Bubba Harris

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Bubba Harris
Personal information
Full name Burlin Buntster Harris
Nickname "Bubba"
Date of birth August 7, 1985 (1985-08-07) (age 22)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Height 1.83 m (6'0"Imperial)
Weight 86.18 kg (190 lbs. Imperial)
Team information
Current team Redline Bicycles
Discipline Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
Role Racer
Rider type Off Road
Amateur team(s)
1993-1994
1994-1999
1999		 AXO
Answer Products
Redline Bicycles
Professional team(s)
1999-Present
 Redline Bicycles
Infobox last updated on:
April 7, 2008

Burlin Buntster Harris[1] (b. August 7, 1985 from Palmdale, California U.S.) is an American professional "New/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years are from 1999 to the present. Usually goes by the moniker "Bubba".

Contents

[edit] Racing career

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

Started Racing: August 7, 1992 on his seventh birthday. His father took him to a BMX track and he was hooked.[2]

First Race Bike: Huffy[3]

Sanctioning Body: American Bicycle Association (ABA)

First race result: First place 7 Novice.

First win (local): See above.

First sponsor: AXO approximately in February 1993.[4]

First national win:

Turned Professional: November 2001 Age 16 immediately after the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Grand Nationals. Redline teammate Kim Hayashi also turns pro on this occasion.[5]

First Professional race result:

First Professional win:

First Junior Pro* race result:

First Junior Pro win:

First Senior Pro** race result:

First Senior Pro win: The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Empire Nationals on May 18, 2003 in Kingston, New York.[6][7]

Retired: Still active.

Height & weight at height of his career: Ht:6'0" Wt:190lbs.

*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.

[edit] Career factory and major bike 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 used.

[edit] Amateur

  • AXO Sport: February 1993-Early 1994
  • Answer Products, Inc.: Early 1994-November 1999. Harris was the first racer Answer Products ever sponsored.[8]
  • Redline Bicycles: November 1999-Present. Bubba would turn pro with this sponsor.

[edit] Professional

  • Redline Bicycles: November 1999-Present. He has recently re-signed with Redline with a two year contract to last until 2008.[9]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None (defunct)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 1993 California District 7 (CA-07) No.1
  • 1994 9 Boys Southern California State Champion
  • 1995 9 Boys World Cup Champion
  • 1995 9 & Under Cruiser World Cup Champion
  • 1995 10 Expert and 10 Cruiser Grandnational Champion
  • 1996 10 Expert and 10 Cruiser World Cup Champion
  • 1996 11 Expert and 11 Cruiser Grandnational Champion
  • 2001 16 Expert and 16 Cruiser No.1

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None (defunct)

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

*See note in Professional section.

[edit] Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None (defunct)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None (defunct)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 2005 Pro Race of Champions (ROC) champion.
  • 2004,'05 World Champion
  • 2004,'05,'06 National No.1 Pro

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None (defunct)

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • None (defunct)

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

  • None (defunct; FIAC did not have a strictly professional division during its existence).

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

  • 2005 Elite Men World Champion

*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC, the amateur cycling arm of the UCI, had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1996 World Championships held in Brighton, England the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.
Pro Series Championships

[edit] BMX Product Lines

Bubba Harris Signature Series of various products.

  • Redline Aluminum Flight Mini, Flight, Flight Expert, Flight Junior, Flight Pro XL, Flight Pro XXL, Flight Series Cruiser frames and forks.
Product evaluation:
  • 2pure Lizard Skins Grips.

[edit] Notable accolades

  • He is a 2002 ABA BMXer magazine Golden Crank winner for Professional Rookie of the Year.[10]
  • He is a 2003,[11] '04, '05, '07 ABA BMXer magazine Golden Crank winner for Professional of the Year.
  • He is a 2003, '04, & '05 BMX Plus! Pro of the Year.
  • In 2004 Harris became the youngest racer to hold an ABA professional title, becoming ABA No.1 Pro in the 20" class at the age of 18.[12]
  • He has become only the second rider in BMX history, and the first in the ABA, to win the Senior Pro 20" class three consecutive times winning the "AA" pro class title in 2004, 2005, and 2006, tying Terry Tenette. Terry Tenette was the first pro racer to do so in 1990,'91 & '92 in the National Bicycle League "A" Pro (Elite Men) class. Other three consecutive title wins have occurred in other classes in the past. Brent Patterson did it priorly in the NBL Pro Cruiser class in 1981,'82 & '83 and Cheri Elliott in the ABA's girls amateur 20" division in 1983,'84 & '85. Other racers have done it and exceeded it in other classes since. John Purse came close to doing it in 1997 after winning the title with the NBL in 1995 and 1996 but a crash in the NBL Grand National semi finals ended his bid for a "three-peat".[13] Terry Tenette was still the only one to have done it in 20" Men's Senior Pro until 2006. Bubba Harris would had made it four in a row breaking Tenette's record if he took the 20" AA pro title again in the ABA racing circuit in 2007. However while in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics he suffered an ankle injury in Beijing, China on August 20, 2007 that took him out of the running to accomplish that feat.[14].

[edit] Significant injuries

  • Fractured his arm at the ABA Lonestar Nationals in Beaumont, Texas on March 5, 2000 after going two years without an injury. He was laid up for approximately three weeks until the weekend of March 26 of the ABA Winternationals in Phoenix, Arizona.[15]
  • Fractured shoulder at the Nellis Silver state NBL/UCI National race in Nellis, Nevada on March 26, 2006. Was laid up for seven weeks until the ABA Dixieland Nationals in Marietta, Georgia on May 20, 2006.[16]
  • Suffered a separated shoulder at the UCI national in Las Vegas, Nevada.[17]
  • Suffered a jammed elbow at the UCI Supercross time trials on September 7, 2006 in San Jose, California.[18]
  • Completely dislocated ankle at the talus bone on August 20, 2007 in Beijing, China on the official olyimpic track during his first run of his Time Trial. He hit the rhythm section slightly obliquely and was launched sideways by his momtem into the air, coming down on the back side of a jump with his foot still cliped into an SPD pedal. Doctors almost amputated his foot. As of this time he is still recovering. He expected to race the NBL Christmas Classic at the end of December 2007.[19] He attempted to race the 2007 ABA Grandnationals but reinjured the injury slightly in practice and sat out the Grands. He did race the NBL Christmas Classic on December 27, 2007 but didn't make the mains.

[edit] Peccadilloes

[edit] Post BMX career

[edit] BMX magazine covers

Note: (defunct) denotes that the magazine was out of business before the career of the racer started.

Bicycle Motocross News:

  • None (defunct)

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

  • None (defunct)

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

  • None (defunct)

BMX Plus!:

Bicycles and Dirt:

  • None (defunct)

Total BMX

  • None (defunct)

Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:

Moto Mag:

Twenty BMX:

  • April 2005 Vol.1 No.1

BMX World:

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL publication under two names):

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA publication under three names):

[edit] BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles

  • "The Fabulous Five" Snap BMX Magazine May 2001 Vol.8 Iss.5 No.55 pg.63 One of five short articles with five racers including Donny Robinson, Ian Stoffel, Brandon Nicholls, and Clint Gower.
  • "Just Bubba" Moto Mag May/June 2004 Vol.3 No.3 pg.22
  • "Factory Redline Pros" Transworld BMX November 2004 Vol.11 Iss.11 No.97. It is page 17 of the imbedded Redline catalog included in the magazine along with interviews of teamates Kim Hayashi and Jason Carne$.
  • "BMX camp, weekend event features some of best riders" Greeley Tribune August 11, 2005 Newspaper article.
  • "#1 on #1"BMX Plus! June 2006 Vol.29 Nol.6 pg.68 Bubba Harris & Mike Day interview each other.

[edit] Miscellaneous and Trivia

[edit] End Notes

  1. ^ United States Olympic Committee document confirming Harris's first name (page.44 *.pdf file.)
  2. ^ BMX Plus! June 2006 Vol.29 Nol.6 pg.68
  3. ^ bmxstars.com 2007 profile.
  4. ^ Moto Mag May/June 2004 Vol.3 No.3 pg.23
  5. ^ Redline website history section.
  6. ^ 2004 BMX Mania Interview.
  7. ^ Fatbmx.com article.
  8. ^ Moto Mag May/June 2004 Vol.3 No.3 pg.23
  9. ^ Fat BMX Article
  10. ^ 2004 BMX Mania Interview.
  11. ^ 2004 BMX Mania Interview.
  12. ^ BMX Plus! website report on 2004 ABA Grand National.
  13. ^ BMX Plus! December 1997 Vol.20 No.12 pg.46
  14. ^ bmxactiononline.com Bubba Harris interview by Gary Haselhorst
  15. ^ bmxtreme.com article. Search for "fractured" (without the quotation marks)
  16. ^ May 19, 2006 Fatbmx.com article.
  17. ^ BMX Plus! July 2006 Vol.39 No.7 pg.10
  18. ^ Georgia BMX.com. Word search for UCI "Supercorss" ("supercross" is misspelled on the site)
  19. ^ bmxactiononline.com Bubba Harris interview by Gary Haselhorst

[edit] External links