10 Jan SEVENTEEN NEW MEMBERS TO BE INDUCTED TO THE CANADIAN MOTORSPORT HALL OF FAME, IN FEBRUARY

TORONTO, ON – For the first time in its nearly three-decade history, the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame will hold its induction ceremony at the Canadian International AutoShow.

The ceremony will take place on Saturday, February 15th starting at 6 p.m. at the John Bassett Theatre in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre – North Building.

Tickets are available, grouped with AutoShow admission for the day, for $95 each, or $85 each for a group of 10 or more.

Tickets and admission are also available packaged with a round-trip fare for GO Transit. The tickets can be purchased online here.

The Canadian International AutoShow runs from February 14th to 23rd.

10 inductees are part of a new “media” category

Ten Canadian motorsports journalists will have their names added to the Hall as part of a media category that’s new for this year. The inductees are:

Len Coates

Coates started as a sports copy editor at the Toronto Telegram in the mid-1960s before becoming Canada’s first motorsports reporter. He also wrote for the Toronto Star, held a media relations role at Mosport Park and was the founding president of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada.

Gerald Donaldson

Donaldson covered hundreds of Formula One (F1) grand prix events for multiple publications, including the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. He was also involved in broadcasting for the CBC, CTV and TSN and has written many books about F1, including biographies about Juan Manuel Fangio, James Hunt and Gilles Villeneuve.

Dave Franks

Franks, to this day, photographs racers and racing, particularly at short tracks across Ontario. His photos have been published in racing newspapers and magazines including Area Auto Racing News, Speedway Scene, National Speed Sport News and Inside Track Motorsport News. Franks has been taking photos for over half a century, including many from the early days where photos would not exist without him.

Photographer Dave Franks is one of ten new media members who will be inducted this year.

Graham Jones

Jones moved to England to pursue his passion for motorsports and writing, working in editing roles for Cars and Car Conversions magazine and Autocar in the 1980s. He returned to Canada to become a motorsports writer and columnist for the Toronto Star in 1988 before going back to England two years later to work in automotive public relations. Jones was editor of Racecar Engineering magazine when he passed away in 2011.

Pierre Lecours

Lecours covered motorsports for over 30 years for Le Journal de Montreal. He introduced Gilles Villeneuve to a sponsor, allowing Villeneuve to enter the 1976 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, which launched his Formula One career. Lecours wrote a book about the Villeneuves, titled “Gilles and Jacques, the Villeneuves and Me.”

Dean McNulty

McNulty, who passed away last April, covered motorsports for nearly two decades for the Sun Media and later Postmedia newspaper chains. He was known for his coverage of NASCAR’s national series but also covered everything from grassroots racing to Formula One. Postmedia dropped racing coverage when McNulty retired, making him the last full-time motorsports reporter at the national level.

Tim Miller

Miller has been a motorsports reporter and columnist for the Hamilton Spectator for the past 35 years, after leaving general reporting to focus on motorsports with Wheelspin News in the late 1970s. Miller has covered everything from local bullrings to major series such as American Le Mans, IndyCar and Formula One. He’s written several books about racing and occasionally branched into public relations.

Veteran motorsports reporter and columnist Tim Miller.

Jeff Pappone

Pappone has written about motorsports in Canada for the past two decades, starting at the Montreal Gazette and the CanWest newspaper chain. He was a motorsport reporter and columnist for the Globe and Mail for 16 years before joining Inside Track Motorsport News as a Formula One correspondent.

Dan Proudfoot

Proudfoot was the first motorsport beat reporter for the Globe and Mail in the early 1970s, where he also covered hockey. He wrote for the Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Telegram, UPI wire service and the Toronto Sun as well. Proudfoot won an early award for a story in Toronto Life magazine about attending his first racing school.

Erik Tomas

Tomas continues to host and produce Raceline Radio, a weekly syndicated radio show that airs across Canada. Tomas has been hosting and producing the program for over 25 years. He’s also worked as a track announcer at Merrittville and Ransomville Speedways, anchored TV coverage in Canada and the US and reported from the pits for IndyCar races on ESPN and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. The only journalist to be previously inducted was long-time Toronto Star reporter and editor Norris McDonald in 2013.

Seven new inductees range from open-wheel promoter to stock car team owner

The remaining inductees are:

Gary Magwood

Magwood raced in an ‘under 2-litre’ sports car in the Canadian Championship Series in 1967, the same year he competed in a 1967 MGB at the 12 Hours of Sebring. He’s also spent time in other roles away from the cockpit, including managing a Can-Am entry for Ecurie Soucy and operating his own racing school, which was the first in Ontario and second in Canada. Magwood was a driving force behind the creation of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 1993.

CMHF co-founder and new inductee Gary Magwood.

Allen Berg

Berg won the Australia and New Zealand-based Tasman Formula Pacific Series in 1982 before finishing 5th in the British Formula 3 series in 1983, competing alongside Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle. He entered nine Formula One races in 1986 and later founded a team to compete in the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship. Berg currently owns and operates a racing school in Laguna Seca, California.

Robin Buck

Buck has over 45 years of motorsport-related experience, including capturing several championships and top-three finishes. He’s competed in a number of road races in karts, Formula Ford, Formula 2000, Player’s GM Series, Firestone Firehawk, Corvette Challenge, and Formula Atlantic, as well as the CASCAR Super Series and the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. Buck currently spends time as a driver coach.

Ed Hakonson

Hakonson started racing snowmobiles in the late 1960s, winning multiple events in the 250cc class, and is a co-founder of the Canadian Snowcross Racing Association. In 1976, he completed, on snowmobile, one of the longest open water crossings. The event took place in Canada but was televised on ABC’s popular Wide World of Sports. This century, Hakonson has acted as a team owner, with multiple wins in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series.

Larry Caruso

Caruso began his racing career in 1960, competing in a wide variety of disciplines over the following three decades, from karts, drag racing and stock cars to motorcycles and road racing. Caruso mentored young talent as a driver coach and driving school owner as early as 1987, also travelling to major road racing facilities across Canada with the Porsche Advanced Driver’s School.

Normand Legault

Legault became the youngest Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada general manager in 1981, at the age of 25; he held the position until 1983 before returning in 1989 at the request of then-president of the Formula One Constructors’ Association, Bernie Ecclestone. Legault founded a company in 1996 that promoted Montreal’s Formula One races through 2008, plus the CART, Champ Car and NASCAR races held at the circuit during that time.

Bruno Spengler

Spengler began karting at the age of nine, two years prior to winning his first championship. He moved to cars in 2001, racing in European Formula Renault, before winning the Fran-Am Pro Championship in 2002. Spengler became the first non-European to earn a seat in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series in 2005, where he won a championship in 2012.

ABOUT THE CMHF: The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame (CMHF) exists to honour and recognize the efforts, achievements and contributions that Canadians have made in the realm of Canadian Motorsports. The CMHF was officially opened in 1993 and began inducting honourable members in that year. The Hall of Fame now has inducted over 200 individuals and organizations, who have been recognized for their accomplishments and contributions to Canadian motorsports. These men, women and companies have earned the privilege to be a part of the Hall. Categories for induction include: Competitors, Motorsport Builders, Team Members and Significant Contributors. The CMHF hosts an annual induction ceremony that has become a popular and important event to the Canadian motorsport industry. The Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation operates as a not-for-profit charitable institution. For info, visit CMHF.ca or email info@cmhf.ca.

For more information on tickets for the 2020 induction ceremony, click here.