(Note: This is the fifth of a series of press releases on the 2017 inductees into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. The 14th Annual Induction Ceremony, presented by Gateway Motorsports Park, will be held June 22 at the Meritage Resort in Napa, Calif.)
PHOENIX (June 13, 2017) – Scott Pruett of Roseville, Calif. has won races in full-bodied cars, sports cars and championship cars. Pruett, 57, won three Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am titles (1987, 1994 and 2003) and a pair of International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GTO championships (1986, 1988).
He won two Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) events and was the Indianapolis 500 co-rookie of the year in 1989.
Pruett’s greatest success came in Rolex GRAND-AM/WeatherTech sports car racing: five championships (2004, 2008, 2010-11, and 2013) and 45 victories, including five overall wins in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Pruett competed in 40 NASCAR premier series races (including a full season in 2000) with three top-five and six top-10 finishes that include a second at Watkins Glen International in 2003. He won a NASCAR XFINITY Series pole in Mexico City.
Owner of Pruett Vineyards in Placer County, Calif., Pruett also has been a television commentator.
Pruett will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America later this month. He previously was enshrined in the World Karting Hall of Fame and received the Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC) Phil Hill Award in 2016.
“He’s a guy committed to his craft and a class guy,” said Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal in honoring Pruett with the Phil Hill Award. “He was hurt pretty badly in a testing accident in West Palm Beach in 1990, where he broke his legs, back, feet, you name it. Obviously, that didn’t stop him and his drive and determination took him to winning many championships.”
Pruett joins Walker Evans, Michael Gaughan, Joe Leonard, Gene Price, Frank Secrist and Kenneth Takeuchi in the 2017 WCSCHOF class of inductees.
The 2017 induction ceremonies, presented by Gateway Motorsports Park, are 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@phoenixraceway.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.
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.
Contact:
West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame
Owen A. Kearns
661-342-2983
okearns@bak.rr.com