From 1987-2006, he won 125 national events and 14 world championships. My wife Laurie, shes stood by my side, and I really do love her and appreciate her. Ted was able to talk the track owner into selling Kettlersville Drag Strip, agreeing to make monthly payments. Theyre typically ones he bred and raised, and many are sired by his standout stallion, NRHA Four Million Dollar Sire Smart Like Juice. John Force, Shelly Anderson Payne, Ron Attebury, Sonny Messner, Carol Bunny Burkett, Graeme Cowin, Vinny and Richard Napp, Bob Frey, and Linda Jones will be the newest inductees into the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racings International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. From that day on, he spent the next 46 years calling drag races all over the United States and in Canada, Mexica, Puerto Rico, and England. The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing has announced its newest inductees for its 2023 Hall of Fame and boy is it a list! Share in the comments section below. He began his racing career in Super Stock class with a Dodge Dart using Petty Enterprises-built and tuned Chrysler power. When Garlits formed the Drag Racing Museum in 1976, the hunt for all the Swamp Rats began and Sonny was very instrumental in locating many of the hard to find parts necessary to restore the old cars. If you look back over the years, Charles has owned great horses, supported horse trainers, and has contributed greatly to the industry over the years, Hancock shared. This content is imported from YouTube. While in Top Fuel she won four national events and set a speed record in 1996 that stood for several years. He became a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee in 2017 with Journey. Ive got a lot of thingsmy family, that two-seat carthat more than take care of me from a satisfaction standpoint.. Bobs style got the attention of the NHRA, which offered him the job of being the NHRA announcer for all national events. At the tender age of 16, Meyer sought and got his Funny Car license and before long had won the most prestigious independent Funny Car race of the season, the 1972 Manufacturers Funny Car Championship at the famed Orange County International Raceway. Aside from his on-track racing legacy, Meyer will be best known and built the then cutting-edge Texas Motorplex in 1986 in the Dallas-area suburb of Ennis, Texas. However, he said, Im really proud of the class Im with.. Also in 1998, Rolie was inducted, along with the other members of Santana, into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. All of a sudden, he was building cars for the likes of Gary Beck, James Warren, Roger Coburn, and Dennis Baca. Sonny attends all of the California Drag Racing Nostalgia functions and keeps the Dragster in top running condition. Any other time, Messner could be seen almost every week at the races helping some team try to win the Top Eliminator prize. Joses substantial accomplishments as a showman, owner, and a breeder are easily found within the record books of NRHA. Later, Evernhams own team won 23 poles and 13 Cup races. Olvey and Trammell. The Class of 2022 induction will be in Daytona Beach on March 7 - 8, 2022. Linda did everything from running the pit gate to managing the concession stands, and handling racer complaints in the bottom of the tower where she managed prize money payout. He has soared in the standings and literally soared as high as the scoreboards at Gainesville, Fla., when his dragster snapped in two in a violent 2015 crash that cracked a couple of vertebrae. Motorsports Hall of Fame of America's Class of 2023 Features NASCAR, NHRA and More. nhra, ahra, nascar, and ataa. The two-seat program, surprisingly, has brought him new clients in the past few months. He died in his final design, Swee Pea II, in 1949. 4 driver on the ANDRA Top 10 drivers list. He built the Corvette SS and Corvette Grand Sport, and influential CERV I and II racing research vehicles. LaHaie, Vance & Hines inducted into Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Former NHRA Top Fuel world champ Dick LaHaie and motorcycle drag racing legends Terry Vance and Byron Hines were. The impact Charlie has had on the reining industry since the sports inception is almost immeasurable. Due to his knowledge of the sport, he opened his own business, Rocket Industries, a leader in the performance parts and equipment provider for drag racers in Australia. Among her major achievements during her career are:1986 IHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship, 1986 NHRA Keystone Nationals Top Alcohol national event win, and the 1986 NHRA Division 2 Top Alcohol Funny Car championship. In 154 NASCAR Cup Series starts from 1949-57, the Fort Payne, Ala. native scored 19 wins, 33 poles and 83 Top 10s. Hes also been successful in the show pen. Impressed with the facility, NHRA awarded Raceway Park its own yearly event in 1971 with the Summernationals. Dixon said the news of his selection hasnt taken over my life because we took off this (past) weekend. Then after the race, Linda would work with the track operator to financially settle up the event representing IHRA. In 2020 he was named the No. He built and raced his first car at the age of 20. Bradleys 1976 NHRA Winternationals Top Fuel win kickstarted Atteburys car building and the demand for an Attebury car was on. Born in England and raised in Royal Oak, Mich, Banks raced midgets and Indy cars. Messner, born in Los Angeles on, Aug. 1, 1941, as Herman R. Messner, would soon go by the nickname, Sonny. At the age of 15, he began his career in automobiles, working for Jr. Thompson, building racecars. Part of the reason we wanted to make the announcement at the Racing Goes Safer seminar is because several members of the Class of 2023 have played a major role in improving racing safety, said MSHFA president George Levy. The NHRA has lifted its indefinite suspension of Dixon, and he has renewed his Top Fuel license. In 1986, the NRHA created its Hall of Fame to recognize these individuals, their achievements, and their contributions to the industry. Thanks to the momentum he helped create, the 2021 NRHA Level 4 Open Futurity Champion will win an unprecedented $350,000. Many were saved from amputation. We are honored and thrilled to be included in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America class of 2023, Drs. The bug had bitten, and she dedicated herself to quarter-mile competition. Im very proud but still humbled and flattered by the nomination. All logos and images are reserved. I look forward to honoring all three of these individuals in December.. The one thing that always impressed me about him, though, was that you never heard a conversation about Doug that had a negative note about him.. Because of Duntov, Corvettes raced and won at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans, captured countless sports car and drag racing championships and set numerous speed records. I want to address the intrinsic. The team won the event, and this started a lifelong friendship, with Sonny traveling all around the West Coast and as far East as Florida to help the Garlits team win many races. Hed give us a bunch of cash, and tell us that when it ran out to let him know and hed give us more, the couple wrote. So as far back as I can remember, we were always going to the drag races. And he has been entangled with an antitrust lawsuit he filed in April 2019 against the NHRA. She continued to be a formative opponent throughout the years. Sonny has lived his entire adult life dedicated to the sport of Drag Racing. Roland Leong, one of the most successful NHRA team owners of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, will be enshrined into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in May at the Honolulu Country Club. Itd be strange to not have drag racing. Ive got it good.". When the Garlits team was in California, they could always be found at Messners home in Santa Ana, pitted on his front lawn and the street repairing the Swamp Rat for the next event. We try to go to Florida a couple of times a year, just to thaw out. In 1995 he won the Australian Top Fuel championship. By his mid-20s, he was at the top of the discipline, which involves competing against the clock on extended cross-country, primarily off-road courses. NRHA Official Commentators to Call the Action for the All American Quarter Horse Congress Reining Futurity Open Finals, Gunnatrashya Reaches $9 Million Dollar Sire Milestone, NRHA Celebrates CINCH & Classic Equine Silver Anniversary Partnerships, 2023 NRHyA Art & Photo Contest Deadline Approaching, Taylor Sheridan Named NCEA 2023 Ring of Honor Recipient. Do you have a favorite Larry Dixon moment? This attention to detail caught the attention of Shirley Muldowney who, in 1976, bought her first Attebury car. The Bill Hart Memorial Legend Award annually is given poshumously to Big Country sports figures from the past. To this day Charlie still actively competes and shows the horses he loves so dearly in the sport that he has given so much of himself to, noted NRHA Six Million Dollar Rider Shawn Flarida. In 1993, driving a Top Fuel dragster, Cowin was the first in Australia to run under five seconds with a pass of 4.895. As the Professional Race Pilots Associations first president, Chester fathered todays Formula 1. The man who popularized the Bonneville Salt Flats for racing set more speed records than anyone. Dixon overcame throat cancer in 2015 and has supported wife Ali since July through her own breast cancer ordeal. The Hall of Fame inductees are selected in a vote of 200 motorsports experts, including nearly 100 Hall of Fame members. Im thankful for all the opportunities I have.. She got her nickname Bunny from working briefly as a hostess in a Baltimore Playboy Club. As USAC Director of Competition, he helped introduce numerous safety advances, including roll bars, fuel cells, fire-retardant uniforms and driver restraint systems. He took a big chance on believing in me, and we quickly became lifelong friends. In 2021, she began cheering on her daughter, Madison, and son Toby Payne as they began their drag racing careers. He is constantly observing, analyzing, studying, and discussing the sport of reining both domestically and internationally, Bradley shared. 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Todd get tangled up in top-end crash in Winternationals qualifying, GETTRX joins Matt Hartford Racing for Pomona and beyond, New National Dragster issue packed with race coverage, racer features, and more, John Force Racing meets WWE Superstars during special crossover event, Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge returns this weekend in Pomona, Toyota launches Supra Showdown program for select NHRA events, Jasmine Salinas takes first Top Fuel passes in anticipation of 2024 debut, International Drag Racing Hall of Fame announces 2020 Inducteesand Honorees. Veteran NASCAR driver and current spotter Tim Fedewa joined this weeks episode of Fast Car 2 NASCAR with Mike Wallace to talk more about his current role. Author: Bob accepted the job and was with NHRA from 1985-2012. Next year's black-tie affair will be held March 6-7, 2023. Force drives the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and will kick off a new season on the drag strip at the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Florida this weekend. The former New Jersey modified driver innovated ways to manage teams and became one of the sports most prolific winners. By 1969, the Gas class was being supplanted by the new Funny Car class, and marked the end of Baloghs illustrious 10-year racing career. Nine notables from the world of motorsports, including three female honorees, were named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) as the 33rd class was unveiled on Saturday at Daytona. Tales of Carpenters love for horses abound. The track caught the attention of NHRA, which held the Springnationals at Raceway Park in 1968. Cowin is considered a pioneer in Australian drag racing. Frey would become known as the voice of drag racing and was the only announcer to work in all the drag racing sanctioning bodies: NHRA, AHRA and IHRA. Autoweek participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Shelly Anderson Payne In 2018, Carpenter began providing support to the NRHA Markel Futurity Sales, which flourished under his long-time relationships throughout the horse industry and vision for achieving big goals. We may earn money from the links on this page. Then Ted and Jim Ruth purchased the IHRA and of course Linda took over again as CFO and returned to her duties managing the tower crew at every event. This division is home to names like Eddie Hill, Raymond Beadle, Kenny Bernstein, Bill Meyer and many more. He and his brother campaigned a front engine Top Gas dragster for two years. While a lot of our newer members might not be as familiar with Charles Vaughan, if you look back over the years, he has continuously supported the industry in a variety of ways. But I dont want to be a guy that piecemeals something together and goes out there and thinks that Im doing something, because that isnt how I was raised, Dixon, whose father Larry Dixon Sr. also raced in Top Fuel, said. the New Hampshire Hockey Hall of Fame was born and the inaugural class of twelve inductees was . Burkett passed away in April 2020 after leaving a mark on the sport of drag racing. Beard has created an enviable record of accomplishments in the drag racing world as a crew chief, engine tuner and team manager. With his casual manner, he strived to not just inform but also entertain not only hardcore drag racing fans but those new to the sport. She stayed involved in the sport by becoming a crew chief as the family continued racing. I think Ive literally spent every year of my life at a dragstrip, at some point every year, Dixon said. His pride in his daughter, Mariana, was unrivaled. When the Asociacion Mexicana de Reining A.C. NRHA Affiliate hosted the clubs inaugural reining event in Mexico in 2003, Vazquez traveled from Illinois to attend. GAINESVILLE, Fla. On Thursday night, 16-time NHRA world champion John Force was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 class. Pat Garlits Memorial Award: Linda Jones. His biggest win to date came in 2009 at the National Reining Breeders Classic, when he rode Wound By Juice to win the Level 4 Championship, worth $37,783. Ted and Linda sold their four drag strips and move to Bristol, Tenn., to work with Larry Carrier and the newly formed IHRA. While he never logged world championship as a driver, Hill recorded 28 IHRA national event victories and 31 runner-up finishes and won the IHRA World Championship with Tim Bell driving a Ford Probe in 1995. The Patricia Garlits Memorial Award is given out annually to a woman who has contributed to the sport of drag racing through their professional activities- at the track-and/or their personal activities-off the track-which promotes the sport in a positive manner or to the success of the sport. Glidden stood beside her legendary husband, Pro Stock superstar and Hall of Fame driver Bob Glidden, throughout his checkered career of 85 NHRA class wins and 10 NHRA World Championships. And he has been sidelined for lack of sponsorship, even banned for awhile by the sanctioning body in a dispute about his exhibition dragster.