Despite only being 9 years old, the late Hunter Hall certainly made an impact on the racing community. Case in point: Anderson Motor Speedway renaming a class in his honor, the Hunter Hall Fast and Fearless Front Wheel Drive Division.
“Hunter was an energetic 9-year-old who loved being at the racetrack,” former track champion and Hall family friend Steve Guthrie said. “He dabbled in kart racing, but just loved front wheel drive racing. He was too young to drive in the front wheel drive division, but he and his dad were going to build a car for Hunter to drive in the Young Guns division when he turned 12.”
Hunter would always accompany his father Robert, the track’s 2025 front wheel drive champ, and his mother, Jennifer, to the races. His older brother, Joshua Thomason, also won a title in 2022.
“He would cut up with me on race day, asking me, ‘Why I was so slow today?” Guthrie said. “Hunter was the type of kid who wouldn’t take the last snack or pop out of the cooler or fridge — he’d leave it for someone else. He also had a strong relationship with his mom, always asking if she needed help, or simply bringing a water when saw her working.”
Hunter Hall lost his life in a traffic accident on February 27. The Halls were taking him to school in Robert’s 1997 Chevrolet work van when a Chevrolet Impala struck it at a high rate of speed. Robert and Jennifer survived with injuries, but Hunter did not. The tragedy shook the racing community. Creating decals honoring Hunter’s memory was proposed, but track announcer William Richard hatched another idea: renaming the division after him. Track promoter Scott Childress immediately embraced the idea.
“Every car at Anderson Motor Speedway will also have a Hunter Hall sticker on it,” track PR manager Hunter Mergenthaler said. “The Hunter Hall Fast and Fearless Front Wheel Drive Division will have its first race on March 20.”
Besides renaming a class and carrying decals, perhaps the racing community will take away something else from remembering Hunter Hall — his vibrant personality.
“Hunter … was full of life,” Hunter Mergenthaler said. “He had a smile that was infectious. He was compassionate, always ‘high-fiving’ all the drivers in the division.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
