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February 14, 2012 Media Contact: For general information, contact Kenda Hayes, Director of Operations 866-398-2038 903-742-2041 [email protected] [email protected] www.DiamondDon.com Donnie Hansen Headlines Diamond Don’s 10th Annual Vintage National Motocross Diamond Don’s 10th Annual AHRMA Vintage National Motocross will be held April 19-22, 2012 at Diamond Don RV Park (Cypress Bayou RV Park) located one mile from Jefferson, Texas. Over 800 entries are expected for this event which includes Golf Tournament on Thursday, Cross Country and Trials on Friday, Vintage Motocross on Saturday with Post-Vintage on Sunday. The weekend will be full of motocross legends, including at least seven inductees to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. Here is your chance to visit with and race against some of your idols: Gary Bailey, Steve Wise, Marty Tripes, Brad Lackey, Danny LaPorte, Chuck Sun, Trampas Parker, and Rik Smits. Bailey has volunteered to assist Diamond Don and Moto Mama as Event Coordinator, freeing them up to “socialize”. Donnie Hansen will headline this year’s event as Diamond Don’s Legend for the weekend and will be conducting a motocross school on Friday. The Donnie Hansen Motocross Academy is a motocross riding school that teaches skills and techniques to all levels and ages of riders - young, old, male, female, beginner, pro, or mini. Donnie "Holeshot" Hansen teaches all classes personally. Hansen was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003 as part of the team that swept the 250cc Trophee des Nations and the 500cc Motocross des Nations in 1981. He is a former factory Honda rider with Supercross, National Motocross and Motocross Trophee des Nations titles. His years of racing experience are reflected in his schools. Wes Willis, Diamond Don’s Golf Chairman, will be setting up a 9-hole golf course on the Fairways of the Racetrack. The grass track makes a perfect venue for this event on Thursday, April 19. All proceeds will benefit the Jefferson Carnegie Library. Come early and golf with the Legends of Motocross. The Diamond Girls will be serving beverages and a great lunch. BBQ and crawfish will be served up on Friday evening; The Chris LeBlanc Band will play on Saturday night; and you must stick around for the Wine-Down Party sponsored by the Balls to the Wall Racing Team on Sunday evening. These evening events are for racers, family and friends and are not open to the public. The 10th annual event promises to be over the top. Marty Tripes will bring his 100cc Works Revenge race to Diamond Don’s with motos on Saturday and Sunday. This is a race class that reminds us of the old days of racing in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Back in the day, the 100cc class was the toughest competition of the race day. Tripes won the Superbowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1972, just a few weeks after turning 16. He also won the first FIM 250cc motocross United States Grand Prix in Unadilla in 1978. In his career, he won 11 National Championships and was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001. In order to improve scoring for Vintage and Post-Vintage racing on Saturday and Sunday, transponders will be provided by Pat Forbes with XTRM Sports Network. His fee will be $5 per transponder per day. This is at cost and no portion of these funds will be paid to Diamond Don Motorsports. Using transponders will allow faster and more accurate scoring results. Be sure to bring your driver’s license and $5 to each sign up. This year, Don has added a starting gate. While we are sad to see the rubber band start go the way of many vintage bikes, everyone will get the same competitive start off the gate. The wide, flat grassy pit area offers great viewing of the racetrack that runs through the pasture and into the piney woods. Diamond Don has created a natural terrain grass track reminiscent of the early 70’s. The track runs through the 1880’s ruins of an old sawmill and along the Big Cypress Bayou River. Spectators will enjoy all of the action and can camp out at the park for the weekend. Jefferson is nestled deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas and seems frozen in time. It is a charming town and an elegant reminder of a bygone era. There are over a hundred buildings in the city with historical markers. Many historic homes offer bed and breakfast accommodations. Dozens of other historic buildings house museums, craft and antique shops and restaurants. For a full schedule and event information, visit www.DiamondDon.com. Legends: Brad Lackey Brad Lackey was the 1972 500cc National Champion and in 1982, he became the first American to win the World 500cc Motocross Championship. To this day, no other American has duplicated what took Lackey over 10 years to achieve. Lackey was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. Chuck Sun The team of Donnie Hansen, Danny LaPorte, Johnny O'Mara and Chuck Sun swept the 250cc Trophee des Nations and the 500cc Motocross des Nations, beginning a 13-year period of domination by the United States teams. The team was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003. LaPorte and O’Mara are the first “double inductees” having been inducted on their individual performances in 2000, and then as part of these teams. The team that beat the world's best! Photo by Ed Youngblood Danny LaPorte Danny LaPorte helped the United States make the transition from underdog to world leader in the sport of motocross. The rider from Los Angeles scored an AMA 500cc National Motocross Championship in 1979 before going on to become the first American to win the FIM 250cc World Motocross Championship in 1982. LaPorte was also a key member of the 1981 Team USA Motocross and Trophee des Nations squad that brought America its first win in the prestigious international Olympic-like competition. Donnie Hansen Donnie Hansen is a former factory Honda rider with Supercross, National Motocross and Motocross Trophee des Nations titles. The team of Donnie Hansen, Danny LaPorte, Johnny O’Mara and Chuck Sun swept the 250cc Trophee des Nations and the 500cc Motocross des Nations, beginning a 13-year period of domination by the US teams. This team was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003. Gary Bailey Gary Bailey is one of the pioneers of the sport of motocross racing in the U.S. Bailey began winning AMA nationals in the early 1970s, and later parlayed his racing experience into the nation's top motocross racing school. Bailey also was an early designer of supercross courses. He has designed the Daytona Supercross course from the beginning of that race in the early 1970s. The father of motocross great David Bailey, Gary trained David as well as numerous other national champions during their formative years of learning the sport. Marty Tripes Marty Tripes was a leading AMA motocross and Supercross rider of the 1970s and early 1980s. He will always be remembered for winning the Superbowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum in July of 1972, just a few weeks after turning 16. That race was a seminal event in American motocross history and was considered the first true stadium Supercross race. In all, Tripes won 11 AMA nationals during a career that spanned just over a decade. He also won the first United States 250cc Motocross Grand Prix at Unadilla in 1978 against Europe’s best. Rik Smits After 12 years of playing professional basketball in the NBA for the Indiana Pacers, Rik retired and has pursued his childhood love of off-road motorcycling. He started out trail riding on a Berini 50cc bike when he was seven years old in Eindhoven, Holland. As he grew up, and up, and up he became involved with basketball in his high-school years, eventually moved to the United States, joined the ranks of the NBA and “the rest is history.” Rik got hooked on vintage motocross racing by attending an AHRMA event with his friend Brian Borshoff, who was entered in a cross country race, and just happened to have a spare bike in the trailer. Brian offered the bike for Rik to race, and again, “the rest is history.” While he has been out of the AHRMA racing circuit for a few years, he will be racing at Diamond Don’s 10th Annual National Vintage Motocross in April 2012. Steve Wise Steve Wise will go down in history as one of the most multi-talented riders in the history of motorcycle racing. Wise earned the distinction of becoming the only rider in history to win AMA motocross, AMA Supercross and AMA Superbike nationals. The Texan further proved his all-around talent by earning a podium result in the AMA Grand National Championship when he took third, in his very first Grand National Dirt Track appearance, at the Houston Astrodome TT National in 1982. In addition, Wise twice won the popular ABC Wide World of Sports Superbikers competition in the early 1980s, an event that featured the top motorcycle racers in the world from all disciplines. ABC’s Superbikers was a predecessor to Supermoto, which flourished in Europe and later attained AMA national status in 2003. Wise’s versatility helped him earn the prestigious AMA Pro Athlete of the Year Award in 1982. Trampas Parker As versatile as he was consistent, Trampas Parker made history as the first American to win two World Motocross Championships.