2010 HALL OF FAME CLASS TO BE INDUCTED IN AUGUST
The 2010
class of the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame will be officially
inducted in August at the Swope Cars of Yesteryear Museum in
Elizabethtown, Ky.
In addition to the 2010 class, the late Harry
Hyde of Brownsville, Ky., a member of the 2009 class, will be
reinducted at the ceremony with his son, Harry Lee Hyde, on hand to
accept.
Hyde was a master mechanic and the only crew chief for
the K&K Insurance team in what was the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
His cars posted 56 victories in that series, and under his guidance the
team won the series championship in 1970 with driver Bobby Isaac.
Prior to the organization of the K&K team, Hyde-prepared cars won
the Late Model championship at the old Fairgrounds Motor Speedway in
Louisville in 1963 with driver Jesse Baird, and repeated in 1964 and
1965 with driver Andy Hampton, a member of the KMHOF class of 2010.
In addition to Hampton, honorees for 2010 include Austin Myers of
Valley Station, Billy Howell of Hodgenville, Milt Hartlauf of
Jeffersonville, Ind., Billy Campbell of Litchfield, Bill Stebbins of
Louisville, Darrell Alderman of Morehead, Danny Sullivan of Louisville,
Morris Smith of Bowling Green, along with the “Owensboro Boys.”
The OWENSBORO BOYS
The “Owensboro Boys” – Billy Joe Miles, Jerry Baird, Carl Mercer,
Donnie Bittel, Joe England, Walter Harder, Jim Burns, and Gene
Wilkerson – were arguably the founders of the billion dollar industry
of indoor motorsports. A group of farmers and tractor pull
enthusiasts, they organized the first National Farm Machinery Show
tractor pull at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in 1969. That
event has grown into one of the premier pulling events on the
motorsports calendar. They went on to form TNT Motorsports, which
brought tractor pulls and monster truck competitions to indoor arenas
all over the country and gained national recognition through television
coverage.
ANDY HAMPTON
Hampton posted a total of eight wins in ARCA competition, including two
in the ARCA race at Daytona – in 1968 and 1972. In 1972, he also
started in 27th place in the NASCAR Daytona 500, and drove his way to
tenth place. In addition to the two Late Model championships at the
Fairgrounds Motor Speedway, Hampton was the track’s first Figure 8
champion in 1961, and won the title again in 1962 and 1963 – giving him
five straight and making him the only driver to win championships in
both divisions at one of the toughest speedways in the country.
AUSTIN MYERS
Myers was a premier drag racing competitor, with several NHRA National
Event championships, having success in Competition Eliminator as well
as in Top Gas, Funny Car, and Top Fuel. His first points win came in
Competition Eliminator at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1968. He was
honored as the NHRA North Central Division’s Top Professional Driver of
the Year in 1971. The same year he won the NHRA World Finals in
Amarillo, Tex. while resetting the Top Gas speed record at 209.58 miles
per hour.
MILT HARTLAUF
A native of Louisville, Hartlauf
began driving in 1948 at the Jeffersonville (Ind.) Sportsdrome. He won
the Kentuckiana Racing Association championship and was four times
Kentucky Dirt Track Champion. Driving for the Fish Carburetor team
along with Fireball Roberts, he competed on the old Daytona Beach and
Road Course as well as at Darlington, S.C. and Raleigh, N.C. In 1958
he turned to promoting and served as general manager of the
Sportsdrome, then took the same position at the Fairgrounds Motor
Speedway, remaining in that capacity until the facility closed
following the 1980 season. He also served as promoter at the Salem
(Ind.) Speedway, and a director of competition for the American Speed
Association.
BILLY HOWELL
The 1975 Late Model champion at the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway, Howell
drove hemi-powered Chrysler products before taking the seat of a Camaro
prepared by Terry Elmore. He later teamed up with Bill Clary, operator
of one of the region’s leading speed shops. Howell and Clary with the
“Kopper Kat” traveled the country from short tracks in Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Florida as well as running at Winchester, Salem, and
Anderson in Indiana with ASA. During this time they held nine
different track records, including one at Highland Rim Speedway near
Nashville which stood for years until it was broken by Bobby Allison.
He drove until 1988, when he won his final feature race at Kentucky
Motor Speedway near Whitesville.
DARRELL ALDERMAN
Beginning his drag racing career at local race tracks in Kentucky,
Alderman began racing professional in the Pro Stock category in the
early 1980s with IHRA and AHRA, recording several wins. In 1986, he
teamed with Wayne County Speed Shop to drive a Dodge Daytona, and
earned the NHRA Pro Stock Rookie of the year title in his first full
year of competition. He earned the NHRA Pro Stock World Championship
in 1990, 1991, and 1994, and had 28 National Event victories, sixth
most in NHRA Pro Stock history. In 1991, he recorded 59 round wins and
11 National Event titles in the 18 on the schedule to break the NHRA
record. His career bests were an elapsed time of 6.734 seconds and a
top speed of 205.38 miles per hour.
BILLY CAMPBELL
Campbell’s most notable success came in the cockpit of Jack Hart’s Gold
Digger twin-engined Top Fuel Dragster, in which he was the winner of
several IHRA national events, and winner of the Popular Hot Rodding
Championships in Martin, Mich. in 1974. Campbell began his racing
career in the 1960s, and retired from the sport in 1975.
DANNY SULLIVAN
Louisville-born Sullivan participated in the Formula One World
Championship in 1983, and won two SCCA Can-Am series races before
beginning competition in the Championship Auto Racing Teams open wheel
series. He recorded 13 victories in CART, including the 1986
Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. On the 120th lap of that race, he passed
Mario Andretti for the lead in the first turn, then spun his Miller
American Special in the short chute. He recovered control of the car
after spinning 360 degrees with no damage except for flat-spotted
tires. After pitting for new tires, he returned to the race and passed
Andretti again on his way to the victory. In 1988, he won the CART
season championship for himself and team owner Roger Penske.
MORRIS SMITH
Smith served as track manager at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green,
working for the Garvin family in supervising operations on the
quarter-mile oval and the drag strip through the 1960s and 1970s and
into the 1980s. He was responsible for bringing the two tracks to
prominence among motorsports facilities and helping to turn the
family-owned recreational facility and amusement park in to a popular
tourist destination.
BILL STEBBINS
Starting as a drag racer as well as oval competitor in the early 1960s,
then started his chassis building shop. He fabricated Top Fuel
dragsters for race teams all over the country in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cars he build recorded over twenty National Event victories and at
least five World Championships. He later on raced midget cars, and
sponsored many stock car racers competing in the Louisville area.
The Swope Cars of Yesteryear Museum is located at 1110 North Dixie Avenue in Elizabethtown
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