Bobby Encinas

Last updated
Bobby Encinas
Personal information
Full nameBobby Encinas
Born1961
Canoga Park, California, United States
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight61 kg (134 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineBicycle Motocross (BMX)
RoleRacer/Promoter/Teaching Professional
Rider typeOff Road
Amateur teams
1973-1974Pedaler's West Bike Shop
1974-1975Kawasaki Motors
1975Rick's Bike Shop
1975-1977Shimano Sales Corporation
Professional teams
1977-1981Shimano Sales Corporation
1982-1983Scorpion BMX
1983-Larry Wilcox Actionline

Bobby Encinas (born 1961 in Canoga Park, California) is a former professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1973 to 1980. He was one of the first superstars in BMX and one of its most savvy promoters. Raised in the barrio of Canoga Park, he had a juvenile criminal record for theft and was on probation for consuming alcohol and drugs before he was 12 years old. [1] He credits BMX for saving him from a life of crime. As a result he devoted much of his BMX career and after to promoting the sport at the grass-roots level, training kids in his BMX clinics, of which he was a pioneer, and launching future BMX careers and winning the respect and love of the BMX world.

Contents

Racing career milestones

Note: In the early days of professional racing, 1976 and prior, many tracks offered small purse prize money to the older racers of an event, even before the official sanctioning bodies offered prize money in formal divisions themselves. Hence some early "professionals" like Stu Thomsen turning "pro" in 1975 at 16 years old where racing for small amounts of money at track events [2] when offered even before the NBA, regarded as the first true national BMX sanctioning body, had a professional division. The NBA started the first professional division in BMX for the 1977 season. For the sake of consistency and standardization noted professional first are for the first pro races for prize money offered by official BMX sanctioning bodies and not independent track events. Professional first are also on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

Started Racing: Officially in mid 1973 at age 12 at Soledad Sands Park BMX track in Acton, California. According to the July 1974 issue of Bicycle Mototcross News he was racing by the time of publication 10 months. [3] He was one of the children that were pretending to be racing Motorcycle Motocross (MX) an MX promoter, Ernie Alexander, noticed one day during the summer of 1973. That experience led Alexander to eventually start the National Bicycle Association (NBA) some six months later. [4] Prior to that, it was David Clinton and Marvin Church who introduced him into the sport prior to racing in sanctioned races. As with many of the very first BMXers they were devoted Motorcycle Motocross (MX) fans and like to pretend they were racing motorcycles, attaching various accoutrements like false fuel tanks and fenders, emulating their favorite MX idols. [5]

First racing bike: Schwinn Sting-Ray

Sanctioning body: Independent.

Sanctioning body district(s): NBA Southern California District X (1975–1981).

First race result: Last. [6]

First win (local):

First sponsor: Peddler's West Bike Shop in mid 1973. [3] [7]

First national win: He won the very first Sidehack class with Thom Lund at the very first National on March 29, 1975 at the NBA Winternationals in Phoenix, Arizona. In the individual 20" class he came in second place to John George in 14 & Over Expert class. [8] His first solo 20" win was in the 14–17 Expert Class at the National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA) Eastern Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia on September 7, 1975. [9]

Turned professional: 1977

First Professional race* result:

First Professional** win:

Retired: He had essentially went into semi retirement in 1979 after winning the NBA Southern California District No. 1 title in 1978. Starting in the 1979 season he concentrated mostly on the Public Relations aspect of BMX to promote it nationally and internationally. He retired from 20" racing in after the 1980 racing season, [10] but he would race in the 20" pro class again to aid in his teaching tours and to keep in shape, restarting with the 1981 National Bicycle Motocross Association (NBmxA) (formerly known as the National Bicycle Association (NBA)) Western States Championship in Fresno, California. [11] He continued to race Cruisers competitively until 1983.

Height and Weight at the height of his BMX career (1977): Ht:5'4 (approx) Wt:135 lbs. [12]

*At this time there was no separate pro class for pros due to the relatively small number of pros. They raced with the 16 Experts, making it a Pro/Am class essentially. This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional. This practice continued until the NBA's 1979 season in which the pros earned separate pro points and a separate pro plate from the amateurs.
**At the time of Encinas turning pro there was not a two tier structure of pros i.e. Junior and Senior pro class.

Factory and major bike shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.

Amateur

  • Pedaler's West Bike Shop: Mid 1973-July 31, 1974.
  • Kawasaki Motors: August 1, 1974 [13] -Late 1974. Apparently left Kawasaki under poor circumstances—. [10] There seemed to be a hint of friction between Kawsaki and its team if this quote is to be any guide:

    "Anonymous rumor: Kawasaki, you'd better bridge the communications gap with your team or... [14] ----reported by Bob Osborn in the September 1976 "The California BMX Rider"

  • Rick's Bike Shop: Late 1974-1975
  • Shimano Sales Corporation: 1975-December 1981. He was their very first sponsored racer. [10] He would turn pro with this sponsor.

Professional

  • Shimano Sales Corporation: 1975-December 1981. He was also the team Captain [15]
  • Scorpion BMX: February 1982-December 1983
  • Larry Wilcox Actionline: January 1983- . Strictly speaking this was not a sponsorship as much as being an employee. Encinas became a teaching pro and spokesman with this BMX apparel company that Larry Wilcox, the former co-star of the 1977–1983 American television show "CHiPs" (Wilcox left the show in 1982) fame owned. He continued his touring BMX teaching clinic that he had conducted for the previous five years under the Wilcox name.

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles.

Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • 1975 National No.2. It was a controversial finish since Bobby won two nationals and came in eighth in a third while David Clinton came in with a second, an eighth and a first. In spite of the record David Clinton received the no.1 plate, even after Encinas was declared winner of it originally. [10]
  • 1976 Sidehack Western States Champion with partner John George.
  • 1976, 1978 Southern California District No.1 and California State Champion.

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1980 29 & Under Cruiser Grandnational Champion*

*At this time Cruiser class was a Pro/Am class. Professionals raced with the amateurs but only won trophies.

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None

United Bicycle Racers (UBR)

  • None

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

  • None

Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • 1979 Southern California District No.1

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None

United Bicycle Racers (UBR)

  • None

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

  • None

Pro Series Championships

Notable accolades

*In the early years of the NORA cup the year the balloting was done and tallied was the year it was considered awarded. In 1983 it was switched to when the winner of the cup was presented to the public in BMX Action magazine (usually in the February or March issue) the following year it was considered awarded and not during the closing months of the previous year when the voting and tally takes place. This was done to give the rider (and the winners of No.1 bicycle and No.1 Factory Team) maximum publicity and advantage fancily. Therefore under the new system Bobby Encinas was awarded NORA in 1979.

Significant injuries

BMX product lines

Product Evaluation:

Racing traits and habits

"I've never won an NBA National, but I've won plenty of championships. You don't have to be a National champ to be a winner." --Super BMX April 1981 [18]

Post BMX career

For the rest of the 1980s Mr. Eincinas continued his career as a teaching Pro instructing young BMX racers at various tracks across the country as he did as an active competitive pro. He always reached out to kids to get involve in BMX to possibly keep them from falling into the same type of trouble he did as a young boy, being involved in petty crimes including shoplifting and stealing bicycles. As noted, he credits BMX for saving him from a life of crime. [6]

"If it hadn't been for BMX I'd probably still be in the barrio smoking, lying, drinking and stealing." [10] "We all need to remember the little guys, the small kids. They're the future of this sport. That's who I'm really doing it all for." [17] --Both Bobby Encinas Super BMX April 1981.

As far back as the summer of 1974 when he had only been racing for ten months, Bicycle Motocross News predicted that he would be the Henry Kissinger of BMX:

"We fell that a manufacturer would not only be getting an expert rider, but a great public relations person - perhaps the Henry Kissinger of bicycle motocross!" [3] --Bicycle Motocross News July 1974.

Several BMX superstars have followed in Bobby Encinas's footsteps, including Perry Kramer and Mike Poulson. Greg Hill's Speed Clinics are a modern descendant of Bobby's first works.

BMX press magazine interviews and articles

BMX magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action: & Go

BMX Plus!:

Total BMX:

Bicycles and Dirt: (ABA Publication)

NBA World & NBmxA World (The official NBA/NBmxA membership publication under two names):

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL membership publication under two names):

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA membership publication under three different names):

Notes

  1. Super BMX April 1981 Vol. 8 No. 4, p. 36
  2. Bicycle Motocross News January/February 1978 Vol.4 No.1 p. 22
  3. 1 2 3 Bicycle Motocross News July 1974 Vol.1 No.2 p. 6
  4. BMX Action August 1982 Vol.7 No.8 p. 93
  5. Super BMX April 1981 Vol.8 No.4, pp. 40–41
  6. 1 2 Bicycle Motocross Action April 1978 Vol.3 No.2 p. 34
  7. Super BMX April 1981 Vol.8 No.4, p. 41
  8. 1 2 Bicycle Motocross News May 1975 Vol.2 No.4, p. 16 (results)
  9. Bicycle Motocross News October 1975 Vol.2 No.9 p. 24 (results)
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Super BMX April 1981 Vol.8 No.4, p. 42
  11. Super BMX July 1981 Vol.8 No.7 p. 32
  12. Bicycle Motocross Action April 1978 Vol.3 No.2 p. 35
  13. Bicycle Motocross News September 1974 Vol.1 No.4, p. 8
  14. The California BMX Rider (Supplement) September 1976 Vol.1 No.2 p. 1
  15. Super BMX April 1981 Vol.8 No.4, p. 37 (Poster caption)
  16. Super BMX April 1981 Vol.8 No.4, p. 42 (photo caption)
  17. 1 2 3 Super BMX April 1981 Vol.8 No.4, p. 44
  18. 1 2 3 Super BMX April 1981 Vol.8 No.4, p. 43
  19. Bicycle Motocross Action November/December 1978 Vol.3 No.6 p. 22
  20. BMX Action December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 p. 30
  21. Bicycle Motocross Action April 1978 Vol.3 No.2 p. 33

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