BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Two NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West champions, a CART rookie of the year, three crew chiefs and a pair of NASCAR Cup Series team owners are among the 13 finalists for Class of 2025 induction into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame.
The 13 finalists are:
• A.J. Allmendinger, Los Gatos, Calif., CART rookie of the year and NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series veteran
• Austin Cameron, El Cajon, Calif., who overcame life-threatening illness to win 15 NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West races
• Ernie Cope, Spanaway, Wash., NASCAR national series crew chief and competition director
• Chuck Gurney, Oakland, Calif., United States Auto Club Silver Crown and supermodified champion
• Davey Hamilton, Nampa, Idaho, Canadian-American Modified Association champion, Indianapolis 500 veteran and race promoter
• Lance Hooper, Palmdale, Calif., NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West and NASCAR Southwest Series champion in consecutive seasons
• Jeff Jefferson, Naches, Wash., three-time NASCAR Northwest Series owner champion and current NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West owner and crew chief
• Justin Marks, Menlo Park, Calif., founder and team owner of Trackhouse Entertainment Group and Trackhouse Racing competing in the NASCAR Cup Series and the international MotoGP
• Brad Noffsinger, Huntington Beach, Calif., back-to-back California Racing Association sprint car champion and winner of 50 CRA races
• Jim Naylor, Camarillo, Calif., since 1976 the operator of Ventura (Calif.) Raceway, home of the United States Auto Club Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix
• Boris Said, Carlsbad, Calif., Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am and Grand-Am GT champion
• Rick Ware, Los Angeles, Calif., owner of teams competing in NASCAR Cup Series, the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the NTT IndyCar Series, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, and FIM World Supercross and AMA American Flat Track motorcycles
• Sean Woodside, Saugus, Calif., 1999 NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West champion
Voting by the organization’s Board of Directors continues through Dec. 2. The five 2025 inductees will be announced in early December.
The organization in 2025 will induct its eighth Heritage class of individuals whose careers largely began prior to 1970. The five Heritage inductees will be named in January 2025. The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame will also reveal its next 10 Pioneers of Speed – most of whom began their careers prior to World War II.
“The closeness of the voting for our Class of 2025 is unprecedented,” said Ken Clapp, Chairman and CEO of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame. “With a four-way tie for 10th-place we chose to include all 13 nominees on the final ballot. In the event we have a tie for fifth in the final vote, all will be inducted.”
The induction ceremonies, presented by Illinois’ World Wide Technology Raceway, will be held Thursday, March 13 as kick-off of the March 14-16 NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The gala will be held at the South Point Hotel and Casino and will feature the naming of the 5th Annual Knockin Doorz Down Philanthropist of the Year presented by 51FIFTY.