Three of Midget auto racing's top drivers and the winningest National car owner of all time are the latest slated for induction into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies are scheduled August 29 at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisc., home of the Hall of Fame exhibit. A noon luncheon will be followed by the inductions and that night's "Hall of Fame" 25-lap Midget Classic.

Hank Butcher, Johnny Coy and Roy Sherman are the drivers to be honored and Steve Lewis is the car owner.

Butcher, who hailed from San Leandro, Calif. during his racing career, ranks third in terms of career victories in Bay Cities Racing Association Midget competition with 79, trailing only Hall of Fame members Johnny Baldwin and Fred Agabashian. He also recorded a dozen USAC feature wins in a career that spanned 32 years.

Coy, of Freeport, N.Y., won the 1958 NASCAR Midget driving title. He won 14 of the 25 races which comprised he 1958 NASCAR Midget racing schedule, then won the 1959 track title at Islip Speedway on Long Island. Nine years later he won the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) Midget crown and repeated as the ARDC Champion the next year. Two years later he returned to win the title and again repeated in 1972. In 1962 Johnny passed a driver test for the Indianapolis 500 but the car failed to complete a qualifying run. Johnny's boys, Joey and Johnny, Jr. both race and Joey owns championships in ARDC and the Northeast Midget Association (NEMA).

Lewis, of Laguna Beach, Calif., shattered USAC's all-time National feature victory record as a car owner and had 113 at the end of the 2003 season. He won nine USAC Midget car owner championships in 11 years and scored feature victories with some of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport.

An astute businessman, Steve also created the extremely successful Performance Racing Industry trade show, held each year at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, showcasing the industry, and also publishes the widely distributed Performance Racing Industry magazine.

Among Lewis' drivers are USAC Triple Crown Champions Dave Darland, Tony Stewart and J.J. Yeley, plus the following drivers, all of whom own USAC driving titles: Mike Bliss, Jay Drake, Chuck Gurney, Tracy Hines, Kenny Irwin, Jr., Kasey Kahne, Jason Leffler, Michael Lewis, Kevin Olson, Stevie Reeves and Jimmy Sills as well as Stan Fox, who recorded the first dozen National victories for the Lewis team.

Sherman, of St. Louis, Mo., was America's first AAA National Midget Racing Champion in 1948. Two years earlier he won the Canadian Midget title. He attempted to qualify for the 1951 and 1952 Indianapolis 500s, then served as chief mechanic for Johnny Thomson and the D-A Lubricant Racing Team from 1957-1960. He helped develop D-A Speed Sport Oil and in 1961 went to work for Pratt & Whitney in its aerospace program. In 1968 he died of a heart attack at the age of 59.



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