Tue, 02 Feb 2016, 11:17 AM '74 Champions Named Grand Marshals, Floyd Honorary Starter for JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals

Courtesy of NHRA Field Marketing

GLENDORA, Calif. --

1974 Pro Comp winner Jimmy Scott

The 1974 inaugural SPORTSnationals champions have been named Grand Marshals and longtime North Central Division starter Bill "Redman" Floyd will be honored as the Honorary Starter when the JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals returns to Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky., May 27-29.

All of the five 1974 champions Jimmy Scott (Pro Comp), Dick Krieger (Comp), Paul Mercure (Modified), Bobby Warren (Super Stock) and Joe Moore (Stock) remain active today in NHRA drag racing in some form or another. Mercure and Warren went on to become hall of famers.

Mercure was inducted into the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998 and Warren was the first sportsman racer to be inducted into Don Garlits' International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2010.

Floyd started working at his local drag strip Edgewater Sports Park in 1971 and worked on the starting line in 1978 at the Springnationals in Columbus, Ohio, and at the U.S. Nationals. He became the Division 3 starter in 1983 and has continued to be an integral part of the North Central Division's Certification Team. He also works in pit control at several NHRA national events.

Bill "Redman" Floyd NHRA Division 3 Starter/Team Member

"JEGS is proud to recognize the 1974 champions and NHRA Division 3's Bill Floyd at this year's event," stated Scott Woodruff, JEGS. "Recognizing the 1974 champions like this is a great way to show how important the heritage of this event is at Beech Bend Raceway. Honoring Redman is well deserved and was a natural choice. He has flipped the switch for all three generations of the Coughlin family and several other racing families for that matter and we are pleased to recognize him for his years of service to NHRA, its racers and its families."