Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Still no Bud Grimm?  They must have the GBLT community and the guy that chose the colors on the car that won in Tulsa last night choosing who gets in. 

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

so Bud Grimm is more deserving than the ones that got in?

Dave Blaney - very deserving IMO

Mark Kinser - very deserving IMO

Bobby Davis, Jr - I'm on the fence, but I do think he's HoF material

Chuck Merril - between owning and sponsoring cars and then starting Maxim Chassis, this is an easy one

George Nesler - i don't know much about this one, but since he's in the owner/mechanic/builder/manufactuers category, maybe that's why I don't know much about him

Dave Argabright - very deserving for his media expertise and furthering of the sport over the years

"Windy" McDonald - very deserving

Larry Beckett - pre 1945, so wayyy before my time, but I've heard the name

They changed it this year so that LESS people get inducted (IMO, 12 was WAYYYY too many every year, but it made sense the first few years).

If you feel Bud Grimm is that qualified, you need to nominate him and do some research (it has to fit on (1) sheet of paper) and submit it (the process is spelled out on the Hall of Fame website). 

If the person that nominates them doesn't do a good job of research, all of their accomplishments don't get sent out to the committee (each committee member gets a (1) sheet bio of each person nominated and the list is narrowed down using that information (so if you don't do a good job of getting information put together, even a legend can get passed over).

Rather than making a comment about the people who vote on this being gay, which I have zero idea what that has to do with anything other than you must be the kind of person that likes to throw that type of stuff around. Why don't you make an educated post about why you think he would qualify by writing his accomplishments. You might start an intelligent conversation instead of what this will likely turn into due to the tone of your first comment. But my guess is in your book his qualification is that he drove a car that had a Ford powerplant, since that seems to be all you care about. I'm sure you think the HoF has some conspirecy going on as well.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

Still no Mike Peters?

Very deserving group in my estimation but puzzled by the ommision of Richard Griffin; as I feel a driver that was a multiple CRA champion & 2 time Non Wing World Champion deserves this honor. As for the original poster's anti gay comments....hate speech derserves no comments, at least from me.

+1. 

The original poster likes to spew his religious beliefs from time to time which is ironic since he obviously is a bigot.

Cheers!

I think Richard Griffin deserves the honor as well (to alongside "Rip" Williams from the same era).

However, like all Hall of Fame's should be, it's hard to get elected as only a certain # of drivers get elected every year (and with more and more now over age 50 and eligible, that makes it even harder IMO.

Like I stated before, you've gotta state your case to the Hall of Fame Induction Committee and there is a way to do that here http://www.sprintcarhof.com/Pages/Policies for drivers, owners, media, etc., etc. that you feel deserve to be inducted.

If no one has done the research and put together a bio for consideration, how do you think they'll ever get inducted (sorry, but it was nearly IMPOSSIBLE (especially back in the 1920's until the 1990's) for people outside of a geographical area to see some of these guys race (that was pre-internet, pre-TV, pre-Interstate system), etc..

Today's drivers have a much greater chance of being seen COAST TO COAST due to the additions of things like Video Streaming, Television broadcasts, etc..  Even if you haven't seen Kyle Larson race in person, odds are that you've seen video clips on the internet, so if he stayed in sprint cars long term, even if he hadn't raced in your area, he'd still be remembered by people that saw him on TV or on the internet.  Those old(er) racers don't have that luxury.

Another deserving driver IMO, not sure anyone has done a bio on him though.

There seems to be alot of drivers that are lost in the 50's   60's or 70's that are not getting the due that they deserve. Even win championship in what was believed to be major curcuit in the past (IMCA) and can't get in.

Drivers that owned, wrenched and drove there own cars to championships . are not looked at in the different levels, some have been nomininated and only as a driver. maybe voters need to look into all aspects.

Voters can only look at the information presented to them.  if the person that wants them enshrined does a bad job of collecting data, the voters are using the data that the person gave them (so no one to blame except the person providing the data).

Like I state, it's gonna get harder and harder to get enshrined as every year passes, more drivers become eligible every year (to the tune of 25+ I would guess, yet the # enshrined stays the same (3) in the driver category.  You have to REALLY STAND OUT amongst those that are also eligible. 

Even though I don't care for him, Terry McCarl is probably Hall of Fame material (based on his wins, championships, etc.), except by the time he is eligible, there will be many, many others with just as impressive (or more impressive) stats that aren't yet enshrined either.

The pool of talent gets deeper, but the # they take to the Hall stays the same or shrinks.  Some deserving drivers will not get enshrined until after they are gone from this earth, or may NEVER make the cut.  The Hall of Fame is for the BEST OF THE BEST.  If you had to choose just one of the following, who would you choose (this is the type of choice each voter has to make);  Wolfgang, Sammy Swindell, Steve Kinser, Bobby Davis, Jr., Dave Blaney or Donny Schatz.

The reality is that they are ALL Hall of Famer's, but if you have to choose it becomes more difficult than just saying "it's a travesty that (insert name here) isn't in the Hall of Fame.  Some have to wait longer than others to get enshrined.

Would have liked to have Paul Hazen in the hall.  He had owned sprinters for over 50 yrs and not sure how many features his car won but it is well over a couple hundred . Super nice guy and the list of his drivers over the years is quite impressive   Can't wait to see #57 at the Indiana tracks again this year and hopes he will be in the HOF soon.

Right on the money.  There were a lot of us that only saw IMCA Sprints at the Fairs and as far as we're concerned they were it.  Reminds me of a story.  I recall going home for the weekend with a friend when I was going to catapult and arresting gear school in New Jersey back around 1970.  His family lived a ways past Hagerstown just a few miles south of the PA border.  We were sitting around shooting the breeze with his dad telling him about Minnesota and I mentioned how we had what they call Sprint Cars.  So I'm all set to explain what they are and explain how we have these races on dirt tracks.  His old man turns to my friend and says "too bad the season is over, we could take him to the Grove and show him some real racing".  I came that close to being Posse.  LOL

I agree with you.  I'm thinking that the voting members of the HOF aren't in touch with the racing back then so it's off their radar. 

Stan Meissner

Correction, meant to say some of the voting members are younger and probably more so as each year passes.

Would have done an edit to the last post but I'm no longer able to do that with Firefox running on the Linux OS.  This is the only board where I'm having that issue so I just live with it and make a follow up post. 

Stan Meissner

'Voting members are not in touch with racing back then'You must be kidding or that cold Minnesota weather has frozen your ability to make sense.Every year after the new inductees have been announced the barrage of naysayers starts and I usually ignore the comments. But this time I an driven to respond. I,along with the majority of members of the voting committee, have held this position since the inception in 1989. We have watched sprint car racing since the 1940's and are well aware of the past history. We were asked to serve as voters because we had been around for a long time as drivers, owners, mechanics, sponsors, builders and media. We were humbled to even be asked and our expertise has proven to be researched and historically accurate. Collectively I think we have perofrmed very well despite some of the comments and stupid questions like "Did Ted Johnson really invent sprint car racing" That is a truthful question that was asked by a young very young supposedly journalist of a major daily newspaper. The suggestion by Vande  is a good valid point. Get the information on your person to the hall of fame so we can better understand the background and include as many FACTS ( not fables) as you can. Actually it is good to see interest in the induction process  because that means that you care and want the program to continue so we all can honor the history of sprint car racing.   

+2 on The Gas Man and +1 on the bigot.

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Its the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame for a reason. This discussion is no different than any other sport when it comes to voting and who is inducted yearly, there is always disagreement. I can't help but think that the people that are the voters have been picked because of a good set of credentials. I agree with Vande that you need to make it a small pool inducted or it becomes too watered down and not as much of an honor as it should be.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

The job done by the committee gets harder and harder every year IMO.  The pool of candidates gets bigger, yet the # of inductees has shrunk.

Only the "best of the best" will get in from here on out IMO.  It's not about your stats, it's how you stack up against the others eligible.

Hypothetically, let's say the following were not eligible until this year:  Andretti, Foyt, Steve Kinser, Swindell, Wolfgang, Blaney, Mark Kinser, Kenny Jacobs, Jac Haudenshild, Danny Lasoski, Fred Rahmer, Keith Kauffman, Shane Carson and Ron Shuman.

They all are VERY deserving, but if you can only choose (3) to get in, someone is going to be mad that their favorite didn't get voted in the first year they were eligible.

Let's say, Andretti, Steve Kinser and Wolfgang got in, that leaves, Foyt, Swindell, Blaney, Mark Kinser, Kenny Jacobs, Haud, Lasoski, Rahmer, Kauffman, Carson, Shuman for the following year, but all of a sudden another wave of drivers are eligible including Lance DeWease, Terry McCarl, and Donny Schatz.  One of those eligible the year before is probably going to get "passed over" by some of the voters in favor of one of the newly eligible drivers.

It's not as easy as everyone with a keyboard thinks it is, which is why it is VERY important for those pulling together the information to be presented to "DO THEIR HOMEWORK" to ensure the facts are presented and nothing is omitted.

I have never made any sense so you're probably right. 

Stan Meissner

I guarantee you there are gay sprint car racing fans. maybe not outwardly effeminate men or obvious lesbian, but the numbers do not lie. out of whole entire pool across the world, not every single one of them is straight hetero. transexuals? I'm guessing not, but who knows, and who cares? just don't infringe on my experience at the track! (like so many 'straight' folks)

I have nothing relavent to add to this thread! 

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