Danny Nelson

Last updated

Danny Nelson
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Lee Nelson
Nickname"Thunder"
Born (1975-05-03) May 3, 1975 (age 49)
Simi Valley, California, United States of America
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight90.7 kg (200 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineBicycle Motocross (BMX)
RoleRacer
Rider typeOff Road
Amateur teams
1981-1983Robinson Racing
1983-1986GT Racing
1987-1991Robinson Racing
1991-1992GT Bicycles
1992Powerlite Industries
Professional teams
1992-2000Powerlite Industries
2000-2001Hot Wheels/GT Bicycles/TL Designs
2001Troy Lee Designs
2001-2003Giant/Troy Lee Designs

Daniel Lee Nelson (born May 3, 1975 in Simi Valley, California, U.S.) was an American professional "Mid & Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years are from 1993 to 2003. His nickname is "Thunder". [1]

Contents

Racing career milestones

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

Started racing: In 1981 at six years of age at the Teen Center in Van Nuys, California. He was riding with older kids one day and since they appreciated his talent of being "the wheelie king" of the neighborhood at such a young age they suggested he try racing. [1]

Sanctioning body:

Home sanctioning body district(s): American Bicycle Association (ABA) California District 20 (CA-20) (1985); United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) CA-2 (1986)

First race result: Nelson does not recall how well he did overall but he was leading his first moto but went back up the starting hill which was parallel to the straight. He simply did it automatically and without thinking since it was accidentally ingrained into him during the practice sessions previous to the race to avoid the ride back to the starting hill that would be necessary if he ran the entire track in practice. [1]

First win (local):

First sponsor: Robinson Racing 1981. [1]

First national win:

Turned Professional: December 1992 age 17.

First Professional race result:

First Professional win:

First Junior Pro* race result:

First Junior Pro win:

First Senior Pro** race result:

First Senior Pro win:

Retired: October 2003, just after the NBL Grandnationals. [2] to devote himself to a new business he was partnered in. [3] He made his formal announcement in a speech to the spectators to the ABA Fall Nationals in Del Mar, California on October 26, 2003 stating it was time to move on. [4]

Height & weight at height of her career: Ht:6'4" Wt:200 lbs.

*In the NBL "B" Pro/Super Class/"A" Pro/Junior Elite Men depending on the era; in the ABA it is "A" Pro.
**In the NBL it is "AA" Pro/Elite Men; in the ABA it is "AA" Pro.

Career 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

  • Robinson Racing: 1981-Early November 1983
  • GT (Gary Turner) Racing: Early November 1983-December 1986
  • Robinson Racing: January 1987-November 1991
  • GT Bicycles: November 1991-December 1992. GT underwent a minor name change since his first term with GT.
  • Powerlite Industries: December 1992-December 2000. Nelson will turn pro with this sponsor.

Professional

  • Powerlite Industries: December 1992-December 2000
  • Hot Wheels/GT Bicycles/Troy Lee Designs: December 2000-October 2001
  • Troy Lee Designs: October 2001-Mid December 2001. Troy Lee became Nelson's primary sponsor between GT and Giant.
  • Giant/Troy Lee: Late December 2001-October 2003. After the NBL Grand Nationals just before Giant Bicycles dropped the Professional members of its team. He would retire within weeks to pursue a business opportunity. [3]

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. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.

Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1982 7 Expert Grandnational Champion
  • 1990 16 Cruiser Grandnational Champion
  • 1991 17 Expert and 17 Cruiser Grandnational Champion
  • 1991 17 Expert National No.2
  • 1992 17-20 Cruiser Grandnational Champion

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 1982 8 Expert 2nd Place Jag World Champion (ABA sanctioned)
  • 1985 10 Expert Winter Season California District 20 (CA-20) District Age Group (DAG) No.1
  • 1985 11 Expert Grandnational Champion
  • 1985 11 Expert National No.1†
  • 1986 12 Cruiser California District 20 (Cal-20) No.1
  • 1992 18 Expert and 17-20 Cruiser Grandnational Champion

Beginning in the 1985 season the ABA made it possible to earn an amateur national no.1 plate in the age group of the racer, similar to NBL practice. However, the ABA still had an overall National No.1 amateur which was J. Brent Romero in 1985.

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • 1982 7 Expert Grand Prix of BMX Champion

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

  • None

*See note in professional section.

Other Titles:

  • 1983 9 Expert Jag World Champion (Non sanctioned)

Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1994 All Pro Grandnational Champion
  • 1999 National No.1 Pro

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 2002 "AA" Pro Grandnational Champion
  • 2002 National No.1 Pro

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None (defunct)

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • None

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

  • None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

  • 1994 Superclass 20" World Champion.

*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC, the amateur cycling arm of the UCI, had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1996 World Championships held in Brighton, England the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.

Pro Series Championships

BMX product lines

Product Evaluations:

Notable accolades

Significant injuries

Racing habits and traits

Miscellaneous

Post BMX career

TWBMX:You're #2 in ABA Points; why are you retiring now?
Nelson:"In a perfect world, I would have liked to have finished out the season to see if I could have defended the title, but this other opportunity came up. It's where my future's headed; I couldn't afford to put it on hold or wait around to get to it. I had to do it now."
TWBMX:What opportunity is that?
Nelson:"It's a thrift store deal that I'm working on down in Long Beach. It's a large operation, it's a lot of work, and we've got a long way to go with it, but we've been open five weeks now and things are on track. Now it's just a matter of plugging away and getting it to where we want it to be." [3]

The full, illustrated website version of the interview, originally posted on January 8, 2004, can be seen here.

BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles

BMX magazine covers

Note: (defunct) denotes that the magazine was out of business before the career of the racer started.

Bicycle Motocross News:

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

BMX Plus!:

Total BMX:

Bicycles and Dirt:

Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:

Twenty BMX:

Moto Mag:

BMX World:

NBA World & NBmxA World (The official NBA/NBmxA publication):

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL publication; one name change):

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (Three incarnations of the official ABA publication):

USBA Racer (The official USBA membership publication):

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Snap BMX Magazine July/August 1997 Vol.4 No.4 Iss.17 pg.53
  2. Moto Mag November/December 2003 Vol.3 No.6 pg.5
  3. 1 2 3 Transworld BMX February 2004 Vol.11 Iss.2 No.88 pg.17
  4. Transworld BMX February 2004 Vol.11 Iss.2 No.88 pg.83
  5. BMX Plus! July 1994 Vol.17 no.7 pg.23 Powerlite Industries advertisement.
  6. USAcycling.org News site.
  7. American BMXer July 1985 Vol.7 No.5 pg.4
  8. American BMXer March 1991 Vol.13 No.2 pg.10
  9. BMX Plus! December 1992 Vol.15 No.12 pg.19
  10. Snap BMX Magazine September 1999 Vol.6 Iss.7 No.35 pg.66

Related Research Articles

Gary Leo Ellis Jr. was one of the last American "Old School" professional bicycle motocross (BMX) racer whose careers started in the 1970s to early 1980s. His prime competitive years were from 1982 to 1996. He was nicknamed "The Lumberjack".

Charles Heath Townsend is an "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1996. He has 2 kids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Carter (BMX rider)</span> American BMX bicycle rider (born 1970)

Eric Robert Carter, is a former American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1983 to 1998. He had the nickname "The Golden Child," and later in his BMX career, acquired the moniker "The Earthquake." More recently, he has been known simply as "EC." Beginning in 1996, he converted fully to mountain bike racing (MTB) and has become one of the most respected racers in that discipline of bicycle racing.

Stephen James Veltman is a former American "Old School/Mid School" professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1980–1985 and 1987 to 1998. His nickname during the time he first achieved fame as a 12- and 13-year-old was "Spider-Man" due to the posture he had as he speed jumped his bicycle over moguls. He would be tucked all the way back over and just above the rear wheel. His right elbow would be down while his left up as opposed to having them near perfectly level. This along with his red and white Hutch uniform and helmet with mirrored lensed goggles gave an impression of the comic book superhero Spider-Man swinging on his web. His later moniker "V"-Dog" came into being concurrently with him joining the Vans Racing Team in April 1991. He was also known as "Primetime".

Darrell Young is a former American "Old School" professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1981–1988 and 1991 to 1994.

Kenneth Henry May is a former American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 2000.

Kiyomi Waller is an American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1989-1998.

Melanie R. Cline is an American former amateur "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1982–2004 and 2009 to the present.

Cindy Davis is a retired professional American Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from (1988–1998). She was the first woman to win five American Bicycle Association (ABA) cups in a row, and the first rider to own five Number One Cups. She was founding member of ABA's Girl Pro class. An accumulation of injuries in 1998 ended her career. During the course of her career she achieved 350 National wins. She got the moniker of "Loopy" when at the 1989 ABA Grandnationals in her 12 girls main. She applied so much power down the first straight she looped out, i.e. did an uncontrolled "wheelie", over balanced and fell backward onto her back, a maneuver that resembled a plane doing a half loop. Due to this crash she lost her bid to repeat as national no.1 girl.

Randall Richard Stumpfhauser is an American professional "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years started in 1988. He is sometimes called "Stumpdog" or "Stumpy", all are plays on his last name. He is a 2022 USA BMX Hall of Fame inductee in the category of Racer.

Thomas Allier is a French professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1993 to 2006. Allier was a member of the French Olympic BMX Team participating in the debut of BMX racing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Allier did not make it past the quarter finals.

Warwick Brian Stevenson Jr. is an Australian professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years are from 1995 to current. Nicknamed the "Warlock" as a play on his given name Warwick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donny Robinson (BMX racer)</span> American Professional BMX racer

Donald Robinson is an American professional "New/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years are from 1999 to the present. His moniker is "dR", his initials. The use of the lowercase "d" for his given name is perhaps related to his relatively diminutive physical size. A past nickname, "Scrawny", was definitely linked to his small stature, since even when very young he was the smallest child in his age group. It was given to him by Bruce Minton. Like BMX predecessors Mike Miranda and Eric Rupe, Robinson is a devout Christian. He admitted in late 2013 to suffering at least 25 concussions over the course of his career. In the same interview, he advocated for better concussion protocol at the lower levels of BMX racing. Robinson joined the board of directors of concussion-education collaborative The Knockout Project in January 2013.

Matthew Merle Hadan is an American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1995. Hadan was nicknamed early in his career as "The Master" and later "The Diesel".

Andrew Patterson is an American former professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1977 to 1985. His moniker was "Mr. Bigfoot" for his size 13 feet. Patterson was one of the first American racers to compete on the European BMX circuit during its formative years on a regular basis. He developed a large European following.

Gary Wayne DeBacker is a retired American professional "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose competitive years were from 1980-1999. His greatest achievements occurred during his amateur days, highlighted by four international world championships.

Darwin L. Griffin is a former professional American mid-school Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were 1982–1989.

Jamie Nicole Lilly is an American former professional "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1987 to 2004. Nicknamed "Kiddo #1" at the age of 8 years, she became one of the first female professionals of the American Bicycle Association (ABA) when they for the first time created a female professional division in the sanctioning body's history in 1998 and became one the ABA's first number one Girl Pros.

Alan David Foster was a professional American "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer and Dirt Jumper whose prime competitive years were from 1992 to 1999. His nickname was "AF", his initials.

Robert D. MacPherson is a retired professional American "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer who competed mainly from 1995 to 2001. His nicknames were "MacFearsome", and "Big Mac".