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AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame reveals 13 nominees for Class of 2024

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the list of nominees for the Class of 2024, and that voting is now open.

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame nominees for Class of 2023 announced.
Voting to determine the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2024 is now open. (Photo: American Motorcyclist Association)

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame selection committees have selected 13 nominees from eight areas of influence: Ambassadors & Industry, Design & Engineering, Dirt Track, Leadership & Rights, Motocross & Supercross, Off-Road, Road Racing, and Specialty Competition.

“The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame nominees for 2024 include an accomplished and diverse group of men and women who’ve demonstrated extraordinary achievements in advocacy, competition and promotion of the sport of motorcycling. These individuals have contributed significantly to the advancement of motorcycling in many areas, from excellence in road racing, motocross and off-road competition, to tuning bikes to support champions, to creating innovative motorcycle designs, to advocating for motorcyclists’ rights. We’re honored to recognize this group of nominees and eagerly anticipate the announcement of the Class of 2024 soon.”

AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman

Nominees include:

Competition

Dave Zanotti – Dirt Track
With four AMA Grand National Championships and 31 AMA Grand National dirt track event wins as a tuner, Dave Zanotti has a resume that few have replicated. Zanotti elevated himself into the record books — capturing the third-most AMA Grand National championships and fourth-most AMA Grand National dirt track wins. Along with his father, Mario, Zanotti helped propel AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Steve Eklund to an AMA Grand National Championship in 1979. Mario and Dave remain the only father-son duo to win individual AMA Grand National championships.

Kevin Windham – Motocross
During his long, illustrious career, Windham raced to 47 total AMA Pro wins and collected the third-most starts (325), third-most points (9,070) and the seventh-most podiums (130). While Windham saw success domestically, he thrived in international competition, winning the 1999 FIM United States Grand Prix and 2005 Motocross of Nations as a member of the American team.

Mike Lafferty – Off Road
Racing throughout the 1980s, Lafferty broke through when he won back-to-back East Coast Enduro Association championships as a teenager in 1993 and 1994. He hit a launching point in 1997 when he claimed his first AMA National Enduro Championship. In total he tallied 71 wins — second all-time — and eight titles, which leaves him tied for the most all-time, while racing national enduros.

Mat Mladin – Road Racing
In a 10-year span from 1999 to 2009 that continues to defy belief in hindsight, Mat Mladin notched seven AMA Superbike titles and won 82 AMA Superbike nationals in the process — each of those numbers more than anyone in history. Mladin also won the legendary Daytona 200 three times during that period.

Billy Hamill – Specialty Competition
Nicknamed “The Bullet,” Billy Hamill began racing junior speedway in 1983, and he turned professional in 1986. Just 10 years after turning pro, Hamill became the fourth American to claim the FIM Speedway World Championship with his win in 1996. During this impressive run racing AMA speedway, Hamill also collected four U.S. National Speedway titles. Hamill was named the 2012 AMA Sportsman of the Year.

Non-Competition

Sidney Biberman – Ambassadors & Industry
As one of Vincent Motorcycles’ greatest ambassadors, Sidney Biberman spent most of his life contributing to motorcycling culture in various ways. Biberman elevated motorcycling as a drag racer, commercial engineer and overall advocate for motorcycle culture. As a drag racer, Biberman piloted “The Rattler”, widely regarded as one of the fastest bikes in the 1960s.

Gina Bovaird – Ambassadors & Industry
Gina Bovaird rose steadily through the ranks in the U.S. road racing scene, ultimately becoming the first woman to complete in the famed Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway in 1979. She reached 184 mph while qualifying, making her the fastest-qualifying rookie and fourth fastest overall.

Debbie Matthews – Ambassadors & Industry
Known for her smooth and effortless racing style, Matthews set the record for longest consecutive pro and amateur career in women’s motocross when she raced for 27 years. In 1996, she co-founded the Women’s Motocross League, and Matthews further worked on behalf of women riders when she met with AMA Congress and drove the change to give women “A” Rider classification for the first time in history.

Bud Maimone – Design & Engineering
With the invention of the famed Cobra mini racer, Bud Maimone is considered one of the great innovators in the world of youth motocross. Maimone’s creation of the Cobra before the 1994 AMA Amateur Motocross National Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch helped signal the end of more than a decade of dominance by the Yamaha PW50/Y-Zinger. Cobra quickly boomed as one of the most utilized motorcycles in youth motocross from that point forward.

Barry Willey – Design & Engineering
Barry Willey, a trailblazer with an eye for innovation, leaned on his upbringing in his family’s motorcycle accessory factory to help National Cycle greatly impact the motorcycle community. National Cycle became the first company to introduce and use General Electric’s MR4000 polycarbonate material — which came to be known as FMR hard-coated Lexan — for motorcycle windshields.

Dana Bell – Leadership & Rights
A decade after her entrance into motorcycling, Dana Bell worked her way to being a nationally ranked enduro competitor. From 1992–1999, Bell shifted her focus to rights issues and worked as the western states representative for the AMA’s Government Relations Department. During this period, she also worked as a state partner for National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC).

Rob Rasor – Leadership & Rights
Hired in 1973 as part of the AMA’s Government Relations Department, Rob Rasor helped ward off a federal “superbike” ban, helmet requirements and bike bans in several states and cities, and aided in the fight to ban healthcare discrimination against motorcyclists. Rasor was also a champion for off-road riding and assisted in the AMA’s efforts to accommodate off-road riders on public lands.

Gary Sellers – Leadership & Rights
Since the 1970s, Gary Sellers has given his life to motorcycle education and advocacy in his home state of Ohio and throughout the country. Sellers was one of the founding members of ABATE of Ohio, and he served as legislative agent for the organization for a decade. He was awarded the honorary Life Membership Award by ABATE of Ohio in 1997.

Voting for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2024 is now open. Eligible voters include previous Hall of Fame inductees, members of the AMA and AMHF Boards of Directors, and members of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Category Selection Commitees.

Voting ends Thursday, June 13 at 11:59 p.m. Results will be announced shortly after voting ends, and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Oct. 10 in Pickerington, Ohio.

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