Every year about this time the baseball writers cast ballots to see who will go into that sports hall of fame. So it it the same with Indyslotcar.
The Indyslotcar series formed a hall of fame and the initial inductee was three time champion Larry Rotter. The second was founder and 5-time champion Phil Cianciola.
The third inductee was twice champion Jim Iverson. In 2014, 2-time champion "Gentleman Jim" Kaehny was enshrined. There was no inductee in 2015. 2016 was champion Dave Austin. There was no inductee in 2017. least a year
There are some guidelines to getting voted into the HOF:
1. driver has to be retired for at least one season
2. driver has to have a minimum of 50 starts
3. commissioner has to feel a driver is worthy
2018 is the 25th year of the league. It has looked back at each race with lots of nostalgia including having former series founder and HOF enshrine Phil Cianciola as the league voice on the broadcast. Most of the remaining retired drivers don't meet the minimum number of starts, or lack a significant contribution to the series, and some that would be eligible are still driving. Despite this, I've heard a buzz from the commissioner that he is thinking about, stress thinking about, throwing out the traditional rules and someone in this 25th season may get the call from him saying they are in the Indyslotcar Hall of Fame.
The Indyslotcar series formed a hall of fame and the initial inductee was three time champion Larry Rotter. The second was founder and 5-time champion Phil Cianciola.
The third inductee was twice champion Jim Iverson. In 2014, 2-time champion "Gentleman Jim" Kaehny was enshrined. There was no inductee in 2015. 2016 was champion Dave Austin. There was no inductee in 2017. least a year
There are some guidelines to getting voted into the HOF:
1. driver has to be retired for at least one season
2. driver has to have a minimum of 50 starts
3. commissioner has to feel a driver is worthy
2018 is the 25th year of the league. It has looked back at each race with lots of nostalgia including having former series founder and HOF enshrine Phil Cianciola as the league voice on the broadcast. Most of the remaining retired drivers don't meet the minimum number of starts, or lack a significant contribution to the series, and some that would be eligible are still driving. Despite this, I've heard a buzz from the commissioner that he is thinking about, stress thinking about, throwing out the traditional rules and someone in this 25th season may get the call from him saying they are in the Indyslotcar Hall of Fame.
If so who will it be?
I've included a few of my favorites from past years and some new possibilities on this list.
There is only one person that makes the decision on who gets into the hall of fame, league commissioner Mike Kristof. Here are my odds, based solely on this anniversary year, on who will get the honor for 2018 if there is an inductee:
Everet Kamikawa:
Over 225 starts. 40 wins. 2 Championships. 4 Indy 500 wins.
Seems like a great resume and possible shoe in.
"People already think I'm too loud and boisterous and piss them off, so who the heck would want to come see me give an acceptance speech where I'm allowed to be 'all that and a bag of chips?' Heck no! If I get the call that I'm in the HOF I want it to be after I'm retired so I can come to the banquet and remember how great I was, only to have the new drivers ask me who I am."
Odds of induction: 15-1
I've included a few of my favorites from past years and some new possibilities on this list.
There is only one person that makes the decision on who gets into the hall of fame, league commissioner Mike Kristof. Here are my odds, based solely on this anniversary year, on who will get the honor for 2018 if there is an inductee:
Everet Kamikawa:
Over 225 starts. 40 wins. 2 Championships. 4 Indy 500 wins.
Seems like a great resume and possible shoe in.
"People already think I'm too loud and boisterous and piss them off, so who the heck would want to come see me give an acceptance speech where I'm allowed to be 'all that and a bag of chips?' Heck no! If I get the call that I'm in the HOF I want it to be after I'm retired so I can come to the banquet and remember how great I was, only to have the new drivers ask me who I am."
Odds of induction: 15-1
Chad Sorce
In 86 starts Sorce won nine times, had six pole positions and made the final four race 37 times with 15 heat race wins. Not a dominate racer early in this career, he came on like a storm in his last three when he teamed up with Dan Margetta to form the Miller Lite Team. Together they gave Ferrari a run for the money with Sorce finishing a close second to Kamikawa in the 2001 championship. Sorce does have the distinction of being the first person not associated with Phil Cianciola to join the league. He was also the first to act as a spotter for another driver (Dave Austin, both wore headphones to talk to each other around the track). Sorce's Clevelandstone raceway was the sight of a major event in Indyslotcar history with a nuclear meltdown! A consummate autograph collector, the space that once hosted Clevelandstone is now a museum to these autographs.
He was tied for 10th on my all time driver list.
Odds of induction: 30-1
Mike Lack:
Four championships in a row and leading the league in the current season for a fifth.
Just dominant. 30 wins in 143 starts. 28 pole positions, and Indy 500 win, and my vote for the best driver in league history. In three seasons or less he will be the all time wins leader and most championships. If anyone was a shoe in for this year...this guy is my vote!
Odds of Induction: 2-1
John Shea:
Will he ever get in? I've been beating the drum that he needs to get in for several years.
John was never league champion, however his influence runs throughout the racing world. In this league he took 15 wins, 11 pole positions, 36 heat wins, and appeared in 47 finals in 98 starts. Shea was the first to break down the cars technically to understand how they worked and what made them go faster. He dispensed that knowledge to others freely and was known as a fierce competitor. His battles with Cianciola are things of legend. He built a replica of Monza and staged that first race, the US Grand Prix, in the garage of the Milwaukee Mile. Kamikawa has said, "He is still the toughest person I’ve raced against and I’m not saying that because he was my teammate for years!”
Those battles with Phil would also lead John to form the stock car based American Racing Alliance and later the ISF of which he is multiple times champion in both.
He might be the Indyslotcar equivalent of baseball's Jack Morris, a super star but not quite a hall of famer. He is on my list of the all-time great drivers though.
Odds of Induction: 25-1
Amy Butler:
4 wins. 15 heat wins. 1 pole position in 152 starts.
Not a bad career so far for the most popular driver among the fans all time. Yes, there are drivers with more impressive records, but there is something to be said about being first to do something in life. First woman to score wins, heat wins, and pole position in league history. She deserves the credit of being in the HOF and will get in someday. I'm not sure if it will be this year, but it would be the popular choice.
Odds of Induction: 15-1
John Baas:
Not a champion on track but one in life, he took three wins and three poles, 13 heat wins, appeared in 17 finals in 135 starts. Maybe not as impressive stats as others, however Baas contributed something else in terms of track engineering. He built the massive Vernon Farms quad oval raceway, and later made a portable version of the track. He was also the first to really detail the landscape in and around the tracks in the exact attention to detail that model railroaders do. “John was fun to race against. Most importantly he was the first to detail his track with outhouses. We used to ponder what would happen if we were all suddenly sent to the Twilight Zone racing world where we were actually to scale with the cars and racing on our tracks. No one had any bathrooms until John followed up on it!” mused Kamikawa.
Odds of Induction: 35-1
Not a champion on track but one in life, he took three wins and three poles, 13 heat wins, appeared in 17 finals in 135 starts. Maybe not as impressive stats as others, however Baas contributed something else in terms of track engineering. He built the massive Vernon Farms quad oval raceway, and later made a portable version of the track. He was also the first to really detail the landscape in and around the tracks in the exact attention to detail that model railroaders do. “John was fun to race against. Most importantly he was the first to detail his track with outhouses. We used to ponder what would happen if we were all suddenly sent to the Twilight Zone racing world where we were actually to scale with the cars and racing on our tracks. No one had any bathrooms until John followed up on it!” mused Kamikawa.
Odds of Induction: 35-1
Tony Perkins:
Probably the most popular winner of any induction would be the famously inventive T-Perk.
Famously no feature wins in his career, one pole position, 4 heat wins, 19 finals appearances in 102 starts. In one of his most famous racing moments he raced against the entire Penske team of Austin, Cianciola, and Kaehny in a heat race and beat them all!
One of the original drivers, Tony was the first to crash another car off the track in the first race causing a rivalry to develop between him and the crashee, Everet Kamikawa. “Tony and I supposedly had this big rivalry after that. It was all lip service much like David Hobbs and Sam Posey in sports cars,” Kamikawa said. “Tony is a class act who always had a thing where the celebrities flocked to him.”
Indeed Tony had that kavorka as his paddock area was often visited by the likes of The Spice Girls, Greg Moore, Frank Williams, The Pussycat Dolls, and a host of various beautiful women from the modeling and singing worlds. “We single drivers would hang out with Tony just to catch what he was throwing away!” Kamikawa chuckled. Tony was also the first of the group known as “painters,” drivers who didn’t rely on store bought cars. Over the years Tony painted cars in liveries like: Players, Duracell, Target, and several others. He hosted the first races outside of Wisconsin. He is also the driver that traveled the farthest, coming from first Indianapolis and later Bejing to attend races. Always a fan favorite, he would be a popular inductee just behind Amy Butler.
Odds of Induction: 30-1
Dan Margetta:
First in league all time stats in wins (44), heat wins (124), laps, starts, finals, and DNF's. Second in pole positions, but no championships. The only driver to race in every season, and the only driver to win for 18 seasons in a row (and counting). A worthy nominee, but similar to Don Sutton in the baseball hall of fame. Nice career but only achieved through longevity. No doubt the all time leader of race night quotes (see league videos), and of course on my list of all time great drivers. He deserves to be in, but it might wait until he is retired to get the call.
Odds of Induction: 13-1
Mike Kristof:
Three wins, including a 500. It isn't his record that gets him in. What is deserving is that he has run the league longer than original commissioner Cianciola. He has the league entrenched in the digiatl age. He started the hall of fame, ushered in numerous new drivers, and kept the league interesting as it enters its second 25 years.
He is humble enough that he probably won't induct himself, but I don't think anyone would argue.
Odds of Induction: 30 to 1
No One:
As I explained there have been rules in place on who gets inducted. Since no one matches the rules exactly, it wouldn't surprise me if no one gets in. It doesn't do the league any good to not have anyone inducted for several years in a row, so this being the 25th season and a hallmark, that is why I'm predicting someone may get in.
Odds of Induction: 2-1
These are my predictions on who will be the next one enshrined in the Indyslotcar Hall of Fame in 2018. Some of these names will make another appearance for the next time an inductee is chosen. At least one will not because they will have the coveted title if Indyslotcar Hall of Fame member.
Probably the most popular winner of any induction would be the famously inventive T-Perk.
Famously no feature wins in his career, one pole position, 4 heat wins, 19 finals appearances in 102 starts. In one of his most famous racing moments he raced against the entire Penske team of Austin, Cianciola, and Kaehny in a heat race and beat them all!
One of the original drivers, Tony was the first to crash another car off the track in the first race causing a rivalry to develop between him and the crashee, Everet Kamikawa. “Tony and I supposedly had this big rivalry after that. It was all lip service much like David Hobbs and Sam Posey in sports cars,” Kamikawa said. “Tony is a class act who always had a thing where the celebrities flocked to him.”
Indeed Tony had that kavorka as his paddock area was often visited by the likes of The Spice Girls, Greg Moore, Frank Williams, The Pussycat Dolls, and a host of various beautiful women from the modeling and singing worlds. “We single drivers would hang out with Tony just to catch what he was throwing away!” Kamikawa chuckled. Tony was also the first of the group known as “painters,” drivers who didn’t rely on store bought cars. Over the years Tony painted cars in liveries like: Players, Duracell, Target, and several others. He hosted the first races outside of Wisconsin. He is also the driver that traveled the farthest, coming from first Indianapolis and later Bejing to attend races. Always a fan favorite, he would be a popular inductee just behind Amy Butler.
Odds of Induction: 30-1
Dan Margetta:
First in league all time stats in wins (44), heat wins (124), laps, starts, finals, and DNF's. Second in pole positions, but no championships. The only driver to race in every season, and the only driver to win for 18 seasons in a row (and counting). A worthy nominee, but similar to Don Sutton in the baseball hall of fame. Nice career but only achieved through longevity. No doubt the all time leader of race night quotes (see league videos), and of course on my list of all time great drivers. He deserves to be in, but it might wait until he is retired to get the call.
Odds of Induction: 13-1
Mike Kristof:
Three wins, including a 500. It isn't his record that gets him in. What is deserving is that he has run the league longer than original commissioner Cianciola. He has the league entrenched in the digiatl age. He started the hall of fame, ushered in numerous new drivers, and kept the league interesting as it enters its second 25 years.
He is humble enough that he probably won't induct himself, but I don't think anyone would argue.
Odds of Induction: 30 to 1
No One:
As I explained there have been rules in place on who gets inducted. Since no one matches the rules exactly, it wouldn't surprise me if no one gets in. It doesn't do the league any good to not have anyone inducted for several years in a row, so this being the 25th season and a hallmark, that is why I'm predicting someone may get in.
Odds of Induction: 2-1
These are my predictions on who will be the next one enshrined in the Indyslotcar Hall of Fame in 2018. Some of these names will make another appearance for the next time an inductee is chosen. At least one will not because they will have the coveted title if Indyslotcar Hall of Fame member.
Until then…It’s not bad being in the pits!
Steve “The Wrench” Ratchett
