Group of 10 for Class of 2027 Also Includes Fellow IMSA Hall of Famer Rob Dyson
By Tony DiZinno
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It’s been a fantastic couple of months to be Lyn St. James.
One of motorsports’ driving and inspirational pioneers has started to be recognized more for her achievements across multiple forms of the sport, including her IMSA career in the 1980s that recently saw her inducted as part of the fourth IMSA Hall of Fame class during the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring weekend.
But nothing could have prepared her for the surprise of a lifetime Friday in front of a welcome and honoring press corps in the Dan Gurney Media Center on the Streets of Long Beach, when she was invited onto the dais alongside IMSA President John Doonan, INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles, and Motor Sports Hall of Fame of America President Daren Lucas.
There, St. James was the 10th – final, and surprise – inductee named to the 2027 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America class, an at-large entry among a who’s who of motorsports legends.
It includes two others with significant sports car ties. This year’s sports car inductee is her fellow IMSA Hall of Famer Rob Dyson, with legendary GM businessman Herb Fishel also honored.
The remaining inductees included Gary Bettenhausen (Open Wheel), Ron Capps (Drag Racing), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Stock Cars), Harry Hartz (Historic), Steve Hinton (Aviation), Angelle Sampey (Motorcycles) and Robert Yates (Stock Cars) in the MSHFA “Class of 2027.” Earnhardt Jr. famously ran the 2001 Rolex 24 At Daytona in a Corvette Racing C5-R with his late father Dale, Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins, finishing second in GTS and fourth overall (Motorsports Hall of Fame of America photo below).
You can view the full MHOF release here.
St. James was present on the stage for the announcement, having had a number of friends, colleagues and stakeholders work behind the scenes to ensure she had no idea it was coming (IMSA Archive Photos below).
Lucas handed the baton off to Doonan to make the announcement, who promptly honored both St. James’ career driving and her work creating opportunities for others in the sport – notably as a co-founder of Women in Motorsports North America (WIMNA).
“You know the saying, sometimes it’s not so good to meet one of your heroes; well, in this case, for me it was,” Doonan said. “I think that makes her the 13th (woman inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America), and she didn’t even know that I was considering her a hero.
“But in 1985, I was at Road America at the 500, and I saw my hero win her first IMSA race. So that was race win one. There were seven more, including two Rolex 24 At Daytona victories, a Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victory, and she became the first female winner of a race and solo. She won at Watkins Glen, in one of those monstrous Jack Roush Mustangs, as a factory driver for Ford.
“But she’s someone I consider personally one of my best friends on this planet. And besides what she did in racing, behind the wheel, what she’s done for our sport, in general, and what she’s done for other women, to jump on the trail that she blazed. So congratulations, Lyn.”
Boles, who took the INDYCAR portion of the announcement to note her success in open-wheel – including winning rookie-of-the-year honors at the 1992 Indianapolis 500, where she finished 11th – also was sure to elaborate what she did.
“My story of honoring Lyn is similar to John,” Boles said. “In 1992, Lyn showed up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I was just four years out of school, but a massive ‘500’ fan. And I remembered the days when Janet Guthrie sort of broke through that barrier and ran at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but no one else had really come with that pomp and circumstance.
“And in 1992, I was enamored with the challenge she had, the grace with which she brought it, and the racing spirit with which she brought it. I so desperately wanted her to make the field; because it was transforming our sport. She brought in a partner who was activated. She came in and brought new fans to the sport. Her run was one of the greatest qualifying efforts I’ve ever seen in my life. She stepped in a car that no one else could get up to speed. And she made the field.
“She is a talented race car driver, but John also alluded to the most important thing she’s done. She’s been given a platform that when she retired, she didn’t quit. She got better, and she has made a huge difference and continues to every day. And if there’s anybody that deserves to be in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, it’s Lyn St. James.”
With the opening remarks out of the way, it was down to St. James to follow, and the emotions flowed along with the appreciation.
“I’m overwhelmed,” she said, simply. “This means so much… you know, for so long I thought, ‘I’m not really part of the family, you know?’ I’ve never felt this was where I should be. I’ve not won championships. I’m not Scott Pruett. I’m not Tom Gloy. I’m not… Mario (Andretti). I mean, the people that win championships and win races are in the Hall of Fame.
“But I’ve worked really hard. I tried, and I did everything I could. And I just love this sport so much. This is the most extraordinary thing that has ever happened in my life.
“I mean, I’ve had some amazing things. When John introduced me for the Automotive Hall of Fame… it’d come after I’d worked with Ford and tried to get women to take care of their cars.
“This is me. This is my sport. This is my family. And you know, I’m part of the family. I can’t thank you enough. I wish I could be eloquent, but right now, I can’t. I’m so emotional… I can’t believe it.”
A later question to St. James allowed her to reflect on her IMSA career, a key staple of her now Motorsports Hall of Fame of America résumé.
She won the GTO class twice in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and earned a GTO victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1990.
“The ‘80s in IMSA, whether GTO or other GT cars, that was just the best,” she said. “I never thought I could get to Indy. The ‘80s was a golden era for sports cars; and now we’ve done it again.
“That was where I learned so much about being a race car driver, and it all paid off when I got to Indy. There was Talladega, and the records I set there. But the Indianapolis 500 was my first oval track race, and only my second open-wheel race. Those other years of cars I drove made me feel, I remember this! I’d literally white-walled my tires on a qualifying lap.”
Doonan and Boles also presented St. James with respective prints, both of her in her 1990s era IndyCars. A special note occurred with the fact a Nike swoosh made it on an Indy car, which was not anticipated in advance.
The path forged by her IMSA sports car career in the 1980s helped lay the groundwork for today’s ceremony and the accolades that went with it.
Dyson, in a rare year where he was not present at Long Beach, had his IMSA career highlighted as well.
Dyson won four races overall as a driver during the height of the IMSA GTP era, including the 1997 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Dyson Racing championships include The IMSA Drivers and Team Championship (1997-98); United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) Drivers and Team Championship (1998-99); American Le Mans Series (ALMS) LMP900 championship (1999) and Grand-Am Drivers and Team championships (2000-01). Dyson retired from driving in 2007 but remains the organization’s leader, supported by son Chris Dyson, who has won multiple championships for the team.