FIRST PERSON/OPINION:

By John Ulrich

There is a lot to be said for award banquets held by racing organizations. AFM, the club I started racing with in 1973, held a 2025 banquet last Saturday in Benicia, California. ASRA and NJMiniGP had a combined award banquet scheduled in Hammonton, New Jersey on the same day, but rescheduled it to February 21st to avoid the giant snowstorm that battered a huge swath of the country last weekend and early this week.

Over the years I have been to many awards banquets, big and small, hosted by AFM, AMA Pro Racing, WSMC, WERA, CMRA, MRA, Formula USA, ASRA, MotoAmerica, and others. Most of them were really fun for me, with the best part catching up with other racers and old friends.

The biggest annual banquets I have been to were hosted by the Trailblazers Motorcycle Club, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1940 and now run by a 15-member board. For 15 years (through 2025) the organization was led by President and Daytona 200 winner Don Emde; the newly-elected 2026 President is Norm Bigelow. The Trailblazers Club has its own Hall of Fame covering all sorts of motorcycle racing and gives out various awards. The annual banquet is held in Carson, California and draws about 700 people (last year’s event sold out at 720!) and a ticket costs $135. The times I have attended it’s been fun seeing and hanging out with all sorts of racing and motorcycle industry luminaries; I usually sit at a table with Ron Pierce, one of my best racing friends, and his lovely wife Carol. Another Trailblazers event is coming up this spring.

As fun as they can be, fewer organizations seem to be holding award banquets, so if you get a chance, go to one, applaud the champions and award winners, and enjoy yourself!

If your organization has an award banquet, send in (or ask the organizers to send in) photos of the event and of at least some of the awardees, to [email protected].