David Clinton

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David Clinton (b. 1960 from Simi Valley, California) is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1973 to 1979. David Clinton could be truthfully said to be the sport's first true superstar. He was the first racer to win an official National No.1 plate of any kind when the first BMX sanctioning body, the National Bicycle Association (NBA), introduced the title in 1975. During the previous year he won the junior class division of a series of what could be called proto Nationals, a part of the first major BMX series, when he took first place in the Junior class at the Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup which decided the California State Champion. Clinton along with Scot Breithaupt and John "Snaggletooth" Palfryman participated in the first true National sanctioned by the NBA in Pheonix, Arizona in 1975[1] and became the first official pro in BMX in 1977 (although Thom Lund could be considered the first BMXer to race for money. He raced for a share of the US$200 purse and won the Scot Breithaupt sponsored Saddleback Park race in Irvine, California in 1975).

Contents

[edit] Racing career

Started Racing: 1972 Age 12.

Sanctioning Body: National Bicycle Association (NBA)

First race result:

First win (local):

First national win: Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup Final on September 14, 1974 in Junior class age 14*

Turned professional: 1977 at 17 years of age with the NBA. He was the very first official pro.

First Professional win:

First sponsor: Rick's Bike Shop

Retired: 1981 at age 21. He made a brief comeback in 1982 but a knee injury forced him to retire from BMX permently. He raced Mountain bikes for a time during the 1980s.

Height & weight at height of his career (1975-1978): Ht: Wt:~230lbs.[2]

*Classifications at the time were determined by size and weight and not age and proficiency, so his age in this case is irrelevant. The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup was the first "National" to be held in BMX.

[edit] Career factory and major bike 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

  • Kawasaki Motors: Late 1973-December 1975
  • Jimmy Weinart: 1976-1977 David Clinton would turn pro with this sponsor

[edit] Professional

  • Jimmy Weinart: 1976-1977
  • Webco: 1977
  • Shimano Sales Corporation: February 1978-December 1978
  • Redline Engineering: January 1, 1979-August 1979
  • D.G. Performance Specialist (The initials stood for Dan Hangsleben, Gary Harlow):[3] August 1979-September 1979
  • Shimano Sales Corporation: September 1979-December 1979
  • Diamondback (Centurion Bicycle Company): January 1980-December 1982. In the last months of his career (after a very brief racing comeback) and after his retirement he was the supervisor of the sales department at Western States Imports, the parent company of Centurion Bicycle Company.[4]

[edit] Career bicycle motocross titles

[edit] Amateur

  • 1974 Junior class California State Champion at the Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup (a.k.a the Bicycle Motocross Championship of California State).

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • 1974 Western States Champion.
  • 1975 National No.1

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None

[edit] Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • 1978 Pro & Overall Western States Champion.

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

  • None

Pro Series Championships

[edit] Notable accolades

David Clinton has numerous first attributed to him:

  • He became one of the first officially recognized title holders in what was the first BMX championship series when he became the Junior Class California State Champion of the Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup series along with Stu Thomsen (Expert Champion) and Mark Whitehead (Novice Champion). He also set the the fastest elapse time for a single lap on the quarter mile course at 69.9 seconds.[5]
  • He is considered to be the sport's first Superstar.
  • He has been credited with performing the first "Table Top", a BMX stunt maneuver. He was photographed performing in in July of 1975 at Saddleback track.[6]
  • He earned very first National No.1 plate of any kind. It was with the NBA in 1975.
  • He became the very first licensed professional of a sanctioning body in 1977, the NBA.
  • He became the very first ABA BMX Hall of Fame Inductee in 1985.
  • He was one of the founding members of the Professional Racing Organization (PRO) racers guild in 1977.[7]

[edit] Significant injuries

  • Had several knee injuries during the late 1977 season.[8]

[edit] Peccadilloes

[edit] Post BMX career

[edit] BMX Magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:

  • October 1974 Vol.1 No.5 with Bobby Encinas
  • December 1974 Vol.1 No.7
  • January 1975 Vol.2 No.1 with Bobby Encinas, John George, & Jack Shannon
  • July 1975 Vol.2 No.6
  • May 1977 Vol.4 No.5

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action:

  • September/October 1978

BMX Plus!:

  • March 1980 Vol.3 No.3

Bicycles and Dirt:

[edit] BMX press magazine interviews and articles

  • David Clinton Bicycle Motocross Action January/February 1979 Vol.4 No.2

[edit] End Notes

  1. ^ BMX Plus! January 1983 Vol.6 No.1 pg.22
  2. ^ BMX Plus! March 1983 Vol.6 No.3 pg.47
  3. ^ BMX Plus! July 1988 Vol.11 No.7 pg.26
  4. ^ BMX Plus! July 1984 Vol.7 No.7 pg.14
  5. ^ Cycle Illustrated January 1975 Vol.8 No.4 pg.56
  6. ^ BMX Action December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 pg.27
  7. ^ BMX Action December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 pg.30
  8. ^ Bicycle Motocross Action June 1978 Vol.3 No.3 pg.31

[edit] External links

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