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(Allentown 10-24-23) As part of the Dorney Park Speedway/Mahoning Valley Speedway 2023 Hall of Fame Induction taking place on Sunday afternoon, November 5, at the America On Wheels Museum in Allentown, there will be a special unveiling of the iconic restored Pfrommer Offy Sprint Car.
Alan Gross, a lifelong automobile collector, historian and author, has worked tirelessly on the restoration of the car and has also penned a book detailing its history.
The journey for Gross to write the book began in 2008 upon his purchase of a Hillegass Sprint Car through an online auction. The car had a Ford flathead V-8 for power and was used occasionally in vintage races. The car had no known provenance, but the original Hillegass chassis and body panels were intact. Lynn Paxton at the EMMR Museum in York Springs confirmed at the time that there were only four of the 37 Hillegass-built Sprint Cars still unaccounted for and this was one of them.
Since the previous owner was unable to obtain any records going back, Gross started his search with the four unaccounted Sprinters and worked forward, an arduous task at best.
“I started the search with the Buddy Powers car, which yielded a lot of information. However, nothing seemed to match my car. After accumulating lots of period photos, I began to notice a number of unique features on the Pfrommer car that were also present on my car, and led me to begin researching that car,” noted Gross.
“Logically, my first contact was with John Pfrommer Jr. When he confirmed that his dad’s car had the same unique oval-tubing chassis as my car, I knew I was on to something. Thus began a several-year intense search to establish provenance and document all the owners and drivers from 1954, when the car was built, to present. I would only begin to grasp the historical significance of this car as my research progressed.”
Thirty drivers raced the car during that span, including 15 Indianapolis 500 veterans and 13 Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees. Tommy Hinnershitz won the 1959 USAC Eastern Championship in the car.
The car is now accurately restored to 1960 livery, proudly wearing #1, denoting the 1959 championship. The book chronicles the history of the Pfrommer Offy and the contributions of the many individuals who defined this iconic Sprint Car.
The 2023 class of inductees into the Dorney Park Speedway/Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame was formally announced this past Saturday night at Mahoning Valley Speedway during the annual Fan Appreciation Night.
The 12th installment of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony – being held and honoring individuals who made a lasting impression between the two eastern Pennsylvania asphalt tracks – will be held on Sunday, November 5 at the America on Wheels Museum in Allentown.
This year’s honorees for Dorney Park include Larry Saeger who was the 1971 Late Model champion. Dennis Stauffer, a top Late Model winner during the mid-1970s. Zorro Engler, whose real name is Rodney Nolf and excelled in Sportsman Modifieds from the early to mid-1960s and the Miller Brothers Racing Team who not only fielded winning cars in the Sportsman Modifieds but also worked diligently behind the scenes in many different capacities at the Park.
For Mahoning Valley Speedway the late Paul Strohl, a formidable Late Model racer who later helped weekly with the wrecker crew heads the list. Bill Swartz Sr., who was affixed with Mahoning Valley when the track first opened in 1957, first as a driver then a longtime car owner up until his passing in 2006. Penny Faust, who is credited as the first female to win a regular division feature race with the Pro 4 class and Amanda Sesely, who was the first female to win a Modified feature and was also a top winner in the former D/A Modified division.
Also Robert “Bob” Hatcher will be inducted as a member of the media. Hatcher is a noted historian/statistician who has continued to chronicle and promote the racing between Dorney Park, Mahoning Valley and Evergreen Raceway as well as several other area race tracks via his hugely popular Facebook page.
The Dorney Park Speedway/Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fame ceremony began in 2011 and was started by racing photographer brothers Bob and Dale Snyder. Since 2020 Mahoning Valley has been holding Hall of Fame Tribute races which pays honors to those currently in the HoF.
There will be a static display of both contemporary and vintage race cars on display outside the museum as part of the program. The November 5 event will begin at 11:00 am with race cars on display. The introduction of the 2023 recipients will start at 1:00 pm in the upper hall of the museum. The America On Wheels Museum is located at 5 N. Front Street in Allentown.
