Hall of Fame Legends & Lacie Carpenter Headline Diamond Don’s 11th Annual Vintage National Motocross

Diamond Don’s 11th Annual AHRMA Vintage National Motocross will be held April 18-21, 2013 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 Charity 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, Donnie Hansen, Jim Gibson, Trampas Parker, Trey Jorski, Guy Cooper, and Gary & Dewayne Jones.

Friday’s events include vintage cross country and trials, with the new Diamond-Huffman Modern Trials Support Class, sponsored by Jay Huffman. Come see Lacie Carpenter and The Southern Stringline Band on Friday evening, 6:00-8:00. Lacie recently performed in Jefferson to a sold-out audience and brought tears to their eyes when she played her electric violin. It’s a real treat to welcome her back again. Racing continues on Saturday with vintage motocross; the action–packed weekend wraps up with post- vintage on Sunday.

Marty Tripes will bring his 100cc Works Revenge race to Diamond Don’s with motos on Saturday and Sunday during the half-time breaks and at the end of the race day. 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.

Jim Gibson will headline this year’s event as Diamond Don’s Legend for the weekend. Jim was a member of America’s gold-medal winning 1982 Motocross and Trophy Des Nations team and has been riding for over 30 years. You will definitely want to see Marty Tripes 100cc Revenge Race when Jim Gibson, Guy Cooper, Trampas Parker, Trey Jorski and more than 20 other past pros of motocross line up on the same gate. What a race!

Join the Sunday devotion at 7:30 am under the white tent, led by Steve Wise, Steve Wise.com & Christ Ministry, and Roy Jenkins, chaplain, announcer, journalist and author of the “Dirt Bike Ike” series. They will also conduct a memorial service for racing legend, Jimmy Nations, who passed into Heaven last year. Wise succeeded in motorcycle racing beyond his wildest dreams. He has traveled around the world sharing his faith in Christ at various churches, racetracks and special events. Jenkins has been serving the MX racing community for over a decade and recently released his latest book, “Racing Fuel for the Spirit”. Roy will lead the congregation in Vintage Hymns while strumming his guitar.

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.

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 , 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. Father of motocross great David Bailey, Gary trained David as well as numerous other national champions during their formative years of learning the sport. Bailey was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999,

Gary Jones Beginning in 1972, Jones won the first three AMA 250cc Motocross national Championships, riding three different brands of motorcycles, a feat which has not been repeated. The son of motorcycle dealer Don Jones and brother to Dewayne Jones, he began racing professionally at the age of 15. In 1972, he also competed in the 500cc, finishing second to Brad Lackey, and represented the United States at the Motocross des Nations the same year. Jones was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

Guy Cooper Guy Cooper is a former Team 125/250 factory rider and 1990 AMA 125 Motocross National Champion. According to Legends & Heroes Tour, “Coop” was always a fan favorite wherever he showed up. Running what could best be described as a man’s bike, the KTM 540SX, Coop has always been an active racer from his early days out of the Stillwater, OK area to his days on the National Tour. After retiring, you can still see him out at select events like the nationally prestigious Enduro-Cross series and AHRMA National events.

Jim Gibson Jim has raced for over 30 years, both at the factory level and today as a Vet and Vintage racer. As a member of America’s gold-medal winning 1982 Motocross and Trophy Des Nations teams, Gibson has raced against some of the most legendary members of the Motocross World. It was Jim, Danny “Magoo” Chandler, David Bailey, and Johnny O’Mara, who won both the Motocross and Trophy Des Nations in the early eighties. Recently, Gibson joined Team USA at the 2011 Vets Motocross Des nations event held at Farleigh Castle.

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 ground-breaking 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. Tripes was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001.

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. Wise was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001.

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. He was an unknown American rider living in Italy when he burst onto the world motocross scene by winning the 125cc championship in 1989 with KTM. Two years later, he repeated the feat for a 250cc championship, this time with Honda. Parker was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was raised in Bridge City, Texas. He began riding when he was given his first motorcycle at age 7. Parker was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007.

Trey Jorski Jorski is still an avid racer and enjoys riding in different off-road races in Texas. He won the 40+ Expert TCCRA Cross Country title twice. He is a former AMA national #54 and 49 in the early 70s and was 10 overall in the 500cc Supercross class in 1976. Jorski is a former Oklahoma State MX champ 1973-1982 in the 125, 250 and open pro class. He had several MX wins over the past few years in +30, +40 and +50 classes and has won several AHRMA national vintage race events in the last few years. He finished 7th overall at the Lake Elsinore GP Harvey Mushman 100 in Nov. 2011.