Gary Leo Ellis Jr. (b. March 21 , 1966 in Tacoma, Washington U.S.) was an American "Old School" professional bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.
Gary Ellis was one of the last of the "Old School" BMX racers who careers started in the 1970s to early 1980s. His prime competitive years were from 1982-1996. Most recently, Gary Ellis has been linked with a consortium attempting to takeover English football club Port Vale and bring in "Big" Ron Atkinson as manager.
Nickname: "The Lumberjack". Like with Tommy Brackens being nicknamed "The Human Dragster", "The Lumberjack" was coined for Mr. Ellis by the BMX "play by play" announcers at nationals. Due in part to his size, he was already 6' 2" tall and 190 lbs at 16 years of age (he would eventually settle at 6' 3"); the thick beard and mustache he could grow even at that young age and often grew throughout his career to help intimidate his opponents by looking meaner and older; the fact that he hailed from Tacoma, Washington, a stereotypically American Lumberjack region of the United States; and the apocryphal story that that he sawed down a tree that was in the right of way of a practice track he was building in his front yard. He actually had workmen do that for him. However the appellation stuck and he had it throughout the majority of his long 21 year career.
Racing career milestones
Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.
Started Racing: In 1977 at age 11. He saw a BMX display at a car show and he asked his father if he could race.
First local race result: Fourth place at the Tacoma Jaycees BMX track.
Sanctioning body: Northwest Bicycle Motocross Association (NWBMXA), a short lived regional governing body in Washington State.
First Race Bicycle: Schwinn Stingray.
First local win:
First national amateur win: At an American Bicycle Association (ABA) in 15 Expert in Portland, Oregon in 1981.
First Sponsor: Pedal Pushers Bike Shop in 1979.
Turned Professional: December 1983 at age 17.
First Pro race result: First place in junior "A" pro at the joint 1983 American Bicycle Association (ABA)/Canadian American Bicycle Association (CABA) Canadian-American BMX Championships pre race in Monroe, Washington on December 10, 1983.
First Pro win: See above.
First Junior Pro* race result: See above.
First Junior Pro win: See above.
First Senior Pro** race result: Seventh place in "A" Pro at the National Bicycle League (NBL) Celebrity Race For Childhelp USA/International in Azusa, California on January 22, 1984. He moved himself up to "A" pro after the 1983 Jag World Super Bowl Championship which was held on December 29, 1983. This was a charity event. The purse was only USD$40 (USD$82.61 in 2007 Cost of Living Calculator) and 100% payback for the top pro finishers.
First Senior Pro win:
Height and Weight at peak of his career (1989-1995): Ht:6'3" Wt:~205 lbs (in 1990).
Retired: November 1998 after the 1998 ABA Grand National, age 32.
* In the NBL "B" Pro/Super Class/"A" Pro/Junior Elite Men depending on the era; in the ABA it is "A" Pro.
** In the NBL it is "AA" Pro/Elite Men; in the ABA it is "AA" Pro.Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.
Amateur
- Pedal Pushers Bike Shop: 1979
- Robinson Racing Products: 1979-December 1981. Began as a co-sponsorship through his bike shop Pedal Pushers.
- Kuwahara Cycles, Ltd.: January 1982-Early September 1984. Turned pro while on Kuwhahara. "Kuwahara" means "Mulberry Meadows" in Japanese. The company is named after Sentaro Kuwahara who founded the company in 1916 in Osaka, Japan.
Professional
- Kuwahara Cycles, Ltd.: January 1982-Early September 1984. Ellis quit due to a salary dispute with Kuwhahara a week after the NBL Grand National held on September 1 & 2.
- Flying W (bike shop): September 8, 1984-September 22, 1984. Interim sponsor between Kuwhahara and Huffy.
- Huffy Corporation: September 23, 1984-March 20, 1986. Gary was sponsorless for over a month after Huffy dropped him.
- GT (Gary Turner) Racing & GT Bicycles/WD-40: April 27, 1986-November 1998.
Career Bicycle Motocross Titles
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.
Amateur
National Bicycle Association (NBA)
- None
National Bicycle League (NBL)
- 1982 15 Expert Grandnational Champion
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
* Beginning with the 1983 season the ABA instituted age class rankings, much like NBL practice. However, the overall National No.1 Amateur title was retained. Doug Davis was overall National No. 1 Amateur for 1983.
- 1982 16 Expert 2nd place Jag World Champion (ABA Sanctioned)
- 1983 17 & Over Expert Gold Cup Champion
- 1983 17 & Over Expert National No.1 Amateur*
- 1983 National No.2*
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
International Bicycle Motorcross Federation (IBMXF)
- 1983 16 & Over Expert World Champion
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
- None
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
* See note in Professional section.Professional
National Bicycle Association (NBA)
- None
National Bicycle League (NBL)
* In his last NBL race ever, the 1998 NBL Grand National held on September 6 , 1998 in Louisville, Kentucky, he scored a perfect three wins in the pro main motos which as was BMX standard procedure for the pros, both ABA and NBL were run three times to minimize luck and to reward consistency. This performance that lead to his victory as Grand National Champion, (albeit not National No.1) was the capstone of his reputation as being at his best under pressure at very important races.
- 1984 "A" pro Grandnational Champion
- 1987 "A" Pro Grandnational Champion
- 1988 "A" Pro Grandnational Champion
- 1988 National No.2 Pro
- 1989, 1994 National No.1 Pro
- 1998 Pro Class Grandnational Champion*
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
* There is a great unfortunate controversy involved with Gary Ellis's 1995 title. In 1995 the actual points winner, after soundly defeating the competition in the 1995 ABA Grand National was a Frenchman, Christophe Lévêque. However, he was not awarded the title nor the automobile prize that went with it due to an obscure rule in the ABA rule book that you must be an American citizen to win the ABA No.1 Pro title. One had to wonder why did they let him race and collect points throughout the season in the first place if this was the set rule. Despite the flagrant violation of common sense, the rule stood since, according to another ABA rule, you cannot change the rules during a race season. Consequently Lévêque was disqualified and Ellis was rewarded the title. This non-foreigner rule was revoked almost as soon as the 1995 season ended. Christophe Lévêque however did know about the rule, as did his sponsor Sunn-Chippie but raced the ABA circuit anyway. After his no
- 1984 Canadian-American (Can-Am) Pro Champion.
- 1984 "AA" pro Grandnational Champion
- 1984 National No.2 Pro
- 1985 National No.3 Pro
- 1987 "AA" Pro Grandnational Champion
- 1988 "AA" Pro Grandnational Champion
- 1989 "AA" Pro U.S. Gold Cup West Champion
- 1989 "AA" Pro U.S. Gold Cup East Champion
- 1990 "AA" Pro U.S. Open West Champion
- 1989 National No.1 Pro Prize won:
- 1990 National No.1 Pro Prize won:
- 1994 "AA" Pro Gold Cup West Champion
- 1994 "AA" Pro Grandnational Champion
- 1994 National No.1 Pro Prize won: 1995 Ford F150 Pick-up truck.
- 1995 National No.1 Pro * Prize Won:
- 1994 Pro Supercup Champion Prize: Big Screen Television by Herda.
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