West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame names Class of 2025 finalists

Two NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West champions, a Championship Auto Racing Teams rookie of the year, three crew chiefs and a pair of NASCAR Cup Series team owners are among the 13 finalists for Class of 2025 induction into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame.

The 13 finalists are:

Voting by the organization’s Board of Directors continues through Dec. 2. The five 2025 inductees will be announced in early December.

The organization in 2025 will induct its eighth Heritage class of individuals whose careers largely began prior to 1970. The five Heritage inductees will be named in January 2025. The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame will also reveal its next 10  Pioneers of Speed – most of whom began their careers prior to World War II.

“The closeness of the voting for our Class of 2025 is unprecedented,” said Ken Clapp, Chairman and CEO of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame. “With a four-way tie for 10th-place we chose to include all 13 nominees on the final ballot. In the event we have a tie for fifth in the final vote, all will be inducted.”

The 2025 induction ceremonies, presented by World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, will be held Thursday, March 13 as kick-off of the March 14-16 NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The gala will be held at the South Point Hotel and Casino and will feature the naming of the 5th Annual Knockin Doorz Down Philanthropist of the Year presented by 51FIFTY.

The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame annually nominates for induction worthy individuals who competed in traditional stock car racing as well as other racing vehicles primarily on road courses under international and national sanction by the FIA, IndyCar, International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), GRAND-AM and the Sports Car Club of America. The Hall is also open to winners and champions of other forms of racing, as determined by the Hall’s nominating committee.

To obtain media credentials for coverage of the 24th West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame dinner and awards, please contact Owen A. Kearns at 661-342-2983. To obtain details about table sponsorship for the 2025 awards dinner, please contact Ken Clapp at ckcdeee@gmail.com.

The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame was conceived in 2001 as a means of recognizing significant contributors and contributions to the sport of stock car/motorsports competition. The mission of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame is founded to preserve history and heritage of the important role west coast stock car and motorsports figures 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.

The Hall is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, dedicated to supporting a variety of organizations and groups from coast to coast. The Hall has raised more than $1 million during the past 6-1/2 years for youth, health and safety, hospitals, animal rescue, military and other charitable causes.

AJ Almendinger. AJ Almendinger, Los Gatos, Calif., continues to enjoy a nearly three-decade career racing karts, open-wheel championship cars and NASCAR stock cars. He is a two-time World Karting Federation Grand National champion and – at age 22 – was named Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Rookie of the year. Almendinger won five CART races driving for Gerry Forsythe Racing during the 2006 season when he finished third in the points standings. In 2024, Almendinger completed his 17thseason as a NASCAR Cup Series competitor, winning three times – at Watkins Glen International for JTG Racing and on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the Charlotte Roval for his current team, Kaulig Racing. Almendinger has 18 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories – two for Penske Racing and the remainder for Kaulig. His best points finish, third, came this year. In 2003, Almendinger was the second-youngest driver to win the Toyota Atlantic championship behind Michael Andretti. He won the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona driving for Michael Shank Racing with co-drivers Justin Wilson, John Pew and Ozz Negri.

Justin Cameron. Austin Cameron overcame life-threatening illness to star in the ARCA Menards Series West. Cameron, from El Cajon, Calif., began racing go-karts at the age of nine, eventually graduating to stock cars. He was the rookie of the year at Willow Springs Raceway in Southern California. In 1998, Cameron joined the  NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West, also becoming the season’s top newcomer and finishing fourth in the championship standings despite missing the first race. His first of 15 series victories came in 1999, at Irwindale Speedway outside Los Angeles where, in 2003, Cameron returned to capture the Toyota All-Star Showdown featuring late model competitors from throughout the United States. While Cameron failed to win a series title, he finished three times in the point standings, including runners-up in 1999 and 2004. In 2005 Cameron underwent treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma and a heart transplant. He returned to competition in 2006, winning twice before retirement. Cameron also competed in all three NASCAR national series.

Ernie Cope. Ernie Cope is a native of Spanaway, Wash. whose father and uncle built professional dragster engines. His cousin, Derrike, is a Daytona 500 winner and West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee. Cope began racing in the NASCAR Northwest Series at the age of 19, posting 24 top-five finishes in the late model stock car touring series. He finished third in the championship in 1994 and moved to the ARCA Menards Series West the following year, scoring two victories in Lew Miller’s Chevrolet en route to a second-place points finish. Cope swapped driving gloves for a crew chief’s headset, competing in more than 400 national series races. He won nine times in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – six of them with Kevin Harvick. Cope’s NASCAR Xfinity Series record shows 285 races, 16 poles, 15 wins, 106 top fives and 170 top 10s. His drivers finished runner-up in two seasons – Elliott Sadler in 2011 and Chase Elliott in 2015. Cope is competition director at JTG Daugherty Racing.

Chuck Gurney. The second-generation driver raced quarter midgets as a child, and as youngster, watched his father Gene race for the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA). Born in Oakland, Calif., Gurney was a dominant figure in open wheel circles during the 1980s. He claimed 33 Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) feature wins and one NARC championship, which came in 1983. In 1985 he captured a national championship in the United States Auto Club (USAC) super modifieds. Gurney won the USAC Silver Crown title and counts 14 Silver Crown victories, which places him second on the all-time list. Gurney is a five-time Copper World Classic champion – three in midgets, and twice in sprint cars. He won the 1989 Belleville Midget Nationals and the 1988 and 1989 Turkey Night Grand Prix at the legendary Ascot Park and is a nine-time California Racing Association (CRA) winner. In 2004, Gurney was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa.

Davey Hamilton. Davey Hamilton is a second-generation super modified star and Indianapolis 500 veteran. A native of Nampa, Idaho, the son of open-wheel pavement legend Ken Hamilton began his racing career in the six-cylinder class at Boise’s Firebird Raceway. He won championship and rookie of the year titles in 1979 and made his super modified debut a year later with the Canadian American Racing Association (CAMRA). He won three consecutive titles, 1987-89 and from 1990 through 1994 championships in Western States Super modified Tour, Super Modified Racing Association, Fire and Fury Series and the Madera series. Hamilton competed in 11 Indianapolis 500 races, finishing fourth in 1998. He made 56 Indy Racing League starts, driving for A.J. Foyt, Galles Racing and Dreyer Reinbold Racing teams. Hamilton was runner-up in the championship two times – 1997 for Foyt and 1998 for Nienhouse Motorsports. He scored eight IRL podiums, twice finishing second at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Pikes Peak International Raceway. Hamilton is a broadcaster with SIRIUSXM Radio and NBC Sports.

Lance Hooper. Lance Hooper is a member of the “Palmdale Posse,” a group of NASCAR racers that raced out of Palmdale, Calif. headed by West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. Hooper, like Hornaday, is a second-generation competitor whose family raced stock cars throughout Southern California and called Saugus (Calif.) Speedway home. Driving for West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Famer Ray Claridge, Hooper won championships in consecutive seasons – NASCAR Elite Southwest Series in 1995 and the NASCAR West Series (now NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West) in 1996. Hooper won four times in West; seven times in the late model Southwest Series. Later, Hooper competed in all three NASCAR national series, finishing 10th in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway. Hooper transitioned to a crew chief’s role with nearly 100 events over seven seasons. He posted top-10 finishes with Clay Rogers and Jeff Green and spent a full season at Thor Sport Racing with Kerry Earnhardt.

Jeff Jefferson. Jeff Jefferson is a three-time NASCAR Elite Series Northwest Tour champion and NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West team owner. Jefferson, a resident of Naches, Wash., is the son of West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee George Jefferson. He won the 2003-05 Tour titles, posting 13 victories in 80 starts. Jefferson also competed on the NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West, winning once at Portland Speedway in 2000. With West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame crew chief Jerry Pitts, Jefferson purchased the assets of Gene Price Racing in 2005. Their drivers included Noah Gragson, who won five times and was named the 2015 rookie of the year. The team – JP Racing and Jefferson Racing – scored 13 victories in the NASCAR ARCA Menards Series East and West. Among the winning drivers were NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick and Will Rogers. Austin Dillon, Sheldon Creed and William Byron also drove the team’s Fords.

Justin Marks. Justin Marks is the founder and team owner of Trackhouse Entertainment Group and Trackhouse Racing competing in the NASCAR Cup Series and the international MotoGP. He opened the Trackhouse Motorplex (formerly GoPro Motorplex) go kart racing facility near Charlotte in late 2012. Marks entered race team ownership at lower levels, including a venture with late owner Harry Scott in NASCAR’s lower rungs, as well as a World of Outlaws team. He won the 2022 National Motorsports Press Association’s Myers Brothers Award recognizing individuals and/or groups that have provided outstanding contributions to stock car racing. Along with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, Marks purchased the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Tour in January 2023. The professional Late Model and Late Model stock car grassroots series competes at local short tracks throughout the Southeast United States. Marks was a driver for nearly 20 years enjoying sports car success, including factory rides with Porsche, Acura and BMW. He won several times in the Trans Am Series in 2023. Marks Joined four co-drivers in winning the 2009 Rolex 24 in the GT division. Marks competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, winning the 2016 Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Brad Noffsinger. One of the West’s premier competitors in non-winged sprint cars, Brad Noffsinger also raced in the NASCAR Cup Series, became a Cup crew chief and – for 20 years – was an instructor at the Richard Petty Driving School at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Noffsinger, from Huntington Beach, Calif., began his sprint car career in 1979, becoming the California Racing Association’s Rookie of the Year the following season. He won back-to-back CRA titles in 1986-87, at the wheel of the Jack Gardner Jr. sprinter. Noffsinger won 50 CRA features. Noffsinger also competed part-time in USAC’s Silver Crown division, winning once at Memphis Motorsports Park. He moved to the NASCAR West Series (now NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West) in 1987, then to the Cup Series where over portions of three seasons competed in 17 events, with a best finish of 19th at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In 1997 Noffsinger joined SABCO Racing as the crew chief for Wally Dallenbach Jr. The No. 46 team competed in 18 races with a best finish of 10th at The Glen. Noffsinger was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2013.

Jim Naylor. Jim Naylor, Camarillo, Calif. is a lifelong native of Ventura County in Southern California. He began lettering race cars at age 12 and following graduation from Ventura College opened Auto Graphics, now known as JN Designs. In 1976 Naylor took over a speedway motorcycle track at the Ventura County Fairgrounds and turned it into Ventura Raceway which became the “best little dirt track in America.” For the past 46 years Ventura Raceway has provided a place for many racers and families to enjoy competitive motorsports. Through the years some of the greatest in dirt track racing have demonstrated their talents at the 1/5-mile clay oval. Since 2016 the track has been the home of The Turkey Night Grand Prix for USAC Midgets. The raceway also has provided opportunities for such businesses as Cory Kuzman’s driving school and Maxwell Industries. Naylor’s awards include the 1991 United States Auto Club Race Organizer of the Year; USAC National Championship Midget Series Jim Blunk Memorial Award; and the Western Fairs Association Blue Ribbon Award. Naylor is a 2010 Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

Boris Said. Boris Said is best known for his sports car successes while being an acknowledged “road course ringer” in NASCAR. Said, born in New York City but living throughout his career in Carlsbad, Calif., won the 2002 SCCA Trans-Am championship and the 2004 Rolex Grand-Am GT title. Driving a BMW, Said shared back to back GT class victories in the 1997-98 24 Hours of Daytona. Said won 10 times in the Rolex Series. He competed in the LeMans 24 Hour race, won in GT cars in Germany and also raced in Australian Super Cars. Said, whose father Bob was a pioneer post-World War II sports car driver, won poles in all three NASCAR national series. Although recognized for his road racing prowess, Said captured the pole for the 2006 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coke 400 at Daytona International Speedway and finished fourth. He won a NASCAR XFINITY Series race in Montreal as well as a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Sonoma Raceway. He frequently is called on to tutor NASCAR’s top stars on the art of road racing. Said’s most recent NASCAR Cup Series start came in 2022 at Circuit of the Americas.

Rick Ware. Rick Ware, Los Angeles, Calif. has been a motorsports mainstay for more than 40 years, beginning at age 6 when the third-generation racer began his driving career and has since spanned four wheels and two wheels on both asphalt and dirt. Competing in the SCCA Trans Am Series and other road-racing divisions led Ware to NASCAR in the early 1980s, where he finished third in his NASCAR debut – the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon 300 NASCAR Grand American race at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. More than a decade later, injuries would force Ware out of the driver seat and into fulltime team ownership. In 1995, Rick Ware Racing was formed, and with wife Lisa by his side, Ware has since built his eponymous organization into an entity that fields two fulltime entries in the NASCAR Cup Series while simultaneously campaigning successful teams in the Top Fuel class of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the NTT INDYCAR Series, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, and FIM World Supercross and AMA American Flat Track motorcycles. His Top Fuel driver Clay Millican won the prestigious NHRA Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Sean Woodside. The Saugus, Calif. competitor won the 1999 NASCAR West Series (now NASCAR ARCA Menards Series West) championship, following two seasons of second-place points finishes. Woodside drove for two West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees – Bill McAnally in his championship season and Ray Claridge. He won seven times – five in Claridge’s Pontiacs and two as a McAnally Chevrolet driver. Three quarters of Woodside’s 74 series starts resulted in top-10 finishes (49). Woodside also won 12 poles. The competitor also raced in the NASCAR Elite Series Southwest Tour, winning twice and also pursued limited schedules in NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series. 

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