Don Schumacher To Be Inducted Into Motorsports Hall-Of-Fame

Drag Racing icon Don Schumacher has been elected into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, joining NASCAR standout Tony Stewart, IndyCar ace Dario Franchitti, Augie Dusenberg, motorcyclist Kevin Schawntz, sports car wheelman Phil Remington and fellow drag racing personality Linda Vaughn.

While most today know Schumacher as the figurehead of Don Schumacher Racing, the 7-team juggernaut that is responsible for some 334 national event wins and 17 world championships, Don himself was a successful racer back in the 60’s and 70’s, an era when an individual could still be competitive in the nitro classes.

He stepped out of the driver’s seat and pretty much away from the sport as a whole for nearly 25 years to build Schumacher Electric, a global battery charger manufacturer that employs several thousand people and funded the first few years of Don Schumacher Racing before money from sponsors reached a level to support the team.

Schumacher said, speaking with NBC Sports, “It is a very humbling experience. This is not something that I ever imagined being a part of. To be inducted into America’s Motorsports Hall of Fame with the Andretti’s and Foyt’s and Earnhardt and Garlits, and John Force and Jeff Gordon and on and on, these are the heroes of motorsports,” said Schumacher. “For my name to somehow be included in that is really a humbling, overwhelming experience for me.”

He continued “The fact that we have accomplished this is beyond belief for me. I got into the sport of NHRA Drag Racing back in the early 1960s. I never imagined winning any event, no less 334 events and multiple championships. It’s an overwhelming accomplishment that my people have accomplished for me and I’m the one being honored (referring to the HOF induction), but I have to tip my hat to all of my Don Schumacher Racing and Don Schumacher Motorsports employees.”