Some of the fastest motorcycle racers on the planet were
honored at the end-of-year AMA Pro Racing Awards Banquet, held at
the spectacular Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham,
Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 23. Champions from AMA Motocross, AMA
Supercross, AMA Superbike, AMA Flat Track, AMA Hillclimb, AMA
Supermoto and the AMA/ATVA Pro ATV Championship took the stage to
be recognized for their successful seasons.
In addition to class champions and previously announced awards
for rookies of the year, special awards were presented to those
who stood out among even this crowd of world-class competitors.
The night's highest honor, the AMA SPEED Athlete of the Year
Award, was presented to 2008 AMA Motocross Champion James Stewart.
Stewart had an incredible year in the AMA Toyota Motocross
Championship Series, winning 24 of 24 motos to claim his first
outdoor title in the premier class.
"This is one of my highest honors," Stewart said.
"After seven years, I finally did something good enough to
win this. The (motocross) season didn't start for me in May. It
started when I got hurt two weeks into (the Supercross season). It
had been three years in a row that I haven't finished the outdoor
season, and I was sitting in the hospital thinking, again, that my
year was done before it even started."
Instead, Stewart's season was one of the greatest in history,
with Stewart becoming only the second rider ever to complete a
perfect outdoor record. The first was Ricky Carmichael, who
accomplished the feat twice.
Also at the banquet, Joe and Cheryl Swanson were honored with
the AMA Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award. For years,
the AMA Hillclimb Championship has happened because the Swansons
have tirelessly worked to make it a possibility. Their constant
extra effort helps make the series a better experience for
everyone involved.
Winning the AMA Award for Mechanical Excellence was Tom
Houseworth, crew chief for Ben Spies' championship-winning AMA
Superbike effort. In 2008, Spies had 10 wins and finished outside
the top two only once. Houseworth also won the 2006 and 2007 AMA
Supercross titles with Spies, along with the 2007 AMA Superstock
championship.
"The key to doing well is all my guys doing well, and the
key to that is keeping them happy. If they're happy, they do good
work," Houseworth said. "We all cover each others'
butts. If something goes wrong, someone else is there to catch it.
Everybody watches out for everybody else."