hen the AMA announced its Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2019, sighs of relief could be heard all around the motocross world. For the first time since 2014, an SX/MX racer was voted in by the AMA Life Members and living Hall of Famers who make up the electorate. Ron “Dogger” Lechien, one of the biggest and most controversial stars of eighties supercross and motocross, finally got enough votes to make it in.

Joining Lechien in the Class of ’19 is the late Kurt Caselli, the off-road legend who passed away in 2013 while racing in the Baja 1000, as well as motorcycle rights advocate Mark Buckner, trials pioneer Wiltz Wagner, and museum founder Dale Walksler.

Lechien, whose cause was championed by many of the sport’s top journalists, including our own contributors Steve Matthes and Brett Smith, will become the first motocrosser since Mike LaRocco to enter the Motorcycle Hall of Fame based strictly on his race results. Bob Moore, the 1994 FIM 125cc World Champion, was inducted in 2017, in part for cofounding the Road 2 Recovery charitable foundation. With his 26 SX/MX wins in one of the sport’s most competitive decades, as well as three winning appearances with Team USA at the Motocross des Nations and a 125 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, Lechien should have been an easy choice, but due to the lack of representation of SX/MX enthusiasts in voting, as well as some of his own off-track antics late in his career, he missed the cut several times. Now he will join fellow eighties superstars David Bailey, Broc Glover, Rick Johnson, Johnny O’Mara, and Jeff Ward in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

As for Caselli, he was a versatile desert ace who could compete in just about any discipline. He raced for the United States in the FIM International Six Days Enduro on 12 different occasions, earning Top American honors eight times and winning his class outright twice. His tragic death, which happened when he collided at high speed with an animal crossing the course in Mexico, sparked a movement to make racing safer, particularly in the desert. His legacy lives on with his family and friends’ Kurt Caselli Foundation, which focuses on the safety and well-being of motorcycle racers.

Lechien and Caselli and the rest will be inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Columbus, Ohio, this December.