Fast Freddie Spencer, who won the 1983 500cc World Championship and both the 500cc World Championship and 250cc World Championship in 1985, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on Wednesday, June 6.

An AMA press release on Spencer’s induction follows:

“The Thirteenth Annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Induction Ceremony concluded last evening, June 6, with nine new ‘Heroes of Horsepower’ joining the impressive who’s who list of legends inducted into the Hall of Fame over the past 12 years. Among the newest Heroes of Horsepower is AMA road-racing legend ‘Fast Freddie’ Spencer.

“Spencer’s racing career started in dirt track events at the age of five, and he won numerous amateur events and titles before turning pro in 1978 at 18 years of age. Spencer chalked up impressive numbers during the 17-year span of his professional career. He has logged three Grand Prix World Championships, holds the record as the youngest 500cc Grand Prix World Champion (he was 21 at the time), is the only rider in history to win both the 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix World Championships in the same season (1985) and the only rider to ever win the AMA Superbike, 250cc (Formula II) and 500cc (Formula I) events in one race weekend, which happened at Daytona International Speedway in 1985.

“By 1988, Spencer had effectively retired from Grand Prix racing, but in the following years ‘Fast Freddie’ competed in select AMA Superbike events, officially hanging up his leathers in 1996. Several years later, Spencer again partnered with Honda and began his successful Freddie Spencer’s High-Performance Riding School at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“The Motorsports Hall of Fame, recognizing AMA Pro Racing as the premier motorcycle sanctioning body in the U.S., asked Scott Hollingsworth, CEO of AMA Pro Racing, to present Freddie with his ‘Horsepower’ award.

“‘I can think of no honor higher than to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame,’ said Hollingsworth. ‘Freddie Spencer’s accomplishments, in terms of races and championships won, qualify him to take his place with all of you. But, it’s how he won those championships, and the span of time in which he won them, that elevates him to the top of the podium.’

“Freddie Spencer now takes his place alongside nine other previously enshrined AMA greats, including Carroll Resweber, Cannonball Baker, Kenny Roberts, Joe Leonard, Joe Petrali, Dick Mann, Roger DeCoster, Malcolm Smith and Jim Davis. Along with these legends of two-wheel motorsport is a laundry list of motorsports icons that includes the likes of Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Carroll Shelby, Richard Petty, Henry Ford, J.C. Agajanian and the list just goes on and on.

“The Hall of Fame enshrines ‘Heroes of Horsepower’ into nine different categories from air racing to motorcycle racing, from the early part of the century to current champions. A panel of historians, retired competitors, journalists, and prior living inductees voted for the final selections. Each inductee receives the Hall of Fame’s prestigious ‘Horsepower’ award — an original bronze statuette created by Ann Arbor, Michigan sculptor Michael Curtis.”