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USAC Names Final Four 2015 HoF Inductees
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USAC’s recent social media poll to complete the 2015 list of inductees into the USAC Hall of Fame has resulted in inductions for drivers Jimmy Caruthers, Sheldon Kinser and Larry Rice, and car owner Don Kenyon.
The four inductees received the most votes from a select list of 16 candidates and will join eight previously announced inductees in a ceremony that accompanies the July 25 “Tony Stewart Classic” Midget race at the Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome.
Previously announced 2015 inductees include (alphabetically) Clint Brawner, Butch Hartman, Lindsey Hopkins, Jim Hurtubise, Fred Lorenzen, Roger Penske, Shorty Templeman and Sleepy Tripp.
Caruthers excelled in USAC’s National Championship, Silver Crown and Midget series. He captured the National Midget title in 1970 and five years later (1975) won the Silver crown title before his untimely death due to cancer near the end of that year. He scored 21 Midget wins and made 43 Indy car starts, including four Indianapolis 500s. His best finish at Indy was a ninth in 1972.
Kinser became one of USAC’s most revered sprint car champions. Winning USAC titles in 1977, 1981 and 1982 he compiled 37 feature wins, including the 1981 Tony Hulman Classic in Terre Haute, Ind. The cousin of legendary Sprint driver Steve Kinser, he was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992. He made a half-dozen starts in the Indianapolis 500 and was sixth in his final start in 1981. One of his keystone victories came in the 1985 Hoosier Hundred USAC Silver Crown race in Indianapolis, Ind. He died of cancer in 1988.
Larry Rice was one of USAC’s finest ambassadors, claiming National Championships in the Silver Crown (1977 and 1981) and Midget series (1973). A 1993 inductee into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Larry won 15 USAC Midget races in addition to five Silver Crown and three Sprint features. He passed away in 2009 after a bout of cancer. After a stint as a school teacher, he worked his way to the pinnacle of auto racing and in 1978 shared the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Race honors with Rick Mears after his 11th-place finish.
Kenyon owns nine USAC championships of his own as a championship car owner. His 92 victories as an owner stand third in the all-time USAC record book. The mastermind behind many of his brother Mel’s 111 USAC National Midget wins, Don has somewhat silently built a legendary career of his own and has earned the respect of the entire racing fraternity.
The four inductees received the most votes from a select list of 16 candidates and will join eight previously announced inductees in a ceremony that accompanies the July 25 “Tony Stewart Classic” Midget race at the Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome.
Previously announced 2015 inductees include (alphabetically) Clint Brawner, Butch Hartman, Lindsey Hopkins, Jim Hurtubise, Fred Lorenzen, Roger Penske, Shorty Templeman and Sleepy Tripp.
Caruthers excelled in USAC’s National Championship, Silver Crown and Midget series. He captured the National Midget title in 1970 and five years later (1975) won the Silver crown title before his untimely death due to cancer near the end of that year. He scored 21 Midget wins and made 43 Indy car starts, including four Indianapolis 500s. His best finish at Indy was a ninth in 1972.
Kinser became one of USAC’s most revered sprint car champions. Winning USAC titles in 1977, 1981 and 1982 he compiled 37 feature wins, including the 1981 Tony Hulman Classic in Terre Haute, Ind. The cousin of legendary Sprint driver Steve Kinser, he was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992. He made a half-dozen starts in the Indianapolis 500 and was sixth in his final start in 1981. One of his keystone victories came in the 1985 Hoosier Hundred USAC Silver Crown race in Indianapolis, Ind. He died of cancer in 1988.
Larry Rice was one of USAC’s finest ambassadors, claiming National Championships in the Silver Crown (1977 and 1981) and Midget series (1973). A 1993 inductee into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Larry won 15 USAC Midget races in addition to five Silver Crown and three Sprint features. He passed away in 2009 after a bout of cancer. After a stint as a school teacher, he worked his way to the pinnacle of auto racing and in 1978 shared the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Race honors with Rick Mears after his 11th-place finish.
Kenyon owns nine USAC championships of his own as a championship car owner. His 92 victories as an owner stand third in the all-time USAC record book. The mastermind behind many of his brother Mel’s 111 USAC National Midget wins, Don has somewhat silently built a legendary career of his own and has earned the respect of the entire racing fraternity.
