Gary Ellis

Gary Leo Ellis Jr., born on March 21, 1966 in Tacoma, Washington, was one of the last American old school professional bicycle motocross racers whose careers began in the 1970s and early 1980s, with prime competitive years from 1982 to 1996. Announcers nicknamed him The Lumberjack because he was tall, bearded and came from a logging region. He began racing in 1977 at age 11 on a Schwinn Sting-Ray, won his first national amateur race in 1981, turned professional in December 1983 and took his first senior pro win in 1989. He was the first ABA pro national number one in the history of the sanctioning body to come from outside California, and he retired in November 1998 at age 32.