Latest news with #MotorsportsHallofFameofAmerica
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins dad, other giants in Daytona-based motorsports hall of fame
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, the most diverse hall in all of automation, honors giants within their respective fields each year during the induction ceremony in Daytona Beach. But Daytona being Daytona, and stock-car racing very much part of this hall's universe, the undeniable headliner of the 2026 class will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. Advertisement Junior Earnhardt is one of seven from the motorsports world who will join the eclectic roll call of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America will soon have two Dale Earnhardts as inductees. The other 2026 inductees: Steve Gibbs (drag racing), Pete Lyons (media), John Morton (sports cars), Kenny Roberts Jr. (motorcycles), Sammy Swindell (open-wheel) and Dave Villwock (powerboats). The 38th induction ceremony will take place March 9-10. Voting is tasked to more than 200 electors, with roughly half of them being past inductees. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s hall credentials Earnhardt, a 2022 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, is well known as a third-generation racer who won a pair of Xfinity Series championships and 26 Cup Series races, including two Daytona 500s (2004, 2014). He also won the Cup Series' Most Popular Driver award 15 straight years. Advertisement He's currently a championship team owner in the Xfinity Series with his JR Motorsports team, co-owned by his sister Kelly Earnhardt Miller. 'Once again, our voters have chosen a group of all-time motorsports greats,' said George Levy, president of the MSHFA, which moved to Daytona Beach from Michigan in 2016. 'The Class of 2026 is another revered and accomplished group of racers, and we can't wait to welcome them into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America next March.' Dale Jr. joins Amelia Earhart in this Hall of Fame The hall includes champions and stars from every form of racing (four wheels or two), including the familiar — A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Richard Petty, Don Garlits, etc. But it also includes those who earned their fame on the water or through the air. Advertisement And that aviation group doesn't just include those who raced airplanes, but served as groundbreakers of various sorts — Jimmie Doolittle, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes among them. NASCAR is well represented — Dale Jarrett was inducted this year. Every Cup Series champ no longer active is an inductee, including Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was part of the 2002 class with Gaston Chevrolet, Gordon Johncock and others. — Email Ken Willis at This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Dale Earnhardt Jr. now in same Hall of Fame as ... Amelia Earhart
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
10 of the Tallest NASCAR Cup Drivers of All Time; Hocevar, Cindric Make the List
Okay, since when did NASCAR become Land of the Giants? Carson Hocevar's second-place finish in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta put the spotlight on the Portage, Michigan native for his aggressive driving and thrilling near win. There were also some casual NASCAR fans asking, hey, how tall is that guy, anyway? Well, Hocevar is 6-foot-4 inches tall. And, yes, he's one of the tallest drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history. Truth be told, this looks to be the "Tall Driver Era" for NASCAR at the Cup Series level. Four current drivers on the Cup grid—Hocevar, Austin Cindric, Todd Gilliland and Zane Smith—check in at 6-2 or better.. That got us to thinking. Who were the tallest drivers in series history? Trying to come up with such a list of tallest drivers in Cup is a tall ask, but we tried. One thing learned from this exercise is that there's not on official database for finding driver heights. That said, stories in the archives want to hand all-time great Buddy Baker, at 6-foot-6, the title of tallest driver in Cup Series history. That was our starting point. As for the shortest Cup drivers of all-time, that's a quest for another day. The starting point for that list might just be Rex White. White was the 1960 Cup Series champion, and he's considered to be the shortest Cup champ in series record at 5-foot-4. Finding drivers as short, or shorter, than White would keep us busy for sure. And, before you ask, we can share that Danica Patrick is 5-foot-2 and one day might just head our list of shortest drivers in the Cup Series. Enough of this short story. Here's a list of 10 tallest drivers we've been able to come up with from NASCAR Cup history:At 6-foot-6, Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker was a giant in NASCAR Cup as a driver from 1959 to 1992. Baker won 19 Cup races, including the World 600 at Charlotte (1972, 1973) and the Southern 500 (1970). Believed to be the tallest NASCAR Cup driver in history, he was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020. Here, Baker is pictured alongside 5-foot-6 Mark Martin at Daytona in Waltrip started 784 races in the Cup Series from 1985 to 2017, and he came up big three times on the sport's biggest stage. Waltrip won just four times in his Cup career, but two of those wins came in the Daytona 500 (2001, 2003). He also won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in 2002. Here, the 6-foot-5 Waltrip towers over 5-foot-6 rival Greg Biffle in 2005. And in case you were wondering (we were), brother Darrell Waltrip is about Tiny Lund was, well, tiny. A 6-foot-5 mountain of a man who was reported to weigh as much as 270 pounds, Lund raced in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1955 until 1975. He won five races in 303 starts, including the 1963 Daytona 500. Lund died from injuries suffered in a crash in 1975 at the age of 45. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Sadler started 438 races and won three times in the Cup Series in a career that lasted from 1997 until 2017. He won twice for Yates Racing in 2004 and once for Wood Brothers Racing in 20o1. Sadler also sat tall. at 6-foot-4, in the saddle for 13 wins in the Xfinity Series and once in the Truck Series. Here, he's pictured with 5-foot-7 Jeff Gordon in 2004 at Hocevar, who entered his second full season in the Cup Series in 2025, towers above the competition and is the tallest driver in the current field. The 6-foot-4 Hocevar was the 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year. Here, he strolls down pit lane at Darlington with 5-foot-9 rival Ryan Cindric, listed at 6-foot-3, is hard to miss on the NASCAR Cup Series grid. He made is NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2021 and qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs in both 2022 and 2024. Here, he's pictured with rival Harrison Burton in 2024. Burton is listed at 6-1, and this photo makes us want to re-measure both of Gilliland has been a driver to look up to in the Cup Series since 2022. His best career finish was fourth at the 2002 Indy Grand Prix on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And, no, Todd didn't get his height from his dad. David Gilliland, who raced in Cup from 2006-2018, was listed at Petty—a.k.a. The King—stands tall in the NASCAR record books and on this list of tallest NASCAR racers. Petty amassed 200 wins, seven Cup Series championships and is a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame's inaugural class that came out in 2010. Here, he's pictured with another giant of NASCAR history, Junior Johnson, in 1966 at father, like son for Richard and Kyle Petty. Kyle, while he couldn't match his father on the race track (Kyle had eight wins in 829 Cup starts from 1979-2008), held his own in the height department. Both checked in at 6-foot-2, but Dad still held the upper hand in this 1984 photo from Daytona, thanks no doubt to his trademark cowboy Smith is one of four current drivers in the Cup Series checking in a 6-foot-2 or better (Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric, Todd Gilliland). Smith made his Cup Series debut in 2022, and the 2025 season is his second full season in the series. He's best known for his 2022 NASCAR Truck Series championship.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Pook named 2025 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Bob Russo Heritage Award winner
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach founder and visionary Chris Pook — who is largely regarded as the father of modern-day street course road racing in North America — will be doubly honored at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) 37th Induction Ceremony Presented by Toyota Racing Tuesday, March 11, at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort. Just weeks before the 50th running of America's premier street course race in Long Beach, Calif., Pook will be presented with the prestigious Bob Russo Heritage Award and serve as the Honorary Chair of the formal gala honoring MSHFA's Class of 2025 inductees. In addition to Pook's entry into MSHFA as just the 17th Heritage Award recipient in the Hall's nearly 40-year history, the complete Class of 2025 includes Skip Barber (Sports Cars), Miguel Duhamel (Motorcycles), Carl Haas (Open Wheel), Ed Iskenderian (At Large), Dale Jarrett (Stock Cars), Tony Schumacher (Drag Racing), Bill Stroppe (Off Road), Louie Unser (Historic) and William K. Vanderbilt (Historic). The MSHFA's highest honor next to induction, the Bob Russo Heritage Award is named in recognition of the longtime motorsports journalist and historian and is presented only by the recommendation of the MSHFA Board of Directors in recognition of the recipient's contributions to motorsports. Among the recent motorsports powerbrokers awarded the Bob Russo Heritage honor is Bass Pro Shops founder and CEO Johnny Morris, who was the first recipient of the award since 2017 at the 2023 MSHFA Induction Celebration. Last year, the first dual Heritage Award recipients in MSHFA history were presented with the honor, with Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, the owner and president of In-N-Out Burger, for her efforts to preserve the future of drag racing in the U.S., and Edsel B. Ford II, the 'Godfather' of Ford Motor Company's racing efforts and a prominent ambassador for the sport of auto racing globally. In addition to his Heritage Award honor, Ford was also the first to simultaneously serve last year as an Induction Ceremony Honorary Chair. Pook will capably fill those big shoes next month in Daytona as he accepts the Bob Russo Heritage Award in addition to presiding over the 37th Induction Ceremony presented by Toyota Racing as the 2025 Honorary Chair. 'It will be with great humility and considerable pride that I will accept this dual honor at the annual Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Induction Ceremony presented by Toyota Racing in March,' Pook said. 'Of particular significance is that it comes on the 50th Anniversary of the first Long Beach Grand Prix, which would not have occurred without the help and support of many people, particularly the late Dan Gurney who embraced and supported the concept from the very start! I would also like to thank MSHFA President George Levy and the entire Board of Directors at the Motorsports Hall of Fame for bestowing this great honor, not only to me, but also indirectly on the City of Long Beach and everyone on the GPALB, Inc. team, past and present, who have shepherded the event to where it is today. Thank you!' Inheriting his entrepreneurial spirit from his father, who ran a variety of small businesses, Pook was properly educated at a series of private schools in his native England before attending the Sorbonne University in Paris. He soon set his sights on America in 1963 when he was 22 and – after a day or two in New York City – decided the sunshine and business potential of Southern California better suited him. He settled in Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles, and started a successful travel agency. F1 hit the streets of Long Beach in 1976. Rainer Schlegelmilch/Motorsport Images Days after watching the Monaco Grand Prix on TV in 1973, Pook was working in his office listening to a mid-week radio broadcast of that May's rain-delayed Indianapolis 500 and had the idea of a Monaco-style street race in Long Beach. While ideally located between Los Angeles and Orange County in the greater LA region, Long Beach lacked the sunny beach glamour of its neighbors and had instead developed into more of a seaside port town known more for its bars and adult movie theaters. Unwavering in his focus and even relentless when on a mission, Pook soon convinced both the city of Long Beach and Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone a major open-wheel street race would not only work in Long Beach but could transform the city into a Southern California destination similar in appeal to the region's surrounding locales. With the powerful support of Orange County-based racing legend Gurney (MSHFA Class of 1991) and other racing greats, Pook was granted a 'proving race' that took place in September of 1975 for Formula 5000 cars and was won by Brian Redman (MSFHA Class of 2002). Redman's winning Lola T332 was owned by the late Carl Haas who joins Pook as one of 2025's MSHFA honorees as the Open Wheel category inductee. The success of the 1975 race opened the door to the first Formula 1 event just over six months later in April of 1976. A victory by American Mario Andretti (MSHFA Class of 1990) in the 1977 race provided a major buzz in mainstream U.S. news, and around the world, and the Grand Prix of Long Beach was off and running. Formula 1 headlined at Long Beach for nine years before rising costs compelled Pook to switch to CART and Indy cars in 1984, and the race continued to grow. Toyota became the race's title sponsor in 1981 and over the following 38 years was Pook's most powerful business partner. In that time, Pook's 'crazy idea' to go racing in the streets became a model copied across North America for bringing racing to the people and using it to rebuild flagging urban communities. Today celebrating its 50th anniversary, the now-Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach stands as IndyCar's second biggest event outside of the Indianapolis 500 and is recognized throughout the world. The 37th MSHFA Induction Celebration Presented by Toyota Racing takes place March 10 – 11 at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort. The black-tie gala is the crowning event of this year's two-day Induction Celebration. For the complete two-day schedule, additional information and to purchase tickets, visit the MSHFA at or contact MSHFA president Levy at (248) 895-1704 or glevy@ Story originally appeared on Racer
