Your Choice For Hall of Fame

[muggle not]

It certainly will be a hard task choosing the first members to the Hall of Fame, and we really don't know how many will be picked the first year. Perhaps they will limit it to less than 10 or even less than 5. There truly are many deserving peole to consider.

My choices for the first 10:

Bill France
Bill France, jr
Richard Petty
David Pearson
Junior Johnson
Dale Earnhardt
Fireball Roberts
Bobby Allison
Darrell Waltrip
Bud Moore...............really hard choice as I also liked Joe Weatherly for 10th.

and what about Glen Wood, Dale Inman and Ralph Moody, and on and on.

[RaceFanStan]

IMO, it will take several years for the Hall of Fame to get all the inductees it should have.
I feel the 1st 10 should come from some of people who started in the 50’s …
01. Bill France Sr (the founder of NASCAR)
02. Red Byron (the 1st NASCAR Champion)
03. Herb Thomas (a 2-time Champion & a fan favorite) (48 wins)
04. Lee Petty (a 3-time Champion & a fan favorite) (54 wins)
05. Tim Flock (a 2-time Champion & a fan favorite) (39 wins)
06. Buck Baker (a 2-time Champion & a fan favorite) (46 wins)
07. Curtis Turner (the 1st Most Popular Driver) (17 wins)
08. Fonty Flock (a fan favorite (also Tim's brother) (19 wins)
09. Carl Kiekhaefer (the 1st successful NASCAR 2 Championship multi-car team owner) (52 wins with 7 drivers)
10. Smokey Yunick (an automotive innovator who was a great NASCAR crew chief)

The next year, 10 inductees should come from the 60’s …
The next year, 10 inductees should come from the 70’s …
The next year, 10 inductees should come from the 80’s …
The next year, 10 inductees should come from the 90’s …

[Alexamateo]

Good list Stan and good idea!

[NASCARWidow]

Bill France, Sr-Founding Father
Bill, Jr- Visionary
Joe Weatherly-Early Pioneer
Fireball Roberts-Early Pioneer
Ned Jarrett- Champion and TV Broadcaster
David Pearson-
Bobby Allison
Richard Petty-7 time Champion
Dale Earnhart,Sr-7 Time Champion
Junie Dunleavy-maybe a stretch but how can you leave off someone who was involved as long as he was and worked with as many drivers as he did.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I don't think they will make everyone happy but I am of the opinion that they will mix up some of the living with great names from the past.

Here is my 10:

Bill France Sr.: enough said, put his son in next year....
Richard Petty: The KING
Lee Petty: The biggest star of the first decade of NASCAR
Dale Earnhardt: The Intimdator sits by the King and would draw in today's fans
Harold Brasington: The founder of Darlington which was the greatest track on the circuit until Daytona was built.
Clay Earles: The owner of the longest running track on the circuit, Martinsville until his passing.
Junior Johnson: As a driver he gets here, as an owner he also gets here
Curtis Turner: The greatest rebel in the sport's history,yet helped get Charlotte built and while he clashed with the France's, he was a force behind the wheel and off the track, and he wanted what was best for the sport.
Tim Flock: A guy who was screwed over by the France's over the idea of a union but at the time was one of the greatest drivers in the sport.
David Pearson: The foil for the King to deal with over and over again. Petty said Pearson was the driver he feared yet trusted the most. Pearson raced his whole career without any significant crashes in an era where people died too often, or were often injured.



That is my 10, and I don't want to say any other names don't belong. Personally, I think they should induct 10 drivers and 10 builders, and then add 2 to 4 drivers a year with a builder a year plus maybe a media person a year. Don't put hard and fast number for career victories or points on getting in, just judge the drivers on their total career in terms of points, wins, and how long and the intangables such as the length of career. A Hall of Famer is something different to most of us, but we all can agree on the no brainer people you would want in there. Get those guys in, and then argue about the rest. IT is the perogative of being a fan...

[BobbyC]

Hall of Fame rights should go only to drivers, owners, and mechanics, but no drivers with 40 wins (35 wins with 2 majors, 30 wins with 1 major, 3 or more Championships) should be named. Drivers get an LPGA-style wins system to get automatic induction.

[24thunder]

1."The King"Richard Petty
2. David"sly fox"Pearson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Cale Yarbrough
5. Bobby Allison
6. Darrell"jaws" Waltrip
7. Mark Martin
8. Junior Johnson
9. Lee Petty
10Tim Richmond

[BobbyC]

Here is how I would see the Hall of Fame's first ten:

1. Bill France Sr
2. Bill France Jr
3. Carl Kiekhafer
4. Peter DePaolo
5. Henry Yunick (Smokey)
6. H. Clay Earles
7. Enoch Staley
8. Simon Knudsen (Bunkie)
9. Raymond Parks (car owner)
10. Bruton Smith

That's the first ten.

Drivers - I would only choose five.

1. Red Byron
2. Bill Rexford
3. Marshall Teague
4. Wendell Scott
5. Johnny Mantz

NOTE: Drivers nominated would have to be retired at least five years with the exception of the automatic Hall of Fame induction process.

Automatic Hall of Fame induction process: Once a driver has ten years of service in NASCAR, and has won any combination of 50 points accumulated by:

1. Series wins (1 point)
2. Wins in the Majors (2 points)
3. Championships (5 points)

That driver is automatically in the Hall of Fame, regardless of competition status. A driver with five NASCAR Championships is automatically inducted.

There is no limit to how many will be inducted by this process. This will be an automatic induction, similar to the LPGA's World Golf Hall of Fame induction process. This would give drivers an automatic induction based on their performance.

[Alexamateo]

Bobby, Which are the Majors? I assume the Daytona 500, the 600 and the Southern 500, any others?

Also, No offense to your drivers, but I can really see only Red Byron off your list. Mantz I know only had 1 win, Rexford maybe 2, and Teague had become an Indycar driver. Wendell did not have a hall of fame career but the way to honor him would be to have a section devoted to minority participation and tell his story, but to say he merits inclusion on his record is a stretch.

[Hoss Ghoul]

1."The King"Richard Petty
2. David"sly fox"Pearson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Cale Yarbrough
5. Bobby Allison
6. Darrell"jaws" Waltrip
7. Mark Martin
8. Junior Johnson
9. Lee Petty
10Tim Richmond

I see if you're going all drivers a list like this...but no Dale Earnhardt, that's laughable, espceially with guys like Tim Richmond and Mark Martin on the list. Give me a break.