By Bob Baker
Knoxville, IA, December 19, 2025 – The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the names of its nine inductees for 2026. Those that will be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 30, during the 36th induction ceremonies in Knoxville, Iowa, are:
Drivers
Steve Chassey – The native of Massachusetts returned after fighting with honors in Vietnam to win the California Racing Association’s (CRA) Rookie of the Year title in 1969. He continued racing sprints, midgets, dirt champ and Indy cars across the country after relocating to Indianapolis. He won 15 times with USAC including the USAC Silver Crown “Hoosier Hundred” in 1994. He was prolific on the high banks with USAC and is the only driver in series history to win five times at one track in one year (Winchester Speedway, 1979). Steve was his own mechanic and engineer and after driving moved into race broadcasting for ESPN’s “Thursday Night Thunder.”
Jerry McClung – “Termite” Jerry McClung won his first race in 1962 at Manzanita Speedway in his native Phoenix. He followed that season with nine wins and a track championship at Manzy in 1963. Championships followed in 1967 and 1968. That began a career in Super-modifieds and sprint cars that saw 105 wins at Manzy alone. Jerry scored six wins with CRA including a track record at El Centro. In 1970 and 1971, he raced USAC National Midgets, recording ten wins and two top five finishes in points. He returned to success in the sprint car, registering more wins, including one at the Knoxville Raceway, where he qualified for the Knoxville Nationals finale three times.
Jerry Stone – Jerry’s career began around his native Wichita and ranged from super-modifieds to 100 inch dirt cars to 410 sprint cars across the Midwest and as far east as central Pennsylvania, where he was a regular for a time. Jerry made a name for himself, winning in many forms of racing, but his career became focused when the NCRA was formed. He won the 1976 prestigious Hutchinson (KS) Nationals, and later would befriend Lloyd K. Stephens and drive for the OFIXCO team. He won four NCRA championships before 1984. The following year he moved to central PA, racing there for a time and picking up wins at Williams Grove, Selinsgrove and Hagerstown, to name a few tracks. Upon returning to the Midwest, he picked up where he left off, capturing a fifth NCRA title and the Tulsa Speedway championship in 1990. He picked up over 125 wins in his sprint car/supermodified career and is already a member of four different Halls of Fame.
Owners-Mechanics-Builders-Manufacturers-Car Builders
Jimmy Carr – A British Columbia native, Jimmy’s career began behind the wheel. Over 14 years, he raced at Skagit (WA) Speedway, was the 1991 World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year, and picked up some regional wins from Illinois to California. His life changed when he joined forces with Danny Lasoski as crew chief on the Roth Beef Packers #86 in 1998. His experience as a driver translated when watching the car on the track. The car won 32 times with the WoO and took the Knoxville Nationals in 1998. Jimmy and Lasoski would build Tony Stewart Racing from the ground up, winning over 100 races over the next several seasons. Included was three more Knoxville Nationals titles, and a WoO championship in 2001, a year Carr was named the WoO “Mechanic of the Year.” After Lasoski parted with TSR, Carr stayed on as crew chief for several drivers (including Donny Schatz, who garnered 222 wins in that time), and eventually taking over as Team Manager. In five years with Dominic Scelzi’s team from 2020 to 2025, they amassed 48 wins and two NARC titles. In total, Jimmy’s involvement as a driver, crew chief and team manager resulted in over 400 wins entering 2025.
Ed Iskenderian – The son of Armenian immigrants in the central valley of California, Ed moved with his family south to Los Angeles when the grape vines went dry in the 1920’s. LA had become the racing capital of the world. Ed built his own Model T Roadster, but wasn’t satisfied with the reliability, he shifted his attention to Ford’s new V-8 engine. After flying supply missions in World War II, he worked as a Tool and Die maker. Frustrated by having to wait five months for camshafts, he began grinding his own with fellow Hall of Famer Ed Winfield. Word spread about the “Isky” cams, and in combination with local hot rods forming the California Racing Association (CRA) on oval tracks, business boomed. His one-man shop in Culver City, California has moved to currently employ over 100 in a 75,000 square foot facility in Gardena, California. Ed was the first president of SEMA and is in that Hall of Fame as well as PRI. Sprint cars across the country still rely on Isky cams. Ed turned 104 in 2025.
Bob Westphal – A native of Fremont, Nebraska, Bob would eventually move his operation to Oklahoma. He built engines that were successful in NHRA and NASCAR, but the self-taught mechanic made his mark with sprint cars through his Wesmar Racing Engines. Twenty-three drivers in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame starting with Bobby Marshall in 1981. In 1982, Sammy Swindell grabbed the first of over 200 World of Outlaws wins for Wesmar. Bob’s engines also won in Australia and New Zealand, and at least one was in the Knoxville Nationals championship from 1982 through 2013, with two wins. Wesmar also won eleven 360 Nationals titles at Knoxville. Championships came with WoO, ASCS, USCS, URC, IRA, USAC, OCRS, NCRA and the All Stars, as well as local and regional championships as well as other crown jewel events across the country. He collaborated with fellow engine builder Ron Shaver in the creation of Shaver-Wesmar Gear Drives which are used by many builders today. Bob passed away in 2013.
Promoters-Officials-Media Members-Event/Series Sponsors
Eloy Gutierrez – A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Eloy began as an official and flagman with the New Mexico Motor Racing Association in 1968. His involvement in racing would span over 55 years. Eloy’s biggest contribution may have come in the early 1990’s, when with partner, BD Schafer, they introduced electronic timing and scoring to sprint car racing. Initially, it made things much easier for scorers, but it has become a technology that is taken for granted across racing at tracks, by teams and mobile apps. Their technology took some convincing, but the World of Outlaws agreed to take the plunge in 1998. Eloy and BD often footed the bill for the technology and proper gear to get the job done. They also were responsible for the labor at the track including installing scoring loops. It made it’s television debut with TNN in 1998, and has become a staple that is taken for granted on broadcasts on TV or PPV. Eloy passed away in 2024.
Allan Holland – A native of Drums, Pennsylvania, and a plumber by trade, Allan utilized technology to bring results to anyone online in a matter of hours, changing the way sprint car news was distributed and written. In 1997, shortly after the internet became mainstream, he created Hoseheads.com. After almost 30 years, “Hoseheads” still brings timely news, columns and photos to sprint car fans around the world. Allan’s efforts brought some of the greatest writers and photographers to the computer for all to see. Several Hall of Famers have contributed to Hoseheads over the years, and it sparked the careers of several media members. In addition to the website, which Allan still updates often 365 days a year, he penned a column for Sprint Car & Midget for its run from 2002-22. Allan was also a producer with the Sprint Car Network (SCN), broadcasting World of Outlaws events over the internet for several seasons before PPV. When PPV came in, Allan has produced several events for DirtVision, and is currently producing the shows at Williams Grove Speedway in his native state. For many years, Allan has spearheaded the Central PA point fund, and has been generous in sponsorship of many sprint car related events. The “Hosehead” name has been used for many charitable organizations, a message board, and much more over the years!
Pre-1970
Bob Gregg – Bob’s driving career began in 1938 in the Pacific Northwest. He raced almost 50 years, with his last event in 1986. He scored wins in every decade. The Golden Wheels Vintage Racing Club based in western Washington named him “Driver of the Century.” He was one of the most decorated drivers in that region of the country. Much of his early success came in midgets where he won 13 season titles in Oregon and Washington. He was also winning in sprint cars, supermodifieds and roadsters during this time. In 1951, he won the ARA sanctioned 100-mile sprint car race in Reno, and won the eight-race US/Canada Gold Cup for sprints/supermodifieds in 1962 to name a couple of his accomplishments. Bob’s career included 22 championships. He passed away in 2002.
According to National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum executive director Bob Baker, “We’d like to acknowledge the hard work put in by our National Induction Committee and we thank them for another fine class of inductees! We are really looking forward to our 36th induction banquet at the Dyer-Hudson building on the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa on Saturday, May 30!”
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