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AMA Pro Racing press release

More than 500 people attended the 30th annual AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet Sunday night at Paris Las Vegas. The event held each year to honor the champions, top finishers and crew members from each of AMA Pro Racing’s various racing disciplines was full of surprises as hosts Jamie Little and Jerry Bernardo kept the evening light and lively.

Along with the champions and second and third place finishers from each discipline being recognized, several special awards were presented throughout the evening. Motocrosser Ricky Carmichael received the coveted AMA Pro Racing SPEED Channel Athlete of the Year award complementing a perfect AMA Motocross Championship season in which he won all 24 motos of the 12 event series.

Carmichael was gracious in his acceptance speech acknowledging AMA Pro Racing and Honda and promising his new team (Suzuki) to do his (best) to win another championship. This was Carmichael’s third time to receive the Athlete of the Year Award tying him with Scott Parker as the only other three-time recipient of the prestigious honor. Carmichael was presented a custom Rolex watch.

Along with Carmichael, nominees this year included Chris Carr, Doug Henry, Mat Mladin, James Stewart and Jeff Ward. The award was presented by AMA Pro Racing Vice President of Commercial Development John Farris.

Johnny Murphree received the AMA Pro Racing Sportsman Award and Jeff Cole of C&J Frames received the Award for Mechanical Excellence.

Murphree joked about receiving an award for being a nice guy and AMA Pro Racing accepted the award on behalf of Cole who was away on an annual post racing season fishing trip. Along with Murphree, Ricky Carmichael, Michael Jordan and Danny Walker were nominated for the Sportsman Award.

Pro Circuit’s Mitch Payton and Richard Stanboli of Attack Performance joined Cole as nominees for the Award for Mechanical Excellence.

In a new awards category, Fox Racing and Vreeke & Associates were honored for their efforts in producing race win advertising. Fox Racing took the prize for the best ad and Vreeke & Associates, who represents Dunlop, won for best campaign. Scott Taylor and Ken Vreeke accepted on behalf of Fox Racing and Vreeke & Associates, respectively.

The evening produced many moments of spontaneity as award winners were caught up in the spirit of the moment. AMA Pro Racing’s vice president, director of communications Kerry Graeber said the whole concept of the banquet was changed this year to make it more enjoyable for award recipients as well as everyone else in attendance.

“Awards banquets by their very nature can be boring, drawn out events,” said Graeber.

“Our goal this year was to re-think the banquet with the goal being to make it more streamlined and entertaining. We put more emphasis on video and music and chose the hosts because of their connection to the riders competing in our championships. Jamie Little is a true professional and she brought her usual elegance and grace to the evening. Jerry’s off-the-wall style is an interesting contrast to Jamie and he was able to bring out the best of the rider’s personalities.”

Graeber joked that Jerry’s comments only crossed the line of good taste “a couple of times!”

Graeber added that the banquet was tied into the AMA Supermoto Championship finale, the AMA Red Bull Supermoto A-Go-Go, which essentially made the weekend a non-stop party. “It was great to see so many industry people in Las Vegas for the Supermoto finale and Awards Banquet. It was impossible to walk through Bally's or Paris Las Vegas without bumping into someone from the industry and everyone seemed to be having a great time. We’re going to use this year’s banquet as a jumping off point to make future banquets even better.”

The AMA Supermoto A-Go-Go Championship finale marked the conclusion of the 2004 AMA Pro Racing championship season. The 2005 season kicks off on Saturday, Jan. 8 with round one of the 2005 THQ AMA Supercross Series in Anaheim, Calif.

About AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the THQ AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Motocross Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship, the AMA Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com. Accredited media outlets can also access AMA Pro Racing's online Press Room at www.amaproracing.com/pressroom.

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Copyright AMA Pro Racing, 2005.