Story and photos from promotocross.com

With the turn of the new year, preparations are formally underway for the landmark 50th Anniversary of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. In conjunction with each respective Nationals event organizer, the sanctioning body at AMA Pro Racing, and longtime series title sponsor Lucas Oil, MX Sports Pro Racing will celebrate the storied legacy of the world’s most prestigious off-road motorcycle racing series, beginning with the introduction of a new commemorative logo for the 2022 season.

“After two years of challenges to successfully implement a championship calendar we are incredibly eager for the season that lies ahead this summer. We’ll have an opportunity to properly celebrate the 50th anniversary of this storied championship and pay homage to the individuals and venues who helped elevate American motocross to the forefront of the sport on a global scale,” said Davey Coombs, President of MX Sports Pro Racing. “We also want to use this season as an opportunity to recognize the entities that have played an integral role in our ability to build on this indelible legacy over the past 14 years since MX Sports Pro Racing was awarded the role of series organizers.”

The 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship logo serves as a symbol of five decades showcasing the world’s finest motocross talent, hallmarked by a laurel wreath consisting of 50 leaves surrounding the anniversary numeral and the series’ longevity (1972-2022). Additionally, gold now compliments the series’ foundational blue colorway in an embrace of the “golden anniversary” of the 2022 season. The Lucas Oil branding provides a prominent accent piece featuring the company’s familiar red colorway along with four stars that serve as a nod to America’s role in elevating the sport through its most distinguished championship.

When the series was first introduced in 1972 it began the process of formalizing a permanent, stand-alone national championship for homegrown talent to showcase their prowess under the banner of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). It didn’t take long for the Pro Motocross Championship to evolve into a true global competition between domestic and international athletes, and for the past 50 years it has brought the best riders from six continents to the United States in a quest for success and stardom, competing on the most hallowed grounds in all of motocross.

Fittingly, the 50th anniversary will serve as the most prominent representation of the global influence of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship as a pair of international riders will carry the number one plate in both the 450 Class and 250 Class for the first time in history. Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis is just the third European rider ever in the 450 Class to serve as reigning champion, while Australian Jett Lawrence enters uncharted territory as the first defending titleholder in the 250 Class from the “Land Down Under.”

While most of the attention deservedly centers on the talent-rich collection of athletes preparing to embark on the grueling 24-moto journey this summer, many of the venues that will compose the 2022 schedule have been fixtures of the heritage of American motocross over the past half century. Whether it’s New York’s legendary Unadilla MX or California’s storied Hangtown Classic, both of which predate the Pro Motocross Championship, Michigan’s renowned RedBud MX, Massachusetts infamous The Wick 338, or Pennsylvania’s iconic High Point Raceway, these tracks have played an equally pivotal role in the ascension of American motocross as the hundreds of riders who have stood on the podium since that inaugural 1972 season. It’s a rare juxtaposition that makes the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship one of motorsports’ most distinguished competitions.

The 50th Anniversary of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will kick off over Memorial Day Weekend, on May 28, for the proverbial start of the summer and will travel throughout the country to the sport’s most high-profile venues for 12 captivating rounds, concluding on September 3 during Labor Day Weekend.