The Little 500 Hall of Fame will hold their annual induction ceremony on May 29, welcoming three well-known racers into their circle.
Veterans all three, they are prepared to step into Little 500 immortality.
The Little 500 Hall of Fame will hold their annual induction ceremony on Saturday, May 29, welcoming three well-known racers into their circle. Brian Gerster, Danny Smith and Bill Tyler will be honored as this year‘s class of Little 500 inductees.
Gerster has become a perennial favorite in recent years at the Little 500, hailing from just down the road in Fishers. He‘s made 12 starts at the Little 500, and his best showing to date came in 2012 when he finished third. He has scored five top-10 finishes to date.
With his effort in 2020, Gerster has now completed 4,080 laps in competition at the Little 500.
Gerster is a great example of how the Little 500 can grow from a casual interest into a serious objective, and finally become a gripping and powerful attraction. A longtime racer, Gerster divides his time these days between work, family and racing commitments. But no day of the year is bigger than when he climbs into his car at the Little 500, working hard to achieve that breakthrough victory.
Smith made his first Little 500 start as an 18-year-old teen sensation in 1975, earning Rookie of the Year honors. In 1979 Smith was co-winner of the event in one of the most spectacular and unlikely finishes in motorsports history. Wayne Reutimann was leading with just eight laps remaining when he climbed a wheel coming off turn two, flipping wildly down the backstretch and tearing down some fencing.
As the scorers scrambled to set a restart lineup and officials repaired the fence, Reutimann was carted to a nearby hospital as his crew pried and welded on the battered car. Smith jumped aboard in relief and gamely nursed the bent, broken machine the final eight laps to the checkered.
After a long absence from the Little 500, Smith returned in 2014, establishing a race record for the number of years between starts (1979 to 2014).
Tyler was a strong contender at Anderson from 1986 to 2001, earning four top-five finishes in just eight starts. A native of Jackson, Michigan, Tyler was among a strong Michigan contingent that began making the annual trek to Anderson each May, led by legendary car builders Max and Butch Dowker.
Tyler‘s best Little 500 performance came in 1989 when he teamed with fellow Michigan car owner Frank Bellairs to wheel a Dowker-built roadster. Tyler surged from his 16th starting position to lead a long stint of 99 laps at the midway point of the race before pitting. After battling back into contention, Tyler took over the runner-up spot in the waning laps and finished second.
A race like no other, through the years the Little 500 has hosted some of the best shoes in motorsports history. The Little 500 Hall of Fame was established to honor drivers, owners, officials, media members and others for their contributions to the event, with the first induction ceremony held in 1991. To date a total of 116 individuals have been inducted into the Little 500 Hall of Fame.
In the beginning, the Hall of Fame focused on the early pioneers of the race, such as four-time winning driver Tom Cherry, pioneering local car builder and owner Howard Hall, and track founder Joe Helpling. Through the years the induction process began to include more contemporary figures, each of whom has left their own indelible mark on the event.
This year‘s ceremony will take place at Anderson Speedway on race day, just a few hours before the 73rd running of the Little 500. The induction ceremony is open to the public and begins with a luncheon, followed by honoring each of this year‘s class of inductees.