Maine Vintage Race Car Association Announces Class of 2024

Seven Inductees Will Be Inducted Next November

By Mike Twist  11/12/23

The Maine Racing Hall of Fame announced their Class of 2024 inductees on Sunday during the
annual meeting of the Maine Vintage Race Car Association in Gray, Maine.

Seven new members were selected. Those honorees are as follows:

MARTY BUTLER made his mark in the motorsports world as a successful drag racer throughout New
England and beyond. He then worked as a partner in the legendary Butler and MacMaster
Performance engine shop together with Class of 2018 Maine Racing Hall of Famer Dave
MacMaster. The shop built countless winning drag racing and oval track racing engines along
with powerplants for everything from restored muscle cars to lobster boats to farm tractors.
Butler would later go on to become a successful transmission specialist.

GLENN CUSACK grew up around Scarborough’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and made his
mark both on the track and behind the scenes at the facility. As a driver from 1981 through
1997 in the Limited, Late Model, Pro Series and Modified ranks, he finished in the top ten for
80% of his races. Cusack won a feature race on the American Canadian Tour and has
competed in the Oxford 250. He has also worked to help maintain the facility through its final
days.

EDWARD JAYNES was a car builder who got his start in the 1950’s. He prepared the J-2 Camaros
piloted by 2004 Maine Racing Hall of Fame inductee Homer Drew. He also worked with a
number of accomplished drivers at Beech Ridge that included Ralph Cusack, Pete Peterson,
Dick Garrett, Jerry Seavey, Dick Wolstenhume and Russ Nutting.

RAE JEAN KNOWLES was a widow with a young daughter in 1960 when she married Bob
Knowles. As a team, the Knowles were successful in business and in the racing industry. They
promoted Unity Raceway through the 1960’s and into the 1970’s. Her work at the track included
everything from business operations to preparing the racing surface. The Knowles family were
2021 recipients of the first ever "Bob Morris Legacy Award" from MVRCA.

CHUCK LANCHANCE was a staple of Maine short track racing through the 1980’s, 1990’s and
2000’s. He won in the Limited Sportsman and then in Pro Stocks (Super Late Models). His 60+
visits to victory lane took place in NEPSA and PASS along with in weekly races and open
shows at Wiscasset, Speedway 95, Oxford and Unity. He won two Limited Sportsman
championships at Wiscasset and was inducted into the Wiscasset Speedway Hall of Fame in
2022.

DON LETARTE has spent his career building and fabricating many winning racecars at multiple
levels of the sport. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, he put those racecars under the control of drivers
like Robbie Crouch, Joey Kourafas, Jamie Aube, Bob Randall and Bobby Gahan. Countless
victories and championships were earned. In 1993, he moved South and took a job with
Hendrick Motorsports. Since then, he has fabricated cars for Robert Yates Racing and Ganassi
Racing as well. His son Steve has worked as a NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for Jeff Gordon
and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

ANDY SANTERRE got his start at Speedway 95 and went on to become one of the most successful
drivers ever in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East. He won seven races in the series
before moving South and winning the 1998 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year award.
The next season, he would win a Busch Series race at Pikes Peak. In 2002, he returned full-
time to the East Series and won four championships in a row before retiring as a driver.
Santerre would go on to become a winning team manager and then owner in the series. His
total number of career victories as a driver in the series tallied 23. He has also competed in the
NASCAR Truck Series.

The induction ceremony for the Class of 2024 of the Maine Racing Hall of Fame will take place
on Saturday, November 9, 2024 at the Augusta Civic Center.