Eight Notable Figures with Various Skill Sets Earn Accolades

by Mike Twist

On Sunday, November 6th, the Maine Vintage Race Car Association held their annual meeting in Gray, Maine. Part of the agenda was to announce the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 inductees. The class will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame next October during a ceremony in Augusta, Maine.

The Class of 2023 will be a diverse one. It includes those who raced on two wheels and on four. It includes stock car drivers, drag racers and even a motocross racer. The inductees will be as follows (in alphabetical order):

Bobby Babb, Jr. – Babb is a five-time track champion at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway with titles to his name in 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2006. Off the track, he is a former President of the Maine State Stock Car Racing Association and has served as a car owner and mechanic for his son Brad Babb in ACT, PASS and open wheeled Supermodified competition.

Steve Clukey – In 1970, Clukey bought a brand-new Plymouth Duster and he would go on to race that car for decades on drag strips throughout the Northeast and parts of Canada. He also drove for other car owners and has collected over 100 career victories. Known as a mechanical innovator, Clukey has been featured in numerous national publications. He was inducted into the New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame in 2020.

Carl Crowley – Crowley began his racing career in 1959 at Sanford Dragway and was the co-owner and co-founder of Winterport Dragway in 1967. He made the first official pass ever at Winterport driving a 1964 GTO. He has raced throughout New England and New Brunswick. He is just one of a handful of drivers to race and win at all 4 Maine drag strips (Sanford, Norridgewock, Winterport, Oxford). 

Bobby Ellison – Ellison’s driving career began in 1968 at Speedway 95 near Bangor and it spanned through the 1992 season. Known as a low budget racer, Ellison got the most out of his equipment and earned more than 40 career victories at Speedway 95 and Unity Raceway.

Buster Grover – After starting his racing career in 1954, Grover was not afraid to race at different tracks. He started at Beech Ridge, raced extensively at Arundel Speedway and won at Wiscasset Speedway on the night it opened in 1969. He would go on that season to win eight races in a row there and take down the first championship at the track. He ended up being part of the inaugural class of the Wiscasset Speedway Hall of Fame. Grover was also the 1968 Race of Champions winner at Unity. His wife Elaine was also a very accomplished racer.

Russ Longley – Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, Longley played many roles at Unity Raceway. He was a track photographer, publicist and announcer. He was on the board of directors of the Eastern State Stock Car Racing Association and a publicist for Waterville-Oakland Raceway. Longley raced the #7 5/8 at various central Maine tracks in the 1950’s.

Bobby Nichols, Jr. – The man who would eventually be known as the “Ned Jarrett of Oxford Plains Speedway” actually got started on water racing hydroplanes. Nichols hit his stride as the driver of the #27 Late Model at OPS and finished in the top ten of the point standings in each season that he raced. Nichols was also voted as a “Most Popular Driver” at the track. One of his most notable victories came in the 1970 Maine Sesqui 150-lapper at OPS.

Mike Treadwell – The list of accomplishments for one of New England’s most notable Motocross riders is a long one. Treadwell began his riding career in 1984 and earned his AMA Pro license after just two seasons as a novice, which was unheard of. He raced throughout the United States and Canada through 2010. Along the way, he finished second in the 2001 and 2002 Canadian National Championship, ranked in the top 99 U.S. riders of the AMA Outdoor Nationals and Super Cross for 14 years in a row, won five NESC Pro titles, 12 NESC Expert titles, 14 Amateur Vet titles and four Ricky Carmichael Daytona Super Cross Vet titles.

Also, at the MVRCA annual meeting, Ken Minott was elected as the new association president, succeeding the outgoing president, Andy Austin.