Don Brady, Sr Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2018 There are very few families that have had a lasting impact on dirt track racing more than the Brady family. Don Brady, Sr was a 3-year-old boy that had the opportunity to spend time with his dad, Lawrence, in the race shop. Even though Don's mother, Dorothy, wasn't a fan of racing, Lawrence started the Brady family legacy in a Model A Roadster in the late 1940's while living in Wessington Springs, SD. The Brady's then moved to Buffalo Trading Post, SD, from there to Hartford, SD and eventually settling in Sioux Falls, SD. After graduating from Sioux Falls Washington High School in 1963, Don began his own racing career. The second-generation driver first took the wheel in 1964 with a car built by his dad and Gene Burscheid at Madison, SD. "I thought I was going pretty good there for a while," Brady said. "But after three laps and everyone was passing me, I knew I had some work to do." By the end of that first season, Brady had become a driver that was passing cars and not being passed. Don used the experience of the 1964 season to improve for the 1965 season, and the 20-year-old Brady showed he was the man to beat. Brady piloted their family owned and built Hudson to the 1965 B-Late Model Championship at Huset's Speedway. Don got married in 1969 and he and Michele lived across the street from Ed Stutzman (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2005). Don and Ed became good friends and Ed wanted to race. After Stutzman bought a 1962 Chevrolet, they proceeded to put in a good set of roll bars. When they rolled into Huset’s Speedway, track promoter Fred Buckmiller (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 1998) gave the car a good look over. Buckmiller asked who installed the roll cage and Stutzman replied, “Brady did!” Buckmiller responded by saying, “If Brady did it, it’s going to be safe.” From the beginning of Don’s career, with the help of his dad, Glen Kenyon, Jim Sweeney and Pat Campbell, Brady continued to be a tough competitor every time the team took to the track. Whether the brand of car was a Plymouth, Dodge or Chevrolet and the class was a Stock Car, Late Model or Modified, Don would accumulate 13 Late Model feature wins and 3 B-Late Model wins at Huset's Speedway, a Late Model feature win at Brookings and a Sportsman Feature win at the Hartford Half-mile. Don retired briefly as a driver in 1978 and sold their #61 Plymouth Barracuda. Shortly thereafter, Don’s oldest son Scott talked him into buying the car back, which they did in 1980. After Don and Scott worked to put it all together to go racing, success was immediate. Don’s first race in the car that year was a victorious one, but the sport of racing can be very humbling. Following that early season win, the power plant would disintegrate four weeks later, and fellow competitors would stop by the pit after the races offering parts of his race car back after they found them in their own car, or the track, everywhere. That night would be the end of Don’s racing career for good. The racing foundation that Don, along with his father, has built is truly amazing. The Brady family is now in its fourth generation of racing. Following Lawrence and Don were sons Scott and Don, Jr and grandson Nick. "As long as there are Brady's and race cars, you'll probably find a Brady racing somewhere," Brady explains. "It's in their blood." Don is very proud of the Brady name and the family was known for good, safe cars. The success of the Brady Racing Family is proof of that. Jerry Cunningham Huset's Speedway Class of 2018 Living in Sioux Falls, SD, Jerry Cunningham was surrounded by race cars and race teams, growing up in Norton Acres. As a young boy, Jerry would experience his first dirt track race at Soo Speedway, and the 5-year-old race fan was hooked. Jerry's brother, Tony, worked on a race team with driver Bob Jensen. Jensen was in need to a shop to work on the car and that's when the entire Cunningham family got involved. After taking over the operation in 1965, the team chose Larry Plucker to drive their modified, and the Cunningham family would continue to build their own cars until retiring from car ownership in 1970. Even though Cunningham Racing team had ceased operation, Jerry was still a hearty fan, attending races at Huset's Speedway and other tracks from 1971 until 1974. That's when Jerry's role in the sport would drastically change. Huset's Speedway track promoter Fred Buckmiller (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 1998) hired the 23-year-old Cunningham to take tickets at the track. Jerry would keep that job at the track until 1978, when he was promoted to an official, responsible for signing in drivers at the back gate and taking his perch in the scoring booth as an Official Scorer. Cunningham remembers his extensive training for such an important position. "They sat me down, dropped a notebook and a pen on the table and said, 'Ok Jerry, you're an Official Scorer. Score the races!'", Cunningham chuckled. "That was my extensive training." His first Official Scorer's job was with two Huset's Speedway Hall of Famers, Elmer Steifel (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2004) and Denny Oviatt (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2006), and paid him an amazing salary of $10 per night! A career was born. Cunningham would go on to be one of the top and most respected dirt track officials in the upper-Midwest, scoring races at Huset's Speedway and the Sioux Empire Fair in Sioux Falls, along with tracks in Madison, Hartford and Huron, SD, Rock Rapids, Spencer and Oskaloosa IA, Jackson and Owatonna, MN and more. Jerry was also an official for youth go-kart racing in Brookings and Renner, SD and Pipestone, MN, among other tracks. He is most proud of the relationships he has built over his career, witnessing greatness from adult drivers and the future of the sport in go-karts and to have worked with three Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame announcers, Dave Dedrick (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2003), Tom Savage (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2008) and Denny Oviatt (Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2006). Cunningham retired from the official scorer's role in 2004 but is still active as a photographer and is has been a member of the Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Committee, first as an adviser and as a voting member since 2016. Guy Forbrook Huset's Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2018 Written by Bob Jones with permission for use granted by Bob Baker and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Guy Forbrook was born on August 20, 1962, into a racing family. His father Dick was a very successful driver whose own career was finishing just as Guy was coming of age. Guy wheeled a Sprint Car to over a dozen victories in 1984-85 at various tracks including Jackson, Minnesota, Rock Rapids, Iowa, Fairmont, Minnesota, and even five in a row at Huset's Speedway in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Guy was quickly making a name for himself in the racing community. A passenger car accident would forever change the path Guy would take in racing. The accident caused a significant spinal cord injury and led to life in a wheelchair. Following the accident, Forbrook stayed away from racing for over a year when Ron Kohls "dragged him out of the house" and convinced Guy to come to a Sprint Car race. Kohls and Forbrook would soon put together their own team and the Forbrook 5 was born. Danny Lasoski is quick to point out that Guy's injury didn't slow him down. "Honestly, I don't even look at Guy as being disabled at all, and I mean that with all due respect. That guy can do anything he wants to. He's so hard-headed that he doesn't allow the wheelchair to get in the way of working on these cars, getting up and down the road, or anything else he does. And nobody works harder than Guy. If he wants to do something, he just figures out how to make it happen," said Lasoski. The 1988 season was the start of a long and successful career as a mechanic, crew chief and car owner. Jerry Richert, Jr. began the season with three victories before Danny Lasoski took over driving duties, forming a partnership that would forever change the landscape of Sprint Car racing in the Midwest. Lasoski and Forbrook won an astonishing 54 races in just their first two years together, including track championships at both Knoxville and Huset's, and had victories against the World of Outlaws and All Star Circuit of Champions. "When I look back at the years with Danny, the more we raced the better we got. Danny is such a finesse driver that he can win anywhere, anytime. I believe he is one of the top-five ever to drive these cars - he's that good.