AMA Flat Track:2010 Season End Awards For GNC Jake Johnson & Zanotti Racing, P.J. Jacobsen GNC Rookie of the Year

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2010 AMA Flat Track Twins and Grand National Champion Jake Johnson surveys the action on the track just before rolling out for final qualifying at the Springfield Mile on September 5. The new #1 for 2011 will be the third different number Jersey Jake has worn after having worn the #14 before being awarded the single-digit #5 for the 2o1o season in what is one instance of recognizing all past champions still competing in both the Twins and Singles Series, while still bringing the AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship back as the overall #1 for the 2010 season and beyond. Johnson had won the '06 and '08 AMA Flat Track Singles Championships while riding for Suzuki.
The Zanotti Racing/Leo Vince/Arai/Tucker Rocky-sponsored rider hooked up with the team for the 2010 season, spear-headed by Dave Zanotti, the son of Mario Zanotti, who along with Steve Eklund back in 1979 were the first privateer team in 16 years to win the coveted AMA Grand National Championship. The team won the overall AMA GNC making them the first father and son-run team to win the series highest honor. At the awards banquet, team members Zanotti, Ted McDermitt and Mike Hacker were awarded the K&N Filters Grand National Championship Mechanics of the Year award for their efforts in wrenching JJ to the crown, and the team was also awarded the Team Excellence Award.
Super effort by these guys for what they have done in 2010. Congrats go out to Jake Johnson and the entire Zanotti Racing team for their hard work in winning the 2010 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship. Great job guys, great job!
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P.J. Jacobsen sits on his #99B Moroney's/1-800-FAST HOG/Weiss Racing/Shoei-backed XR750 while talking with announcer Scotty Duebler after having won the second semi to gain a ticket to the National Main Event at the Lima Half Mile on June 26.
P.J. qualified for four National main events this year, with a best finish of 6th place at the May Springfield Mile, as well as a 7th at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile. He eventually finished 13th at Lima, and also finished out the season with a 9th place finish in Prescott Valley on October 9. He ended the season ranked 18th in the AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship with a total of 44 points. As a result of his fine year, P.J. was awarded the AMA Flat Track Saddlemen Rookie of the Year award at the season ending awards banquet on October 10.
After splitting his time while also running some AMA Road Racing events in the 2010 season for Celtic Racing, we hope to see much more of him in the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series in the 2011 season. Congrats P.J. for your ROY award for the 2010 season. Great job!
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To the winner go the spoils, so they say, and the season ending awards banquet for the 2010 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Series awarded the official #1 plate to Jake Johnson and the Zanotti Racing team in Prescott Valley on October 10. Although the big money isn't and hasn't been a part of the scene in AMA Flat Track for some time, unfortunately, there was still season-ending cash to be paid out to the winners and entrants of the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series thanks to the title sponsors, K&N Filters, having come on board with the series at the end of May. With a points pay-out for the top ten in the overall point standings, cash and trophies were the norm for the day in Arizona.

Johnson and the Zanotti Racing crew took home a large portion of the year's payouts due to their winning the overall title, including the ceremonial #1 plate to go along with winning the 2010 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship, and the team was lauded for their efforts with the Mechanic of the Year Award as well. As mentioned in a previous post, Kawasaki was awarded the Manufacturer of the Year Award for the first time ever, and they also won the Singles Manufacturer of the Year Award (in large part due to Henry Wiles winning four Singles mains this year at the Springfield TT and Short Track, the Gas City Short Track round and at the famous Peoria TT as well. Harley-Davidson won the Twins Manufacturer of the Year Award to also garner some of the glitter for their efforts in winning the Twins Class point standings and putting the XR750 up front and center again as it has been since the early '70s in AMA Flat Track racing.

And P.J. Jacobsen, who until this year had been spending most of his time road racing, attempted to qualify for six main events this year, making four of those, and finishing 18th in the season overall point standings with 44 points to garner the Rookie of the Year Award for the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track season. We can only hope this young man wants to keep running in the series for 2011 and beyond, as he put on some good shows on the track this year on his Moroney's FAST HOG-sponsored XR to keep the fans on their feet. Whatever he may end up doing he has a very long and bright future ahead of him at the young age of 17. We hope to see him back next year for some flat track events. Great job this year, P.J.!

You can check out some of the official stories below from the season ending race and banquet, with some great shots from those on-hand to highlight the end of this great season of racing in the AMA Pro Flat Track Series for the 2010 year. And a big shout-out and thank you to K&N Filters for coming on board with AMA Flat Track to put up the money for the season-ending pay out. Bravo to K&N and we hope to see them back on board again next year as well. Thanks guys!
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AMA has the story here on the AMA Flat Track Awards Banquet held in Prescott Valley after the season ending round at Yavapai Downs. Good shot attached also of Jake and the Zanotti Racing team accepting the ceremonial #1 plate for the 2010 season:

http://www.ama-cycle.org/news/story.asp?id=2313

This is the same release from the AMA as put up over at MotorcyclistOnline.com, but this one has a few other pics of the awards ceremony that are worth the look:

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/newsandupdates/racing_news/122_1010_ama_pro_racing_grand_national_championship_awards/index.html

Today's Cycle Coverage.com had Dan Jacobson, Sr. on the scene in Prescott Valley and he filed this report on the season ending race along with some great pics thrown in from The Fast and Dirty's Yve Assad. Great stuff here:

http://www.todayscyclecoverage.com/wordpress/2010/10/09/great-jake/

Tyler Porter filed this great interview with 2010 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Jake Johnson on his Fight for Dirt Track site. Definitely worth the read. Thanks to Tyler and Congrats again to Jake Johnson:

http://www.fightfordt.com/runscript.cfm?page=johnsonarizona.cfm

Here is Zanotti Racing's official website where you can read up on a little bit of history involving the first father and son-run team to win the AMA Grand National Championship, 31 years apart:

http://www.zanottiracing.com/
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Here is P.J. Jacobsen's website, the 2010 AMA Flat Track GNC Rookie of the Year:

http://www.pj99.com/

Weiss Racing is one of P.J.'s long-time sponsors:

http://www.weissracing.com/

And Moroney's Fast Hog H-D was who helped put together the XR750's that P.J. rode this year:

http://www.jimmoroneyscycle.com/miscpage_006.asp

Steve Warne's Poppa Wheelie site has some great shots of P.J. at the Yavapai Downs Mile season ending race on October 9. You can check out Poppa's great stuff here:

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html#8423075069372019130
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