Anthony Sewell
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Anthony Sewell (b. August 3, 1962 in Los Angeles, California USA) is a former professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1978 to 1984.
Nickname: "The Panther".[1]
Contents |
[edit] Racing career
Started Racing: 1974 at 12 years old.
Sanctioning Body:
First race result:
First win (local):
First sponsor:
First national win:
Turned professional: 1979 at 17 years old.
First professional race result:
First Professional win:
Height and Weight at height of his career (1978-1983): Ht:5' 6" Wt:~145lbs
Retired from Senior A/AA pro racing: 1986 at age 24. He race in England until the spring of 1986. He then returned to the United States and raced sponsorless for a few months in early 1986, then dropped out of sight. Briefly reappeared at the ABA U.S. National in Bakersfield California. He then dropped out of sight again. His disappearances became somewhat of a running joke.
[edit] Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors.
[edit] Amateur
- JAG BMX: 1978-December 31, 1980 He would turn pro with this sponsor.
[edit] Professional
- JAG BMX: 1978-December 31, 1980
- Kuwahara: January 1, 1981-May 1981
- Huffy Corporation: Late July 1981-September 11, 1981. This seemed to have been a limited sponsorship with Anthony wearing Huffy uniforms and racing their bicycles. He was sponsored by them for four races before Sewell signed permanently with Murray Ohio.[2]
- Murray Ohio: September 12, 1981-September 1984
- KHS: February 1985 to Mid 1985
- Birmingham Wheels (Birmingham, England): Mid 1985-December 1985. He was living and racing in England and this was his sponsor. He had returned to the United States by early 1986 racing sponsorless. He failed to get a sponsor in 1986 due to the paucity of hiring by the major companies caused by both the slump in popularity of BMX racing and the wish to expand their freestyle teams in light of the rise in popularity of BMX Freestyle. By mid 1986 Anthony Sewell had quietly faded out of the racing scene.
- S&M (Greg Scott & Chris Moeller[3]) Bicycles: April 16-17 1988. After dropping out of racing for two years he raced at the ABA Bakersfield Nationals in Bakersfield, California[4] being sponsored for only the weekend. He did not make any mains, perhaps because his S&M race bicycle was stolen, depending on whether it was stolen after or during the National.[5] He then disappeared from the racing scene once again.
[edit] Career bicycle motocross titles
[edit] Amateur
National Bicycle Association (NBA)
- 1978 Jag BMX 16 year old class and Overall World Champion* (NBA/NBL sanctioned)
*At the time the overall champion was decided by a trophy Dash between the age winners in in points and open classes. With the oldest Amateurs, the 16 & over class and 16 & over open they also race the pro winners, so the overall world champion could be a professional or amateur. This rule was changed in 1983 and the Pros no longer raced the Amateurs.
National Bicycle League (NBL)
0
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
0
[edit] Professional
National Bicycle Association (NBA)
- 1980 National No.1 Pro
National Bicycle League (NBL)
- 1980 National No.1 Pro
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
- 1982 Jag Pro Cruiser World Champion (ABA Sanctioned)
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
0
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)
0
Pro Series Championships
[edit] Notable accolades
- Antony Sewell became the first official World Champion in 1978 by winning the trophy dash at the 1978 Jag World Championships.*
- He became the first pro to hold the No.1 pro title in two different sanctioning bodies simultaneously: The NBA and the NBL in 1980.
- Mr. Sewell is a 1998 Inductee to the ABA BMX Hall of Fame.
*There were minimal foreign participation at the time, but given the fact that BMX during that era was virtually a US exclusive sport(with some then small Canadian and Mexican participation), the title of "World Champion" had some legitimacy. The only question was that it was not part of a series but just one race. Many felt that a World Champion could not be decided by just one race given the luck factor. The winner could have been having one good day by coincidence while an otherwise more consitant racer could have had one bad day at a bad time to have it.
[edit] Significant injuries
[edit] Peccadilloes
- Noted for his thick Coke bottle bottom thick glasses until he switched to contact lenses at the end of the 1979 racing season.
- He was considered a noted sprinter down the first and last straight with minimal technical skills concerning going over obstacles and setting up passes in turns. He also was reputed to be at his best on flat, dirtless indoor stadium tracks with slick concrete or wooden floors and wooden moguls and flat, bermless turns. The Jag BMX World Championships first four races were held on these dirtless courses.
- He also had the habit of dropping out of sight for periods of time being a very private person. There was even an underground tongue in cheek video of the search for him called "The Search".[6] After coming back for one ABA National at Bakersfield, California in April of 1988 he dropped out of sight again, unofficially retiring. In hindsight it was his goodbye race.
[edit] Post BMX career
[edit] BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles
- "The Complete Racer: Sewell Rules!" Bicycle Motocross Action May 1981 Vol.6 No.5 pg.78
- "Anthony Sewell!" BMX Plus! December 1981 Vol.4 No.12 pg.35
- Short blurb in BMX Plus! October 1982 Vol.5 No.10 pg.82
[edit] End Notes
- ^ Bicycle Motocross Action May 1979 Vol.4 No.3 pg.50 & 51
- ^ Super BMX January 1982 Vol.9 No.1 pg.22
- ^ BMX Plus! September 1989 Vol.12 No.9 pg.49
- ^ BMX Plus! August 1988 Vol.11 No.8 pg.60
- ^ BMX Action April 1989 Vol.14 No.4 pg.12
- ^ BMX Action September 1988 Vol.13 No.9 pg.16
