Maine Vintage Race Car Association Announces Class of 2024

Six Inductees Will Be Inducted Next November

By Mike Twist  11/12/24

Class of 2025 Announcement
On Sunday, November 3rd, the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame Selection Committee voted for
the Class of 2025 Inductees. The following six individuals represent the great depth of talent
and excellence found in Maine motorsports. The Selection Committee and the MVRCA are
pleased to announce and congratulate the Class of 2025.

TIM BRACKETT
Tim began his racing career over 47 years ago in the Street Stock division at Oxford Plains
Speedway and continues to be a threat to win any given week in the OPS Prostocks. He has
multiple extra-distance race wins and Challenge Series championships under his belt and had an
impressive streak of winning a feature every year for 14 years from 1991-2004. Tim has
accumulated 4 OPS track championships thus far. He has raced in 26 Oxford 250s and has just
shy of 60 career feature wins, including a PASS event this past season.

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JOE BESSEY
Few racers have ever competed at every level of stock car racing. Joe Bessey has done just that.
He began his driving career at Beech Ridge in the Limited division, moved to Late Models, and
by 1988 he was racing full-time in Busch Grand National North competition. Joe continued
moving along the NASCAR ranks, driving in the Xfinity Series, Truck Series, and the Cup Series.
He was also car owner to Andy Santerre, winning 2 consecutive championships in BGNN, and
was a NASCAR Cup Series team owner. His racing experience is unmatched in Maine
motorsports.

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REX GARETT
Rex began his career at Beech Ridge in the late 70’s. He drove race cars but is best known for
making race cars drive…fast. He transitioned his experience as an independent service mechanic
into his own business called Garrett-Built Gear Boxes, specializing in custom-built transmissions
and rear ends that were widely favored by a majority of local teams. His superior products
became recognized throughout the eastern seaboard and garnered attention at Dale Earnhardt,
Inc. where he was recruited to their transmission department in 1990. On his own and at Dale
Earnhardt Technologies Group, Rex has been an innovator in not only Maine racing, but also at
the national level.

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WILLIE ELLIOT
Willie also started his racing career at the Ridge, beginning in 1973. He raced successfully in
Limited Sportsman, Late Model Sportsman, and earned a Modified championship in 1984.
Another Modified championship followed in 1995 at White Mountain. During his driving career
Willie raced to over 90 feature wins at tracks in Maine. Willie was a well-respected chassis
fabricator, working for 15 years at Don Letarte Race Cars and another 15 years at NRP Race Cars.
He’s also been a successful crew chief, working with Joe Bessey, Jamie Aube, and others and was
the Competition Director at Beech Ridge for 4 seasons.

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STEVE PELLERIN
As a youngster, Steve became enthralled with stock car racing and began building model replicas
of the cars he watched speeding around Maine’s tracks. He has built over 300 models and given
away approximately half that number to family and friends of the original car owners. He has
spent many years displaying his works, a 3-D history of Maine’s rich racing heritage. Steve has
cataloged and preserved Maine’s history of stock car racing through his restoration of iconic
vintage race cars and extensive research and documentation of tracks, cars, and people. He has
been a journalist, race team member, car owner, and valued member of the MVRCA board of
directors and MMHOF Selection Committee.

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MARK WENTWORTH
Beside every successful driver is an individual whose knowledge, experience, and dedication has
propelled their driver to the front of the field and onto the podium. Mark Wentworth is one
such individual who utilized his talents for 25 years as the crew chief for one of Maine’s greatest
and most-legendary drivers, Dick McCabe. Mark’s skill at crew chief duties helped McCabe
amass arguably the most prolific statistics in Maine stock car racing history: 474 starts, 100+
wins, 191 top 3’s, and 260 top 5’s. Of their 474 starts, 354 ended in top 10 finishes. They raced
to 2 NASCAR North championships, 2 Busch Grand National North championships, 4 Oxford
Open Comp Series championships, 1 NHIS Track Championship, and an Oxford 250 victory,
among others.

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The induction ceremony for the Class of 2025 of the Maine Racing Hall of Fame will take place
on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at the Augusta Civic Center.