David Clinton
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | David Clinton |
| Nickname | "Dynamite" |
| Date of birth | January 2, 1960 (age 47) |
| Country |  United States |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Bicycle Motocross (BMX) |
| Role | Racer |
| Rider type | Off Road |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1972-1974 1974 1974 1974-1976 1976-1977 |
Rick's Bike Shop Kawasaki Motors Dirtmaster Kawasaki Motors Jimmy Weinart |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1977 1977 1978 1979 1979 1979 1979-1982 |
Jimmy Weinart D.G. Performance Specialist Shimano Sales Corporation Redline Engineering D.G. Performance Specialist Shimano Sales Corporation Diamondback |
| Infobox last updated on: | |
| March 15, 2007 | |
David Clinton (b. January 2, 1960 in Sun Valley, California[1]) is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1973 to 1979. Nicknamed "Dynamite" early in his career[2] 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 Phoenix, Arizona in 1975[3] 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: Late 1980 at age 20. 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.[4]
*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. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage at the time in question.
[edit] Amateur
- Rick's Bike Shop: 1972-August 1, 1974
- Kawasaki Motors: August 1,1974[5]-Late August 1974
- Dirtmaster: Late August 1974-September 1974
- Kawasaki Motors: September 1974-January 1976. Clinton briefly retired from BMX to race motorcycles for Kawasaki.[6]
- Jimmy Weinart: Late September 1976 May 1977. David Clinton would turn pro with this sponsor.
[edit] Professional
- Jimmy Weinart: Late September 1976 May 1977.
- D.G. Performance Specialist (The initials stood for Dan Hangsleben, Gary Harlow):[7] May 1977-December 31, 1977
- D.G. Performance Specialist: August 1979-September 1979. Brief one month stay. This was Clinton's second stint with DG.
- 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.[8]
[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
Independent Invitationals and Pro Series Championships
- 1977 16 Expert NBA/Mongoose Exhibition winner.†
†In 1977 the NBA held an exhibition race during the halftime period between the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Rams NFL football game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in August 1977 (the Rams moved from Los Angeles, California to St. Louis, Missouri in 1994).
[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 fastest elapse time for a single lap on the quarter mile course at 69.9 seconds.[9]
- He is considered to be the sport's first Superstar.
- He was the first factory sponsored rider in the sport of BMX.[10]
- He has been credited with performing the first "Table Top", a BMX stunt maneuver. He was photographed performing in July of 1975 at Saddleback track.[11]
- 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.[12]
- He was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame on October 17, 2006
[edit] Significant injuries
- Had several knee injuries during the late 1977 season.[13] Including one during a practice sesson that laid him up for six months,[14] putting him out of contention for the NBA national number one plate. These knee problems would eventually force him into retirement some three years later.
[edit] Peccadilloes
[edit] Post BMX career
- As of 2005 He is the inside sales manager and in charge of answers bmx co-factory program.[10]
[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 Vol.3 No.5 with Scott Clark and Harry Leary in second and third respectively.
BMX Plus!:
- January 1979 Vol.2 No.1 In insert. Anthony Sewell main image.
- March 1980 Vol.3 No.3
Bicycles and Dirt:
[edit] BMX press magazine interviews and articles
- "What Makes David Run" Bicyicle Motocross News September 1974 Vol.1 No.4 pg.19
- "David Clinton" Bicycle Motocross Action January/February 1979 Vol.4 No.2
[edit] End Notes
- ^ Bicyicle Motocross News September 1974 Vol.1 No.4 pg.19
- ^ Bicycle Motocross News October 1974 Vol.1 No.5 pg.13
- ^ BMX Plus! January 1983 Vol.6 No.1 pg.22
- ^ BMX Plus! March 1983 Vol.6 No.3 pg.47
- ^ Bicycle Motocross News September 1974 Vol.1 No.4 pg.8
- ^ Bicycle Motocross News March 1976 Vol.3 No.3 pg.9
- ^ BMX Plus! July 1988 Vol.11 No.7 pg.26
- ^ BMX Plus! July 1984 Vol.7 No.7 pg.14
- ^ Cycle Illustrated January 1975 Vol.8 No.4 pg.56
- ^ a b David Clinton's personal posting at roostbmx.com
- ^ BMX Action December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 pg.27
- ^ BMX Action December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 pg.30
- ^ Bicycle Motocross Action June 1978 Vol.3 No.3 pg.31
- ^ Bicycle Motocross Action October 1977 Vol.2 No.3 pg.5
