* Nephew Wins AMA Athlete of the Year

Live form Las Vegas
It was a night to honor the best of the best AMA Sports and ATVA athletes on day one of the AMA Las Vegas Invasion, and it was a new face at the top of the AMA/NATC Observed Trials Championship who took the evening's highest honor at the AMA Sports Awards Banquet in the city that never sleeps.

Patrick Smage, the first-year pro who nailed six wins and four second-place finishes in 10 rounds of the series--never finishing worse than second all year--won the AMA Sports Athlete of the Year Award at the gala event. In addition to his dominating performance in the U.S. series, he was a key part of Team USA's impressive sixth place finish--its best in years--at the international Trials des Nations, held this year on the Isle of Man.

"I can't believe it,'' Smage said after collecting his trophy. "I saw the list of names of people who had won this award before, and it was people I had been reading about in magazines for years. I thought I had no chance. I had actually sat down because I thought I wouldn't have a chance."

Smage bested a tight group of finalists for the top AMA Sports award, which included:

AMA Motocross Horizon Award winner Trey Canard of Elk City, Oklahoma.
AMA Road Rading Horizon Award winner Zac Chapman of Weatherford, Texas.
AMA National Enduro Champion Mike Lafferty.
AMA National Hare & Hound Champion David Pearson.

Smage, of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, arrived as a pro in the AMA/NATC Observed Trials Championship after the retirement of Geoff Aaron, who dominated the series for nearly a decade. His mastery of the challenging world of trials was evident in his finishes, with only two other riders--Cody Webb and Chris Florin, both with more pro-level experience--being able to beat Smage in 2007.