DENNIS ROTH - OWNER

ONE OF THE MOST successful and most legendary winged sprint car owners on the World of Outlaws tour and in his home state of California, Dennis Roth has earned his spot among the elite car owners in the history of the sport.

Things began in 1983 for Roth, of Fresno, California, when he acquired a meat processing plant called “Beef Packers.” The company has evolved from Beef Packers to Southwest Hide to Ore-Cal Trucking to HR Livestock to its current Roth Enterprises. Nine years later, he and his wife, Teresa, became sprint car owners. The following year, he was the owner champion of the Rebel 360 Series.

By 1995, he was part of the World of Outlaws tour and three years later, with Danny Lasoski behind the wheel, he won the Knoxville Nationals. Randy Hannagan, Kasey Kahne and Brandon Wimmer were winners in the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at Skagit. Roth has also won multiple King of the West championships and the Williams Grove National Open in 2014 with David Gravel piloting. He has numerous wins with WoO, the All-Stars, and assorted other series.

The list of drivers who have been behind the wheel of the famed #83 is staggering and a top notch list in sprint car racing including Danny

Lasoski, Daryn Pittman, David Gravel, Jac Haudenschild, Joey Saldana, Kasey Kahne, Mark Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Shane Stewart, Tim Kaeding, and Tim Shaffer. Maybe the most impressive list, ever! Only five others have more owner wins than Dennis Roth.

“I have many favorite drivers,” said the 75-year-old Roth. “It would take an hour for me to give you who they are, but the one that was the most challenging and the one who ended up winning a lot of races for me was Danny Lasoski. They (all drivers) get into their fifties and they want to keep racing but suddenly you realize that you’re not as good as you used to be.

“As for the drivers, when somebody leaves a team then there is somebody else who becomes available. I’ve had many drivers who have come back to me looking for a ride. If I had one available, then I would give it to them. I would take the best available at the time. It’s a short-lived career for a race car driver; you’re on top today and tomorrow you’re not. I was very lucky to never have any negatives come from my drivers. I was very fortunate as an owner that none of my drivers ever got hurt badly. I had one driver who broke a finger but that was about it. There was nothing that kept them out of the race car for more than a week.”

Roth took a respite from racing in

By Doug Kennedy

2017 due to heart surgery but he was back on the national scene once again in 2018.

Being inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is something that is very special for Dennis Roth. “It’s quite an honor, especially for me being a local boy from California. Sprint Car racing is not as big in California as it is in other parts of the country. I think I established a pretty good name and reputation with the drivers.”

Dennis and Teresa are now entering their 28th year of being the proud owners of their race team. “She (Teresa) keeps me going,” said Dennis. “I just go along with the program,” said Teresa. “I go to support whomever is racing at the time, more of being a moral support. I don’t go to the pits or do any work on the car.”

“It’s gone by fast, but it’s been a great career,” said Roth. “I want to thank my drivers and the fans. We have met a lot of very nice people along the way.”

Perhaps it is best said at the end of the Roth Motorsports webpage. “Roth Motorsports represents a superior race team with professionalism and pride. Our teams consist of first- class equipment and personnel that have a positive, winning attitude.” Certainly, it’s a Hall of Fame organization through and through.

WALTER T. ROSS was born in Northern Ireland on December 16, 1934. When Walt was 14, his family pulled up their roots and moved to New Jersey. It wasn’t long before Walt witnessed his first races at nearby tracks in Newark (Rupert Stadium) and Pennsylvania. That was when his lifelong love affair with the sport of auto racing began.

After graduating from high school in 1954, Walt enlisted in the Army and served two years in Okinawa, Japan. While stationed there in 1955, he became a naturalized American citizen. Following his tour of duty, he moved to Citrus Heights, California.

Walt began his racing career in 1957 after purchasing a 1941 Ford jalopy for $200. The following year, Walt had a night to remember when he set fast time and won his heat and the main event against a strong field of jalopies at Roseville, California, Speedway.

In 1959, Walt found success in the business community when he opened his Carmichael automotive towing and repair shop, which was also the perfect place to house his race cars.

By the mid-1960s, Walt had graduated from jalopies to Hard Tops and then to the powerful supermodifieds, racing at such tracks as West Capital in Sacramento, Roseville, Chico and Carson City, Nevada. He won several races as both car owner and driver. Ross also dabbled with NASCAR and USAC Stock Cars.

On April 28, 1972, Ross was driving a Supermodified at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA, when he was run into, causing him to flip. The crash left him paralyzed from the waist down. Two weeks later and while being visited in the hospital by his daughter, Sheila, Walt started to get his feeling back. Over time, he was able to make a full recovery. It was that scare that convinced him to retire from driving and focus entirely on being a car owner in the Sprint Car ranks. He began his new endeavor in 1973, with