Induction Ceremony
Every year the American Motorcyclist Association honors motorcycling’s most accomplished and significant people in a very special AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction celebration — which will happen as part of AMA Hall of Fame Days on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at the Violet Township Event Center in Pickerington, Ohio, right next to the AMA Headquarters campus.
October 10, 2024
5 p.m. – 8 p.m.
AMA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner
8 p.m. – 10 p.m.
AMA Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Reception at the AMA Hall of Fame Museum
Each year the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class is selected from eight areas of influence — Ambassadors/Industry, Design/Engineering, Dirt Track, Leadership/Motorcycle Rights, Motocross/Supercross,, Off-Road, Road Racing and Specialty Competition
AMA Heritage Ride
Kicking off the four days of fun is the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Adventure Ride!
The ride leaves from the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum the morning of Friday, October 11 and explores Southeast Ohio before returning to the museum by early evening.
Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Competition
Kevin Windham – Motocross & Supercross
Kevin Windham’s 19-year AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross career is one for the history books.
During his long, illustrious career, Windham raced to 47 total AMA Pro wins and collected the third-most starts (325), third-most points (9,070) and the seventh-most podiums (130). While Windham saw success domestically, he thrived in international competition — winning the 1999 FIM United States Grand Prix and 2005 Motocross of Nations as a member of the American team.
Windham retired from AMA Pro Racing in 2013, marking the end of a dominant career in the AMA and international circuits.
As an ironman in his own right, Kevin Windham’s 19-year AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross career is one for the history books.
After turning professional in 1994, Windham raced to 47 total AMA Pro wins — including 18 Premier class AMA 250/450SX victories. Combining AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross, Windham has the third-most starts (325), third-most points (9,070) and the seventh-most podiums (130). Windham also captured 14 125SX wins, including a pair of victories in East/West Shootouts.
Throughout his long, illustrious career, Windham was a consistent presence in AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross title chases. The Centerville, Miss., native raced his way to five second-place finishes in AMA Pro Motocross (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006) and finished runner-up in AMA Supercross three times (2004, 2008 and 2010). Windham also registered a pair of third-place results in AMA Pro Motocross (2000 and 2004).
The most defining moment of Windham’s racing career came at the 1999 FIM United States Grand Prix at Budd’s Creek, Md. After four-time FIM World Champion Stefan Everts declared Europeans the best motocross riders in the world, and labeled American racers as “cowards,” Windham made the Belgian rider eat his words. Aboard his Honda, Windham dominated the field to cruise to the overall victory and secure a massive win for American racers.
Windham also represented the United States at the 2005 Motocross of Nations, in which the Americans raced to a first-place finish — edging out France and Belgium for the win.
Windham retired from AMA Pro Racing in 2013, returning to the track briefly in 2018 as part of the Puerto Rican Motocross of Nations team, marking the end of a terrific career.
Mike Lafferty – Off Road
Mike Lafferty was bitten by the enduro racing bug in 1982 when he was 7 years old, and he turned this passion into one of the most successful off-road careers ever. Racing throughout the 1980s, Lafferty broke through when he won back-to-back East Coast Enduro Association championships as a teenager in 1993 and 1994.
Lafferty hit a launching point in 1997, when he claimed his first AMA National Enduro Championship. In total he tallied 71 wins — second all-time — and eight titles, which leaves him tied for the most all-time, while racing national enduros. Lafferty also raced AMA Grand National Cross Country and was a member of four U.S. ISDE teams.
Mike Lafferty was bitten by the enduro racing bug in 1982 when he was 7 years old, and he turned this passion into one of the most successful off-road careers ever.
Racing throughout the ’80s, Lafferty broke through when he won back-to-back East Coast Enduro Association championships as a teenager in 1993 and 1994. With growing success, Lafferty became a full-time member of the Factory KTM Off-Road Team.
Lafferty hit a launching point in 1997, when he claimed his first AMA National Enduro Championship. This sparked a stretch from 1997–2007 in which Lafferty would claim a total of 71 wins and eight titles racing national enduros. His 71 wins put him second all-time. Lafferty’s eight titles has him tied for the most all-time.
For his 14 Alligator Enduro Daytona Bike Week wins, Lafferty earned the nickname “Mr. Alligator.”
During his successful enduro stretch, Lafferty also raced AMA Grand National Cross Country, collecting a pair of wins and 21 podiums in his career.
On the world stage, Lafferty was a member of the 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2003 U.S. ISDE teams.
Following two decades as a factory rider for KTM and Husqvarna, Lafferty settled into his current role as the U.S. National KTM Ride Orange manager. In this role, he oversees all U.S. market off-road, street and ADV demos, the annual U.S. KTM Rider Rally, and the KTM Junior Supercross challenge events.
Mat Mladin – Road Racing
In a 10-year span from 1999 to 2009 that continues to defy belief in hindsight, Mat Mladin notched seven AMA Superbike titles and won 82 AMA Superbike nationals in the process — each of those numbers more than anyone in history.
Mladin also won the legendary Daytona 200 three times during that period, achievements that have him tied for third all-time behind AMA Hall of Famers and multi-time D200 winners Scott Russell (5) and Miguel Duhamel (4). In 1999, he won his first of seven AMA Superbike titles — achievements that would make him, according to MotoAmerica, “the most dominant rider in the history of the AMA Superbike Championship.”
Among a long list of AMA Superbike road racing champions, with names such as Pridmore, Cooley, Lawson, Rainey, Merkel, Shobert, Chandler, Duhamel, Hayden, Spies, Hayes, Beaubier, Gagne and others, one name stands above the rest.
And that name is Australian Mat Mladin.
In what some call the most significant “decade of domination” in road racing history, from 1999 to 2009, Mat Mladin notched seven AMA Superbike titles and won 82 AMA Superbike nationals in the process — each of those numbers more than anyone in history.
Mladin also won the legendary Daytona 200 three times during that period, achievements that have him tied for third all-time behind AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers and multi-time Daytona 200 winners Scott Russell (5) and Miguel Duhamel (4).
Mladin began riding and racing motorcycles at an early age, winning a motocross title in 1981 and going on to win the Australian Superbike Championship in 1992. That led to a brief stint with Cagiva in the 1993 500cc World Championship.
Three years later he moved to the U.S., starting out with Yoshimura Suzuki before moving to the Fast by Ferracci Ducati squad in ’97, a season in which he’d win four races. He reunited with Yoshimura Suzuki in 1998, and in 1999 won his first of seven AMA Superbike titles — achievements that would make him, according to MotoAmerica, “the most dominant rider in the history of the AMA Superbike Championship.”
Mladin announced his retirement during his championship-winning 2009 season. “I didn’t retire because I wasn’t quick enough,” he said later in a Cycle News interview. “I retired because I’d had enough. I will miss riding the motorcycle…and the competition.”
Non-Competition
Debbie Matthews – Ambassadors & Industry
Debbie Matthews has spent her life contributing to motorcycling, and has done so by serving in — and excelling in — almost every role the sport has to offer to increase opportunities for women riders. Known for her smooth and effortless racing style, Matthews set the record for longest consecutive pro and amateur career in women’s motocross when she raced for 27 years.
In 1996, she co-founded the Women’s Motocross League, and Matthews further worked on behalf of women riders when she met with AMA Congress and drove the change to give women “A” Rider classification for the first time in history. Recognizing Matthews’ work promoting women’s motocross, announcer Erv Braun described her as the “Godmother of Women’s MX.”
Debbie Matthews has spent her life contributing to motorcycling, and has done so by serving in — and excelling in — almost every role the sport has to offer to increase opportunities for women riders.
Known for her smooth and effortless racing style, Matthews set the record for longest consecutive pro and amateur career in women’s motocross, when she raced for 27 years. During her career, she set an additional record for placing in the top 15 of the national rankings for women’s professional motocross every year from 1977–1997.
Amidst her racing career, Matthews was recruited by the U.S. Women’s Motocross Team to serve as their promotion/race director in 1994. That same year, she worked with Danny Thompson to create “Stadiumcross” for women. In 1996, she continued her impact by co-founding the Women’s Motocross League (WML).
Continuing down the path of innovation, Matthews worked with the AMA and several groups to create the first women’s professional outdoor national motocross series championship — which would run in conjunction with the men’s series — in 1997.
Matthews also worked on behalf of women riders when she met with AMA Congress and drove the change to give women “A” Rider classification for the first time in history.
When Matthews retired from the WML in 1999, she dedicated herself to the promotion, marketing and teaching of women’s motocross. Recognizing Matthews’ work promoting women’s motocross, announcer Erv Braun described her as the “Godmother of Women’s MX.”
In 2012, Matthews was awarded the Lifetime Appreciation Award for her commitment as a women’s advocate, and in 2021 was inducted into the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame.
In 2014, Matthews founded the Professional Organization of Women’s Racing (POWR), which generated the largest Women’s Pro Purse & Bonus program in the history of women’s motocross.
Rob Rasor – Leadership & Rights
For decades, Rob Rasor was instrumental in carrying out the AMA’s mission to promote motorcycling and protect the motorcycle lifestyle.
Hired in 1973 as part of the AMA’s Government Relations Department, Rasor helped ward off a federal “superbike” ban, helmet requirements and bike bans in several states and cities, and aided in the fight to ban healthcare discrimination against motorcyclists. Rasor was also a champion for off-road riding, and assisted in the AMA’s efforts to accommodate off-road riders on public lands.
Rasor’s efforts extended beyond the United States, and he was awarded the FIM Nicolas Rodi Del Valle Gold Medal in 2019.
With decades of experience at the American Motorcyclist Association, Rob Rasor played a key role in shaping the AMA — particularly on the government relations front — into what it is today.
During his time with the AMA, Rasor served as a legislative analyst, Vice President of Government Relations, and President, and played an instrumental role in several major legislative wins for motorcyclists.
First hired by the AMA in 1973 to work as part of its new Government Relations Department, Rasor was a key figure in the fight to protect the future of motorcycling. Under his leadership, the AMA navigated several legislative battles, including the fight to stop the federal government from banning “superbikes,” preventing bike bans and helmet requirements in several cities and states, and the mission to ban healthcare discrimination against motorcyclists.
Rasor was also instrumental in helping public land managers accommodate off-road motorcycling after the signing of Executive Order 11644 and the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, each of which aimed to control the use of OHVs on public lands.
In addition to his work with the AMA, Rasor maintained close ties with the Féderation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) for 45 years, where he served as an FIM Vice President and President of the Commission for Mobility, Transport, Road Safety, Industry and Public Affairs. For efforts internationally, Rasor was awarded the Nicolas Rodi Del Valle Gold Medal, which is the highest honor in the FIM.