wo years ago, Steve Matthes and I debated who belonged in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame more: Ron Lechien or Steve Lamson. While each of us were fans of both riders, Matthes felt that Lechien’s broader record—wins in both AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross, in all classes, plus a couple of Motocross des Nations victories with Team USA, the youngest-ever winner of a 250cc Grand Prix, and one of the all-time great riding styles of motocross history—trumped Lamson’s impressive list of triumphs, all of which were outdoors aboard 125cc motorcycles. We agreed to disagree, but we decided to support both candidates in 2017 in the SX/MX category. Neither got in.

Last year, we decided to focus on one candidate, and Matthes’ argument for the Dogger over Lammy still held sway. After the votes were tallied, we were again disappointed to hear that Lechien had been passed over. As a matter of fact, no motocross or supercross rider was included in the Class of 2018. This came as a surprise to me, as I am on the HOF’s motocross committee, along with Broc Glover (Class of 2000), Parts Unlimited’s Rob Buydos, Vintage Iron’s Rick Doughty, and longtime racer and motorcycle industry entrepreneur Eddie Cole. We all pushed for Lechien, one of the most popular and prolific winners of the 1980s—an extremely competitive era in SX/MX—to get in as our committee’s main candidate. It wasn’t enough. Instead, we watched flat tracker Corky Keener, flat track and road racing tuner Skip Eaken, and the late flat tracker-turned-MotoGP hero Nicky Hayden all go into the Hall of Fame. They were joined by enduro rider Terry Cunningham, Hollywood stunt rider Gary Davis, and pioneering female rider Mary McGee.

If you’re wondering how three flat track people got in and no one from the SX/MX committee made it (for the third year in a row), you’re not alone. Turns out that the process of voting for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame is somewhat stacked against candidates from SX/MX. Hall of Fame voting is open to Lifetime AMA members, which means only those who have been dues-paying AMA members for 25 consecutive years. And therein lies the problem. If you’re a motocross racer who skipped a year of AMA membership for whatever reason, or if you were primarily racing in CMC or NMA races in the West or the NESC in New England, or even GNCC the two years that they weren’t AMA-sanctioned, you didn’t need an AMA card.

Flat track, on the other hand, has long been affiliated with the AMA, and many of the folks who follow that sport have been in it for a very long time. They also seem to be organized and work together to get their candidates into the hall on a regular basis. Now, no one is saying Corky Keener doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame, but when you weigh his total of five AMA Grand National race wins against Ron Lechien’s 30 major AMA and FIM motocross and supercross wins, it seems like Lechien should have gotten the nod.

With recent retirees like Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey on the horizon—not to mention James Stewart and Travis Pastrana—the doors should open again soon for SX/MX candidates. But it’s not going to be fair to Ron Lechien if he misses his window because there aren’t enough SX/MX-related AMA Lifetime members and previous inductees to vote him in over whomever the other committees put forward.

So when the time comes this May and June to vote on the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019, I’m going to personally pick up the phone and call every living SX/MX rider in there—Roger DeCoster, Bob Hannah, Marty Smith, Gary and David Bailey, Johnny O’Mara, Trampas Parker, Bob Moore, Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, and so on—and remind them to fill out their ballot for Ron Lechien. I’m also going to use racerxonline.com and promotocross.com and all of our social media to remind eligible voters to cast their ballots for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, Matthes will do the same with PulpMX. Help us help the Dogger get inducted!

To learn more about the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, visit ama-cycle.org.