David Clinton

Retired: Late 1980 at age 20. He made a brief comeback in 1982 at the ABA Fall Nationals in Lancaster, California on October 16 and 17 but a preexisting knee injury forced him to retire from BMX permanently. He also was still doing obsolete one pedal starts when most other pros (Andy Patterson being one notable exception) had adapted the quicker reaction two pedal balance starts. His failure to adapt also contributed to his truncated comeback.

First Professional race result**: First place at NBA National in Chandler, Arizona on April 30, 1978.

Turned professional: 1977 at 17 years of age with the NBA. He was the very first official pro.

Height & weight at height of his career (1975–1978): Ht:5'3" Wt:135-~230 lbs. Note: the 230 pounds figure is for roughly at the end of the peak in his career.

American Bicycle Association (ABA Founded January 1975, defunct December 1975)*

First national win: Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup Final on September 14, 1974 in Junior class* age 14. While the Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup was not a true national-no national points were awarded to any participant who resided outside of the state-it was the very first large, heavily promoted race series up to that time in BMX. Clinton's first true national win was in 14 & Over Expert at the National Bicycle Association (NBA) Tri-State National in Tucson, Arizona on March 30, 1975. It was the second true national in BMX history. The first one was the previous day's NBA Winternationals held in Phoenix, Arizona. John George won the 14 & Over Expert class. Because records only published the first four placers it is not known through available public records what position Clinton came in that day, or even if he made the main.

Started Racing: 1971 at age 11. He was doing halftime show BMX races between the minicycle races at the Indian Dunes track in Valencia, California.

First win (local): Some time in 1971 at the Indian Dunes Motorcycle Motocross track in Valencia, California At the time some BMX tracks were made out of active MX tracks.

David Clinton (born January 2, 1960 in Sun Valley, California) is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1973 to 1979. Nicknamed "Dynamite" early in his career David Clinton could be truthfully said to be the sport's first true superstar. He was the first racer to win an official National No.1 plate of any kind when the first BMX sanctioning body, the National Bicycle Association (NBA), introduced the title in 1975. During the previous year he won the junior class division of a series of what could be called proto Nationals, a part of the first major BMX series, when he took first place in the Junior class at the Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup which decided the California State Champion. Clinton along with Scot Breithaupt and John "Snaggletooth" Palfryman participated in the first true National sanctioned by the NBA in Phoenix, Arizona in 1975 and became the first official pro in BMX in 1977 (although Thom Lund could be considered the first BMXer to race for money. He raced for a share of the US$200 purse and won the Scot Breithaupt sponsored Saddleback Park race in Irvine, California in 1975).