Luke Conner
Lafayette, LA
Western Trustee Candidate

Luke Conner, Western Region

Hello, I am Luke Conner, candidate for Western Trustee– a position I’ve held for the last three years. I’ve been with AHRMA for over twelve years and been an avid competitor and sportsman my entire life. I hold a BS degree in Engineering and have owned my own business since I was 28 years old. Recently married to my close friend of many years, Teresa Conner, I am father to three girls and grandfather to a granddaughter and a grandson (who can’t wait to race).

I currently serve as Chairman of the Board of AHRMA Trustees, elected this year, 2018. As of late, I took on the position of Road Race Director, working hard to fill Cindy Cowell’s shoes. I accepted this position without compensation and am working to put together a team from the folks that Cindy had organized to continue the fine work that they’ve done over many years of fun.

As President and Founder of CPL Systems Inc.– “OUR”™ business, “Optimizing the Utilization of Resources”– we continue to work with industries for energy and resource conservation as well as provide technology for the direct and sustainable use of alternative fuels and energy recovery systems. CPL Systems is one of the world’s largest providers of industrial alternative energy technology for the direct use of alternative and bio-fuels. “OUR”™ business has grown from 25 to 200 employees in the last several years. CPL is proud to be part of ISS, Industrial Service Solutions.

CPL has previously been the National Road Race Series sponsor, and is happy to be returning, taking on the Title Sponsorship for the 2019 Road Race season. We don’t want to miss it because there is so much new and fun stuff happening!

I’ve learned a lot about working for our organization, both on and off the track. As a trustee my, focus has been to provide sustainability for AHRMA through increasing membership and breathing new life into ALL disciplines. The Board (including myself)– has worked diligently to bring MX Racing and Trials up an entire generation. We’ve brought on a great PV Trials Coordinator and added new classes for road racing. We have David Aldana bringing new interest to AHRMA dirt track, a growing trend across the country with younger riders. These changes have been implemented to make sure that we have bikes and riders who can show up and race at tracks, today, tomorrow and for the next generations to come.

One of my goals has been to break down barriers to race tracks, form new alliances and gain access to old and new facilities providing new options for all of us as an organization. Thanks to Fred Guidi– David Aldana and I were able to meet with Bristol Speedway and we are now under negotiations for an overall sponsor of AHRMA and create a new vintage festival to kick off 2020. As I believe that AHRMA’s strength lies in our diverse racing disciplines, we are working to add several venues that can accommodate multi-discipline events. We hope this will give us more access to media and promotions so that folks get excited about AHRMA and we can continue fulfill our mission of preserving the history of vintage racing machines.

I am proud to be part of the team shinning the spotlight on 350 GP next year with our new AHRMA Vintage Cup Road Racing Series, providing a means for increasing the participation and preservation of our classic race bikes. We also ran the First Annual Harley and Indian Shoot-Out at Barber this year, featuring Pre-1940 and Class C Hand shift machines.

I’m also proud to be part of the team that worked with Cindy Cowell significantly increasing sponsorship of the Road Racing program. We started with about $6,000 annually in sponsorship, and today that dollar amount is rapidly approaching six figures.

Thanks to Beno Rodi, I was able to get back on a VMX bike and race at Diamond Don’s this year. The pressure is on to get my VMX and PVMX bikes ready to race next year. For now, however, my duties as interim Road Race director will cut into my seat time. However my end goal is to be a multi-discipline leader of AHRMA.

I’m a firm believer in safety on and off the track, which is one of the major focuses in “OUR”™ business and in AHRMA racing. I help sponsor the Fast and Safe Road Racing School lead by Andrew Cowell, and strive to bring in new members. Training new racers to be safe is an important part of what AHRMA does. To that end, I’ve created a committee to review incidents on and off the track to deal with unsafe acts. We’ve also put together a program to help back-to-back racers at big events with “Fast Hot Tech” so that these racers can change equipment and make the next race grid on time. I continue to help with improving tech inspection and drive the proficiency of the inspectors.

I’ve worked hard to get AHRMA and its members where we are today and to be a successful member organization. I understand how all of this works, so let me continue to help you and AHRMA, VOTE for Luke Conner, Western Trustee

What AHRMA Means to Me:
A = AMERICAN – USA – HOME OF THE FREE TO RACE WITH FRIENDS
H = HISTORIC – HISTORIC BIKES AND RIDERS, LETS MARCH HISTORY FORWARD EACH AND EVERY DAY
R = RACING – COMPETING SWIFTLY AND SAFELY AGAINST EACH OTHER
M = MOTORCYCLE – TWO WHEELED VEHICLES and SIDECARS OLD AND NEW,
A = ASSOCIATION – FELLOWSHIP, PARTNERSHIP, AN ORGANIZATION WORKING TOGETHER

Believe me when I say I’m passionate about carrying out the vision of AHRMA, all disciplines.

Luke Conner   |   337-280-1066   |   luke.conner@cpl-systems.com