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/339119
IN THE WIND P24 TOM WHITE TO HALL OF FAME T om White, acclaimed racer, White Brothers Cycle Spe- cialties founder and a lifetime advocate of motorcycling and the sport of motocross, has been elected to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2014. White, who was elected to the Ambassador/Industry category, will be inducted at the 2014 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induc- tion Ceremony Friday, October 17, in Orlando, Florida. "Few have done more to ad- vance the sport of motocross racing, and the history of moto- cross racing, than Tom White," said Ken Ford, a member of the Hall of Fame executive commit- tee and treasurer of the AMA board of directors. "By virtue of his early racing success, his long and successful career in motor- cycling, his personal dedication to promoting both the past and present of this great sport and his selfless dedication to the Hall of Fame on the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation board, Tom White is personally responsible for improving the ex- perience and opportunity for mo- tocross racers and motorcyclists of all ages." White first tasted motorcycling at the age of 15. By the time he was in his early 20s, White was ranked among the top 100 motor- cycle racers in America, earning AMA National Number 80. Soon after, he founded White Brothers Cycle Specialties in 1975, which became one of the top off-road motorcycle accessory compa- nies in America. When White sold the company in 2000, the firm listed more than 30,000 items. Today, White feeds his pas- sion by racing motocross, as a race announcer, and as owner and curator of the Early Years of Motocross Museum in in Villa Park, California, which features 160 motorcycles and related dis- plays. "There is no higher honor in motorcycling than being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame," White said. "This is spe- cial because it comes from your peers in the industry and existing Hall of Famers. I am humbled to think that my heroes, these great people of the sport, believe that I'm worthy of this acknowledge- ment of my life and career. It's a real testimony that if you love motorcycling enough, sooner or later people will notice." White's lasting contributions also include the Edison Dye Motocross Lifetime Achieve- ment Award, which recognizes the person or persons who have made the largest impact on the growth of motocross in America, and creating the World Veteran MX Championship and the World Four-Stroke Championship, which has become the World Two-Stroke Championship. "I'm just very thankful to ev- eryone who played a part in this recognition," White said. "You look at the Hall of Fame, and you look at the people who are in the Hall of Fame, and you re- alize the significance of it. You come to realize that when your name gets added to that wall, it will go on for generations. It's just such a huge tribute, and I really don't know what it's going to feel like when that happens. Besides being married to the love of my life and the birth of my children, this is one of the most wonderful things that has happened to me." Tom White has been elected to the AMA Hall of Fame.