Another Plug For Diversity In Road Racing…

Another Plug For Diversity In Road Racing…

© 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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From a press release:

One Shot Racing Answers the Call for Diversity with TrailBlazer Award during Black History Month

Only All African-American Motorcycle Racing Team in AMA History to receive the Trailblazer Award February 21, 2004.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 16, 2004) – One Shot Racing (OSR), the only all-African-American Motorcycle Racing team, is kicking off the 2004 season with receiving the “Trailblazer Award” during the 3rd Annual Awards Celebration Honoring Diversity in Motorsports. The Trailblazer Awards are presented to pioneers in the Motorsports industry.

The Association for Diversity in Motorsports (AFDIM), Winston-Salem State University, Urban Sports Entertainment and NASCAR have partnered to produce this event. The celebration will be held at the Anderson Conference Center in Winston-Salem, NC, on Saturday, February 21, 2004.

Based just outside Washington, D.C., in Bowie, MD, these pioneers are currently the first and only African-American owned, staffed and sponsored race team in the American Motorcycle Association (AMA). OSR will look to compete in nearly a dozen races this season, in three different race leagues and travel over 4000 miles with two fiercely competitive riders poised for success on the track after qualifying for the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Championship Race Series in 2003.

Business leader of this groundbreaking team is Jeffrey Coles, President and Chief Executive Officer of One Shot Racing. Coles, who earned his MBA from American University, provides strategic planning for OSR’s future. Completing the visionary business team is Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Rudy Blyden, a television editor and graduate of Morgan State University, who partners with Coles, provided the initial inspiration behind this effort.

“OSR is a company who bridges the disconnection between a market begging to be recognized and an industry blinded by its history (today’s mainstream, the urban culture and the motorsport industry),” Coles stated. “It is one of the most socially and economically important demographics to develop over the past one hundred years. While being one of first and currently only African-American owned and staffed AMA road racing team, OSR represents all that is considered “urban and street”. We are the mainstream.”

The riders on the motorcycles are two Washington, D.C. metropolitan area athletes.

William “Storyteller” Johnson, 31, of Fort Washington, MD, is the former 2001 WERA Heavyweight Twins Champion. A prolific personal writer, thus the nickname, Johnson races two Suzuki GSX-R 600’s and competes in the 600cc Supersport and Formula Extreme classes.

Adrian “Buzzoman” Jones, 26, of Upper Marlboro, MD, made his mark as a rookie 2002 WERA 750cc Superbike Champion. An information technology professional, Jones, races two Suzuki GSX-R 600’s and like his teammate competes in the 600cc Supersport and Formula Extreme classes.

OSR is a private entity launched in 2003 with no corporate backing, an amazing feat in today’s racing market. Sponsorship development is now in full-gear with the original backers coming from the Super Bike industry. “The fact that we made it to the AMA without corporate backing lets those potential sponsors know just how passionate we are about this sport ” Coles said.

OSR’s first race for the season is the AMA’s Daytona International Speedway Event, March 3-6, 2004. Speed Channel (www.speedtv.com), the leading racing cable channel in the U.S. reaching over 70 million homes, will broadcast all of the races OSR will compete in. Off the track, an important cultural and socio-economic component of OSR is their target approach for style and apparel for the Urban demographic, lead by Miline Leather (www.milineusa.com).

For further information, visit www.oneshotracing.com, One Shot Racing’s official web site.


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