Today Will be One of The Greatest Days in NASCAR History
Jerry Bonkowski
Today will go down in NASCAR annals as one of the biggest days in its history, as the first five members to be voted upon for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame takes place.
Those five will then be honored – either alive or posthumously – next May during the official opening week of the Hall of Fame and Museum.
Looking at the list of the 25 nominees from which the final five will be chosen, the selection could be long and arduous. How can you pick Driver A and not Driver B?
And, frankly, I’m quite surprised that the first hall “class” will only include five individuals. I thought for sure that there’d be anywhere between 7 and 11 ultimately picked.
Not so, just five go into the Hall in its first year.
So, even though I initially picked 11 men to make it into the first class, looks like I’ll have to do a little whittling of my choices to see if my picks match those of the 48 voters who will cast deciding ballots on who makes or doesn’t make the Hall in its first edition:
* Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr., I feel, are locks. If it weren’t for Bill Sr. founding the sport, and Bill Jr. building it into what it is today, there’d be no Hall, no Museum – and certainly no first induction class.
* Richard Petty. How can you not choose the driver with the most wins (200) and tied for the most championships (seven)?
Okay, that’s three. Two more picks remain. This is where it’s going to get tough.
And it’s from the following five individuals that I think those final two selections will come from: Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, Lee Petty, Rick Hendrick and Bobby Allison.
Here’s how I see things going from there:
As much as I’d like to see Lee enshrined posthumously with his son, I think he’ll be a holdover until next year.
As much pain and suffering as Bobby and his wife have gone through over the years, first with him almost being killed, and then losing both their sons in accidents, I think that, sadly, it’ll be wait ‘til next year for the Allison clan.
Rick Hendrick is a worthy choice, but in the whole big scheme of things, while he’s built the premier organization in racing, he’s not retired from the sport. And shouldn’t being retired be one of the hallmarks of qualifying to be inducted? It’s that way with most other major professional sport halls of fame.
That leaves the late Earnhardt and Pearson as my final two picks to make it. Earnhardt, obviously, because he personified the NASCAR generation that went from moderate obscurity on the sports horizon to being larger than life, both before and after his death. Earnhardt was NASCAR and NASCAR was Earnhardt. He deserves to make it; anything less will be nothing short of a crime.
Lastly, Pearson. Owner of the second-most wins in the sport (105) and acknowledged by Richard Petty as the toughest competitor he ever faced. Pearson had a better winning percentage than Petty, yet was essentially a part-time driver almost his entire career. Had he spent, say, 20 of his 27 years in NASCAR as a full-time competitor, and given that he had the afore-mentioned 105 wins and 301 top-5 finishes overall in 574 career starts, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet Pearson would have had well over 150 wins and conceivably could have rewritten NASCAR history much like Petty did. In fact, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that if Pearson had raced more, Petty would not have reached 200 wins and likely would not have won seven titles. Don’t believe or agree with me? I asked Petty that very thing once, and he agreed with me.
So, there you have it, my best guess at the first induction class in the NASCAR Hall of Fame: Big Bill France Sr., Little Bill France Jr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson.
Later today, we find out if that’s right. I can hardly wait.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/13 at 09:42 PMBill France Sr is a lock.
My choices:
1. France Sr.
2. Richard Petty
3. Lee Petty
4. Curtis Turner
5. Junior Johnson
My reasoning? Those names MEANT Nascar growing up for me, later these names were the sport:
1. France Jr.
2. David Pearson
3. Waltrip (but only because he’ll moan and bitch until he gets in—otherwise his ass shouldn’t be in until year three).
4. Earnhardt
5. Yarborough
6. Bobby Allison
Will my first list make it first ballot? No. Waltrip and Earnhardt will get in over people who are more deserved first ballot. That’s just the way it is.
Hi Jerry, why haven’t you linked all these articles on your blog? I was wondering why you hadn’t posted anything in weeks.
As much as I agree with the Frances getting in, a part of me feels that (even though they set up the sport) the first year should have been the best of the sport itself, not the organization.
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