BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The 11 finalists for this year’s induction into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame has been revealed.
The following names are finalists:
• The late Dick Cobb, winner of multiple track titles in California and Nevada over a 45-year racing career
• Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson
• Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am star Willy T. Ribbs
• Road racing standout Boris Said
• Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) champion Jimmy Vasser
• Multi-discipline team owner Calvin (Cal) Wells III
• Ernie Cope, NASCAR Cup Series crew chief
• Davey Hamilton, supermodified champion and Indianapolis 500 veteran
• Eric Holmes, three-time NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West champion
• Nine-time U.S. Auto Club sprint car champion Tony Hunt
• The late Ted Stofle, three-time NASCAR State of California champion
Voting by the organization’s Board of Directors continues through Jan. 29. The five inductees will be announced in early March.
The organization this year will induct its seventh Heritage class of six individuals whose careers largely began prior to 1970. The five Heritage inductees will be named in the spring. The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame will reveal its first 10 Pioneers of Motorsports – most of whom began their careers prior to World War II.
The induction ceremonies, presented by World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Illinois, will be held onJune 6 as part of the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR ARCA Menard Series West weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
The gala will be held in Sonoma Raceway’s Turn 11 Club and will feature naming of the 4th Annual Knockin Doorz Down Philanthropist of the Year presented by 51FIFTY.
“As the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame enters its third year of its third decade, the final choices for induction become more intense that ever before,” said Ken Clapp, Chairman and CEO of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame. “Each of the 11 finalists deserve induction. The final five will be absolutely over the top.
“I am extremely excited about finally establishing a pioneer category. The executive committee has been working for five years to create the category and the first-year honorees are nothing short of the greatest competitors from racing’s early years in the west.”