Nelson Chanady (born November 19, 1963 in Miami, Florida, U.S.) is a former American "Old School" professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1981 to 1987
Racing career milestones
Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.
*In the NBL it is B"/Superclass/"A" pro (beginning with 2000 season); in the ABA it is "A" pro. **In the NBL it is "A" pro (Elite men); in the ABA it is "AA" pro.
Career factory and major bike shop sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever-changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.
Amateur
Team Honda: Mid 1980 to Late 1980
The Hot Shop (Bicycle Shop) (exclusively): Late 1980–September 1982. GT (Gary Turner) Racing/The Hot Shop: September 1982–June 1983. GT Racing at this time was his primary sponsor with first and longtime sponsor The Hot Shop becoming is secondary sponsor. This unusual arrangement was reflected by his uniform swapping. In ABA and NBL races in the Western States of the United States he raced in his GT livery; at ABA and NBL races in Eastern states he raced in his Hot Shop uniform with them as his primary sponsor. As a side note his GT uniform jersey had "The Hot Shop" written in large block capital letters vertically down its sleeves, as opposed to having "GT BMX" and a racing stripe down them. His Hot Shop uniform just had a GT patch. In June 1983 The Hot Shop Bicycle shop disbanded its race team. From then on Nelson Chanady was sponsored exclusively by GT Racing. Nelson Chanady's then unique dual sponsorship situation between GT and The Hot Shop was actually a foreshadowing of dual or even triple "primary sponsorships that would start in the late 1980s after BMX racing's first recession and would become common place by the late 1990s and early 2000s as companies both within and outside the BMX industry sought to spread the cost of sponsoring a race team between them. GT Racing (exclusively): June 1983-Early December 1984, Late February 1985- Chanady would turn pro with this sponsor.
Professional
GT Racing (exclusively): June 1983-Early December 1984, Late February 1985- In December 1984 GT dropped Chanady from their team for lack of performance. In the BMX periodical BMX Plus! it was customary for them to along with the racer's name in the results to list his primary sponsor with him. For instance "Eric Rupe/Mongoose". The listings for "Nelson Chanady/GT" ends beginning with the NBL National #3 in Montgomery, Alabama in the April 1985 issue. Also in that issue was the note that GT notified Chanady that they were going to let his contract expire and not renew it. Despite this, Nelson Chanady paid his own way to that race, wore a GT uniform and sat with the team. Apparently this show of loyalty impressed GT enough to reconsider their decision and rehired him (or never dropped him formally) in early 1985 since Nelson is listed in the race results with "GT" after his name beginning again with NBL National #8 in Montclair, California in the July 1985 issue on page 52. This was confirmed in the August 1985 issue's "Check point" mini coverage of the NBL Florida Nationals #11 and #12. Another stated and perhaps more important reason was that GT wanted Chanady to represent them at the 1985 Kellogg Championship series in England.
Career bicycle motocross titles
Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.
Amateur
National Bicycle Association (NBA) None National Bicycle League (NBL) 1981 Florida state No.1 1981 16 Expert National No.2 1982, 1983 17 & Over Expert National No.1
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
1982 17 & Over Expert Jag World Champion (ABA sanctioned) National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA) 1980 16 Junior National No.1 International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) 1982 17 Expert Murray World Cup of BMX I Champion. 1982 17 Expert & Overall World Champion.