November 7, 2004

NYSSCA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES FOR 2005 NAMED

The November vote that matters most to racers in eastern New York has resulted in four great talents being elected for January 2005 induction into the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame.

Three outstanding stock car drivers, Donnie Wetmore, Brian Ross and the late Sterling "Buck" Holliday, and ace photographer John Grady will be honored at the association's annual banquet on January 22nd at the Washington Avenue Polish Club in Albany, NY.

Wetmore was a Capital District native who ran well near home but became a superstar once he moved west to Central New York.  His 200 plus career wins include 37 in DIRT 358 modified events and a trio of big block wins but he was the king of a number of current DIRT strongholds before they assumed DIRT sanctions.

Wetmore notched six Fulton titles, eight Brewerton championships and one each at Utica-Rome and Cayuga County in a career that ended with him the all-time win leader at Fulton with 68 and second on the Brewerton list with 67.  Wetmore's 21 wins at Utica-Rome places him eighth on the all-time win list there.  Since retiring from competition, he has been employed as an instructor at the Richard Petty Driving Experience and also returns north on occasion to assist his son, Donnie Jr., an up and coming DIRT racer.

Donnie becomes the third member of his family to be elected to the Hall of Fame, joining his brother, Lebanon Valley Speedway stalwart Stanley Wetmore and his late mother, Ethel Searing Wetmore.

Ross' election caps a career that took him from his 1969 debut in the Charger division at Albany-Saratoga Speedway to stardom on the NASCAR modified tour.  Along the way, he won such prestigious events as the 1984 Race of Champions and the Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway.  He drove some of the division's most famous cars, among them Ed Cloce's Hemi-Cuda Racing #69, the Ernie Wilsburg #5 and Bob Garbarino's Mystic Missile.

Ross was the champion of the four-race modified series at Martinsville, VA. in 1978 and claimed the Oswego Speedway modified championship four times.  Every bit as good a mechanic and fabricator as he was a driver, "Flyin' Brian" won the 1984 Stafford Speedway point title in a homebuilt creation when everyone else was running manufactured chassis.  He also achieved success in the Busch North ranks near the end of his career, running consistently in the lead pack at New Hampshire International and winning a Tour event at Holland Speedway.   Since retiring, Ross has devoted his talents to helping son Chris win races and point titles in the Pro-stock division.

The late Holliday, who resided in Waddington, NY during his racing career, won his first race at Canton in 1952, was the point champion two years later, then moved into Floyd Geary's famed C-38 where he was nearly unbeatable at Fort Covington, Plattsburgh's Airborne Park and Lansdowne Park near Ottawa.  Twice he went undefeated for the year at Ft. Covington and from 1956 to 1958 won nearly 100 features for a .750 batting average.

In 1956 Holliday turned fast time at the Langhorne, PA mile to claim the pole for the Race of Champions and by 1959 he'd moved up to NASCAR's Rochester/Fonda circuit, winning the first race he entered at Rochester's Monroe Co. Fairgrounds and claiming eight Fonda features in a two year span when the Track of Champions was truly that.  He then shocked the racing world by retiring in 1961 but after establishing a family and a business, he returned to the racing wars in 1969, winning regularly at
Evans Mills, Fulton and Ottawa's Capital City Speedway before retiring again in 1974 shortly after his car owner was fatally injured in a pit incident at Capital City.

Amazingly, Holliday's Hall of Fame career came with the full use of only one eye, though one would never have known that by watching him race.  "As far as I know, Buck had some vision in his bad eye but it was far from perfect" said life-long friend and fellow Hall of Fame driver Bill Wimble, a two-time NASCAR National Sportsman Champion.  "He could see out of it but it was out of alignment with his good eye.  Regardless, he was one great driver."

Grady, who began shooting the stars and cars of the Capital District in 1951,was track photographer at Plattsburgh, Albany-Saratoga, Fonda and Lebanon Valley at various times through his career and today is a walking fountain of racing knowledge who can pull out photos of almost any driver he's ever seen and then tell you the story behind the photo.

Grady, who earned his living as an elementary school teacher in Niskayuna, was also a columnist for the Daily Gazette in Schenectady in the late 60's and contributed a number of articles to Stock Car Racing magazine.

At age 74, Grady continues to add to his collection of photos and seemingly endless negative files and says "I intend to be shooting when I'm 100!"

"John has been the 'go to' guy for vintage photos for as long as I can remember" said motorsports journalist Ron Hedger, who is also chairman of the NYSSCA Hall of Fame committee.  "His work ranks right up there with such other giants of vintage photography as open cockpit specialist Bruce Craig and stock car photographer Bob Hunter, both of whom left first rate collections at their passing.

"This year's inductees prevailed over a group of extremely talented racers and industry giants and certainly deserve the honor."