Note: Professional first are at the national level unless otherwise indicated.
Started Racing: Early 1976 at 14 years old in Hayward, California. He was exposed to it through his friends in his neighborhood.
First race result: First Place in 14 "Expert". However, at the time classes were determined by size and weight and not proficiency. Brent Patterson, being big for his age was placed with the experts.
First local win: See above. It was the beginning of a three race winning streak.
Sanctioning body: None, unaffiliated track.
Home sanctioning body district(s): National Bicycle Association (NBA) District "N" (Northern California);
First sponsor: Cyclepath 1976
First Pro win**: See above.
Height & weight at height of his career (1981–1984): Ht:6'1" Wt:~200 lbs.
Retired from the senior pro* circuit: Mid 1986, 25 years old. As is usual, many former top pro BMXers do not retire completely but race for fun or if there is a particularly large pro purse, such as the 1987 NBL World Cup. Brian and Brent occasionally raced in several large races for both reasons in 1987, but their days of seriously contending for No.1 racer title in any sanctioning body were over. Brent retired fully from BMX after not making the main at the World Cup and concentrated on Motorcycle Motocross. Patterson Racing Products went out of business in the summer of 1986 due to production problems.
*In the NBL "A" Pro/Elite; in the ABA "AA" Pro.
**At the time there was no separate pro class for pros due to the relatively small number of pros. They raced with the 16 Experts, making it a Pro/Am class essentially. This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional. This practice continued until the NBA's 1979 season in which the pros earned separate pro points and a separate pro plate from the amateurs. The NBL and ABA followed suit a year later.
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 co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.
Amateur •
Cyclepath: 1976 •
AAA Restaurant Fire Control/Champion: 1976 •
Speedo Racing Products: October 1976-October 1977. •
Patterson Racing Products: Early November 1977 – 1986. Brent and Brian would turn pro with Patterson Racing. Detailed below.
Professional •
Patterson Racing Products: Early November 1977 – 1986. This was the family owned BMX bicycle firm started by their father Vance Patterson in late 1977 after Speedo, who Vance Patterson had invested in, showed no signs of progress toward developing a BMX racing frame, the original reason why Vance Patterson invested in the first place. Richie would virtually become part of the
Patterson family and stay with Patterson for many years, much longer than the average stay a top amateur would stay with one team. In contrast, Richie Anderson would not stay long with any one sponsor after Patterson Racing.
Career Bicycle Motocross titles Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National and International titles. Only sanctioning bodies that were active during the racer's career are listed. 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 (NBA) • 1976 15 Expert Grand National Champion • 1977 National No.2 (Pro/Am title)
National Bicycle League (NBL) American Bicycle Association (ABA) • None
Independent race series and Invitationals • 1976 California Cup 15 year old class Champion The California Cup was a non sanctioned series of three qualifying races held at three tracks (for a total of nine separate races) in three different regions of Northern California. Then the finals were held. The series was sponsored and promoted by
BX-Weekly Magazine, a BMX newspaper and Rick Ankron & Rick Varner owners of (R&R) Racing Products. The finals were held at the famous
Corona Raceway in
Corona, California on September 5, 1976. Side note: Brent's brother
Brian Patterson came in second in 11 Boys behind
Eddy King.
Professional ;
National Bicycle Association (NBA) • 1977 National No.2 (Pro/Am title) • 1978 16 Expert Grandnational Champion. :In 1978 NBA professionals could still race the amateur 16 Expert class due to the still relatively small pro class.
National Bicycle League (NBL) • 1981 Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion • 1982 Pro Cruiser and Pro Trophy Grandnational Champion (double) •
1981, 1982, 1983 National No.1 Pro Cruiser ;
American Bicycle Association (ABA) •
1980 National No. 1 Pro • 1982 Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion :Brent came in ABA No. 2 pro in 1982 when Brian became No. 1 pro for that year, the only sibling combination to do so. ;
United Bicycle Racers (UBR) • 1981 Open Expert and Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion (double) •
1981 National No. 1 Pro Cruiser ;International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) •
1982 Pro Cruiser Champion ;Other Titles •
1983 Jag Pro World Champion (Non sanctioned)
Notable accolades • Named Rookie of the Year by
Bicycle Motocross News for 1977. Also named number one of the five best riders in
Northern California • Brent won
Bicycle Motocross Action's Number One Racer Award (NORA) for 1980.* He received 433 out of 1622 votes cast or 26.7% of the vote. He also won US$500 :
Product Evaluation: Significant injuries • Broke his ankle in a pickup football game in late 1978. It was a problem with Brent off and on compounded by his next major injury. He was laid up for four and a half months until April 1981. Brent Patterson's first race back was the 1984 NBL Grandnational on September 1, 1984.
Racing habits and traits Other significant sibling combinations in BMX • Ronnie &
Richie Anderson •
Mike &
Eddy King •
Eric & Robby Rupe • Richard & Gary Houseman •
Alan &
Brian Foster ==Post racing career==