My home state of Virginia has oft looked down its nose at my favorite past time, but I am happy to learn that two gentlemen of note in the racing world were inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in January of this year. While one was long overdue in my opinion, I applaud the selections of the late driver, Ray Hendrick and motorsports writer, Al Pearce . Two excellent selections IMHO.
Here are the official write-ups of the two inductees:
VIRGINIA SPORTS HALL OF FAME 2012 INDUCTEES
Ray Hendrick
Sport : Auto Racing :
Ray Hendrick, native of Richmond, VA, was known as Mr. Modified during his 36-year career in motorsports. He passed away at the age of 61 in 1990. During his career, he collected more than 700 victories in modified racing, NASCAR Winston Cup Series and late model sportsman series. Ray Hendrick was the first inductee into the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2003 and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007. In 1998, he was named one of NASCARs 50 Greatest Drivers, named one of NASCAR Modified All-Time Top 10. He was best known for his racing philosophy of racing anywhere and everywhere. Hendrick won five track championships at the South Boston Speedway, and finished nine times in the Top 10 in the NASCAR Modified Division. In the NASCAR Winston Cup Series out of 17 starts, he collected 2 top-five finishes and six top-ten finishes. He is first on the all-time winners list of Martinsville Speedway with 20 wins between 1963 and 1975 ahead of Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip and Richie Evans.
Al Pearce
Media : Newspaper : Presbyterian College
Al Pearce, native of Rocky Mount, NC, graduated from Presbyterian College in 1965 and taught high school in Jacksonville, FL while awaiting a call from the Army. He had two postings at Fort Eustis and did a 13-month tour in Viet Nam (1967-68). He was hired by The Times-Herald (now the Daily Press) in June of 1969 and worked until retiring in November of 2004. Pearce covered everything in those 35 years, including high school, college and professional sports. He began covering racing in 1969, and it became his primary beat for virtually his entire newspaper career. He began working with AutoWeek magazine in 1973 and continues there as their NASCAR editor. He has authored solely or co-authored 13 books about NASCAR. He has eight Virginia Press Association Awards with the Daily Press and received the Henry McLemore Award in 2003, the highest recognition for a motorsports journalist. He also was inducted that year into the Media Wing of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega, Ala. His contributions to motorsports journalism also have been recognized by Langley Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Martinsville Speedway, and by the Peninsula Sports Club.
That's Al Pearce back row left being honored in the Virgina General Assembly in January.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM