AMA Amateur Athlete of the Year Award Named in Honor of Dan Bromley

The following is a press release from the American Motorcyclist Association:

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association’s Amateur Athlete of the Year Award, which recognizes the top amateur competitors in AMA amateur national championship competition each year, has been renamed in honor of Dan Bromley, who won the award in 2011 before going pro in AMA Grand National Championship competition.

Bromley, who earned the American Flat Track 2018 Singles and 2025 Adventure Trackers championships as a professional racer, died on Saturday, June 27, in Lima, Ohio, in a racing incident.

“AMA amateur racing represents the grassroots of the sport,” said AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman. “It’s where memories are made, friendships form, family bonds strengthen and future professional racers develop. Dan Bromley, along with the entire Bromley family, epitomizes all those aspirations, and he did so with a humility and excellence rarely matched. It is my great honor to announce that Dan’s accomplishments will be forever memorialized in the Dan Bromley AMA Amateur Athlete of the Year Award.” 

The year Bromley won the award he dominated his primary discipline of flat-track racing. In addition to claiming the 2011 AMA Dirt Track Horizon Award, he won the 250cc Modified Two-Stroke and 250cc DTX Grand Championships, and also national titles in 250cc DTX Short-Track, 250cc DTX TT, 250cc Modified Two-Stroke Short-Track, 250cc Modified Two-Stroke TT and 251cc-500cc DTX TT. He also competed in the AMA Racing Winter Dirt Track Championship Series where he won the 250cc DTX championship.

Speaking shortly after he won the award in 2011, Bromley, who often competed with his brother Joseph Bromley, responded with his typical selfless demeanor: “Having a brother to race and compete with is really helpful because he’s out there helping me on the track, and I’m helping him. His lines are usually better than mine, so that helps. Having someone there supporting you on the track and off the track is really important.”

Before he went pro, Bromley had won 36 AMA amateur national championships, likely more than any other racer during the 100-plus years of AMA-sanctioned competition. Bromley continued to add to that count, competing in vintage and off-road amateur disciplines, with nearly 40 AMA National No. 1 plates by the time of his passing.

Bromley’s influence reached beyond the racetrack. Bromley, who had a business degree from Penn State, was recently hired as the AMA’s assistant track racing manager. In that role, he helped manage the AMA’s amateur racing programs for track racing disciplines, including flat track, road racing and hillclimb.

“As arguably the AMA’s most prolific amateur champion, well-educated and with a strong work ethic and level head, Dan was a much-welcomed addition to the AMA Racing Department,” said AMA Chief Operating Officer James Holter. “Dan was poised to help lead AMA racing initiatives well into the future, and all of us at the AMA, who knew Dan as not just a colleague but a friend, are heartbroken over this tragic loss. Through the Dan Bromley AMA Amateur Athlete of the Year Award, future generations of racers will be inspired by Dan’s heart, integrity and indelible dedication to win.”

Dan Bromley was a third-generation racer from Warrington, Pa. In addition to his brother Joseph, his father Joe Bromley and uncles also raced at high levels. They all followed in the footsteps of Dan’s grandfather, Bob Bromley, who introduced the family to the sport and started Bromley Motorsports, a motorcycle dealership in Trevose, Pa., that helped launch numerous racing careers over six decades.