Philadelphia
Philadelphia
The City of Brotherly Love (and many other nicknames) returns to the Supercross schedule for the first time since 1980, when Jimmy Carter was president and most bikes were air-cooled, twin-shocked and had drum brakes.
Fast Facts
Philadelphia Venues
The 1980 Philadelphia Supercross was held around the perimeter of the football field within John F. Kennedy Stadium (promoters were not allowed to build on the grass). JFK was demolished in 1992.
Lincoln Financial Field opened in August 2003. It is an open-air, 67,594-capacity football stadium and home of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, part of the larger South Philadelphia Sports Complex where JFK Stadium once stood.
After a four week break in the series, Mike Bell entered the 1980 Philly doubleheader with a 27 point lead over Suzuki’s Kent Howerton. In his heat race, however, a freak accident nearly clotheslined his entire weekend; a banner fell from the top of the over/under bridge and caught Bell around the neck as he was passing through the tunnel. Bell still won the heat but he suffered a bruised and scraped neck that he lathered in salve for the main event. In the final, Jeff Ward led early but was passed by Bell before the end of lap one. Bell led all 25 laps (before the race, the AMA mistakenly announced the event would go 25 laps instead of the normal 20) and earned his 6th victory of the season. Jim Gibson finished 2nd, his second career SX podium (and second in a row) and Steve Wise was 3rd.
Broc Glover (#11) won Sunday afternoon’s main event in the 1980 Philadelphia doubleheader but Mike Bell (who needed a 7th or better if Kent Howerton won) claimed the 1980 AMA Supercross championship, his first and Yamaha’s fourth consecutive. The win at Philadelphia II was Glover’s fourth of the season but he was out of title contention due to missing rounds 3-4. Bell finished 3rd in the race, his 11th podium of the season.
The course for the 1980 Philadelphia Supercross was not allowed to touch the grass where the Philadelphia Eagles were scheduled to begin the NFL season less than a month after the SX race (they went on to play in the 1981 Super Bowl). Lap times hovered around 45 seconds, quick, especially for a race track that featured several series of randomly placed and peaked jumps that were intended to slow down the riders and catapult them into the air. What really happened was a lot of competitors went over the bars and got sent to the hospital. Philly didn’t return to the schedule until 44 years later.