Stu Thomsen
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Stuart L. Thomsen |
| Nickname | "Stompin' Stu", "The Man" ,"Stu Magoo" |
| Born |
May 20, 1958 Whittier, California, United States |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 90.7 kg (200 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired (represents SE Bikes) |
| Discipline | Bicycle Motocross (BMX) |
| Role | Racer |
| Rider type | Off Road |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1974 | Newport Design & Manufacturing, Inc. |
| 1975 | Dirtmaster Racing Products |
| 1975–1976 | Webco Inc. |
| 1976 | D.G. Performance Specialties |
| 1976–1977 | FMF |
| 1999–Present | Redline (Reclassified Amateur) |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1976–1977 | FMF |
| 1977–1979 | SE Racing |
| 1980–1983 | Redline Engineering |
| 1984–1986 | Huffy Corporation |
| 1986 | Motobecane (MBK) |
| 1987–1992 | Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center |
| 1987–1992 | retired for six years |
| 1992 | Southridge Cycles |
| 1993– | SE Racing |
Stuart L. Thomsen (born May 20, 1958 in Whittier, California) is an American former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.
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. His prime competitive years were 1976–1985. 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.
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. 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. 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"): July 1987 Aged 29. He couldn't find a factory sponsorship for the expensive national circuit which even with the resources of his bikeshop Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center. A combination of him being let go by Huffy and the depressed economic state of BMX which resulted in a dearth of sponsorship offers despite his looking; and a shoulder injury that he himself didn't let heal properly due to his competitiveness. At 29 he had largely made 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. 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.
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