Don Emde (born February 16, 1951, in San Diego, California [1] ) is an American motorcycle racer, author and publisher. In 1972 he won the Daytona 200 motorcycle race in only 56 laps. [2] In 1999, he was inducted to the American Motorcyclist Association's Motorcycle Hall of Fame, [1] and in 2011 was inducted to the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame. [3]
Emde's 1972 victory at Daytona as a privateer [4] was the first win at that race for a Yamaha, the smallest displacement racebike to take first place, the first victory for any two-stroke, and the first (and only) father-son win at Daytona (his father Floyd Emde won in 1948). [5]
Emde retired from racing in 1973 and became an author and magazine publisher. [1]
In May, 2014, Emde organized a recreation of Erwin "Cannonball" Baker's 1914 transcontinental motorcycle ride, on its 100th anniversary. [6] [7]
Kenneth Leroy Roberts is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He was also a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. Roberts is one of only four riders in American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) racing history to win the AMA Grand Slam, representing Grand National wins at a mile, half-mile, short-track, TT Steeplechase and road race events.
Erwin George "Cannon Ball" Baker was an American motorcycle and automobile racer and organizer in the first half of the 20th century. Baker began his public career as a vaudeville performer, but turned to driving and racing after winning a dirt-track motorcycle race at Crawfordsville, Indiana, in about 1904.
The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 200-mile (320 km) race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The original course used the beach itself before moving to a paved closed circuit in 1961. The Daytona 200 reached its zenith of worldwide popularity in the 1970s when the race attracted the largest crowds of any AMA race along with some of the top rated international motorcycle racers. The race is currently promoted by MotoAmerica and run in their middleweight Supersport Class. The race is typically held in early March.
Ed Kretz, Sr., aka Ed "Iron Man" Kretz, was an American professional motorcycle racer in the 1930s and 1940s. He is best known for winning the first Daytona 200 race in 1937, riding an Indian Sport Scout. Kretz, Sr. was a rough rider, who strove to finish, and win, every race. He rode #38, usually on an Indian motorcycle.
Joseph Paul Leonard was an American professional motorcycle racer and racecar driver.
Kelvin Carruthers is an Australian former professional Motorcycle racer and racing team manager. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1966 to 1970, and in AMA road racing competitions from 1971 to 1973. Carruthers is prominent for winning the 1969 250cc World Championship. After his motorcycle riding career, he became race team manager for world championship winning riders Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson.
Steve Baker is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in AMA dirt track and road racing competitions from 1973 to 1976 and in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships in 1977 and 1978.
Marty Tripes is an American former professional motocross racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1972 to 1980. He was one of the leading American motocross and supercross racers during the 1970s. Tripes rose to national prominence in 1972 as a teenage prodigy when, he defeated some of the best riders in the world to win the first-ever stadium supercross race in the United States.
Yvon Duhamel was a French Canadian professional motorcycle and snowmobile racer. A six-time winner of the White Trophy, the highest award in Canadian motorcycle racing, he was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in Canadian motorsports history. His motorcycle racing career spanned the transition from the 60 horsepower four-stroke motorcycles of the 1960s, to the 100 horsepower two-stroke motorcycles of the 1970s. Duhamel was a versatile rider competing in numerous motorcycle racing disciplines including; trials, motocross, ice racing, drag racing, flat track racing and most prominently in road racing as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team.
Graeme Crosby is a former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A versatile rider, Crosby was equally capable on either four stroke Superbike racers or two stroke Grand Prix racers. He is the only person to have won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, and the Isle of Man TT.
Dick Mann was an American professional motorcycle racer. He was a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. Mann was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993, and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. He was one of the few riders to ride motocross and Observed Trials as well as dirt flat tracks, TT and road racing.
Gary Jones is an American former professional motocross and desert racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1971 to 1976. Jones is notable for winning the inaugural AMA 250cc motocross national championship in 1972. Jones then successfully defended his national championship in 1973 and 1974, winning three consecutive 250cc motocross national championships while competing on three different brands of motorcycles, a feat which has never been repeated in AMA motocross history. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.
Calvin Rayborn II was a top American professional motorcycle road racer in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Ronald J. Grant was a British-born American professional motorcycle racer and racing team manager. He competed in the AMA road racing national championships during the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1964, he became the first American competitor to finish on the podium in a World Championship Grand Prix road race, when he finished in second place at the 250cc United States Grand Prix, held at the Daytona International Speedway. After his racing career, Grant became a racing team manager and respected engine tuner.
Gene Romero was an American professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship from 1966 to 1981 sponsored first by the Triumph factory racing team and then by the Yamaha factory racing team. Proficient on oval dirt tracks as well as paved road racing circuits, Romero won the 1970 A.M.A. Grand National Championship and was the winner of the 1975 Daytona 200. After retiring from competition, he became a successful racing team manager with Honda and, helped the sport of dirt track racing by becoming a race promoter. Romero was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
Buzz Kanter is the editor-in-chief and publisher of American Iron Magazine, American Iron Garage and American Iron Salute magazine, and was inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame in 2002. Buzz was also inducted into the National Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame and the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Ed Kretz, Jr., was an American professional motorcycle racer in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the son of well known rider Ed Kretz. He was known primarily as a TT and roadracing specialist, but he also was a leading off-road rider in the 1950s.
Don Vesco was an American businessman and motorcycle racer who held multiple motorcycle land-speed and wheel-driven land speed records. In his lifetime, he set 18 motorcycle and 6 automobile speed records.
"Smokey'" Joe Petrali was an American motorcycle racer, active in the 1920s and 1930s. Petrali was a Class A racing champion who competed in board-track and dirt-track racing circuits, speed records, and hillclimbs. Petrali won a record 49 American Motorcyclist Association national championship races, with his last coming on August 29, 1937. The record stood for 55 years until broken by Scott Parker in 1992.
Don Castro is an American former professional motorcycle racer who is an inductee of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. During his career he was a works rider for Triumph and Yamaha' and a privateer on Triumph, Montesa, Yamaha and Kawasaki machines.