BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Las Vegas Motor Speedway builder Richie Clyne heads a five-member class slated for induction into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame in June 2021.
Clyne’s fellow enshrinees – chosen via two rounds of voting by the Hall’s board of directors – are Dave Byrd, NASCAR Pacific Coast Region and touring series champion; Tom Gloy, Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am champion and NASCAR national series team owner; Tommy Kendall, International Motor Sports Ass’n and Trans-Am champion; and George Snider, 22-time Indianapolis 500 starter and United State Auto Club Gold and Silver Crown champion.
The Class of 2021 – the hall’s 18th – will be inducted Saturday, June 5, during the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame’s special, double induction ceremonies, presented by Gateway Motorsports Park, at the Meritage Resort & Spa in Napa, Calif. The event is companion to the NASCAR Cup Series and ARCA Menards Series West weekend at nearby Sonoma Raceway.
This year’s gala, marking the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame’s 20th anniversary, will enshrine two voted classes of members. Induction of the 2020 Class comprised of Mike Bliss, Craig Keough, Rick Mears, Jim Pettit II and Jerry Pitts was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organization also will induct its third and fourth Heritage classes of 10 individuals whose careers largely ended prior to 1970. The 2020 inductees previously announced are Harry Belletto, Howard Kaeding, Ken Miles, Jim Pettit Sr. and Billy Wilkerson. The 2021 Heritage inductees will be named in April.
Highlights of the induction ceremonies are slated to be broadcast later in the summer on MAVTV.
“For 20 years I have been saying, ‘how can we have such an impressive group of inductees that are so deserving as we have this year?’” said Ken Clapp, chairman and CEO of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame. “Well, we have done it again, bigger and better than ever and I am enormously proud to call them my friends, past and present.
“As we honor these famed motorsports icons, I also want to thank those that have helped the Hall in taking our charitable gifting, over five years, up to $600,000. We expect the figure to rise to a million dollars, hopefully, within the next couple of years.”