2025 Inductees

The Iowa Hall of Fame and Racing Museum inducted 14 Iowa racing heroes and legends into our Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 1, 2025.   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 2025 Hall of Fame Class joins our previous inductees in representing the best of the best in Iowa racing!

George started racing in the early ’60’s, racing at the Dayton Speedway, Kossuth Co. Speedway and Marshalltown Speedway, driving the #10 stock car.  George had a long  career racing late models in Des Moines, Boone, Algona, Marshalltown, Oskaloosa, Webster City and the Stuart Speedway in the #80 car.  During his 15-year racing career, George won numerous big events and many season championships.  He promoted Boone Speedway from 1976-1978, Marshalltown Speedway, and promoted the Iowa State Fairgrounds track from 1979-1980.

Shawna was born in Des Moines.  In 1983, Shawna began her career racing semi-tractors and earned 30 victories.  She moved into the GATR Truck Series and was named Rookie of the Year in 1984.  In 1988, Shawna began her stock car career racing in all three of NASCAR’S national touring series, the ARCA series, the Charlotte/Daytona Dash series and is one of only sixteen women to race in the NASCAR series, one of three women to race in the Daytona 500 and the first woman to win a pole position at NASCAR’s I-95 track.

Mike’s first race was in Vinton, Iowa driving an IMCA modified in May of 1980.  He has competed in 650 races and has 135 feature wins.  Mike was the first ever IMCA modified champion to make the switch from dirt to asphalt and went on to become the most winningest driver on the pavement at Hawkeye Downs, having three wins on dirt and nine on asphalt.  In 1999, he won the Hawkeye Downs Hard Charger points championship, passing an all-time high 159 cars in one season during feature competitions.

Jeff began his racing career with help from Fuzzy Liddell.  His first car was Liddell’s 1966 Chevelle which they painted red with the #77 and headed to Marshalltown to race in the street stock class.  He won the B-Main the first night and the next week won the A-Main.  Now he has 600+ feature wins.  Jeff has won the Boone Nationals nine times, is a seven-time Deery Bros. Summer Series Champion with over 70 wins, a three-time Pepsi National Champion, 2003 All-Iowa Points Champion and many other accolades.

Bob’s first race was in 1980 at the East Moline Speedway in Illinois in the Bomber class, he was track champion in 1983 with 17 feature wins between East Moline Speedway and Hawkeye Raceway in Blue Grass.  He was also the Street Stock State Champion in all-Iowa points.  Bob raced his modified through the years and also raced late models for Masengarb/Morehouse; Donnie Rogers; Neither; and Ahlers and Doersher.  Bob  won many races and championships with 210+ feature wins in his 42 years of racing.

Denny’s nomination in this class was based on his ability, success and personality in racing.  He was a NASCAR regional champion one year and had several track point championships.  Denny raced to 27 career wins in the IMCA sanctioned late model series plus one win in the Deery Brothers Summer Series.  He won two track championships in Marshalltown in 1987 and 1989 and one at the Independence Motor Speedway in 1989.  Denny was also the 1989 IMCA National Champion.

Bob was one of the very best late model and modified drivers.  He raced from the late ’60’s thru the late 1990’s and for a portion of the mid-2000’s and retired in 2011.  The demands of farming prevented him from chasing season long championships but he was a significant force to deal with on the track and always scored many special event feature wins.  He raced in Algona, Webster City, Mason City, Alta, Knoxville, Boone, Spencer and at tracks in Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.

JOHN TIBBEN

John became interested in racing at the 1948 Iowa State Fair, and watching big car races, sprint cars,  and later CeMar Acres, Cedar Rapids midget races and the Indy 500’s.  His first race was at Ottumwa in June, 1955, racing a motorcycle “because that’s what he had”!  John placed first.  He rode in 1,000 races over 20 years, winning 200 heats and main events.  On July 4, 1956, Tibben won all the races scheduled at the Keokuk Fairgrounds and raced in all the Pro AMA dirt track races within 400 miles of Chicago.

After the military, Roger worked at an engine shop in Nevada which led to a partnership with Jim Eggleston in 1978, R & J Performance in Dysart, Iowa.  One of Roger’s greatest claims to notoriety is creating the B1 cylinder head for big block Chrysler engines.  In 1998, after racing the “Cannonball Express” Top Alcohol Dragster, Dale Suhr asked Roger to drive his six-second, 230 mph front-engine top fuel dragster and that was the beginning of a 15-year partnership with Dale and the “Orange Crate”!

SCOTT BRAUN

Scott’s racing career started with racing street stocks and sportsman cars.  His first race was in 1976 at Tunis Speedway.  In 1979 when he and Fuzzy Liddell were building a couple of cars, they hand built the front fenders for a Camaro body and the idea for Performance Bodies began.  In 1980, Performance Bodies started with Scott working out of his dad’s heating and cooling shop.  In 2004, Scott moved his business into a 51,000 sq. ft. location.  Today it is one of the nation’s largest racing industry’s parts suppliers!

 

When Bruce and a group of his high school friends supported a local racer, they hung around his shop and tagged along to go to the races!  It was 1983 when the driver he followed decided to promote the Marshalltown Speedway.  Everyone in the group pitched in to help with Bruce selling tickets.  Because he always had a camera with him, he was made the track photographer.  He and his camera became very well known at Marshalltown, Webster City, Eldora, I-35 Speedway, Iowa State Fair Speedway, Boone and Stuart.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Ron was an official at Iowa tracks, including Alta, Webster City, Boone, Eldora, Belmond and Jefferson.  He was the IMCA Competition Director in the early years of IMCA modified racing.  Ron traveled as an official and marketed modifieds as they raced all over the United States.  Ron was a critical part of “growing” IMCA in the early stages of their new modified class and enforced all the IMCA rules, including defending their new $300 claim concept!

Billy’s love of racing started when he bought his first stock car in 1986.  His first race was at the Boone track in 1987.  He was accompanied by legends, Larry Jackson and Glenn Woodard.  Billy’s weekly racing schedule in the ’90’s included Oskaloosa, the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Boone, Hamilton County Speedway, and Greenbelt Speedway.  In 2016, Billy and his son, Andrei, transitioned to boat racing.  Billy participated in 1,000+ stock car races with 100 wins and 100+ boat races with 12 wins…with many championships in both!

Steve’s love for dirt track racing started at an early age in the 1970’s, traveling to racetracks across Iowa with his father, cheering on family friends, John Connolly, Bill Beckman, Darrell Dake, and Jim Burbridge.  He started dabbling in race car lettering in the late ’70’s while still in high school.  In the late ’80’s, he was lettering race cars every evening while working as a full-time sign painter.  Steve lettered everything by hand with a brush, airbrush or paint gun and lettered over 1,000 cars in 40 years!