Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/144092
P26 IN THE WIND racer: Five-time AMA Hare and Hound National Champion, Baja 1000 and 500 overall winner and more. Between 1977 and 1995, Hamel was the only rider ever named both as the AMA Amateur Athlete of the Year and AMA Amateur Sportsman of the Year in the same year. He died in June 1995 while racing the Baja 500 when a car strayed onto the road that was part of the course and Hamel collided with it. Norm McDonald: McDonald has been an ambassador for motorcycling his entire life as a racer, promoter, teacher, sponsor and advocate for motorcyclists' rights and safety. In 1957 he opened K&N Motorcycles - a motorcycle shop - with Ken Johnson. By 1965, they created K&N Engineering and in 1966 the K&N Air Filter was introduced. Over the years McDonald sponsored hundreds of racers, with more than 30 of them going on to the National level. Randy Renfrow: Renfro began his pro road-racing career in 1981. He won the AMA 250 Grand Prix Championship in 1983, the AMA Formula One title in 1986 and the AMA Pro Twins Series Championship in 1989. He was known for his ability to be competitive on any type of machinery, from diminutive 250cc Grand Prix bikes all the way up to AMA Superbikes, and he excelled in nearly every class of professional motorcycle road racing. In all, he won 17 AMA Nationals in four different classes. Renfrow died in 2002 in a non-racing accident. Mike and Dianne Traynor: They co-founded the Ride for Kids motorcycle charity program and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. They began the Ride for Kids in 1984 to raise funds for childhood brain tumor research. With tens of millions of dollars raised since 1984, motorcyclists have helped the PBTF become the world's largest non-governmental source of funding for childhood brain tumor research. Mike Traynor died in 2009 and Dianne Traynor died in 2012. The class of 2013 will be inducted on Friday, October 18, during the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legends Weekend at Las Vegas' Green Valley Resort & Casino. BOBBITT IS BACK! R eturning from injury, Russell Bobbitt claimed the overall win at the OMA Nationals' Spider Cross-Country in Camden, Tennessee, on July 14. It started out hot, humid and dusty, but a midrace rainstorm left parts of the course slick and wet and even more difficult than it already was for the racers. But it wasn't too difficult for Bobbitt. The former AMA Enduro Champion set a quick pace and pushed hard to lead the race from wire-to-wire. After Bobbitt nabbed the FMF Holeshot, fellow Husaberg rider Nick Fahringer latched on to the back wheel of Bobbitt's Factory FMF Husaberg and never let go. "It was a tough battle," said Bobbitt. "He [Fahringer] pushed me all the way to the end. We had a good battle pretty much for two hours and 15 minutes." AmPro Yamaha racer Jordan Ashburn completed the Pro podium followed by Pro 2-class winner Michael Williams in fourth place overall. The 30-39 A winner, Dustin Gibson, rounded out the top five after making a lastlap pass stick on Open A winner Steve Leivan, the last racer to complete six laps of the arduous trails. John Gasso Russell Bobbitt returned from injury to win the OMA Spider XC in Tennessee.