Strong IMSA Presence In Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

IMSA co-founder John Bishop was recently inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America at the organization’s annual ceremony at the Fillmore in Detroit.

Bishop, who passed away in June at age 87, founded the International Motor Sports Association in 1969 with Bill France Sr., and built the organization into one of international motorsports leading sports car organizations.

“It’s about time that John is getting some of the accolades he deserves,” said Elliott Forbes-Robinson, a former IMSA champion and Hall of Fame 2006 inductee. “He’s been such an instrumental person in sports car racing over the years, and he really kept it going and successful over the lean years. I’m glad to see he got in.”This year’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies also included the awarding of the Bob Russo Heritage Award, which was presented jointly to Jim France and Don Panoz, the respective founders of GRAND-AM Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.Also included in the Hall’s 26th class were Ole Bardahl, Raymond Beadle, Ricky Graham, Arie Luyendyk, Marshall Teague and Rusty Wallace.Bishop joined a strong IMSA and road racing contingent already enshrined in the Hall.Al Holbert was the first IMSA driver inducted in 1993, and has since been joined by Peter Gregg (2000), Brian Redman (2002), Geoff Brabham (2004), Hurley Haywood (2005), Elliott Forbes-Robinson (2006), David Hobbs (2009) and Derek Bell (2012). Others from sports car and road racing world include Phil Hill, Mark Donohue, Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall, Bruce McLaren, Briggs Cunningham, Denis Hulme, George Follmer, Ken Miles, Bob Bondurant, John Fitch, Richie Ginther, Jerry Titus and Augie Pabst.The only Hall of Fame celebrating every form of America motorsports for a quarter-century will soon be moving to a permanent home in Florida as part of Daytona International Speedway’s $400 million makeover, which will open in 2016. The permanent facility will include the display of a wide variety of important racing machines, the plaques for the 216 inductees, a movie theater and other displays of the rich heritage of American motorsports.For Bishop, the accolades in August also included the Diego Febles Award in recognition for his contributions to the growth of motorsports in the Caribbean basin at a ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Another fitting tribute to a great and influential man.