Howdy all. Here's the story in the Free Press, however the story doesn't say much about Tony...simply that he was inducted.
Unfortunately it looks like Harvey Lennox did not make the cut, nor do I actually know if he was nominated. There was a facebook campaign led by TommySalami to get him inducted. Maybe we can get that turned around for next year.
http://www.lfpress.com/sports/baseball/2010/05/10/13899566-lfp.html
Inductees were:
Christine Nesbitt, Gold Medalist Speed Skater
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Gold Medalist Ice Dancing Duo
Chris Daw, Paralympic Curling Gold Medalist
Tony Novotny, Formed the Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR) in 1981; the CASCAR Super Series is now the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
Chester Pegg, Builder's catergory - Longtime sponsor of London teams and community supporter
Tony Novotny is the only one of the lot that I have ever heard of.
Chester Pegg Jewellers, awesome bunch. Congratulations 😀
So many others who could have been inducted before Virtue and Moir, they're barely out of their teens!
Chester Pegg was a long time supporter of Jr B hockey in London (London Diamonds who are now the Nationals), definitely deserved.
What about Jack Greedy or Jack Sharpe? Racing in the London area has never gotten the respect it deserves. For years it was the single largest weekly sporting event in Ontario regularly hosting 5000 race fans for a Friday night show. I'm a huge sports fan but even now with the calibre of racing we have at DSP, we still can't get the coverage in print or on TV that it deserves. I get all my good racing info on-line.
Well, one could argue that Gold medals = world caliber. In that sense I get that.
One could also argue that the excellent caliber of racing offered at Delaware is a by-product of Novotny's reign. Truth be told, towards the end of the 70s, that track was in bad shape, and the whole grounds had all the character of a gravel pit. Racing was in decline due to costs of running a SLM, just the same as what had happened with the Supermodifieds 10 years earlier.
I'm not going to rehash what Tony did to bring it around, but suffice to say the changes were sweeping, both on-track and off, and much needed for the racing scene to survive in London.
(If you want a little more info, I wrote this story for the souvenir program last year, check it out below if you like...its post #3 here)
That article deals mainly with the racing. What it doesn't tell you about is Tony's complete revamp of the facility: from the announce tower to the tech garage, to the food buildings, to the paved concourse...not to mention installing actual bathrooms with flush toilets. (anyone remember when you had to get a hand-stamp to go out and pee in a hole cut into plywood?)
I think its great that Tony got the nod to be in the Hall of fame. There are others who deserve to be there too, but I'd call this a victory for Delaware.
Now we need to see a competitor in there. My bet would be Lennox if we can get the support.