By FRANCIS FEDOR
As we near the start of the oval track season, opening here in Florida with the Speedweeks culminating in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15, Sun City Center has its very own ties to racing royalty. Sun City Center resident Ron Bartell was recently notified that he has been chosen for induction into the amateur auto racing Hall of Fame.
With Jeanne Bartell who is the glue that keeps the team together
Victory Lane after winning a National Championship in 2000 at Mid-Ohio racetrack in Lexington, Ohio
Bartell has been competing in amateur racing for 50 years, racing in the H Production category of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), winning two national championships and finishing on the podium six times with eight front-row starts. H Production is one of the three primary performance-based classes within the SCCA’s Production category, alongside E Production (EP) and F Production (FP). H Production is designed for smaller, lighter, and less powerful production-based vehicles that retain their original design, structure and drive layout, while allowing a range of performance modifications. H Production is known for being the slowest of the three production classes, making it ideal for entry-level and vintage road racing enthusiasts.
The SCCA H Production Hall of Fame was independently created in 2025 by the H Production Nationwide Points Championship (HPNPC) to honor and recognize the drivers, crew, fabricators and volunteers who helped shape the class over its nearly 70-year history. The 2026 class for the SCCA H Production Hall of Fame is Ron Bartell and Steve Sargis. These two racers join Randy Canfield, Cat Kizer and Ray Stone as members of the H Prod Hall of Fame.
Interview with Speed Channel after finishing second at the 2009 National Championship at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Bartell was always active in supporting British roadsters in H Production, petitioning the Club Racing Board (CRB) for adjustments to achieve parity and providing a basis for comparison when the former G Production cars were brought into H. For example, after blowing a freshly rebuilt 948cc race motor at the 2005 runoffs, Ron made an impassioned plea to the CRB to allow the limited-prep version of the 1,275cc motor in the full-prep chassis, a configuration that is still used today. This allowed the British roadsters to remain competitive in H and contributed to the health of the class as we know it today.
Ron Bartell photos
Victory lap during the 2001 National Championship win at the Mid-Ohio track in Lexington, Ohio
Bartell amassed over 100 regional and divisional regular season race wins, was the Northeast Division Driver of the Year, and held 10 active lap records at road racing tracks all around the country and Canada when he retired in 2019. Some notable tracks that he raced at include Indianapolis Motor Speedway; Watkins Glen, NY; Lime Rock, CT; Virginia Int’l Raceway; Road America, WI; Laguna Seca, CA; Mosport, Canada; and Sebring, FL; among many others. Of course, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic track in the USA and now hosts both Indy and NASCAR races and, now, is usually known for the rarity of having a driver participate in both the Indy race and a NASCAR race in Charlotte, NC, held on the same day, over Memorial Day weekend. Watkins Glen International, often nicknamed “The Glen,” is a premier road racing circuit located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen. It is one of North America’s most iconic and historic road courses, renowned for its challenging layout, scenic beauty in the Finger Lakes region and rich motorsport legacy.
Bartell’s car of choice is a highly modified 1962 MG “Valvoline Midget” and was an iconic fixture wherever he raced; he was instrumental in helping to define the allowable modifications for the various cars in that category. An induction ceremony will be held at the 5th Annual Captn Mikee Cummings H Production Invitational on Aug. 8, 2026, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, known for being one of the most competitive road courses in the United States.