Zach Yost photo

Rod Conley on Saturday evening was honored with the Noel Hargis Lifetime Achievement Award before the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series event at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park.

The 64-year-old Wheelersburg, Ohio, driver, from a famed racing family is elder statesman on the Iron-Man circuit and has competed for more than 35 seasons with multiple track championships and several major race victories, including the Hillbilly Hundred.

Conley has three series victories and has finished inside the top 10 in series points for five consecutive seasons.

He’s a former winner on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and a four-time winner on the STARS circuit. Major victories include the Mountain Momma 100, the Cornett Clash and Southern 100.

The second annual award is named for longtime race official Noel Hargis of Somerset, Ky., a race car driver in the 1960s and 1970s before becoming a flagger for Kentucky dirt tracks and Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series (2002-2009).