Stu Thomsen

Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958, in Whittier, California) is an American former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.

Sometimes called the Babe Ruth of BMX for his prolific success and Domination of BMX racing during the sport's early days from the mid-1970s into the mid-1980s, Thomsen's considerable career accolades and legacy remain a benchmark for modern sports achievement.

His nicknames, "The Man" and "Stompin Stu", were due in part to his size at 6 feet 1.5 inches and 200 lbs.

Stu Thomsen was one of the first of the "Old School" of professional BMX racers who gained fame in the early days of the sport beginning in 1974.

Hence early professionals like Stu Thomsen turning "pro" in 1975 at 16 years old racing for small amounts of money at track events when offered even before the NBA, regarded as the first true national BMX sanctioning body, had a professional division.

His prime competitive years were 1976–1985.

Note: In the early days of professional racing, 1976 and prior, many tracks offered small purse prize money to the older racers of an event, even before the official sanctioning bodies offered prize money in formal divisions themselves.

The NBA started the first professional division in BMX in the 1977.

For the sake of consistency and standardization noted professional first are for the first pro races for prize money offered by official BMX sanctioning bodies and not independent track events.

Professional first are also on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

Retired from Senior pro (NBL-"A"/ABA-"AA"): Even with the resources of his bikeshop, Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center, competition in the expensive national circuit did not make economic sense unless he could find a factory sponsorship.

This practice continued until the NBA's 1979 season in which the pros earned separate pro points and a separate pro plate from the amateurs.

The NBL and ABA followed suit a year later for the 1980 season.

These original Pro classes were the equivalent to Senior Pro/Elite Men at the time.

In the following season, 1981, the pro class was divided into Junior and Senior levels in the ABA and NBL.

The NBA remained with a single level pro class in 1981.

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors.

At any given time a racer could have numerous cosponsors.

Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question.

When possible exact dates are given.

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.

Independent Associations

Today he still races occasionally as an amateur in the ABA 45-50 cruiser and 36 & Over Expert 20" class sponsored by Redline. His last Senior Pro win in the 20" division before retiring from serious Senior pro competition appeared to had been at the NBL National in Sarasota, Florida, on March 28, 1986.

*Classifications at the time were determined by size and weight and not age and proficiency, so his age in this case is irrelevant.

The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup was the first "National" to be held in BMX.

**At the time there was no separate pro class for pros due to the relatively small number of pros.

They raced with the 16 Experts, making it a Pro/Am class essentially.

This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional.

Huffy's decision to let him go, his search for a sponsor frustrated by the depressed economic state of BMX that year, and a shoulder injury that his competitive nature prevented him from allowing to heal properly, all combined, led him to retire in July 1987.

At age 29, he had largely made it his goal to race until he was thirty years old.

However, he did race in large races that was both close to his Yorba Linda home and had large purses.

For example, he did race at least once in 1988 at the ABA Winter Nationals at Chandler, Arizona, with a 4th and 7th in Pro Cruiser at the two races over that weekend.

This is in addition to him racing locally close to his home.

He raced in the 1990 ABA Fall Nationals and made the Pro Open Main in the Sunday race, coming in sixth.

He also raced the 1991 ABA Fall Nationals as well along with fellow "retired" pros Eric Rupe and Harry Leary but did not make any of the Mains.

He raced the Fall nationals again a year later reclassifying to "A" pro (along with Harry Leary) coming in third in Pro Cruiser on Day 2 (October 24).

In 1993 he resumed racing on a serious level in Pro Cruiser and in the then new ABA Veteran Pro class for a few years.