Steve Morehead named Honoree of 24th Annual AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships
19 May 2000
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship star Steve Morehead has been named the 2000 Honoree of the 24th Annual AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships, to be held June 29-July 5 in Indianapolis and Lawrenceburg, Ind. During his 26 years on the Grand National circuit, Morehead was a perennial championship contender and crowd favorite. His career was among the longest and most productive in AMA history. The Findlay, Ohio, native, who is known to his many fans as the "Findlay Flyer," follows 1970 AMA Grand National Champion Gene Romero and three-time champ Bubba Shobert as the AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships' third Honoree since the tradition was begun in 1998. As this year's Honoree, Morehead will preside over the June 29 Sign-Up Party in Lawenceburg, Ind., for the several hundred amateur and Pro Sport riders entered for the 2000 AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships. In addition to autograph sessions, Morehead will offer tips to the riders on the event's tracks: Lawrenceburg Motorcycle Speedway and the Indiana State Fairgrounds. "I'm looking forward to meeting the future stars of dirt-track racing from all over the country," Morehead said. "It's exciting to see the interest in dirt-track racing on the grass-roots level coming back. I've made hundreds of friends through racing over the years, and that's one of the things these up-and-coming riders will really appreciate as they get older. The people that are involved in the sport of dirt-track racing are some of the finest people you'll ever meet." After enjoying considerable success as an amateur racer, Morehead turned pro in 1974 on the AMA Grand National circuit. In 1978, on a half-mile track in Meadow Lands, Pa., he earned the first of what would become 23 career AMA National wins. In an impressive display of consistency, Morehead went on to rank in the top 10 of the AMA Grand National Series standings a remarkable 17 times. Morehead's best season in terms of victories came in 1988, when he took four wins and finished the season ranked fourth. His highest finish in the series came in 1994, when at age 39, he was a title contender right up to the year's final race and ended up a close third in the points race. Best known for his prowess on half-mile dirt tracks, Morehead's last victory came on such a track in Las Vegas in 1998, at age 43. When he retired after the 1999 season, he ranked 10th on the all-time AMA Grand National wins list, and fourth in wins on half-mile tracks. "We're honored that Steve accepted our invitation to serve as the 2000 Honoree of the AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships," said Bill Amick, AMA Vice President of Events and Entertainment. "He was one of the best in the business as a young pro, and was still a force to be reckoned with long past the normal retirement age for dirt-trackers. Today's young riders can learn a lot from veterans like Steve, and we're happy to have this opportunity to bring them all together." In addition to his impressive credentials as a rider, Morehead has also been a successful co-promoter of AMA Grand National Series events at famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Earlier this year he was named Operations Manager for AMA Pro Racing's Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships. Having spent most of his life in the spotlight as a professional athlete, he now works behind the scenes, lending his expertise to dirt-track's most prestigious pro events. And at the 24th Annual AMA Dirt Track Grand Championships, he'll have an opportunity to survey the sport's future as the nation's best amateur riders come together in Indiana to test their skills in 21 classes of competition.
