Ken Willis emerged from two rounds of voting as the 2010 Henry T. McLemore Award winner. The McLemore Award is given to a journalist with an outstanding career of distinguished motorsports reporting. The voting panel consists of former McLemore winners. Willis, 47, is the sports columnist at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, where he’s worked for more than 25 years. While Willis writes about a variety of sports — his “Hey Willie!” column is followed by readers across the country — he has a key interest and keen insight into motorsports, especially topics related to NASCAR. The father of two has won numerous state, regional and national awards for his work and is considered one of the top writers in his field. Willis refuses to pull punches. He is not afraid to discuss difficult issues head-on using humor as his weapon of choice. For instance, when discussing how driver Matt Kenseth might celebrate a big victory or championship, Willis wondered out loud in a column if the low-key Sprint Cup driver would “paint the town plaid.” Willis and Kenseth had a humorous exchange on the subject during Kenseth’s post-race interview following his 2009 Daytona 500 victory. Willis, who lives in Port Orange, Fla., will be honored by his peers in a ceremony this summer.(4-5-2010)
