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By
Jim Hill
HENDERSON, North
Carolina -- Nearly 50,000
spectators and 1,000+ cars showed
just how popular the Fifth Annual
Drag Times East Coast Drag Racing
Hall of Fame weekend has become.
Hosted in Henderson, NC, and
presented by the Vance County (NC)
Tourism Board Board, this year’s
event grew over the 2005 edition by
nearly 15%, attracting a large
contingent of race cars, hot rods,
street machines, muscle cars, and
antique autos. There was also a
large display of vintage Corbitt
heavy duty trucks celebrating the
unique heritage of Corbitt and its
hometown of Henderson, NC.
Event
Chairperson/Promoter Nancy Wilson
couldn’t have been happier about the
four day event’s success and
consistent growth over the five
years of its existence.
“This year we had a
solid increase in entries for our
car show, which is the largest part
of our Hall of Fame event. We’re
fortunate that we’ve seen this event
weekend grow substantially since it
began as a backyard barbeque and
reunion of some of the old drag
racers I’ve known over the years.
We’re now attracting cars and
participants from the entire eastern
seaboard, the southeast and even the
Midwestern states. Best of all,
everyone I spoke to said they were
already planning on attending next
year’s event, and would bring a
friend!”, noted Ms. Wilson.
Sponsored by the
Vance County (NC) Tourism Department
and co-sponsored by Superior
Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, the Hall of
Fame weekend this year began on
Thursday night. Veteran track owner
and promoter Julio Marra
independently hosted an ET bracket
drag racing event at nearby Roxboro
Motorsports Dragway. The race drew
a sizeable number of current as well
as vintage drag racing cars. Many
of these cars made runs, even though
rainy weather around the region and
a few light showers dampened the
show but not the participant’s
enthusiasm.
On Friday the annual
“Show, Shine, Shag and Dine” event
was held at Superior
Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, in Henderson.
More than 200 race cars, hot rods,
muscle cars and street rods
participated, and everyone enjoyed a
free North Carolina style, tasty
deep-south barbeque luncheon hosted
by Superior Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep.
Bright and early at
7:30 AM Saturday, the Hall of Fame
Weekend car show entries started
grabbing their spots on Henderson’s
main street. By early morning,
every square foot of space was
turned into a 12 block-long
pedestrian mall chocked
side-by-side-full of outstanding
specialty vehicles of all sizes,
makes, shapes and colors. This
field has now grown to in excess of
1,000 vehicles that occupy all of
the Henderson downtown main street
plus two additional streets!
On Sunday the event
recognized famous drag racing
drivers, crew chiefs and mechanics
as well as manufacturers,
journalists and photographers who
made significantly notable
contributions to drag racing’s early
years.
This year’s inductees
included: The Barnett Brothers,
Atlanta racing family, engine
builders and speed shop owners;
Dave Bishop, race photographer
and racer; Al Brown, track
tech inspector and longest
consecutive racer at the NHRA
Nationals until his passing in 2001;
Jerry Coley, operator of
Phenix City Dragway (Alabama) and
Modified racer; Sonny DeCesaris,
early drag strip owner; Gwynn
Hartsoe, of the Hartsoe
Brothers’ Gasser and Funny Car team;
Billy “Cigar” Holt, noted
Alabama Super Stock and FX racer;
Carroll Hynson, Jr., pioneer
African-American drag racer and
public relations executive; R.
Wayne Jeffers, collector and
restorer of nostalgia drag racing
cars; Jim & Alison Lee,
famous Top Fuel racing duo from
Virginia; Michael “Mashie”
Mihalko, drag racing
photographer and writer; Earl
“Skeets” Phillips, early Funny
Car racer and collector; Ernie
Schorb, first NHRA Southeast
Division Director and pioneer
Florida drag racing promoter; Dan
Smoker, early Super Stock and FX
racer; Wendell Snowden, early
drag racer, tech official and
restorer/expert on 55-57 Chevys; and
Bill Tanner, Super Stock
engine builder/tuner from Atlanta,
GA.
Veteran Super Stock,
FX and Pro Stock mechanic and tuner
Jake King, who worked for
many years building and tuning the
hugely successful Sox & Martin drag
racing team race cars, was
posthumously named the recipient of
the inaugural Ronnie Sox Memorial
Award. Members of Jake King’s
family and driver Ronnie Sox’s widow
Diane Sox were present to accept the
award for the widely respected
racing crew chief and mechanic.
“Motorsports’ First
Lady”, the always affable Linda
Vaughn, was presented with the
Wally Parks Motorsports
Statesperson of the Year Award
for her timeless public relations
career and contributions to all
forms of racing. |
