Photo: Redbull.com
As the year draws to a close, the world is celebrating the best of the best in a variety of fields. The days ahead will be filled with news of people and machines being honored for their contribution to whatever goal in the twelve months that have passed.
For the motorcyclists' world, one of the highlights of the end of the year is the American Motorcyclist Association's (AMA) awards for motorcyclist of the year. On Christmas Eve, the organization said that this year it will award the title to professional motocross racer turned stunt daredevil, Travis Pastrana.
According to AMA, the man was chosen not only for his involvement in motorcycling but also because of his charity work.
On the sports side, AMA mentioned Pastrana’s most memorable moment of the year as the main incentive for handing him the award. In July, an event in Las Vegas was the place where Pastrana did three record motorcycle jumps, inspired by the similar achievements of iconic daredevil Evel Knievel decades ago.
On the charity work side, Pastrana was honored for his involvement in raising awareness on the effects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and also helped raise the money needed for the island to rebuild homes and even motocross tracks.
“He drew positive attention to motorcycling through mainstream media in a manner that helps to promote motorcycling and the motorcycle lifestyle,” said in a statement AMA CEO Rob Dingman.
“It is for this reason that the AMA Board of Directors has named Travis Pastrana the 2018 AMA Motorcyclist of the Year.”
Pastrana is 35 years old and has been involved in sports ever since he was very young. He is the winner of three motocross racing championships, X Games champion and holder of several records.
For a brief time, he was also involved in NASCAR, racing for Roush Fenway Racing, and in the Global RallyCross Championship as a driver for Subaru Rally Team USA.
According to AMA, the man was chosen not only for his involvement in motorcycling but also because of his charity work.
On the sports side, AMA mentioned Pastrana’s most memorable moment of the year as the main incentive for handing him the award. In July, an event in Las Vegas was the place where Pastrana did three record motorcycle jumps, inspired by the similar achievements of iconic daredevil Evel Knievel decades ago.
On the charity work side, Pastrana was honored for his involvement in raising awareness on the effects of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and also helped raise the money needed for the island to rebuild homes and even motocross tracks.
“He drew positive attention to motorcycling through mainstream media in a manner that helps to promote motorcycling and the motorcycle lifestyle,” said in a statement AMA CEO Rob Dingman.
“It is for this reason that the AMA Board of Directors has named Travis Pastrana the 2018 AMA Motorcyclist of the Year.”
Pastrana is 35 years old and has been involved in sports ever since he was very young. He is the winner of three motocross racing championships, X Games champion and holder of several records.
For a brief time, he was also involved in NASCAR, racing for Roush Fenway Racing, and in the Global RallyCross Championship as a driver for Subaru Rally Team USA.
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