Presenters named for 2009 Int'l Motorsports Hall class

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The list of well-known names who will be in attendance for the 2009 International Motorsports Hall of Fame induction ceremony extends far beyond the five men who will make up this year's class of inductees.

The Class of 2009 consists of car owner and race promoter J.C. Agajanian, NASCAR driver Donnie Allison, seven-time Modifieds champion Jerry Cook, longtime team owner Bud Moore and NASCAR pioneer and car owner Raymond Parks.

Those inductees will be presented during the April 23 ceremony by a group that also has plenty of motorsports experience, including one former driver who is already a member of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

• Jim Hunter will present Allison. Hunter's 40-year career in motorsports includes stints as a track promoter and publicist at Talladega Superspeedway and Darlington Raceway. He spent 12 years working as the public relations director for NASCAR, and since 2001 has been NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications.

• NASCAR President Mike Helton will present Parks. In February 1999, Helton became the first person outside the France family to take over day-to-day operations of NASCAR when he was named senior vice president and chief operating officer. He succeeded Bill France Jr. as president in November 2000.

• Buz McKim will present Moore. McKim, the historian for the new NASCAR Hall of Fame, has spent years chronicling the history of Moore, his drivers and associates in racing. Prior to being tabbed to his duties at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, McKim served as director of archives for International Speedway Corp. and later as coordinator for NASCAR Statistical Services.

• Longtime motorsports journalist Dick Berggren will present Cook. Berggren, a former short-track driver during the late 1960s and early '70s, is a pit-road reporter for FOX television's NASCAR broadcasts and is the founder of Speedway Illustrated magazine. During the past 30 years, Berggren has covered races for ESPN, CBS, TBS, TNN and the MRN radio network.

• Agajanian will be presented by Parnelli Jones, who drove one of Agajanian's cars to victory in the 1963 Indianapolis 500. A member of the 1990 IMHOF induction class, the versatile Jones had six Indy Car and four NASCAR victories in his career, plus a total of 50 victories in midget cars and sprint cars. He also won the Indy 500 as a team owner.

Opened in April of 1983, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports. Each year, the annual IMHOF ceremony is held on the grounds of the museum to honor those men and women chosen for induction from among the greatest names in all of motorsports.

Admission to the museum is $10 for adults, $5 for kids ages 7 to 17 and free for kids ages 6 and younger. Discounts to the museum of $1 off individual tickets are available to: Adults in the military, AAA members, senior citizens, children (ages 7 to 17) of a military member or AAA member. Discounts do not apply to combo tickets.

The 2009 ceremony will be held at the SPEED Channel Dome, adjacent to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Individual tickets for the evening are $125 and a table of eight may be reserved for $1,000. Tickets and tables are available by calling 1-256-362-5002 or logging on to www.racetickets.com.