Bob Hallee
Butch Burgess
Auburn, Maine – The Selection Committee of the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame has chosen seven individuals to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2013. “Championship” is the common theme for the Class of 2013 with five championship drivers and two championship car owners entering the Hall of Fame together.
Bruce Elder, co-chairman of the Selection Committee and vice-president of the Maine Vintage Race Car Association, announced the members of the Class of 2013 at the General Meeting of the Maine Vintage Race Car Association.
The Class of 2013 champion inductees are: drivers Butch Burgess, Bob Hallee, Jon Lizotte, Kenny Lund and Ron Smith, and father and son car owners Mike D’Amico Sr. and Mike D’Amico Jr.
Presented by the Maine Vintage Race Car Association, the Hall of Fame Class of 2013 dinner and induction ceremonies will be held at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday, April 6, 2013. The Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame was founded in 2004 and presently has 65 members.
The five members of the Class of 2013, with a brief summary of their contributions to motorsports in Maine, are:
– LLOYD ‘BUTCH’ BURGESS JR. (deceased 2009), won three Late Model Sportsman (Pro Stock) championships at Unity Raceway; won over 45 feature races during a 23-year racing career; also raced at Wiscasset Speedway, Speedway 95, Oxford Plains Speedway and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.
– MIKE D’AMICO Sr. (deceased) and MIKE D’AMICO Jr. (Scarborough), first father and son to be inducted together; Mike Sr. owned and built the original ‘Blue Deuce” driven by Ralph Cusack at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway; Mike Jr. won six car owner track championships with Ralph Cusack and Dick Garrett, also at Beech Ridge; associated with Dick McCabe on the NASCAR North Tour and Busch North Series.
– BOB HALLEE (Winslow), won Late Model Sportsman track championships at Speedway 95, Unity Raceway and Wiscasset Speedway during a fifteen-year career; a highly popular Ford driver.
– JON LIZOTTE (Lewiston), won four track championships (one Charger and three Figure Eight) at Oxford Plains Speedway; won over 100 races during 30-year career, including 86 Figure Eight victories; also raced on the ACT Tour and the NASCAR Busch North Series.
– KENNY LUND (Standish), won four track championships at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway – two Class ‘C’ titles and two Limited Sportsman titles – and two track championships at Wiscasset Speedway in a 20 plus-year racing career.
– RON SMITH (deceased), first dominate driver in the modern era of Oxford Plains Speedway, winning 17 races between 1964-1967 and the first two “modern era” track championships; racing career lasted less than ten years.