Taylor Wolcott
Age: 19
Hometown:
Wichita, Kansas
Local Track:
Emery Park Bmx
Class:
Elite Women, Girl Pro
Favorite Racing Memory’s:
- 2001 Grand’s
- 2008 N.A.G 5 Challenge
- All the SX races
Accomplishments:
- Nag 1
- Multi – ABA World Champion, State, Roc, District, Gold/Redline Cup
- Nag 5 Winner
- 2009 UCI World Podium
- 2010 UCI Jr. Women 4th Place
Favorite Place To Ride:
Anywhere I can have fun, and progress in my riding.
Other Hobbies:
Hanging out with friends, basketball, spending time with family.
Brian Pascal
Raced in one of the first BMX races in Wichita back in 1975 placing first place at his first race. Raced in some kind of competitive bike race ever year since.
From 1975 to 1982 Brian continued racing and became one of the best riders in the mid-west. At the age of 17 while a senior at Wichita South high he turned PRO. He won his first PRO race at the local track called Sprockets Raceway
He raced the local races when it was the norm to have eight pros on the gate every Saturday at Sprockets Raceway and about once a month by just traveling to Oklahoma City or Kansas City the races could pull in 20 PRO's with first place on Saturday and Sunday paying $350 for each win.
In 1984 Brian dedicated the year to chase the ABA - AA PRO title earning the 1984 National No. 5. Rank for ABA PRO's against riders from California earning him the nickname "Kansas Kid".
Brian is glad he can be here today to share some of the rich history Wichita has around BMX and spend some time with his lifetime friends in the sport. When you talk about the PRO's from Wichita, three names come to mind first, Matt Sullivan- Lonnie Moore - and Brian, on any day in the early 80's any one of these guys could win, and Brian puts these two up there with the toughest competitors he ever raced and he raced the best of the sport while in the pro ranks.
Many thanks go out to EVERY track operator the years, without them the sport would not be available to the racers. And most of all the sponsor ship from the local bike shop BICYCLE X CHANGE, the shop has sponsored Brian for over 35 years and continues provide the best support a racer or team could expect at the local level.
Pete Espinoza
Bmx career started 1976.
Bicycle-X-Change FACTORY TEAM
1977-1984
Raced NBA summer tour Northern California 1979.
ABA Redline summer tour 1979.
ABA PRO 1981-1984 (KANSAS FIRST GROUP ABA PROS)
SE Racing Factory Support Team 1993- 1995 (Internal Sponsor Perry" P.K. Ripper" Kramer ABA Hall Of Famer)
Alliant Bicycles Factory Support Team 1996-1998 (Mike Devitt Team Owner ABA Hall Of Famer)
Six Time Kansas State Cruiser Class Champion
These days you'll see Pete still racing at the track and cheering for his son, Max.
A Very Special thanks to Mike Scanga, BICYCLE-X-CHANGE for 35 years of racing sponsorship and support!!!
|
Lonny Moore
Started racing in 1974, competed against Brian Pascal, it was the first race for both of us, kind of neat.
Turned pro at the age of 16 and toured with Free Agent in 1984.
Toured with Factory TRS in 1985.
Turned AA Pro during the summer tour in 1984 becoming the youngest AA Pro in the ABA. Major Pro wins Harrisburg, Pennslvannia and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Highlight of Lonny's racing career came at the 1985 Grands Pro Spectacular on Friday night, winning first round against several of the pro I once looked up to, Stu Thomsen, Scott Clark, Harry Learyand Gary Ellis.
At the 1985 Grands he made the main event in Pro Cruiser to finish 3rd. Slowly pulled away from BMX for three years and came back in 1987 to race the East Coast Nationals in Depford New Jersey. Lonny ended his pro racing career in 1990 racing part time for White Bear Racing.
These days you'll see Lonny at the track cheering for his daughter, Maelyn, who started racing this year.
Mike Clark
Factory BXC Racing(1975-1982)
Currently living in Dallas,Texas I built my first BMX bike in 1973, it was a modified Schwinn Stingray that I later upgraded to a CYC frame & Ashtabula fork. At that time my cousin Harold Hopp lived down the street from the Osage recreation center off of 31st Street South where we got to be friends with a couple of brothers named Don & Lester Unrein. We all rode trails together off of Meridian street at a place nicknamed "The Crater". We got the fever to race watching the races behind the old Giant store back in the early 70’s and like many kids of our era we were inspired by the movie ”On Any Sunday” and Motocross riders like Roger Decoster and Bob Hannah.
My first race was in 1975 at Dirt Peddlers on North Arkansas, my cousin purchased a Yamaha bike the year before and had raced it a couple of times at the track and I went to watch him. He talked me into racing his bike in the beginner class and it started the wheels in motion so to speak. I really didn’t do all that well that day but I was hooked after that. I tried my luck racing sidehacks a few times with my cousin Harold and once with long time friend Pete Espinosa before the class died off and lost popularity. Back then I was spending a lot of my Summers at my uncle’s house in Culver City California Skateboarding and riding BMX. I raced my first night races out there at Palms Park BMX track and the Van Nuys Valley Youth Center. Right around late 76 or 77 I met Mike Scanga at the Bicycle Exchange. My cousin and I hit him up to see If he would be willing to sponsor us and he agreed to give us a discount on parts and allowed us to get parts on credit. We walked out of his shop with a couple of dusty old school Motorcycle Jerseys with Red & Gold striped sleeves that we took and had iron on letters put on and the Bicycle Exchange BMX Team was born. My cousin Christina Hopp came on board shortly after that as the first female sponsored rider. We quickly starting recruiting all of our friends to be on the team and it took off from there. Mike helped us go to a lot of races we normally wouldn’t have been able to go to across Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas.
In 1978 I made my first and only magazine debut in the very first issue of BMX Plus at the NPSA Pizza Hut Nationals race. After that I slowly climbed in the rankings as the BXC team grew larger and was approached by Tim Richardson (Factory Mongoose) and Mark Moody (Privateer) in early 1980 about starting a local Pro class. I had gotten to be pretty good friends with Tim and looked up to both of these racers as being two of the fastest local guys at that time. After some consideration I decided to go ahead with it and applied for my license and received it in 1980. It turns out I am told that Brian Pascal later did the research through the ABA and mine was the first Pro license to be granted in the state of Kansas however I never have confirmed this with him. I raced up until about 1982 when I graduated from Derby Sr. High. I had a need for speed that BMX couldn’t satisfy anymore and made the progression into Hot Rods & Drag Racing. I went to a few nationals after that to watch my friend’s race as a spectator and a photographer then drifted completely away from the sport by the mid 1980’s. Throughout my career I was licensed in the NPSA, NBA and ABA. Some of the most notable races I attended were the NPSA Pizza Hut Nationals in Wichita, ABA Grand Nationals in Oklahoma City, ABA Summer Nationals in Amarillo Texas, ABA Cornhusker Nationals in Nebraska and the ABA Kansas Coliseum races.
I would have to say my favorite track was always Sprockets Raceway or Guy Coopers track in Stillwater Oklahoma. I have always said you are only as fast as the competition you race and I have to give props to my long time friend and BMX nemesis Todd Watkins. We traded paint on many occasions and pushed each other to the limit coming up and remain friends still to this day.
Huge thanks go out to Mike Scanga of the Bicycle Exchange. He was a big factor in the grass roots of Wichita BMX and I am proud to have raced for him during the most iconic period of BMX.
|
Mike Allred
Mike the “Missile” Allred started racing in 1983 at Sprockets BMX in Derby and continued till 2000, started again in 2009 to present
Pro: 1995 - 2000
First team Mike rode for: BXC - Other teams: Kastan, Co-GT, B&E, Peddle Power, S&S, MH Factory
Accomplishments: 3X Gold Cup Champ, 5X NAG top five,
State Champ on 20” and 24” bikes from 1988 thru 1994.
4th place World Cup.
Mike remembers the first time heading down what seemed to be a massive starting hill at Sprockets BMX and trying not to hit the brakes too hard before the first jump. He ended up 3rd and quickly learned to not hit the brakes and pedal harder. After a short while Sprockets closed and Mike’s competitive nature took off while racing Dukes BMX located on the north end of Wichita.
For the next few seasons Mike spent his time improving his skills at local and surrounding state tracks competing in double and triple points racing and studying some of his favorite riders like Brian Pascal, Lonny Moore and Jason Jordan. In 1987 Duke’s BMX closed and Emery Park was built allowing Mike to once again learn a new track. In 1987 Mike was asked to be on the BXC team and attended his first national ever which was the Grand’s in OKC. Over the following years Mike moved up through the State and National rankings which included national wins on class and cruiser and numerous podium finishes against guys like Greg Romero, Kyle Bennett and Randy Stumpfhauser. In 1995 Mike turned A Pro and over the next five years he achieved some podium finishes and main event qualifiers. During this time he lived with Bryan Parks and they both traveled and competed together at ABA national events. In 2000 at a Wichita national at the Kansas Coliseum Mike decided to hang up the helmet and gloves as a Pro and focus on a college and career. In 2009 Mike decided to “clip in” for the first time and re-classified to amateur status.
Today Mike spends his time raising a family (Will 6, Warren 4, Emelia 2) with his wife Priscilla and when he has the chance he likes to rub elbows with some of his old friends at nearby nationals and local races. Mike would like to thank everyone that has supported him over the years whether it was sponsors like Mike Scanga at Bicycle-X-Change or BMX Moms like Sharon Whitted. He is also thankful for being a part of the Emery Park family over the years. The BMX family is truly what makes BMX such a great sport.
|
Jason Whitted
Jason started racing in August of 1984 as a 6 Novice at Sprockets BMX. His first national was the Grands that year where he finished 3rd place.
In 1986 as a 8 intermediate he won his first Gold Cup (now Redline Cup) #1 plate, first Race of Champions #1 plate, and first Grand Nationals. That win turned him expert and like many of the kids after becoming expert, struggled very hard and couldn't make any experts mains until he was 11 years old. Thankfully his mom, who worked part time for ABA at national events, and his dad made him stick with and he began finishing top 4 in about 60% of the races. It wasn't until he was 13 that he ever won an expert national event but after that, it seemed to finally click.
He won the ROC again in 1992 and 1995, the Gold Cup 3 more times in 1993, 1995, and 1996. He won National Age Group #1 a total of 5 times (3 in cruiser, 2 in class) between 1993 and 1997 and won the first ever ABA World Cup of BMX in 1994.  He was also the first male rider to win the Top Gun jacket that ABA use to give out for qualifying for 4 open, 4 cruiser, and 4 class mains, and was fortunate enough to win the Grand Nationals 3 more times, 1993, 1994, and 1995, the latter win earning him the cover of the American BMXer.However, one of his proudest moments was traveling to London, England to race in the NBL Worlds where he finished 2nd in Junior mens with a rider count of 126 riders, Jason says he's glad he never had to race 1/16 mains again.
Jason turned A pro in 1997 and took 2 seconds in his first race and won both days at his second race, in Wichita at the Coliseum. Yes, they used to set up a race course at the Kansas Coliseum. As a pro, his career wasn't as long or as win filled as his amateur times however he was ranked by Gork Barrette from Redline in the early 2000's in a magazine article as #71 of the top 100 riders of the 90's. Unfortunately, lack of sponsorship, school, and work forced his professional retirement until he came back as a 28-35 expert in 2009 racing part time.
Of course I will always be in debt to my parents for funding me for the vast majority of my years, however I was fortunate to have sponsors like Race Ready from 1986-1988, Ralph's Bicycles from 1988-1994, Elf Factory from 1994-1995, Lowey Axles from 1995-1998, and a small time on Revolution Bikes from 1999-2000.
|
Tracy Rice
Raced BMX throughout the Midwest from 1982 to 1996. Started racing at Sprockets Raceway on a Roger DeCoster 20 inch from The Bicycle Exchange East.
Soon after he began working as a mechanic at Bikes & Things in Haysville to fund his new habit. Tracy participated in the construction of the Emery Park track in 1987 and was heavily involved with track maintenance and operation through the years that followed.
His father who was a Tool and Die Maker purchased a milling machine and lathe for a home shop in the garage and soon after in 1989 they began building prototype bike parts. The demand for the hand crafted stems and unique seat post clamps quickly surged out of control and by 1992 they conducted sales literally world wide through a simple one page mail out flyer, not bad for the days before the World Wide Web. Their little garage company was known as Hardcore Machine Works and sported the stylized skull and crossed wrenches that Tracy created as the logo. They were the cosponsor for many bike shop teams in the Midwest and even some in Europe.
Tracy achieved the title of Kansas State Champion for 7 consecutive years, 5 of which were dual titles for both 20 inch and Cruiser. The weekend of the 1992 Kansas State Championship Finals he scored five 1st place wins, took 1st place at the 1992 ABA Grand Nationals as well as Race of Champions allowing him to run the ROC #1 for 1993. In 1995 several of the older riders made the transition to Pro it seemed to give all of them a new competitive edge, yet still have a lot of fun.
Over the years Tracy rode and competed it many other two wheeled adventures including Bicycle Trials and off road MTB Racing and still ride today on both a full suspension and dirt jumper.
|
 Jusitn Dodson
- I started racing in August of 1999 at Emery Park BMX. There were 2 racks of 13-14 novices and placed 3rd.
-I turned pro in Nebraska of 2009
-I have raced for many great teams some of which include: Rogue River Ranches, Team Extreme, Revolution Bike Co, Factory Supercross, T&L Metro Bikes, Snap/TLD, ORP Dallas and I currently ride for Doublecross/The Compound Militia.
-Won numerous state titles, Redline Cups, Race of Champions but never Grands. Ive placed 2nd at Grands three times but never have won. My goal is to win the Grand Nationals in my life time.
-My funnest moments would have to be when I rode for Revolution Bike Company when I was 14-16 years old. Nothing compares to traveling the country all summer with your team.
-You can learn so much from BMX racing. It takes a lot of hard work and commitment but worth every moment.
If you want it bad enough then make it happen.
Always remember to have fun! That is what it is all about.
|
Social