BELLEVILLE, Kan. — A pair of SPEED SPORT contributors are among six new inductees to the High Banks Hall of Fame.
Longtime National Speed Sport News writer Mearl Holbrook and current SPEED SPORT columnist Pat Sullivan headline a class that includes John Allen, Renn Allsman, Junior Parkinson and Rick Salem.
The six who make up the 24th class for the Hall of Fame, will be inducted on Aug. 3.
John Allen — this Chanute, Kan., driver won nine career features at the High Banks, the most all time in the modified ranks. Allen scored more than 250 feature wins and was a three-time NCRA Modified champion.
Renn Allsman — This Belleville native became one of the fastest late model racers in the history of the High Banks in the 1970s. Allsman set and reset track records at a pace not seen before or since.
Mearl Holbrook — An early member of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Ass’n, Holbrook was active in their PR work. Holbrook wore many hats with the Big Car Racing Ass’n beginning in 1963. He was also involved with the National Championship Racing Ass’n and covered racing for National Speed Sport News.
Junior Parkinson — Junior grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas and learned to race under the wing of his Hall of Fame father, Ralph Sr. Junior won with IMCA, Knoxville Raceway, I-70 Speedway and finished second to Jan Opperman in the 1973 All Star Series.
Rick Salem — Following a stellar supermodified, sprint and midget racing career, Salem founded the United Rebel Sprint Series in 2005. The URSS has been sanctioning races at Belleville since 2010 and has been the sanctioning body for the Belleville 305 Sprint Nationals since its beginning in 2018.
Pat Sullivan — Sullivan has earned so many accolades in his career it is hard to keep track of them all. A six-time media member of the year, Sullivan is the voice of the USAC Silver Crown Series and has announced and written about nearly every form of racing, from Indy cars to three-quarter midgets.
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