By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (February 26, 2025)………The USAC Hall of Fame class of inductees for 2025 has been revealed.
USAC’s 12th hall of fame class includes driver/car owner Jack Bowsher, driver Dave Darland, car owner/official Bob Estes, car owner/crew chief Bob Hampshire, promoters Roger & Linda Holdeman, official Tommy Hunt and driver Gordon Johncock.
The official 2025 USAC Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at USAC headquarters in Speedway, Indiana on Wednesday afternoon, July 2, 2025, during the BC39 festivities for the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Championship at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
MEET THE NEW USAC HALL OF FAME CLASS:
JACK BOWSHER
Although he never earned a championship in USAC Stock Car competition, Jack Bowsher was undoubtedly one of the preeminent figures of the sport.
Born in Harmony, Ohio on October 2, 1930, the U.S. Navy veteran’s USAC career spanned more than two decades. Prior to tackling USAC full-time, Bowsher found major success with three consecutive ARCA crowns in 1963-1964-1965.
His USAC resume ranks among the upper echelon. His 21 wins as a driver rank seventh; his 32 pole positions as a driver place him third; his 162 starts as a driver are eighth best; and his 38 car owner victories slot him third.
As a driver and car owner, Bowsher was equally proficient, finishing as the runner-up in USAC entrant points on three-straight occasions in 1968-1969-1970, while also placing two entries inside the top-five of the points in all three seasons. In 1971, he took second in the standings as a driver, boosted by a four-race winning streak.
Among those winning USAC Stock Car races in Jack Bowsher-owned cars are Parnelli Jones and A.J. Foyt, the latter of whom won four times in Bowsher’s ride en route to the 1968 driving title. Bowsher died on April 8, 2006, at age 75.
DAVE DARLAND
One of eight USAC career Triple Crown champions, by the time he hung up the helmet in 2023, Dave Darland had amassed more USAC National Sprint Car victories than any other driver.
Born on September 4, 1966, in Lincoln, Indiana, Darland earned his stripes by becoming a force on the local Indiana sprint car circuit. In time, he’d take the USAC world by storm, capturing four national driving titles: Silver Crown (1997), Sprint (1999) and Midget (2001-2002).
The first of his 62 USAC National Sprint car triumphs arrived in 1993, and proved to be the first of his 115 total USAC feature victories (nationally and regionally), which also includes 30 National Midget triumphs and 14 Silver Crown. He’s one of only seven drivers to surpass 100 career USAC wins.
His 1,334 USAC National starts rank number one all-time as do his 797 USAC Sprint Car starts between 1986-2023. One of Darland’s greatest attributes is his longevity of success. In fact, Darland scored at least one USAC national feature victory in a record 24 consecutive seasons between 1993-2016. All these years later, Darland has solidified his position as one of the all-time USAC greats, a status he will retain for eternity.
BOB ESTES
As one of USAC’s founding fathers, Bob Estes was monumental in the club’s formative years both on and off the track.
Born in Los Angeles, California on September 21, 1913, following a foray as a driver himself, Estes’ focus soon shifted toward business and race team ownership.
Following his service in World War II, Estes purchased a Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Inglewood, California. With his dealership employee and car builder Jud Phillips as his sidekick, Estes’ team captured AAA Midwest Sprint Car championships in 1953-1954 with Pat O’Connor.
At USAC’s inception in 1955, Estes was elected as the national car owner representative, a role he helmed until 1960. Later, he’d also serve USAC as its western regional representative.
O’Connor and Estes earned the inaugural USAC Midwest Sprint Car title in 1956. With Don Branson in 1959, Estes’ team duplicated its USAC Midwest Sprint championship. Estes also fielded several Indianapolis 500 entries, finishing a best of third with Don Freeland in the 1956 race.
Aside from the ovals, Ken Miles captured victory during the 1959 USAC Road Racing opener in Pomona, California, driving a Porsche RS Spyder owned by Estes. Estes died on December 11, 2001, at the age of 88.
BOB HAMPSHIRE
Without question, Bob Hampshire was instrumental in two of the most dominant eras by any driver in USAC history.
Born on September 25, 1946, Hampshire’s initial success as a USAC car owner came with Jac Haudenschild, who corralled a pair of wins in 1982. Yet Hampshire’s most iconic seasons came in association with Jack Hewitt. In all, the pair teamed up for 22 USAC Sprint Car victories between 1985-1997.
That said, Hampshire and Hewitt’s success on the USAC Silver Crown trail was simply dominant. Armed with their Challenger Chevy nicknamed “Gussie,” they annihilated the competition, winning all six dirt races they entered in 1986. In 1987, they repeated as series champs.
Officially, Hampshire is credited with 14 USAC Silver Crown owner wins, which once ranked as the most in series history. However, as a crew chief, Hampshire has orchestrated a boatload of victories with Hewitt at 6R Racing and 21 more with Kody Swanson at DePalma Motorsports between 2014-2018, a run which included four series titles in a five-year span.
In 2014, Hampshire was named USAC’s Chief Mechanic of the Year, and in 2018, his “63” became the first number officially retired for use in the USAC Silver Crown series.
ROGER & LINDA HOLDEMAN
When Roger Holdeman purchased Indiana’s Winchester Speedway in 1970, the 1/2-mile, high-banked oval was already world famous for its breathtaking speed and incomparable competition.
But in the years to follow, Holdeman took the hallowed grounds to another level while hosting 123 races between USAC’s Sprint, Midget and Stock Car divisions, many of which featured unique double and tripleheader formats along with cornerstone events such as the Rich Vogler Classic, Sammy Sessions Memorial, Border Wars and Oldtimers Weekend.
It was also a perfect match. Born and raised in Winchester, Roger graduated in 1957 from Winchester High School where he served as class president. As caretaker of Winchester Speedway, he oversaw a complete reconstruction of the grandstands, multiple repaves, the creation of a tunnel and new track lights.
In 1988, Roger married Linda, who had served as the promoter at Oswego Speedway. By 1989, the two were managing the track’s day-to-day duties and even constructed their new home outside turn one. A year later, Roger and Linda were named USAC’s Race Organizers of the Year for 1990.
Roger passed away at age 58 in 1996. Later that year, Linda was the recipient of the Diana Fell Gilmore Woman Behind the Scenes award.
TOMMY HUNT
The Hunt family was born to be motorsports lifers, and Tommy Hunt certainly fits the mold to a T.
Tommy’s father, Joe Hunt, was a magneto magnate and a longtime champ car team owner, employing many of the greatest drivers of the era. Tommy’s son, Tony Hunt, is a 10-time USAC driving champion in both rear engine machinery and sprint car racing.
Tommy was entrenched in the sport from day one, serving on the crew for his dad’s team. Eventually, Tommy became a driver himself, most notably scoring three California Racing Association (CRA) Sprint Car feature wins, plus 1974 Most Improved Driver honors, while also running the family’s magneto business until 1986.
Those experiences prepared Tommy for his role of 28 years at USAC between 1986-2013 in which he served as Vice President and the head of the series’ west coast operations where he oversaw the Midget, Sprint Car, Supermodified divisions, and was instrumental in introducing both the F2000 and Russell Pro series to USAC as well as the introduction of the Ford Focus Midget series.
Serving the sport with integrity, professionalism and doing things the right way, Tommy was honored with the Dick Jordan Award of Excellence in 2024.
GORDON JOHNCOCK
Gordon Johncock was a natural behind the wheel and became one of the premier drivers of his era, and of any era.
Born on August 5, 1936, in Hastings, Michigan, Johncock initially made his mark in supermodifieds, winning throughout the Midwest and as far east as New York’s Oswego Speedway.
In sprint cars, Johncock scored the inaugural Williams Grove National Open in 1963. With USAC in 1964, he opened eyes by conquering Indiana’s daunting Winchester Speedway, while also setting a new world record in qualifying, doing so without brakes at an average speed of nearly 105 mph.
Finishing fifth as an Indianapolis 500 Rookie in 1965, Johncock carried onward to his first Indy Car win at Milwaukee that same year, the first of his 20 career USAC National Championship victories. His defining moments came at Indianapolis in the tragedy-marred 1973 race, and again in 1982, when his 0.16 second winning margin over Rick Mears proved to be the closest in race history at the time. In 1976, he earned the series championship.
Johncock was adept at adapting to any setting, even winning a pair of USAC Stock Car races in 1972 at Milwaukee and in 1973 at Texas World Speedway.
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USAC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES:
2012: J.C. Agajanian, Mario Andretti, Gary Bettenhausen, Tom Binford, Jimmy Bryan, Duane Carter, A.J. Foyt, Tony Hulman, Parnelli Jones, Mel Kenyon, Roger McCluskey & Rich Vogler
2013: Earl Baltes, Henry Banks, Tony Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Jack Hewitt, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, A.J. Watson, Don White & Bob Wilke
2014: Rollie Beale, George Bignotti, Don Branson, Larry Dickson, Gus Hoffman, Jud Larson, Norm Nelson, Eddie Sachs, Don Smith, Bob Stroud, Rodger Ward & Bob Wente
2015: Clint Brawner, Jimmy Caruthers, Butch Hartman, Lindsey Hopkins, Jim Hurtubise, Don Kenyon, Sheldon Kinser, Fred Lorenzen, Roger Penske, Larry Rice, Shorty Templeman & Sleepy Tripp
2016: Steve Butler, Russ Clendenen, Jimmy Davies, Willie Davis, Bob Higman, Tommy Hinnershitz, Dick King, Rick Mears, Pat O’Connor, Kevin Olson, Tony Stewart & Bob Tattersall
2017: Donald Davidson, Frankie DelRoy, Bob East, Chuck Gurney, Gene Hartley, Steve Lewis, Howard Linne, Lloyd Ruby, Ken Schrader, Robbie Stanley, Steve Stapp & Johnny Thomson
2018: Mike Devin, Tony Elliott, Paul Goldsmith, Jason Leffler, Bill Lipkey, Troy Ruttman, Bob/Gene Shannon & Jimmy Sills
2019: Bryan Clauson, Johnny Capels, Dick Jordan & Dave Steele
2020: None
2021: None
2022: Doug Caruthers, Jay Drake, Galen Fox, Jeff Gordon, Dan Gurney, Ray Nichels, Johnny Vance & Joe Shaheen
2023: Bobby East, Ted Halibrand, Tracy Hines, Terry Lingner, Bill Marvel & The Wilke Family
2024: Gene Crucean, The Hoffman Family, Rickey Hood, Levi Jones, John Mahoney, Tom Marchese & Jud Phillips
2025: Jack Bowsher, Dave Darland, Bob Estes, Bob Hampshire, Roger & Linda Holdeman, Tommy Hunt & Gordon Johncock