The Iowa Hall of Fame and Racing Museum inducted 19 Iowa racing heroes and legends into our Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 4, 2023. This list includes many Iowa legends in various areas of the motorsports industry in Iowa, which for years has led the nation with the number of tracks holding weekly races in a per-capita basis. The 2023 Hall of Fame Class joins our previous inductees in representing the best of the best in Iowa racing!
Pre – 1990
Emory "Em" Fretheim
As a young teen, Em watched a stock car race at Tunis Speedway and it left a lasting impression! When he heard that three nearby fairgrounds were starting racing programs, he took it as his personal invitation. Em's career began in 1964 with a feature win his first night out. Racing thru the 1990's, he went on to win features in hobby stock, late model, B-modified and truck classes. Em raced at 63 tracks in 11 states and Canada, winning many, many features and track championships.
Bob Hilmer
Bob, "Rapid Robert', started racing in 1947 at the Tunis Speedway. He competed in hundreds of races and had approximately 200 feature wins...winning 29 features in a row in the early 1950's and winning several track championships. Bob was the first driver in the world to break the thirty second barrier for stock cars on a half mile dirt track with a 1955 Rocket 88 Oldsmobile with a time of 29:70 seconds. He started last in that race and drove 15 laps in only seven minutes and 30 seconds.
Butch Householder
Butch started racing stock cars at the Algona track when he was in his mid 20's in the early 1960's. He didn't keep track of how many races he competed in or how many wins he had. He does remember one-on-one race challenges and $100 bounties put on his head if a driver could beat him in the A-Feature! Butch set many track records, often sweeping three races a night and won many track point championships, fair races and special events. He drove fast and clean!
Dan Nesteby
Dan's first race was in 1967 at Tunis Speedway in a novice car...he started 4th and finished 4th. He went on to compete in over 500 races and had approximately 40 feature wins racing in 11 states and Canada! He won two track championships at Tunis, two at Boone Speedway, and one championship in Webster City. Dan's name headlined many issues of Hawkeye Racing News from the early 1970's thru the 1980's. In addition to being fast, he was also known for his clean driving style.
Dick Schiltz
Dick built his first car, a '64 Fairlane with a 427 for the late model class. He raced in the late model class in 19 states and two providences of Canada and won feature events in 13 of those! Headlines soon read "Schiltz captures Mason City special", "Memorial Classic cash to Schiltz", "Boone Invitational to Schiltz", "Schiltz wins NASCAR event", "Catch him if you can & win an extra $200", etc. In 1979, the first year of the All-Iowa Points, compiled by Jeff Broeg, Dick won in the Late Model Class.
Jim Wyman
"Gentleman Jim" (named because of his driving style) raced only Fords with a green #14. He won a track title at Playland Park and two at Whitehead Speedway. In 1971, Jim set fast time at the Iowa State Fair, won six consecutive features at Shelby County Speedway, and was track champion in '71, '72, and '73. Jim also won several consecutive feature wins and went on to win two track titles at Adams County Speedway. He retired in 1973 and returned to late model racing in 1994, changing his car to #59, his age at the time.
Ted Zieman
Ted bridged the gap between WWII and today's late models. His competitive racing career lasted from his first race in 1946 through his retirement in 1981. He won races in midgets, stock cars, modifieds, and late models racing with Tiny Lund, Johnny Beauchamp, Gene Schattschneider, future Indy driver Tom Bigelow and others. During the 1970's, Bob Shryock was late model king at Fairmont and had a $500 bounty. Zieman collected the bounty and ended Shryock's nine race winning streak!
As a young teen, Em watched a stock car race at Tunis Speedway and it left a lasting impression! When he heard that three nearby fairgrounds were starting racing programs, he took it as his personal invitation. Em's career began in 1964 with a feature win his first night out. Racing thru the 1990's, he went on to win features in hobby stock, late model, B-modified and truck classes. Em raced at 63 tracks in 11 states and Canada, winning many, many features and track championships.
Bob, "Rapid Robert', started racing in 1947 at the Tunis Speedway. He competed in hundreds of races and had approximately 200 feature wins...winning 29 features in a row in the early 1950's and winning several track championships. Bob was the first driver in the world to break the thirty second barrier for stock cars on a half mile dirt track with a 1955 Rocket 88 Oldsmobile with a time of 29:70 seconds. He started last in that race and drove 15 laps in only seven minutes and 30 seconds.
Butch started racing stock cars at the Algona track when he was in his mid 20's in the early 1960's. He didn't keep track of how many races he competed in or how many wins he had. He does remember one-on-one race challenges and $100 bounties put on his head if a driver could beat him in the A-Feature! Butch set many track records, often sweeping three races a night and won many track point championships, fair races and special events. He drove fast and clean!
Dan's first race was in 1967 at Tunis Speedway in a novice car...he started 4th and finished 4th. He went on to compete in over 500 races and had approximately 40 feature wins racing in 11 states and Canada! He won two track championships at Tunis, two at Boone Speedway, and one championship in Webster City. Dan's name headlined many issues of Hawkeye Racing News from the early 1970's thru the 1980's. In addition to being fast, he was also known for his clean driving style.
Dick built his first car, a '64 Fairlane with a 427 for the late model class. He raced in the late model class in 19 states and two providences of Canada and won feature events in 13 of those! Headlines soon read "Schiltz captures Mason City special", "Memorial Classic cash to Schiltz", "Boone Invitational to Schiltz", "Schiltz wins NASCAR event", "Catch him if you can & win an extra $200", etc. In 1979, the first year of the All-Iowa Points, compiled by Jeff Broeg, Dick won in the Late Model Class.
"Gentleman Jim" (named because of his driving style) raced only Fords with a green #14. He won a track title at Playland Park and two at Whitehead Speedway. In 1971, Jim set fast time at the Iowa State Fair, won six consecutive features at Shelby County Speedway, and was track champion in '71, '72, and '73. Jim also won several consecutive feature wins and went on to win two track titles at Adams County Speedway. He retired in 1973 and returned to late model racing in 1994, changing his car to #59, his age at the time.
Ted bridged the gap between WWII and today's late models. His competitive racing career lasted from his first race in 1946 through his retirement in 1981. He won races in midgets, stock cars, modifieds, and late models racing with Tiny Lund, Johnny Beauchamp, Gene Schattschneider, future Indy driver Tom Bigelow and others. During the 1970's, Bob Shryock was late model king at Fairmont and had a $500 bounty. Zieman collected the bounty and ended Shryock's nine race winning streak!
Drivers 1990 – Present
Jeff became interested in racing when he won a '71 Nova in a card game! His first race was an enduro race in Harlan in 1984. Jeff competed in approximately 1500 races with 300+ feature wins. He raced in enduro, hobby stock, and modified classes in nine states and won in each class he raced in. Jeff was a five-time IMCA National Champion, Super National Champion, Mac Tools Series winner, Great American Shoot-Out Champion, Tiny Lund Ice Bowl winner and won numerous track championships.
Ron started racing in 1978 in the Sportsman class. He moved onto racing his own street stock car and eventually moved into an open wheel modified. Ron's racing career lasted 35 years, retiring in 2013. He raced in over 1500 races with 502 feature wins and approximately 25 track championships. He considers his 2003-2004 seasons his most successful, winning the NASCAR National Short Track Championship. Ron had 40 feature wins in 2004, the most he had ever won in a single season.
Brian's accomplishments are many! Brian had 150 late model victories, 11 HaveATampa wins, 11 Lucas Oil wins, seven World of Outlaw wins, Show Me 100 winner, Gopher 50 winner, Dirt Track World Championship winner, World 100 winner, Knoxville Late Model National winner and many other series and event wins. Participating in the 1994 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, Brian started in 44 races, won ten races; was in the top five in 34 races; and in the top 10 in 39 races.
Bobby fell in love with driving a race car after his first race at the Eldon Super Half Mile track in 1987. He went on to compete in approximately 950 races with approximately 185 feature wins in 11 states at 36 different tracks. The drivers knew that if Bobby showed up, they would have a battle on their hands! He was the second IMCA Stock car driver to reach 100 feature wins, won 13 track championships and was a five-time Iowa State Fair champion.
Danny loved watching Earl Wagner, Dick Sutcliffe, and Johnny Babb run the cushion in their non-wing sprints at Knoxville! His first race was in 1974 in a '55 Chevy at the Stuart track. He competed in around 800 races with over 150 feature wins. Danny raced in 13 states and 28 tracks in Iowa. He won 17 track championships and was IMCA Regional Champion. Danny always took pride in doing almost all the work on his IMCA Modified and in 1992, he won the National IMCA Championship.
Motorcycle
Mario Edison Dye was born in Oskaloosa on May 10, 1918 and is considered by many to be the father of motocross racing in the United States. Edison worked for Gulberson Diesel Engine in Europe during WWII, returned to the states and then returned to Europe where he was exposed to their popular sport of motocross. He met with Husqvarna officials to bring their bikes to the United States. Dye has gone down in history as one of the most influential figures in US motorcross.
Gavin's father was into racing, bought him a bike, and his first race was in 1996 in Storm Lake at the age of four! He has raced in over 500 events winning approximately 200 races. He raced professional supercross in Australia for seven years and won two championships; raced German professional supercross for six to seven years and won a car; raced in American supercross for three years and had a four-year career in US Arenacross with two championships in 2016 and 2017. He retired in 2018 after a career-ending injury.
Figure 8
Scotty's first race was in Rockwell City in 2005 and he placed second in a borrowed car. Scotty has raced in 200 events and has 53 feature wins. He raced Fort Dodge, Rockwell City and Sac City stock classes and later in both stock and open classes. Scotty's most memorable accomplishment was winning the Clint Pringle Memorial Race five years in a row. He says that the most surreal part of his career has been when strangers would approach him to talk racing and say they were fans.
Drag Racing
From the time Carl was a small boy growing up on the east side of Des Moines, he was fascinated with racing. In the late 1980's, Carl started racing professionally in the IHRA Pro Modified class and racing in various Super Chevy shows across the country. He earned two World Championships during his drag racing career. In 1993, Carl bought the Eddyville drag strip and quickly began to update the entire facility. It eventually became a standout raceway park that included an asphalt circle track.
Owner | Builder | Car Sponsor
Pat raced many types of cars in his 40+ year career and competed in over 500 races with 50 feature wins. In the early 1980's, Pat went into the auto salvage business and sponsored many race teams. In the early 1990's, Pat started Axle Exchange building gear sets. Racers asked him to make driveshafts and he started the Fast Shafts company. Fast Shafts sponsors IMCA, the World of Outlaws, Lucas Oil, and others. One of Pat's proudest sponsorships began in 2016 with "Superman" Jonathan Davenport.
Promoter | Official | Media Member | Event/Series Sponsor
Doug has flagged in 19 states and one country! His first race flagged was a World of Outlaw race at Hartford, SD. Doug was the first black flagman in the United States and after flagging for 45+ years and being part of the racing community, he is one of the most well-known and respected flagmen in the sport. His friend, Doug Wolfgang, said "It's amazing to me how long he's been doing it. You don't flag races for that long unless you enjoy it and have a passion for racing, which I know he does."
Everett was interested in auto racing as a young man attending races at Des Moines tracks. In 1976, he formed G&S Racing and purchased the Boone Speedway. Together with Robert Lawton and IMCA, he was successful in making the IMCA Super Nationals the event that it is today. Everett promoted the Stuart Speedway for many years. In 1988, he opened JR Motorsports, a parts warehouse and engine shop, building complete modifieds and sport mods.