— Special Livestream Announcement TODAY, Thursday, October 7, at 6:30 p.m. EDT from the Harley-Davidson Museum® Viewable on the MSHFA Facebook Page
— Founders William S. Harley and Brothers Arthur, Walter, and William A. Davidson will be Enshrined as One
— Willie G. Davidson, who Knew all Four Founders, and other Family Members Expected to Participate in the Livestream
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (October 7, 2021) – The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) will hold a special livestream press conference at 6:30 p.m. EDT today at the Harley-Davidson Museum® in Milwaukee to announce the final inductee (Historic Category) of the Class of 2022. The free livestream event will be available on the MSHFA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MotorsportsHOF/.
The first eight Class of 2022 inductees were announced in a special press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 13.
William S. Harley and brothers Arthur, Walter, and William A. Davidson will go into the Hall of Fame together as a quartet. They were cofounders of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company (1903), the definitive American motorcycle brand, and makers of some of the most celebrated motorcycles in racing history.
Among those expected to participate in the livestream with MSHFA President George Levy are William A. Davidson’s grandson, Willie G. Davidson, great grandson Bill Davidson, great granddaughter Karen Davidson and notable Harley-Davidson motorcycle racing champions and inductees Scott Parker (MSHFA Class of 2009) and Chris Carr (MSHFA Class of 2020).
David Hobbs (MSHFA Class of 2009) will serve as the livestream event’s host, fresh off emceeing last week’s dual Class of 2020 and 2021 induction celebration at the M1 Concourse Event Center in the greater Detroit area.
The MSHFA Class of 2022 will be formally inducted during a black-tie ceremony in Daytona Beach on March 7 – 8, 2022.
Joining the Harley-Davidson founders are the designer of the 1965 World Champion Cobra Daytona Coupes, Peter Brock (Sports Cars); the only person in history to win NHRA Top Fuel championships as a driver and crew chief, Dick LaHaie (Drag Racing); “The Henry Ford of race cars,” NASCAR builder Banjo Matthews (Business); and the only woman to receive the Ken W. Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism, Denise McCluggage (Media).
In addition this class includes NASCAR co-founder and championship-winning team owner Raymond Parks (Historic); “The Cat in the Hat” who has masterminded more than 300 NASCAR wins, Jack Roush (Stock Cars); motorcycle racing innovators who have won NHRA drag racing titles, AMA Supersport and Superbike titles, two Daytona 200s and more, Terry Vance & Byron Hines (Motorcycles); and Helio Castroneves (Open Wheel), the reigning and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner who will join other four-time 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. as a fellow inductee.
Including the Class of 2022, there will be 278 “Heroes of Horsepower” on the MSHFA induction roster.
“Like so many legends before them, the Class of 2022 has left an indelible impression on the sport,” Levy said. “We can’t wait to welcome them into the Hall next March.”
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is the only hall that honors the entire sport and because of that, it’s the most exclusive. Only one racing great from each major discipline is admitted each year. And each of the MSHFA’s inductees is elected by a straight vote of 200 experts — half of them historians and other experts, half of them inductees. No superdelegates. No thumbs on the scale. No smoke-filled rooms.
The MSHFA is housed in Daytona International Speedway’s Ticket & Tours Building located in front of the famed 2.5-mile DIS tri-oval. Access to the MSFHA is included with every Speedway tour, which run throughout each day, or as a museum-only ticket. The museum is open daily year-round except major holidays.
You can find out more information about the MSHFA by going online to www.MSHF.com or following us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MotorsportsHOF/ and Instagram and Twitter at @MotorsportsHOF.
About the Davidsons & Harley: William S. Harley and brothers Arthur, Walter, and William A. Davidson were cofounders of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company (1903). The project began two years earlier when Harley and Arthur Davidson started experimenting with gasoline engines in hopes of motorizing bicycles. All four men would play important roles in the company. Harley, the sole college grad, was the company’s chief engineer and treasurer. He was also a racer who served on the AMA Competition Committee for 24 years. Arthur understood marketing and how to energize dealers. He started a school to train H-D mechanics and was an early supporter of the AMA. Walter was the company’s first president and as a rider gave H-D its first race victory (1908). William did most of the hiring and through his relationships with employees continually improved the manufacturing process. Together they changed motorcycling and motorsports history.
About the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America: The MSHFA is the only hall that honors all American motorsports: cars, motorcycles, airplanes, off road and powerboats. Its mission is to celebrate and instill the American motorsports values of leadership, creativity, originality, teamwork and spirit of competition. Founded by Larry G. Ciancio and Ronald A. Watson, it held its first induction in 1989. Watson spent the next 30 years tirelessly building it into the nation’s premier such hall until his passing in 2019. The original museum in Novi, Mich., relocated to Daytona Beach, Fla., in 2016 and greets more than 100,000 guests a year. MSHFA is operated by the nonprofit Motorsports Museum and Hall of Fame of America Foundation, Inc.
