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Special Awards to Larsen, Sine, Perrotte, Hedger and Mohrman
By Buffy Swanson
Weedsport, NY (February 3, 2026) — Second-generation racing icon Tim McCreadie, whose Modified career was the launchpad for a country-wide legacy, Southern Tier cyclone Mitch Gibbs,who tore up the NY tracks for more than 40 years, and the late, great Bobby Wilkins, an honest-to-god hero in his home state of Delaware, will officially be inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in August. These three racing legends add their names to the stellar roster of standout drivers started in 1992 when the Hall of Fame was established on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds in Weedsport, NY.
The 34th annual induction ceremonies honoring the Class of 2026 will take place Thursday, August 13 at 7 pm in the Northeast Dirt Modified Museum and Hall of Fame, on the grounds of the state-of-the-art Weedsport Speedway. The event is free and open to the public and will feature pre- and post-program festivities sponsored by the track. The following Sunday, Weedsport Speedway will host the Super DIRTcar Series Hall of Fame 100 for the big-block Modifieds.
He’s currently on a hot streak in the national Late Model world, but Watertown, New Yorker Tim McCreadie first proved his prowess in a Northeast dirt Modified—not surprising when his dad was “Barefoot Bob,” one of the most beloved and dominant drivers in the division. Although he was on the road with his father’s team from the time he could walk, McCreadie got a relatively late start in big cars, putting a 358 Mod together with his neighborhood go-karting buddies when he was 22. His genetic DNA was undeniable: that rookie season Timmy had seven wins, including a 100-lap championship series race at Cornwall, his first time ever at the track. And it was pretty much all up from there. Moving from North Country small-blocks to hardcore Modified combat in 1999, McCreadie shocked even himself, winning the Rolling Wheels 200 over every acclaimed series star, his dad included. He caught the attention of car owners Jim Beachy, then John Finch, which began a two-year rout where Tim was red-hot: 24 victories at nine tracks for Finch, including 10 Super DIRT Series wins and the 2001 Weedsport Speedway title. He kept up the pace driving for Carl Myers’ Sweeteners Plus team, with 25 scores, eight on the SDS big-block and 358 circuits, before stepping out with Myers’ Late Model stable in 2005. McCreadie won nine times his first season in a full-fendered car, and took the World of Outlaws Late Model championship in 2006. Piecing in appearances amidst a sizzling Late Model schedule, in 2009 Timmy returned to the Modified ranks to run Vinny Salerno’s 4* cars, racking up 14 big ones, including races at Charlotte and the NY State Fairgrounds. To date, McCreadie has 195 documented wins, split almost equally between Modified and Late Model competition, plus a stunning Chili Bowl Midget upset in 2006—that’s 31 consecutive winning seasons at 78 tracks in 29 states and two Canadian provinces. Highlights in the Modified include the 1999 RWR 200, Orange County’s Eastern States 200 and Utica-Rome’s Victoria 200 in 2010, and the 2012 Super DIRT Week 358 event on the Syracuse mile. T-Mac holds the distinction of becoming the first second-generation driver to follow his father into the Hall of Fame.
Mitch Gibbs of Norwich, NY, remembers riding to the races in the bed of his dad’s pickup as a kid, hiding amid tools and tires when he was too young to get in the pits at Brookfield. He always wanted to do what his father did. But there was a big difference: Bob Gibbs raced sporadically for fun; Mitch wanted to race for real. He was a wild one when he started in 1980—all pedal-to-the-metal, check ’em and wreck ’em, with not a lot to show for it. It wasn’t until 1984, when he bought a newer Troyer car from Hall of Fame great Jack Johnson who’d help with set-ups on Saturday mornings, that Mitch simmered down. Johnson’s influence changed everything. Gibbs exploded that year, with seven wins and the 320 Fonda championship. He moved to the headlining Modified class in the late ’80s, holding his own against anyone who mattered at Weedsport, Canandaigua and Rolling Wheels. That was before Gibbs began his record-busting residency outside the DIRT circuit—Afton, Thunder Mountain, the NASCAR tracks Fulton and Utica-Rome, where he ran up big numbers for car owners like Ed Wilson, Skip Seymour and the Mirabito team. Working with the Mirabito Fuel Group, Mitch learned the value of corporate image and marketing. With PR partner Aaron Boyce, he landed a lucrative sponsorship with Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes, representing the chain of 81 stores around the region—even switching to Can-Am on Saturdays in 2005 to accommodate their customer base. Gibbs wound down his career racing for good friend Cork O’Hara at his mainstay Afton, where he is the winningest driver in the track’s history. A lifetime spent in the cockpit took its toll physically and Gibbs called it quits in 2021, at the age of 58. At the end of the day, “The Showstopper” is credited with 179 wins at 15 tracks (plus a few stragglers unaccounted for), five championships at Afton, a pair at both Thunder Mountain and Five Mile Point, and one each at Fonda, Fulton and Utica-Rome speedways. Gibbs swept Five Mile Point’s Southern Tier specials in both 2002 and 2004, and won Hagerstown’s 1999 Octoberfest 100. He holds two RoC Dirt Modified Series titles.
Milford, DE, native Bobby Wilkins began his love affair with speed as a young boy, racing Go-Karts before making the leap to big stuff in 1975. Starting in Late Models, he drove his own car before climbing in Bill Sterling’s No. 54 Chevelle out of Virginia, coming close but never able to seal the deal. While attending Del Tech trade school, he formed a friendship with instructor Andy Anderson; together, they built a Sportsman car, winning their first race at Bridgeport Speedway in 1978. From there, Wilkins and Anderson made the move to the Modified class, winning at the prestigious Delaware State Fairgrounds the following year. Hooked and hungry, they were racing everything—URC Sprints, Mods and Bobby’s family-owned Late Model, sometimes all three in one night. In September 1984, Wilkins took both the Sprint and Late Model 20-lappers at Delaware International and was leading the Modified event when a blown head gasket kept him from completing the hat trick. But it was in the Modified that Wilkins really made his reputation. Driving for quality teams headed by Gerald Banks, the Blue Hens, Steve Dale, Brian Gladden, Kelly Hastings and others, Bobby raced to 155 wins in the division, with a whopping 118 coming at Delmar where he tops the all-time win list. Without a doubt, he was at the pinnacle of his game driving Dale’s impeccable cutting-edge equipment which Bobby built and maintained full-time. Together from 1991 through 1995, they were good for 81 wins and seven championship titles—four at Delmar, one at Seacoast (Georgetown) and a pair at the Harrington Fairgrounds. Over a 25-year span, Wilkins is credited with 163 total victories in four divisions, seven championships at Delmar, two at Georgetown, one at Bridgeport and four Delaware State Fair titles. He retired after scoring his final win for Hastings in 2001 to support his son Beau’s budding career in the sport. In 2024, Wilkins lost a 15-month battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, at the age of 68.
Also being honored at the August 13 induction ceremonies are Chris Larsen, John Sine, Mike Perrotte, Ron Hedger and Terri Mohrman.
The 2026 Gene DeWitt Car Owner Award goes to Halmar Racing’s Chris Larsen, Nanuet, NY, who has won everything worth winning in the past 10 years—and then some. The game has changed drastically since Larsen was a kid spectating from the Orange County Fair Speedway bleachers, watching heroes like Buzzie Reutimann and Will Cagle compete in coupes that car builders salvaged from junkyards. Now, the top team owners are savvy businessmen. And Larsen—a self-made man heading a multibillion-dollar contracting company—is one of the best of the best. In 2015, spurred by the hype surrounding the final event on the Syracuse mile, Larsen put a Modified effort together with none other than four-time race winner Gary Balough calling the shots and two-timer Jimmy Horton taking over the seat. It all escalated from there, with Larsen assembling the most talented people and no-expense-spared resources to create a multi-team juggernaut. With driver Stewart Friesen since 2016, Larsen has taken down 193 Modified wins, including all the big ones: three Super DIRT Week victories, four OCFS Eastern States 200s, three Fonda 200s, the $50K STSS Port Royal 200, a bushelful of SDS and STSS series races, and the 2020 DIRTcar championship. Horton added four wins and an OCFS Modified title, with Jessica Friesen, Matt Janiak, Allison Ricci, Tyler Boniface and Dan Morgiewicz also contributing. When Stewart was critically injured last season, Alex Yankowski was tapped to fill his seat for the big season-enders—and earned another Eastern States 200 victory for the Halmar 44 team.
The recipient of this year’s Mechanic/Engineering Award, Lambertville, NJ’s John Sine, still has the ratchet his stepdad modified for him when he was 10 and didn’t have the strength to handle stock tools. Walt Voorhees fielded race cars at Nazareth and Flemington and taught Sine well. When he was old enough, John messed around himself—driving and helping his brother-in-law—until he went broke. Even that didn’t dissuade him: determined to get involved and go further, Sine showed up at Billy Pauch’s nearby race shop in 1985, offering to help. Pauch put him to work, giving him more and more responsibility—and John’s role grew into that of a full-time fabricator and crew chief. Every team Pauch drove for in those years—the DeBlasio brothers, Glenn Hyneman, Pete Chesson, the Ray Carroll partnership—was a high-profile, high-stakes operation, and so the pressure was on. With Pauch in the seat, Sine was up to the challenge. Together from mid-1985 through 1991, they bagged 192 victories, everywhere from Volusia to Ransomville, and 10 championship titles. A stint with Jamie Mills and the Delaware-based Blue Hen team followed, resulting in 14 wins and a Bridgeport Modified championship. Sine bounced around before landing with Richie Pratt Jr. in 2004, guiding the kid to 60 wins in both Crates and Mods and two Bridgeport titles. From 2019 through 2025, John wrenched full-time for Brandon and Justin Grosso, with a break to work with Matt Stangle, producing 17 victories for those three young drivers.
Longtime racer, promoter and former DIRTcar Series Director Mike Perrotte, Morrisonville, NY, will receive the prestigious Leonard J. Sammons Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to Auto Racing. Indeed, over the past 40+ years, Perrotte has excelled in every aspect of the sport. As a driver, he raced to more than 80 victories in the U.S. and Canada, on both dirt and pavement, and five championship track titles. He also had skin in the game as a promoter, coming to Airborne Park’s rescue more than once—operating the track as both asphalt and dirt during some turbulent times, first in 1988, then again from 2004-2013 (with car owners George and Julie Huttig) and finally from 2019-2022 partnered with Lebanon Valley’s Howard Commander. When DIRTcar’s acting Series Director was abruptly relieved of his duties in January 2015, Mike stepped up without hesitation, steering all four DIRTcar Northeast Series divisions for the next four seasons—25 tracks, 1,000 racers, a 95-race schedule each year—with a steady hand that stayed the course and effectively settled the waters. To this day, those in the trenches keep Perrotte’s number on speed-dial: when promoter Lyle DeVore was hospitalized last summer, Mike quietly and competently jumped right in to handle race direction at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, ensuring the weekly program didn’t miss a beat. Since DeVore lost his cancer battle, at track owner Howard Commander’s request Perrotte will reprise that role this season, assisting Lyle’s wife Marcy and Pete Scully with raceday operations. He defines “Outstanding Contributions.”
Esteemed racing journalist Ron Hedger of Ballston Spa, NY, will receive the Andrew S. Fusco Award for Media Excellence, in memory of Hall of Fame board member and legal counsel Andy Fusco. Hedger’s dad raced the Central NY speedways back in the 1950s and all three sons followed suit. Ray became a sought-after fabricator for the Oswego Speedway set; Randy drove to two NASCAR Modified championships at Shangri-La. In 1978, the year Randy broke his back in a bad wreck at Oswego and Mike Grbac succumbed to injuries suffered at the Reading Fairgrounds, Ron wrote an article about improving driver safety and sent it, unsolicited, to National Speed Sport News. The racing publication immediately signed Hedger on as a regular columnist, a position he’s held both in print and online for almost 50 years. During that time he’s also contributed to Autoweek, Stock Car Racing, Open Wheel and Speedway Illustrated magazines and served as the motorsports beat writer for the Schenectady Daily Gazette. A former committee chair for the New York State Stock Car Association, Hedger was a NYSSCA Hall of Fame inductee in 2012. He was six-time president of the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, named Writer of the Year three times by the organization, and was inducted into the EMPA Hall of Fame in 2024. Hedger is a member of the Board of Trustees and curator of the racing gallery at the Saratoga Automobile Museum, where his annual “Racing Memories” program is featured each November.
Dedicated race track safety team leader Terri Mohrman of Gloversville, NY, will be honored with this year’s Outstanding Woman in Racing Award. A Fonda fan who was always concerned with the safety aspect of the sport, Mohrman added EMT certification to her nursing degree and joined the track’s ambulance crew in 1983. The following year, she took charge of those duties and began reinforcing the program to address every contingency—fire suppression, driver extrication, medical assessment and stabilization, airway management and cardiac procedures. To that end, Terri has been tireless in raising awareness and funds for necessary rescue equipment (backboards, defibrillators, foam fire systems, Jaws of Life and other devices) as well as advanced training seminars for ambulance personnel at Fonda and other area tracks. After she and teammate Bonnie Reuss got soaked in gasoline extricating a driver from a bad wreck at Glen Ridge, they realized that needed safety equipment extended to them, too. In 2018, Mohrman was able to outfit her crew in bright turquoise double-layer firesuits with the proceeds from a fundraising appeal—and the name “Teal Suit Safety Team” was coined. In the past 42 years, Terri has led and trained the first responders at Glen Ridge, Brookfield and Utica-Rome as well as Fonda; serviced racing events at Afton and Port Royal; and held safety training sessions for Airborne Park EMTs. She is a NYS certified EMT lab instructor and holds SFI certification, the gold standard in track incident response protocol.
