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- Courtesy Of Bill Ladabouche
- Racers at Thunder Road Speedbowl in 1964
A group of gearheads has created the Vermont Motorsports Hall of Fame to recognize local legends of racing.
The new nonprofit officially fires up its engine on Saturday, March 30, at the first-ever Vermont Motorsports Expo in Barre. It will honor people in a wide range of motorized disciplines: stock car, sports car, hill climb, motocross, snowmobile, truck and tractor pull, karting, and demolition derby. The group will also name a "racer of the year."
"The green flag has barely flown on this project, but we are already up to speed," the organization's president, Justin St. Louis, said in a statement.
Other halls of fame exist in the state, including one for all Vermont sports legends, which has honored a handful of racing greats such as Bobby Dragon and the late Tom Curley and Ken Squier. But the new organization will also allow lesser-known racers to get some well-deserved recognition, St. Louis told Seven Days. Pioneers in the local racing circuit are getting older, he said, so the hall is a way to "make sure they know that they're not forgotten."
The hall will also provide "education for current and newer race fans," St. Louis said.
The 19-person founding group plans to nominate and vote on inaugural honorees, who will likely be announced later this year. St. Louis said the organization will rely on its membership to ensure the love is spread around, from stock-car and sprint-car racing luminaries to those in more obscure disciplines.
Many of those will be on display at the motorsports expo, which St. Louis said is intended to help racing fans shake off the winter doldrums.
"You can go in and touch [the cars], smell them and see them, meet the drivers, and just get your blood pumped for the year," he said.
St. Louis hopes fans will also learn about the need for a motorsports hall of fame and support the effort with a donation. His ultimate goal is to create a mobile museum that honors those legends.
"It's just time for them to be recognized," St. Louis said.