Volunteer Speedway - Hall of Fame
Lifetime Achievement Award
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| 2004 - Volunteer Speedway owner Joe Loven presents Herman Goddard of Knoxville with the track's first-ever Lifetime Achievement award. |
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| 2005 - Bill Ledger of Weber City, Va., was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award. The 82-year-old Ledger has been involved in racing for close to 50 years; early on behind the wheel as a driver, and down through the years he’s served in several positions with tracks in the region performing maintenance duties. But most important he’s a smiling, friendly face to everyone around the track. Ledger is “the man” behind the scene in keeping everything operational at Volunteer, and during the time when Kingsport Speedway was open. |
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| 2005 - Robert Walden of Johnson City is the Lifetime Achievement award recipient. Walden has spent over 25 years working in motorsports behind the scene; in public relations with dirt and asphalt racing touring series, along with representing several drivers and race teams, plus working at tracks around the region. Since the late 1970s he’s also worked closely with several national and regional motorsports publications as a journalist, and also co-hosted a racing show on radio for a decade, from 1988 through 1998. For the past 11 years he’s served as public relations director at Volunteer Speedway, and from 1998 through the 2002 season also at Kingsport Speedway while the track was still hosting weekly racing. During the mid-1990s he also teamed up with a partner to launch a local, all-sports weekly publication in the Northeast Tennessee region. |
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| 2006 - Volunteer Speedway owner Joe Loven presents Dan Jeter with the Lifetme Achievement award. Jeter's involvement in racing goes back to the 1960s. Jeter was a NASCAR scorer in the stock car racing series’ early beginnings, and over the years he also worked at local tracks in the region such as Sportsman Speedway, Appalachian Speedway, Kingsport Speedway and Lonesome Pine Raceway. He also helped out legendary drivers from the region such as Ken "Bear" Hunley, Gene Glover, Bill Morton and L.D. Ottinger. |
Pioneer Award
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The Pioneer Award recognizes individuals that have shown a “pioneering passion” as competitors or through behind the scenes activities at the track, thus making their contribution a precious part of Volunteer Speedway history. The award is presented annually by Dean Jones of Primetime Designs.
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| 2002 - Dean Jones of Primetime Designs (left) and Volunteer Speedway owner Joe Loven (right), present Louis Hickey of Whitesburg with the 2002 Pioneer Award. Hickey is a longtime racer at "The Gap" having competed in the Bomber, UMP (Open-Wheel) Modified and also Late Model classes. |
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| 2004 - Walter Ball of Johnson City is the recipient of the 2004 Pioneer Award. Walter is one of the all-time winningest drivers on dirt in the southeast. This true legend of the sport began his racing career in the mid-1950s, and when he hung his helmet up for the final time following the 1978 racing season, he had recorded over 400 feature wins. Plus he captured track championships at the old Sportsman Speedway in Johnson City, Appalachian Speedway in Kingsport, Davy Crockett Raceway in Rogersville, Newport Raceway in Newport, Richlands (VA) Raceway, and in 1977 at Volunteer Speedway. Walter Ball and his son (Dale Ball) hold the distinguished honor of being the only father-son racers to have been crowned Late Model champions at Volunteer Speedway. (Left to Right): Dale Ball, Walter Ball, Dean Jones and Paula Jones of Primetime Designs. |
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| 2005 - John A. Utsman of Bluff City was presented the Pioneer Award by Primetime Designs owner Dean Jones. During an illustrious racing career Utsman recorded over 300 feature wins, and was the 1993 Volunteer Speedway Late Model champion. Over the years he had several NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series starts to his credit, including three starts in the prestigious NASCAR Winston Cup Series Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway. |
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| 2006 - Primetime Designs' Dean Jones presents Howard "Buzz" Collins of Greeneville with the Pioneer Award. The award recognizes individuals that have shown a “pioneering passion” as competitors or through behind the scenes activities at the track, thus making their contribution a precious part of Volunteer Speedway history. Collins' accomplishments behind the wheel of a race car indeed earned him the honor of being called a legend in the sport. His racing career spanned 25 years — from 1970 through the 1995 season. By the time he hung his helmet up he had visited victory lane 460 times — and had captured 14 track championships along the way. |
