AUBURN — The selection committee of the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame has chosen seven individuals to be inducted into the Hall of Fame next spring as members of the Class of 2014.
The seven inductees, including local legends Mike Rowe and the late Leland Kangas, are all race-winning drivers with nearly 500 trips to victory lane between them.
Bobby Turner, committe co-chairman and member of the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame, announced the names of the seven individuals to make up the Class of 2013 at the General Meeting of the Maine Vintage Race Car Association held on Nov. 3.
Joining Rowe and Kangas in the class ar Bobby Alexander, Jimmy Burns, Bruce Elder, Rodney Maynard and Bobby Tibbetts.
Presented by the Maine Vintage Race Car Association, the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 dinner and induction ceremonies will be held at Augusta Civic Center on Saturday, April 5, 2014. The Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame was founded in 2004 and presently has 72 members.
Rowe began racing in 1969 at Oxford Plains Speedway and continues to race, having won the Beech Ridge NASCAR Pro Series championship this past season. The Turner man won 150 races and seven track championships at Oxford. In addition to two titles at Beech Ridge, he also won championships at Wiscasset Speedway and with ACT, New England Pro Stock Association (NEPSA) and the Pro All Star Series (PASS) Super Late Model Southern Tour. He also shares the record with three Oxford 250 wins.
Kangas raced at OPS through the 1970s and 1980s. He won four championships at the track and scored 48 wins. He also was 1980 NASCAR North Tour Rookie of the Year. Kangas lost his life in a motorcycle accident in 2004.
Alexander, A driver and race car fabricator, won more than 100 races during his 22-year career, primarily at Speedway 95 in Bangor, Unity Raceway and Spud Speedway in Caribou.
Burns was a champion at Oxford and Unity in the 1980s.
Elder was champion racer and track announcer at Beech Ridge.
Maynard won five titles at Spud Speedway and also logged more than 100 wins in his career.
Tibbetts was an Oxford great in the 1960s and won open competition races at Oxford, Wiscasset and Unity.
Reserved seat tickets for the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremonies are $40 each and must be purchased and ordered by March 1, 2014. To request a “Ticket Order Form”, contact the MVRCA at 50 Beech Ridge Road, York, Maine 03909; by e-mail at bmorris48@roadrunner.com; or visit the MVRCA website and click “Forms” for a printable “Ticket Order Form.”
For more information about the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame, visit the Maine Vintage Race Car Association website at www.mainevintageracecars.com.
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