Since partnering to promote the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, MX Sports Pro Racing and Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports, have awarded a pair of perpetual championship trophies for the 250 and 450 classes - the Gary Jones Cup and the Edison Dye Cup - as commemorative awards that honor the strong legacy of American Motocross, in name and in spirit. Each cup goes to the team that captures the championship in each respective class - the Gary Jones Cup for the 250 Class and the Edison Dye Cup for the 450 Class. The cups are awarded to the team of each respective title winner, who then has the honor of displaying the trophy for one full year at their headquarters.
On the last day of the dramatic 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, GEICO Honda's Trey Canard emerged as the 250 Class champion, accepting the Gary Jones Cup on behalf of his team. The Edison Dye Cup was awarded once again to Rockstar/Makita Suzuki, as Ryan Dungey took the #1 plate from his former teammate Chad Reed.
Both cups return for 2011, ready to be claimed by the riders and teams able to overcome and endure the challenges that make motocross one of the toughest sports on the planet.
Gary Jones was the first true AMA Pro Motocross 250cc Champion in 1972, the inaugural year of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Jones, who hailed from Hacienda Heights, Calif., raced a Yamaha to that first title, then repeated in 1973 aboard Honda's new Elsinore motorcycle. He then added a third consecutive title the following year, only this time on a Can-Am. As the first multi-time champion in AMA Pro Motocross history, Jones was elected to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.
Edison Dye was a pioneer in the development of professional motocross in America. He was the organizer of the first professional motocross championship in the U.S., the Inter-Am tour, which was founded in 1966. This groundbreaking championship pitted the best riders from Europe, the cradle of the sport at the time, against the youth from America, where motocross was just getting a foothold. With such legendary heroes as Torsten Hallman, Joel Robert and Roger DeCoster leading the way, the Americans learned quickly, and the balance of power in global motocross began to shift. Dye's series also set the stage for what is now the most prestigious motocross series of all, the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.
For 2011, the teams vying for these celebrated cups in the
Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship include the best in the business of motocross: Rockstar/Makita Suzuki, American Honda, Monster Energy Kawasaki, Red Bull KTM, Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGR, GEICO Honda, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing Yamaha, Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda, Rockstar Energy Suzuki and many, many more.
The 2011 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship commences next Saturday, May 21, with the Rockstar Energy Hangtown National in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
Tickets for the upcoming Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship are on sale now at
www.allisports.com. Special discounts and incentives are available for advance ticket purchasers.
For more information on the 2011 tour, please log on to
www.allisports.com/motocross.
