West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame gets new home in Paso Robles
From left, San Luis Obispo County Supervisor John Peschong presents a county proclamation celebrating the opening of the Ken Clapp Annex, Gallery and Research Library to Richard (Dick) Woodland and Ken Clapp.
Ken Clapp Annex added to Woodland Auto Display
– The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame has a brand-new home. The recent dedication of the 2,000-square foot Ken Clapp Annex, Gallery and Research Library at the Woodland Auto Display in Paso Robles for the first time offers public viewing of unique memorabilia: trophies, photos, scrapbooks, and banners, along with historic race cars from all corners of the sport.
The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame previously existed as a digital presence. Richard (Dick) Woodland, a former competitor, team owner, and member of the organization’s Board of Directors, says he believed his popular auto and warbirds collection at the Paso Robles Airports would be a natural fit for the hall.
“The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame had no real home,” said Woodland, following the May 13 grand opening and ribbon cutting that was part of the 14th Annual Warbirds, Wings, and Wheels Car Show attended by a crowd of 2,000. “I really wanted to name it after Ken Clapp, for everything he’s done on the West Coast, as a NASCAR officer, promoter, official, and friend of racing. He’s a man who has done it all.”
Clapp, the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame’s chairman and CEO, has been a member of the motorsports community since attending his first race as a teenager in 1951. His recently published autobiography, “Sea to Shining Sea, Racing from the Wild West to Daytona,” is available from Coastal 181 and can be purchased at Hunt’s Race World, located at 900 Riverside Avenue in Roseville Calif, (916) 773-7223.
“To have the Estrella Museum’s new annex dedicated to me was a wonderful surprise and honor,” said Clapp. “The benefits that it will offer the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame will go on for years to come. The thank you that I have addressed to Dick Woodland, the Estrella founder, does not even begin to cover my appreciation.
The Woodland Auto Display is located at 4251 Dry Creek Road off Highway 46 in Paso Robles. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. www.woodlandautodisplay.com.
About the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame
The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame was conceived in 2001 as a means of recognizing significant contributors and contributions to the sport of stock car/motorsports competition. The mission of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame is founded to preserve the history and heritage of the important role west coast stock car and motorsports figures have played in the sport’s development and continuation and to recognize, through annual enshrinement, of outstanding individuals and groups within the sport such as, but not limited to, designers, engineers, mechanics, drivers, race track owners, promoters, publicists and members of the motorsports media.
The hall of fame is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, dedicated to supporting a variety of organizations and groups from coast to coast. During its tenure, it has raised more than $700,000 in the past five of its 22 years for youth, health and safety, hospitals, animal rescue, military, and other charitable causes.
For more information visit www.WestCoastStockCarHallofFame.com.
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