17 Feb Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Induction Gala Celebrates Class of 2024

TORONTO  –The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame (CMHF) induction gala took place at the Canadian International AutoShow (CIAS) on Saturday, February 15, marking the fourth ceremony to be held at the John Bassett Theatre in Toronto.

The gala, co-presented by Clubine Motorsports, Martella Motorsports and MW Generational Wealth, featured an earlier start time, allowing the late-afternoon ceremony to be bookended by a reception in the theatre lobby.

Attendees got the opportunity to bid on a wide selection of items at a silent auction, including autographed memorabilia and race weekend tickets, while getting to browse hoodies, t-shirts and hats from the new CMHF Store.

Photo by John R. Walker oneword Photography

A cash bar and appetizers were also included, while tickets provided same-day access to the CIAS.

Emcee Todd Lewis, CIAS General Manager Jason Campbell and CMHF Board Chair Peter Lockhart each made opening remarks to begin the ceremony, before a video tribute to inductees who passed away in the last year – Wally Dallenbach Sr., Jacques Duval, and Bert Straus.

Some CMHF news and notes followed, including an announcement about a new TV series called From the Vault, which will include old racing footage of CMHF inductees and related segments, airing on REV TV starting in the first week of April.

CMHF board member Lindsay Riddell also spoke about the CMHF’s Celebration of Speed events, a ride-along experience with professional drivers and fast cars, taking place August 4 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and a TBD date at Circuit ICAR.

Following a brief word from the presenting sponsors, the Class of 2024 inductions got underway, in alphabetical order. Road racer and driver coach Lee Bentham was up first; the head of Driver Development at IndyCar’s Ed Carpenter Racing shared a story from a rainy 1999 Toyota Atlantic race at Long Beach.

“When we took the green flag, the only thing I could see was that faint red glow of a tail light in front of me and a white mist,” said Bentham. “On the first lap, going onto the back straight, I slid wide, hit the wall really hard with the left-side of the car, and it was pretty bent.”

Despite falling back to eighth, with a damaged car that was hard to handle, he decided to stay out and not give up, inspired by the attitude of his hero Gilles Villeneuve. He pushed harder every lap as the track dried, finishing a surprising third-place.

“My message to all the young people out there – I know how hard it is, it’s a hard road to make it in racing – you got to keep driving forward, put your head down and don’t stop pushing until you get to where you want to be,” said Bentham. “And I promise you that you won’t only have success in racing, but you’ll have success in life as well.”

Emotions were a theme of the evening, with multiple inductees holding back tears as they reflected on what they’d accomplished and the honour of being named a Hall of Famer. Perhaps most emotional was Denis Cadotte, a long-time motorsports volunteer and safety team member at some of the country’s biggest events.

The CMHF board member paused a few times towards the end of his speech, referencing the amount of time remaining on the speech countdown clock as he tried to get back on track.

“I have the best job in car racing, I’m a volunteer,” said Cadotte, letting out tears. “Thirty-five seconds…all of the racing events need volunteers and next time, when you see or run into one, please say thank you…that’s all they want is to be recognized. And for all of you racing around, you’re more than welcome.”

Brothers John and Frank Casale, owners of the 1/3-mile Flamboro Speedway for over 50 years, were inducted together. John shared a few stories from his decades of watching some of the best Canadian short track racers in action.

“Don Biederman and Junior Hanley…they were great friends and all of the sudden they were their worst enemies,” said John Casale. “Those days were unbelievable; people couldn’t get enough. Something happened on the race track and these two guys go in the pits, and the (outfield) pit area holds about 700 people and it’s always full. Where they park, the whole grandstand just went right over, where they were, to see what was going to happen.”

A media relations manager in various roles, Jerry Priddle was the lone inductee in the media category this year. He talked about driving Michael Andretti around Buffalo on a media tour for Mosport, in 1983, using a green 1974 Dodge Dart with a rusted front-fender. The 22-year-old Priddle had to use his personal ride after the Mosport company car fell through.

Photo by John R. Walker – oneword Photography

“I was really nervous about how he’d react when I went to pick him up, but he was cool about it, we had a good laugh and he rocked the media interviews that day,” said Priddle. “Although, I have to say, our departures from Buffalo couldn’t have been more different. He flew home to Nazareth, PA in the beautiful, sleek Andretti jet, while I drove back to Toronto in my Dodge Dart, hoping that the fender wasn’t going to fall off.”

The Showdown Funny Car Team was inducted as a group, with the late crew chief Bob Reynolds, crew member/team manager Pat Reynolds, and driver Roger Bateman. Representing the trio was Pat Reynolds, who talked about achieving success while running with a smaller budget.

“We didn’t have the big trailers that race cars have now, but Bob used to say, you don’t race trailers, spend the money on the race cars,” said Pat. “We went to Boise, ID to race at a points race…they looked at the trailer and said no – okay, well, I’ll take you to the pit area and show you where you should pit. They stood there until we unloaded the car to make sure it was a Funny Car.”

Pat concluded her speech with two more stories, noting that “we didn’t have the big trailer, we didn’t have the tow vehicle, but we beat the big guys.”

Also inducted in the Class of 2024 were Jud Buchanan, Scott Campbell, Cliff Dawson, John Jones, the late Tony Morris Sr., Nigel Mortimer, Michael Ney, and Murray Timm.

The ceremony concluded with the International Inductee and JMF Motorsports Rising Star Award, with both recipients accepting the honour virtually. The International Inductee was 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force, winner of 157 NHRA Funny Car races, whose first victory came in Montreal in 1987.

The JMF Motorsports Rising Star Award went to Kyle Steckly, a 19-year-old stock car racer who won Rookie of the Year (second in points) in the ASA STARS National Tour last season, while winning his second consecutive APC United Late Model Series championship and making select NASCAR Canada Series starts here at home.

John Farrow from JMF Motorsports was on-hand at the gala; starting this year, the Rising Star winner now receives a $25,000 cash prize to assist them in achieving their goals, courtesy of JMF.

The ceremony was live streamed, providing an opportunity for everyone to hear the many great stories shared by inductees. To re-watch the ceremony at any time, along with a wide selection of vintage racing videos, please visit the CMHF’s YouTube channel