• Motorsports Legend and Inaugural 1989 MSHFA Inductee "Big Daddy” Don Garlits to be Keynote Speaker
• Member Institutions Expected to Attend Include the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and ProRodeo Hall of Fame
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (September 21, 2023) – The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) - the Hall of Fame of ALL motorsports - will host the annual conference of the International Sports Heritage Association (ISHA) next week in Daytona Beach, September 27 - 28.
The mission of ISHA is to educate, promote and support organizations and individuals engaged in the celebration of sports heritage. Its Annual Conference, held each autumn, is the largest annual gathering of its 130 member institutions located in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Members run the gamut from the National Baseball Hall of Fame to the Sailing Museum to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Australian Sports Museum and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
"We are thrilled to host this year’s ISHA Conference,” says MSHFA President George Levy, “and we look forward to showcasing not only our museum on the grounds of Daytona International Speedway, but everything Daytona Beach and nearby Ormond Beach — the Birthplace of Speed — have to offer to representatives of the world’s great halls of fame.”
The conference's packed two-day agenda will feature seminars on topics such as education and technology, collections and curation, conservation and preservation, licensing and marketing, fundraising and foundations by professionals from both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, as well as a trade show providing museum product and service information, roundtable discussions for the informal exchange of ideas, facility tours, and other special events.
Session topics include transportation and logistics solutions for auto racing and sailing museums, a seminar on Daytona Beach's baseball history and a session on the post-pandemic cost escalation of vintage racing machines and related motorsports memorabilia and collectibles.
Wednesday evening will feature "Cocktails and Convos" at the MSHFA Museum, on the grounds of Daytona International Speedway (DIS). One of the highlights of each year's conference, the reception is an opportunity for ISHA members to network with colleagues and make new friends in a casual atmosphere.
The MSHFA worked closely with ISHA to secure popular motorsports broadcaster and publisher Dick Berggren and Legends of Racing Radio Show host and former NASCAR Hall of Fame Historian Buz McKim to speak during the two-day conference. Drag racing legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits (pictured below), a member of the inaugural MSHFA induction class in 1989, will be the keynote speaker at Thursday's "Evening of Champions" celebration that will bring the curtain down on the 2023 ISHA Annual Conference.
Guests will also have the opportunity to tour another Daytona-area gem, the nearby Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS), as well as four beloved Ormond Beach restaurants along a 200 ft. stretch of West Granada Boulevard: the 31 Supper Club, Grind Gastropub & Tiki Bar and the motorsports-themed Ormond Garage and Rose Villa. The restaurant visits follow a Tuesday tour of Daytona International Speedway, which is known internationally as the “World Center of Racing.”
Originally called the Association of Sports Museums and Halls of Fame, ISHA was established in 1971 by William “Buck” Dawson of the Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida, Maurice H. “Lefty” Reid of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Vaughan L. Baird of the Aquatic Hall of Fame, both located in Canada. It became the International Association of Sports Museums and Halls of Fame when it was incorporated in Delaware in 1989. The name was changed to the International Sports Heritage Association on December 20, 2005.
In addition to the support of its 130 member organizations, various corporations and individuals participate in and contribute to the growth of ISHA as Associate Members. ISHA provides a network for cooperative ventures among members and the ongoing exchange of ideas and opportunities. Members in ISHA draw upon resources from the museum and the corporate worlds for information on administration, development, collections management, public relations, and other policies, procedures and products.
The ISHA Annual Conference will be headquartered at the Shores Resort and Spa, the same oceanfront hotel that has hosted the majority of the MSHFA's annual induction ceremonies over the last decade.
The 36th Annual MSHFA Induction Celebration Presented by Toyota Racing will take place March 11 – 12, 2024 in Daytona Beach. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the MSHFA at www.mshf.com or contact MSHFA President Levy at (248) 895-1704 or glevy@mshf.com.
The MSHFA is housed in Daytona International Speedway's Ticket & Tours Building located in front of the famed 2.5-mile DIS tri-oval. Access to the MSFHA museum is included with every Daytona International Speedway tour, which run throughout each day, or as a museum-only ticket. The museum is open daily 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. nearly year-round except major holidays. It is visited by more than 100,000 guests each year from every state in America and countries all over the world. For museum tickets call 1-800-PIT-SHOP.
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/
About the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America: The MSHFA is the only hall that honors all American motorsports: cars, motorcycles, airplanes, off road and powerboats. Its mission is to celebrate and instill the American motorsports values of leadership, creativity, originality, teamwork and spirit of competition. Founded by Larry G. Ciancio and led by first President Ronald A. Watson, it held its first induction in 1989. Watson spent the next 30 years tirelessly building it into the nation’s premier such hall until his passing in 2019. The original museum in Novi, Mich., relocated to Daytona Beach, Fla., in 2016 and greets more than 100,000 guests a year. MSHFA is operated by the nonprofit Motorsports Museum and Hall of Fame of America Foundation, Inc.
Adam Saal
(321) 890-2848