| Press Release from AMA: The American Motorcyclist Association has announced the nominees for the 2016 AMA Championship Banquet awards. The awards recognize individuals and organizations that excelled in AMA-sanctioned competition and recreational activity in 2016. AMA members help select the winners of the competition categories with their votes, including the prestigious AMA Athlete of the Year honors. AMA members can vote at surveymonkey.com through Sunday, Dec. 18, at midnight Eastern Time. All AMA members who vote will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to AMAGear.com. Award winners will be announced at the 2016 AMA Championship Banquet on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Hilton Downtown Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. Class champions from national and regional motorcycle and ATV championships also will be honored with No. 1 plates. Second- and third-place finishers will receive awards, as well. “The AMA Championship Banquet is one of the most diverse celebrations in motorsports,” said AMA Director of Racing Kevin Crowther. “Each year, we spotlight racers from all areas of motorcycle and ATV competition in what is always an amazing showcase for AMA racing. We honor everyone from youth champions to vintage racers and, of course, the country’s top talent in several disciplines.” The AMA also will recognize AMA-chartered clubs and promoters that raised the bar for AMA-sanctioned activity in 2016. The AMA Championship Banquet — which includes dinner, door prizes and a bike show — will recognize hundreds of top competitors from across the country in disciplines ranging from dirt track racing to motocross to woods racing and everything in between. Tickets for the AMA Championship Banquet are $75 each. AMA Life Members receive a $10 discount. Register here: events.r20. A free open house will be held at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio, on Jan. 20. Attendees are encouraged to attend to see the historic bikes and memorabilia on display, featuring the 2016 inductees: motorcycling pioneer Gloria Tramontin-Struck, desert racing champion and tuner Chris Haines, the late motorcycle designer and engineer Charles Franklin, race frame builder Jeff Cole, road racing champion Miguel Duhamel, dirt track racer Ronnie Jones, desert racing champion Jack Johnson and engine builder and tuner Dennis Mahan. The Hilton Downtown Columbus is located in the heart of downtown Columbus and less than 25 minutes from AMA headquarters and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, with easy access to the interstate and Port Columbus International Airport. Special room rates at the hotel are available through Dec. 20 by calling (614) 384-8600 and using group code AMA17 or by reserving online at aws.passkey.com. 2016 AMA Racer of the Year Nominees AMA Athlete of the Year: National Championship Series Russell Bobbitt, Champion, AMA National Enduro Championship Series AMA Athlete of the Year: Grand Championships Jody Barry, AMA Road Race Horizon Award Winner, AMA Road Race Grand Championship AMA ATV Athlete of the Year Colt Brinkerhoff, Pro ATV Champion, AMA National Hare and Hound Championship Series; Pro ATV Champion, AMA West Hare Scrambles Championship Series AMA Female Racer of the Year Nicole Bradford, Women’s Champion, AMA National Hare and Hound Championship Series AMA Vet/Senior Racer of the Year Bart Bast, Track Champion, Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway AMA Youth Racer of the Year Micah Hertrich, 125cc Expert Champion, AMA/NATC MotoTrials National Championship Series 2016 AMA Organizer of the Year Nominees AMA Motocross Organizer of the Year 2x Promotions; Porterville, Calif. AMA Off-Road Organizer of the Year Full Gas Sprint Enduro Championship Series; Hickory, N.C. AMA Track Racing Organizer of the Year Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway; Auburn, Calif. AMA ATV Organizer of the Year National Hare and Hound Association; Los Angeles, Calif. AMA Recreational Road Riding Organizer of the Year Roar on the Shore; Erie, Pa. AMA Recreational Off-Road Riding Organizer of the Year Knapp Creek Fire Department; Knapp Creek, N.Y. AMA Club of the Year Trials Inc.; Louisville, Ky. AMA Media Award Racer TV; Morgantown, W.Va. |