As provided earlier: 
Hall of Fame Announces Notable Lineup of Speakers Pre- and Post-Event Parties Planned The stars will be out!Former and future Hall of Famers, car owners, media members, track officials, personal friends and family members will be introducing the Class of 2023 during the upcoming induction ceremonies at the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame. The 31st annual induction program will take place Thursday, July 13 at 7 pm in the Hall of Fame Museum on the Weedsport Speedway campus in New York. The event is free and open to the public, with both pre- and post-program celebrations planned. Each one of this year’s guest speakers has a special connection to an honoree. A Hall of Famer himself, honored with the Gene DeWitt Car Owner Award in 2005, Bob Faust and his late wife Michele owned one of the top Modified teams in the region, with high-powered name drivers like Frank Cozze, Craig Von Dohren, Billy Pauch and Jimmy Horton, before our 2023 inductee Tim Fuller was added to the list in 1999. “I had been watching Timmy for a good year or two. And every race he ran he’d run good—top three, top five—and then fail and go backwards,” Faust observed. “He just didn’t have the money to keep pace with the higher-financed teams.” When Faust saw the struggling Fuller on the pit line at Volusia Speedway in ’99, towing with an open trailer and rummaging through his pockets, he paid his way in. Later that year, Bob found out Fuller was planning to forego a DIRT Series race at Tri-City, out in Western PA. “He said he was out of motors,” Faust remembered. “So I said, ‘Timmy, I’ll have one of my workers from B&F meet you in Binghamton and he’ll bring you a brand new motor.’” “Bob, it wouldn’t matter—I don’t have any money,” was Fuller’s reply to the generous offer. “Don’t worry about it,” Faust told him. “There’ll also be an envelope there. I want to see you race.” And that’s what they did for the next six years—far longer than Faust figured he’d stay in the sport. From 2000-06, they were good for 61 victories, including a Rolling Wheels 200, back-to-back Fulton 200s, DIRT Series races in NY, NJ, PA, FL, NC and Canada, and the ’04 Syracuse big-block classic. Titles included the 2003 Mr. DIRT 358 Series and ’05 Mr. DIRT overall Modified crowns, the ’04 Empire DIRT Series championship, four track titles at Fulton and two at Weedsport. It was a prizewinning pairing of polar opposites—Faust, the larger-than-life live wire, and Fuller, the unassuming introvert. Hall of Famer Billy Decker, a good friend of both, sized up that situation when they first joined forces, predicting, “I’ll give it a couple weeks and you won’t be racing together.” How the team got past their differences and attained harmony will be a chief topic when Faust takes the mic during the July 13 induction ceremonies to talk about his time with Tim Fuller—a partnership that brought them both to the next level. DIRTcar announcer Tim Baltz has been calling the action for the past 17 years at Brockville Speedway, where our 2023 HoF driver inductee Danny O’Brien is a 14-time champion and the undisputed king. O’Brien had just announced his retirement at the end of 2018 when Baltz came across a significant statistic: Danny was one win shy of 100 at the Ontario track. In killer comeback mode, O’Brien returned to clinch that career milestone win on June 3rd of this year—and Baltz will tell the story of just how that happened. Throughout most of the ’50s, Hal Lawrence worked with Bob Cameron, raced alongside him, and traveled with him until 1960, when a fiery wreck at Lancaster cut short Cameron’s life and colorful racing career. Although Lawrence hung up his helmet after that tragedy, he kept his hand in the game, as starter, race director, spotter and now pace car driver at age 88—but he still vividly remembers his days on the road with our pioneer driver inductee. Bob Cameron will be brought “into the room” through Hal’s recollections of his scrappiness, his skill and his sense of humor. Roy Cameron will be unveiling the portrait of his late father. For the past 40 years, Donnie Miller has been a 126 “red shirt” crewman and close friend of our Hall of Fame car owner Glenn Hyneman. Miller’s been there for it all—the big wins, the devastating losses, the feuds, the frustrations, the chances Glenn took and didn’t take. And especially, all the shenanigans that kept the fans riled up and on the edge of their seats! As the team’s self-appointed “fun” instigator, Donnie has some stories to tell—and he’ll do just that, recapping Hyneman’s most famous (and infamous) moments as owner of one of the most recognizable race cars on the circuit. One of the hottest drivers on the circuit in recent years, “Money” Mat Williamson has a very special connection to our Hall of Fame Mechanic/Engineer: it’s his father, Randy, one of the founding partners of Bicknell Racing Products. Mat was only 11 when he began working in the BRP shop; Randy put him in a Sportsman car at age 14. And now, under his dad’s watchful eye, the young Williamson is a DIRTcar Series champ, driving for some of the best teams in the business. As a customer, colleague and son, Mat is in a unique position to provide singular insights on Randy Williamson’s influence—as both a car builder and role model, operating in a world of cutthroat competition, earning respect throughout the industry. The winningest driver in the history of Flemington Fair Speedway, Hall of Famer Billy Pauch will reminisce about his start in the 1970s at his hometown track under promoter Paul Kuhl, and his progression from rookie sensation to dirt and asphalt Modified champion, with Kuhl at the helm the entire time. Billy will talk with Shane Andrews about how Paul—always a showman and the ultimate promoter—made Flemington the place to be. Rick Kuhl will be accepting the prestigious Leonard J. Sammons Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to Auto Racing, on behalf of his late father. Tery Rumsey, a Hall of Famer himself for his TV production work, was part of “The Dream Team” of DIRT Motorsports television, back when the medium was emerging in the late 1980s—and Rumsey gives much of the credit for their success to Patrick Donnelly, who manned the cameras, directed and edited each installment of weekly programming and orchestrated live Super DIRT Week coverage. Tery will underscore Donnelly’s involvement in documenting the sport from behind the scenes, as Patrick receives the Andrew S. Fusco Award for Media Excellence. Longtime radio host Ed Lamberton, whose weekly program “Wheel People” is now streaming on Facebook, met Laurie Fallis in the pits at Fonda in the 1980s, when she introduced herself as a fan of his show. Since then, he has watched our Woman in Racing Award winner do it all—racing to championships, writing for Race Pro Weekly and promoting the Mohawk Valley Vintage Dirt Modified Series to a level no one would have thought possible five years ago. Lamberton will talk about his admiration for what Fallis has managed to accomplish single-handedly in the sport, noting her enthusiasm, devotion and, most of all, her “racer’s mentality.” The 7 pm induction ceremonies will be preceded by a “Happy Hour” reception hosted by Weedsport Speedway from 5:30-6:45 pm, under a tent just outside the Museum. A complimentary array of finger foods will be served, along with iced tea, water and lemonade, courtesy of the track. Beer and wine will be available for purchase. At the conclusion of the ceremonies, the party will move to Weedsport Speedway’s world-famous Portside Pub, where honorees and attendees can continue to socialize, have snacks and drinks, and enjoy video presentations from 9-11 pm. On Sunday night, July 16, Weedsport Speedway will present its Super DIRTcar Series Hall of Fame 100 for the big-block Modifieds, sponsored by Ryan Phelps Auto Sales and Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast. For the seventh year, a special Hall of Fame commemorative program has been produced, featuring the history of the Museum and Hall of Fame, a complete list of all HoF drivers and award winners in the past 31 years, a rundown of past HoF race winners, as well as stories and photos of all 2023 honorees. All profits from sale of the $6.00 program book benefit the Museum.
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