became professional motocross racer in 1986

In a fantastic run between 19, five US riders won a total of 13 500cc World Championships. Winning the FIM 500cc World Championship is like winning the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for cars, only on two wheels. He was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1999.

Later Schwantz co-designed the Circuit of the Americas.

In 125 GP starts, he prevailed 25 times, one more than Rainey and second American all-time behind Lawson. Their rivalry would leave fans spellbound over the next six years, culminating in Schwantz’s 1993 World Championship. Rainey took the title, but runner-up Schwantz won five of the six last races, then followed his victory in the 1988 DAYTONA 200 by capturing the season-opening Japanese GP. The following year began his epic rivalry with 2008 inductee Wayne Rainey. He won both heats of the 1985 AMA Superbike National at Willow Springs in his Yoshimura Suzuki Suberbike Team debut, then finished second to 2002 inductee Eddie Lawson in the 1986 DAYTONA 200. He started riding at four, became a top motocross rider in his teens, then switched to road racing, where he became a DAYTONA 200 winner, 500cc World Champion and 25-time victor on the international Grand Prix circuit.

Became professional motocross racer in 1986