James “Jim” Smith, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ 2005 championship owner and one of four off-road figures whose racing dreams culminated in the creation of the truck series, was formally inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in July 2 ceremonies in Azusa, Calif. Smith’s Ultra Motorsports competed in 273 consecutive races between 1995 and 2006 and won 36 times most victories by a non-NASCAR Sprint Cup-affiliated team in the series. Ted Musgrave won the 2005 title driving Smith’s Dodge truck. Musgrave is one of eight different drivers who won races with Ultra Motorsports. Smith and his three fellow owners, unhappy they couldn’t get a television package for their off-road racing activities, approached Bill France Jr. in 1994 with the idea of racing pickup trucks under the NASCAR banner on asphalt tracks. The series became NASCAR’s third national circuit the following year.(NASCAR PR) [For more NASCAR News & Notes, visit the Iowa Race Page.](7-6-2010)
