One Race, One Page
One Race, One Page
// By Davey Coombs
Budds Creek 1997
One Race, One Page
// By Davey Coombs
Budds Creek 1997
D

oug Henry always had a tough re-ationship with Maryland’s Budds Creek Raceway. Throughout the early years of his career, when he was a dominant 125cc rider, he only managed a single podium there, in 1994. Then came ’95 and the spectacular, back-breaking launch off what became known as Mount Henry, which nearly ended his career. Henry, riding for Team Honda, was dicing with teammate Jeremy McGrath for the lead on the last lap of the first moto when he slipped off the back of his CR250R, twisting the throttle just as he was cresting the massive hill, sending him into orbit. When he finally came down to earth from a height estimated at 120 feet, he flat-wheeled the landing, and the impact crushed his back. He would be out for eight months, and when he returned the next spring, he was nowhere near the front of the pack, but he never stopped working and improving.

By the start of the 1997 season, Henry was back to his old self. Now riding for Yamaha, he actually led the AMA Supercross Championship aboard a YZ250 before suffering a broken arm after a tangle with Jimmy Button. By the time he returned, he was out of the title picture, so Yamaha gave him a new assignment: they wanted the veteran to shake down the revolutionary YZM400F four-stroke prototype.

1997 Doug Henry Smoking Motorcycle
But there was still unfinished business at Budds Creek, where Henry had never won.
That in turn would lead to his shocking win at the season-ending Las Vegas SX, marking the first time in AMA Supercross/Motocross history that a four-stroke won anything. It was the defining win of Henry’s Hall of Fame career, which included three AMA Pro Motocross titles and a 125cc East Region SX Championship.

But there was still unfinished business at Budds Creek, where Henry had never won. That race was less than a month after Las Vegas, and Henry would be the only rider in the field on the more powerful thumper. Unfortunately, the bike was still in the early stages of development and not very reliable. The YZ came to a smoking halt in the first moto, giving Henry a DNF; the second moto was much worse. Henry’s bike started smoking again, but Doug continued on, trying to reach the finish. When he went to jump the otherwise easy step-up called the Big Gulp, the motor let go on the takeoff and threw Henry over the bars and into the face of the second ledge. This time, Henry snapped both forearms. He was sent to the same hospital that initially treated his back injury two years earlier.

One might think that two nearly career-ending injuries would be enough for Doug Henry to at least consider skipping Budds Creek for the rest of his career, but in 1998 he was back to full health and actually leading the AMA/Mazda Truck 250 Nationals after four rounds aboard what was now a YZ426F. After finishing second to his young teammate Kevin Windham in the first moto, Henry battled with Windham throughout the second moto before wearing him down and finally winning on a track where he’d seemed cursed.

“I was on a mission to put everything behind me,” a jubilant Henry said afterward. “I had so many people pulling for me and cheering for me—that really helped.”

“This was one of my goals this year, to win Budds Creek,” he added. “I’m just so glad to be able to come here and do it. I wasn’t sure I was going to do my best here, but I did. I finally won it, and I’m really happy to finally win this race.”

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