On the Pegs - November 2021 Volume 6 Issue 11 - November | Page 31

the motorcycles that carried AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Chris Carr and Jared Mees to an astonishing 12 AMA Grand National Championships and 121 Grand National wins . Carr and Tolbert won their first Grand National Championship together in 1992 , winning six more between 1999 and 2005 . Mees and Tolbert have won five Grand National Championships together and continue to rack up Grand National wins .
Tolbert ’ s engine and chassis combinations have also claimed an additional six 600cc AMA Championships and 31 AMA 600cc wins since 1988 . Both championship and win tallies are second place only to Hall of Fame Legend Bill Werner ( 13 championships and 149 wins ).
“ There ’ s a long list of people that have been involved in my career ,” Tolbert said , “ and I can never thank everyone … Chris [ Carr ] and I , we fueled off each other and learned how to race together . We have lifelong memories together and now here we are today . I ’ m thankful to the AMA for doing this and having us here and all the people who voted . And being involved with Jared [ Mees ] and Indian Motorcycles has been phenomenal .”
run , accumulating five AMA Pro Motocross and four AMA Supercross Championships across two separate stretches of success on Kawasaki . In the span of his professional career , the Poulsbo , Wash . racer tallied 41 main event wins in AMA Supercross and 31 national wins while racing AMA Pro Motocross .
In AMA Supercross competition , Villopoto has the fifth most wins in the 450cc class , elevating him to third all-time in championships behind AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael . In AMA Pro Motocross , Villopoto became only the third individual to claim multiple championships in both the 450cc and 250cc classes .
“ This all started with my grandpa ,” Villopoto said while overcome with emotion . “ Grandma and grandpa are here , thank you to them . My wife and boys are here — Kristen , Gage and Brax — thank you . My dad ’ s been gone for some time , and he ’ d be stoked and amazed that we made it here .”
RYAN VILLOPOTO
Ryan Villopoto had a simply monstrous motocross career during his decade-long professional
VOL . 6 ISSUE 11 - NOVEMBER 2021 // PAGE 31