Billy Griggs


William Luther Griggs is an American "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 1996.
His nickname was "Mr. Bill" which was a play on his name and an allusion to a late 1970s Saturday Night Live skit called "The Mr. Bill Show." Billy Griggs had a more successful career than most, winning two World Championships during his amateur days, but did not quite make it to the top in pro although he would consistently make the mains.

Racing career milestones

Note: Professional first are at the national level unless otherwise indicated.
MilestoneEvent Details
Started racing:January 21, 1981 at 12 years old.
Sanctioning body:American Bicycle Association :ABA California 14 1982-1985
First race bike:
First race result:Third in 12 Beginner class.
First win :
First sponsor:BS Bikes in Santa Ana, California.
First national win:
Turned Professional:February 1987 at 18 years old.
First Professional race result:Fourth place in "A" pro on Saturday, February 14 at the 1987 American Bicycle Association Winter Nationals in Scottsdale, Arizona. He won USD$135.
First Professional win:At the 1987 ABA Winter Nationals in "A" pro on Sunday, February 15. He won US$640.
First Junior Men/Pro* race result:See "First professional race result".
First Junior Men/Pro win:See "First Professional win".
First Senior Pro** race result:Third Place in "AA" pro at the ABA Silver Dollar Nationals in Reno, Nevada on May 24, 1987. He won US$140.
First Senior Pro win:In "AA" pro at the ABA Lumberjack Nationals in Eugene, Oregon On July 25, 1987. He also won Pro Open, doubling and he doubled again the next day. No purse break down given.
Height and weight at height of his career: Ht:5'10" Wt:175 lbs.
Retired:Griggs retired from full-time AA pro racing in July 1995 after he took a Research and Development position at GT Bicycles. He would race occasionally in "AA" pro until his last "AA" equivalent pro race at the UCI World Championships in Cordoba, Argentina on the weekend of July 29, 2000.

*In the NBL it is "B" Pro/Superclass/"AA" pro depending on the era; In the ABA it is "AA" pro.
**'''In the NBL "A" Pro/Elite Men; in the ABA it is "AA" pro.

Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever-changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question.

Amateur

Billy Griggs: "I had a bike to race but it wasn't what I would consider a race bike. It would be fine for a novice or a beginner. I was riding a fully short stock frame. I tried to ride a Sting for a while but I just didn't like it. They understood that and they let me try a different frame they made. But you know I prefer Flight crank and day over one-piece cranks, and the other frame they made was too wide in the rear section for Flights, they just hit the frame, and so I didn't want to ride that bike. It was also too short in the front end by three inches easy, it was really a small bike."
SBMX: Yet you won quite a few races on Schwinn bicycles.
B.G.: No I didn't, the bike I had was made by Voris Dixon.
SBMX: It said Schwinn.
B.G.: That's just it, it said Schwinn, but that's as far as it went. I had to put Schwinn stickers on it because I had to fool everyone with it.
SBMX: Were you fooling the people at Schwinn?
B.G.: For a while. At first they didn't mind it but then when the Schwinn dealers started asking for that bike and they couldn't supply it, then the problem started."
SBMX: So did Schwinn leave you or did you leave Schwinn?
B.G.: They called me up and gave me a choice: Either put a Sting together or a bike we make and stay on the team, or don't do it and I wouldn't be on the team anymore.He opted to leave the team in part because it would have taken too long to adjust to a bike with a Schwinn manufactured frame.
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.

Amateur

National Bicycle Association
National Bicycle League
American Bicycle Association
*Beginning with the 1983 season the ABA instituted age class rankings, much like NBL practice. However, the overall National No.1 Amateur title was retained. Doug Davis was overall National No. 1 Amateur for 1983.
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
**The 7-UP World Championship race was the direct descendant of the Jag BMX World Championship races held from 1978-1983. Renny Roker, the promoter of the JAG BMX World Championship gave the rights to the WC to the USBA in 1984 in return for the cable television rights.
International Bicycle Motocross Federation
Other titles
National Bicycle Association
National Bicycle League
American Bicycle Association
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
International Bicycle Motocross Federation
Pro Series Championships

Notable accolades

Miscellaneous

In 2013 Griggs was inducted into the prestigious National BMX Hall of Fame.
Griggs was responsible for developing the Ultra Box Series frame design, alongside Gary Turner, and has welded up plenty of custom frames for top Pros - including the GT frames ridden by Mike Day and Jill Kintner in the 2008 Olympics.

BMX and magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:
Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:
Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:
BMX Plus!:
*Due to a change in ownership BMX Plus! did not publish a May issue in 1983.
Total BMX:
Bicycles and Dirt:
BMX World
Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:
Moto Mag
BMX World :
NBA World & NBmxA World :
Bicycles Today & BMX Today :
ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer :
USBA Racer :
*After the ABA acquired the USBA the ABA printed the USBA paper within American BMXer beginning with the May 1986 issue.

BMX press magazine interviews and articles