Many of us young motorcycle loving people were lucky to have a hero we idolized. A person that help would forge our path in the years ahead.
If you were growing up around motocross tracks in the Midwest that may have been Tom Severson.
In Minnesota, the Severson family brought a flair to our sport that put motocross on a higher level. When a person witnessed Tom gliding around a track in 1972 on his Monark 125 they immediately knew they were witnessing Motocross in its true art form.
His every move was as though it were rehearsed, his smooth style with occasional bold strokes of confidence were the brightest colors on his canvas.
As Tom would exit the track after a win It was common for a dozen or more to follow him right to his camp. It was then that a person would witness the love, fun and joy surrounding his entire family.
When he and his father arranged to have Monark national motocross stars Marty Smith and Danny Turner visit us in Minnesota, hundreds of teenage lives were given new goals and meaning.
Godspeed my friend Tom Severson, you were one of a kind.
Tom Benolkin
