NASCAR champion Benny Parsons, Indianapolis 500 winner Tom Sneva and Le Mans 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 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.
Currently an award-winning NASCAR analyst on NBC, 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.
Photo: Casey Annis
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. He was also the first 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 Le Mans 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 Le Mans 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.
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 1925 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 148 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).
