(Note: This is the first of a series of press releases on the 2018 inductees into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. The 15th Annual Induction, presented by Gateway Motorsports Park, will be held June 21 at the Meritage Resort in Napa, Calif.)
AVONDALE (May 31, 2018) – Colorado native Joe Garone and Southern California racing champion Oren Prosser are among this year’s inductees into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
The 15th annual enshrinement ceremonies, presented by Gateway Motorsports Park, will be held June 21 at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif., the annual kick-off event for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and K&N Pro Series West weekend at nearby Sonoma Raceway.
Garone, is president and general manager of Furniture Row Racing and a former NASCAR K&N Pro Series championship crew chief. Furniture Row and driver Martin Truex Jr. won the series’ 2017 championship.
A Denver, Colo. native, Garone captured crew chief championships in two NASCAR divisions – the K&N Pro Series West in 1993 and Elite Division Southwest Tour in 1991. His induction completes the enshrinement of Chesrown Racing’s principals: owner Marshall Chesrown, Class of 2014 and driver Rick Carelli, Class of 2009. Chesrown’s team won more than 30 NASCAR touring races, including three in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Prior to joining Barney Visser’s Furniture Row Racing, Garone held crew chief positions with a trio of MENCS teams and was NASCAR’s Director of Officiating from 2001-03. The 57-year-old Garone is a member of the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Prosser won multiple sportsman stock car championships at the old Saugus (Calif.) Speedway as well as dozens of races at other tracks throughout the southwest.
His longtime sponsor and crew chief, Donnie Johnson, told the Los Angeles Times in 1989, “I’ve never seen anybody drive a car like Oren. He never panicked. He had the uncanny ability to know what’s ahead. He’d run every lap as if it were the main event.”
Prosser, age 77 and a resident of Granada Hills, Calif. was virtually unbeatable at Saugus in the 1960s and 1970s, winning five sportsman stock car championships (1964, 1967-72). He won nine consecutive feature races at the flat, .333-mile track in 1966. In 1971 Prosser won the July 4 Firecracker 400 – capturing all four 100-lap races at four southern California tracks. He also won Saugus’ first 330-lap event in 1975.
Prosser won the NASCAR Permatex 300 in 1967 at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway and competed in three NASCAR Grand National (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) events.
Garone and Prosser join Greg Pursley, Bryan R. Sperber, Richard “Dick” Woodland and the late Larry Albedi in the 2018 WCSCHOF class of inductees. Five Heritage figures also are slated for induction: Freddie Agabashian, George Bignotti, Bill Cheesbourg, Clyde Prickett and Mickey Thompson. All but Prickett are deceased.
The 2018 Induction, presented by Gateway Motorsports Park, is open to the public on a limited, space-available basis. Reservation information is available by emailing the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame at jwentzel@ismraceway.com.
About the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame:
The West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame was conceived in 2001 as a means of recognizing significant contributors and contributions to the sport of stock car racing. The mission of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame is founded to preserve history and heritage of the important role west coast stock car competitors have played in the sport’s development and continuation and to recognize, through annual enshrinement, of outstanding individuals and groups within the sport such as, but not limited to, designers, engineers, mechanics, drivers, race track owners, promoters, publicists and members of the motorsports media.
Over the past three years, the induction has helped raise more than quarter million dollars for charitable causes. The West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which hopes to see charitable giving reach the $500,000 mark in the coming years. The group’s current list of charities and foundations – expected to increase – counts 25 different groups. They include charities dedicated to health, including autism research, children’s cancer, breast cancer and Parkinson’s; education; history; animal rescue; homelessness and military and veterans’ assistance.
For a complete list of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame’s charity partners please go to http://westcoaststockcarhalloffame.com/our-charities/.
About Gateway Motorsports Park
Gateway Motorsports Park is the home of INDYCAR, NASCAR and NHRA racing in the St. Louis region. Located just five minutes from downtown St. Louis and covering more than 340 acres, Gateway Motorsports Park is the largest outdoor entertainment facility in the area. Gateway Motorsports Park’s facilities include a 1/4-mile drag strip, 1.25-mile superspeedway, 1.6-mile road course, a state-of-the-art karting facility and a 14-acre, multi-purpose dirt off-road venue. Gateway Motorsports Park was the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Facility of the Year Award from the Race Track Business Conference and the 2017 Spirit of St. Louis Award from St. Louis Attractions Association.
Contact:
West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame
Owen A. Kearns
661-342-2983
okearns@bak.rr.com
Gateway Motorsports Park
John Bisci
(618) 215-8888 ext. 119
John.Bisci@Gatewaymsp.com