Stateline to Induct Jay Pees into Wall of Fame; Visionary & Media Pioneer

July 25, 2026

One of Jay Pees’ favorite racing stories began long before he ever picked up a camera, wrote a race report, or became one of the most trusted voices in the local racing community. As a kid growing up around Warren, Jay would ride his bicycle down the sidewalk pretending he was behind the wheel of a race car. One day, a car suddenly pulled out of a driveway in front of him. Jay hit the side of it and went flying into the passenger seat. When he looked up, staring back at him was Emory Mahan — the legendary Stateline driver and winner of the first feature in track history. Emory was one of Jay’s heroes. But instead of being thrilled to meet him, Jay was terrified he was about to be in trouble. Emory simply laughed, and Jay climbed back on his bike and rode away. It was a fitting beginning for someone whose life would become so deeply intertwined with the history of Stateline Speedway and racing throughout the region.

Jay eventually experienced the sport from nearly every angle. He raced spectator cars at Stateline and, years later, returned to the driver’s seat in a Challenger car at Kane Speedway because he simply loved to race. He spent years as a track photographer, documenting the people and moments that defined local short-track racing. As the media landscape changed, Jay was ahead of the curve. He founded RacewayMagazine.com, helping bring tri-state racing coverage into the digital age, and later became Senior Editor of RaceFan.com & WhoWon.com, the leading grassroots racing websites in the early 2000’s. His detailed race reports and photographs chronicled countless nights at Stateline, Eriez, Raceway 7, and other tracks, making him one of the region’s great racing historians and storytellers. Jay was given permission by Earl Baltes to provide live coverage, photos and updates, of the legendary Eldora Million. This broadcast melted the servers with 50,000 users at the same time and paved the way for what we enjoy today from Flo, DirtVision and other streaming services.

But calling Jay a “media guy” never fully captured what he meant to Stateline. Over the years, several ownership groups came to rely on him not only for publicity and communications, but also for his judgment, ideas, and understanding of the sport. He became a trusted advisor — someone who understood what drivers needed, what fans cared about, and what race tracks had to do to survive and grow. Jay Pees devoted his life to local racing. He preserved its history, helped guide its future, and earned the trust of racers, fans, promoters, and track owners alike. His induction into the Stateline Wall of Fame honors not just the stories he told, but the history he helped create.