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/963756
IN THE WIND P34 LEGENDS HONORED AT 74TH ANNUAL TRAILBLAZERS AWARDS BANQUET F or nearly three-quarters of a century, the Trailblaz- ers motorcycle club has been getting together to bench race, recognize the accomplishments of members and honor those who have passed. A sell-out crowd of racing icons, industry titans and people who just love motorcycles attended Saturday night's (April 7) annual event at the Carson Community Center, in Carson, California, which in- cluded the Tom Cates Memorial Bike Show. The bike show runs in the afternoon from 3:00 to 6:00 PM and is a chance for members to display their beautiful bikes and reminisce about days gone by. Tom Cates, an AMA and Trail- blazer Hall of Famer, noticed that a lot of people were arriving earlier each year to bench race and figured a bike show would be the perfect setting. When Cates passed away in 2004, Tom White took over as director, a role for which he seemed to be born. Sadly, Tom was diagnosed with cancer just prior to the 2017 banquet and passed away in November. His absence was on the minds of most in attendance and the club created a "Tom White Best of Show" award in his honor. Following Sandi Weidler's ex- cellent rendition of the National Anthem and an invocation by Craig Vetter, emcee Larry "Supermouth" Huffman introduced Trailblazer President, Don Emde. Glasses were raised to honor flat track leg- end and industry icon, Skip Van Leeuwen, who passed away last year. Skip's three sons, Curt, Eric and Mark, joined Don onstage in a toast to their dad. After dinner, a video tribute paid homage to the many heroes and friends who died during the past year. Each of the six 2018 Hall of Fame inductees were introduced to the audience via video biog- raphies that were narrated by Dave Despain and produced by Todd Huffman of Pipeline Digital Media. Writer Joe Colombero did an excellent job of gather- ing information and telling their stories. U.S. speedway pioneer Scott Autrey was one of the first Ameri- cans to race the brutal European speedway leagues, living there full time from 1972-'83. He just missed winning the individual World Speedway Championship a couple of times, before cap- ping his career as part of the 1982 Team World Champions. After winning everything in his native Australia, road racer Kel Carruthers chalked up wins at the Isle of Mann, Daytona and Atlanta, as well as the 1969 250cc World Championship. He later became team manager PHOTOGRAPHY BY MITCH FRIEDMAN It's hard to think of Honda off-road and not think of Trailblazer Hall of Famer Chuck Miller (center). He's flanked by Larry "Supermouth" Huffman (left) and Don Emde.