By Dave Dykes
Tickets are now on sale for the 2012 New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction Banquet to be held on Sunday January 29, 2012 at the LaRenaissance Banquet Hall Route 5, East Windsor, Connecticut (Exit 44 off Interstate 91, East Windsor, CT).

Doors open at 11:00 a.m. with dinner served at 12:00 p.m. There will be a cash bar. Dinner Choices are: Prime Rib, Chicken Supreme, Baked Scrod and Vegetarian Lasagna.

Priced at $45.00 per person, order forms are available for download by visiting the NEAR website at www.near1.com

Order deadline is January 16, 2012. No tickets will be sold at the door. Requests for reserved tables of 10 must be received by January 10, 2012.

Tickets for the traditionally sold-out event will be picked-up at the door by attendees.

Further information may be obtained by contacting Rhonda Blanchette @ (860) 628-9234 or seller49car@cox.net 

Driver Reggie Ruggiero and car owner Mario Fiore, at one time a powerful force on the modified scene, head up this year’s class. They are joined by driver Joey Kourafas, car owner/mechanic Jim Jorgensen and track owner Irene Venditti.

Additionally, a trio of modified racing pioneers in Moe Gherzi, Jerry Humiston and Roland Lapierre, Sr. are the Veterans Committee selections slated to join the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Class of 2012.

The New England Antique Racers club is a non-profit organization that supports the history of New England auto racing. NEAR has been in existence since 1981 and has inducted over 100 individuals into its New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame since 1998. Visit us on the internet at www.near1.org

Reggie Ruggero	Irene Venditti (center) with Hall of Famer George Summers and his wife Maggie	Moe Gherzi
Jerry Humiston	Mario Fiore with NASCAR President Bill France	Roland Lapierre, Sr.