Kenny May

†NAG=National Age Group International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

"Kenny May is pretty hardcore. His quickness is attributed more to his determination and aggressiveness than it is his riding style. This can easily be identified by his facial expressions during a race—gritting teeth, wide eyed, loud huffing, snot spouting from his nose, saliva drooling out of the corner of his mouth, etc." ----BMX Action June 1988

Retired: Sometime in late 1992. He appeared to have just unceremoniously dropped out of racing during 1992.

First Professional race result: First place in "A" pro at the 1990 American Bicycle Association (ABA) in Reno, Nevada (Day 1) on January 13, 1990. He won US$525, the equivalent to US$826.26 in 2007 (Cost of Living Calculator) He also won Pro Cruiser winning US$250 (US$393.46 in 2007).

First Senior Pro** race result: Disqualified for the day for fighting with Alex Pflug (pronounced "Flewg") in the first moto after they collided in the third turn at the 1990 ABA Winter Nationals in Chandler, Arizona on February 18. He hit Pflug with a right hook to the head.

First Senior Pro win: In "AA" pro at the ABA Supernationals in El Paso, Texas on March 31, 1990.

As noted in the "First Senior Pro Race result" category above Kenny May was disqualified for fighting with another racer, Alex Pflug (pronounced "Puf-lug") They collided in the third turn in the first moto at the 1990 ABA Winter Nationals in Chandler, Arizona on February 18. In on report, he hit Pflug with a right hook to the head in response. May was disqualified for the day. May was asked and gave his side about the incident in a brief interview with Go magazine:

"We were coming out of the first corner and I was in third and Alex was in fourth and he pulled up next to me. I slipped my pedal coming off the drop-off. Then going into the second corner, just before the doubles he shoved me off the track and I missed the doubles. I was still in third, beating him into the third turn, and he came up on the inside and deliberately took me over the berm. THEN, he pushed me before I had even said anything to him, so I slapped him in the helmet and go 'What are you doin' dude? That ain't racing'. And I get DQ'ed for the day. I tell you, it's politics. They (the ABA) don't want me to get #1 this year." (1990) ----From Go June 1990.

"....I still won't deliberately take him out to pass him" [if the opponent was in the lead -ed] "--unless he's someone who's taken me out before. I'm into paybacks. Say that someone bumps me and I'm going to go down; I only feel it right that he goes down with me. It's simple." ---"Down 'N' Dirty" article March 1990 BMX Plus! article.

Turned Professional: December 1, 1989 at 19 years of age.

On November 29, 1989 during the ABA Grandnationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in a heavily contested race for the title of No.1 Amateur Cruiser that year, Kenny May had to be restrained by security guards to keep him from assaulting James Prichard (of whom he had several previous disputes with). In this case he thought made an overly aggressive pass during his 17–21 Cruiser main in the second turn while Kenny was leading. Kenny went down in the turn, costing him any chance of the 1989 amateur Cruiser title. As the guards and Yvonne Shoup restrained "a snorting mad" May, Prichard's family retreated to other environs after Prichard's last race.

Height & weight at height of his career (1988–1998): Ht:6'1" Wt:197 lbs.

His best known nickname is "May Day", a play on words involving his last name and the international call of distress Mayday which was in turn prompted by his hard charging "go-for-it" racing determined to come in first no matter what the cost. It often lead him to be carried off the race track in a stretcher. His being knocked out after a severe wreck (despite having a helmet on) during the 1986 American Bicycle Association (ABA) Grand Nationals being a case in point. He often managed to recover quickly enough to be in the next moto (heat) of racing to take the win and transfer to the main. Incidents like this also earned him the alternate nickname of "Mayhem", another play on his name and his predilection for wrecking on the race track and his aggressiveness toward other racers while racing and not.

Home sanctioning body district(s): American Bicycle Association (ABA) CA-11 (1985)

Kenny May was possibly the most arressive racer towards other competetores BMX had since the days of "Crazy" Ronnie Anderson in the mid-1980s. In Ronnie Anderson fashion, he liked to "trash talk" the competition to get a psychological advantage. Sometimes this "trash talk" would provoke a physical altercation with another racer as it did with Joe Pinkney at the 1988 NBL Tanglewood Spring Nationals in Clemmons, North Carolina. It resulted in Pinkney having a dislocated shoulder.

Started racing: 1979 at approximately 10 years old at the Auburn DeWitt track. After racing for approximately two years he quit in 1983 after burnout. He returned to racing in 1985.

May had a "go for broke" racing style that often would result in him wrecking on the track and resulting in his injury. Indeed, he broke his hand in his very first race in 1979 He acknowledged his predilections for on track mishaps in an interview:

Kenneth Henry May (born April 5, 1970 from Sacramento, California, U.S.) is a former American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1985 to 2000.