Chaparral Motorsports Founder/Owner Dave Damron Presented With Lifetime Achievement Award

Starting out as a small Suzuki Motorcycle
dealer located in Riverside, California, over the years Dave Damron
has experienced much success in many different facets of the
motorcycle/motorsports industry. From manufacturer to distributor,
race team owner with three Supercross Championships, and founder
and owner of Chaparral Motorsports, Dave has done it all and seen
it all.
As a die-hard enthusiast and owner of one of the largest
motorsports dealerships in the country selling everything from dirt
bikes and street bikes to
UTVs and ATVs as well as tires, riding gear, parts,
and accessories, Dave has continually looked for opportunities to
grow not only his business but the industry as a whole.
Riding on Success

Dave's success has
not gone unnoticed and over the years he has been recognized by his
peers and industry associations with various accolades such as
Honda's Top Achievement Award, Outstanding Motocross Race Support
Award from American Suzuki, Kawasaki's Top Achievement Award the
Ichiban Award, and Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award,
just to name a few. Most recently, at the Progressive International
Motorcycle Show, Dave was recognized by Dealer News for his 35-plus
years of service, mentorship, and success in the motorsports
industry, and was presented with the Don J. Brown Lifetime
Achievement Award. A prestigious accolade for years of dedication
and determination to an individual who has spent their entire life
pursuing their passion and sharing it with as many people as
possible.
Below is the full release from Dealer News.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. and CLEVELAND, Ohio - Dave Damron has been
a manufacturer, a distributor, owner of a racing team that won
three AMA Supercross championships. He was instrumental in the
emergence of children's off-road gear. And he's been a business
mentor to many. But most people know David Damron as founder and
owner of one of the largest dealerships in the country: San
Bernardino, Calif.-based Chaparral
Motorsports.
Damron is the recipient of the Don J. Brown Lifetime
Achievement Award for 2015.
Dealernews presented Damron with the "Brown Award" during a
special presentation today at the Progressive International
Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, Calif.
Damron's father was a pharmacist who became a motorcycle dealer
in the 1960s. After college, the younger and recently married
Damron used his father's good credit to open his own Suzuki
dealership in Riverside. After realizing that no distributor, at
that time, carried a solid selection of Suzuki accessories, Damron
started distributing them himself. He also ended up buying a few of
his suppliers.
"So in a matter of about a two-and-a-half- to three-year
window," Damron told Dealernews for a cover story back in 2009, "I
went from being a dealer to a distributor to a
distributor/manufacturer."
Damron closed the dealership to concentrate on new
manufacturing and distribution. But then the recession of 1980 hit,
customers started filing for bankruptcy and Damron's businesses
were left with a lot of once-ordered-but-never-paid-for products.
That's how Chaparral was born.
"What I did is I called the magazines and said, 'Here's the
deal: I'm going to start a mail-order company. I have no money. If
you'll take an ad, as soon as I sell something I will pay my
bill.'" Cycle Guide took accepted his offer. "That's when Chaparral
was born," Damron said, "out of sheer desperation, to put beans on
the table."
Today, Chaparral is a brick-and-mortar megastore-all 160,000
square feet of it-with an even larger retail presence online. Once
the owner of the Supercross team that bore Jeremy McGrath
championships in 1998, 1999 and 2000, Chaparral continues to
provide substantial support and visibility to regional and national
racers. This past year, Chaparral secured a presenting sponsorship
of the Monster Energy MXGP at nearby Glen Helen Raceway -a deal,
Damron said at the time, that would give Chaparral international
visibility.
In 2000 Damron received Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the
Year award, and he has led Chaparral to multiple wins in the
Dealernews Top 100 program.
Admire him, envy him for his success, but respect him for his
perseverance and never-wavering ability to balance support for the
sport with full pursuit of commerce. Dave Damron is a lesson in
perseverance. "If you got it, put it out there and sell it."