From a press release issued by Wendy Hogg:
Women go wild for Pit Daddy
2002 AMA 250 GP Champion and Pit Daddy, Chuck Sorensen. Photo by David Celento.
Thirty four of America’s sexiest road racers oiled up and stripped down on stage, swapping powerful cycles for provocative swimwear in a daring and dazzling competition to be the first ever Pit Daddy of AMA racing. The action was as hot and hard-fought as any high-speed race-track chase, and the AMA Superbike season finale at Virginia International Raceway Sunday only seemed to act as a warm-up for the evening’s unique beauty pageant and Clayton Foundation fundraiser.
Buff riders slipped into skimpy costumes backstage with enthusiastic help from the female staff as 450 people sat down in the picturesque gardens of the VIR clubhouse for dinner. The backstage looked like a cross between a football change room and the set of Baywatch and the chaos grew as well-known AMA officials and Parts Unlimited representatives submitted to pedicures and dressed as women to escort the riders on stage.
First lamb thrown to the wolves was Doug Chandler, aptly dancing to Smooth Operator and, as always, showing his rivals how it’s supposed to be done.
Eric Bostrom followed, dressed in a blue Austin Powers’ outfit, which was quickly torn off to reveal a skimpy pair of star-spangled Speedos which soon bulged with dollar bills as the female audience went wild.
And things only got better from there.
Newly crowned AMA Superbike Champion, Nicky Hayden, showed his comedic talent when the local fire brigade made him an honorary member for his act of bravery in extinguishing his burning bike. Joe Rocket’s wave of TV advertisements obviously paid off for young Roger Lee Hayden, whose celebrity status drew flocks of women onto stage with him.
Rider after rider danced up a storm as women searched desperately for dollar bills to tuck into shorts, swimsuits or whatever the riders were game enough to get down to. No one could doubt the benefit to the sport of sponsorship from Corona and Sauza Tequila when Aaron Yates, clearly under the effects of several bottles of sponsorship, revealed much more than anyone ever expected.
Pit Daddy organizers, initially smug about their job of oiling up the riders, realized too late that the coordinators were having the best time of all as they retrieved bills from riders’ shorts. Alex Gobert proudly handed over the $28 his dance earned him. Kevin Schwantz had money tucked all around. Overall, more than $300 was raised in dance tips alone.
Despite injury and family crisis, the Annandale riders gave a stunning performance after being led on stage by their female crew members dressed in tuxedos. Special guest contestant Dave Sadowski chose to rollerblade onto stage, possibly a wise choice considering the state of it after 32 contestants, covered in baby oil and squirting Corona, had been mobbed by drooling women.
It took longer to tally the outstanding raffle ticket money than it did to judge the three Pit Daddy categories. The judges were out of their chambers within five minutes, calling all 34 contestants back to the stage. Roger Lee Hayden won Rookie of the Year, Alex Gobert won the Best Scar and the 2002 250GP Champion, Chuck Sorenson, became the 2002 Pit Daddy.
Like a true end-of-season bash the party rocked on. The music cranked up, the crowd hit the dance floor and the super-soakers appeared. Pageant MC, Robert Pandya, narrowly avoided a cooler of iced water thrown by two contestants, which instead drenched the newly crowned Pit Daddy.
A total of $15,075.00 was raised for the Injured Riders Fund through sponsorship, raffle sales, dinner tickets and dance tips. A special thanks goes out to Wendell Phillips who donated $1000 to the cause, along with premier sponsors Dunlop, Parts Unlimited, Teknic and all the associate sponsors and product sponsors.
Pit Daddy organizers and the Clayton Foundation would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time to help, Robert Pandya for being the perfect MC, all the VIR staff who helped in so many ways, HMC Ducati for shipping all the prizes and, most of all, the participating riders for making it such a fantastic event.
“The Clayton Memorial Foundation has helped 60 injured racers by disbursing over $300,000. The money raised from the Pit Daddy 2002 Competition will definitely help our cause. On behalf of the Board Members, thank you” says Judy Klinger, secretary/treasurer.