SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Oct. 11, 2023) – The Ozarks Area Racers Foundation, a non-profit organization formed in 1987 to preserve the history of stock-car racing in southwest Missouri and promote its future, announced its 2024 Hall of Fame class on Wednesday at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
The 36th annual Ozarks Area Racers Reunion and Hall of Fame Induction will be held Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds E-Plex.
Inductees are selected in two categories: Legends (for driving accomplishments) and Pioneers (off-track contributions such as car owners, mechanics, sponsors or media members).
THE CLASS OF 2024 LEGENDS
– Kelly Bremer of Monett won five points championships in the Modified, Super Stock and Pure Stock divisions while compiling more than 200 career feature wins. Among his notable wins were three 4-State Dirt Track championships at Monett Speedway, the Inaugural Dirt Works 3000 and 1994 Thunder Valley Fall Classic.
– Scott Drake, a Joplin native, began his racing career in 1994 and has more than 300 feature wins to his credit. Drake was the 1990 IMCA Rookie of the Year and 2012 USRA B-Mod national champion while also earning multiple MLRA, MARS and USMTS feature wins throughout his career.
– Al Purkey of Coffeyville, Kan, started racing in 1975 and has won at least one feature race in each of the last six decades. Purkey is a seven-time MLRA champion, two-time NCRA Champion and an OLMA champion driving and owning his own team career the entire time. He has more than 400 career feature wins.
– Stephen Muilenburg of Sparta has been racing for 43 years and has compiled 842 career wins, compiling numerous track championships at several Ozarks-area tracks. Muilenburg’s win total is believed to make him the winningest Modified driver in the state of Missouri.
PIONEERS
– Jeff Albright has been a key figure in keeping the competition fair as a tech director. The Lebanon resident has worked in that capacity at 15 tracks and is currently Director of Tech Competition for POWRi. A race fan since an early age, Jeff also owned two championship teams and has supported racing for more than 50 years.
– Gary Bass is a founding owner of Dirt Works, building the first Modifieds in this part of the country. Bass had drivers such as Rex Merritt, Dale Roper and Earl Muilenburg barnstorming the Midwest, building the IMCA Modified class, which is what all Modifiers are based off to the current era.
– Terry Brown was a a long-time car owner out of Joplin. Has fielded cars for highprofile drivers all around the four state area of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas) and all the way to on the national-touring level. – John Yeoman has been a successful engine builder for many years has owned and helped countless drivers with their motor programs to keep them on track. Yeoman Race Engines, based in Galena, Kan., is known throughout the racing world and Yeoman also a long-time modified driver himself.
In addition to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, racing memorabilia and race cars from different eras will be on display inside the E-Plex. Promoters from area speedways also will be invited to introduce their track champions from the 2023 season in a “Salute to Champions” prior to the Hall of Fame program.
The 2024 class will bring the total number of Ozarks Area Racers Foundation Hall of Famers to 233.
Tickets are $15 in advance and will be available at area O’Reilly Auto Parts locations beginning in early January. Admission will be $20 at the door. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. with an autograph session for the inductees from 3:30-4:45 p.m. The formal program begins at 5.
The Hall of Fame monument is on display outside the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, available for viewing 365 days a year. Donated by Jake and Jason Diemer of Greenlawn Funeral Home, the monument was moved from the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
For more info, check out: facebook.com/ozarksarearacersfoundation or contact: Lyndal Scranton lscranton755@gmail.com (417) 880-5217
