Fame

  Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are one of my favorite parts of sports, especially racing. Those ceremonies are a way to cement the legacy of those who have once heard the cheers of adoring fans from Saturday night short tracks to superspeedways across America.

 On Saturday, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville will induct its 2022 class. After holding inductions since 2002, one might think the Hall might be running out of deserving candidates.

 Instead the opposite seems true. Every year, more qualified candidates are added to the ballot.

 Some of the inductees have been on the ballot for a long time but have been overlooked by voters while others were a long time getting nominated, for one reason or another.

 I was particularly happy to see Dale Singleton finally voted in. For those who don’t know, he was one of the most successful independent motorcycle racers ever.

 The Dalton native twice won the prestigious Daytona 200, outrunning the factory-backed teams and their drivers.

 Singleton, known as the Flying Pig Farmer, had already embarked on a NASCAR career when he and fellow driver Richie Panch died in a plane crash en route back to Georgia from the NASCAR races in Darlington, S.C.. That happened in 1985. Singleton had just turned 30 years old.

 Also being inducted Saturday are Billy McGinnis, Randy Couch, Henley Gray, the late Ed Massey and the late Phil Coltrane.

  Massey was a familiar face around the short tracks of Georgia. He should have been on the ballot years ago, so he could have enjoyed the accolades that come with being voted into a Hall of Fame. Still, his family will get to once again celebrate another of his victories.

 Massey was nominated by Mayes “Bill” Massey, his nephew, shortly before Mayes passed away in December of 2020.

 Mayes, who is on the Hall of Fame ballot himself, had to know that putting Ed on the ballot would hurt his own chances of getting voted in, but nonetheless, he wrote a heartfelt, hand-written letter recommending Ed for the Hall.

 The letter was short on the specifics of Ed’s career, but that’s OK. One of the main qualification for being in a Hall of Fame is to be famous, and Ed was just that. Not surprisingly, he and McGinnis were tied for the most votes from the Hall of Fame voters.

 Massey was a track owner promoter, at the old West Atlanta Raceway, a winning car builder for drivers including his son Stan Massey, his brother-in-law Leon Sells and his friend Charlies Mincey, all of whom are now deceased and in the Hall themselves.

 I think it’s fair to say that those three likely would not have made the Hall if not for Ed.

 I was fortunate to get to know Ed Massey, and I learned a lot from him over the years.

 I’m glad he’ll be joining Stan, Leon, Charlie and the rest of his peers who are already in the Hall of Fame, and I’m just as happy for the rest of the inductees and their families.

 I also congratulate Hall of Fame founder Gordon Pirkle and the volunteers who have worked so hard so long to make the Hall of Fame what it is today.

 If you’ve never been there, you owe it to yourself to go. It’s Georgia racing at its finest.

 


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