We Went Fast

How did you find out about Jeremy McGrath doing the Nac Nac? And what did you think of it at the time? For me, it was the weekly copies of Cycle News sold on the counter of MotoSports in Clio, MI. I was just a few weeks away from turning 15 when the 1994 Supercross season started. The February 9th issue featured the first published photo of McGrath doing the nac nac. Cycle News named McGrath their...

We all remember where we were and what we were doing on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Beyond those chilling hours of trying to make sense of the news and horrific images it gets fuzzy. This is a story about what the members of Team USA 2001 did on the morning of Sept. 11. How they reacted, where they went, what decisions they made. Or didn’t make. It’s difficult to write a story about something t...

Forty years ago a quartet of young Americans traveled to Europe and turned the World Motocross community on its head. Danny LaPorte, Chuck Sun, Donnie Hansen and Johnny O'Mara won the Trophée des Nations (250) on Sept. 6, 1981 in Lommel, Belgium and then the Motocross des Nations (500) a week later in West Germany.  Episode #14 is a special collaboration between Racer X Illustrated and We Went Fas...

Fifty years after its release, Bruce Brown's motorcycle documentary continues to influence. From Malcolm to Masterson, this is a collection of stories from people whose lives were never the same after watching "On Any Sunday" This is the podcast version of the story under the same title. You can listen by clicking the play arrow below or you can search "We Went Fast" in your preferred podcast play...

They told him not to. But when rookie James Stewart committed to jumping LaRocco's Leap on a 125, Jeff Kardas knew where to point the camera. This is the podcast version of the feature article “Ep. #12 Modem Killer: James Stewart vs. LaRocco's Leap”. Author, Brett Smith, reads the text. You can find this and the entire collection of podcasts by searching “We Went Fast” in your preferred podcast pl...

Was the PW50 your first bike? It was for me! "Little Giant: The PW50 Story" celebrates the life and legacy of this iconic motorcycle, which turned 40 in 2020. It may have aged but it hasn't grown up. The Yamaha PW50 is a familiar piece of our childhood that we're passing along to our own kids. This is the podcast version of the feature article "Little Giant: The PW50 Story". Author, Brett Smith, r...

It's rare when the loser gets the magazine cover, steals the spotlight and becomes a legend. Ryan Hughes did all three on a hot summer day when he lost the 125cc AMA Pro Motocross championship to Steve Lamson. But he didn't win over the crowd because he finished second overall. It was because he kept going at the exact moment most would find no reason to.  "Broken Hearts and Busted Chains" is the...

In 1972, Terry Pratt put his life in America on pause to spend 6 months following the MXGP season. 35 years later he published "Grand Prix Motocross: The 1972 Championship season". Pratt died before he could finish selling his masterpiece but he left behind a trail of paperwork and friends and a story that needed to be told. Pratt is one of the unsung heroes of the motorcycle industry, whose contr...

More than a third of all supercross winners only won a single main event in their career (premier class). This is the audio version of quirky stories behind 10 of those "One Hit Wonders".  To read the print version of "One Hit Wonders" follow this link .  Please leave a rating and review and tell a friend about the We Went Fast podcast channel.  Can you spare $3 a month? If you enjoyed “One Hit Wo...

Paul Buckley messed up. He should have been at the finish line. Yet, if he had been paying attention, the photograph above wouldn’t exist. He would have shot an up close ‘guy in the sky’ image and the moment he immortalized would instead be a tale passed down between bench racers with no visual reference to back it up. This is the audio version of the first story ever published on wewentfast.com,...

AUDIO VERSION! Don't have time to sit and read the written story? I'll read it to you! This is the audio version of "Chapter 4: A Ricky Carmichael Story" , published on January 1, 2020. As The GOAT starts his second season as the analyst for Monster Energy Supercross on NBC Sports, he explains it was a position he not only didn't expect to hold, but originally didn't want.  Now 40, Carmichael open...

Don't have 30 minutes to sit and read the Ron Lechien story? I'll read it to you! This is the audio version of "Making of the Machine: A Ron Lechien Story" , originally published in July 2019. Read by the author, Brett Smith. The original story was published in July 2019, during the voting process for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame class of 2019. Lechien got the votes (after spending 3 years on t...

Don't have 25 minutes to sit and read a story? I'll read it to you! This is the audio version of Miracle Boy: the Austin Forkner Story, originally published in February 2019. Read by the author, Brett Smith. We Went Fast article episodes are available on iTunes and Stitcher.

Larry 'Motor Mouth' Huffman narrates the audio version of The Ballad of Big Dave. Didn't have 30 minutes to read the article when it was published in late July? Now you can sit back and let the original "Voice of Supercross" read it to you while you drive to work or hopelessly search for that master link clip you dropped on the garage floor. Huffman announced races and TV coverage from 1972 to 198...

In the early eighties, a trio of motorcycle racing promoters from Ohio and West Virginia were looking for a facility. A country music legend needed to fill a campground. A sanctioning body wanted more members and a marquee event. And amateur motocross racers wanted a true and fair national championship. We Went Fast has teamed with the Racer X Podcast Network for this documentary-style journey int...

Listen up. No, seriously. I had some people make this request and I thought it was a good idea. So, here's an audio version of the recent article, Chad Reed: Against the Current. Read by the author, edited by Nicholas Smith. I'm working on creating a podcast channel for these on iTunes and Stitcher, etc.