2004 AMA Sports Award Banquet - Las Vegas, NV

[Admin]

The 2nd Annual AMA Sports Banquet was held to honor those that have devoted this past year to AMA racing on various levels. This prestige event is one of the few times each year the motorcycle enthusiast and ATV enthusiast are brought together to celebrate their champions and leaders in the industry.

[Admin]

The Annual event is hosted in the Las Vegas, NV, which is a surreal city built in the middle of nowhere that is completed surrounded by mountains.

[Admin]

The Las Vegas Strip is an incredible spectacle with an array of miniature & life size architectural masterpieces recreated from around the world in one central location. A few of the incredible structures include: Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, Victory Arch, Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, Castles, and various other incredible sites.

The amount of money that flows through Las Vegas casinos makes these incredible undertakings possible, and they definitely weren’t built on the players winning, but if you never have been to Las Vegas, you owe to yourself to atleast visit the city once to experience its beauty.

[Admin]

The AMA Sports Banquet was held on the North end of town away from the Downtown Strip at the Las Vegas Hilton.

[Admin]

The Banquet doors opened to the reception area at 5:30PM.

[Admin]

Ashton Laird, Youth Rider of the Year Nominee, arrived early with his father to socialize with his fellow youth riders.

[Admin]

Once Inside, I found my fellow GNCC racers ( Johnny Gallagher Sr, Stephanie Parton, Jean Lovely, and Jeremy Rice) socializing and talking about their experiences so far in Las Vegas.

[Admin]

Pro Am Stars Jeremy Rice & Pat Brown took the opportunity to exchange a few words, since they compete in separate race series.

GNCC Pro AM Racer, Jeremy Rice, had a terrific season with the transition from his trusty 250R to the Honda 450R. Jeremy went on to win 7 Pro Am races and the Championship, and he finished 8 races in the top 10 Overall, which was enough nominate him to represent the GNCC racers as an Amateur Rider of the Year Nominee.

GNC Pro Am Racer, Pat Brown, also had an incredible race season. He didn’t settle for trying to dominate just one class, but instead, he raced both the Pro Am Production & 265, and had the championship wrapped in both classes with 3 races left, which gave him an opportunity to test the waters in Pro Class the last three rounds. In his Pro debut, he finished an impressive 4th Place Overall. He ran into issue at Southwick that sent him to the back, but he returned at Loretta Lynn’s and finished out the season with a 8th place finish.

[Admin]

Top GNC Racers, Heather Byrd, Joe Byrd, Doug Gust, and Cindi Hart also were in attendance.

GNC Women’s A Class Champion, Heather Byrd, was able to come out on top after a season long battle with Angela Moore. These two women dominated the series swapping 1st place finishes for the first 5 rounds of the series, but Angela ran into problems on and off the track which set her back in the points, and Heather Byrd capitalized on the opportunity with three wins in a row. Angela Moore attempted a come back, but faulty carburetor gave Heather Byrd the advantage she needed to wrap up the championship at Southwick. These two incredible women actually tied in points, but the advantage went to Heather Byrd for a well deserved title.

For Heather Byrd’s incredible season, she was nominated for Female Rider of the Year.

Joe Byrd wasn’t in a points chase this season for the Championship like last season with Jeremiah Jones. The switch from his aftermarket machine to a factory machine wasn’t a smooth transition for Joe, and he switched from the Yamaha to the Honda mid season to try something else to get him to the front again. His hard work and strategy worked, and he won the Overall for the 2nd year in a row at Loretta Lynn’s.

Doug Gust had an incredible season with the support of Suzuki/Yoshimura, and unless you have lived in a cave all season, you already know about all of his incredible accomplishments, and ofcourse Doug Gust was nominated for Pro Rider of the Year.

Cindi Hart started off the season with two wins out of three races, but a collarbone injury sidelined her for several races and took her out of the run for the Championship, but she will be back near year for another chance in the Women’s B Class.

[Admin]

Jason Weigandt took some time to explain to Doug Gust & Stephani McIntyre why he wasn't able to defend his Journalist of the Year Award, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him for going for it again next year.