BYRD, CLYNE, GLOY, KENDALL, SNIDER ELECTED TO WEST COAST HALL OF FAME

(March 16, 2021 from Owen Kearns) – Las Vegas Motor Speedway builder Richie Clyne heads a five-member class slated for induction into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame in June 2021.

Clyne’s fellow enshrinees – chosen via two rounds of voting by the Hall’s board of directors – are Dave Byrd, NASCAR Pacific Coast Region and touring series champion; Tom Gloy, Sports Car Club of America Trans Am champion and NASCAR national series team owner; Tommy Kendall, International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Trans Am champion; and George Snider, 22-time Indianapolis 500 starter and United State Auto Club Gold and Silver Crown champion.

The Class of 2021 – the hall’s 18th – will be inducted Saturday, June 5, during the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame’s special, double induction ceremonies, presented by Gateway Motorsports Park, at the Meritage Resort & Spa in Napa, Calif. The event is companion to the NASCAR Cup Series and ARCA Menards Series West weekend at nearby Sonoma Raceway.

This year’s gala, marking the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame’s 20th anniversary, will enshrine two voted classes of members. Induction of the 2020 Class comprised of Mike Bliss, Craig Keough, Rick Mears, Jim Pettit II and Jerry Pitts was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organization also will induct its third and fourth Heritage classes of 10 individuals whose careers largely ended prior to 1970. The 2020 inductees previously announced are Harry Belletto, Howard Kaeding, Ken Miles, Jim Pettit Sr. and Billy Wilkerson. The 2021 Heritage inductees will be named in April.

Highlights of the induction ceremonies are slated to be broadcast later in the summer on MAVTV.

“For 20 years I have been saying, ‘how can we have such an impressive group of inductees that are so deserving as we have this year?’” said Ken Clapp, chairman and CEO of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame. “Well, we have done it again, bigger and better than ever and I am enormously proud to call them my friends, past and present.

“As we honor these famed motorsports icons, I also want to thank those that have helped the Hall in taking our charitable gifting, over five years, up to $600,000. We expect the figure to rise to a million dollars, hopefully, within the next couple of years.”

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/motorsports competition. 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 and motorsports figures 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.

The Hall is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, dedicated to supporting a variety of organizations and groups from coast to coast. During its tenure, the Hall has raised more than a half-million dollars for youth, health and safety, hospitals, animal rescue and other charitable causes.

For additional information about the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame and its charities, please visit WestCoastStockCarHallofFame.com.