2/15/2021
BAPS Motor Speedway
BAPS Honors 2021 Hall of Fame Class Sat. May 22nd
Making upgrades and improving the on-track racing product has been a critical to the management team at BAPS Motor Speedway over the last four years.
But those aspects weren’t the only important pieces to the York Haven facility’s success. Speedway owner Scott Gobrecht and general manager Kolten Gouse wanted to preserve the history of its core divisions.
To do so, Gobrecht and Gouse developed a Hall of Fame to celebrate the premier drivers, owners, and special contributors in the Super Sportsman, Late Model, Street Stock, and Extreme Stock divisions.
“When we came up with the idea for a Hall of Fame, we didn’t know how it would be received,” Gouse said. “The response the first two years from fans, drivers, and everyone involved, has been tremendous.
“We wanted to preserve the history of our core divisions, and it’s been a home run. This is another unbelievable class being enshrined this year, and we look forward to doing this for years to come.”
The Hall of Fame class was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 and was carried over to the 2021 season and will be honored during the Blazer’s Body Shop Bud Bricker Nationals presented by FK Rod Ends, Saturday, May 22. Below is this year’s Hall of Fame class:
Fred Putney Sr.: Few former drivers have built a resumé as impressive as Putney, who has 59 career Super Sportsman victories to his credit. That’s eighth all time in the division. Of those victories, 53 have come at Silver Spring Speedway, which is fourth all time at the speedway. The biggest win of Putney’s career came in 1975, when he captured the Super Sportsman 100. His best season came in 1974, when he won 10 times at Silver Spring, which is the most in a single season at the track. Putney is a two-time BAPS Motor Speedway champion (1961 and 1975) and Silver Spring Speedway champion (1972 and 1976), as well as a Penn National track champion (1979).
Jim Bernheisel: The Jonestown, Pa., ace ripped off 75 career wins at 17 different tracks. Of those wins, 38 came at Silver Spring Speedway, including the 1985 Paul Orendo Late Model 50. He also had six wins at BAPS Motor Speedway. Bernheisel’s best season came in 1987, when he raced 22 times and had 12 wins, 20 top-five finishes, and 21 top 10s. He only had one DNF during the campaign. He was a two-time track champion at Silver Spring Speedway.
Scott Thunberg: Thunberg did most of his damage at BAPS Motor Speedway. He won 14 times at the speedway and was a four-time champion at the York Haven facility (1998, 2009, 2014, 2015) and was second in the standings six times. A track champion in three decades, Thunberg also had eight wins at Big Diamond Raceway and four more at Silver Spring, including the 2002 Street Stock 40. Thunberg qualified for 233 straight main events at BAPS Motor Speedway from July 20, 1996 to September 5, 2015.
Donnie Broderick: When you think of success in the Extreme Stock division at BAPS Motor Speedway, Broderick jumps to the top of the list. He is a four-time track champion, winning titles in 2007 and 2008, as well as 2010 and 2013. More impressive is Broderick’s streak of 11 straight wins at BAPS Motor Speedway.
Bob and Zane Highlands: The Highlands’ competed in the first ever race at Silver Spring Speedway and was a fixture owning cars for years. Their driver’s list is distinguished, as Fred Putney, Fred Locke, Gary Wolford, John Murphy, Larry Jackson, Dave Calaman, Frankie Herr, Smokey Snellbaker, and Pat Cannon piloted Highlands owned machines. This duo collected three Silver Spring track championships (1986, 2002, 2003) and three Super Sportsman Tour titles (2001-2003).
Floyd Donnelly: One of the premier chassis builders at Silver Spring Speedway, Donnelly is a track champion at the speedway. Drivers to use Donnelly’s chassis is Harry Donnelly, Fred Putney, who won two titles in Donnelly machines, Alan Kreitzer, Kramer Williamson, Dick Snare, Steve Wolfe, and Joe Shields.
Bud Bricker: Bricker needs no introduction to BAPS Motor Speedway. In fact, if not for Bricker, the speedway wouldn’t exist. He built the York Haven facility in 1954 and owned it through the 1969 season.
Article Credit: BAPS Motor Speedway
