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American racing legend Nicky Hayden has been inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, as part of its 2021 class of inductees. A nod to his racing number of 69, Hayden is the 269th inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

In 2018, Hayden was posthumously inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, one of the motorcycling world’s top recognitions, but today’s announcement honors Hayden’s feats from a more mainstream perspective, as the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America recognizes those from the automotive, motorcycling, powerboats, and aviation sports.

Nicky Hayden will always be remembered as a legend in American motorcycling, especially after his 2006 MotoGP World Championship title and his 2002 AMA Superbike title.

But now, that status has been made official, as the Kentucky Kid has been inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. 

Hayden was one six inductees this weekend into the Hall of Fame, and was joined by off-road racer Terry Cunningham, stuntman Gary Davis, race tuner Skip Eaken, flat-track racer Clifford “Corky” Keener, and female racer Mary McGee.

Well, we can finally put the Nobby Clark saga behind us, as the famed motorcycle mechanic got the nod from his fellow Hall of Famers, and has been inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame with his supplemental voting ballot. A lightning rod for the larger issue of how members were nominated and voted into the AMHF, Nobby’s induction probably doesn’t surprise anyone who has been following the matter.

We imagine that Kenny Roberts Sr., and the slew of other prominent AMA figures who resigned their positions in the Hall of Fame, will backtrack on those statements, and everything will return back to normal, and the way it should be. That is of course, besides the whole part where the AMA and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame continued to like an old boys’ network, which on this issue got their hands caught in the cookie jar.

While we continue to try and figure out exactly what it is the AMA does, check the press release about Derek “Nobby” Clark after the jump.

Today, another chapter was written regarding the AMA / Derek “Nobby” Clark inauguration debacle and controversy, as the American Motorcyclist Association announced that it would have all voting members for the Hall of Fame cast votes on a supplemental ballot concerning the induction of Nobby Clark into the organization.

Allowing the entire voting-membership to decided on Mr. Clark’s appointment to the Hall of Fame, the move will not impact other candidates for the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame (AMHF), and comes in response to the organization’s finding that Clark had been inappropriately added to the original Hall of Fame voting ballot.

Cycle News is reporting that Kenny Roberts Sr., the Godfather of American Road Racing, is leaving the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, after getting wind that Dave Despain and Dick Mann had made similar gestures regarding their status with the Hall of Fame. The blowout comes after Derek “Nobby” Clark was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, only to have his name withdrawn from the organization’s list of distinguished members. The reason given by the AMA was that there was an error in the balloting process for submitting Clark’s name to the voting ballot, though some outside the AMA say the reason Clark was removed was because of his criminal record, or for other reasons.

Working on the race bikes of motorcycling greats like Kenny Roberts Sr., Giacomo Agostini, and Mike Hailwood, the support for Clark has been resounding in the old-guard of American motorcycling, which is where the resignations from Despain and Mann come into play. This of course has created a cascade effect, where now King Kenny has also voiced his desire to leave the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. Others are sure to follow suit with King Kenny after the delicious quote he gave Cycle News: “I just emailed Chris Carter and asked him where I send my shit back. I don’t get it. If Dick Mann is resigning from the Hall of Fame, I don’t need to be in it. It’s bad that it has to come to this, but what are you going to do. If Nobby doesn’t deserve to be in there, nobody does.”

Like everything with the AMA, the issue with inducting Clark into the Hall of Fame is a convoluted one at best, as it shows an interesting dynamic to the old-boy network that is alive and well within the American motorcycle community. On the issue at hand, Roadracing World published an interesting play-by-play of what happened behind the scenes regarding Nobby’s induction, balloting, and removal, which included some quotes from Superbikeplanet‘s Dean Adams.

Adams, who sits on the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame’s Roadrace Committee, has his own interesting dissection of what transpired, which includes his own analysis of the movings and shakings inside the AMA and the AMA Hall of Fame. It paints a disturbing picture of either wanton or willful negligence as to how the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame operates, as well as how the inner-cliques of the industry work with and against each other.