Spring Creek
Millville, MN
With steep uphills, sweeping corners, sand whoops and a creek of the same name for fans to cool off in, Spring Creek MX Park is Minnesota’s premier Motocross facility. The track’s hometown, Millville, Minnesota, has strong Swedish heritage and a population of fewer than 200 people. The biggest event of the year for this hamlet on the Zumbro River is the annual Pro Motocross, which has run uninterrupted since 1983.
Fast Facts
Venue
Spring Creek MX Park is owned and operated by John & Greta Martin. In the mid-1980’s, they bought the 56 acres from Perry Hendricks when John’s professional off road racing career slowed down. The Martin’s developed the area into a nearly 500 acre Motocross haven. Spring Creek hasn’t missed a season of Pro Motocross since its first in 1983.
The venue is also the stomping grounds for John and Greta’s boys, two-time 250MX champion Jeremy Martin (a 3-time Spring Creek winner), and Alex Martin, who earned five podium finishes here in the 250MX class.
While dominating the 1996 Supercross season, Honda’s Jeremy McGrath also rolled through the early stages of Pro Motocross (which ran 3 rounds before SX ended). McGrath swept the first three (1-1 in the first six motos) and established himself as the favorite to defend his title.
However, a persistent and consistent Jeff Emig remained in the picture. McGrath entered Millville (round 10 of 13) with a 47-point lead but sprained his left foot (and his voice box!) in Friday’s practice session, where he attempted a double up to a tabletop that no other rider even considered. He cased the landing so harshly he bent his shock bolt, badly sprained his foot and took a handlebar to the throat.
Emig capitalized, winning his third overall of the season with a 1-1. It was a Kawasaki clean sweep with teammate Ryan Hughes in second (2-2) and Great Western Bank’s Phil Lawrence (5-3) completing the podium.
McGrath’s team was quoted before the race even started that they were on “damage control”. MC salvaged the weekend with a 6th overall (9-7) and his points lead was cut in half (+23).
Perhaps the most notorious professional debut in Motocross history occurred at Spring Creek in 2004, with 16-year-old Mike Alessi joining the pro ranks… in the 450 class! Complete with the bold phrase t-shirts that defined the race (“Believe the Hype”) Alessi’s arrival was both hyped and dreaded, as many of the top stars saw Alessi’s prediction of a top five or podium in his first career race as braggadocious and arrogant.
The weekend started great for the #800, with a qualifying race victory. It went south from there. Alessi collided with KTM’s Joaquim Rodrigues and Suzuki’s Sean Hamblin, who ran the rookie wide after a crash took each rider down.
The day ended with 27-25 scores for 30th overall, as Ricky Carmichael continued his march toward a second perfect season. After Carmichael did all the talking with his results, he was asked about Alessi in the press conference: “I got tired of everybody asking me about this guy,” Carmichael said.
The day Ricky Carmichael lapped the ENTIRE field.
A monsoon-like storm delayed the start of the second 450 moto, which eventually ran through the continued downpour. Carmichael pulled the holeshot and broke away from all but James Stewart.
The extremely wet, mucky and tricky conditions began to impact Stewart and other racers, with several riders getting stuck at the bottom of the hills. While Stewart, Chad Reed, and many others were buried, Carmichael continued to push forward.
The first rider to break free from the melee was Yamaha’s David Vuillemin, who pumped his fist after clearing the section.
Despite Vuillemin’s momentum while running second for much of the moto, Carmichael lapped the French racer at the beginning of the final lap to finish the day 1-1. Although Vuillemin got lapped in second place, he never got much credit for staying in the race and lapping through 15th place himself.
One year later, Spring Creek was Carmichael’s choice for his final Pro Motocross race, where he won his 102nd career overall.
A fantastic fight for the 2011 450 Supercross title continued into the summer with Chad Reed, Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey trading wins through the first eight rounds of the Pro Motocross season.
At Spring Creek, round nine of the series, Reed extended his points lead (+21) by taking the first moto win where the 2009 champion secured the holeshot and held off home state hero Dungey. Villopoto claimed third after a bad start.
In the second moto, Reed got out front again but took one of the wildest rides in Motocross history, remembered forever as the “Chadapult”. Reed’s Honda swapped on the face of a massive uphill double and sent his body rolling down the windows through the air. Somehow, he got up, waived off medical and finished the race in 14th, keeping the points lead in one of the greatest displays of heart and resilience in Motocross history.
Dungey rode on to the overall Millville win. Reed’s residual effects from the crash were a torn groin and a shoulder injury that eroded his ability to fight for the title.
This interactive table details the all-time leaders at Spring Creek. Who has the most starts, wins, podiums and points. Filter by class. On mobile, slide left to access more columns. To see all years of data, become a member of the We Went Fast Garage and help us continue (and expand) these unique views of the sport’s history.
All-Time Leaders
This interactive table details the Spring Creek winners history. Who won in what year and what round was this venue. Filter by class. On mobile, slide left to access more columns. To see all years of data, become a member of the We Went Fast Garage and help us continue (and expand) these unique views of the sport’s history.
Winner History
This interactive table includes the full results history of every race ever held at Spring Creek. Filter by class. On mobile, slide left to access more columns. To see all years of data, become a member of the We Went Fast Garage and help us continue (and expand) these unique views of the sport’s history.