NEWTON, Iowa – As a part of the day’s festivities leading up to the Shore Lunch 150 on July 24 at Iowa Speedway, ARCA Menards Series and track officials have added a 30-minute driver autograph session to the calendar at 6:45 p.m. CT.
Four ARCA champions – all with deep Iowa ties – will also be a part of the day’s activities and participate in the autograph session.
Three-time ARCA Menards Series champion Ron Hutcherson (1972-74) and two-time champion Ramo Stott (1970-71), both from Keokuk, will be joined by West Des Moines native and 2014 series titlist Mason Mitchell. The three drivers will be joined by nine-time ARCA Menards Series car owner champion, and Iowa Speedway founding partner, Larry Clement. All four will serve as pre-race dignitaries and be honored prior to the Shore Lunch 150.
Hutcherson’s career as a driver did not last long, but he made the most out of his time behind the wheel, winning 12 times and winning three consecutive series championships. Hutcherson also won at Daytona and Talladega in addition to a slew of short tracks across the Midwest He made 10 career starts in the Cup Series, finishing fourth in the 1978 Daytona 500 after starting on the front row. After his driving career, he and his brother Dick partnered in the Hutcherson-Pagan chassis and parts company, building hundreds of race-winning cars for many of the top teams and drivers in the 1980s and 90s.
Stott won 27 times throughout his ARCA Menards Series career, from dusty short tracks like Clay City Raceway to Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Stott’s final win came in 1988 at Kentucky’s Perry County Speedway. He went on to make 35 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, 10 of which he raced into the lead and was the pole sitter for the 1975 Daytona 500.
Mitchell scored three wins as a driver, including a cornerstone win at Iowa Speedway in 2015 that he said at the time was “bigger than winning the Daytona 500.” After winning the series title, he transitioned into team ownership and won races with drivers Austin Wayne Self and Gus Dean.
Clement set the bar for team ownership, winning nine series titles with ARCA’s all-time series win leader Frank Kimmel at the wheel. In addition to his stellar record as a car owner, which will likely go unmatched, Clement was an instrumental part of the group that built Iowa Speedway in 2005 and 2006.
“We wouldn’t be here today if not for those who came before us,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. ”We greatly appreciate the contributions that Ramo, Ron, Mason, and Larry made to ARCA, both on a national scale and in their home state. We are looking forward to getting to Iowa so the fans can celebrate that history with their local heroes in person.”