Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, August 15,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 7A
Bob Christian Dawson County News
Pictured from left, Nancy, Randy and Lynn Phillips accept an award for their
late father Ranee Phillips as he was inducted posthumously to the Georgia
Racing Hall of Fame Aug. 11.
FROM 1A
Racing
GRHOF Driver of the
Year awared, went to
Spencer Davis.
Davis was unable to
attend the event due to
competing in the
NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series at the
Michigan International
Speedway. Fittingly, that
race was broadcast live on
the big screen of the hall
of fame while the ceremo
ny continued, and the
crowd was able to track
Davis as he finished 22nd
on the day.
The Jimmy Mosteller
Media Award was then
presented to Greg Fielden
of Surfside Beach, S.C.
Fielden spent 24 years
broadcasting racing
events, and in that time,
“worked for virtually
every TV network that
televised Winston Cup
events.”
Upon his retirement
from television, he began
a career as an author in the
field of NASCAR and rac
ing history. Fielden has
written 16 books about the
sport, with his latest being
‘The Greatest Show on
Dirt,’ a history of the
National Dirt Racing
Association.
“It’s great,” said Charlie
Hughes about being
inducted as part of the
2018 class. “Just about
like the feeling of winning
a big race.”
Hughes should know
that feeling having won an
astonishing 42 races in
1976 alone, and 23 of
those in a row. Hughes’
racing career spanned 31
years from 1966 until
1997, starting and ending
on the North Georgia
Speedway where he won
the track championship in
his final race.
Hughes was a dominant
force in dirt Late Model
racing with countless vic
tories at some of the most
prestigious tracks across
the country to include a
documented 37 wins at
Dixie Speedway. He was
also inducted into the
National Dirt Late Model
Hall of Fame in 2005.
Hailing from Buford,
Ga., the day’s second, and
posthumous, inductee,
Russell Nelson, started his
racing career in 1960 at
the Peach Bowl Speedway
in Atlanta.
During his career
Nelson garnered 364
checkered flags on just
about every short track in
north Georgia. Russell
also experienced regional
success winning the
Rattler at South Alabama
Speedway as well as driv
ing down victory lane at
Birmingham International
Raceway and
Montgomery Motor
Speedway.
Also inducted posthu
mously was Ranee
Phillips, nicknamed “The
Fugitive.”
Phillips’ hometown was
in Waycross, Ga. and he
began his racing career in
1964 after winning his
first race in only two
attempts.
Over the next 40 years,
Phillips went on to win
over 700 feature races and
claim 19 track champion
ships.
Phillips was also previ
ously been inducted into
the Jacksonville Racing
Hall of Fame (2009) and
the National Dirt Late
Model Hall of Fame
(2011).
Ranee’s three children,
Lynn, Randy and Nancy,
accepted the award on his
behalf.
“It’s an honor and a
pleasure to see him receive
all the recognition. It’s
awesome” said Randy
Phillips.
Being honored in his
hometown of
Dawsonville, Dan Elliott
needed very little intro
duction to the crowd.
Following in the steps of
his father George, along
with brothers Ernie and
Bill, Dan Elliott “was an
integral part of a family
team that pulled off some
of the most impressive
feats in NASCAR histo
ry,” according to the
GRHOF.
Responsible for working
on the engines and trans
missions for the team, Dan
also served as the tire man
on pit row during the
team’s record breaking run
to win the first Winston
Million in 1988.
“It really makes you
reflect on all that was
accomplished,” Elliott said
during his acceptance
speech. “And the support
from this town, from
Dawsonville, has meant so
much and it did so much.
Thank you.”
Although inventor Dick
Anderson does have a rac
ing victory under his belt,
having won first in his
class and second overall at
the 1990 Mexican Road
Race, driving is not his
claim to fame.
Founding Carrera
Shocks in 1964, Anderson
invented the coil-over
shock absorber. He also
invented the shock dyna
mometer, the remote
adjustable shock, the light
weight shock and an elec-
tromagnetically enhanced
shock absorber that is used
by the military.
In addition to redefining
the mechanical aspects of
the vehicles, Anderson
was a pioneer in roll-cou
ple theory and calculation
going so far as to develop
an “Electronic Calculator”
that gave drivers the abili
ty to understand not only
what their cars needed to
handle better but why.
Anderson’s love and
passion for the sport of
racing was evident in his
acceptance speech, in
which he found a story to
touch upon everybody in
the room. Whether it was
an almost bawdy reference
to some past prank, or a
fond memory of a driver
no longer with us,
Anderson brought a smile
to almost everyone’s face
with his journey down
memory lane.
In the end, as he
wrapped up his comments,
Anderson captured the
reason for the moment and
put the perfect ending on
the 2018 Georgia Racing
Hall of Fame induction
ceremony.
“No matter what kind of
racing you do, it’s hard,”
Anderson said.
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