Nations has to be one of the greatest mx feats ever.