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ever, the tracks are safer and the young tal-
ent keeps getting younger and faster. So the
future is very bright."
Carmelo Ezpeleta , CEO of Dorna Sports,
which runs MotoGP, said of Hayden at his
Legends induction: "For all of us, it's a great
pleasure to give Nicky this award—this is not
just because you've been champion and
you're one of the riders with most starts in the
premier class, but also for your behavior over
all those years, your sportsmanship and your
friendship. It's a great pleasure to consider
you one of our legends. Thank you for all
you've done for the sport in all those years."
In book published in 2007 titled "The
Haydens: Nicky, Tommy, and Roger, from
OWB to MotoGP," author Chris Jonnum chron-
icled the life of the family of racers.
Jonnum perhaps put it best when
he explained what Hayden meant to
race fans across the world:
"If you asked just about anyone to
name an American motorcycle racer,
the first name they would think of is
Nicky Hayden. I would say that even
more than for his racing accomplish-
ments, people loved and admired
Nicky for who he was as a person. It
was about how genuine he was and
how genuine his family is. The
first time I met him he made
me feel like I was his best
friend and I don't think I'm the
only one who had that sensa-
tion. When I worked with him
at Ducati I saw it on a weekly
basis. He had the ability to
make people feel special. He
was the salt of the earth." CN
Nicky Hayden races his Southwest
Motorsports Honda RS125 GP bike at
a WERA Sprint race at Indianapolis
Raceway Park in April of 1993. Nicky
was just 11 years old at the time.
