Three-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip will be inducted Thursday night into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America at the State Theatre. Waltrip, who won 84 Winston Cup races, will be one of eight inductees. Others are open-wheel and sports car racer Bob Bondurant, midget and Indy car star Mel Kenyon, safety equipment innovator and supplier Bill Simpson and motorcycle racer Gary Nixon. Inducted posthumously will be drag racing engine builder Ed Donovan, hydroplane racer and designer Ted Jones, and dirt track sprint champ Tommy Hinnershitz. NBC broadcaster Benny Parsons, a former Winston Cup champion, will be the master of ceremonies. Parsons, who grew up racing at short tracks around Detroit, was the first driver to qualify a stock car at more than 200mph, doing so at Talladega in 1982. Supporting Parsons onstage will be 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti, Winston Cup hotshot Ryan Newman and drag racing icon Don Garlits. All three will present awards. Previous inductees scheduled to attend the ceremony include Junior Johnson, Bobby Unser, Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki.( Detroit Free Press ) More info on my Hall of Fame/Museum page .(6-11-2003)
