NBL National Number Ones By Year
Note: Dates reflect the year the racers *won* their plates, not the year they actually *raced* their No.1 plates. In other words Anthony Sewell won his No.1 plate in 1980 entitling him to race with #1 on his plate for the 1981 season. Stu Thomsen then won the No.1 plate in 1981 and raced with #1 on his plate during the 1982 racing season.
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Elite ("AA") Pro Nat.#1
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Pro Nat.#1 (Elite) Cruiser
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* "A" Pro/Super-EX Nat.#1
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"A" Pro Cruiser Nat.#1
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Pro Nat. #1 Masters
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Amateur & Elite Pro Nat.#1 Women
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Am Nat.#1 Girls Cruiser
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'*'Class Did Not Exist
**Until the 1980 season the #1 plate holder was considered #1 over all amateur or professional. The NBL did have a pro class in 1977, 1978 & 1979 but the title of National Number One Professional was not created until the 1980 season when the pros and the 16 Experts were separated and the pros earning separate points (in the form of purse money won) from the amateurs. Prior to 1980 the pros, due to the comparatively small number of them, competed with the 16 Experts and were able to earn amateur titles.
'***'Title Did Not Exist The class did exist under the title of "B" pro (which was created at the beginning of the 1981 season), but it was not until 1990 when the name was changed to "Superclass" and it became a pro/am division were the racers of that class given an opportunity to win a separate year end overall National #1 plate title separate from the pure Pro and the pure amateur classes. Amateurs competed for prizes and Pros could compete for a limited amount purses. Also beginning in the 1990 season "Pro Cruiser" was renamed "Super Cruiser" and "A" Pro "All Pro". In 1996 Super Cruiser was renamed "Pro Cruiser" once again and "All" Pro reverted to "Pro Class" This was to harmonize NBL nomenclature with UCI/IBMXF labels. Because of this the NBL would change the name of its pro Classes many times during the 1990s, They even began calling there senior pro class "AA" and the junior pros "A" just like the ABA beginning in the year 2000. The senior male pro class is now officially known as Elite Men and the junior men were "A" pro. The single level pro females are called Elite Women. Beginning with the 2006 season the NBL ceased offering an independent year end title for both the "A" pro class and the Pro Cruisers. In the case of Pro Cruiser it was an end of a long era with the Pro Cruiser No.1 title going back to 1981 when Brent Patterson first won the class.
'****'Title Discontinued
†(AM)=Amateur. From 1981 to 1984 the girl's National No.1 title was amateur. Between 1985 and 1987 a Women's pro class was established but that division was discontinued between 1988 and 1996 due to lack of participants on a consistent basis. Thus the National No.1 women titles were again amateur. From 1997 to the present the title designation is professional once again.
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