Fast Facts: Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

Richard Petty was a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America's inaugural class in 1989.

Photo: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, located at the Detroit Science Center since 2009, annually enshrines the “heroes of horsepower” in a variety of motorsports categories. Its accompanying museum features more than 100 pieces of motorsports history including record-setting vehicles and other memorabilia. The Hall’s first class was inducted in 1989.

The Hall of Fame primarily honors United States citizens, although non-Americans have been inducted based on accomplishments on US soil, including Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell and Bruce McLaren.

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America most often inducts just one member from a certain class of motorsports. Classes are Stock Cars, Open-Wheel, Power Boats, Sports Cars, Aviation, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Historic and At Large (honoring non-drivers who have impacted the sport).

NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees who are also members of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America include Richard Petty (1989), Bill France Sr. (1990), Junior Johnson (1991), Bobby Allison (1992), David Pearson (1993), Cale Yarborough (1994), Lee Petty (1996), Ned Jarrett (1997), the Wood Brothers (2000), Dale Earnhardt (2002), Darrell Waltrip (2003) and Bill France Jr. (2004).

Others included in the Stock Car class include Bill Elliott (2007), Alan Kulwicki (2010) and Donnie Allison (2011). A.J. Foyt was inducted in the Open-Wheel class in 1989, followed by Mario Andretti in 1990; NHRA legend and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner Kenny Bernstein was inducted in 2009.

Find out more about the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, including the upcoming announcement of 2012 inductees, at http://www.mshf.com/.