Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame Inducts New Members

One of the most successful team owners in all of motorsports, a legendary car show promoter and some of Louisville’s most successful short track oval racers will be part of the 2014 class of the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame.

The seventh annual induction ceremony was held October 25 at 2:00 p.m. CST at the SpeedZeum, home of the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame, inside the Owensboro Museum of Science and History in downtown Owensboro, Kentucky.

Topping the class of 2014 is Covington native Jack Roush, whose motorsports career has spanned the upper echelon of NASCAR, drag racing, sports car racing and automotive aftermarket engineering and development. His teams have won more than 300 races and championships across NASCAR’s top three divisions, championships in each of three major drag race sanctioning bodies and more than 100 races and 24 national sports car championships.

Other members of this year’s class include:

* Carl Casper and Chub Lorah of Louisville, promoters of the annual Carl Casper custom car show in Louisville, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2012. He is likely best known as one of the nation’s top car customizers, building vehicles for TV shows, movies and celebrities. He is also a former Top Fuel drag racing team owner.  They produced over 30 indoor car shows per year in the 1970s and 80s, and Chub was also a drag racing promoter.

* V.V. Cooke race team, a Louisville-based oval racing team the included operators of the former Chevrolet dealership. Team members include V.V. Cooke Sr., V.V. Cooke Jr., Gerald and Larry Newman, Roy Wathen and Kenny Reiter. They combined to dominate short track racing in Louisville and southern Indiana, as well as Automobile Racing Club of America [ARCA] series events.

* Hal Miller, of Owensboro, who built and promoted the first oval race track and drag strip in Owensboro – a city associated with speed. He built the Owensboro Drag Strip in 1958 and later Windy Hollow Speedway in 1970, playing host to the Waltrip and Green brothers.

* Bob Taylor of Louisville, a nationally recognized show car builder, painter and pin-stripe artist, who has operated Bob Taylor’s House of Color since 1967. His career has also included extensive work in the car show industry and sponsorship in both oval and drag racing. In 2013, Taylor was inducted into the Pinstripers Hall of Fame.

* Chuck Winders, of Louisville, the most successful driver in the history of the former Louisville Motor Speedway and a multi-time track champion. Chuck was also a NASCAR Winston Regional Racing Series finalist.

In addition, this year the Hall of Fame will present only its third Pioneer Award to Tony Schiller of Frankfort. Schiller is a former stock car driver who attended early beach races at Daytona and later competed for decades in the touring ARCA series.

The Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to preserving the history and recognizing Kentuckians who have made vast and varied contributions to all forms of racing and motorsports. Past inductees include three-time NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip of Owensboro; Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan of Louisville; three-time NHRA drag racing champion Darrell Alderman of Morehead and national tractor pulling champion Allen Gaines of Georgetown.