Hall of Famers no strangers here
Interestingly, four of the five newest members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame have raced in the Hamilton area.
Recently inducted into the 2019 class are Davey Allison, Jeff Gordon, Alan Kulwicki, Roger Penske and Jack Roush. All but Gordon have visited tracks in this area at some time.
A native of Wisconsin, Kulwicki ran in the popular ASA Series for several years before heading to Cup competition. He raced several times at Cayuga Speedway when the big oval hosted an ASA event, including a win in the June 1984 running of the Molson 200.
A determined racer, Kulwicki headed to Charlotte that same year running his own team, and with limited funds made a name for himself as NASCAR Rookie of the year in 1986.
He picked up his first Cup win in 1988, his first of five, and took the Cup title in 1992. He was killed in a plane crash the following year, not yet 42 years old.
Another NASCAR driver who was killed in an aviation mishap, Davey Allison, won 19 Cup races including the 1992 Daytona 500 after starting in the series in 1987. Before that, he honed his skills on local Alabama tracks and raced at Cayuga a couple of times.
The son of NASCAR legend Bobby Allison, who was a frequent visitor to Cayuga, Davey ran in the 1989 Molson 400. He also took part in a unique event which featured four Allisons: Bobby and his sons Davey and Clifford, and brother Donnie. Davey Allison was killed in a helicopter crash in 1993.
Before he became one of the most successful businessmen in the transportation field along with owning multiple car NASCAR and IndyCar teams, Roger Penske was a road racer of note. In the late 1950s and early 1960s this Ohio native competed at circuits throughout the U.S., with a few stops at the former Harewood Acres course south of Hamilton near Jarvis.
In July 1959, driving his Porsche RSK Penske won the O’Keefe Sundown Grand Prix, a six-hour enduro.
In May 1960, he won all three phases of the Carling 300, and in October of that year, teamed up with Canadian Peter Ryan to win the second Sundown endurance event.
Perhaps the most successful team owner in auto racing, Penske celebrated his 50th year in the sport in 2016 along with celebrating his 100th win in Cup competition.
Another successful NASCAR team owner is Jack Roush, who turned to major oval track racing in 1988 after a successful career in drag racing.
With a master’s degree in scientific mathematics, the Kentucky native went to work for
Ford and Chrysler before starting his own performance engineering company in 1970.
It was during this time he teamed up with Wayne Gapp and their Pro Stock Fords were always in a threat in NHRA and IHRA.
The team’s Pinto was a common sight at major meets at the Cayuga Dragway. Roush also tried IMSA and SCCA road racing before setting up his NASCAR teams, and as head of Roush Fenway Racing he has won 325 races in NASCAR’s top three series.
Roush returned to the Hamilton area in November 2009. A big Second World War aviation buff who owns a pair of P-51 Mustang fighters, Roush was given a ride in the Avro Lancaster and Mitchell B-25 bombers of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.
This group will be honoured at the Hall of Fame ceremony next February.
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Weekend winners ... There appears to be no
stopping Dylan Westbrook. The Scotland racer won his fourth consecutive feature in the 360 Sprint Car class at Ohsweken Speedway recently ... Another racer with a perfect record for 2018 is Lynden’s Jordan Szoke, who claimed the latest round in Pro Superbike of the Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship at the Grand Bend Motorplex, passing Ben Young of Collingwood on the last corner of the last lap ... Mark Sammut of London won the latest IMSA Super Modified event, a 50lapper at Lancaster Speedway ... Jukasa Motor Speedway gets its season started Saturday with the running of the Rankin Construction 200 for the NASCAR Pinty’s Series plus racing in the OSCAAR Modified and Hot Rod Series.