"High and Mighty" Monument

Last year, the division director, Rob Park, decided to begin a hall of fame for the division, something other divisions (not all) have had for a while. When you begin such a project you are immediately faced with several decisions, like who gets in and how do you honor them. Whatever the criteria for induction was, I have to hand it to Rob because he and his committee (I assume their was a committee) came up with a group that couldn’t be more worthy of induction and he repeated that scenario this year. In 2002, the initial members of the Division 5 Hall of Fame included the long time and well respected former Division Director Darrell Zimmerman and his wife, Polly. Nobody has done more for a division or has been more respected by the racers than Darrell who had been the D.D. for ever. OK, maybe not forever but it sure seems that way. Darrell began as a part time worker in 1956 he was the main man in the division since 1960. As he served for the next thirty-five years as the D. D., Darrell was capably assisted, helped, supported, cajoled and loved by his wife. The Zimmerman’s truly are the “first couple” of Division 5 and no one is more deserving of this honor than Zim and Polly. And if you ever have a few minutes, talk to Graham Light, Steve Gibbs or any of the other division directors who worked with Darrell and ask them to relate a few of Zim’s stories, they are truly priceless and told as only Darrell could.

Vern Moats in "Oly Roller".

 Right there with Darrell for most of his years at the helm was Dick Wasinger, the tech guru of the division, a man who has seen a lot of the hall of famers come and go over the years and the guy who enforced all of the tech rules that NHRA sent his way. From gas dragsters to Jr. Dragsters Dick Wasinger has been there for the racers. And speaking of gas dragsters, Ray Motes and R.C. Williams were also among the first inductees into the D-5 hall. Going back to the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s there wasn’t a more feared team in all the country than this duo. Their string of cars was among the most competitive in the sport and they racked up wins from coast to coast and took the divisional Top Gas title several times. Another “Moats,” Vern, was also a part of the first group to be honored by the division and rightfully so. With fifteen divisional titles, more than anyone else in NHRA history, Vern Moats truly is Mr. Division 5. Although he is most remembered for his string of highly successful alcohol funny cars, Vern campaigned some unique gasoline powered cars in his early days, vehicles which had to have Dick Wasinger scratching his head and asking Vern,  “You really want to run that?” But whatever he ran, Vern was always a winner and to this day he is one of the most well respected men in the sport.

Another alky racer, Denny Lucas, was inducted with Vern and as strong as Vern was in the funny car, that’s how tough Denny was in his dragster. This ten-time national event finalist won the divisional title on five occasions and was the sportsman world champion in 1988. All of the aforementioned luminaries were joined at the initial induction ceremony by the great Tom Hoover. While the more recent converts to the sport may think of Tom’s fuel funny cars when they think of the “Showtime” entries, Tom was as much if not more competitive with his string of Top Fuel cars in the 1960’s. Competing as such tracks as Pueblo Motorsports Park and Continental Divide Raceway Tom put together a list of wins that was the envy of most drivers in the sport and it culminated with his D-5 Top Fuel title in 1968. With Tom at the induction ceremony was his wife, Betten, one of the truly gracious ladies in the sport and she writes a pretty good book, too.  

Moving ahead to this year, Rob and his staff had another daunting task facing them, that is, how do you follow up the class of 2002? Well, however they did it, they came up with a group of four individuals who really do cover just about all the bases in the world of drag racing when they added John Bandimere, Sr. Don Cain and John Pusch, Judy Lilly and Mike Troxel to their Hall of Fame. John Bandimere Sr, while most often associated with the track that bears his name, was one of the true pioneers of the sport. John competed at the very first NHRA national championships at Great Bend, Kansas in 1995 as well as racing at Bonneville and Pikes Peak. Along the way he started one of Colorado’s first speed shops and he was one of the first to manufacture and sell a supercharger that was designed specifically for the racing industry. But, as anyone who knew him will tell you, John’s greatest accomplishment and his real love was his family, a family that carries on his tradition of service to the community and their fellow man.

Don Cain and John Pusch were also inducted for their accomplishments on the track in both the gas dragster and the fuel funny car classes. Don, who drove the team’s car, was a six-time national event finalist although none of his finals were more exciting, spectacular or memorable than his 1967 Indy win. At that race, Don drove the team’s single engine Top Gas dragster past one of the greatest fields ever assembled to win, and along the way he beat the famous “Freight Train,” something that no one had been able to do in two full years.  Throw in a divisional title in the funny car class and Don became the only driver in history to win a divisional crown in both Tog Gas and Funny Car. The third inductee this year was Judy Lilly, now Judy Lilly Gunson. Most well known as “Miss Mighty Mopar,” Judy Lilly was a true pioneer for women in drag racing. With a win at the 1965  Winternationals she became one of the first females to win her class at an NHRA national event and she would go on to add seven final round appearances at national events in Super Stock eliminator. Judy would also do something that no other woman before her or after did, and that is she took a Pro Stock car to the final round of an NHRA divisional event.

Mike Troxel

The final entrant into the D-5 Hall of Fame this year was the late Mike Troxel, the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion in 1987. Mike won the division’s dragster championship four times to go along with his U.S. Nationals’ title which propelled him to that championship in 1987. Throw in his fourteen other national event final rounds and you had one of the most successful racers of all time. Plus he was one of the real innovators when it came to the design and building of new parts for the cars that he raced. He later shared that technology with his fellow racers when he started his own company to build and sell racing parts. With his wife, Barb, and daughters Melanie and Michelle, Mike Troxel built a legacy that went far beyond the borders of his home division. 

While I’ve only glossed over the accomplishments of the members of the Division 5 Hall of Fame, I did want to congratulate them on their induction and to say thanks to Rob Park for letting me be a very small part of the ceremony at Bandimere Speedway this past weekend. While I am a native of the Division 1 area, I have watched and admired these racers for years; in fact, to this day one of my biggest thrills was watching Don Cain and John Pusch win that Indy title thirty-six years ago. So to the class of 2003, as well as the initial inductees into the High & Mighty Hall of Fame, congratulations, it couldn’t have happened to a better group of drag racers.

By Bob Frey