Class of 2022

While the Hall of Fame class is small, they are mighty! The inductees include the family guy, Steve Furr, the impeccable decorated, Ted Jones and the always impressive facility, Darlington Dragway.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It’s hard to overstate the impact Ted Jones has made on the International Hot Rod Association and drag racing industry as a whole.

Look at some of the roles which he has served — racer, track owner, television producer, rules administrator and sanctioning body president. He’s directly or indirectly responsible for multiple classes of cars which still race today.

The former IHRA President is a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame and Legends of Thunder Valley. Now, he heads up the 2022 IHRA Hall of Fame Class.

His company, Masters Entertainment Group, produces automotive-related content, including motorsports coverage, for television and online. It all started for Jones as a teenager behind the wheel of his hot rod.

“I raced at this little track, Kettlersville Drag Strip in Ohio. I kept breaking things like tearing up a universal joint or messing up a cluster gear,” he explain. “When I would pay my entry fee, I would see the track owner taking up the money in a carpenter’s apron. I watched that and when I tore my car up again, I was like, ‘I need to be that guy.’

“I approached him that night and asked him if he thought about selling the drag strip. He said my timing was perfect that his wife wanted to open a beauty salon. I was 19, married and I didn’t have any money. My wife and I rented an apartment and the car was mortgaged. I talked him into a land contract where I would make a down payment and he would finance it.

“I still didn’t have enough money so I took a partner, Ray Walter, who wasn’t in the drag racing business. But, he was at a radio station where I was the sports director in Sydney, Ohio. He had his part of the down payment and I didn’t have mine. My wife asked if I really wanted to do this and borrowed from her mother.

“She’s been with me ever since. We celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary. Everything I got into, she got into.”

Jones proved to be a successful promoter. He produced commercials at his radio station and bought air time at the big radio station in Detroit. Upon that success, he built a track from the ground up at Van Wert Ohio, leased the old Shelby (Ohio) Drag Strip and purchased Muncie (Ind.) Dragway which is still going strong as an IHRA track today.

Jones became acquainted with IHRA founder Larry Carrier when Muncie Dragway hosted the IHRA Northern Nationals. Jones also got national television coverage for the event through a syndicated series.

Carrier was impressed with the way Jones handled the event from insurance to promotion. He also liked Jones’ enthusiasm and his suggestions to get more cars to race. He was so impressed that he convinced Jones to sell the tracks and come work directly with him at the IHRA headquarters in Bristol, Tennessee.

There, Jones introduced classes such as Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Mountain Motor Pro Stock and Pro Modified. He considers legalizing nitrous oxide as his greatest accomplishment. At the time, most of the drag racing hierarchy was opposed to it.

“They were like, ‘What if the bottle discharges? That’s the laughing gas the dentist gives to you to make you high. If the bottle discharges, the driver will be as drunk as can be,’” he said. “There were some other things. I finally said to John Gaskill (from the insurance company), ‘Do you think I know what I’m doing or not? I finally got nitrous legalized and introduced the Top Sportsman class. Pro Mod came out of that.”

Through the introduction of such classes, Jones led IHRA through a golden era where the organization was a force at both the grassroots and national level. Thanks to his contributions, including building relationships, IHRA remains strong today internationally including Canada and Australia.

Jones served as IHRA President for eight months and was Executive Vice President until Larry Carrier sold to the organization to Texas drag racer Billy Meyer. IHRA was sold again to Jones and Jim Ruth, who served as president. When Ruth died, Jones held that position until IHRA was sold to a group of eight investors.

Jones also ran Bristol Dragway when Carrier was owner and even served as General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway for a brief time.

“Larry was quite a character and I learned a lot from him,” Jones said. “I had the highest regard for the man. He was so smart.”

The same has been said about Jones who helped introduce drag racing to a larger audience. He found that in a fledging all-sports network.

“I went to ESPN and when they signed on the air, they only had 10 million homes,” Jones said. “They were like, ‘We need to try drag racing.’ The first one we did was the IHRA World Finals at Norwalk, Ohio. They had me on the headset talking to the TV truck trying to explain things to them.”

There were some challenges with ESPN announcers Bob Jenkins and Larry Nuber used to oval track racing. They thought Jones was saying redline when he was telling them about a redlight and they would refer to the start line as the start-finish line. ESPN also discovered that Jones, a former play-by-play sports guy, was a solid announcer himself.

His Masters Entertainment Group became the IHRA group with NHRA having Diamond P Sports. Since then, Masters Entertainment Group has grown to broadcast everything from basketball to boxing, rodeos and other forms of racing. Masters Entertainment was closely associated with MAV TV, although now more of its programming is on Motor Trend TV, which is part of Discovery Network and available in 78 million homes. The content has transitioned into garage shows as much as events.

The group runs the gamut, producing content for CBS and NBC as well as online broadcasts of college basketball for multiple NCAA Division II schools. For the automotive shows, they’ve built new studios at the Bristol headquarters which includes a chassis dyno plus equipment to do modifications to all kinds of vehicles.

Television remains a passion for Jones as does drag racing. He has come full-circle, serving as crew chief for granddaughter, Shelby Vining, with her “Snake Charmer” Junior Dragster. It’s an understatement to say he’s a proud grandpa.

“For her and her drag racing buddies, it’s all about beating the boys,” Jones said. “What was really special to her, she got two drivers to sign her race car. They were (IHRA Hall of Famer) Rickie Smith and Shirley Muldowney. She told Shirley, ‘Because of you, us girls can race today.’ Shirley was like, ‘Where do I sign?’ Since then, she’s got a ton of autographs on the car — John Force, ‘Big Daddy’ Don Garlits. For the racers, it became the thing to do.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Darlington Dragway has long been a showcase of speed and thrilling action in one of America’s greatest motorsports destinations.

It has also been a place of innovation and racing history. Now, the South Carolina track is recognized as a legendary facility as part of the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Hall of Fame.

The 1/4-mile drag strip was constructed by Harold Brasington, who built nearby Darlington Dragway in 1950, and Woodrow Hall under the guidance of IHRA founder Larry Carrier. It opened in 1976 and has remained a mainstay on the IHRA schedule. It has hosted multiple national events, the IHRA Sportsman Spectacular and has served as home to the IHRA Division 9 (Raiders) Summit Team Finals.

Innovative at the time, two towers were constructed to relieve congestion at the starting line. The track also was home to the first five-second pass and the first 200 mph pass by a door car when Bill Kuhlman ran 202.24 mph in a Pro Mod at the IHRA national event in 1987.

Darlington Dragway hosted several other IHRA national events over the years with 17-time world champion “Big Daddy” Don Garlits beating Connie Kalitta in the finals of the 1979 Winter Nationals. Other Top Fuel winners included Doug Herbert, Paul Romine, Gene Snow, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Kalitta.

“The King of Speed” Kenny Bernstein won in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, while legendary female drivers Shirley Muldowney and Rhonda Hartman also enjoyed their share of success at Darlington.

The track played a key role in the first Pro Mod championship for Shannon “The Iceman” Jenkins who won both national events there in 1997. He beat rival Scotty Cannon in the final of the season-opening Winter Nationals and John Bartunek in the IHRA Finals. Cannon was also a multiple-time winner at his home state track.

Speaking of legendary matchups, Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen beat Don “The Snake” Prudhomme at the 1984 Winter Nationals. Others to conquer the South Carolina strip include IHRA Hall of Famer Rickie Smith, who was nearly unbeatable during a stretch in Pro Stock, Darrell Alderman in his famed Dodge, and Funny Car star Raymond Beadle, who also earned fame as car owner for 1989 NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace.

Those are only some of the greats to win at Darlington.

The tradition of champions continued with Tylor Miller one of the top Doorslammer racers in the country. His sister, Brooke, won back-to-back Junior Dragster track championships at Darlington, before moving up to the Pro Mod ranks with the Pee Dee Fleet Motorsports Team.

They are the children of track operators Russell and Dee Dee Miller, who took over the legendary facility in 2015. They, along with track manager Rhett Gardner, returned it to one of the premier racing facilities in the United States.

Jeff Miles took over as track president in 2022. His daughters, Shelby and Morgan, race Top Dragster in bracket races throughout the Southeast.

There was a complete overhaul of the track, which included a new drainage system and 750 feet of the track from the burnout boxes past the 1/8-mile finish line made all-concrete. In 2016, the revived facility was named International Hot Rod Association Track of the Year.

In 2021, Scotti Watts (Top), Aaron Brock (Mod) and Budd Trammell II (Junior) were Darlington representatives at the IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals. The track continues to play a key role in drag racing history and will serve as home to the IHRA Division 9 (Raiders) Summit Team Finals once again in 2022.

With a rich history that extends to today, Darlington Dragway has well earned its spot as an IHRA Hall of Fame facility.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The importance of family is often talked about in drag racing. It’s definitely the case for the newest International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Hall of Famer Steve Furr.

Family is what got him started in drag racing and it’s what keeps the five-time IHRA World Champion going 30-some years later.

The North Carolina racer was first inspired by his big brother John Furr, a three-time IHRA Hot Rod World Champion.

“I started going with him to the races when I was in school and all the way up through college,” Furr recalled. “I didn’t have enough money to race myself, but I watched it and got hooked on it. I wasn’t very good at it when I started, so I never thought I would run with it as I have. John made it look easy, but it was very, very hard for me.”

That may be so, but once Steve got the hang of it, he was always in the running.

He posted a record of 18 IHRA national-event wins, 37 IHRA Pro-Am wins, and numerous divisional victories. None were as memorable as the very first national win.

“The first race I won, they put us on the cover of Drag Review with the ‘Furr Flies’ headline,” Steve said. “I had switched to Super Rod and John ran Hot Rod. I bought a car in 1994 and we did a ton of work to it. The first race in 1995 at Darlington, we both won and it was such a huge deal. I didn’t think it could get any better than that.

“It was a huge accomplishment. We went on to win multiple times after that, but that first time is special.”

That victory propelled him to winning multiple races and his first world championship in 1996.

Besides his brother, Steve was inspired by world champion Scott Duggins, who has always built engines for him. He also learned by racing his hero, Alonzo Moore, and others like Rusty Cook and Carl Watts in Super Rod.

“I remember going with John, watching all those Super Rod guys and thinking it was the coolest thing,” Furr said. “I wanted to get in that class although it was a class full of sharks.”

Steve also learned a lot traveling with one of his brother’s toughest competitors in Hot Rod, Marshall Smith Jr. With such knowledge around him, it wasn’t long until Furr was making his own mark as one to beat.

“It progressed quickly. I won my first race in ’95 and won the championship with my Camaro in ‘96,” he said. “John won in Hot Rod so we got to get up and make speeches together. I was talking to Edmund Richardson and he got me thinking about two cars. So I ran a dragster at 8.90 a few years.

“I had some success. I finished second in both cars in 1997 and John did as well, so in all the rod classes we finished second. Scott then talked me into swapping cars for a year. He drove my 8.90 and I got into Top Dragster. He won the 8.90 championship in my car and got me introduced to spraying nitrous and going fast. I was hooked after that.”

A two-time Sportsman driver of the Year in 2004 and 2006, Steve continued to be a force in both Super Rod and Top Dragster. He was the Super Rod champion both of those seasons and also finished runner-up to Bryan Bennett in the 2006 Top Dragster point standings.

He also was IHRA Super Rod World Champion in 2011 and IHRA Top Dragster World Champion in 2016.

He has a combined 92 IHRA and NHRA victories, over 170 final-round appearances and was PDRA Top Dragster World Champion in 2020. Some of the race tracks he loves includes Darlington, where he won that first race, along with Rockingham, only 75 minutes from his home, and Maryland International Raceway.

While the first win is the most memorable, the 2016 season was particularly meaningful. John died in September that year and Steve won the IHRA Top Dragster world championship weeks later. There was a late-summer stretch where he won every IHRA and NHRA race he attended.

Photos from that World Championship victory lane, show the words “For John,” painted on Steve’s dragster. The family tradition continues with Steve’s son, Nick, now joining him at drag strips across America.

“We got him in Junior Dragsters when he was eight,” Steve said. “Nick, who is now 20, is racing John’s Nova that he won the championships with. He loves it. I’ve had him in the dragster a little bit, but he always gravitates back to John’s Nova. He thinks it’s so cool when people tell him they used to race against John in that car back in the day.”

Steve still credits his big brother for the success he has enjoyed. “I didn’t have any idea what I was doing, but he was always mentoring me and teaching me,” Steve said. “I’m sure I was a pain to deal with. I see a lot of me in my son and me getting on him. My brother could be hard on me and I can be the same with my son.

“You want him to be good and disciplined at it because this is a disciplined sport. You’ve got to be tough to be good at this. I’m thankful to John for being where I’m at today.”

As much fun as the national events were, Steve also remembers the divisional events as fondly. He racked up divisional titles, racing at different tracks in the Carolinas like Piedmont and Farmington. Even when points format was changed, he still raced at a lot of divisional races because he enjoyed them. He also enjoyed the camaraderie of the IHRA officials, mentioning Danny Waters Sr. and others who helped create great memories.

“The IHRA was a great place to race for years because of those guys,” he said. “It was such a fun time to come to the track, a great atmosphere and the IHRA always treated you right. I always appreciated all they’ve done for the racers.”

Now 55, Steve is still going strong. Still one of the drivers to beat, there doesn’t appear to be plans to slow down anytime soon.

“I started in my early 20s. My brother was smart enough to quit in 2010 when he started his own business at home,” he said. “I continued and even though he wasn’t going anymore, I’d still talk to him about it. I guess I’ve just got hooked on it over the years and as long as my son stays interested in it and I’m still competitive, we’ll keep doing it.”