NASCAR HoF - First 5

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foehammer111

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Thursday NASCAR is going to announce on SPEED the 25 nominees for the first induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Only 5 of those will get into the Hall of Fame in it's first year.

Richard Petty and Earnhardt Sr are a shoe-in, but the other 3 spots are up for grabs. So who makes it in? Here's my picks:

#1 - Richard Petty
#2 - Dale Earnhardt Sr
#3 - Bobby Allison
#4 - Darrell Waltrip
#5 - Lee Petty
 
Bill France Sr., Richard Petty, Red Byron, Harold Brasington, Lee Petty

I believe the first 2-3 sets of inductees should be predominantly those who helped get the series off the ground and helped it survive through its first decade.
 
Bill France Sr. will be one of them. I don't know if they will put Bill France Jr. in there too or wait a year so both won't go in at the same time.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
JohnG, I think Clay Earles would fit in, also.
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Good point. I was debating between he and Brasington. I opted for Harold because Darlington has had a more changing affect on how NA__AR has progressed than has Martinsville. But Clay definitely was a fixture in early NA__AR and deserves an early spot in its HOF!

I was lucky enough to spend some time with Mr. Earles the weekend of the Hanes 500, back in April of 1988. He was engaging, lively and it was evident that Martinsville and promoting racing was his life. He was a real gentleman.
 
They most likely will go with the popular choices that will bring people in rather than drivers from byegone eras that the "new" fans wouldn't know. I guessing France Sr. just for the memory but the other 4 will be newer drivers. Follow the money.
 
UPDATE: NASCAR Says, a blog of NASCAR.com, blogs this week that will provide some “sneak peeks” at the inaugural list of nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The first two sneak peaked are lengendary drivers Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip.(NASCAR Says)(6-30-2009)
 
barelypure said:
They most likely will go with the popular choices that will bring people in rather than drivers from byegone eras that the "new" fans wouldn't know. I guessing France Sr. just for the memory but the other 4 will be newer drivers. Follow the money.
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Just what we need! So, how about Jeffie-Pooh, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and Brian France. in the first group.

We wouldn't want to offend anyone who doesn't know NASCAR actually existed (and had pretty darn good racing, too!) prior to 9/14/1992, would we?

Unfortunately, you're 100% correct; "Follow the money..."
 
I highly doubt that NASCAR would allow anyone that is currently active to enter the Hall of Fame. That would kind of defeat the purpose.

That's like letting Peyton Manning enter the NFL HoF while he's still active.
 
tkj24 said:
Bill France Sr
Richard Petty
Dale Inman
Cale Yarborough
Harry Hyde
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Great call on Inman and Harry. Which makes me slap myself and wonder why I didn't include either Smokey Yunick, Ray Nichols, Ray Fox or Banjo Mathews.? Great mechanics... the too often forgotten heros.
 
I guess my opinion is that probably for sure Richard Petty will make it, and probably Bill Sr. as well should be, but the other three I believe will be from the very early days of NASCAR like the Flocks, Turner and so on. I don't think they will be doing their best to please the newbies of the sport. I also think they should start with more than five inductees just to get things rolling. But it won't be long before most of the names already mentioned will have their busts in the hall. Just think, in 10 years there we will be talking about who will be the 50th member.
 
buckaroo said:
I also think they should start with more than five inductees just to get things rolling.
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I agree. I say induct all 25 nominees into the Hall of Fame. NASCAR is a little late to the HoF party, so they should get things moving by adding all the legends and founders first, then working our way up from there.
 
buckaroo said:
I guess my opinion is that probably for sure Richard Petty will make it, and probably Bill Sr. as well should be, but the other three I believe will be from the very early days of NASCAR like the Flocks, Turner and so on. I don't think they will be doing their best to please the newbies of the sport. I also think they should start with more than five inductees just to get things rolling. But it won't be long before most of the names already mentioned will have their busts in the hall. Just think, in 10 years there we will be talking about who will be the 50th member.
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You're a lot more optimistic about the designs of NA__AR than I, Buckaroo.
 
UPDATE 2: two more nominee's Glen Wood and Richard Childress. Both were drivers originally, who switched their concentration to team ownership. Both ended up having some of NASCAR’s biggest stars drive their cars. On Thursday the entire 25-person list will be known.(NASCAR Says)(7-1-2009)
 
foehammer111 said:
I agree. I say induct all 25 nominees into the Hall of Fame. NASCAR is a little late to the HoF party, so they should get things moving by adding all the legends and founders first, then working our way up from there.
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Real good thought into that one, it makes real good sense. Lets put the 20 legends that deservfe to be in, and work up from there. NA_CAR has been around a while, so we need to fill the cupboards of the Hall of Fame so as too commemorate the many past Legends from the previous decades.
 
I disagree. Five is about the right number to start with, definitely no more than 10. It gives some suspense to who will be selected each year and gives more importance to the selections.
 
I'm afraid that alot of the greats are goin to be overlooked in favor of more "known" names like DW and such. Personally I think DW belongs in there, just not before the likes of Junior Johnon, Red Byron, Fred Lorenzen, Buck Baker, John Holman and Ralph Moody, The Woods...... ah, you get my point.
But yea, I think several of the first 5 are shoe ins- Petty, France Sr, Earnhardt..... after that its a crap shoot as who they will put in. Just hope they remeber there WAS racin BEFORE 1980................
 
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