It's Banquet Time!

The 71st annual Trailblazers banquet will be held at the Carson Center in Carson on Saturday, April 11th. Every seat is sold and the Trailblazers board is getting all of the details in place for a fun-filled afternoon in the courtyard, followed by a great dinner and banquet with 700 of your closest friends.

If this is your first time attending the banquet, the Carson Center is located at 801 East Carson Street in Carson, CA 90745. Exit off Interstate 405 at the Carson Street exit and go west just past the Carson Doubletree by Hilton Hotel and turn right into the parking lot. The Hotel and Carson Center share the same parking lot.

The schedule is simple. Attendees should be planning to arrive around 3:00 p.m. That’s when the Pit Gate opens and the Tom Cates Memorial Bike Show Presented by The Early Days of Motocross Museum and Hagerty Insurance begins. If you are bringing a motorcycle, you actually need to be there by 2:00 so we can get you checked in and the bike in position. Its all first-come, first-served with spots for motorcycles until we fill up. So don’t get left out. Come early.

When you arrive and get parked at the Carson Center parking lot, proceed west towards the Trailblazers EZ-Ups where you will check in and receive your VIP Pass, pass holder and other materials, including your table number (all seats are pre-assigned). There will also be some of the commemorative Trailblazers 70th anniversary Beer Steins from last year’s banquet available at check-in for sale. Cash only.

You will need to wear the pass at all times and no one without a pass will be permitted past the gates. We encourage everyone to sign your name on both sides of the pass so the many other Trailblazers can pick you out.

At 6:00 p.m. the banquet doors will open. The program and dinner begins at 6:30 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Questions? Send an email to: mctrailblazers01@gmail.com.

Rob Morrison: Trailblazers 2015 Hall of Fame

Well, the excitement is building as we approach the 71st annual Trailblazers banquet on Saturday, April 11th at the Carson Center in Carson. Tickets sold out quickly for the second year in a row, but for the 700+ who did order early enough, a great event awaits you. As we have been doing these past few months, here’s a look at another of our 2015 honorees, Rob Morrison.

Rob Morrison was born in 1952 and grew up in Fontana, California. He started riding motorcycles at 16. Then one day in the late 1960’s Rob accompanied his father to Perris Raceway to watch the TT Scrambles races. Rob was hooked and was soon racing himself.

By 1971 Rob was a rising star racing in the District 37 Expert class, riding for shops like K&N and Ontario Cycle. In 1972 Rob moved up to an AMA Pro Novice license. Riding a Pete Pistone tuned Bultaco; he won the 1972 California State Championship. He moved up to the Junior class in 1973 and started riding a Norton built by “Big Bill” Rychlik and Harold Allison. He did well enough on the Norton to be promoted to Expert in 1974.

Rob’s rookie Expert season started out on a Dick Kelm Yamaha which he raced at the San Jose Mile. This was the first mile Morrison had ever ridden; he made the main and finished with a respectable 10th place, finishing ahead of such riders as Mark Brelsford, Hank Scott, Jim Odom, Terry Dorsch, and Chuck Palmgren. Rob’s riding style and tenacity got the attention of Ron Wood. Wood offered Ron the ride on his Nortons at Ascot and that season, Rob Morrison on Ron Wood’s Norton became a winning combo that would win the 1974 Ascot Championship.

Next, Rob signed on with the Norton factory team to race the 1975 season in the AMA Camel Pro Series. It was a season of high points and low points. Signing to a factory dirt track team was every racer’s dream. But the factory Norton’s weren’t competitive with the Harley-Davidson XR750’s of the time. Plus, Norton was in a steep financial decline and shut down the program in mid-season. Without a sponsored ride for dirt track racing, Rob moved to the Speedway racing. He raced five nights a week all through the 1976 and 1977 seasons. He did well enough to make a good living in Speedway and became a member of the L.A. Sprockets Speedway Team.

Rob retired from full-time racing in 1978, but never stopped riding motorcycles. Today he is a successful self-employed businessman. He still enjoys going to the races and has been an active member of the TrailBlazers for many years. Most weekends you can still find Rob riding his motorcycle along the coast of southern California.

The TrailBlazers proudly welcome Rob Morrison to the 2015 Hall of Fame.