International Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction One to Remember

This year’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony promises to be one to remember. Set to take place on the 24th of April 2008, the list of impressive achievements starts with those introducing the inductees.

The A-list of racing celebrities starts with Johnny Rutherford, the legendary three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 who also enjoyed 27 career victories. He will be joined by David Pearson who won the Cup Series championship on three occasions in only four years. By the end of his career he had 105 official Cup victories under his belt as well as a whopping 301 top-five finishes. Ned Jarrett will also be introducing an inductee. Besides winning the NASCAR Cup Series title in both 1961 and 1965, Jarrett is tied with Junior Johnson at 10th place on the all-time list with 50 Cup victories under his belt. What makes Jarrett’s accomplishments even more remarkable, was that he retired at just 34 years of age at the pinnacle of his success – the only NASCAR driver to ever do so. He was inducted into the Hall himself in 1991.

While he may not be a racing great, he is a great name in the racing world – H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s President and General Manager, will also enjoy the privilege of introducing an inductee. Wheeler is known for being one of the top promoters in the field and was the man responsible for enabling LMS to hold night races as well as being one of the first tracks to offer all the thrills and frills that most of us now consider to come standard with any good racing track. Other announcers include Jim Hunter – who served as the Public Relations Director and the Vice President of Corporate Communications for NASCAR at different times in his 40-year career in the industry – and Buddy Martin, who became a racing legend whose backing of Ronnie Sox enabled the pair to make it to the top of the Drag racing profession.

As if that wasn’t enough, the inductees for this year are: Art Arfons (land-speed record breaker), Robert ‘Red’ Byron (NASCAR champion), Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins (a drag-racing genius), Frank Kurtis (leading car fabricator), Everett “Cotton” Owens (NASCAR owner and driver) and Ralph Seagraves (Winston promoter).

Certainly any fan of the racing industry would consider it a rare privilege to be under the same roof as all these racing greats. Any fans of the industry simply have to do their utmost to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. So book your tickets now and start making your plans to attend this years Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. You won’t regret it!