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| Established | 2002 |
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| Location | Dawsonville, Georgia |
| Type | Professional sports hall of fame |
| Website | georgiaracinghof |
The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame is a museum located in Dawsonville, Georgia. Established in 2002, the museum serves to preserve the auto racing achievements of notable racecar drivers from Georgia. [1]
The museum holds numerous artifacts, including a 1948 car driven by Red Byron and the Ford racecar driven by Gober Sosebee in the Daytona 500 (depicted in logo). [2] [3]
As of 2024, the museum has 130 inductees, all of whom have either previously been a racecar driver, contributed to the sport, or contributed to the museum itself.
Originally, the museum would select eight individuals to induct into the Hall of Fame. Beginning in 2010, this number was reduced to five. [4]
Dawson County is a county located in the Northeast portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,798 up from 22,330 in 2010. The county seat is Dawsonville.
Dawsonville is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,536 at the 2010 census, up from 619 in 2000.
William Clyde Elliott Sr., also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience part-time in 2022. His accolades include the 1988 Winston Cup Championship and garnering 44 wins in that series, including two Daytona 500 victories in 1985 and 1987, three Southern 500 victories in 1985, 1988, and 1994, one Winston 500 victory in 1985, one Brickyard 400 victory in 2002, one "The Winston All-Star Race" win in 1986, and a record four consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway between 1985 and 1986.
Roger Searle Penske is a retired American professional auto racing driver. Penske is most known for his ownership of Team Penske, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and other auto racing-related businesses. Penske is the founder and chairman of the Penske Corporation, a holding company for his various businesses. Penske is also a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
The 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock season was the inaugural season of professional stock car racing in the United States. Beginning at Charlotte Speedway on June 19, 1949, the season included eight races and two exhibition races. The season concluded with the Wilkes 200 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on October 16. Raymond Parks won the Owners' Championship, while Red Byron won the Drivers' Championship with a 16th-place finish at the final race of the season.
Frederick Samuel Duesenberg was a German-born American automobile and engine designer, manufacturer and sportsman who was internationally known as a designer of racecars and racing engines. Duesenberg's engineering expertise influenced the development of the automobile, especially during the 1910s and 1920s. He is credited with introducing an eight-cylinder engine, also known as the Duesenberg Straight-8 engine, and four-wheel hydraulic brakes, a first for American cars, in addition to other mechanical innovations. Duesenberg was also patentholder of his designs for a four-wheel hydraulic brake, an early automatic transmission, and a cooling system, among others. Fred and his younger brother, August "Augie" Duesenberg, shared the patents, filed in 1913 and renewed in 1918, for their "walking beam" four-cylinder engine and the Duesenberg Straight 8.
August Samuel Duesenberg was a German-born American automobile and engine manufacturer who built American racing and racing engines that set speed records at Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1920; won the French Grand Prix in 1921; and won Indianapolis 500-mile races, as well as setting one-hour and 24-hour speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 1935. He also shared with his older brother, Frederick S. "Fred" Duesenberg, patents filed in 1913 and renewed in 1918 for a four-cylinder engine design and the Duesenberg Straight 8.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sports Cars, Aviation, At Large, Off-Road and Historic. Periodic recognition is given to specialty categories including Speed Records, Business and Technology. Its annual Induction Ceremony is attended by notables throughout the motorsports community and is reported on widely.
The National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame is a non-profit hall of fame for American drivers of dirt late model racecars. It is located on the grounds of Florence Speedway in Walton, Kentucky.
Holman-Moody is an American racecar manufacturer, marine engine manufacturer and former auto racing team. The company currently operates out of Charlotte, North Carolina, but is no longer a race team. Holman-Moody continues to manufacture racing vehicles using vintage parts and methods, along with special editions of modern Ford sports cars. The race team built virtually all of the factory Ford racing vehicles of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It owned race cars that competed in NASCAR, drag racing, ocean boat racing, rallies, and sports car racing. The team won NASCAR championships in 1968 and 1969 with driver David Pearson and also the 1967 Daytona 500 with Mario Andretti. Their most recognized trademark is "Competition Proven."
Raymond Parks was an American stock car racing team owner. He was the owner of Red Byron's car which won the inaugural NASCAR Strictly Stock Series championship in 1949. Parks was announced as one of the members of the 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame class.
Gober C. Sosebee was an American racecar driver. He won on the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1949, 1950, and 1951. He was born in Dawson County, Georgia, and began his career in 1940 at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway.
Raymond Lee Fox, Sr. was an American engine builder, NASCAR car owner and NASCAR engine inspector. His cars won fourteen NASCAR Grand National Series events and sixteen pole positions. His son and grandson, also known as Raymond Lee Fox Jr and III, respectively, also were NASCAR mechanics, with Ray Fox III currently working with Team Penske.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, which houses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. It is intrinsically linked to the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400, but it also includes exhibits reflecting other forms of motorsports, passenger cars, and general automotive history. In 2006, it celebrated its 50th anniversary. The museum foundation possesses several former Indianapolis 500 winning cars, and pace cars, and they are regularly rotated onto the display floor exhibits.
Carl D. "Lightning" Lloyd Seay was an early stock car racing driver from Georgia. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. described Seay as the "best pure race driver I ever saw". He was shot to death by his cousin Woodrow Anderson over a moonshine operation. His last name was pronounced as "See".
Wilbur Rakestraw was an American racing car driver. He was born in Dallas, Georgia, into a family of racers. His career included racing in the SRE organization as well as the 11 NASCAR Grand National Series and 30 Convertible races. Rakestraw was known for his toughness and thoughtfulness of other drivers due to one incident at Lakewood Speedway in 1957 when he drove through a fence and into the infield lake to avoid T-boning another driver who had crashed in front of him. After he retired from racing, Rakestraw went to work as a mechanic and later became a service manager for a local grading company.
Fremont Speedway, also known as "The Track That Action Built" and "Home of the All Stars", is a semi-banked 1/3 mile clay oval speedway located at the Sandusky County Fairgrounds in Fremont, Ohio, United States. Races are typically held on Saturday nights. Regular events include 410 cubic inch sprint cars, 305 cubic inch sprint cars, and dirt trucks. In 2024, the World of Outlaws sprint car series returns to the speedway for the first time since 2016. The speedway has previously hosted the All Star Circuit of Champions, National Sprint Tour, and United States Auto Club.
David Sosebee is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car driver who competed from 1979 to 1988. He is the son of racer Gober Sosebee.
Bobby Allen is an American racecar driver known for racing winged sprint cars. He currently owns Shark Racing, a World of Outlaws sprint car team that fields two cars driven by his son Jacob Allen and his grandson Logan Schuchart.
Spencer Scott Davis is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner, who currently competes part-time in the Whelen Modified Tour. He also competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, last driving the No. 04 Ford F-150 for Roper Racing.