Six to Join BMX HOF Next Month

Each year, the public nominates their most worthy heroes from the 40-year history of the sport of BMX. The top nominees are placed in one of four categories (Pioneer BMX Racer, BMX Racer, BMX Industry and BMX Freestyle), and a ballot is sent to current Hall Of Fame members, BMX media and industry figures for their vote.

The Hall Of Fame board of directors, based on recommendations from a steering committee, also considers if there are any persons worthy of a "Special Recognition" award, which the board bestows above and beyond the standard four voting categories.

National BMX Hall Of Fame 2010 Inductees

Pioneer BMX Racer - Tim Judge.
TJ was one of the top stars on the East Coast in the mid 1970s. His fame expanded exponentially after winning the 1981 Jag World Champion title and getting picked up by the legendary Hutch BMX Factory Team. At Hutch, he added a 1983 IBMXF Cruiser World Title to his list of accomplishments. Tim's BMX experience played a pivotal role in his post-BMX career, when he became an internationally-known racer and mechanic in the Jet Watercraft (JetSki) industry.

BMX Racer - Steve Veltman
The first rider to win the ABA National Number One Amateur and Cruiser titles in the same year (1982), Steve Veltman also stacked up two Jag World Championship Age Group titles, and two IBMXF world age group titles in his amateur career, and was an Elite Cruiser Bronze Medalist at the 1989 World Championships. As a professional, Steve won both the NBL and ABA Grandnationals, and the 1993 ABA National Number One Pro title. He competed in three X Games and raced in the top class for 15 years, retiring in 2004. Steve is the only BMX racer to have ever appeared on a Wheaties cereal box.

BMX Industry - Craig "gOrk" Barrette
Few industries have a person so well known and respected that one name suffices in identifying them. In BMX, it's "gOrk." As someone who has raced at a national level (UBR national number one sidehack three year running), rode and promoted freestyle shows, worked in the warehouse at CW Racing, and served as editor of both the iconic "BMX Action" and the ABA's BMXer Magazines, he has made his mark on nearly every era of our sport. In 1999, after 10 years with ABA, gOrk moved to the Pacific Northwest to join Seattle Bike Supply as the Director of Marketing for their flagship brand, Redline. He remains in that role today.

BMX Freestyler - Woody Itson
Most people had their first exposure to Woody Itson in BMX Action's "Hot Shots" feature, as he blasted an impossibly high air at the Big O Skatepark. This racer-turned-freestyler wowed crowds all over the nation on tour for Vans Tennis Shoes, but it was his riding for Hutch BMX Products that made him a household name. He designed the Hutch Trick Star, one of the most popular bikes of the day, and captured both an AFA and an NFA National Title for Flatland in 1985 ands 1986, respectively. As half of the Diamond Back Freestyle Team, he was "Mr. Flatland" to the "Mr. Air" of Mike Dominguez. After a break to attend college, Woody hung up his riding uniform, and became Freestyle Program Director for the megawatt GT Freestyle Team, where he stayed until 2001. Soon after, he started his current company, Satellite Sports Group, and has since been managing a crew of riders who perform BMX Freestyle shows at over 500 venues each year.

Special Recognition - Linda Dorsey
In honoring someone for whom the sharpest wit and cleverest turn of phrase was as natural as green on grass, words are difficult to wrangle when talking about legendary announcer, Linda Dorsey. Her son, Bryan, probably summed it up as well as any of us could, saying, simply, "BMX was her life." During her three-decades on the mic, Linda was a fixture on the NBL National circuit, served on the NBL Board of Directors, and brought her voice to France and Japan, among other places motos were posted. Linda passed away from cancer in 2008, but announced BMX races with the same fire and passion until three months before the end of her life.

Special Recognition - Al Fritz, father of the Schwinn Sting-Ray
Starting on the welding line of Schwinn's landmark Kostner Avenue plant in Chicago, Al Fritz worked his way up from the factory floor in 1945, to become the number two man and a member of the Board of Directors at Schwinn Bicycle Company. During a chance Saturday phone call in 1963, a West Coast sales rep told him of a "goofy" fad out there, where kids were "buying used 20" bikes and equipping them with Texas Longhorn handlebars." That Saturday morning phone call planted the seed for a project Mr. Fritz would rapidly prototype, and ultimately launch as the Schwinn Sting-Ray. Every BMX bike on today's track and trails can trace its roots directly to that first Sting-Ray, built by Al Fritz in the winter of 1963.

BE A PART OF HISTORY!
A select number of tickets are being offered to the public for the 26th Annual induction ceremony at the San Diego Hall Of Champions (San Diego, CA) on Thursday, September 16, 2010. Visit the link below for more information and to purchase tickets.

http://2010bmxhof.eventbrite.com/

ABOUT THE NATIONAL BMX HALL OF FAME
The National BMX Hall Of Fame, founded in 1985 as the "ABA BMX Hall of Fame," has established a mission to further the sport of BMX by helping future generations remember the champions, heroes and thought-leaders who shaped the sport over its history. The Hall Of Fame currently has 90 inductees for the years 1985-2009, and is honored to welcome the six in the class of 2010.

Visit the Hall Of Fame Website

 —Posted By Mike Carruth

Above Photo of Tim Judge from the April 1981 issue of Bicycle Motocross Action (Pg 50 and 51). 
Photo by Bob Osborn, ©Wizard Publications, Inc.  Used by permission

I want to personally welcome you to bmxactiononline, this is a place where the BMX community both old and new can hang out and get in touch with one another. I want to say a big "THANK YOU" to my buddy Oz for allowing me to utilize the great name BMX ACTION. Come on in, have a look around and enjoy. The people inside are very nice and always ready to lend a hand, if your looking for something specific or someone from your BMX past this is the place...Thanks for coming, we'll see you inside.