FAST FACT

All-Time Team USA Motocross of Nations Members

October 1, 2024

By Brett Smith

The Fab Five of Team USA never lost at the Motocross of Nations.

With 23 victories in 46 attempts, Team USA is the winningest country in Motocross of Nations history. Solid stats for a nation that didn’t show up until 1971 and spent 10 years getting to the top.

Motocross of Nations Winning Countries

Slide table left for more info. Filter by tapping column headers

MXoN Fun Facts

The 2024 event in Matterley Basin is the 77th MXoN.
The first MXoN was on July 20, 1947 near The Hague in The Netherlands. Just three countries competed (the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain).
Just 10 countries have won the MXoN.
Four different countries have won the last four MXoN events held: Netherlands, Italy, USA, France.
Never in the history of MXoN has five different countries won in 5 consecutive years.
France is the only country that has competed in EVERY single MXoN held since 1958
Five Americans have perfect records of (at least) four appearances and four wins (see chart below)

Johnny O’Mara, Danny LaPorte, Chuck Sun and Donnie Hansen on the podium at the 1981 Motocross of Nations in Germany. Photo: Henny Ray Abrams

The very first Team USA at MXoN was an all-Husqvarna-mounted squad in 1971; Barry Higgins, Gunnar Lindstrom, Bryan Kenney, Sonny Defeo and John Barclay. They finished 10th place, with a high moto score of 20th.

It wasn’t until 1981, Team USA’s ninth attempt, when four Honda-mounted riders beat Great Britain by a single point. One of those riders, 20-year-old Johnny O’Mara had never even ridden a 500cc motorcycle before lining up in Germany.

“I was scared of that bike,” O’Mara told Dick Miller in 1981. “My times were good but I wasn’t comfortable.”

Including that first winning team’s roster, 37 different riders have been a part of the 23 Team USA Motocross of Nations victories. Below is the full list with total appearances in column #2 and the years of the wins in column #4.

Team USA 1-2-3-4 at the start of the 1983 Motocross of Nations in Belgium.

All-Time Team USA Motocross of Nations Greats

This is every member of Team USA who was on at least one MXoN winning team.

Slide table left for more info. Filter by tapping column headers

For more MXoN knowledge, read the We Went Fast Epic, “Jeff Ward is Captain America”, our longform piece about Jeff Ward, the winningest member of Team USA at the Motocross of Nations. Also available as a podcast.