Photos by Ron Brohm | Contributed
Bill Holder was inducted into the 2023 Kil-Kare Dragway Hall of Fame and named Geezer of the Year. He also accepted the Hall of Fame award for his long-term photographer Phil Kunz who was unable to attend due to illness.
The entire 2023 Class of Kil-Kare Dragway “Gathering of the Geezers “Hall of Fame”
XENIA — Xenia is a town known for racing. And the reason why is of course, Kil-Kare Raceway. And this past weekend the famous track held the 15th annual Gathering of the Geezers Hall of Fame event.
The Hall of Fame ceremony is a big deal at Kil-Kare Dragway and the most prestigious award is the “ Geezer of the Year.” This year that honor went to local and national racing journalist Bill Holder.
At age 86, Holder, who lives in Riverside, has authored more than 80 nationally published automotive and racing books and more than 3,000 national and local magazine and newspaper articles. These days he mainly covers nearby tracks such as Kil-Kare and local car shows.
Holder served as a U.S. Army missile officer and then took a job at Boeing working on the Saturn V Moon Rocket before being an aerospace engineer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base from where which he retired.
Bill has interviewed many celebrities and famous sports figures including Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, Jimmy Stewart, Archie Griffin, Evel Knievel, Charlie Daniels, and Roger Penske.
Holder recently authored a local historical book entitled “Dayton, Ohio Race Town” and a local car show book called “ Bill Holder’s Nice Rides.”
Bill is also the founder and Emerus Executive Director of National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame located at Florence Speedway.
