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Index by last name:
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Index by year:
[1993] [1994] [1995] [1996] [1997] [1998] [1999] [2000] [2001] [2002] [2003] [2004] [2005] [2006] [2007]
Ken Achs (2002)
Saskatoon businessman Ken Achs started racing in 1962 in Calgary at the wheel of a 1940 Ford Coupe with a Buick motor. Two years later, he opened Mid-West Automotive in Saskatoon and built a Chevv-powered C-class dragster. This was the first car to go down the newly-constructed Saskatoon International Raceway in 1966. Ken also raced his car at Bison Raceway in Winnipeg as well as at Calgary and Edmonton. In 1967, he bought a Top Fuel car from Ed Norton of Seattle. This was the first Top Fuel car in Saskatchewan and he won virtually every race he entered across the prairies that year, competing against U.S. drivers. In 1968, he upgraded to a brand-new Top Fuel car, which he ran for three years, sweeping every race he entered in Canada. He set the low elapsed time and top miles-per-hour marks at the Canadian Nationals in 1968. In 1971, Ken switched to Funny Cars and continued his success. He won races and championships across the prairies as well as in California, Washington and Oregon. He was the only Canadian competitor to hold both NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car licences in 1971. Due to the demands of business, Ken sold all of his racing equipment in 1973. When asked, he said he did not consider himself a world-class drag racer but rather a fortunate fan who happened to live at a time when going 200 mph was an attainable dream. When asked, Ken graciously tracked down and restored his 1967 Top Fuel dragster and donated it in 2002 to the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame where it is on permanent display.
More about this member :: Back to top Frank Allers (2005)
Frank Allers of Coquitlam, B.C., is one of Canada's finest and most versatile road racing drivers. He started his racing career at the Jim Russell Race Drivers School Formula Ford series at the Sentterton Race Circuit in England in 1971 and went on to score many victories and championships. He was national champion of the Honda-BF Goodrich/Michelin Challenge Series in 1978 and '79 and was western champion of the Player's GM Motorsports Series every year but one between 1987 and 1992. Driving in the Formula Atlantic series from 1987 until 1998, he was Canadian Player's Ltd. Formula Atlantic champion in 1990. He finished second in the series in 1989 and 1991. In all, he made more than 90 professional Formula Atlantic starts. He ran in the Speedvision World Challenge series for two seasons - 2000 and '01 - at the wheel of a Corvette C5. Being a consistent front-runner, he was included in GM Racing's prestigious A list. Although he hasn't raced competitively since August 2001, he still does occasional driver-training work. Frank lives in B.C. with his wife Kate and they have a daughter, Lisa. Frank owns and operates Frank Allers Autosport, a successful Porsche service and tuning business in North Vancouver..
More about this member :: Back to top Dale Armstrong (1995)
One of the most innovative drag racers in the sport- and always under financed- Dale Armstrong still won 12 NHRA Nationals and 14 IHRA races. But his true genius came to light as crew of Kenny Bernstein's Budweiser King Team. He directed his boss to four Winston Funny Car Titles in the 80's, and, after a move to the top fuelers in 1990, engineered the cars in which Bernstein broke the 300-MPH barrier and set drag racing world records.
More about this member :: Back to top Art Asbury (2001)
Art Asbury is probably Canada's most successful and exciting hydroplane boat racer. During a career that spanned 40 years, Art won 12 international, national and provincial championships and set seven North American and World speed records. Born in Dwight, Ontario, in 1922, Art was the youngest child of James and Annie Asbury, whose maiden name was Newton. Art takes great pride in his ties with the province of Quebec. His maternal grandfather, Pierre Villeneuve, was born in Sherbrooke but came with his family to Renfrew, Ont, when he was 18. He later moved to Dwight and changed his name to the anglicized version, Peter Newton. The Asbury family owned and operated the Dwight General Supply Store on the shores of Dwight Bay. It was one of Art's chores to deliver groceries to the summer cottages, a task he performed in a skiff, powered by a small outboard motor. When Art was taking his load of groceries out on the lake, he travelled sedately but coming back at the end of his deliveries, he realized that if he put the remaining groceries at the front of the boat, he could really fly. Thus came the beginning of a hydroplane racer. During the second World War, Art served with the Royal Air Force Coastal Command and flew 37 operational missions in a Liberator B-24 bomber. Upon returning home after the war, he worked with his parents operating a tourist lodge and resumed his friendship with Art Hatch of Hamilton, a long time friend and summer guest. As a consequence, the Costa Lotta boat-racing team was formed and the two men were instrumental in the eventual formation of the Canadian Boating Federation. On Nov. 1, 1957, Art set a World speed record of 184.54 mph in the unlimited hydroplane class driving Miss Supertest II for Col. J. Gordon Thompson and his son James at Long Reach near Picton, Ont. For this , he was awarded the World Medal of Honour by the Union of International Motorboating located in Ghent, Belgium. This was what you might call getting his feet wet, because Art went on to set two more World speed records, three Canadian speed records and one American speed record. He was Canadian National Champion in 1948, '51 and '57; American National Champion in 1963 and '64; Canadian High Point Champion in 1953, '58, '60, '61, '69 and '78 and Quebec Provincial Champion in 1978. In 1964, Art was inducted in the American Marine Racing Hall of Fame and this was followed by his induction into the Canadian Boating and Huntsville, Ont. Halls of Fame in 1990. In 2001, he was inducted into the Great Lakes Maritime Institute Hall of Fame as a Pioneer of Power Boating. Other honours include being named Marina Captain-Harbour Master at Expo '67 in Montreal, Honourary Race Chairman for Prince Edward Gold Cup, citations for making outstanding contributions to water safety, and receiving the Boating Recognition Award from the Canadian Power Squadrons. And just so nobody thinks he's been away from the action, in 1996 he was Grand Marshal of the Spirit of Detroit Thunderfest and Quake on the Lake, Pontiac Michigan, 2001.
More about this member :: Back to top Bob Atchison (2006)
Builder Drag Racing
Bob Atchison is one of the true pioneers of Canadian drag racing. Born in
1941, Bob started competing in the mid-1950s with an Oldsmobile-powered 1955
Ford and an Oldsmobile powered 1951 Henry J. In the early 1960s, Bob began
racing in the dragster classes, first with a B dragster and then a
nitro-fuelled Top Fuel dragster. He became a frequent winner at Grand Bend
Dragway, Motor City Dragway, Detroit Dragway and at the St. Thomas Dragway.
The reputation Bob established was enhanced when he opened his machine shop,
Atchison Machine, in 1967. He became well-known for building chassis,
engines and custom components not only for himself but for other racers. The
list includes previous Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inductees Scott
Wilson, Frank Hawley and Bill Kydd. In the 1990s, his son Robbie went racing
and father and son took on the task of creating an alcohol burning Funny
Car. During record-setting and dominating 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons, Bob
choreographed his son Robbie to three straight IHRA Hooters Drag Racing
Series Alcohol Funny Car World Championships. Bob was IHRA Crew Chief of the
Year in 2004 and Crew Chief of the Year in a Drag Race Canada poll. The team
currently holds 10 speed records. Bob is responsible for the current success
of the AJ481X, an engine considered to be obsolete in today's highly
competitive world. He has developed camshafts that have increased the
horsepower in these engines to staggering numbers. In addition, many top
engine builders now use the supercharger technology that Bob pioneered. Bob'
s achievements in the last five years are world-class. Even more remarkable
is that he accomplished them using an eight-year-old chassis in the midst of
constant engine evolution.
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