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AMA: Former MX Champ David Bailey Wins Ironman

18 October 2000

     PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- David Bailey, star of the U.S. motocross racing scene

in the 1980s, was a class winner at the 2000 Ironman World Championship

triathlon race, held in Hawaii on Oct. 14. Bailey won the Physically Challenged

class on Saturday with a time of 11:05:20, finishing 596th overall. He bested

his 1999 time by almost 24 minutes.

     Among Bailey's many accomplishments is his 1983 AMA Pro Athlete of the Year

award. The 38-year-old Californian is also a five-time Motocross des Nations

champion and a multi-time Supercross and motocross champion in the 250cc and

500cc classes. He was severely injured in a motocross accident in 1986 and was

forced to give up the sport which he dominated throughout the 1980s. He is

currently a sports commentator for ESPN & ABC. Bailey is the stepson of

motorcycle racing legend and trainer Gary Bailey, the man who "invented" modern

Supercross in 1972.

      Bailey's workouts to prepare for wheelchair races and triathlons have

become legendary. In a given week, he rides his bike anywhere from 180 to 240

miles, swims up to 5,000 yards, and "runs" in his race chair another 60-90

miles. Bailey's "bike" is a chair with gears that is capable of running upwards

of 35 mph on the flats for more than a mile. His race chair, which is used for

running portions of events, has one speed, is hand-driven and is shorter than

his bike chair.

     Bailey was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. His factory

"works" 1984 Honda RC500 racing motorcycle is in Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum

in Pickerington, Ohio.



     More about David Bailey:



     In 1984, Bailey won the first eight rounds of the 10-race AMA 500cc

Motocross Championship aboard this factory-built Honda to clinch the series

title. In all, Bailey won three AMA motocross and one AMA Supercross

championship in his career. The blue-and-yellow No. 1 plate on his RC500 in the

Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum indicates Bailey's victory in the 1983 Wrangler

Grand National Series, combining points in motocross and Supercross classes.

?    1:05
?    15 career 500MX wins; fourth on all-time win list in 500MX
?    12 career 250SX wins; ninth on all-time win list in 250SX
?    3 career 250MX wins; 22nd on all-time win list in 250MX
?    10th in all-time overall winners list with 30 wins (1983-86)
?    1982-86 MX Des Nations team member; team finished first all five years
?    1984 & 1986 500MX champ (3rd in 1985)
?    1983 250MX champ (7th in 1981; 6th in 1982; 2nd in 1986)
?    1983 250SX champ (10th in 1982; 2nd in 1984; 7th in 1985; 2nd in 1986)