Former factory rider and two-time AMA national motocross champion Mike LaRocco will join the AMA Hall of Fame in 2014.
The last man ever to win the AMA 500cc National Motocross Championship, former factory motocross star Mike LaRocco, is among the elite group of men who have been announced for induction into the American Motorcyclist Hall of Fame. The AMA announced LaRocco’s election today.
LaRocco, who was elected to the Motocross/Supercross category, will be inducted at the 2014 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Oct. 17, in Orlando, Florida. The induction ceremony is part of the AMA National Convention being held in conjunction with the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo), October 16-19.
“Mike LaRocco was a tough competitor who gave it his all every time he got on the track,” said Ken Ford, a member of the Hall of Fame executive committee and treasurer of the AMA board of directors. “He was a huge fan favorite throughout his 19-year professional career.”
LaRocco said he was honored to be included in the Hall of Fame Class of 2014.
“You know, when I was racing, I was very focused on the competition, and the fan thing was a distraction,” LaRocco said. “But now, looking back, I recognize how important the fans are in making all this possible. And I appreciate the support they gave me.”
LaRocco joins a special group of previously announced 2104 HoF inductees, including motocross pioneer Pierre Karsmakers; Tom White, acclaimed dirt-track racer and founder of White Brothers Cycle Specialties; George Barber, founder of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum and the Barber Motorsports Park; and national off-road racing champion Scott Summers. More inductees will be announced in random order in the coming weeks.
LaRocco began his professional racing career in 1988 at age 17 and retired in 2006 but not before earning the 1993 AMA 500cc National Motocross Championship (the last before the AMA discontinued that series) and the 1994 AMA 250cc National Motocross Championship while racing for Team Kawasaki. He also won the 2000 FIM Supercross World Championship.
“I used to be the guy who gave it everything I had every time I raced, through the whole race,” LaRocco said. “That was what made me successful — that I was always pushing myself for the entire race.”
LaRocco, who also won AMA Supercross races in three decades in two classes, 125cc and 250, said the 1994 AMA 250 Motocross National Championship means the most to him.
“At that time in my career, everything was going so smoothly,” LaRocco said. “I felt like all my hard work had paid off.”
LaRocco was still a strong contender right up to his retirement in 2006, which came surprisingly sudden after a broken wrist made him question his future in the sport.
“I wanted to stay healthy,” LaRocco said. “I found that I was not willing to take the same risks that the people who were winning were taking. Without the opportunity to win, my motivation just wasn’t there.”
Since 2010, LaRocco has managed the GEICO Honda Supercross/Motocross Team. GEICO Honda has won a title every year he has been involved.
“After I retired, I took a couple of years off,” LaRocco said. “But I was close to the guys who run this team, and it was a good fit. I learned a lot over my career, and I felt I had something to share.”
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