MOTORCYCLIST OF THE YEAR

BY JOY BURGESS PHOTO: MiCHAEL ANTONOVICH

Each year the AMA — its Board of Directors and staff — presents a special award to an individual or group that’s had a profound impact on the world of motorcycling over the past 12 months.

And last year you definitely had to be blind not to recognize the U.S. Motocross of Nations Team’s monumental achievement in the annual Motocross of Nations competition.

It had been 11 years since the U.S. brought home the MXoN Chamberlain Trophy, and Team USA — which included Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper, with five-time World Champion and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Roger DeCoster as Team Manager —claimed the win in front of thousands of American

fans at Red Bud Track ’N’ Trail in Buchanan, Mich., on Sept. 25, 2022. (You can read the full story in the December 2022 issue of American Motorcyclist if you missed it.)

After a long day of qualifying on Saturday, heavy rain came in that night and into Sunday morning, leaving the team to compete in muddy conditions that made the track super tricky, with chaotic starts, brutal roost and plenty of riders going down in the mess.

At the end of the mud-fest, Tomac finished 1-6 in the MXGP class, Sexton finished 2-3 in the Open class, and Cooper finished 9-4 in the MX2 class. That was enough to take the U.S. team to the top of the podium as champagne sprayed and thousands of fans cheered for the red, white and blue.

“It’d been 11 years, and [we’d] been so close many times and [hadn’t] gotten it done,” Tomac said after the win. “We got it done; we made it happen… and it was epic!” It was epic, which is why the entire team was selected to receive one of motorcycling’s most prestigious honors — AMA Motorcyclist of the Year.

“Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper accomplished something extraordinary at Red Bud this year,” said AMA Board of Directors Chairman Russ Ehnes. “Bringing the Chamberlain Trophy back to American soil after 11 years was a feat worthy of recognition, which is why we selected the team as the 2022 AMA Motorcyclist of the Year. We’re proud of these riders’ stellar example of American greatness, and we’re proud to have them as AMA members.”