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[Narrator]This isPay Dirt.

Not the history of Supercross,
but the story of Supercross.

[engine whirring]

[phone ringing]

[Operator]This call
and/or telephone number

will be monitored
and recorded.

This is Michael Goodwin

the father of Supercross

calling from State Prison

after being in for 21 years

for the murders of Mickey Thompson and his wife.

I’m going to jump around here because I know

time is limited, let me ask you this question.

When you came up with this idea

did it seem like this is going to be impossible?

I said what about that sport I’ve been

riding, motocross, in a stadium?

Everyone told me it wouldn’t work.

[rock music]

[cheering]

[rock music continues]

[Eric]How fearless are you?
How fast can you make it go?

[Jimmy]It was one of the
first times in my career

I can honestly say
that I was scared for my life.

[Davey]To do things with
such precision

and such consistency over
the course of 20 laps,

they're artists,

but they're also machines
in their own right.

[panting]

[Woman]It was sort of like
gladiators on steel horses,

battling it out to the end.

[Jeremy]I was motivated
to not just win once.

I wanted to destroy
these guys.

[Todd]Willing to ride out
of your comfort zone,

pushing those limits,
getting uncomfortable.

[Commentators] Wow! Oh!

[Jimmy]Am I going to be
able to walk?

Am I going to be in a wheelchair
for the rest of my life?

[Man]You're willing to not
have relationships.

You're willing to not
have a life.

You're willing to give up
everything

that is normal
for that one goal...

[crowd cheering]

[Man] ...to call yourself
a Supercross champion.

[Narrator]Is it in man
or a machine wherein

lies greatness,
or a magical amalgam of both?

Whether then or now,
one constant is the physical

and mental challenges,

perhaps beyond any other sport
on the planet,

of being a professional
Supercross athlete.

[Davey]It takes an
incredible athlete

to be able to compete in
a Supercross race.

This sport requires people
to train.

[Eric]The only thing holding
the guy on is fingers

and his toes,
that's all you have.

It's 80% guy, 20% bike.
It's the guy.

[tense music]

[Bruce]The physical demand,

the wear and tear on your body
is a huge factor.

You have to be strong
and in shape.

When you're on that motocross
bike, you don't sit down.

You're more in like
an attack stance.

It takes everything you have
to get it right.

[engines whirring]

[Dr. G]They're using
so many muscles.

When you stand, the vibration,
the horsepower,

hanging on, jumping,
going through whoops,

going through turns.

The G's that it pulls is the
most amount of stress on a body

of any sport
that I can think of.

Heart's beating like a rabbit.

[rapid heartbeat]

Their heart rates are 180, 190.

People don't realize how fit you

have to be and strong
for Supercross.

[panting]

[Brian]It really does take
the aerobic part of the body,

the physicality part of
the body.

And it's like a sprint.

And you're using every part
of your body when you're racing

a dirt bike.

[Eric]The legs, the arms,
the fingers,

even the hand-eye coordination,

everything working together,
trying to get that motorcycle

around this gnarly track
that wants nothing else

but to grab you
and slam you down.

No one daydreams in
the Supercross race.

You're 100% focused
every second.

[Narrator]Physicality is not
the only challenge.

The mental strain in Supercross
is a different level.

They're going all out
the whole time.

You're 100% focused or
you're gonna fall on your ass.

[Eric]The heights,
the trajectories,

the landings, how high,
how far, how fast,

everything's so precise.

What a bunch of different
things to juggle.

It's infinite.

Your mind and your eyes,
and your brain and everything

is processing,
things happen in nanoseconds.

[instrumental music]

[Jeremy]Supercross,
every time you come around,

the track's different.

Now it becomes chess.
Now it's like, you know,

what am I gonna do
next time around?

Oh, wait, I gotta hit
this jump, too.

Oh, wait, now I gotta blitz
the loops.

Oh, wait, now I got this guy
behind me.

[Eric]Ruts and burns
and jumps, and shadows.

Everything changes.

[Davey]It's as much
your body and your mind

as it is the engine

and the suspension of
your motorcycle.

And the whole time, those guys
are holding their breath.

That's why so often you see

them come around
the signaling area.

The only signal is breathe.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.

[Eric]For the top riders,

the triple jump typically
would be the one place

they would rest.

The riders make it look
so easy.

Ride into the face of a triple,
it looks like a brick wall.

And that's when you catch
your breath,

when you're jumping as high as
an office tower, you know?

[Dr. G]So when you see these
guys go off these triples,

off these doubles,

that's usually the time
for them to breathe.

You'll even see
them shake their arms out,

kind of take a deep breath.

You'll even see them reach up
and tear off a goggle.

The whole time, you know,
you're resting,

your head's going,
what's the next move,

what are you doing?

[Dr. G]It's 17 races
every single week.

There is no time off.
You cannot fake this.

These guys are the world's
best athletes ever.

[Narrator]Speed, power,
and gravity.

[engine whirring]

[Narrator]Men willing
to push themselves

past the ragged edge of sanity
in a quest for glory.

And the consequences
are very real.

[Ricky]The bikes
are getting faster.

The jumps are getting bigger.

But one thing that never
changes, and that's gravity.

[Commentator] Oh! Oh!

[Ricky]It's inherently
a dangerous sport.

There's only so much technology
you can put into a helmet.

The head impact to
your spinal cord, it's real.

You know, there's a danger
in all of this.

[Narrator]One rider's saga

is the story of those
consequences,

but also determination
in overcoming disaster.

This is Jimmy.
Take one. Mark.

Third race of the year.

First two races were
in Anaheim, A1, A2.

I was coming into
that season prepared,

I had done a lot
of European races

during the off season,
had won most of them.

[instrumental music]

[Jimmy]And so my expectations
for the season was really high.

Everything in my life at
the point was,

I would say,
pretty well perfect.

My fitness was great.

Got a new bike out of the deal.

[Dr. G]He was actually one
of my athletes at that time,

and I'll never forget the day.

He was... ripping
the whoops every single time.

[Jimmy]We'd had a really
great first practice.

They'd made a little bit of
a change to the track

in between the 1:25
practice and ours,

so we had sat and waited for
an extra few minutes while

the bulldozer got off
the track.

[ethereal music]

[Jimmy]And so since
they had made a few changes,

rolled through the first corner,

I was rolling through
the whoops.

[engine whirring]

[Jimmy]The bike just hit
the bottom

of the whoop and stopped.

Don't get up!
Do not get up, buddy!

[Jimmy panting]

[Jimmy]I hit the ground,

and your initial instinct
is to push yourself

back up off the ground.

And when I went to do it,
nothing... nothing worked.

[Dr. G]He had fractured
something.

We didn't know at the time,

but it was definitely an injury
to his neck.

And when I arrived there,

he was having actual
difficulties breathing.

And I, you know, trying
to comfort him,

I remember grabbing him in
his hand and telling him,

"Hey, Jimmy, you're gonna
be all right."

You know, hang in there.

But he looked at me,
and he had those eyes of...

that he was scared.

[sirens]

[Dr. G]You're not sure
of what's gonna happen next.

Am I gonna be able to walk?
Am I gonna ride a bike?

Those thoughts go through
your head.

I just remember thinking,
like, "Oh, this is, like,

some sort of really,
really bad dream right now."

Like...

[dramatic music]

[Jimmy]They told me I was...
I was done.

They told my parents, you guys
should get a wheelchair ready.

He's gonna drink out of
a straw the rest of his life.

He's gonna have no function
of anything.

He has zero chance
to do anything.

This is...
what you're gonna get.

[Leeann]I remember I got
a phone call

about it when it happened,
and I remember crying.

That was a devastating thing
to a friend.

I think it made
everybody realize

that it could happen
to any of us.

Why did this happen?
How did this happen?

Like...
You know, did I deserve to...

You know, like, you go...
you go through...

Um...
You go through a long process.

First, you lose your career,

then you lose your sense
of purpose,

you lose your sense of
your own humanity,

and then you gotta figure out
how the fuck to fix it.

[Narrator]The mental fortitude
that made Jimmy an elite rider

would prove instrumental
in a path toward recovery.

[Jimmy]Rehab people,

they were moving
my body all around

and trying to get
that signal firing.

So I thought, okay, well,
what if I just would stare at

one body part
and try to will it to work?

Like, maybe,
maybe that happens.

[optimistic music]

[Jimmy]That's what I did
for two and a half

or three hours one day,

I just was staring at
my left hand.

And I got my index finger
to work.

And it was just a twitch.
I was exhausted.

And like I had done a week's
worth of training in two hours,

it like took so much like

mentally and physically out
of me.

And the next day,
it didn't take quite as long,

and I was able to do it again.

But that was the start of
my recovery.

My left side came back first,
and then my right side.

Okay, I was able to move
my wrist a little bit today,

or I was able to lift my arm up
three times.

Well, tomorrow, I gotta do six.

No matter how long it takes.

Every day, that was my motto
for a year.

Once I was able to barely walk,

the insurance companies were
like, okay, you're good.

Insurance wasn't gonna spend
any more money.

My hospital bills, my inpatient
rehab, I ran out of money.

I had $15,000 left in my name.

You know, you're like,
okay, I gotta figure out

what I'm gonna do.

Can I be an assistant on
a team in some fashion?

But nobody wanted to give me
an opportunity

because I was that kind
of nasty reminder

of it doesn't take
something huge

for it to go really bad.

I ended up getting a position
of being the rider team manager,

which is cool because then I got
kind of be back in the mix,

and I started representing
athletes.

We went to X Games

to sign Nate Adams
and Adam Jones,

some motocross guys.

We knocked a couple of
big home runs out of the park.

And allowed me to go back to
that hospital

and tell them what I thought.

Yeah, I went in and I asked
for the doctor.

And I asked him, like,
"Do you remember who I am?"

And he didn't have any clue.
I said, "Well, here's who I am."

And I said, "Don't ever
fucking do it again."

Like, don't ever tell somebody
that they have no hope.

You can't just snatch that
away from someone's life.

And you have to have a lot
of positive energy around you

for your body to heal,
especially in this situation.

I'm pretty sure I almost
instantly turned around

and walked away,
or shuffled out.

He made a promise to me

some two and a half
months ago.

And to make the special
presentation to our champion,

I'd like to bring
Mr. Jimmy Button

up to the stage.

[audience cheering]

I would like to introduce
my best friend

and seven-time
Supercross Champion,

the King of Supercross,
Jeremy McGrath

[audience cheering]

[Narrator]In the blink
of an eye,

in a seemingly innocuous moment,

Jimmy's life changed forever,

though today he's now
fully integrated

back into the sport he loves

as a premier agent
for some of the top riders

in the industry.

I certainly...
have a different lens on life

now than I certainly
ever did before.

I think I was kind of
an asshole, to be honest.

But that's who you have
to be to get to the level.

I'm certainly not
that guy today.

I'm much more thankful.

Every day I can get up and I can
put my feet on the ground.

I wouldn't wish this injury
on anybody,

not even your enemies.

[Man]Jimmy trained for
a cross-country bike ride

on his 2,400-mile trek.

[Jimmy]Everybody in life

gets one lap around
the merry-go-round.

But no one's getting
a free lap.

[Narrator]For Jimmy,
his miraculous recovery

was not just about defying
medical odds.

It was about inspiring others

to embrace the power
within themselves

and to never surrender to

the limitations imposed
by others.

[tranquil music]

[Announcer]Dispatch riders
going overseas,

specially trained for service
on any front.

They drive their motorcycles
over the roughest terrain.

[Eric]Off-road motorcycle
racing kind

of came from the mail couriers
in World War II.

Racing from place to place,
riding war motorcycles

through these ravaged
countrysides

during all this strife
and turmoil as quick as you can.

There's a section in
that book Hemingway writes about

where this guy leaves

the Spanish commander's
headquarters, and they're like,

"Get this document
to the bridge."

And I remember the first time
I read that, I'm like,

"This is Supercross."

[dramatic music]

[Commentator]...first motor
going in.

[Commentator]
Malcolm up to seventh space,

despite his injured leg.

If I had to say who is the
toughest guys are in the world,

in the early days,
it was Europeans.

[Eric]There's upwards
of 50,000, 60,000 people

on those hillsides
at those races.

The guys are racing in,
like, shirts like I have on,

lumberjack shirts and leather
pants and aviator goggles.

These are, like, tough dudes
on these bikes, racing.

And that's how it started.

[Commentator]More going in.
Is it good enough?

[rock music]

[Narrator]While Europe
becomes a hotbed

of enormous crowds
watching racing,

in a still sparsely
populated Southern California,

open spaces become
a playground nurturing talent

just out having fun.

[Keith]Southern California was
nvery different back in the '70s.

There was a lot of open space.

You could ride
a motorcycle almost anywhere.

[Bob]You could ride
your bike from your backyard

miles and miles through trails.

Right across the street,

I could ride for
500 miles if I wanted.

[Jeff]
My mom used to drop me off

with a gas can and an ice chest
and go home.

And I'd stay there and ride
all day.

Motorcycling became part
of a lot

of the Hollywood movies.

[Davey]Exactly the way that
Endless Summerdid for surfing,

Bruce Brown's next film,
On Any Sunday,

glamorized California
dirt bike riding in 1971.

♪ On any Sunday ♪

♪ Stretching up,
screeching by ♪

[Davey]There were people
all over the country

that didn't know
that that world existed.

There were no videotapes.
There was no Internet.

There was no DVDs.
It was hard to see.

And when Bruce Brown rolled
his film out,

it changed a lot of people's
lives, literally, in two hours.

[thuds]

[Bob]I was out at
Saddleback Park.

I'm watching this guy doing
the wheelie,

like, oh, I can do that.

I came back, and they waved
me over and said,

"Can you do that three or four
more times?"

And I'm like, "Sure."
So I did three or four wheelies.

The next thing I knew,

we went to the movie
to watchOn Any Sunda

I was in the movie.

I still don't think
there's a bigger movie today

about the sport.

[Eric]I think that movie
made motorcycles

and motorcycle racing
much more appealing to people.

Steve McQueen and Mert Lawell
riding in the dunes at the end.

Who wouldn't like that?

[Announcer]Special welcome

to the annual
Super Bowl of Motocross,

as the racers readied for
the start

of the first of three races.

[Narrator]It was 1972.

The nation was still vibrating
fromOn Any Sunda

sending kids everywhere begging
their parents for a dirt bike.

And the moment was right
for seismic change.

[Man]First you find
all the dirt you can

in your neighborhood,
12,000 tons.

[Narrator]It would take
a visionary

to capture this new national
and international phenomenon,

and transform it into
the ultimate sports theater.

[Announcer]Most of these
drivers are teenagers.

They can earn $200,000
a year

thanks to the guy who had
the idea, Mike Goodwin.

Well, I've been in
the rock and roll business

for four or five years,

and I really got where
I didn't like it.

So I was forced into dreaming
something else up.

[Eric]Mike Goodwin came up
with the idea

of taking dirt bikes

and put them in the same stadium
that held the Olympics,

that held the Super Bowl.

[Woman]It gets my adrenaline
going.

The lemonade!

[Man]I like to be out
there myself.

[Mike]People could sit
in a stadium,

have clean toilets,
cold beer, etc.,

and watch the action
in front of them.

[Eric]Anybody, like a dad
or his kids, or a mom,

or a family,
a grandma,

could go to this Los Angeles
Coliseum

and watch these world-class
motocross racers

compete in a stadium,
not get their shoes dirty.

[Mike]I was a rider.

I started riding back
in the '60s.

I won the 1984 intermediate
long course motocross,

so this fit
my personality perfectly.

I borrowed some money,
told a few white lies,

and made it happen, and now
the darn thing's worked out

so that probably is one of
the biggest showcases

for motorcycling in the country.

[Announcer]It's coming.

A Super Bowl of Motocross
at the LA Coliseum,

the biggest race of the year,
be there!

[Mike]I didn't have money.

I had to borrow $5,000,
in fact, from a relative,

so everything was
on the line.

Not necessarily just
my reputation,

but financial and everything.
I mean, it was tight.

I first got hired by him
in 1972

to do the first
Super Bowl in Motocross,

and it was a wild ride.

I thought this could be
the beginning of something very,

very big.

Welcome to the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum,

site of the 1932 Olympics.

He's the one that had the vision
and pulled the strings,

and got the permit,
and whatever,

and took the chance,
took the risk.

[Mike]The naysayers just
told me it would never go.

It can't, can't work.

[Announcer]At the start line
for the first of three motos

to decide the Super Bowl
of Motocross.

[Narrator]Rolling the dice
on renting out

a stadium and holding
a race featuring a sport

that didn't even exist
in America seemed folly.

Everyone who knew anything knew
for sure that the Europeans,

who had their established
outdoor circuit,

would obviously dominate.

[rock music]

It was a foregone conclusion.
The Europeans were going to win.

They're getting ready.

They're all watching
this man's hand,

who is right here on my right.
It's gonna go!

And they're off.

[indistinct] motocross
is underway.

[Davey]The thing is,

the Europeans
made up the establishment,

and there were some Americans
involved that were pretty good,

but there was also this kid.

And when I say kid,
I mean 16 years, 10 days old.

[Producer] We are ready
for you, sir.

[Davey]His name is
Marty Tripes,

and he was this wunderkind.

[Producer] Take one, mark.

[Marty]People were in the way.
I'm serious.

It's like I couldn't get
them the fuck out of the way

fast enough.

[engine whirring]

[Marty]For me,
I was too young.

I always say maybe just
too stupid to think about

who I'm passing
that I shouldn't be,

because these are world
champions.

Little kid against
the world's best

in a first-time
indoor event.

[Announcer]Now all he has
to do is keep up the pace

and lap the stragglers for
Marty to win the championship

in the Super Bowl of Motocross.

Not bad for an American

in a sport dominated
by Europeans.

[Marty]I never thought about
the chance of winning this race.

Yeah, it was definitely
the Europeans would win.

They were tough men.

I'm really kind of in a daze.

They want you to go up there

and get on the podium to receive
your trophy.

And that's when things started
kicking in.

[Davey]It helped create
a narrative

that would last for generations,
that this was an American sport.

The Americans were
the specialists,

and for the Europeans,
it was a sideshow.

[Marty]It put the world
in a shock.

How could a kid,

nine days being
a professional,

beat the best?

It was a very surprising
outcome,

and Goodwin ran with it.

The story of a 16-year-old kid

beating all these top
European riders,

he loved it,
it was media gold for him.

[Mike]We knew with
27,000 people

that went bonkers.

They just went crazy.

And obviously,
Marty winning added to that,

beating the Europeans.

We knew we had a monster.

It was the perfect event right
on the heels ofOn Any Sunday,

fit in the movie theaters.

The Superbowl of Motocross
would not have worked

anywhere else in the world

as it did in Los Angeles
in 1972.

I don't wanna say
Mike Goodwin was lucky.

He wasbrilliantlylucky.

And he was smart.

The Superbowl of Motocross
was the top billing.

But right underneath it was
"A Michael Goodwin Production."

He was a big act.
Bigger than life.

[Marty]And Mike Goodwin
played it up big, very big.

We've never had somebody
in our sport,

that kind of wildness.

And I remember he drove up
in a Rolls-Royce.

[Mike]My biggest goal
was to have people notice me

and talk about the
bigger-than-life personality,

even if it was negative.

[Eric]It was about money,
you know,

and Goodwin was a pretty
crafty businessman.

[Mike]Controversy generates
publicity,

and publicity sells tickets.

[Narrator]Another audacious
dreamer was carving out

his own place in the world
of motorsports.

Brusque and bold,
the other side of the same coin,

Mickey Thompson was a
world record land speed holder

with parallel aspirations
to Goodwin

to bring his dirt sport
to stadiums.

Mickey Thompson was
an entrepreneur

just like Goodwin,

only he came out
of truck racing,

drag racing, all these other
forms of racing.

[Announcer]Today,
thousands of fans

from across the country gather
to watch Mickey Thompson's

Off-Road Championship
Grand Prix.

[Mike]I mean,
when I was a kid,

Mickey was my idol forever.

Mickey Thompson
and Mike were competitors.

[Mike]He approached me,

and he wanted to start
doing four-wheel in stadiums.

We could share
the cost of the dirt,

and the tracks were costing
$150,000 to $250,000,

that it was worth exploring
going into business with him.

Mickey and Mike,
from a financial point,

their dirt cost goes down,
the trucking goes down.

It made sense they shared
the same dirt.

[Mickey]So we partnered
to share the dirt,

share the advertising,
share expenses,

not fight over venues.

I was going to do motocross
on Saturday night,

and his off-road cars
on Sunday.

[Roy]Goodwin
and Mickey Thompson

were going to become
partners.

There wasn't anyone who knew
both of them who didn't think,

"My God, this is the partnership
from hell."

When Mickey called me to tell me

that he'd hooked up
with Goodwin,

I said, "You're insane,
because it's Goodwin.

He is going to screw you."

[Marty]It did not make sense
when you got two hotheads,

foul language,
so those guys came to a head.

[Mike]People begged me
not to do it.

"Mikey, I know Mickey.
He's going to screw you."

I, unfortunately, just thought
I was smart enough

to overcome hot stuff.

[Davey]That was the beginning
of the end.

The first race they did
was the beginning of the end.

You're talking guys with
big balls

that don't like rules.

Both of them are capable
of having the other guy shot.

[gunshots]

[Bob]On the morning
of March 1988,

I got a phone call,

and we were told
that Mickey Thompson

and his wife had been murdered,
shot,

and of course it went
public immediately.

[phone ringing]

[Mike]My attorney called me.

He said to me, "Mickey Thompson
was killed this morning."

I mean, I was flabbergasted.

Boy, I hope they don't
blame me.

[phone trilling]

[Operator]This call
and your telephone number

will be monitored
and recorded.

[Mike]This is Michael Goodwin,
the father of Supercross.

Calling from the state prison
after being in for 21 years.

[rock music]

[Narrator]Twelve years later,

Goodwin was convicted
in a jury trial

for the murders of Mickey
and Trudy Thompson,

and is currently serving
two life sentences

with no possibility
of parole.

Mike not only vehemently
maintains his innocence,

but continues to fight
to reverse his conviction.

[Narrator]At its essence,
the sport comes down

to personal battles
of one man against another:

rivalries.

-[Man]...first laid in?
-[Man]Speeding.

[Man] Let's turn
the lights on.

[Jeremy]Saturday nights,

I was dying
for those lights

to be on and those fans
to be yelling.

[Producer] All right, McGrath.
Take one, mark.

That's exactly where
I wanted to be.

[dramatic music]

[Announcer]The gate is down.
The charge is on.

The Anaheim Supercross
is underways.

[Announcer 2]Jeremy McGrath,
the rookie,

punched a hole in a low-flying
cloud

and passed the defending
Supercross champion.

[Narrator]Coming out of
Southern California

with a fierce
competitiveness

masked by a laid-back persona,

Jeremy McGrath arrived on
the Supercross scene in 1989,

and by 1991, made his mark
by dominating the 125 class.

I want to win every race.

As good and as far as
I can win it by.

[Announcer]McGrath claims
a checkered flag

for the second week in a row.

[Announcer 2]
And with that cross-up,

Jeremy McGrath was
the 1993 Supercross Champion.

Wooh! I'm happier than hell,
that's for sure.

[Narrator]He quickly moved
up to the big bike class

and started racking up
championships,

almost as if he didn't
have a rival.

But in 1994, he would find
a foil in bitter rivalry

with a rider in
his shadow, Jeff Emig.

[Announcer]McGrath claims
a checkered flag

for the second week in a row.

[Eric]Jeremy,
he was the cool guy.

The one with all the charisma.
He was the movie star.

Not only was he probably
the greatest rider,

he was a great champion.

[Announcer]A new record.
Here comes McGrath.

[Announcer 2]McGrath puts
another one in the book.

[Announcer 3]Jeremy McGrath!

[Davey]If you were going
to be a Supercross champion,

you had to learn how
to ride like Jeremy McGrath,

and then you had
to figure out how to beat him.

[Producer] Jeff, take one.
Mark.

[Jeff]I'll do anything
to win.

I will go as hard as we have
to go,

and I'm going to push you
out of your comfort zone.

[Davey]Jeff Emig
was the foil.

[Announcer]Jeff Emig,
flawless!

[Davey]Jeff was extremely
good on a motorcycle.

And Jeff wanted to be
as cool as Jeremy

and to be the guy
to knock Jeremy off,

the rivalry became as important
as the championships.

[dramatic music]

[Jeremy]To be the winner,
you'll risk anything to do that.

[Announcer]Set to go.

[engine whirring]

[Announcer]And Jeff Emig
gets out of

the gate pretty well...

[Davey]Came out of the gate,

and I cut over on him
to pinch him off

and make sure that he gets
a bad start.

[Jeremy]You know, some of the
shit he pulled out there was,

you know, dangerous.

[Announcer]Jeremy McGrath,
number one.

He just makes Emig crazy.

These two guys don't like
each other.

We were at the height
of our rivalry.

[Announcer]Lookie there.

McGrath did a triple jump
to the inside,

took the line away from Emig.

[Jeremy]He didn't really
have a conscience,

I felt, on the track.

And he would cut me off and
not have any qualms about it.

[Announcer]As they go
wheel to wheel.

Wow, what a comeback.
Emig not having any of it.

[Jeff]He didn't like it.
He took offense to it.

And was it intentional?
Yeah, it was intentional.

I was like, fuck that.

We're gonna push him out of
his comfort zone

and crash him out dirty.

[Commentator]They not only
don't like each other,

but they don't make any bones
about it.

I wanted to get him,
like, riled up and on edge,

because I felt like I was always
so in control.

[Commentator]Jeremy takes
the triple,

looks up at him as if to say,
what are you doing up there?

[Jeremy]Really wasn't much
of a rivalry, really.

I didn't think we were in
the same league, to be honest.

[Announcer]Jeremy McGrath
on the podium,

popping the champagne
after his third straight win.

There was no way
he would ever beat.

[theme music]

[Announcer]From Las Vegas,
Nevada, Sam Boyd Stadium.

Welcome to the final round
of the U.S. Supercross Series.

[Narrator]Going into
the 1995 season,

when McGrath had
the championship wrapped up

heading into
the Las Vegas finale,

a curious set
of events would occur.

There was a sort of a union talk
brewing and a rider rebellion,

'cause they weren't being
treated very well,

and they weren't.

[Man] '95, though,
we're at rock bottom.

We don't have a title sponsor.

We're doing the event
in Las Vegas.

Riders are unhappy.

McGrath has already clinched
the championship.

They were trying to figure out
if they should have,

like, a boycott or
a wildcat strike,

and then they decided
to go racing.

But then, lo and behold,
the stadium lights out

at Sam Boyd Stadium go out.

During qualifying...

A transformer outside
the stadium blew,

and all the lights in
the stadium went out.

The promoters had
to go to plan B.

They got some work lights on
in the stadium,

thanks to a generator,

and then they brought
in three portable light stands

to try to fill in
the dark areas.

There's 25,000 people,
most of them pretty oiled up,

and they're expecting to see
a main event.

If we're going
to be doing any racing,

it may be by the light of
the silvery moon.

You know, there's
a power outage.

They're trying
to figure out what to do.

The riders get together,
and they're like,

"Hey, well, if you're not going
to race, I won't race."

So you have these
two things going on at once.

You have the promoter trying
to get the power back on,

and you have the riders trying
to organize.

[Jeremy]The riders are
all together.

Everyone sort of agreed,
at least the way I remember it.

I agreed. They agreed.

Everyone agreed.
We're not going to the line.

I went out to survey
the track and the lighting,

is you realize all the fans
were still there.

And so there was that element
of like,

these people came here
to see us race tonight.

I think the lighting's fine.

I mean, I go ride at
the local track every Tuesday

night for practice for free
with less lighting.

[Jeremy]You know,
I needed a rival,

and Emig was a great one,

but it always seemed like he
pulled like the low class moves.

You know,
that's the way I looked at it.

[Announcer]The 250s
have the light.

Some of them, that is.
Only 14 riders have shown up.

Others determining
it was too dangerous

with the lighting situation
to ride under these conditions.

[booing]

[Announcer]And you can hear
the fans in the background.

Very, very disappointed.

Those riders marked
in yellow are those

who are not riding because
they deemed it too dangerous.

Well, I pull out of the race.
We start taking off.

Well, guess what?
Emig goes to the line.

[Announcer]KTM's Jeff Emig,
number 77, the whole shot.

But Jeff Emig is right.
Right there, number six.

Emig taking the lead here in
the first lap.

You know, that was a move.

He should have never
went out there.

Like, if we agreed to do it,

he should have never
went out there.

[Announcer]You see
the checkered flag

for Jeff Emig,
his first Supercross win.

[Announcer 2]Emig,
a happy young man,

and Larry Ward, of course.

I earned my first Supercross
win that night.

Yamaha paid me like
50,000 bucks, you know?

I had to go.

It's not the best
way to win it,

but hell, I won the damn thing,
and I was here.

[Narrator]Heading into
the 1996 season,

despite McGrath's overall
dominance of the sport,

both in terms of wins and
having the fans' hearts,

he and Jeff Emig had established
a personal animus.

[Announcer]Getting set for
the second to the last

Supercross of the year.

Can Jeremy McGrath
win them all?

Hey, you got Honda Tour
beside you.

You got Team Yamaha down
from them,

and you know who's sitting
on your right.

You know where you got
to be when the gates are on.

[Davey]This is 1996.

McGrath has won 13 races
in a row.

He's already clinched
the title.

Now he's looking at
the perfect season.

[Announcer]See the intensity
on Jeremy's face.

Skip's got good advice.

[Announcer 2]He was talking
about Jeff Emig, of course,

to his right.

[Jeff]For the first time,

the promoters have put
a race that's close

to where I grew up,
that I can call my home turf,

because Jeremy hit Anaheim.

For the first time in my career,
I felt that confidence.

I knew in my heart, in my soul,
that I could beat him.

[Commentator 1]We're set.
They're revving up.

The gate will drop any second.
Now it's gone.

[Commentator 2]Jeremy gets a
terrible jump out of the gate.

[Commentator 1]Emig, good jump.

I just remember from the first
time I stepped into the stadium,

there was an energy.

[Commentator 1]I'll tell you,

the fans are all out
of their seats

with good reason.

Jeremy McGrath right on
the tail of Jeff Emig.

[Narrator]McGrath was racing
for Supercross immortality

and a perfect season.

But for Emig, it was a chance
to prove the win

he got the night the lights
went out was no fluke.

He was out in front.
He got a great start.

He was surviving.

[Announcer]Could this
be the moment

that Jeremy McGrath's
13 in a row is broken?

[Jeremy]This was, like,
the most important race

of my career.

[Announcer]As we see
our leader, Jeff Emig.

[Jeff]You can do this.

Take a deep breath and go
for the triple jump.

You can do this.
Do not give up.

Do not get soft.

[Announcer]Five laps to go.

Jeremy McGrath right on
the tail of Jeff Emig.

I'm getting nervous thinking
about it right now.

I'm getting chills.
I knew what was at stake.

[Commentator 1]Emig is one
win in Supercross history.

What's Las Vegas?
McGrath was not in the field.

We're going to
have a great battle here.

[Commentator 2] It's the most
mistakes

I've ever seen McGrath make.

[Commentator 1]Emig leading
Jeremy McGrath in the final lap.

It is Jeff Emig.

[Commentator 2]I don't
believe it, Art.

I don't think Emig
does either.

Holy shit.
I just won the Supercross.

[Commentator 1]His first
legitimate Supercross win,

I think, in his heart.

[Jeff]So many times I had
let the pressure

get to me
and I would make a mistake.

And that night,
I just didn't make a mistake.

You know, I call that the night
that I made him famous.

And I didn't see it as he won.
I saw it as I lost.

[dramatic music]

[Jeff]I stopped his streak.
I won a main event.

I mean, that was just
the best night.

Look, I won the war.
It didn't really matter.

It didn't really matter.
I won the war.

[Narrator]The rivalry ends
with more of a whimper

than a bang when Emig's career
is derailed when he's busted

for pot in an era when this was
a high crime and misdemeanor

to the conservative Japanese
manufacturer.

For McGrath, 2000
brings another championship,

which will be his last,

bringing his unmatched career
total to 72 victories

and seven championships,

earning him the nickname
that follows him to this day:

the King of Supercross.
Beloved, respected, immortal.

[rock music]

[Narrator]Another classic
rivalry,

while in the sport
of motocross and not Supercross,

features one of the few riders
who could be spoken about

in the same breath as McGrath
in terms of overall greatness,

Bob "Hurricane" Hannah and
his teammate Broc Glover,

who created one of the
most memorable rivalry moments

in the history of the sport.

[rock music]

Ah, he was an angry guy.
[laughs]

He would try and fuck you
any way he could.

I mean, he's been a prick
to me my entire life.

-[Producer] We're rolling.
-[Bob] Rolling?

[Producer] Go ahead and take
one. We're like, whoop.

What was your attitude towards
your fellow racers?

I don't like them.
Didn't like them then.

I don't like them now.

If they walked into this room,
I don't like them.

[upbeat music]

[Announcer]For the past
several years,

Supercross has been dominated
by Bob "Hurricane" Hannah.

[Eric]Bob was a rider
that everybody took notice of

immediately 'cause
Bob was all in.

To see Bob Hannah with
the all-yellow JT gear

and the thunderbolts on
his helmet, it was awesome.

[Announcer]His style
is unmatched

by any other rider.

[Eric]It was go as fast
as you can,

hang on whatever it takes,

and Bob ended up looking
like an acrobat.

[Bob]Sometimes I do hit
that stuff, fly all over.

It's natural to try to save
the bike.

You can't win if you crash.

[Eric]Feet coming off.
There'd be hands coming off.

It wasn't pretty.

[Bob]I looked like
a damn ragdoll.

If I was good at anything,
I was good at saving it.

If my hands came off
the handlebars,

I was out of control.

But as long as my hands were
attached to handlebars,

who cares where my feet were?

[David] He didn't care.
He just was going to win.

He was a badass.

[Larry]Psychologically,
he was incredible.

I asked Hannah what
the other riders could expect,

and he said,
"Pain and degradation."

Tapping you on your shoulder
when he's going by.

[Davey] And if he won?
He'd say, "Told you so."

And if he lost, he'd say,
"Sorry, I meant next time."

Teammate rivalry is common
in motocross.

Through history,
the riders say the first person

they want to beat
is their teammate.

[Bob]There are teammates
out there

that hate the other guys
on their team.

I thought, wow, cool, I'm going
to be Bob Hannah's teammate.

From the time I walked into
the door, the very first time,

he was a prick to me.

It's personalities.
Personalities.

We just didn't hit it off, okay?

[Eric]Bob and Broc
never got along.

Bob was Yamaha's team.
Broc was the young guy,

the 16-year-old
that was coming in.

Broc was a better rider
because he was leading

the championship for Yamaha
at the time.

Who didn't get along from
the onset, from day one,

and it just got gnarlier
as it went.

[tense music]

[Narrator]It was in the
outdoors

that it all came to a head,

in one of the most
memorable moments

in the history of racing
on two wheels with a motor.

Yamaha that day did not think
I could win on that track,

so they didn't say anything
to me.

[Keith]The championship
came down

to the teammates Broc Glover
and Bob Hannah.

Broc Glover has to win
the race

to be able to win
the championship.

[Eric]So Bob gets a hole shot,
which never not.

[Broc]I got a crappy start.

I have to win the last moto,
and Bob has to get

second to break up
the points.

[tense music]

[Eric]Bob gets in the lead,
and Yamaha says,

"Look, for Broc to win
this title,

he's got to get to the front,
he's got to get by Bob."

Somewhere in the pits,
it was whispered,

"Let Hannah know that Broc's
got to go by."

[Keith]I get the team
manager in my ear,

and I'm like, "What?"

[Eric]Keith McCarty got out
a marker

and a pit board and wrote,
"Let Broc buy on it."

[Bob]I mean, he didn't
even spell Broc's name right,

because he's in a panic,
he wrote, "Bye", B-Y-E.

[Keith]It was pretty emotional,

and it was a big deal for me
at that time,

and certainly a bigger deal
for Bob.

He puts the sign out,
and I'm thinking,

"Shit, really?"

[Eric]Bob's like,
"I'm here to win.

"I don't care about
anybody else.

I'm not here to make friends
with everybody."

[Bob]I'm coming around,
I'm still in the lead.

He goes, "Tell him to pull
the hell over."

So I do. I let him by.

And I wasn't really happy
about it.

[Eric]Broc went by,
and Bob ended up

pulling his bike off
into a forest.

After the finish, I didn't
even go to the trucks.

I didn't even want to see
any of those.

I rode out in the woods.
I was pissed.

[Eric]He cried his eyes out.
That's how much it meant to him,

and how much it broke his heart
to let a rider go by like that.

I mean, it killed him, you know,
just that he did that, you know.

[Eric]Racing's a business,
and they needed that guy to win.

[Broc]Like, he was a total
a-hole to me from that day.

I would have positively done
the exact same thing for him.

I get a paycheck
with Yamaha written on it.

He still has that stick
at 64 or whatever.

It's like, dude, give it up,
man, like, move on.

Broc, he's an a-hole.
Pure and simple.

[Narrator]Hannah would go on
to win 70 races

and three Supercross
championships.

But his career would be cut
short when in 1979,

while out water skiing, he hit
a rock and shattered his leg.

While he continued to race,
he would never be the same.

Today, he flies
and sells airplanes,

while Broc Glover
remains deep in the sport,

running Dunlop tires for
the industry.

The theater for this sport is
an ever-evolving stage.

[dramatic music]

[Dave]How is Supercross
racing

different than any other form
of racing?

It's the dirt.

[rock music]

[Eric]In a race car,

you're trying to do
the same exact thing every lap.

With a motocross bike,
there's nothing static.

[rock music]

Because we're on dirt,
every single lap changes.

[Dave]A motorcycle tire
goes through it

and creates a rut.

And you've got 22 guys doing
that lap after lap after lap.

Nothing's ever the same.
It's dirt. It moves.

You may start off a race
feeling really good,

and then by the end of it,
it gets rough and ruddy.

[Dave]And you can't see
where you're going to land.

You literally get to
the triple face,

and you can't see anything.

So these guys have
to just be committed.

[Ryan]It's incredible.

These guys can read dirt like
you've never seen before.

The dirt, the regions,
and the states that we go to,

it's different
every single race.

You got the hard pack tracks
on the West Coast.

You've got the soft tracks on
the East Coast.

And most of the tracks
back east tend to get really,

really ruddy.

Ruts where your foot pegs drag
off each jump.

[Ricky]The Midwest,
it's just right.

It's good and tacky.

It affects riders differently.

And some riders are experts
on hard pack.

And other riders,
they excel when it's softer.

And they can adapt to
the changes quicker.

Building a track is a challenge

because the talent level
in Supercross is so diverse.

Try to make it as challenging
as you can while

still keeping it
as safe as possible.

When we roll in,

it looks a lot like
a rock and roll show as well.

We have 18 tractor trailers,

just like the Stones rolling
into a stadium.

We just have a lot more dirt.

The stadiums, they all
have different surfaces,

whether it's natural grass
or artificial turf.

We protect the floor.
We protect the grass.

And then we start to import
the dirt.

We usually bring in about 6000
to 6500 yards.

When you're talking about
500 truckloads of dirt

coming into a building,
this is amazing.

[Ricky]These track builders
are experts.

They're like surgeons
with scalpels.

When we first get here,
we push a six-inch base

over the entire floor, and then
work from the outside in.

[Dave]They rough
in the jumps,

and then they'll fine-tune
it to within an inch

of what they believe
that it should be.

It's really beautiful
to watch these guys

shape and mold the dirt.

[Man]When you actually
walk on the racetrack itself

and you look at it,
it looks far different

than what you see in the seats
or on television.

[Dave]You can't appreciate
a Supercross track

until you're actually standing
on it.

It's an art form,
truly is an art form.

[Narrator]At unimaginably
young ages,

the path to Supercross
stardom

begins in an unexpected
locale.

For all racers, it all begins
in the same place,

Hurricane Mills, Tennessee,

at the annual National
Amateur Championships.

But there's nothing amateur
about it.

[Man]In the amateur world,

Loretta's would be like
the Super Bowl for NFL.

[Reporter] Welcome
to Loretta Lynn.

This is the Little
League World Series

for amateur motocross racing.

[Narrator]A veritable city
of 12,000 racers, parents,

and siblings descend on a
sprawling property once owned

by the famed country singer
Loretta Lynn.

It's gnarly, it's dangerous,
and that's what makes it fun.

[Man]To win Loretta's,
that's the top.

I mean, really,
no other amateur race matters.

This is pretty much the one
that predicts your future.

My Loretta's, I came in third
last year, and it was 42 riders.

That's the biggest race in
the whole country.

I started when I was
four years old.

I've been racing
for four years.

We want to get the next
up-and-coming star

that we see and get him
into our program early.

You either got it or you don't.

They all come in early.
Everyone has hope.

First year we're here.

Every kid here, if you were
to ask them, you know,

what's your goal, It would be
the baddest dude at the ranch.

[Carrie]They're amped up.
They fought hard to get here.

There's a lot of pressure
on them.

Yeah, they may be banging bars
out on the racetrack,

but when that race is over,
they have fun.

[Brian]Every kid here,

their goal is to become
a factory rider.

0.001 kids will actually
get that chance.

It's a tough sport, man.
It's definitely cutthroat.

You got to perform.
You got to bring results.

[shouting]

All right, if the track's rough,
what are we doing?

Work the edges.
There you go, buddy.

[Davey]If you don't
have family behind you,

you don't really even get
a chance to start.

You know, someone's got
to be the mechanic.

Someone's got
to drive you there.

Someone's got to push you.

Good job, buddy! Good job!

[crowd cheering]

[Ryan]Most of these
great racers

have had parents that
have pushed

and made huge sacrifices
to get their kid to be great.

You have to have huge support
from your family.

My dad, he had to do dialysis
in between races.

And if I fell,
my dad chewed my ass.

Parents get sick with it, too.
Like, they want to, they think

their kid's the next champ
or next factory guy.

Come on, baby! Let's go!

[Ash]Parents will do
anything to win.

Like, the amateur motocross

is just as important to
the parents as the kids.

And the parents, at their end,
they will do anything to win.

It's crazy.

Wooh!

If they don't do good,
it puts a lot of pressure

on the dad and the mom,
which they then roll

that pressure down
to their child.

-Come on, dog!
-Where are you going? Go!

[Woman]Emotionally,
physically, financially,

it's draining.

At this level,

if they're not into it,
you're just asking for trouble.

Come on, you've got to push!

The stress is so high to win it

that it's difficult on
the family.

[Carrie]You really have
to be in good shape.

For a lot of them,
this is their first girlfriend,

their first kiss,
their first everything.

And it all happens
at Loretta's.

[Narrator]While some dreams
are shattered,

and coming up through
the sport

is never without challenges
and sacrifice,

dreams do indeed come true.

And in one case, it was the love
and dedication of a mother

who was pivotal in the career
of perhaps the greatest racer

of all time: Ricky Carmichael.

[Ricky] Here we go.
[sighs]

Eleven, twelve, thirteen,
and fourteen years old

were probably the most
miserable years of my life.

[Producer] Alright,
this is Ricky.

Take one. Mark.

I saw all my friends having
a good time at school

and doing normal kid stuff.

And I never got to do that.

[Announcer]Number 167
is Ricky Carmichael,

the early leader.

[Man]Right
in front of everyone,

on his own,

is this kid in Ricky Carmichael
from Florida.

[Announcer]And the checkered
flag for Ricky Carmichael!

Feels pretty good, you know?

[engine whirring]

[Announcer]But it is
Ricky Carmichael.

[Man]What do you do to try
and get more attention

focused on Ricky Carmichael?

[Ricky]Go out and practice,

try to find good lines,
watch races.

The way he came onto
the scene was,

it was like a man possessed,
kind of, for how young he was.

And so driven.

[Announcer]Ricky Carmichael
has won every race this season.

His biggest challenge...

[Announcer 2]
And Ricky Carmichael,

one of the best
in the business.

[Ricky]I would say 90% of
the work ethic that I got

was from my mom.

My mom is basically
my riding coach.

Jeannie Carmichael was a huge
factor in Ricky's career.

[Dave]She wasn't gonna
let Ricky

not be the very best.

She knew that
he was good at it,

and Ricky had to stay
in line.

[Producer] So let's talk about
your nickname.

Are you not wanting to call
me out on Meanie Jeannie?

[Producer]
No, I'm scared to.

[laughs]

[Ricky]Meanie Jeannie is
a wonderful woman.

She's a bear, too.

[Bruce]I mean, his mom
was tough on him.

As tough as
you could ever imagine.

If you're gonna do something,
do it right.

[Ricky]My mom would tell me
as a young kid,

it's like, you know,
"If you fall down from trying,

you do it once, that's on you,
do it twice, shame on you."

[Bruce]And so she was the one
that really put him through

the paces at the track.

He would have to do 20 laps
in Supercross,

and each lap had to be faster
than the last one.

I'm just like, okay,
well, your lap time was,

you know, 1:45,
so we're not gonna go to 1:52.

Figure it out.

I mean, it's like, that's like,
I wanted to quit all the time.

Like, this sucks.

[Jeanie]We need to stay
here until

the lights come on,

and we need to put
the headlights on,

that's what we're gonna do.

But if you were 1:45
when we got here,

we're not leaving at 1:52.

"Mom, you have to understand,
like,

"the track conditions are worse.

"I can't turn the same lap time
as if the track was perfect,

like it was a day ago."

"Well, you turned this
yesterday."

I'm like, "Yeah, well,

the track had 50 less laps
of me riding it."

Damn. [laughs]

I don't know how he put up
with me with all of that,

but it seemed to be working.

[Ricky]She had all kinds
of tactics that she would do.

In fairness to her, it was just
to make me better.

[Meanie]We're gonna do it.
We're gonna do it right.

You don't want to do it,
that's fine.

Then you can tell me,
but I'm not leaving,

and you're not leaving
until it's right.

[applause]

[Meanie]I always said

I was never gonna
walk away from him.

Saw that happen
with another parent.

I'm just like, how bad does he
feel that his dad just turned

around and walked away on him?

And I'm, you know,
I'm not gonna do that.

I'm gonna stand there
and argue with you,

and I'll just dig my heels in,
and we're gonna do it.

[Ricky]The way she
was like that,

looking back on it,
I didn't really realize it.

Like, holy crap,
this worked out to my benefit.

I think that's just the mom
in you.

[Ricky]My parents
had sacrificed everything.

Dad had left an electrical
company

that he'd worked for
for 20 years,

making good money to
help me fulfill my dreams.

We didn't have enough money
to get plane tickets for me,

my mom, and my dad

to fly out there
to race this amateur national.

He sold his Fat Boy Harley
to buy our plane tickets,

to get our hotel rooms.

1997, that was my first year
as a pro.

As soon as
my contract kicked in,

the first thing I purchased
was a Harley Fat Boy.

I just showed up to the house.
I said, "Dad, here you go.

I told you I was gonna do this
for you if I ever turned pro."

-[Announcer]Here comes Ricky.
-[Announcer 2][laughs]

[Ricky]That means more
to me sometimes

than anything that I ever
accomplished in racing,

giving back to my parents.

[Announcer]And the checkered
flag for Ricky Carmichael.

[Announcer 2]Ricky Carmichael.

[Narrator]Ricky would star
in the golden age of racing

in the 2000s,

battling two arch rivals...
James "Bubba" Stewart,

who some said was the fastest
ever to ride a dirt bike,

and the working man's hero,
Australian Chad Reed.

Ricky Carmichael went on to
have one of the most

illustrious careers in the
history of the sport.

[Announcer]And Ricky Carmichael
can feel it.

He can see it.

[Narrator]He earned five
Supercross titles

and ten outdoor national
championships.

[Announcer]Time to the wind
with Carmichael...

[Narrator]As well as
two perfect motocross seasons,

winning all 24 races,

an accomplishment never
to be matched.

[rock music]

[Narrator]He did it by
consistently racing on the edge,

pushing the limits,
and refusing to lose.

Today, he remains a big part
of the sport as a TV analyst,

much of it thanks to his mom,
Meanie Jeannie.

[Narrator]
Amid the big-ticket glamour,

some are fueled by passion.

[country music]

[Todd]I'm going to be on
a factory team one day.

It just sounds like
a crazy person talking.

But at the end of the day,
I just want to compete.

[Narrator]In the world
of Supercross,

there is a group of riders
who live between

pure professionalism
and chasing a dream:

the Privateer.

Well, privateer is somebody
that's trying to make it

to the big leagues.

The privateer is doing it for
the passion of the sport.

They love riding dirt bikes.

[Troy]They're spending
their own money

and their girlfriend making
them sandwiches.

[Ash]These guys aren't only
paying for all their parts,

they're working
on their bikes themselves.

They don't have funding.
They don't have a team ride.

[Ash]They're driving
their own rigs to the races.

[Brian]Usually sleeping
in their vans.

They have such a passion for
the sport

and such a love for it,
they know nothing else.

And they're spending so much
time and effort into it.

I don't know why in the hell
they would do what they do.

They're almost unsung heroes.

You know, it's their dream
to be inside that stadium

for the main event.

[crowd cheering]

[Announcer][indistinct]
Monster Energy

Supercross Champion
is about to begin.

[Man]In a Supercross event,

the front of the pit's
all the factory semis.

You go to the back of the pit,
you see all the privateers

in their vans.

That's where some of
the best stories are,

'cause those are the dudes
who are, like,

really doing it
for the love of the sport,

the passion.

[tranquil music]

[Todd]We're kind of
the nobodies,

but we have nothing
to offer the big companies

until we prove
that we can do something.

It's literally kind
of us against the world.

People don't realize
how hard it is.

I want to be a factory rider.

Growing up, that's the only
thing you think about.

[Dave]The factory teams
are supported

with millions of dollars
in cash.

[Brian]You get Yamaha,
Kawasaki, Honda,

Suzuki from Japan makes
the motorcycle.

They put together a team.

And it's usually one or
two riders

that are the best
of the best.

There's this fight
between these manufacturers

to win the most championships.

And they give them
the best parts,

the best service,
the best technicians.

[Dave]They have
the next generation

cylinders and valves.

The best chassis and
the best suspension,

and the best
everything else.

[Ash]I mean,
these factory guys,

they're getting flights
with them, their mechanics,

their chicks, their wives.

I mean, everything's
silver platter.

[birds chirping]

[Todd]I'm my own mechanic.

I do all the bike work
and stuff like that.

Some rigs, I can rebuild it
for half the price.

I'm basically just cutting
corners

to make sure I can get
to there every weekend.

It's kind of unfortunate,
but you know,

you got to deal with kind of
hand your dealt at some point.

You know, you just got
to keep going.

Even if I don't have
the best equipment,

when you beat those guys on
your stuff,

it's so much better feeling.

[Brian]You have so many
guys trying to qualify, right?

Everyone wants to be in
the night show.

The night show is when you
make it to the 7 p.m. show.

The fireworks go off
and you get to line up

on that gate with all
the people.

[Todd]It's hopefully
my first qualifying practice.

I feel really good
and I'm really excited about it.

[rock music]

[Todd]I had a few mistakes
where I hit neutral.

I knocked the wind out
of myself,

but I got one more left.

So this is where I have to
really put a lot on good times

and stuff like that to make
sure I'm good and solid

in the qualifier.

It's very rare that you're
going to see a privateer

come out these days
and beat all the factory guys.

Like, very rare.

I don't know, because
I was one of them. [laughs]

[engine whirring]

[Brian]In '97,
LA Coliseum happens.

I go out in the main event,
take off.

All the heavy hitters are there,
you know.

It's like Windham, Ramsey,
Carmichael, all the good guys.

[Announcer]Raynard has got
a battle on his hands

from an unexpected rider,
Brian Deegan.

[Brian]I finally was in
the lead at a Supercross

and I just remember I was
so nervous.

It's everything I had worked
for at that moment.

And I wasn't getting tired
because I did train my ass off.

I just remember thinking,
what are you going to do?

"What are you going to do?"
I'm like, "Don't mess it up."

[Announcer]...goes down.

Brian Deegan
lets his bike fly...

[Brian]I'm going over
the finish line

and just ghost riding
the bike.

[Announcer]Just launched
his bike off the finish line.

Jumped up by Kenny West.

[Brian]Second and third are,
like, racing over my head.

I'm thinking, like, "How many
things could have went wrong?"

But I didn't care, dude.

Thanks for coming out,
him and my brother.

Glad they're here to see
me kick everyone's ass.

[Ricky]That was crazy,
right?

I mean, I was like,
what is happening here?

What did this guy do?

We just did the biggest
feat in racing.

We're a privateer team.

We just won the biggest race
of the year.

[Ash]To see a guy on
a privateer team

win a race against
his factory guys,

that was a huge part of
Supercross history for sure.

[Brian]My whole career,
I was always a top 10 guy.

But I never got the factory
ride

because I had this chip on
my shoulder.

[Narrator]Together with
several other key figures,

including the likes
of Travis Pastrana,

Carey Hart and Mike Metzger,

Deegan helped pioneer
freestyle motocross

and take it from a cult movement

to one of the most popular
action sports today.

[engines whirring]

[Eric]The match-out qualifier
is sometimes

the most exciting
race of the night.

And that race is when they put
everything on the line.

That's when they make
the main event,

the night show.

[Todd]I would love to win.
I'd love to do anything.

You know, I'd love to just have
them see me as the rider

I know I can be.

[rock music]

[Todd]Not only for people
to see that,

but for myself
to know I can do it.

I want it really, really,
really bad.

[rock music]

[Narrator]With a slower
lap time,

Todd will not be moving
on to the night show,

another tough result for
the privateer.

[Todd]This is what
I want to do.

And I want to do it

as long as I possibly can
while I'm still young.

And then when time comes
for me not to do it no more,

I feel like I'll know
and I'll move on with my life.

But until then, I don't think
I can just give it up.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator]For an '80s icon,

greatness was found
on the dirt,

redemption off.

[Producer] How's that full
series doing there?

I don't hear anything
about it.

Johnson, take one, mark.

[Ricky J]There's some pain.

There's some pain and
some regret.

But, and I say this
wholeheartedly,

what happened to me was

because the way it was
supposed to happen.

[Announcer]Putting
the pressure on the crowd,

starting to go crazy.

Johnson putting the pressure
on Ward.

He goes to the inside.
Look at that.

Locks up the rear wheel.

The crowd is going
absolutely insane.

[Dave]He hates to lose.

Anybody's in front
of Ricky Johnson,

he's going to track him down.
He's a dog on a piece of meat.

[Announcer]There's Johnson
on the inside line.

He's got guts.
Look at this.

[David]Ricky Johnson,
he was a bruiser.

Came in and punched
the competition in the teeth.

[Announcer]Ricky Johnson
has got the lead and...

[shouting]
into our cameraman!

[David]He didn't take
shit from anybody.

[Announcer]The checkered
flag is out

and Ricky does it.

He would say, "I can ride
a motorcycle

better than I can walk,
you know."

[Announcer]
And Ricky Johnson wins

the Super Bowl of Motocross!

Holy Toledo!

When I said I was going to come
out here and race to win,

I'm here to race to win.

Who's a man and who's chicken
is the way I look at it.

RJ was the bad boy.

He was onOakley.
He was onBad Boy Club.

[Davey]The 1980s was
the zenith of all things cool

about Supercross,
and then there's Rick Johnson.

He's got charisma.
He's got the ambition.

[Announcer]Ricky Johnson
taking his hand off the bar.

He does it again.

[Davey]And he knows how
to give the fans

and the Supercross
promoters what they want.

As soon as I got out in
the open,

I was a little bit bored.

I thought I'd put on a show
for the people.

I liked him
because he was flashy.

He was cocky.
He was stylish.

Hi, I'm Rick Johnson,
the style king of Supercross.

Some say it's my hair.

[Jeremy]You know, he had
cool hair and cool gear,

cool bikes.

So as a kid, you're like,
man, I just want to be that guy.

Don't attempt
this stuff at home.

When I was a kid, I would open
up myMinicycle Action,

and here was Jeff Ward, Brian
Myerscop, and Flying Mike Brown.

And even though they were
basically kids like me,

they were successful kids.

They had their picture in
a magazine.

And that's what I wanted to be.

[Announcer]Johnson takes
it sideways. Woo!

[crowd cheering]

Well, the relationship with
my father was tumultuous,

to say the least.

I couldn't have been loved any
more than my father loved me.

But that did come at a price.

[Stephanie]
Rick's dad was tough.

I mean, that was a tough house
to grow up in, for sure.

His parents were alcoholics.
They were abusive.

He came from a
very abusive home.

I just used to get so
pissed at my dad.

You know, he would say things
to me and just,

you know, he was a hard guy.

I wanted to, you know,

pack up my little backpack
and run away, you know.

He was one of the meanest people
I've ever met in my life.

I mean, he was rough.

[tense music]

[Stephanie]Rick was
the goose

that laid the golden egg
for that family.

And that's the truth.

[Announcer]Rick, he goes
ahead and does it.

We've got a crowd cheering
on Johnson.

[Ricky]It got a little tense

when the money started
getting higher.

-Come on, open the gate, man.
-[Man]Oh, yes, sir.

[Ricky]It's not a good thing
when a child

is making more money
than the adult

has ever made
in their life.

When he got into the money,
it started to get scary.

When you go for money,

people start cutting each
other's throat.

[Announcer]And here we go.
The gate is down.

Looks like Ricky Johnson
and David Bailey

getting off to a good run.

[Ricky J]So in 1986,

I had the great race
with David Bailey.

[Announcer]Holy smoke,
Bailey's right next to him.

So look at this.
Side by side into the corner.

That's the fourth time in a lap
nthat we've had the lead change.

It's an all-out battle
for first place.

[Ricky J]He beat me fair
nand square and handed it to me.

[Announcer]And David
"The Bandit" Bailey

takes a surprise
come-from-behind win here.

[Ricky J]I call my dad.
"What happened?

"I got second."

"What happened? Did you crash?"
"No."

"I couldn't beat him."
"Why?

Was something wrong with
your bike?"

I'm like, "No.

"David is one of the best riders
in the world right now,

and I got second to him."

"Do you realize how much money
you lost?

"You lost this much from Bell.
You lost this much from Fox.

"You lost this much
from Alpine Star.

You lost this much from Honda."

At some point, I'm like,
"We're done."

I said, "I can't do this
anymore."

I just go, I gotta do
my own thing.

I was 21 years old.

[engine whirring]

[Ricky J]So it's 1989.

We go to Gainesville for
the opening round

and had a short practice day.

[engines whirring]

[Ricky J]Danny Storbeck
was a friend of mine

and a racer for Yamaha,
very fast, very capable.

And I come around,
and I'm trying to pass him,

and I can't get around him.

I pass him on the outside,

and it's like a jump
and a step up the hill.

I scrub it a little bit.

As I come down,
we came together.

His front wheel hit the back
of my arm,

shoved my hand,

just, it, like,
blew me off the bike.

[Announcer]Oh, and he gets
wild! What happened?

[Announcer 2]A very,
very treacherous accident.

A nightmare for Ricky Johnson.
Johnson gone down.

I pull my goggles off
and I hit Danny in the face.

I'm like, "What the fuck?"
You know, "Da-da-da."

So he rides off and I'm just,
the adrenaline's going crazy.

And I look down and
my glove's ripped off

and my hand is over off
to the side.

And I just knew, I'm like,
this is not good.

[sirens]

[Ricky]As they're driving me
to the hospital,

I'm starting to do the math.

Okay, throw the 250
Nationals out.

I'll take so many weeks
to get ready

and I gotta win
the 500 championship

because I'm not gonna win
the Supercross championship

and I'm not gonna win
the 250 Outdoor.

I gotta win the 500.

How many more successes
could he have had?

You know, Rick was just,
like, devastated,

and I had never seen him
like that.

It was like a chink in
his armor.

[Davey]He loved being
the champion.

He was never better
than he was in '89.

[Ricky]That was a turning
point in my life.

I mean, it changed a lot
of shit for me.

[Stephanie]I mean,

if you ride a motorcycle,
you're gonna get hurt.

It's not if, it's when.
So I didn't know what to expect.

You know, it's emotionally
draining too.

After I got hurt...
and then I tried to come back.

[Announcer]Ricky Johnson,
he's riding with an injury

that he suffered last year.

[Man]After the injury
that kept you out of Daytona

last year,
are you 100% now?

I'm getting not quite 100% yet,
but getting there.

[Announcer]Ricky Johnson
trying to reel in Jeff Ward.

[Ricky J]Then it got
to a point

where I was having some
weird actions.

[Announcer]Oh, wait a minute,
Johnson goes down!

He is lying in the track,
not moving!

Once I hurt myself, the last
two years was just miserable.

And then I broke my hand again.

[Announcer]And Johnson
goes down, he goes down!

Johnson gets up again!
The crowd goes crazy!

He fought for two years through
those wrist injuries

trying to get it sorted,
and it was devastating.

He just, he could not race at
the caliber that he was used to.

At San Diego,
all of a sudden I'm wide open.

I hit the whoops and go over
the bars and land.

And I said,
"My throttle's stuck."

They're like,
the throttle wasn't stuck.

I'm like, it's my hand.
It's doing it.

[Stephanie]He just,
he couldn't hang on.

[crowd cheering]

[Ricky]That's when I realized
that I can't do it anymore.

No matter what I did,
I couldn't come back.

And I just literally broke down,
like, just bawling like a baby.

[Announcer]They're bringing
out a stretcher for Johnson.

[Stephanie]There were
some dark times.

I mean, he was depressed.

And he was like, "OK,
what are we going to do?"

[Announcer]Ladies
and gentlemen of San Diego,

I present to you
Ricky "No Fear" Johnson.

[crowd cheering]

That wrist injury,
it just kept compounding itself,

compounding itself.
In the end, he had to retire.

On behalf of SRO Pace
Promotions, Super Sports,

and the Mickey Thompson
Entertainment Group,

the promoters of Supercross,

I'd like to present you
an award,

which says, "Thanks for your
contribution to the growth

"and success of Supercross.

We couldn't have done it
without you."

-Thank you, Ricky.
-Thank you very much, Bill.

[Davey]To this day,

I think there is
a bitterness in RJ

of how things ended.

He could have been one of those
guys that becomes the GOAT,

the greatest of all time,
the king of Supercross forever.

He held it against
Danny Storbeck.

They were friends.
They used to hang out together.

Danny would come
to California State with him.

RJ really directed his
ire at Danny.

He knew what he was capable of.
And it was more championships.

So he had every right
to be bitter.

But it was never intentional.

And that was the end of,
you know, his reign.

[Announcer]Momentarily,
we're waiting for RJ,

the magic man of motocross.

The man is pumped, RJ.

[crowd cheering]
[air horns blaring]

My father
passed away a few years back.

But I had his ashes at my feet.
He was at my bar for two years.

He was the biker guy.
I wasn't a biker guy.

He loved it.

He had made the ride
from Arizona to Daytona twice

to go see his best friend
in Florida.

And he always busted my balls.

He said, "Oh, yeah,
you're not a man.

You haven't ridden across
the country on a bike."

So I'm going, "OK,
this is what I'm going to do."

I'm going to get
an adventure bike.

And I'm going to ride solo
across the country.

I'm going to put my dad's
ashes at Daytona,

because he loved that place.

At the end of it,
that's just what I needed.

[rock music]

I knew he wanted a little
soul-searching trip.

And when he was like, "Oh, I'm
going to take him to Daytona."

[Ricky]Day one,
I did 12 hours to El Paso.

Day two, rain,
going to Houston, 14 hours.

And then I'm talking to
my friend.

And he calls me.
And I said,

"Yeah, I'm getting ready
to roll through San Antonio."

He's like, "Why don't you
stop and blah, blah, blah

with Danny Storbeck?"

And I'm like, "Just shut up.

You don't even need
to say that."

So I got Danny's number.
And I called him up.

So typical Danny.
I said,

"Hey, Danny, it's RJ."
"What's up?"

I said, "Oh, man, I'm just
calling to let you know

that I don't harbor any hard
feelings."

He goes, "Well, I don't harbor
any hard feelings either."

And I'm like, "For what?

Slowing you down two tenths of
a second when you landed on me?"

I mean, you know, but so we
had a long talk.

I think making peace with him
and for himself, for Danny,

whether he thinks about it
or not,

it was something Rick
needed to do.

[soft music]

[Ricky J]So I got to take
my dad for a lap,

actually two laps.

But I made it to Daytona,
so...

[Stephanie]
He takes his dad out,

sits him on the table,
orders two beers.

And he's like, "Here we are."

You know, and he got
a little teary eyed and stuff.

He called me, and he
took him to the beach.

And, you know, he was getting
emotional because he knew

that was the rest of it.

Photographer shooting
an engagement photo

for this couple.

Here they come walking in
the water and the wave comes up

and here comes Rick's dad.
[laughs]

[Ricky J]
Talked to Danny again.

Six months after Daytona,
I get a text.

"My dad died last night."

So, it's pretty touching, but
the fact that he called me...

meant a lot because
all those years,

all the animosity,

all the all the shit
that went on,

and we shared both
our dads loved us to death

and we loved our dads.

They're both sons of bitches
in their own right.

But they, but they were,
they were, they're great to us

and they made us the men
that we are,

and for him to reach out
to me.

And so it wasn't just me
closing the book with my dad.

I was able to do that
with Danny because I truly,

truly, truly believe
and accept what happened to me

was because the way
it was supposed to happen.

If Danny Storbeck was
this far to the right,

it would have never happened.

If Danny Storbeck was
this far to the left,

it would've either killed me
or paralyzed me.

So really, was the broken
wrist that bad?

I mean, look what I've gone
to do.

The most important thing is

that I was able to fall in love
with a woman.

I've been married to her
for 30 years,

and we have three beautiful kids

that are out in the world
being responsible adults.

So if I would have not had
that injury,

would I have been vulnerable
enough

to fall in love with a woman
the way I did and accept her?

And she accepted me exactly
who I am?

Probably not.

[soft music]

[Narrator]The synchronicity
of a brand and a new promoter

coming together have laid
a foundation for the future.

Becoming the title sponsor
in 2008,

the Monster Energy brand DNA

fused organically with
the sport itself.

[crowd cheering]

Out of all the sports,

this is what I regard
as our absolute core.

It's what we built our brand on.

When you go to a Supercross,
it's a Monstercross.

[Mark]Our brand has
always been about a lifestyle,

and I think the lifestyle
of Supercross and two wheels

is just a natural fit for us.

I think Supercross is bigger now
and better now

because of our involvement
in this sport.

[Sam]It's unpredictable.

It's dangerous.
It's balls to the wall.

It's really a counterculture.

And that was the perfect brand
personality for Monster Energy.

[Narrator]The same year,
2008,

was when Feld Entertainment,
led by Kenneth Feld

of Ringling Brothers
and Barnum & Bailey Circus fame,

saw a property
with unrealized potential.

[Kenneth]I thought it was
like the greatest sport

that nobody ever heard of in
the mainstream.

I'm somebody that always looks
into the future

and I never live in the past.

And that's what we've done
with this sport

and we'll continue to do it.

And I think over
the next several years,

you're going to see
dramatic changes

that are going to grow
and elevate this sport globally.

[Narrator]Historically,
the sport of dirt bike racing

was divided into two distinct
and clashing worlds.

Supercross, called the indoors
with racing inside stadiums,

and the outdoor nationals,
taking place in natural terrain.

The two leagues,

even though they shared
athletes and race teams,

were highly competitive,

creating rifts and challenges
while also limiting growth.

[upbeat music]

[Narrator]2023 saw
a seismic shift,

one that took Mike Goodwin's
original dream

to a level he couldn't
even imagine.

And it would come together
in the LA Coliseum

where it all began.

[upbeat music]

[Mike]I wanted to make
motorcycle racing

into big time entertainment.

It is far and exceeded
my wild expectations

with what Feld, Monster,
etc., have done.

It's magnificent.

I'm recognized regularly
in here for it.

[Narrator]Brokering a deal
between Kenneth Feld,

who had purchased the sport
of Supercross,

and Kerry Coombs,

whose family had overseen
the outdoor nationals

for decades,

something new, bigger, brighter,
and better was created.

The Super Motocross World
Championships,

bringing together
the entire dirt bike community.

[upbeat music]

[Narrator]One of the riders
who would be vying

for a world championship

at the inaugural event
would be a charismatic

17-year-old
Haiden "Danger Boy" Deegan.

Here we are, decades later,
back at the Coliseum.

They've been racing Supercross
here since it started in '72.

And Brian Deegan,
who nobody liked,

who ghosted his bike,

who couldn't
even get any support,

his son can be
the world champion tonight.

It's just,
it's complete juxtaposition.

[applause]

[soft music]

[Brian] Good to get back.

Good to get back
to what he grew up on.

And there's a lot
of memories here at this arena.

So it's cool to come back

and race here again,
and be a part of it.

Hopefully, Haiden can go kick
some ass tonight.

[Male Singer]
♪ Home of the brave... ♪

[cheers and applause]

[fireworks]

[rock music]

[engines whirring]

[Announcer]Listen to the crowd!

They know some history's
on the line!

[rock music]

[Announcer]Haiden Deegan
on his way!

[crowd cheering]

[Announcer]Danger Money
for Danger Boy!

He's a world champion!

[Announcer 2]What an
incredible moment

for this young rookie.

This guy is something special.
Wait till he hugs his dad.

Then it's really going
to get to him.

-So awesome.
-[Announcer] Oh, yeah.

[cheering]

Good job, Haiden!

He did get a factory ride,
which, you know,

basically for me,
okay, we did it.

[laughs] You know,
even though he did it.

Yeah! Yeah!

[screams]

You know, he's put
the Deegan name already

in places that I tried
and couldn't, you know.

And I feel like that was
the coolest,

coolest moment of my life.

I'm like, "Bro,
you just freaking won."

[Man] Winning the 2023
250 SMX World Champion.

[crowd cheering]

[Brian]It's already
Supercross, and end up winning,

you know, the best guys in
the world.

The next generation
of kids coming in

the next few years are
going to take the level up

because they started
on Supercross as kids.

And I saw, you're going to see
the game even change again

in the next few years,
I predict.

I think it's going
to be interesting to watch.

[cheers and applause]

[engines whirring]

[fireworks]

[Narrator]A rider throws
his leg over a bike

and enters the unknown,

prepared to grab a fistful
of throttle

and see where their
destiny lies.

[dramatic music]

[Narrator]There are
the greats

who have not been
mentioned here,

but are indelible characters
from the past

upon which the present
and future is built.

[dramatic music]

[fireworks]

[Narrator]The past
is prelude.

The dirt enduring.
The faces changing.

We are in a new age of bigger,
faster, better.

Led by the likes
of Danger Boy Deegan

and notably
the Aussie phenom Jet Lawrence,

who some say will be etching
his name among the legends.

We watch because honesty reveals
itself with the gate drop.

Heart, soul, desire, passion,

grit and determination are
nakedly revealed on the dirt.

We watch enthralled, as when
all else is said and done,

it is the ageless story of
who wants it more

and who is the fastest
on any given Saturday night.

[crowd cheering]
[air horn blaring]

[instrumental music]