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Norway Speedway Hall of Fame ceremony June 25

NORWAY –NASCAR crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports and Bark River native Greg Ives will join four other Norway Speedway drivers and workers as the Norway Speedway 2021 Hall of Fame class is ushered in Friday, June 25, at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds.

After competing at Norway Speedway in a late model in the late ’90s and into the 2000s, Ives moved south to work for Hendrick Motorsports. Ives wound up climbing the ladder at the top flight NASCAR team, eventually serving as crew chief for many drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. and in 2021 Alex Bowman.

Ives is among the five inductees for ’21. Others include long-time Menominee racer Fred Gignac. Gignac’s familiar number 10 was always a popular draw with the race fans. After starting out in the hobby stock division Gignac was a regular late model competitor at Norway and battled for more than 20 seasons.

Norway’s Pat Temple was a stout competitor in both the super stock division and also during the popular winged-modified era. He sported number 6 on his winged modifieds and in later years his purple-colored cars stood out to fans with his number 99 splashed upon the doors.

John Koehler was a long-time fixture as the voice of the Norway Speedway for many decades. Koehler also continues to be a very familiar voice on several Upper Michigan radio stations yet in 2021.

Norway native Brian Swanson has been a volunteer with the speedway for decades. Last year was Swanson’s 40th as the track’s wrecker operator. The Dickinson County Fair board member has also served as a board member of the Dickinson County Racing Association, the club that operates the weekly Friday night racing program.

The five inductees will be honored during a ceremony on the frontstretch during intermission. Included as part of the regular racing program June 25 will be the Vintage Modifieds, who will put on a pair of exhibition races.

Tonight’s special action is the second round of Spectator Eliminators. Time trials get underway at 5:30 p.m. with the first green flag flying at 7 p.m.

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