CALISTOGA, Calif. – Calistoga Speedway added nine new members to its Hall of Fame Friday night on the eve of the Louie Vermeil Classic, including the track‘s first winner in 1938 and the Hunt family, long-time race promoters at the half-mile oval in the Napa Valley.
The induction dinner was held at Chico‘s Silver Dollar Speedway due to the temporary closure of the Napa County Fairgrounds.
The Hunt family, including Tommy, wife Jeanne, daughter Lauri and son Tony, reluctantly accepted the Hall of Fame induction which was determined by an independent committee led by Ken Clapp, former NASCAR Vice-President.
“This is to thank them for an unbelievable contribution to the sport for a long, long time,” said Clapp, referring to Tommy Hunt‘s tenure as an executive in charge of USAC‘s West Coast operations and as a driver, prior to resurrecting the racing program at Calistoga. “The whole family works to get the job done and they do it with passion,” said Clapp.
The other inductees included:
Gene Figone, who won the very first race held at Calistoga in 1938.
“He was a fantastic racer who raced and won in anything that had wheels on it, including motorcycles, midgets and Big Cars,” said historian Tom Motter in presenting the award.
Dewey Gatson, also known as Rajo Jack, who raced from the 1920‘s to the 1950‘s and who, as a Black man, broke the color barrier in racing decades before Wendell Scott raced in NASCAR.
“He showed that a Black man could win races and be respected,” said Bill Poehler, who recently published a book about Gatson‘s life. “He won at Calistoga in 1949 and that marked a comeback after he had been out of racing for a while and when everyone thought his career was over.”
Shane Scott, a seven-time Silver Dollar Speedway champion who also raced at Calistoga in the 1980s.
“My parents bought a house just down the street from the race track in Chico and I would walk to the track every Friday night to watch my heros,” said Scott. “Tonight, I‘m thrilled to be in the same company as those guys I grew up watching.”
Paul Worden, the 1961 car owner and driving champion in the Northern Auto Racing Club, driving a car he built from junkyard pieces.
“From a very young age, he had a knack for making things run,” recalled his son Ivan Worden in accepting the award.
Ray Smith, a car owner who campaigned a car at Calistoga in the 1970‘s and ‘80s.
“He won a lot of races, but never won the Calistoga championship,” noted his son, Ray Smith, Jr. “But he was a sportsman and win or lose, he loved every minute of it.”
Roger Henderson, a car owner who campaigned at Calistoga in the 1970‘s and ‘80‘s with driver such as Jimmy Sills, Hank Butcher and Jimmy Boyd. Other inductees included Rick Hirst, the 1986 Northern Auto Racing Club and Calistoga Speedway champion and Dick Golden, the 1967 NARC champion.
The Louie Vermeil Classic will run Saturday on the Silver Dollar Speedway quarter-mile, featuring the NARC-King of the West Fujitsu Sprint Car Series and the non-winged sprint cars from the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series.