Photo by Frank Simek
Halls of fame and their enshrinements exist in motorsports in numbers that are sometimes too big to grasp. We would like to suggest that this case study is a little different. The United Racing Company, as it’s now called, has been racing Sprint cars in the eastern United States continuously for 63 years now. As the United Racing Club, its founding name, the URC was only a tier below USAC for much of its existence, which is saying a lot.
Now, the URC has established its own Hall of Fame. Here is the first class of inductees: 1960s star Earl Halaquist, co-founder Harry Johnson, early multiple champion “Iron Mike” Magill, championship car owner Bill Bauer, longtime sponsor (through Bar’s Leaks) Bob Mermuys, and two amazing drivers, Kramer Williamson and Glenn Fitzcharles. Williamson was already a major Sprint star in central Pennsylvania when he came to URC in 1980, winning three titles, partly in self-built, pink-painted cars. Fitzcharles, on the right in the candid photo below with Williamson, was a journeyman in Modifieds but exploded to stardom in URC, winning five championships. Williamson, incidentally, is still racing, and with Halaquist, is an inductee in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa. The induction will be at the URC banquet, on Saturday, December 4, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Full information is at www.urcsprints.com.
Photo by Frank Simek