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Index by last name:
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Index by year:
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Jim Hallahan (2002)
Jim Hallahan started racing jalopy stock cars in Streetsville, Ont., in 1949 when he was 20. He graduated to late model stock cars five years later and retired from driving those same late models in 1982. In between, he won the track points championship twice at the old Pinecrest Speedway in Ontario and won features and international race championships at Pinecrest, Ont., River Glade, N.B., Fredericton, N.B., Bathurst, N.B., and at Riverside Speedway located near Antigonish, N.S. Racing primarily in his home province of Ontario for several years, the mid 60s saw Jim often packing up the family - and the racecar - for a summer "vacation" in the Maritimes. He enjoyed great success and was featured as a celebrity racer at many of the events. In 1969 he moved to Nova Scotia after receiving a job offer and an opportunity to drive a stock car for Forbes Chev Olds in Dartmouth. Veteran Maritime race fans will remember Jim behind the wheel of his familiar number 33, first in the bright orange Forbes-sponsored entry "The Hugger", then in racecars he co-owned, until his retirement from driving in '82. But he didn't retire from racing - he was just getting started. In 1983, together with other promoters and car owners, Jim spearheaded the creation of the MASCAR touring race series. In the late 1980s, while serving as president of MASCAR, Jim negotiated for the tour drivers to race through the streets of Halifax during the Moosehead Grand Prix weekends, bringing even more prestige to the successful Maritime stock car racing series. Besides becoming an active and effective promoter, Jim was instrumental in helping son Jim Jr. and daughter Debbie to begin their racing careers. Debbie was showing great promise and was a rookie on the MASCAR circuit when she died in a racing crash in 1984. Jim has tried on several occasions to retire but the lure of the speedways keeps pulling him back. "It's the love of the sport, I guess," said a humble Hallahan. "Even when we're not racing at home we plan our vacations around other races. We get back from Toronto after the induction next week then start packing to leave a few days later for Bristol, Tenn. - a NASCAR race. That's the way it's always been for us. It's a way of life." In addition to his racing duties, Jim has been a tireless worker for charity over the years and has been involved with, among others, the Boys and Girls Club of Dartmouth, the Children's Wish Foundation and Rainbow Haven, a summer camp for underprivileged children. Jim resides in Dartmouth with his wife Elizabeth (Liz) and, at 72, works three jobs. Besides his duties with Scotia Speedworld and the CARQUEST Pro Stock Tour he still works with Forbes Chev Olds. Liz also works with Scotia Speedworld and the CARQUEST Pro Stock Tour as well as being involved with numerous charities. Jim Hallahan has made invaluable contributions to and is a credit to his sport. But his legacy goes beyond racing to include to his family, his friends, his work and his community.
More about this member :: Back to top Junior Hanley (2000)
Like car racer Greg Moore and motorcycle racer Yvon Duhamel, Junior Hanley does not need a lot of introduction. He started racing in 1961 as a drag racer. By 1970 he was the Maritime Champion of stock car racing. He moved to Oakville, Ont., in 1975 where he raced and won championships in southern Ontario and the United States. He has won Copper World titles in Arizona and the World Series of Asphalt Racing series at New Smyrna Beach, Fla., during Daytona Speedweeks. He has won CASCAR championships ACT Tour championships and competed on the ASA and Busch Grand National circuits. A master car builder, he has build short-track cars for, among others, Bill Elliot, Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin, Kyle Petty, Dick Trickle and Darrell Waltrip. One very interesting thing about Junior is that he only delivers a car to a customer after he has test-driven it in racing conditions. A legend in his own time, Junior continues to race and win today, primarily in the Kendall Oil Series for late models in Ohio and Indiana. He is one of the last of a breed: the short-track racer who races for a living.
More about this member :: Back to top Bob Hanna (1994)
In 1968, Bob Hanna became the first executive director of the Canadian Automobile Sports Clubs (CASC), the governing body of motorsport in Canada. He stayed on the job for more than 15 years, and he brought many changes, welding together five regional divisions of CASC to create a national body that raced and rallied under the same rules. Over the years, Bob also works to make cars and racetracks much safer for both competitors and spectators.
More about this member :: Back to top Robert and Helen Harvey (2004)
A life-long citizen of Sparta, Robert (Bob) Harvey was a man who was always concerned about his community. A young employee of the nearby St. Thomas dry cleaning business made frequent stops in Sparta. As bundles of clothes were being picked up, the Harveys frequently invited the driver in for supper. The young fellow was an active hot rodder named Doug Kennington. During one of these mealtime discussions, Kennington took the opportunity to explain his concerns over the state of racing in the community. As the Harveys listened, Kennington told them that local hot rodders needed a drag strip set up in that area of the province to provide a safe and professional place to race their cars. After a visit to Detroit Dragway, Bob Harvey announced that he would build his own drag strip on an unused parcel of land in Sparta. St. Thomas Dragway opened in the spring of 1962 and quickly became a landmark drag racing facility in Canada. It became the first drag strip outside the United States to be sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association. In 1963, the track was given a coveted regional meet to host. This again was another first for the NHRA, being the first major regional meet outside the U.S. St. Thomas went on to host drag meets that attracted some of the finest racers on the continent. After her husband died, Helen Harvey chose to keep the track open for racers of all classes. Helen was one of the most unique women in motorsports. In 1962, at a time when women didn't get involved with automobile racing, she was as important a member of the building process of St. Thomas Dragway as anyone. In fact, from the opening day in the spring of 1962 until the day she sold the track to John Fletcher in 1989, she was at every single event ever held at the racing facility.Bob andHelen Harvey created a legacy when they built St. Thomas Dragway and their mark on drag racing in Canada will never diminish.
More about this member :: Back to top Frank Hawley (1996)
Frank Hawley won back-to-back NHRA Winston World Funny Car Championships in 1982 and '83 at the wheel of the famed Chi-Town Hustler. He won a total of seven NHRA Nationals enroute to his two championships. In 1985, Hawley started the first ever drag racing school in Gainesville, Florida. He later replaced the injured Darrell Gwyn in the Coors Light top fuel dragster, adding two top fuel National wins to his records.
More about this member :: Back to top Bob Hayward (2000)
For four years in the late 1950s-early 1960s, Bob Hayward was Canada's best-known international athlete. He raced unlimited hydroplanes, the fastest and most powerful racing boats known to man. Hayward and his boat, Miss Supertest, dominated the sport. By domination, it means that if Hayward and Miss Supertest entered a race, they usually won it. A racer who tinkered with the design of his boats, as well as building the motors, Hayward won the famed Harmsworth Trophy all three years he tried for it, defeating such famous hydroplane drivers as Bill Muncey in Century 21 and Miss U.S. 1 driven by Don Williams. Hayward died on Sept. 10, 1961 at the Silver Cup Regatta on the Detroit River when he lost control rounding a curve. In his honour, the Canadian government renamed a bay in Lake Ontario near Picton, the scene of many of his hydroplane triumphs. It is called Hayward Long Reach. Although his career was short, it was totally spectacular.
More about this member :: Back to top Ludwig Heimrath (2000)
_One of the most famous names in Canadian auto racing, Heimrath won the Canadian Sports Car Racing Championship (later known as the Canadian Driving Championship) in 1961 (the first year the title was awarded) and in 1964. He was first runner-up in '62, '63 and '65 -- a pretty impressive record. He was the second Canadian to race in Formula 1 (Peter Ryan was the first), when he entered the U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1963. He won the SCCA Trans-Am championship twice - in 1977. He was an expert long-distance racer and teamed up with such champions as Johnny Rutherford and Craig Hill in entering the Sebring 12 hours, the 24 Hours of Daytona, although he never won any of those races. He was a USAC Indycar competitor in '68 and '69 and raced in the Canadian and Continental Formula A division (he bought his car from George Eaton) in 1970. Not to be confused with his son, Ludwig Jr. who was good enough to race in the CART series, Heimrath Sr. is still active today, driving in endurance races.
More about this member :: Back to top Taisto Heinonen (2003)
As his nominations papers state, Taisto Heinonen's record shows that he stands at the top of the class of Canada rallysport drivers. He heads the small group of drivers who have attained Grand Master status (over 2,000 points) with a lifetime total of 5,580 points - some 800 ahead of the rest. Heinonen racked up a total of 40 victories in Canadian national events in his relatively short driving career and captured five national championships between 1977 and 1982, when he retired from competition. During that time, he was primarily responsible for Toyota winning the Marques Championship six times. The car control demonstrated by Taisto Heinonen was awesome. He seemed to do the impossible, especially in snow and ice and he rarely crashed. He always seemed to be able to "dig deeper'` when necessary to overcome the opposition. He was also a constructor, building his own cars, including the factory entries when he ran for Toyota. The cars were professionally constructed and maintained and seldom did he drop out of an event because of mechanical failure. Taisto started rallying in Finland, the country of his birth, in 1964. He immigrated to Canada in 1970 and entered rallying in this country in 1971. One of the reasons he did as well in winter conditions was that he won the B.C. Region Ice Racing Championship three straight years from 1974 through '76. He retired from competition in 1983.
More about this member :: Back to top Peter (Pete) Henderson (2005)
At the turn of the last century, auto racing was in its infancy and was a most dangerous pursuit. Many drivers were killed. One who lived to die quietly many years later was George G. Henderson of Fernie, B.C. Known as Pete, he was - as far as we know - the first Canadian to race as a driver in the famed Indianapolis 500, was the first Canadian to be employed as a works driver for a major automobile manufacturer (Duesenberg), was the first Canadian to compete regularly on the AAA championship circuit, which evolved into USAC and then CART/IRL, and he was, we believe, the first Canadian to win what today would be called an Indy car race - an AAA national championship race on the two-mile board track at Maywood Speedway in Chicago in October, 1917. Born in 1895 in Ontario, Pete went to British Columbia as an infant when his father moved the family to Fernie and started the Fernie Free Press, which is still in business today. In his teens, Pete went to study automotive engineering at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He started his racing career as a riding mechanic in 1915. He drove in his first 500 in 1916 for Eddie Rickenbacker's team (he was credited with sixth) and his last in 1920, when he finished tenth. It was his last race. He retired and settled in Los Angeles where he died in 1940 while employed as a civilian aircraft inspector for the U.S. Army Air Corps.
More about this member :: Back to top Craig Hill (1996)
In a driving career that spanned almost 40 years, Craig Hill raced and won in almost every type of racing car, from midgets and super-modified stock cars to sports cars and sophisticated open-wheel formula cars. He was Canadian Formula B champion in 1969 and '70, driving a Formula Ford he modified to formula B spec. He co-drove with Ludwig Heimrath to win the Sundown Grand Prix in 1973 and 1974. As advertising and promotions manager of Castrol Canada, he was instrumental in that company's wide involvement in all forms of motorsport.
More about this member :: Back to top Ted Hogan (1996)
Ted Hogan was Canada's best known stock car racer in the rough-and-tumble days of the sport. Known as "Terrible Ted" or "Mighty Mite", Hogan chalked up a record 37 feature wins and a number of track titles at the CNE between 1954 and his death in plane crash in 1960. Although there was racing at the CNE for five more years, no one ever matched Hogan's mark.
More about this member :: Back to top Jimmy Howard (1994)
Jimmy Howard was a crowd favorite at the CNE stock car races. He drove with a fat stogie clenched in his teeth and his foot firmly on the gas pedal. He won back-to-back CNE stock car championships in 1957 and 1958. In his no. 38 yellow and black Dodges, he was always a regular at the Brantford, Ont., stock car track and frequently barnstormed around the province to other racetracks. He rarely left without a trophy or the winner's share of the prize money.
More about this member :: Back to top Harvey Hudes (1996)
Harvey Hudes was president of Mosport Park for more than 25 years. He guided Mosport through its most successful years when it hosted the Grand Prix of Canada and highly successful Can-Am races. Harvey kept Mosport going strong through some tough times, giving Canadian racers an opportunity to learn on one of the most challenging circuits in the world. He also built an oval to make stock car racing a regular feature at Mosport.
More about this member :: Back to top
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