Reno, Nev. (May 23, 2013) – The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHOF) announced today the 2013 Class of Inductees. The late Larry Bergquist, Bob Chandler, Frank DeAngelo, Jerry Herbst and Bob “The Weatherman” Steinberger will have their names added to the venerable list of those who have committed their lives to the off-road community.
The five inductees’ extensive accomplishments cover a number of arenas in the sport including off-road racing, pioneers of the industry and for the first time: special achievement.
Their legacies will be celebrated and displayed for the public in Gallery Four within the famed National Automobile Museum – the Harrah Collection – located in Reno, Nev. They join names synonymous with the sport including Parnelli Jones, Malcolm Smith, Steve McQueen, James Garner, Walker Evans, Rod Hall as well as many others who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes making the sport prosper and grow.
The induction class was chosen by a sixteen member voting panel on the basis of significant contribution to off-road motorsports beyond wins and sport affiliation.
All nominees must have at least fifteen years of experience and involvement and have built, designed, driven, maintained, owned, prepared, piloted, promoted, ridden an off-road vehicle or supported the off-road industry. They are characterized by their desire to win, the mastery of their field and their courage to innovate. Each Inductee l has made a significant contribution to off-road motorsports in at least one of the following aspects: Business, History, Design, Engineering, Prestige of the Sport, and/or Growth of the Sport.
The Inductees will be honored Friday, October 4th in conjunction with the Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo in Pomona, California. To find out more, please visit the website www.ormhof.org or email at info@ormhof.org.
BIOS:
Larry Bergquist, one of the winningest riders in AMA District 37’s history and founding members of the Buzzard’s Motorcycle Club, worked most of his career to selflessly promote and grow the sport he loved so much, off-road racing. The Buzzards MC would go on to become one of the most successful motorcycle clubs, organizing and promoting well over 25 Hare Scrambles and Hare & the Hounds, including several AMA sanctioned California State Championship Hare Scrambles. Larry enjoyed not only racing, but acting as an integral part of races the Buzzards organized. He served all duties, from registration to smoke bomb duty, danger marking to flagman. Larry led many clean up teams to insure the desert was just as clean after the race as it was before. Bergquist was in the legendary movie “On Any Sunday” and featured in “1968 Mexican 1000”, which was filmed for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Larry was also inducted into the Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2013.
Bob Chandler is known to many as the creator of the entire monster truck industry. Chandler’s single-most notable gift to the off-road world was his creation of Bigfoot #1, which is thought to be the world’s introduction to monster trucks. Bob’s contributions to the off-road community continued on when he helped develop one of the most important safety innovations, the Remote Ignition Interrupter, which is an industry standard today. His success extended beyond the track, as Chandler and his team were devoted to their fans and acted as bringers of goodwill to children’s hospitals, charity events, Make-A-Wish visits, and the like. His acts of kindness and devotion to making the sport a safer place for drivers and spectators makes Bob Chandler an honorable name to add to the Hall of Fame.
Frank DeAngelo is the first person to be inducted into ORMHOF under the Special Achievement category. Frank’s involvement of desert and short course racing has lasted 33 years and counting. Beginning as a truck driver providing tire service to race teams on site, Frank worked his way up the ladder to become one of the most trusted and respected names in the off-road industry. Frank quickly developed the insight to view what was good for the sport and its growth, becoming one of the industry’s strongest, longest advocates of off-road motorsports. DeAngelo helped many people and organizations pioneer their way through many years of success, leaving a positive and lasting mark on everyone in his path. Frank’s many years of experience in marketing, promoting, problem solving and advice giving has made him an irreplaceable component to the off-road world.
Jerry Herbst could simply be categorized by his achievements in terms of business, Las Vegas and the famous, gas-slinging caricature logo that represents his nickname “the best bad guy of the West”. Yet that is only a one-dimensional view of the impact Jerry has had on desert racing. As the founder, backer and head cheerleader of Herbst Motorsports, Jerry and his team have been a key component to the development and ultimate success of important innovations to the BFGoodrich Project tire and helped engineer new drive train technology that enabled the use of 37”, 39” and 42” tires. Along with pioneering the sport, Herbst Motorsports led by Jerry, has dominated the SCORE and Best in the Desert race tracks with 23 Class 1 event victories, 11 trophy truck event victories and 6 consecutive Class 1 championship victories, and this only names a few. Jerry’s legacy has continued with his three sons, all of whom share their father’s passion for surpassing the competition and doing whatever it takes to continue the growth of off-road racing.
Bob “the Weatherman” Steinberger is known as the voice of desert racing. Bob entered the off-road world in 1972, leaving his first race frustrated and concerned because there was no communication between the race car and pits. Bob suggested two way radios be put into the race car and pit; radio communication has been part of off-road racing ever since. The Weatherman drives to the top of the highest mountain and sits by himself for the entire race so every racer stays in contact with his team and checkpoint attendants and emergency crews are always kept up to date. He is always making sure no driver is left behind. Steinberger’s involvement with off-road motorsports has extended beyond the radio. He has been a long time member of C.O.R.V.A. and was president of F.A.I.R. (First Association of Independent Racers) for five years, a race team owner, pit crew member, racer and volunteers to do race car retrieval. It is clear the Weatherman has spent the last 40 years living his passion, making desert racing a safer sport.