Three-time AMA Grand National Champion and 1988 AMA Superbike Champion Bubba Shobert was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America when the prestigious organization staged its annual induction ceremony Aug. 15 in Detroit.
Shobert, who was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998, is one of only four riders in the history of AMA racing to complete the AMA Grand Slam, by winning races in five different disciplines: the Grand National half-mile, mile, TT, short-track and national road racing. The only other riders to accomplish this rarest of feats in motorcycle racing were Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts and Doug Chandler.
Shobert was forced to retire from racing in the prime of his career after suffering head injuries in a freak accident at the U. S. World Championship Road Racing Grand Prix in 1989. Shobert recovered from the injuries, but never returned to racing. He was honored as the AMA Pro Athlete of the Year in 1986 and 1987.
Shobert was inducted this year along with NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, Indy car mechanic-team manager Jim McGee, 1960 Indy 500 winner Jim Rathmann, Goodyear and Indy Racing League executive Leo Mehl, the legendary Pro-Stock drag racing team of Ronnie Sox and Buddy Martin and SCCA and Sebring legend John Fitch.
Mehl also has deep ties with the AMA. He served as a consultant to AMA Pro Racing in the early 2000s.
Shobert was named Rookie of the Year in 1980 and he went on to win the AMA Grand National Championship in 1985, ’86 and ’87. He then focused on road racing and won the AMA Superbike title in 1988. All of his titles came while riding for Honda.
“It’s a great honor to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame, ” Shobert said. “To be up there with all the greats from racing is something I never dreamed would happen. ”
Shobert joins a select list of motorcycle racers enshrined in the Motorsports Hall of Fame that includes Jeff Ward, Jay Springsteen, Don Vesco, Gary Nixon, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer, Bob Hannah, Bart Markel, Carroll Resweber, Jim Davis, Malcolm Smith, Roger DeCoster, Dick Mann, Joe Petrali, Joe Leonard, Kenny Roberts, and Cannonball Baker.
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