Petty, Hall Inducted Into NMPA Hall of Fame
Maurice Petty and Barney Hall, two men who took vastly different routes on the road to successful careers in the world of NASCAR, were inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame Jan. 20.
Petty, head engine builder at Petty Enterprises for more than two decades, began his racing career as a driver, making 26 starts between 1960 and 1964 in what was then NASCAR’s Grand National Series. He posted seven top-five finishes – including a career best third at Spartanburg, S.C. in 1961 – and 16 top-10s. But his most notable contributions to the sport came after he ended his driving career and began building engines for the family-owned organization. By most accounts, his engines helped power the team’s entries to more than 200 wins and more than 750 top-10 finishes. Five of older brother Richard Petty’s seven NASCAR Cup championships came with Maurice Petty-built engines underneath the hood.
He was named Mechanic of the Year on seven occasions for his work in NASCAR, and was also instrumental in building engines for successful teams competing in series outside of stock car racing.
Petty is the fourth member of the famed Petty family to be inducted into the Hall, joining father Lee (1969), Richard (1998) and cousin Dale Inman (2002).
For Hall, the road to the Hall of Fame began at a small radio station in North Carolina in the late 1950s, where he first began reporting on the sport of stock car racing. By the early ’60s, he had been hired as a public address announcer for what was then Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Since 1971, he has been the co-anchor of NASCAR Cup broadcasts for Motor Racing Network.
Hall, 74, covered NASCAR as it grew from a little-known regional sport into a multi-billion dollar industry. He has called some of the sport’s most memorable events through the years – from the infamous post-Daytona 500 fight between Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison to Richard Petty’s 200th-career victory in 1984 and Dale Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500 victory.
The Barney Hall Award, named in his honor, is presented by the NMPA to recognize outstanding work in the field of radio broadcasting.
The National Motorsports Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame was founded in 1965 to recognize excellence and leadership in the sport of auto racing. To date, there are 78 members in the Hall. It is located on the grounds of Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C. Members, with date of induction in parenthesis, include:
-A-
Bobby Allison (1993); Davey Allison* (1996); Sam Ard (1999)
-B-
Buck Baker* (1982); Buddy Baker (1997); Cannonball Baker* (1966); Neil Bonnett* (1997); Harold Brasington* (1992); Red Byron* (1966)
-C-
Bob Colvin* (1969); Jerry Cook (1989)
-D-
Darel Dieringer* (1988)
-E-
H. Clay Earles* (2000); Dale Earnhardt* (2001); Ralph Earnhardt* (1989); Richie Evans* (1986)
-F-
Bob Flock* (1981); Fonty Flock* (1965); Tim Flock* (1973); Ray Fox (1985); A.J. Foyt (2001); Bill France Sr.* (1976); Bill France Jr. (2001)
-G-
Harry Gant (2003)
-H-
Barney Hall (2007); Ray Hendrick* (1993); John Holman* (1980)
-I-
Jack Ingram (1997); Dale Inman (2002); Bobby Isaac* (1979)
-J-
Ned Jarrett (1973); Junior Johnson (1973)
-K-
Carl Keikhaefer* (1980); Alan Kulwicki* (1999)
-L-
Houston Lawing* (1987); Butch Lindley* (2006); Joe Littlejohn* (1975); Fred Lorenzen (1978)
-M-
Edwin “Banjo” Matthews* (1996); Paul McDuffie* (1965); Ralph Moody* (1990); Bud Moore (2002); Billy Myers* (1968)
-O-
Ed Otto* (2002); Cotton Owens (1970)
-P-
Marvin Panch (1987); Raymond Parks (1995); Benny Parsons* (1995); Jim Paschal* (1977); David Pearson (1991); Lee Petty* (1969); Maurice Petty (2007); Richard Petty (1998); Pat Purcell* (1967)
-R-
Tim Richmond* (2004); Glenn “Fireball” Roberts* (1965); T. Wayne Robertson* (2000)
-S-
Paul Sawyer* (2006); Wendell Scott* (2000); Ralph Seagraves* (1992); Jack Smith* (1981); O. Bruton Smith (2006)
-T-
Marshall Teague* (1968); Herb Thomas* (1965); Speedy Thompson* (1984); Curtis Turner* (1971)
-V-
Red Vogt* (1979)
-W-
Darrell Waltrip (2003); Joe Weatherly* (1965); Bob Welborn* (1982); H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler (2004); Rex White (1974); Glen Wood (2001); Leonard Wood (2002)
-Y-
Cale Yarborough (1994); LeeRoy Yarbrough* (1990); Smokey Yunick* (1984)
*Deceased
Maurice Petty and Barney Hall, two men who took vastly different routes on the road to successful careers in the world of NASCAR, were inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame Jan. 20.
Petty, head engine builder at Petty Enterprises for more than two decades, began his racing career as a driver, making 26 starts between 1960 and 1964 in what was then NASCAR’s Grand National Series. He posted seven top-five finishes – including a career best third at Spartanburg, S.C. in 1961 – and 16 top-10s. But his most notable contributions to the sport came after he ended his driving career and began building engines for the family-owned organization. By most accounts, his engines helped power the team’s entries to more than 200 wins and more than 750 top-10 finishes. Five of older brother Richard Petty’s seven NASCAR Cup championships came with Maurice Petty-built engines underneath the hood.
He was named Mechanic of the Year on seven occasions for his work in NASCAR, and was also instrumental in building engines for successful teams competing in series outside of stock car racing.
Petty is the fourth member of the famed Petty family to be inducted into the Hall, joining father Lee (1969), Richard (1998) and cousin Dale Inman (2002).
For Hall, the road to the Hall of Fame began at a small radio station in North Carolina in the late 1950s, where he first began reporting on the sport of stock car racing. By the early ’60s, he had been hired as a public address announcer for what was then Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Since 1971, he has been the co-anchor of NASCAR Cup broadcasts for Motor Racing Network.
Hall, 74, covered NASCAR as it grew from a little-known regional sport into a multi-billion dollar industry. He has called some of the sport’s most memorable events through the years – from the infamous post-Daytona 500 fight between Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison to Richard Petty’s 200th-career victory in 1984 and Dale Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500 victory.
The Barney Hall Award, named in his honor, is presented by the NMPA to recognize outstanding work in the field of radio broadcasting.
The National Motorsports Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame was founded in 1965 to recognize excellence and leadership in the sport of auto racing. To date, there are 78 members in the Hall. It is located on the grounds of Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C. Members, with date of induction in parenthesis, include:
-A-
Bobby Allison (1993); Davey Allison* (1996); Sam Ard (1999)
-B-
Buck Baker* (1982); Buddy Baker (1997); Cannonball Baker* (1966); Neil Bonnett* (1997); Harold Brasington* (1992); Red Byron* (1966)
-C-
Bob Colvin* (1969); Jerry Cook (1989)
-D-
Darel Dieringer* (1988)
-E-
H. Clay Earles* (2000); Dale Earnhardt* (2001); Ralph Earnhardt* (1989); Richie Evans* (1986)
-F-
Bob Flock* (1981); Fonty Flock* (1965); Tim Flock* (1973); Ray Fox (1985); A.J. Foyt (2001); Bill France Sr.* (1976); Bill France Jr. (2001)
-G-
Harry Gant (2003)
-H-
Barney Hall (2007); Ray Hendrick* (1993); John Holman* (1980)
-I-
Jack Ingram (1997); Dale Inman (2002); Bobby Isaac* (1979)
-J-
Ned Jarrett (1973); Junior Johnson (1973)
-K-
Carl Keikhaefer* (1980); Alan Kulwicki* (1999)
-L-
Houston Lawing* (1987); Butch Lindley* (2006); Joe Littlejohn* (1975); Fred Lorenzen (1978)
-M-
Edwin “Banjo” Matthews* (1996); Paul McDuffie* (1965); Ralph Moody* (1990); Bud Moore (2002); Billy Myers* (1968)
-O-
Ed Otto* (2002); Cotton Owens (1970)
-P-
Marvin Panch (1987); Raymond Parks (1995); Benny Parsons* (1995); Jim Paschal* (1977); David Pearson (1991); Lee Petty* (1969); Maurice Petty (2007); Richard Petty (1998); Pat Purcell* (1967)
-R-
Tim Richmond* (2004); Glenn “Fireball” Roberts* (1965); T. Wayne Robertson* (2000)
-S-
Paul Sawyer* (2006); Wendell Scott* (2000); Ralph Seagraves* (1992); Jack Smith* (1981); O. Bruton Smith (2006)
-T-
Marshall Teague* (1968); Herb Thomas* (1965); Speedy Thompson* (1984); Curtis Turner* (1971)
-V-
Red Vogt* (1979)
-W-
Darrell Waltrip (2003); Joe Weatherly* (1965); Bob Welborn* (1982); H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler (2004); Rex White (1974); Glen Wood (2001); Leonard Wood (2002)
-Y-
Cale Yarborough (1994); LeeRoy Yarbrough* (1990); Smokey Yunick* (1984)
*Deceased