12 Newsmaker of the Half-Century Nominees
Announced by AARWBA
Andretti, Bernstein, Earnhardt, Force, Foyt, France, Gordon, Gurney, Hulman-George, Parks, Penske, Petty Make List for Media Group’s Top 50th Anniversary Honor
The dozen nominees (in alphabetical order) are: Mario Andretti, Kenny Bernstein, Dale Earnhardt, John Force, A.J. Foyt, the France family, Jeff Gordon, Dan Gurney, the Hulman-George family, Wally Parks, Roger Penske and Richard Petty. The announcement was made at AARWBA’s annual All-America Team dinner at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel by AARWBA President Dusty Brandel and 50th Anniversary Celebration Chairman Michael Knight. AARWBA is the country’s oldest and largest organization of motorsports media professionals. The nominees were selected by AARWBA’s Board of Directors from an original list of 50 newsmakers. The full AARWBA membership will now vote for one of the 12 as Newsmaker of the Half-Century and their choice will be revealed at a public ceremony this May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the days leading up to the 89th Indy 500. The winner will receive a specially commissioned painting and AARWBA will make a donation to the recipient’s favorite charity. The Newsmaker of the Half-Century nominees represent the wide diversity
of American racing and their achievements include making headlines on-and-off
the track: * Bernstein captured six NHRA drag racing titles, four in the Funny Car class and two in Top Fuel, but perhaps is best known as “The King of Speed” after becoming the first driver to make a 300 mph quarter-mile pass in 1992. He retired after the 2002 season, but returned in ’03 to sub for injured son Brandon, and won four times to bring his career total to 69 victories. He earned a reputation as a pioneer in the business of motorsports with 26 consecutive years of Budweiser sponsorship and other ventures. His teams also won the Indy 500 pole and NASCAR Cup and CART races. * Earnhardt was a seven-time NASCAR Cup champion, tying Richard Petty’s record, and achieved legendary status as “The Intimidator.” He won 76 Cup races, including the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400, and earned over $41 million in Cup prize money alone. The team he founded, DEI, has fielded winning cars for several drivers, including son Dale Earnhardt Jr. His death on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 was headline news around the world. * Force won his 13th NHRA Funny Car championship in 2004, a total which includes a streak of 10 consecutive titles from 1993-2002. Five victories in ’04 brought his career total to a record 114 wins in 180 final-round appearances. He’s a four-time winner of the U.S. Nationals, the series’ biggest event. Recognized by media as one of the most colorful interview subjects in any sport. * Foyt was viewed as an American racing icon, for his exploits on dirt and paved tracks, even before he became the first four-time Indianapolis 500 winner in 1977. He earned a record seven Indy Car championships and won a record 67 Indy-type races before his retirement in 1993. He also has five titles in other series plus victories in the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans and 1972 Daytona 500 to his credit. Foyt made a fifth trip to victory lane at the Indy 500 as a car owner in 1999 and fielded the IRL championship team in 1996 and 1998. * The France family has led NASCAR to a position as the No. 2 sport in America, behind only the NFL. William H.G. (“Big Bill”) France promoted the famous beach/road races in Daytona Beach and founded the stock car organization in 1947. He built Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. He died in 1992. William C. (“Bill”) France succeeded his father as NASCAR president in 1972 while another son, Jim, became president of the family-founded International Speedway Corp. Bill steadily grew NASCAR into a true nation-wide series that even came to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway starting in 1994. National TV exposure and prize money greatly increased. Bill’s son, Brian, succeeded his father as NASCAR chairman in October 2003 and quickly revolutionized the series by instituting the “Chase for the Championship” format in 2004. Bill’s daughter, Lesa Kennedy, is a member of the NASCAR Board and president of ISC, which has built and acquired several major tracks in recent years. Jim now serves as vice chairman of both NASCAR and ISC and his son, J.C., is a winning driver in the Rolex Sports Car Series. * Gordon raced his way from short tracks as USAC midget and Silver Crown champion to the top of NASCAR’s Cup series in the 1990s and was hailed as “NASCAR’s Tiger Woods” as he helped elevate the sport to a higher level of popularity and interest in the mainstream media by hosting shows such as Saturday Night Live and Live with Regis and Kelly. He won the historic inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in 1994 and has gone on to claim that event a record four times, including 2004. He is a four-time NASCAR Cup titlist and has twice won the Daytona 500 in his total of 69 Cup victories. * Gurney is considered by many to have been America’s greatest international road racer. He competed in the world Formula One championship for many years and scored a satisfying victory in the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix in an All-American Racers Eagle of his own design and construction. He also teamed with Foyt to win Le Mans that year. Gurney won important NASCAR, sports car and Indy-type races before his retirement after the 1970 season. He forever influenced Indy racing by helping to convince Lotus Formula One team owner Colin Chapman to build a lightweight, Ford-powered rear-engine car for the Indy 500 in 1963. He owned the 1975 Indy winning car, driven by Bobby Unser, and successful CART and IMSA teams. * The Hulman-George family is responsible for making the Indianapolis 500 “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and the world’s largest single-day sporting event. Anton (“Tony”) Hulman purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945, and quickly began to upgrade the facility, which was in disrepair after World War II. In the following three decades he continued an aggressive program of track improvements and worked to build-up the now-traditional month of May activities surrounding the race. Hulman also was involved in the founding of the U.S. Auto Club. He died in 1977 and wife Mary Fendrich Hulman assumed the title as chairman. She died in 1998. Their daughter, Mari Hulman George, was named chairman in 1988. The winner’s purse exceeded $1 million for the first time in 1989. Anton (“Tony”) H. George, Tony Hulman’s grandson, became Speedway president in 1990. He continued the on-going track improvement effort leading up to his historic decision to bring NASCAR to the Speedway for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994. In 1996, George launched the Indy Racing League, then constructed an infield road course to stage the Speedway’s first U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race in 2000. IMS helped develop the groundbreaking SAFER barrier system and was the first to install it in 2002. George’s stepson, Ed Carpenter, is an IRL driver. * Parks was the driving force behind the creation of the National Hot Rod Association in 1951 and built the drag racing sanctioning organization into a successful governing body with Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle professional classes. He started in the late 1930s with the Southern California Timing Association, which focused on conducting land speed record events, and in the late 1940s became the first editor of Hot Rod magazine. He later was editorial director for all the Petersen auto magazines. He stepped-down as NHRA president in 1984 but remained chairman. Now in his 90s, Parks is still on the NHRA Board and is chairman of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, Calif. * Penske is the winningest car owner in Indianapolis 500 history, with 13 victories, and his team has been the most successful ever in U.S. open-wheel competition with 11 championships and more than 120 wins. He was one of America’s top young road racers before retiring in 1965 to concentrate on business. Since 1966, Penske’s team has won in every type of racing it entered, including NASCAR, Formula One, and various sports car series for an additional seven titles. He has employed some of history’s greatest drivers, including Mark Donohue, Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Allison and Rusty Wallace. Penske Cars has designed and built numerous championship machines. Penske is widely regarded as racing’s foremost entrepreneur, owned or built tracks such as Michigan Speedway and California Speedway, and was a co-founder of CART. * Petty set the standard for success in NASCAR with
a record 200 Cup victories and seven championships before his retirement
after the 1992 season. His historic 200th win came at Daytona in the
July 1984 Firecracker 400 and was witnessed by President Ronald Reagan.
He also holds the record for Cup starts and poles and wins in a season,
27, in 1967. His fan and media friendly personality helped earn him
the title “The King” and he made the No. 43 NASCAR’s
most famous car. He won the Daytona 500 a record seven times. He remains
active in NASCAR as owner of the Petty Enterprises car. Knight added, “The achievements of the 12 nominees have defined the history of the last 50 years of American motorsports. That news, often thrilling and sometimes tragic, has firmly positioned racing – as sport, entertainment and business – in the mainstream of popular interests in the U.S. Whoever the AARWBA members vote as Newsmaker of the Half-Century will be most deserving and will have made yet more headlines.” To learn more about AARWBA, please visit the AARWBA.org web site. A membership application form can be downloaded from the site. Official AARWBA 50th Anniversary Celebration sponsors are: Porsche Cars North America, NASCAR, Toyota Motorsports, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy Racing League, Valvoline, Honda, Champ Car World Series, Fernandez Racing, Budweiser, BMW, NHRA, American Le Mans Series and Ford Racing. Doug Stokes Wins Jim Chapman Award POMONA, Calif. – Doug Stokes, Irwindale Speedway director of communications, is the recipient of the 2004 Jim Chapman Award for excellence in motorsports public relations. The announcement was made Saturday night at the 35th annual American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association’s All-America Team dinner at the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel. AARWBA is the country’s oldest and largest organization of motorsports media professionals. AARWBA is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and, with the permission of the Chapman family, has resumed the Chapman Award. The honor is named in memory of Chapman, the legendary Detroit-area PR executive, who was a confidant of Babe Ruth and best remembered by many as director of racing for CART series sponsor PPG Industries from 1981 through his retirement in 1992. Chapman, who also orchestrated the annual Driver of the Year ceremony, died in 1996 at age 80. The Chapman Award was presented throughout the 1990s for PR achievement in the CART series but was on hiatus in recent years. AARWBA expanded eligibility to PR representatives from all forms of motorsports and Stokes was selected by an AARWBA blue-ribbon committee. Stokes has played a key role in making Irwindale Speedway, a one-half mile paved oval near Los Angeles that opened in 1999, into one of the country’s best-known short tracks. In addition to its own regular series, Irwindale hosts major national events, such as the USAC Thanksgiving Night Midget Grand Prix and the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown. Prior to joining the Irwindale staff, Stokes’ worked on the L.A. Vintage Grand Prix and at Perris Auto Speedway. The Chapman Award was presented to Stokes by Los Angeles Times Hall of Fame sportswriter Shav Glick, and introduced by AARWBA 50th Anniversary Celebration Chairman Michael Knight, winner of the first Chapman Award in 1991. Both Glick and Knight were close friends of Chapman. Other previous winners were: Tom Blattler, 1992; Deke Houlgate and Hank Ives, 1993-1994; Kathi Lauterbach, 1995; Marc Spiegel, 1996; Mike Zizzo, 1997; Tamy Valkosky, 1998. “Doug Stokes is a great friend of AARWBA and a perfect choice to win the Jim Chapman Award, especially at the start of our 50th anniversary year,” said AARWBA President Dusty Brandel.
BERNSTEIN THRILLED TO BE AARWBA NEWSMAKER OF THE HALF-CENTURY NOMINEE POMONA, Calif. (Jan. 15) - “This is a fabulous honor,” said Bernstein. “I’m still pinching myself to make sure I heard this correctly. To be whittled down to the final 12 from the mega hit list of motorsports’ greatest newsmakers is unbelievable. “And it’s very noteworthy that the drag racing side makes up 25 percent of the final nominees. We’re thrilled not only for ourselves, but for the recognition for our sport. At the Saturday AARWBA function, Bernstein also received the prestigious “Pioneer in Racing” award recognizing life-long contributions to the sport. Previous recipients include Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, Andy Granatelli, and the Agajanian family. In his acceptance speech Bernstein thanked the AARWBA members for all the coverage they have given his team through the years. “Thanks so much for this special award. We owe a so much to Sheryl (Kenny’s wife) who has poured her heart and soul into our career. “Wally and Barbara (Parks), thanks for your vision and what you have done for our sport, and we want to thank (NHRA President) Tom Compton for carrying the sport forward. “We were fortunate to play in many fields in our career. We fielded three Indy car teams with great drivers such as Al Unser, Sr., Johnny Rutherford, Jim Crawford and Roberto Guerrero. We had a NASCAR team with drivers Ricky Rudd and Brett Bodine to name a few, and we continued to campaign the NHRA circuit at the same time. “There were two months in 1992 that are the most memorable for us. In March we became the first to break the 300 mph barrier in NHRA drag racing, and then two months later our Indy car with Roberto Guerrero at the wheel took the pole of the Indy 500 with a record-breaking 232 mph speed. “We want to thank our sponsors and especially Budweiser, which
is second to none, as well as the fans who buy the tickets and come
to the races. None of this would exist without the fans.” |
KENNY BERNSTEIN: KING OF SPEED BOOK JUST RELEASED
Kenny Bernstein and ESPN commentator Bill Stephens collaborated on this book which is a story in pictures and words of the remarkable racing career of Kenny Bernstein, one of the marquee names in motorsports. The 160-page, 10” x 10” hardcover book contains never before published personal photos, highlights of his NHRA racing career, as well as some of his achievements as a NASCAR and CART team owner. We have stock now! $24.95 plus shipping. Visit www.kingofspeed.com. |
Hey all you Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel
Fans!
Kenny Bernstein has released some of his private Owner’s inventory of diecast manufactured over his career by Action and Racing Champions. If you are missing any pieces from your collection you may just find it here. Check out these rare pieces on www.kennybernstein.com. These items are limited to stock on hand. Don’t miss out! Budweiser King Racing |
| |
| |