Unadilla
New Berlin, NY
“The place to race since 1969,” upstate New York’s Unadilla MX is one of America’s original motocross tracks, hosting the biggest events in sport history, including USGPs, the Motocross of Nations, Pro Motocross, Trans-AMAs and more. A truly European layout with Woodstock vibes, the former dairy farm lies within the Unadilla River Valley, six miles north of the town of New Berlin and between Syracuse and Albany. Unadilla is an Iroquois word that means “place of meeting.”
Fast Facts
Bob Hannah (pictured) had many great Unadilla moments but his most legendary was on an RM125 at the 1987 Motocross of Nations. It started off roughly when Hannah needed three attempts to get his ‘Zook to the top of ‘Screw-U’ on lap one. “For the first half of that moto, I was riding like an old woman,” he said.
But Hannah wen 9-3 (overall!) on a 125 and Team USA beat the Dutch by two points, who beat the Belgians by two points.
In 1989, Unadilla returned to the Pro Motocross schedule for the first time in 22 years and Kawasaki’s Jeff Ward made history when he clinched the 500MX title, becoming the first rider to own all three Pro MX crowns (125, 250 and 500).
Jean-Michel Bayle (1-2) won the Unadilla overall but Ward won the title by 21 points over Honda’s Jeff Stanton.
Ricky Carmichael’s Pro Motocross win streak had reached a staggering 21 consecutive overall wins when the series reached the 2003 Unadilla National but Kevin Windham, on a Honda CRF450R, ended RC’s historic run.
Carmichael, riding a CR250R two stroke, started eighth but by the time he got to second, Windham was gone and won by 20 seconds. They started up front together in moto two but Windham still dominated. It was that loss when RC knew it was time to consider switching to a four stroke.
James Stewart, riding an underpowered Kawasaki KX250, did everything he could to stay in the battle with Ricky Carmichael’s RM-Z 450 but the pursuit ended with him landing on top of RC when their lines crossed on a drop-off.
While Stewart lay motionless, Carmichael deadlifted Stew’s Kawasaki of his Suzuki. Kevin Windham won the moto, Carmichael salvaged second on a bent up bike. RC won moto 2 and the overall, another win on his way to a third career 12-0 season.
Just five days after his 20th birthday, Honda’s Jett Lawrence completed the first major milestone of his rookie 450MX season by clinching the championship two rounds early.
Unadilla also marked Lawrence’s 17th and 18th straight moto wins. He fought off teammate Chase Sexton and 2021 champion Dylan Ferrandis, securing enough points to claim the championship.
Venues
Laid out within 55 green acres of upstate New York farm land, Unadilla MX was once famous for kicking off race weekends on a completely grass covered course. Originally called the Unadilla Valley Sports Center, the facility hosted Trans-AMA races before the AMA Pro Motocross Championship even existed. The 1987 Motocross of Nations happened at ‘dilla, the first time the event was held in the United States.
Ward Robinson bought the land in 1968 after seeing an Inter-AM motocross in Pepperell, Mass. and he held his first race the following year. The layout used today is close to Ward Robinson’s original vision of a natural Euro-style course and still has many original track features, such as Gravity Cavity and The Wall (originally ‘Screw U’).
A second generation of Robinsons (siblings Jill and Greg) run the venue, which now features the Skyshot, a 150-ft. tabletop.
The interactive table below details the all-time Unadilla leaders. Who has the most starts, wins, podiums and points. Filter by class. On mobile, slide left to access more columns.
All-Time Leaders
Who won Unadilla, in what year and what round was the race? Winner history makes that easy to see. Tap ‘additional stats’ to see more info
Winner History
Full race results from each Unadilla Motocross. Tap ‘additional stats’ to see position changes and qualifying ranking