American Motorcyclist Association congratulates Greg Hancock on phenomenal career
AMA Charter Life Member won four world titles, eight U.S. championships
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — One of America’s greatest racing champions is calling it a career. AMA Charter Life Member Greg Hancock, from Costa Mesa, Calif., announced his retirement from professional racing on Feb. 15.
“Greg Hancock is among the most successful competitors in not just motorcycle racing, but in all of motorsports,” said AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman. “His four world titles rank him among the greatest riders of all time, a feat amplified by the fact his world-championship caliber performances spanned four decades. We thank Greg for being a gracious and successful representative of America on the world stage, and we wish him well in a much-deserved retirement.”
Hancock, 49, won his most recent Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme Speedway World Championship in 2016. His other FIM Speedway titles came in 2014, 2011 and 1997. In the United States, he won eight AMA Speedway National Championships. Hancock also won FIM Team and Pairs World Championships, as well as many European domestic league titles during his career.
“I want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone at the AMA and the FIM for providing me the many years of incredible speedway racing, which basically became my life school,” Hancock said. “Although I am stepping away from competing, I do not plan to exit the scene. I have plans that will keep me close to the sport, and we’ll see where that goes in the weeks ahead.”
The history of American Speedway competition dates to the mid-1920s. One of the sport’s early stars was America’s first world champion: AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Jack Milne, who won the 1937 Individual Speedway Championship in London.
Speedway is known for its fast action and tight racing. A meet features numerous heats of four riders each, power-sliding methanol-burning 500cc four-stroke, single-speed bikes with no brakes counter-clockwise around a dirt oval.