The last several months have come with two notable events for former NHRA drag racer Ed Renck, a lifelong resident of Pueblo, Colo. On Aug. 17, at “Bonneville Speed Week” Renck set a new record in the C Gas Roadster Class at 236.162 mph.

“It was like winning an NHRA national event because of the prestige of it,” said Renck, 74 about the record.

Then, recently Renck learned he was chosen to be inducted into the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame.

“This is quite an honor to be selected for this prestigious Hall of Fame,” Renck said. “This really means a lot.”

Renck joins the 2017 Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame class, which also includes Sid Blandford, Ray Daniels, Billy Harkins, Korry Hogan, Roy Jackson, Mark Mercer, Terry Plummer, Gaylord Smith, and Joseph Thibodeau. Renck is the second drag racer from Pueblo to be inducted into the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame in the last two years. In 2016, NHRA world championship crew chief Lee Beard was enshrined in the Hall.

Beard grew up in Pueblo and was a student of Renck’s when Renck taught industrial arts at Pueblo Central High School.

The 2017 induction ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. (MDT), Oct. 11 at The Vehicle Vault in Parker, Colo.

Prior to trying his hand at the Salt Flats, Renck had an impressive drag racing resume, winning over 45 races all over the country from 1967-83. He won NHRA’s Division V Top Fuel Championship in 1970 and was second in Division V in the same class in 1972 and 1978.

Additionally, Renck qualified No. 1 at NHRA’s 1972 World Finals at Ontario, Calif., in Top Fuel.

By 1976, he changed classes to Pro Comp and captured the Division V Championship and was named Division V “Driver of the Year.”