Six Virginia natives who have made outstanding achievements in motorsports during their respective careers will be inducted into the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame this fall.
The inductees include former NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Rudd who held the NASCAR Cup Series record for consecutive starts for a decade and is known as one of the few successful driver/owners in NASCAR’s modern era, and Cathy Rice, only the second woman to become a general manager at a NASCAR-sanctioned speedway. She will be the first woman to be inducted into the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Four major personalities in motorsports from the Commonwealth of Virginia will be inducted posthumously. They include Robert “Red” Byron, who won NASCAR’s first-ever race and went on to win NASCAR’s first-ever season championship, Joe Weatherly, who won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 1962 and 1963, noted dirt-track racer Tommy Bare who won several major dirt-track races and won multiple track championships at seven different tracks throughout the region, and Emanuel T. Zervakis, who, as a driver, raced in three different NASCAR racing divisions, was an innovative car builder and owner, and a track promotor.
The six inductees were announced during pre-race ceremonies on Saturday afternoon, October 12 at South Boston Speedway’s season-ending event, the Hitachi Energy Power Up Race Day that featured the stars and cars of the SMART Modified Tour.
The Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame inductions will take place on Thursday, November 7 as part of the South Boston Speedway Awards Banquet which will be held at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Virginia.
Three of the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees are NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees. Rudd is a 2025 inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame and has been named one of NASCAR’s Top 75 Drivers. Byron was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2018, and in 1988 was named as one of NASCAR’s Top 50 Drivers. Weatherly is a 2015 inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and in 1998 was named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
Information about the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees follows.
• Ricky Rudd, Chesapeake, Virginia – Rudd is a 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee and has been named one of NASCAR’s Top 75 drivers.
He won at least one race in 16 consecutive seasons from 1983 to 1998), which ties him for the third-longest streak in NASCAR Cup Series history. His 906 career starts rank second on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series starts list.
During his 32-year NASCAR Cup Series career Rudd captured 23 wins, 194 Top-5 finishes, 374 Top-10 finishes (ranks seventh all-time) and won 29 poles. He won the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year title in 1977 and won the 1992 IROC (International Race of Champions) championship.
In addition, Rudd is one of the few successful driver/owners in NASCAR’s modern era, having won six races for Rudd Performance Motorsports, which he operated from 1994-1999.
• Cathy Rice, Cluster Springs, Virginia – When Rice took the reigns as general manager at South Boston Speedway in 2000, she became a pioneer in NASCAR, being only the second woman to become a general manager at a NASCAR-sanctioned speedway.
Rice has been honored by NASCAR for her outstanding work, twice being named the recipient of the NASCAR Team Player Award. In addition, Rice has served as a voting member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame for three years, and she currently serves on the NASCAR Appeal Board for the last decade.
In recognition of her achievements in motorsports, the Halifax County, Virginia native was inducted into the Halifax County-South Boston Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. With her induction, Rice became the sixth individual from the world of motorsports to be inducted into that Hall of Fame. In 2021, the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce honored Cathy by presenting her the Chamber’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her achievements and service to the community.
Rice’s involvement in racing dates back to 1972 when she married Allen Rice, who was a mechanic and crew chief for his brother, Earl Rice’s racing team. Her first working experience in motorsports was as a co-owner and crew member of the Late Model Sportsman racing team with duties that included timing and scoring.
In the 1980s she worked with former NASCAR stars Hermie Sadler, Elliott Sadler, and Jeff Burton, handling timing and scoring duties in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series (now NASCAR Xfinity Series).
Rice spent 34 years on the operational side of things at South Boston Speedway, serving in a variety of capacities ranging from secretary to scorer, to promotor, and ultimately to general manager.
While serving as the General Manager of South Boston Speedway over a span of 21 years, she was instrumental in helping make South Boston Speedway one of the true gems among NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series short tracks. She continues to be a part of the South Boston Speedway team as a consultant and ambassador.
• Robert Nold “Red” Byron, Plasterco, Virginia– Byron won NASCAR’s first-ever race in 1948 on the Daytona Beach Road Course and went on to win NASCAR’s first Modified Division season championship.
Byron competed from 1948-1951. Driving for fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Raymond Parks, Byron won the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series championship in 1949. He raced sparingly after winning his two championships and owned a sports car racing team for much of the 1950s. He is considered one of the best drivers of NASCAR’s early years.
Byron was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2018 and in 1998 was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
• Joseph Herbert Weatherly, Norfolk, Virginia – Weatherly won NASCAR Cup Series championships in 1962 and 1963 and won 25 Cup Series races during his career.
He competed in 230 Cup Series races over 12 years and had 153 Top-10 finishes and won 18 poles.
During 1952 and 1953 Weatherly won 101 races in the NASCAR Modified Division and won the NASCAR Modified Division championship in 1953. In addition, Weatherly won 12 races, had 74 Top-10 finishes and won 19 poles in NASCAR’s Convertible Division.
Prior to racing cars, Weatherly was a champion motorcycle racer, winning three AMA Nationals during his five-year career of racing motorcycles.
Weatherly was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and has been inducted into multiple motorsports hall of fames including the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
• Tommy Bare, Rockbridge Baths, Virginia – Bare, the patriarch of a three-generation dirt Late Model racing family, is widely known as one of Virginia’s dirt-track racing heroes.
Driving the well-known Car No. B-8, Bare won multiple track championships at Natural Bridge Speedway, Log Cabin Raceway, Eastside Speedway, 311 Speedway, Ace Speedway, Craigsville Speedway, and Virginia Motor Speedway.
Among Bare’s biggest wins were the inaugural Hub City 150 at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland, the 1972 and 1977 Winchester 200 at Winchester (VA) Speedway, the 1979 Fall Classic and 1979-80 Gibson-Brown Memorial 150 at Virginia Motor Speedway and the Baker Brothers 200 at Natural Bridge Speedway.
• Emanuel T. Zervakis, Richmond, Virginia – Known as “The Golden Greek,” Zervakis, made his mark in motorsports as a driver, an innovative car-builder, race team owner, and a track promotor at Southside Speedway in Midlothian, Virginia. He helped foster the racing career of numerous drivers and was a was a key figure in the rise of NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division racing in the Commonwealth.
Competing in the NASCAR Modified, NASCAR Convertible, NASCAR Grand National (now NASCAR Cup Series) and short-track divisions, Zervakis collected 58 wins in 320 starts and recorded 205 Top-5 finishes, and 259 Top-10 finishes. He won three track championships at Southside Speedway.
He raced in 82 NASCAR Cup Series races, capturing two wins, 21 Top-5 finishes and 40 Top-10 finishes. His best season was in 1961 when he won his two Cup Series races and finished third in points behind Ned Jarrett and Rex White.
Zervakis fielded cars in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series (now NASCAR Xfinity Series) and at short tracks throughout the region. His best finish as a Cup Series team owner was a second-place result at Martinsville Speedway. He had five wins as a team owner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Zervakis had 180-plus wins as a car owner competing in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division. Sonny Hutchins amassed the most wins (148) driving for Zervakis from 1970 to 1980. The pair won four NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division championships at South Boston Speedway. Zervakis also won a NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division championships at South Boston Speedway with Geoff Bodine behind the wheel.
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