Thunder Valley
Lakewood, Colorado
Nestled in a valley between Denver and the Rockies, Thunder Valley MX Park sits at 6,128-ft. of power-robbing elevation. Its origins date to 1974 but under David Clabaugh’s ownership TVMP’s Pro Motocross has run uninterrupted since 2005.
Fast Facts
Bob Hannah (1-1), dominated the first Lakewood Pro Motocross. In moto two, Honda’s Marty Tripes even pulled over and let Hannah by. This, after beating Hannah one week earlier (and again a week later!)
Tripes said he was uncomfortable with his “uncompetitive” bike. Hannah fell late in the race but Kent Howerton wasn’t close enough to prevent the eventual 250MX champion from winning. This was Hannah’s last AMA Pro MX win until April 1981 because of a severely broken leg suffered in a water skiing accident later that summer. Tripes drove the boat…
When the land where CDR Tech Track’s race (Castle Rock, CO) was sold, Ben Cox of Continental Divide Promotions was left without a facility just weeks before his 1983 race. With sponsors, and the city of Lakewood, he moved the race back to Lakewood Sports Cycle Park, starting track prep just three days before raceday!
All three classes (125/250/500) ran what was then called the AMA/Wrangler Super Series. Goat Breker won his third (and final) Pro Motocross race with 3-2 moto scores. David Bailey won the 250 class and 16-year-old Ron Lechien won the 125 class.
The 2008 and 2009 Thunder Valley Nationals were the first (and so far only) AMA Motocross rounds to be held at night. In 2008, James Stewart won his 9th and 10th consecutive motos of the year on his way to a perfect 24-0 season.
The 2009 edition was more of a wild night. Ivan Tedesco secured his one and only premier class overall win. Title favorite Mike Alessi returned after missing High Point with a knee injury, only to have his season end completely when Josh Grant dropped him to the ground.
After a shocking mid-year switch from JGR Yamaha to Yoshimura Suzuki (where he rode the 2012 Pro Motocross series “for free”), James Stewart came to Thunder Valley with a four moto win streak.
Leading on lap four, Stewart crashed on a high speed, rutty downhill and injured his right wrist. The crash was attributed to a photographer running across the racetrack as Stewart approached, which altered his focus. Stewart’s season (effectively) ended while KTM’s Ryan Dungey began his own win streak, 10 consecutive motos, starting with a 1-1 at Thunder Valley.
Venues
The original Lakewood facility, which opened in 1974, was called Lakewood Sports Cycle Park and hosted its first Pro Motocross in 1979. According to David Clabaugh, TVMP’s current owner, the original track was five miles east.
The 1985 Pro Motocross at Lakewood Sports Cycle Park moved to the land where TVMP now sits (although it’s a completely different course) and hosted the national for three years.
Thunder Valley MX Park, under the ownership of David Clabaugh (who rode his XR75 on the original Lakewood course in 1974) was added to the 2005 Pro Motocross schedule when Kenworthy’s MX Park in Troy, Ohio sold the rights to its spot in the series. TVMP has run every year since and made history in 2008 with the first ever Pro MX night race. The track is open to the public.
The interactive table below details the all-time Thunder Valley 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 Thunder Valley, 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 Thunder Valley Motocross. Tap ‘additional stats’ to see position changes and qualifying ranking