DETROIT — Seven new members will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in August, the Hall announced Monday.
Members of the 22nd class of inductees are:
- Dale Armstrong — drag racing crew chief credited with, among other innovations, the use of wind tunnel technology to improve the aerodynamics of racing cars.
- Joie Chitwood — a championship sprint-car racer and Indianapolis 500 competitor before World War II who enjoyed a postwar career as a stunt driver.
- Alan Kulwicki — the 1992 champion of NASCAR's Winston (now Sprint) Cup Series, who died in an airplane crash just three months after celebrating his title.
- Jeremy McGrath — an eight-time AMA motocross champion whose flamboyant style presaged the antics of today's extreme athletes in various action sports.
- Ken Squier — a Vermont radio announcer whose voice became synonymous with stock car racing and who dubbed the Daytona 500 "The Great American Race."
- Jerry Titus — an accomplished sports-car racer who won the 1967 Trans-Am championship and who died in a racing crash at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, in 1970.
- Rich Vogler — the second-winningest driver in USAC's open-wheel ranks and a five-time Indy 500 qualifier who was killed in a sprint car crash at Salem (Indiana) Speedway in 1990.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, established in 1989, moved in November 2009 from its home in Novi, Michigan, to the Detroit Science Center.
Inaugural inductees in 1989 were military aviator Jimmy Doolittle; drag racing legend Don Garlits; motorcycle racer Erwin Baker, known by the nickname "Cannon Ball" (also spelled "Cannonball"); four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt; powerboat racer Bill Muncey; Formula 1 champion Phil Hill; seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty and bicycle racer turned auto racer Barney Oldfield, in the at-large category.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America honors individuals from all realms of motorized competition, including airplanes, boats and all types of cars and motorcycles.
Inside Line says: Another sterling group of inductees. — David Green, Correspondent
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