(Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 Class Photo - Rand Thompson Photo)
Special from the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame - The votes were tallied, the ballots counted and eleven individuals will be inducted into the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame on Sunday, November 3, 2024 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
The following individuals have been selected and will make up the Class of 2024: From the Other than Driver category, Long time Sprint Car owner and former mini-modified driver Dick Myers has gotten the nod. Joining Dick in the Other than Driver category is Berlin Raceway General Manager, Jeff Striegle. Jeff has a long history in Motorsports as a driver, PR person, Mini Champ driver/champion, and is the Lead Anchor for the MRN Radio network.
Representing the Drag Racing category is the late Roy Steffey. Roy Steffey was instrumental in the early days of Funny Car racing and development along with Maynard Rupp. Together they formed RSE or Rupp Steffey Engineering. Roy built many engines out of his RSE shop as well as fielded a car himself. RSE was highly successful and was tightly aligned with the Logghe Brothers of Logghe Stamping fame.
Representing the Other Motorsports category is the Husband and Wife duo of Steve and Sue Christopherson. Together they both drove at the Bonneville Salt Flats and are the only Husband/Wife team to be included in the prestigious 200 MPH Club at Bonneville where they set numerous land speed records. Later on, the duo went drag racing with a rear-engined rail before switching over to a nostalgia funny car that has gone 218 mph.
In the Oval Track Historical Era, Denny Anderson, Mike Bilacic, and Charlie Ryan Sr. got the nod. Anderson is a long-time racer out of Grand Rapids. He has raced on both dirt and asphalt with success on both surfaces. Denny is the father of the Late Lee Anderson who himself was an accomplished driver and leading chassis builder.
Mike Bilacic hails from Twining and started out on snowmobiles and grass drags but soon migrated to the Stock Car form of racing. Mike has seven track championships over the years and was a mainstay at the Whittemore Speedway.
Charlie Ryan Sr. is the father of 2023 Inductee the late Charlie Ryan Jr. As the patriarch of the Racing Ryan family, Charlie was also the leader of "The Leslie Gang" of racers from the Leslie area that have all tasted success over the years. He has won numerous feature races all over Michigan but is most notably known for driving at Spartan Speedway and Owosso Speedway as well as Springport, Butler, Crystal, and Hartford.
In the Oval Track Modern Era, there are three inductees as well. Earl Miles Jr., Dennis Whisman, and one more soon-to-be named individual have been selected. The third person does not know yet so we will update the list once he knows.
Earl Miles started at the Butler Motor Speedway and was Rookie of the Year that year. His racing travels have taken him all over Michigan and neighboring states as well. Most notably he has been a modified driver and has championships at Springport as well as in the I-Car modified traveling series.
Dennis Whisman Sr. has 17 season championships in the figure 8 division at the Flat Rock and the Toledo Speedways. In addition to all of that success, Dennis has raced street stocks, X-cars, and has traveled to the World Figure 8 series three-hour race at Anderson, Indiana as well as traveling to Showtime Speedway in Clearwater, Florida to compete in the Outlaw class world championship the last few years. Dennis has over 100 Figure 8 Feature wins over his long career that started in 1982.
Once the third person in the category is notified I will update this posting with his name but I can tell you that he has been a very versatile driver, winning in multiple types of race cars from enduro's to Dwarf's to ASA and many in between.
These individuals represent the "Class of 2024" and will be forever enshrined in the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Story - Dave DeHem, Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame
Photo - Rand Thompson
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