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Parsons, Sneva, Haywood, Ivo, Springsteen, Foster, Ruttman, Holman & Moody To Join Motorsports Hall of Fame of America |
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Novi, MI – NASCAR Champion Benny Parsons, Indianapolis 500 winner Tom Sneva and LeMans 24-Hour king Hurley Haywood will lead a group of nine racing greats into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America when the organization stages its 17th annual induction ceremony on Thursday, August 18, 2005 at the State Theatre in Detroit. Parsons, Sneva and Haywood will be enshrined along with drag racer Tommy Ivo, motorcyclist Jay Springsteen, powerboat racer Danny Foster, car owners/builders John Holman and Ralph Moody and 1952 Indy 500 winner Troy Ruttman. The Class of 2005 will join the 146 racers already enshrined in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. “To many young race fans, Benny Parsons and Tom Sneva are best known for their work as broadcasters, but when they were racing, they were the fastest of the fast,” says Ron Watson, Hall of Fame president. “Combined, this year’s inductees won or played significant roles in more than 20 season championships and more than 250 individual race wins.” Currently an award-winning NASCAR analyst on NBC and TNT, Benny Parsons won the 1975 Daytona 500 and the 1980 Coca-Cola 600, as well as 19 other Winston Cup races. He won the 1973 Winston Cup title and was the ARCA champion in 1968 and 1969. At Talladega in 1982, Parsons was the first NASCAR driver to qualify a car at more than 200 mph. Tom Sneva won the 1983 Indy 500 and 12 other Indy Car races. He earned 14 pole positions and was the first driver to crack the mystical 200 mph barrier at Indianapolis. He was also the first at the Speedway to eclipse 210 mph. Sneva won national championships in 1977 and 1978 driving for Roger Penske. His quick wit landed him on ABC television during the infancy of the Indy Racing League. Hurley Haywood is one of America’s most-accomplished endurance drivers. He won the 24 Hours of LeMans three times (1977, 1983 and 1994), the 24 Hours of Daytona five times and the 12 Hours of Sebring twice. He was the first to win at LeMans and Daytona in the same year and won the Norelco Cup four times. He is IMSA’s point leader among active drivers. Tommy Ivo played a major role in drag racing’s formative years. He set the early standard for showmanship in the straight-line sport with his glass-enclosed transporter and multiple-engine dragsters. A fierce and skilled competitor, Ivo focused his career not on sanctioned series, but upon the mainstay of the era – one-on-one challenges with the sport’s biggest names. He went on to become one of the most popular and successful match racers in history. Jay Springsteen began his motorcycle racing career in 1975 and remains competitive today. He was the AMA Grand National rookie of the year in 1975 and the youngest AMA Grand National champion in 1976 at age 19. He won additional AMA titles in 1977 and 1978, and has won a total of 43 AMA Grand National events throughout his career. Danny Foster was unlimited powerboat racing’s first post-war superstar and its most prolific winner of the 1940s and 1950s. He won the first unlimited race he ever entered, the 1946 President’s Cup. He won the Gold Cup in 1947 and 1948 and season national titles in 1947 and 1950. Between 1946 and 1955, Foster won 14 races in boats such as the Miss Peps V and Guy Lombardo’s Tempo VII. As car owners and builders closely associated with Ford factory efforts, John Holman and Ralph Moody scored an amazing 93 NASCAR wins from just 366 starts between 1957 and 1973. Their NASCAR drivers included Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly, Fred Lorenzen, Fireball Roberts, Dick Hutcherson, Bobby Allison, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and David Pearson. They also played a key role in an American assault on European road racing with Ford GT40s in the 1960s. In 1952 at age 22, Troy Ruttman was the youngest Indy 500 champion. He was the 1951 AAA Midwest sprint champion, and 1951-1952 Pacific Coast title winner. His other titles include the 1948 URA midget championship, and the 1947-1948 CRA roadster championship. Tickets for the induction ceremony can be purchased by calling 1-800-250-RACE (7223). The Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame is operated by the Motorsports Museum and Hall of Fame of America Foundation Inc. The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a museum housing more than 40 racing and high performance vehicles. The constantly changing collection features racers from the world of Indy cars, stock cars, Can Am, TransAm, sprint cars, powerboats, truck racing, drag racing, motorcycles, air racing and even snowmobiles. Among the highlights are Art Arfons’ Green Monster jet car and championship NASCAR stock cars driven by Darrell Waltrip and Dale Jarrett. ### |