WEST COAST STOCK CAR/MOTORSPORTS HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS FOR CLASS OF 2021
(Nov. 10, 2020) – Richie Clyne, builder of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is among 20 nominees for 2021 induction into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Clyne appears on the ballot for the first time, along with 13-time Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) champion Brent Kaeding; Carl Trimmer, the winningest driver from the state of Arizona; Northern California late model champion Jimmy Walker; Sean Woodside, the 1999 NASCAR West Series champion; and the late Ronald (Ron) Zajicek, owner of Ron’s Rear Ends.
Nominated again after appearing on previous ballots are Dave Byrd, Ernie Cope, Mike David, Garrett Evans, Dave Fuge, Tom Gloy, Lance Hooper, Tommy Kendall, Danny Ongais, Greg Pickett and George Snider. Five inductees will be named in March, following two rounds of voting by organization’s Board of Directors. First-round voting begins this week.
The organization also will induct its fourth Heritage class of five individuals whose careers began prior to 1970. The Heritage inductees will be named in spring 2021.
Combined 2020-21 induction ceremonies will be held Saturday, June 5, 2021 at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif. during the NASCAR Cup Series and ARCA Menard Series West weekend at nearby Sonoma Raceway. The 2020 event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The unique, double induction ceremony marks the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame’s 20th anniversary,” said West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame Chairman and CEO Ken Clapp. “The 2020 class of inductees contains some amazing star power from just about every corner of the motorsports universe. Our 2021 list of nominees is equally spectacular. Selecting just five inductees will be extremely difficult. I can’t wait to see how the voting turns out.”
The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame annually nominates for induction worthy individuals who competed in traditional stock car racing as well as other racing vehicles primarily on road courses under international and national sanction by the FIA, International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), GRAND-AM and the Sports Car Club of America. The Hall also is open to winners and champions of other forms of racing, as determined by the Hall’s nominating committee.
To obtain media credentials for coverage of the 20th West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame awards, please contact Owen A. Kearns at 661-342-2983. To obtain details about table sponsorship for the 2020-21 awards dinner, please contact Ken Clapp at ckcdeee@gmail.com.
About the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame:
The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame was conceived in 2001 as a means of recognizing significant contributors and contributions to the sport of stock car racing. The mission of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame is founded to preserve history and heritage of the important role west coast stock car competitors have played in the sport’s development and continuation and to recognize, through annual enshrinement, of outstanding individuals and groups within the sport such as, but not limited to, designers, engineers, mechanics, drivers, race track owners, promoters, publicists and members of the motorsports media.
For more information on the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame visit: www.WestCoastStockCarHallofFame.com
Drivers
Ken Boyd. Ken Boyd was California’s pre-eminent pavement Late Model car racer of the 1980s and 1990s, winning five championships at Stockton (Calif.) 99 Speedway. Boyd was the first to win four consecutive championships (1988-91) at the quarter-mile track, where he recorded 71 victories and 84 fast times during his career. His first title came in 1977 at Madera (Calif.) Speedway. The Ceres, Calif. resident finished fourth in the 1991 Whelen All-American Pacific Coast Region, winning 14 times. He also won twice in the NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Series. Boyd, age 66, fielded entries for a number of prominent competitors, including West Coast Stock Car Hall of Famers Ivan Baldwin, Jeff Gordon and Ernie Irvan. Baldwin was the biggest winner in Boyd equipment, posting 15 of 29 total victories. * Previous nominee
Dave Byrd. Dave Byrd is one of the most versatile west coast stock car drivers of his era, having won six championships on dirt and six championships on pavement at seven different tracks. In 1978, he was offered, but turned down, the Rod Osterlund-owned NASCAR premier series car that ultimately went to Dale Earnhardt. Byrd’s crowning achievement was winning the 1983 NASCAR Pacific Coast Region championship, driving a late model stock car on several northern California dirt tracks. The Los Gatos, Calif. resident also raced for many years in the NASCAR Southwest Series, posting two top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. His last big victory was in 2002 when he won the Duel in Desert at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is by far the biggest IMCA race anywhere in the western United States. Sixteen states were represented with 144 drivers in attendance. Byrd, 62, has at least 140 feature race victories over a career spanning five decades – 1976 through 2015. * Previous nominee
Mike David. Mike David of Modesto, Calif. is the 2007 ARCA Menards Series West champion. David, 53, competed in 91 ARCA Menards Series West events between 2001 and 2012, most of them behind the wheel of the Bennett Wineries Ford owned by 2013 West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame inductee Randy Lynch. Three of his seven victories – including David’s first, in 2004 – came at the Stockton 99 Speedway, a quarter-mile paved oval in California’s Central Valley. David, 52, previously captured a Stockton late model title. His final series victory came at Phoenix Raceway in 2008 driving Lynch’s Toyota. David’s ARCA Menards Series West line shows 43 top-five and 66 top-10 finishes and three poles. He finished third in the 2006 Toyota All-Star Showdown at the Irwindale Events Center and also competed in the NASCAR Elite Southwest Series with a best result of second at Madera (Calif.) Speedway. *Previous nominee
Garrett Evans. Three-time NASCAR Elite Series Northwest Tour champion (1986, 89, 94). He also is the all-time series victory leader (50 and pole winner (55). Evans won the late model series’ first event in 1985 at Evergreen Speedway in Washington. Evans won twice in the NASCAR Elite Series Southwest Tour. The Wenatchee, Wash. resident competed in NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now ARCA Menards Series West) posting five top-five finishes, which included a second-place performance in 1995 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He ranked 10th in 1995 final points standings. Evans also briefly appeared in the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series. The 64-year-old Evans continues to operate Wenatchee Valley (Wash.) Raceway. *Previous nominee
Tom Gloy. Tom Gloy of Lafayette, Calif. was among the most successful Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am Series competitors during the 1980s. He won the 1984 championship driving a Mercury Capri for Roush Racing. Gloy competed in 17 races that year, winning three and finishing among the top five in 12 others. He was the 1979 Formula Atlantic champion and competed in one Indianapolis 500. Gloy also was chosen to compete in the International Race of Champions. Gloy, 73, entered Ford F150s in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series for three seasons. His drivers collected three top-five finishes including a second by Tony Roper at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. *Previous nominee
Lance Hooper. Lance Hooper is a member of the “Palmdale Posse,” a group of NASCAR racers that raced out of Palmdale, Calif. headed by West Coast Stock Car Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. The 53-year-old Hooper, like Hornaday, is a second-generation competitor whose family raced stock cars throughout Southern California and called Saugus (Calif.) Speedway home. Driving for West Coast Stock Car Hall of Famer Ray Claridge, Hooper won championships in consecutive seasons – NASCAR Elite Southwest Series in 1995 and the ARCA Menards Series West in 1996. Hooper won four times in West; seven times in the late model Southwest Series. Later, Hooper competed in all three NASCAR national series, finishing 10th in a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series event at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway. Hooper transitioned to a crew chief’s role with nearly 100 events over seven seasons. He posted top-10 finishes with Clay Rogers and Jeff Green and spent a full season at ThorSport Racing with Kerry Earnhardt. *Previous nominee
Tony Hunt. Tony Hunt is a multiple U.S. Auto Club champion – with nine sprint car titles, 50 main event wins and 50 pole positions. The Rancho Cordova, Calif. competitor won his first USAC championship in the 1992 Formula Russell Series, as well as several kart titles. Hunt, 48, competed in the ARCA Menards Series West in 1993 and 2000, posting two top-10 finishes including a sixth at Shasta (Calif.) Speedway. He spotted for a number of NASCAR premier series drivers – John Andretti, Stevie Reeves, Ken Schrader and Mike Wallace to name a few. Hunt has instructed at the Jim Russell Racing School, Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Driver School and the Richard Petty Racing Experience. He is an automotive brand ambassador and driving instructor and a stunt driver and most recently was the stunt driving double for Christian Bale’s character Ken Miles in the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari. *Previous nominee
Brent Kaeding. For three decades – 1980s, 90s and 00 — second generation competitor Brent Kaeding was virtually unbeatable in open wheel racing in California. The Campbell, Calif. resident is a 13-time Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) sprint car champion – eight of the titles in consecutive seasons. Kaeding won 11 King of California championships and is a 21-race winner at fabled Calistoga (Calif.) Speedway. He is a nine-time World of Outlaws winner, and three-time Dirt Cup winner. Kaeding also won the USAC Turkey Night midget race at Ascot Park in Southern California. Kaeding was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2008. Kaeding finished 29th in his only NASCAR Cup Series start at Phoenix Raceway and also competed in a Winston West Series (now ARCA Menards Series West) event at Sonoma Raceway. He is on the ballot a year after his father, Howard Kaeding, was named a Heritage inductee into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Tommy Kendall. Tommy Kendall, a Santa Monica native, dominated the SCCA Trans-Am Series in the 1990s, capturing four driving titles in the first eight years of the decade (1990, 1995-96-97). From 1995 to 1997, while piloting Jack Roush-owned Ford Mustangs, Kendall claimed 16 wins and 27 poles in 38 Trans-Am races. In 1997, on his way to his fourth and final Trans-Am title, Kendall scored wins in the first 11 of 13 races that season. Kendall also made 14 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts, mostly on road courses with a best finish of eighth at Watkins Glen International and made two appearances in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Kendall, 64, also is a television broadcaster. *Previous nominee
Danny Ongais. The Kahului, Hawaii-born Danny Ongais excelled professionally in a variety of motorsport disciplines. As a drag racer, Ongais won the 1969 National Hot Rod Association U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis driving a Funny Car for West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame member Mickey Thompson. Switching from straight-line competition, he raced U.S. Auto Club championship cars, winning six times in 1977-78 for Ted Fields’ Interscope Racing. His biggest victory came in the California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Ongais posted a trio of top-10 finishes in the Indianapolis 500 with a best posting of fourth in 1979. His four Formula One starts included a seventh in the 1977 Canadian Grand Prix. Ongais was selected to the International Race of Champions (IROC) in six seasons, with a top finish of fourth in 1984 at Michigan Speedway. He also competed in the 24 Hours of LeMans as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona. Now 78, he was elected to the Motorsports of America Hall of Fame in 2000. *Previous nominee
Greg Pickett. Greg Pickett of Alamo, Calif. is the only driver to have won SCCA Trans-Am races in four decades of competition. The 73-year-old Pickett won the 1978 T-A II championship posting four victories in a Chevrolet Corvette. In 1984, Pickett gave Jack Roush his first T-A victory at Sonoma Raceway. Pickett counts a pair of 12 Hours of Sebring class victories (1987, 2010). As an owner in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Pickett’s Muscle Milk stable counted 21 victories and two team and driver championships. He also competed in a pair of NASCAR Elite Series Southwest Series events finishing sixth at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Sonoma Raceway. *Previous nominee
Nick Rescino. One of the all-time greats to race in California, Nick Rescino won a total of six San Jose Speedway Super Modified championships, at both the paved track and the fairgrounds. Nick won the 1972 and 1975 titles on the high banks of San Jose Speedway and the 1980, 1981, 1983 and 1984 championships at the Santa Clara County fairgrounds. His 86 main event wins rank him near the top on that list. Rescino won the prestigious Johnny Key Classic six times, in 1972, 1974-75, 1982, 1984 and 1986. Nick is the only driver in history to win a World of Outlaws A-Feature driving a super modified, at Sacramento, Calif.’s West Capital Raceway June 8, 1979. Rescino set more than 200 career fastest qualifying times at 17 different tracks. The San Francisco competitor was the Motor Sports Press Association’s 1979 Oval Track Driver of the Year. He is a member of the MSPA’s Hall of Fame as well as the San Jose Speedway Hall of Fame. * Previous nominee
George Snider. Born in Fresno, Calif. but living for most of his career in Bakersfield, George Snider, 80, began drag racing at the age of 15 and soon began competing in jalopies, hard tops and supermodifieds. He was one of the first to mount a wing on his No. 72 coupe, winning races at Kearney Bowl in Fresno and on other central California tracks. Snider won the 1964 Johnny Key Classic at the old San Jose Speedway. He won the 1971 U.S. Auto Club Silver Crown championship and was the organization’s final Gold Crown champion in 1981-82. Snider made 22 Indianapolis 500 starts – most by a non-winner – many of them as a teammate to A.J. Foyt. His best finish was eighth, in 1975 and 1978. Snider also competed in USAC stock cars. He is a member of the Bob Elias Sports Hall of Fame in Bakersfield. *Previous nominee
Carl Trimmer. No competitor from Arizona has won more frequently than Carl Trimmer. The Tucson, Ariz. native captured more than 800 main event wins over a 50-year career, racing stock cars on both pavement and dirt surfaces. Trimmer, now 81, was the dominant driver during the Tucson Speedway’s previous NASCAR Whelen All-American Series era. He won a total of 10 NASCAR late model titles. Two were on the old dirt track, from 1987-88. From 1993-99 he reeled off seven consecutive pavement late model championship and added an eighth in 2001. He also won the NASCAR regional title in 1987 and – at age 57 – in 1996 and ranked No. 3 in 1996 final national standings. The cement truck driver also was his own crew chief.
Jimmy Walker. From the late 1960s forward, Jimmy Walker’s No. 48 Walker Blue late model was the car to beat on short tracks up and down the West Coast. Walker, a dairyman racing out of tiny Ferndale, Calif. on the state’s north coast, won multiple super stock championships at Redwood Acres Raceway in nearby Eureka including back-to-back-to-back titles in 1970-72. He became a well-known traveler, winning on both dirt and paved surfaces. Although well-known in short track racing, Walker was tabbed a “dark horse” when the No. 48 showed up at Riverside International Raceway in January 1976 and went to victory lane in the NASCAR Permatex 200. Drivers in the field included NASCAR Cup Series champion Bobby Allison and West Coast Stock Car Hall of Famers Hershel McGriff and Ivan Baldwin. He competed in the 1976 Permatex 300 at Daytona International Speedway. Walker’s notable open competition victories included the Rose Classic at Roseville, Calif. and NorCal 150 at Shasta Speedway. The 81-year-old Walker’s lone NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now ARCA Menards Series West) was scored in 1977.
Sean Woodside. The Saugus, Calif. competitor won the 1999 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now ARCA Menards Series West) championship, following two seasons of second-place points finishes. Woodside drove for two West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame inductees – Bill McAnally in his championship season and Ray Claridge. He won seven times – five in Claridge’s Pontiacs and two as a McAnally Chevrolet driver. Three quarters of Woodside’s 74 series starts resulted in top-10 finishes (49). Woodside also won 12 poles. The competitor also raced in the NASCAR Elite Series Southwest Tour, winning twice and also pursued limited schedules in NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series. Woodside is 50 years old.
Team Owner/Crew Chiefs
Ernie Cope. Ernie Cope, 51, is a native of Spanaway, Wash. whose father and uncle built professional dragster engines. His cousin, Derrike, is a Daytona 500 winner and West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame inductee. Cope began racing in the NASCAR Northwest Series at the age of 19, posting 24 top-five finishes in the late model stock car touring series. He finished third in the championship in 1994 and moved to the ARCA Menards Series West the following year, scoring two victories in Lew Miller’s Chevrolet en route to a second-place points finish. Cope swapped driving gloves for a crew chief’s headset, competing in more than 400 national series races. He won nine times in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series – six of them with Kevin Harvick. Cope’s NASCAR Xfinity Series record shows 285 races, 16 poles, 15 wins, 106 top fives and 170 top 10s. His drivers finished runnerup in two seasons – Elliott Sadler in 2011 and Chase Elliott in 2015. Cope currently is competition director at JTG Daugherty Racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. *Previous nominee
Dave Fuge. Dave Fuge became the first independent owner/crew chief to win a Gander Outdoors Truck Series title in 1992 with current West Coast Stock Car Hall of fame nominee Mike Bliss. He followed with another owner title in 1994 with Travis Kvapil. The Washington native has excelled as race car builder, team owner and crew chief. Fuge has worked with a virtual Who’s Who of drivers including West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame members Derrike Cope, Ron Eaton, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Bill Schmitt. Fuge won championships in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Mike Bliss (1992) and Travis Kvapil (1994) and 11 races overall. The late Bobby Hamilton won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie of the year title driving for Tri-Star Motorsports which Fuge co-owned with Mark Smith and George Bradshaw. *Previous nominee
Promoters/Industry
Richie Clyne. Classic car collector Richie Clyne had a vision of creating a world-class racing facility in Las Vegas. Where others dreamed and failed, Clyne succeeded with the opening in 1996 of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Talented, energetic and artistic describes Clyne, a transplanted New Yorker who currently splits his time between Las Vegas and New Hampshire. Clyne sold the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 1998 to Speedway Motorsports but continues to be a familiar face during NASCAR Cup Series and other LVMS events. Clyne operates Clyne’s Classic Cars, a seller of antique and classic automobiles and fire trucks. He previously co-owned, with Don Williams, the Auto Collection at the now defunct Imperial Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. Clyne is 66 years old.
Ron Zajicek. The West Coast’s premier builder of rear end assemblies for stock cars, Zajicek and Ron’s Rear Ends was a staple at Saugus Speedway in Southern California from the 1960s until the track’s closure in 1995. An estimated 95 percent of the field at Irwindale Speedway ran his rear ends by 2015. Zajicek was a New York native, later moving to the San Fernando Valley. He worked for Frank Deiny’s Speedway Engineering before opening his own business, Ron’s Rear Ends. Zajicek was gear specialist for West Coast Stock Car/Motorsport Hall of Famer Mike Skinner, winner of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Suzuka Japan. West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brendan Gaughan, Butch Gilliland and other prominent west coast drivers won races and championships with Ron’s Rear Ends equipment. Zajicek passed in March 2016 at the age of 62.
