From Doc Lehman
Riverside, OH --- The ‘Class of 2004’ for the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame (NDLMHOF) has been announced. “We’re thrilled with the individuals that was elected to the Class of 2004 by our 52-member voting board of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame,” stated Bill Holder, Executive Director of the NDLMHOF. “The enthusiasm for the NDLMHOF has been steadily growing the past couple years and this past August we had an extremely large crowd in attendance for the induction ceremony. We can only see this getting bigger and better.”
Earning top votes in the ‘Retired Driver Category’ were Rodney Franklin, Floyd Gilbert and the late Butch Hartman. Franklin, the all-time winningest dirt Late Model driver at Hagerstown Speedway, is also a former regular on the NDRA and STARS circuits. Franklin also holds the distinction of winning the first-ever STARS sanctioned race. Gilbert is a long-time Kentucky star driver with numerous track championships and wins and is the 1973 WORLD 100 winner. The late Butch Hartman was a former multi-titled USAC Stock Car champion in the early 1970’s and scored hundreds of feature wins and track titles during his long career.
In the ‘Lifetime Achievement Category’ longtime successful car builder Larry Shaw made the grade due to his dedication to the sport and his innovative work in chassis design his impact on the sport since 1979 while a tie in voting found famed sponsor Bob Miller getting the nod for his many years of financial generosity to many race teams and racetracks and Bob Newton making the final cut due to his long and successful career as the man behind Hoosier Racing Tires.
In the ‘Masters I Category’ for drivers with 30 or more years of experience Ed Dixon and Ed Sanger pulled in the most votes. Dixon is a former three time UMP National Champion with nearly 600 feature wins while Sanger is a legendary Iowa driver who has nearly 40 years experience and was the 1974 WORLD 100 winner.
In the new ‘Masters II Category’ for drivers with a minimum of 25 years of racing experience Chub Frank and Ronnie Johnson were voted in. Frank is a recent 4-time Renegade Dirt Car Racing Series champion and former ‘XDCS Shoot-Out’ winner while Johnson is a former two-time ‘Dirt Track World Championship’ winner.
In the annual write-in voting for the Sportsman Award former Renegade Dirt Car Series champion Mike Balzano captured the most votes due to his assistance, helpfulness and generosity to competing raceteams.
The NDLMHOF Induction Ceremony for the Class of 2004 will be held in August 2004 at Florence Speedway near Union, KY during the annual ‘North-South 100’ weekend racing festivities.
The NDLMHOF Executive Board consists of Holder, Susan Bauer Lee, Tim Lee, Gerald Newton, Jerry King, Ozzie Altman, Doc Lehman, Bret Emrick, James Essex, Rick Eshelman and Tony Hammett.
Official sponsors signed to the NDLMHOF for 2003 include Arizona Sport Shirts, Hoosier Tire Midwest, Dirt America Online, DIRT LATE MODEL Magazine, CJ Rayburn Race Cars, Dirt America Online, Fisher Race Engines, Florence Speedway, Dirt-Racers, OnTheEdge Graphics, Mastersbilt Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, J&J Steel, Lehman Motorsports Services and Dirtwearmall.com. Parties interested in becoming an official sponsor of the NDLMHOF should contact Holder.
For more information on the NDLMHOF contact Holder at: 937-233-0924 or via email at: BILLHOLDER@webtv.net
<b>NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME
CLASS OF 2004</b>
RETIRED DRIVER CATEGORY
Rodney Franklin
Floyd Gilbert
Butch Hartman
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORY
Bob Miller
Bob Newton
Larry Shaw
MASTERS I (30 YEARS) CATEGORY
Ed Dixon
Ed Sanger
MASTERS II (25 YEARS) CATEGORY
Chub Frank
Ronnie Johnson
SPORTSMAN AWARD:
Mike Balzano
<b>PREVIOUS CLASSES OF THE NDLMHOF:
NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME
CLASS OF 2003</b>
RETIRED DRIVER CATEGORY:
Leon Archer
Ray Godsey
Bud Lunsford
Russ Petro
MASTERS CATEGORY
Delmas Conley
Jim Curry
John Mason
Bob Pierce
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORY:
J W Hunt
Rick Gross
Johnny Johnson
Carl Short
SPORTSMAN AWARD
Bill Frye
<b>NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME
CLASS OF 2002</b>
ACTIVE DRIVER CATEGORY:
1. Scott Bloomquist
2. Jerry Inmon
3. Donnie Moran
4. Billy Moyer, Jr
RETIRED DRIVERS CATEGORY:
1. Red Farmer
2. Tom Helfrich
3. Pat Patrick
4. Bob Wearing, Sr
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORY:
Ray Callahan
Bob Memmer
BJ Parker
Barry Wright
2002 SPORTSMAN AWARD:
Steve Francis
<b>INAUGURAL NDLMHOF INDUCTEES Class of 2001 </b>
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Category:
Earl Baltes
Robert Smalley
Jimmy Mosteller
CJ Rayburn
Ed Howe
ACTIVE DRIVERS Category:
Freddy Smith
Mike Duvall
Buck Simmons
Jeff Purvis
Rodney Combs
RETIRED DRIVER Category:
Jack Boggs
Jim Dunn
Larry Moore
Larry Phillips
Charlie Swartz
Riverside, OH --- The ‘Class of 2004’ for the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame (NDLMHOF) has been announced. “We’re thrilled with the individuals that was elected to the Class of 2004 by our 52-member voting board of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame,” stated Bill Holder, Executive Director of the NDLMHOF. “The enthusiasm for the NDLMHOF has been steadily growing the past couple years and this past August we had an extremely large crowd in attendance for the induction ceremony. We can only see this getting bigger and better.”
Earning top votes in the ‘Retired Driver Category’ were Rodney Franklin, Floyd Gilbert and the late Butch Hartman. Franklin, the all-time winningest dirt Late Model driver at Hagerstown Speedway, is also a former regular on the NDRA and STARS circuits. Franklin also holds the distinction of winning the first-ever STARS sanctioned race. Gilbert is a long-time Kentucky star driver with numerous track championships and wins and is the 1973 WORLD 100 winner. The late Butch Hartman was a former multi-titled USAC Stock Car champion in the early 1970’s and scored hundreds of feature wins and track titles during his long career.
In the ‘Lifetime Achievement Category’ longtime successful car builder Larry Shaw made the grade due to his dedication to the sport and his innovative work in chassis design his impact on the sport since 1979 while a tie in voting found famed sponsor Bob Miller getting the nod for his many years of financial generosity to many race teams and racetracks and Bob Newton making the final cut due to his long and successful career as the man behind Hoosier Racing Tires.
In the ‘Masters I Category’ for drivers with 30 or more years of experience Ed Dixon and Ed Sanger pulled in the most votes. Dixon is a former three time UMP National Champion with nearly 600 feature wins while Sanger is a legendary Iowa driver who has nearly 40 years experience and was the 1974 WORLD 100 winner.
In the new ‘Masters II Category’ for drivers with a minimum of 25 years of racing experience Chub Frank and Ronnie Johnson were voted in. Frank is a recent 4-time Renegade Dirt Car Racing Series champion and former ‘XDCS Shoot-Out’ winner while Johnson is a former two-time ‘Dirt Track World Championship’ winner.
In the annual write-in voting for the Sportsman Award former Renegade Dirt Car Series champion Mike Balzano captured the most votes due to his assistance, helpfulness and generosity to competing raceteams.
The NDLMHOF Induction Ceremony for the Class of 2004 will be held in August 2004 at Florence Speedway near Union, KY during the annual ‘North-South 100’ weekend racing festivities.
The NDLMHOF Executive Board consists of Holder, Susan Bauer Lee, Tim Lee, Gerald Newton, Jerry King, Ozzie Altman, Doc Lehman, Bret Emrick, James Essex, Rick Eshelman and Tony Hammett.
Official sponsors signed to the NDLMHOF for 2003 include Arizona Sport Shirts, Hoosier Tire Midwest, Dirt America Online, DIRT LATE MODEL Magazine, CJ Rayburn Race Cars, Dirt America Online, Fisher Race Engines, Florence Speedway, Dirt-Racers, OnTheEdge Graphics, Mastersbilt Race Cars, Rocket Chassis, GRT Race Cars, J&J Steel, Lehman Motorsports Services and Dirtwearmall.com. Parties interested in becoming an official sponsor of the NDLMHOF should contact Holder.
For more information on the NDLMHOF contact Holder at: 937-233-0924 or via email at: BILLHOLDER@webtv.net
<b>NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME
CLASS OF 2004</b>
RETIRED DRIVER CATEGORY
Rodney Franklin
Floyd Gilbert
Butch Hartman
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORY
Bob Miller
Bob Newton
Larry Shaw
MASTERS I (30 YEARS) CATEGORY
Ed Dixon
Ed Sanger
MASTERS II (25 YEARS) CATEGORY
Chub Frank
Ronnie Johnson
SPORTSMAN AWARD:
Mike Balzano
<b>PREVIOUS CLASSES OF THE NDLMHOF:
NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME
CLASS OF 2003</b>
RETIRED DRIVER CATEGORY:
Leon Archer
Ray Godsey
Bud Lunsford
Russ Petro
MASTERS CATEGORY
Delmas Conley
Jim Curry
John Mason
Bob Pierce
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORY:
J W Hunt
Rick Gross
Johnny Johnson
Carl Short
SPORTSMAN AWARD
Bill Frye
<b>NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME
CLASS OF 2002</b>
ACTIVE DRIVER CATEGORY:
1. Scott Bloomquist
2. Jerry Inmon
3. Donnie Moran
4. Billy Moyer, Jr
RETIRED DRIVERS CATEGORY:
1. Red Farmer
2. Tom Helfrich
3. Pat Patrick
4. Bob Wearing, Sr
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORY:
Ray Callahan
Bob Memmer
BJ Parker
Barry Wright
2002 SPORTSMAN AWARD:
Steve Francis
<b>INAUGURAL NDLMHOF INDUCTEES Class of 2001 </b>
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Category:
Earl Baltes
Robert Smalley
Jimmy Mosteller
CJ Rayburn
Ed Howe
ACTIVE DRIVERS Category:
Freddy Smith
Mike Duvall
Buck Simmons
Jeff Purvis
Rodney Combs
RETIRED DRIVER Category:
Jack Boggs
Jim Dunn
Larry Moore
Larry Phillips
Charlie Swartz
