Lot 119: 2000 AMA Grand National Championship-winning

�I really want to thank Mike Corbin for everything that he did for me. We had a great couple of years together, and we won the championship together.� � Joe Kopp.

�Smokin� Joe Kopp was born into a family of motorcycle racers and grew up in Mica, Washington, developing his skills as a youngster by riding the mountain trails with his cousins, Lon and Rob. His father and grandfather had been motorcycle racers, but Joe�s passion for racing took time to develop and it was not until his mid-teens that the bug really bit. At first he mixed cross-country with flat-track racing, before gaining his Pro-Am license and concentrating on the latter discipline from age 18. In 1993 Joe earned his first AMA national points with a 5th in the TT event at Castle Rock, his home track in Washington, which was also the scene of his first podium finish (2nd place) the following year. The high point of the 1995 season was a 3rd at the Denver Half-mile. 1996 would prove to be a breakthrough year for Joe, who went from being a mid-pack finisher to regular podium contender seemingly overnight. From 32nd in 1993 he had risen to 4th ranked by the end of the �96 season, one of the swiftest rises that AMA Grand National racing had seen in some time. He had yet to win an AMA National, but earned five podium finishes in 1996 and wowed the crowd at the Peoria TT where he suffered a spectacular crash into a creek, only to restart from last place and charge through to 3rd at the finish.

Racing for Mike Shattuck�s Harley-Davidson of Sacramento team, Joe won his first AMA Grand National at the Peoria TT in 1997. In 1998 he teamed up with Dave Burks� Harley-Davidson of Missouri outfit, winning the inaugural AMA SuperTrapp SuperTracker Championship for them with five victories the following year. As he later recalled: �In the winter of 1999 Burks and I were looking for some more help with sponsors for our team. Along came Mike Corbin and crew. They stepped up our program to the top level, and with that our results showed.�

An outstanding season saw Kopp take three championship titles in 2000: he won the AMA Grand National Championship with a victory at Sedalia and eight additional podium finishes; the AMA Supertracker title for the second year in a row with two wins and podium finishes at every other race; and the AMA Hotshoe 600cc Expert class title, winning the Dayton, Ohio round of that series. Joe continued his association with Corbin for the 2001 season, finishing in 3rd place in the AMA Grand National and 2nd in the Hotshoe 600 series. Joe Kopp switched to the Jones Powersports team for 2002 and continues to race, and win, at the highest level today.

Mike Corbin purchased Joe�s AMA Championship-winning XR750 from Dave Burks in March 2001 and this historic machine remains just as it was when Joe won the Championship. The machine includes Dave Burks Motor Sports� Bill of Sale to Michael Corbin and is sold on a Bill of Sale.

Without reserve