Georgia Racing
Hall of Fame Unveils Class Of 2014
(September
15, 2014) The Class of 2014 inductees to the
Georgia Racing Hall of Fame boasts one of the most successful
dirt track campaigners in the state’s history, a
historic driver turned car builder, a veteran wheelman
who ruled the short tracks and competed in NASCAR, a legendary
Super Modified driver and a legendary pioneer drag racer.
With fans packing the grandstands, the five new inductees
into the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame were announced Saturday
night on the frontstretch of the historic, high banked
half-mile Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, GA, as
the speedway hosted “Georgia Racing Hall of Fame”
night as part of a big night of racing at the famed speedplant.
The five new inductees include multi-time dirt track
winner and champion Leon Archer of Griffin, GA, race driving
winner turned champion car builder Roscoe
Smith of Griffin, GA, short track ace
and former NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Jack Pennington of
Winston, GA, Super Modified race and championship winner
Charlie Burkhalter of Athens, GA and pioneer drag racer
and NASCAR car owner Julius Hughes of Atlanta, GA.
The announcement was made during the opening ceremonies
of the PPG Paints Top Gun Sealants 100 Pro Late Model
race at Gresham Motorsports Park, which also hosted a
huge Hall of Fame autograph session featuring several
past Hall of Famers, including Charlie Mincey, Ronnie
Sanders, Warren Johnson, Hubert Platt, Charlie Bagwell,
Hoyt Grimes and Bruce Brantley, along with members of
this year’s class. Also on hand were other members
of the “Fast 15” semi-finalists, including
former AMA Motorcycle and Stock Car champion Tammy Jo
Kirk and veteran stock car ace Harold Fountain.
The 2014 Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Induction banquet
will be held on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014 at 2 pm at the
Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, located inside the Dawsonville
Municipal Complex in Dawsonville, GA.
A limited number of seats for the banquet will be available.
For more information, call the Hall of Fame at (706) 216-RACE
(7223) or go online to georgiaracinghof.com.
Here’s a closer look at the 2014 inductees into
the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame:
Leon Archer – Griffin, GA - Born
Dec. 27, 1939, where he still lives with his wife Sandra
and son Mickey. He ran his first race at Zebulon Speedway
in 1967, won for the first time at Newman Speedway in
1968 and before he retired in the mid-1980s won more than
250 feature events in his dirt Late Model cars. He was
the first champion of the National Dirt Racing Association
in 1979, and his car No. 222 remains one of the iconic
car numbers in stock car racing. Archer won races at numerous
tracks across America including Senoia Raceway, West Atlanta
Raceway, Dixie Speedway, Rome Speedway, East Alabama Motor
Speedway, Anderson (SC) Speedway, Cherokee Speedway in
Gaffney, N.C., Lavonia Speedway, Hartwell Speedway, Thunderbowl
Speedway in Valdosta, Swainsboro Raceway, 441 Speedway
in Dublin, LaGrange Speedway, Concord Motor Speedway,
Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., Atomic Speedway
in Knoxville, Newport Speedway, Smoky Mountain Raceway,
Hagerstown (MD) Speedway, Myrtle Beach (SC) Speedway.
He also won numerous poles and set a number of track records
over the years. While he got the majority of his victories
in cars he owned and prepared himself, he also found victory
lane in cars owned by others including Barry Wright, Billy
Thomas, Fred Johnson, Darrell Monk and Denny Ross. For
nearly all of his career, Archer was a full-time racer,
and spent countless hours working on his cars and developing
innovative chassis set-ups at a time when there was little
technology to be purchased.
Charlie Burkhalter – Athens, GA
– Deceased – Successful competitor in the
north Georgia area – raced and won many times at
the Athens Speedway, Toccoa, the Peach Bowl, Jefco (Gresham
Motorsports Park), Banks County, and other tracks all
over the southeast. Championship Super Modified (Skeeter)
racer – Won races and titles against Hall of Famers
Charlie Mincey, Bud Lunsford, Buck Simmons and others.
Passed away in May of 2010.
Julius Hughes – Atlanta, GA –
Deceased – Began drag racing in 1955. Joined the
Georgia Tech Auto Club in 1956, and, with the help of
Hoyt Grimes, built a gas dragster, and competed at Ted
Edwards’ Drag Strip thorough the 50s. Raced at the
1955 National Championship Drag Races in Kansas City,
MO, winning in his class in a ’32 Ford Roadster,
which was later featured in a Hot Rod Magazine article
entitled “The Georgia Foursome.” Scored wins
in the 1955 Winter National at Daytona Beach and the 1956
Oklahoma City Nationals. From 1955 to 1964, he directed
racing events at Ted Edwards’ Dragstrip in Fairburn,
GA. Opened the Atlanta Speed Shop in 1960, the first speed
shop in Georgia. Won the D/Gas Class at the 1959 Nationals
at Detroit driving his famed “Zot” 1955 Chevy.
Won AA/Altered class at the 1964 US Nationals driving
“Zot II”. Set a National record with a 9.55
ET at 162 mph. In 1964, he began management of the Newton
County Drag Strip in Covington. The name was changed to
the Atlanta Speed Shop Dragway and became the first NHRA
sanctioned drag strip in Georgia. Held the annual “Atlanta
$10,000 Drag Race” for the first time in 1964, and
continued until 1972. Won the 1965 NHRA Division 2 Top
Fuel championship driving the nitro-powered “Zot
III”. His last drag race as a driver was in the
1971 Winternationals. During the 70s, he and his son,
Julius III, began racing drag boats, campaigning in the
“Zot Squirt”. In 1986, Julius, who had been
diagnosed with diabetes and had been on insulin since
he was 16, had a kidney transplant, which ended his driving
career. He would continue as a member of the racing industry.
He would become an ARCA and NASCAR car owner, with such
drivers as David Sosebee, Rob Mororso, and Jimmy Hensley.
In 1989, he was inducted into the NHRA Division 2 Hall
of Fame. He would continue to operate the Atlanta Speed
Shop until his death on February 15, 1992. He was posthumously
inducted into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame in
2003.
Jack Pennington – Winston, GA
– Began racing in 1974, competing and scoring wins
at Oglethorpe, Myrtle Beach, Gordon Park and other dirt
speedways – Won 1979 track championship at Myrtle
Beach, winning 12 poles in 13 races during the year –
Ran the NDRA series in 1980, winning six times. Won 39
races on the circuit in 1985 – Moved to the NASCAR
Sprint Cup series in 1990, was runner up for the Rookie
of the Year – Led six laps in that year’s
Daytona 500 – Returned to dirt, winning the 1992
Stick Elliott Memorial at Cherokee Speedway and the National
100 at East Alabama Motor Speedway – Inducted into
the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2006.
Roscoe Smith – Griffin, GA –
Born Dec. 13, 1939. Began racing drag cars and go-carts
in 1956. Ran several drag cars, including a front engine
Hoyt Grimes dragster, a self built 1965 Mustang A/FX,
a front runner to Funny Car and Cheating 4bb1 Class, etc,
partially funded by the Ford Motor Company. Won Top Eliminator
at an NHRA Meet in Phenix City, AL in 1965. Ran two drag
racing match races against Richard Petty in 1965. Moved
to oval track racing in 1969, winning countless races
across Georgia, along with racing in Florida, Tennessee,
Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi,
Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Won Florida State Championship
in 1977. Ran in the World 100 at Eldora Speedway in 1976
and 1977. Won several events over the years, including
the Pepsi 100 at West Atlanta Raceway and a 100 lap feature
at Middle Georgia Raceway. Competed in the next to last
race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, GA. Opened his racing
business and sold racing parts and built cars for 25 years.
Bought Ernie Elliott’s Standard Speed Supply Company
and Bud Lunsford’s Southern Auto Parts Company.
Built cars for some of the top racers in the country.
Worked with Robert Smalley in organizing the NDRA. Sold
his racing business in 1988.
About the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame - The Georgia Racing
Hall of Fame is owned by Dawsonville History Museum, INC.
The Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2002, and
became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in 2010. The
museum, recognized by the state legislature as the official
home of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, recognizes prominent
members of Georgia’s racing heritage. The Hall of
Fame also plays host to other events saluting the state's
racing history, including the annual Lakewood Speedway
reunion. The Hall of Fame and Museum are housed in the
Dawsonville City Municipal Complex just outside of downtown
Dawsonville, Georgia on Hwy. 53. The museum is open Monday
– Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday 12
p.m. - 4 p.m. Holiday and Summer hours vary. For more
information, call (706)216-RACE (7223) or go online to
www.georgiaracinghof.com.
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