Posted November 19, 2005   Email |  Print

AMA Sports honors its champions

story by Grant Parsons
photos by Steve Bruhn

It was an evening of champions in Vegas Friday, as the best youth, amateur and professional athletes of AMA Sports were honored for an incredible year of racing at the AMA Sports Awards Banquet, held at the Orleans Casino in the city that never sleeps.

Topping the list of honorees was none other than Juha Salminen (right, the day he clinched his number one plate), who took home the prestigious AMA Sports Athlete of the Year Award for his standout performance in winning the AMA Grand National Cross Country Championship.

Salminen, a multi-time world enduro champion who turned his attention to the GNCCs, one of the toughest-fought series on the calendar, vowed to win the U.S. title at the beginning of the season. And by the end of the year, he had achieved his goal, besting the best off-road riders in America to make the series truly international.

The banquet, now in its third year, is the premier event for AMA Sports racers, and is designed to bring the best of them together to enjoy a night where motorcycles and the people who race them are king. Hosted by veteran race announcer Tim Cotter and Speed TV's Greg White (above), the gala evening was a hit with the hundreds of racers and family members in the Orleans ballroom.

Other big winners on the evening included John Natalie (right), who took home the ATVA Athlete of the Year honors.

"I really wasn't expecting to win this, and I'm really honored to be up here," Natalie said. "It's great to know that there are so many people out here behind the sport—whether we ride two wheels or four, we're all part of the same family"

One of the most down-to-earth winners Dr. Joseph "Doc" Ragon, who won the AMA Sports Sportsman of the Year Award for his volunteer work creating and staffing a mobile medical center that travels to every All-Terrain Vehicle Association National.

"I have to say, the mobile medical center just kind of fell in my
lap,'' he said. "It started because everyone had such a shock that I was a doctor and my kids were racing, and it grew out of that.

"Honestly, I feel kind of awkward taking any credit for it, because it's just part of being in the family that racers make up."

Probably the best laugh of the evening came from drag-racer Rickey Gadson (left), recognized for winning his eighth AMA Prostar National Championship this year, riding for Suzuki (which took home the manufacturers cup in AMA Prostar).

"Of all my championships, this is the one that means the most, because I went back to my roots and did it as a privateer,'' said Gadson, who noted that he wound up on the Suzuki literally by accident.

"Brock Davidson was nice enough to let me borrow his motorcycle, and sorry to say I crashed the man's bike,'' Gadson said. "We made an agreement for me to work it off by racing for him for the rest of the season.

"And Brock," he said, smiling, "I hope that helps pay for the damages, because that's all you're going to get.''

Second-best laugh-getter of the night? Caleb Emory (right), the AMA Sports Youth Hillclimber of the Year: "I'd like to thank my sponsors—if I had any."

But in the end, perhaps no one summed up the feeling of the evening better than Steve Bonsi, the 2005 AMA Sports Dirt Track Horizon Award winner, who, in accepting his trophy, said simply: "Wow! I guess dreams do come true!"

Click here to see more photos from the 2005 AMA Sports Banquet.

In addition to all the series champions recognized for their efforts, a number of racers, promoters and journalists also received awards.

© 2005, American Motorcyclist Association