RIVERSIDE, Ohio -- The Executive Board of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame (NDLMHOF) recently voted to reorganize the categories in which drivers and members of the dirt Late Model racing industry are selected and inducted. The ‘Active Driver’ category has been discarded in favor of the new ‘The Masters’ category. To be eligible for induction into ‘The Masters’ category, a driver may be active but must have been racing dirt Late Models for a minimum of 30 years. The ‘Retired Drivers’ and the “Outstanding Contribution to the Sport’ categories will remain. A new provision to the “Sportsman Award’ is that a person can only be eligible to win it once.
“We hope the fans, drivers and members of the industry will accept these changes,” stated Bill Holder, Executive Director of the NDLMHOF. “We are always striving to tweak the process and make the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame better and more inclusive. On behalf of all of the Executive Board, and the entire voting board, I would like to thank the thousands of fans, drivers and members of the industry who have enthusiastically supported the concept of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.”
There has been strong support for the new ‘The Masters’ category among people in the industry.
“After several meetings this summer, the Executive Board unanimously agreed that eliminating the ‘Active Drivers’ category in favor of what we came to term ‘The Masters’ category would be in the best interests of the sport and future inductees and their families,” noted Doc Lehman, Associate Director of the NDLMHOF. “There are so many current drivers who are having outstanding, and in many cases, record breaking careers, and their time will come.”
“It is our intention to honor those who ‘came before’ and who laid the groundwork, established the sport and paved the way for what we all now enjoy. Many drivers who have 30, 35, 40 or more years are obviously at the twilight of their careers and we feel it is important to recognize and honor them at a time they are winding down their careers and are able to participate and enjoy the recognition of being inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.”
The voting board of the NDLMHOF will be receiving the final voting ballots for the Class of 2003 in January 2003. Those selected into the Class of 2003 will be announced at a later time.
The Executive Board of the NDLMHOF also announced that they will be expanding the constituency of the Voting Board to include wider and more diverse representation from around the country.
The current Executive Board of the NDLMHOF consists of Holder, Lehman, Susan Bauer Lee, Tim Lee, Gerald Newton, Jerry King and Ozzie Altman. The NDLMHOF Voting Board currently consists of 35 voting members, which will soon be expanded.
2002 sponsors of the NDLMHOF include Arizona Sport Shirts, Dirt America.com, Dirt Late Model Magazine, Dirt-Racers.com, Florence Speedway, Hoosier Tire Midwest, CJ Rayburn Race Cars, Charlie Fisher Racing Engines and Dirtwearmall.com.
For updates and additional information on the NDLMHOF visit the NDLMHOF website at: www.ndlmhof.com.
