![]()
Travis Petton the fourth rode all three Youth classes.
He ran away with the championship in the 50cc class, finished third in the 65cc class and finished sixth in the 85cc field. |
![]() Alyssa Flores was on happy camper. She rode her heart out all season and it payed off. Alyssa won the champion- ship in the Youth 65cc class over her brother Frank and finished fifth in the Youth 85cc class as well. |
![]() David Bush successfully defended his Open Pro number one plate. Bush won the Open Pro championship for the second year in a row by riding consistent. |
![]() Jeff Apple is constantly being harassed by the announcer, but takes it all in stride and is always fun at the races. In 2011 Apple put it all together and won the Classic Vintage 500-750cc Championship. |
![]() Monica Gil won a year long battle for the championship in the Youth 85cc class. You can see by the look on her face just how much this championship meant to her! |
![]() Billy Katkov was definitely a crowd favorite. Katkov won the class championship for the hard fought Men's 4-stroke class. He received his award and class championship jacket to a standing ovation. |
![]()
Vince Graves won the Vet Super Senior +60 championship. Graves who's a
very behind the sceen kind of nice guy
actually addressed the crowd on hand with heart felt thanks to the riders for making the dream come true. |
![]() Donna Edwards (the driving force at Perris) Presented track announcer Jamey Blunt with a championship jacket. Jamey announced his first ever motorcycle race at Perris for Grace & Gerry Burton way back in 1970 at the old scrambles track. |
![]() Two time Grand National Champion Dick Mann payed
a visit to Perris. Shown here with Vince Graves the current owner of Perris. Mann stated "I always loved the dirt here at Perris, and looked forward to racing here during my career." |
![]() Dick Mann posed with anyone who wanted a photo. Here Colleen Douglas (turn three & four corner worker) gets her photo with Mann. |
In
what was a surprise to the over five hundred in attendance for the
2011 S.C.F.T.A. awards cermony, Kay and Dick "Bugsy" Mann made an
appearence. Perris Raceway was
the setting and the seventy eight year old two time Grand National
Champion (1963 & 1971) with some twenty four national victories to
his credit was the star of the day! Mann was born in Salt Lake City
Utah in 1934, in 1995 he was awarded the prestigious AMA Dud Perkins
award for his contributions to the sport and was the 1998 inductee in
the AMA Motorcycle Hall of fame. Bugsy as he was nicknamed was thirty
seven when he won his last
championship and was voted the Most Popular Rider of the Year for
1971.Mann was also the first rider ever to win the Daytona 200 on a
machine built in the land of the rising sun, (Honda). At that point he
had competed in the 200 for fifteen years and finished second three
times. In 1970 when it all came together Mann gave Honda and the CB750
the victory in the Big One! Also in 1971 Mann became the first rider
ever to complete motorcycle racing's Grand Slam where a rider garners
wins at a national level in all forms of Grand National Championship
racing: Mile, Half-Mile, Short Track, TT
and Road Racing (which was part of the championship in Mann's day). The
list of his accomplishments, innovations, and inventions is endless as
was his genorousity at Perris
as he gladly stood for photos with adoring fans and eagerly meet their
request for whatever they wanted of him. It was a great day at Perris
indeed. Any day with Dick "Bugsy" Mann is a good day.
|
Ken
Maely, the "Shoe Man" is best known for making steel shoes for almost
all of the top AMA Grand National and World Championship speedway
competitors from the 1950's until his death late in 2003. Well; behind
every great man is a great woman, and Ken's was his wife Judy. In the
early days Ken and Judy ran a flat-track training facility on their
ranch located just outside Corona, Calif. city limits. Many Grand
National Champions and World Champions stayed at, trained at, and
learned at the Maely ranch. Through all this Judy would take loving
care of riders from Kenny Roberts to the lowest novice by cooking for
them, cleaning, and even easing Ken's "Tough Love" ways. Judy was
always there with a sandwich or something cold to drink. Flash forward
to the 2011 S.C.F.T.A. awards cermony held at Perris raceway and who
should put in an apperaence? Yep, Judy Maely / Whitson, looking just as
slim and fit as ever with her long straight hair. Today Judy sits on
the board of directors for the Trailblazers and is behind the scenes in
everything they do. Needless to say it did many a heart good to see
Judy at Perris as she has touched so many lives over the years in such
a positive way. |