(Auburn, Indiana – IMTM PR) – The International Monster Truck Museum is proud to announce the 2012 Hall of Fame Selection Process and the members of a new official Nominating Committee.

When inducting the first ever Hall of Fame class in 2011, the Board of Directors felt it the only proper course, to honor those men that are widely recognized as the sport’s originals: Bob Chandler, Jeff Dane, Dan Degrasso, Everett Jasmer, Fred Shafer and Jack Willman.

For the second Hall of Fame class and beyond however, the Board of Directors has put in place a nominating and voting process that will ensure the monster truck community is able to influence the selection in a non-biased and open to the public manner.

Last year the IMTM inducted Bob Chandler, Jeff Dane, Dan Degrasso, Everett Jasmer, Fred Shafer & Jack Willman. Who will be a part of the 2nd Hall of Fame class?

An official Nominating Committee has been established, consisting of 25 people from all aspects of the monster truck industry. The committee includes the 8 members of the IMTM Research Committee, along with 17 current & former drivers, promoters, historians and members of the media.

Starting this week, the Nominating Committee will begin the process of narrowing the great number of candidates who have excelled in the monster truck industry over the years, down to an official voting ballot of 20 names.

Each committee member will submit a form listing the 20 names they wish to nominate, along with a brief explanation of the qualifications of each. Forms from the Nominating Committee must be submitted by Saturday, May 5th.

When all nominating forms have been received, the IMTM will tabulate the results and the 20 names submitted most across all committee member forms, will be the official 2012 IMTM Hall of Fame Nominees. The IMTM will announce the names of this prestigious group at the 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals in Lima, Ohio on Saturday, May 19th.

Following the completion of the nominating process, an official voting ballot will be created, listing all 20 nominees. Members of the Board of Directors, along with previous Hall of Fame Inductees will each receive a voting ballot. They will vote for 5 of the 20 nominees and return their ballot by September 1st.

The 5 nominees receiving the most votes will be inducted into the IMTM Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 3rd in Auburn, Indiana. These 5 inductees will be announced to the public on Saturday, September 15th at the 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tickets to attend the 2nd Annual IMTM Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion will go on-sale Friday, May 18th and will be available online, and in person at the IMTM Booth at the Lima, Ohio 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals.

Hall of Fame Eligibility

For these early years of the IMTM Hall of Fame, with such a large group of worthy candidates from all reaches of the sport, the Board of Directors has decided on the following eligibility guidelines for the Nominating Committee to consider:

– Candidates will be primarily considered based on all contributions to, and accomplishments in, any aspect of the monster truck industry, and will not be inducted by group (i.e. inducted as a driver, promoter, media, etc.). Because people in monster trucks often work in multiple roles over their career, consideration should be given to their entire body of work.
– Consideration should also be partially weighted to the chronological order of their involvement in the history of the sport.
– Nominees not receiving enough votes for induction into the Hall of Fame in a given year will not automatically be nominated for the following year. Each year the slate is wiped clean and the process begins again.
– There is no limit to how many times a candidate may be nominated but fail to receive enough votes for induction. These candidates will always remain eligible for nomination in future years.

As the years pass and a greater number of the sport’s most influential figures have been inducted, the Board of Directors will consider putting in place additional eligibility requirements, should they become necessary, to limit the pool of candidates to only the best and brightest.

The 2012 IMTM Nominating Committee

Each year the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame will choose 25 people to make up the Nominating Committee. This committee will consist of members of the IMTM Research Committee, along with select current & former drivers, promoters, media and other people who have worked in, and/or studied the history of the industry.

Members of the Nominating Committee have an incredibly important task as they must research monster truck history, compare the accomplishments of all candidates, seek and consider input from others in the industry, and ultimately arrive at a list of 20 candidates and summarize the qualifications of each.

Select members of the committee will be retained for the following year, while others will be switched out for new members in order to keep a fresh perspective in the nominating process, and to involve more people in the industry as part of the selection process.

The 2012 IMTM Nominating Committee includes the following:

(RC) – Indicates IMTM Research Committee Member

IMTM Voting Members

Members of the Board of Directors and all previous Hall of Fame Inductees will make up the Hall of Fame voting members. Each group’s votes will be weighted, with the greater emphasis placed on ballots from the Board of Directors.

The 2012 IMTM Voting Members include the following:

– Jeff Cook – IMTM President
– Allen Pezo – IMTM Vice President
– Ross Bonar – IMTM Secretary
– Army Armstrong – IMTM Director
– Bob Chandler – IMTM Director
– Jeff Dane – 2011 IMTM Hall of Fame Inductee
– Dan Degrasso – 2011 IMTM Hall of Fame Inductee
– Everett Jasmer – 2011 IMTM Hall of Fame Inductee
– Fred Shafer – 2011 IMTM Hall of Fame Inductee
– Jack Willman – 2011 IMTM Hall of Fame Inductee

The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame has put into place these selection procedures with the goal of creating a non-biased, open to the public process for selecting Hall of Fame Inductees. The Board of Directors will evaluate these procedures year-to-year and welcomes input from all supporters to create the most fair and efficient selection process possible.

The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame would like to thank all of the great supporters, fans and sponsors that helped make the first IMTM Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion such a great success last November. We look forward to having you all back on November 3rd, 2012 for the 2nd Annual event where 5 more of the greatest monster truck personalities of all time will be honored with induction into the Hall of Fame.

Stay tuned to www.MonsterMuseum.org for continued news & updates and follow us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MonsterMuseum to never miss out on any of the exciting things going at the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame.

About the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame

The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame was established in 2010 with the mission of collecting and archiving the history of the monster truck sport and related aspects of the high performance aftermarket, focusing upon capturing history from the surviving pioneers and legends. Each year, the International Monster Truck Museum will honor the most accomplished and significant people in the history of monster trucks with induction into its Hall of Fame.

Through the accumulation of vehicles, oral histories, videos and still images, the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame will provide a documented history and an entertaining and educational retrospective display about the birth and growth of a purely North American year round motor sport that is geared toward the entire family and the industry it launched for future generations.

More information on the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame can be found on the organization’s official website, www.MonsterMuseum.org. All of the latest news and updates can be followed on the organization’s Facebook at www.Facebook.com/MonsterMuseum.