Pro off-road racer Mandi Mastin designing vintage hare scrambles course; long-time vintage proponent Rick Doughty serving as event consultant PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) reminds vintage racers that time is running out to pre-enter for this year’s biggest vintage racing weekend: the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships, held in conjunction with AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and the Ashland County Fairgrounds in Ashland this July 24-26. The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships will crown AMA Racing national champions in vintage motocross, road racing, dirt track, hare scrambles and trials. Two outstanding riders will also earn the titles of AMA Track Racing and AMA Off-Road Racing Vintage Grand Champions based on their cumulative point totals across related disciplines. In addition to traditional vintage classes, there will be classes for post-vintage motorcycles, as well. In certain classes and disciplines, kids as young as 12 will also battle for national titles on machines smaller than 250cc. Details are available under Racing at AMAVintageMotorcycleDays.com. Pre-entry closes this Friday, July 17. Although riders will still be able to enter at the event, there are significant rewards for pre-entering. Each rider who pre-enters the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships, where off-road registration is just $40 for the first class and $25 for the second, qualifies for two free $10 gift cards redeemable at BikeBandit.com, where AMA members receive an additional 10 percent discount. Pre-entered riders also will receive two free entries to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio. The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships are coming together with the help of several AMA-chartered clubs and individual AMA members. These include WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, which is supporting vintage road-racing operations; Mandi Mastin, who will lay out and work the hare scrambles race; Don May, Royce Cline and other members of Trials Inc., who will staff the trials competition; members of Dayton MC, one of 11 clubs chartered with the AMA since the Association’s inception in 1924; Jim Pooler, who will provide technical assistance in road racing; and Vintage Iron’s Rick Doughty, who will serve as technical adviser. Hare scrambles racers support ISDE effort Mastin is a bonafide American off-road racing star. She’s a member of the 2009 AMA Team USA that will vie for world championship honors at the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Figueria da Foz, Portugal, this Oct. 12-17. A five-time ISDE medalist and a member of this year’s U.S. Women’s Team (that also includes Maria Forsberg and Lacy Jones), Mastin will design and help run the vintage hare scrambles course that will see action on Friday, July 24. “Being an avid off-road racer and enthusiast, I was thrilled for the opportunity to work with the AMA and design and help run the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships hare scrambles,” Mastin said. “My father has been involved with racing off-road motorcycles for years and has actually rode and raced many of the bikes that now qualify as vintage.” Competitors in the vintage hare scrambles also will race with the knowledge that they are helping the U.S. effort at the ISDE. “Going to the ISDE every year is extremely expensive, and many fans have helped me over and over with fund raising,” Mastin said. “The AMA has allowed me to run this race as a fund raiser for the ISDE and moneys earned from this event will go directly to getting my bike and me to Portugal to recapture the Women’s World Trophy Cup that we last won in 2007. “Please come and ride your vintage bike at an excellent facility, have a good time, experience AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days and help support two good causes: the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum and the Team USA ISDE effort.” Opportunity to advance vintage racing Doughty, who has been involved in vintage racing on the national level for 22 years and has been vintage racing himself longer than that, says that he was attracted to helping at the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships because it provided a unique opportunity to advance U.S. vintage racing to another level. Doughty is also is the person behind Vintage Iron (VintageIron.com), a full-service vintage motorcycle shop in Yorba Linda, Calif., that offers hard-to-find parts, gear and restoration work. Doughty has a number of national vintage motocross championships and also has competed in vintage road racing, trails, dirt track and off-road events. “I’m thrilled to be a part of the inaugural AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships,” Doughty said. “Vintage racing is about having fun, recapturing our history and keeping people involved in motorcycling. This is a great opportunity to develop the sport of vintage motorcycle racing in this country and move it forward to better meet those goals.” Doughty says that he’s particularly looking forward to the competition for the honors of AMA Vintage Grand Champions. “I’m really interested in seeing how the AMA Track Racing and Off-Road Racing Vintage Grand Championships are decided,” Doughty said. “This concept is a great idea, and particularly for this year, it will provide a major incentive for racers to give it their all. There can only be one person in each discipline who will be the first ever AMA Vintage Grand National Champion.” AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days is vintage motorcycling extravaganza AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, proceeds of which go to support the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, includes national-championship vintage racing, North America’s largest motorcycle swap meet, bike shows, demo rides of current production bikes, motorcycling seminars, stunt shows, the new product Manufacturers’ Midway and club corrals featuring marque and regional clubs, and the AMA Used Bike Corral. The Marque of the Year for 2009 is BSA, whose bikes became synonymous with racing in the United States when the brand swept the top five positions at the Daytona 200 in 1954. The Classic Clubs this year are the Sandcast Only Owner’s Club (SOOC), and the International CBX Owners Association. This year is particularly special because it commemorates the 85th anniversary of the AMA, and features a parade of classic motorcycles representing the past 85 years. Volunteers are encouraged to contact the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, which is organizing the parade, for information about participating in it. More information about the parade is at MotorcycleMuseum.org. About the American Motorcyclist Association Since 1924, the AMA has protected the future of motorcycling and promoted the motorcycle lifestyle. AMA members come from all walks of life, and they navigate many different routes on their journey to the same destination: freedom on two wheels. As the world’s largest motorcycling organization, the AMA advocates for motorcyclists’ interests in the halls of local, state and federal government, the committees of international governing organizations, and the court of public opinion. Through member clubs, promoters and partners, the AMA sanctions more motorsports competition and motorcycle recreational events than any other organization in the world. AMA members receive money-saving discounts from dozens of well-known suppliers of motorcycle services, gear and apparel, bike rental, transport, hotel stays and more. Through its Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, the AMA preserves the heritage of motorcycling for future generations.