In recent years, one of the biggest debates outside of who is going to win on a given weekend is who would make up the next class of inductees to be enshrined in the Nascar Hall of Fame. Well that question was answered Tuesday afternoon when it was announced that Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Inman, Richie Evans and Leonard Wood would be the third class of stock car legends to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame.
The first driver announced was Cale Yarborough. He made his name in racing by winning 83 races and three consecutive titles from 1976-'78. Three consecutive titles was unheard of during that time. He also won four Daytona 500s. Yarborough was a good ol' boy with a temper (this was evident at the end of the 1979 Daytona 500) and he was also aligned with one of the greatest owners of the day, Junior Johnson. His No. 11 Holly Farms Chicken Chevelle Laguna was always a threat to win on Sunday. The man that replaced Cale behind the wheel of Johnson's No. 11 was the next name announced.
Darrell Waltrip spent his life trying to make it in the then Grand National Series. He made his first start in the No. 95 Terminal Transport car and has since won 84 races and three championships. Ol' D.W. won all of his titles driving for his hero, Junior Johnson. His No. 11 Mountain Dew Buick is still one of the most iconic cars in the sport today. Today, many newer fans know him as a color commentator for Nascar on FOX and the guy that yells "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity! Lets go racing boys!" before the start of every broadcast.
The third man inducted will be the first crew chief in the hall. Dale Inman, the winningest crew chief in Nascar history, scored a staggering 198 race victories and seven titles (eat your heart out Chad Knaus) with his cousin, stock car racing legend Richard Petty. In an era where there was no two way radio communication and pit boards were the main line of communication between a driver and crew, it was very important that the crew chief knew what his driver wanted in a race car. Inman knew how Petty wanted his car to feel and it showed on the race track. Their Petty Enterprises No. 43 team was the team to beat on a weekly basis.
The fourth name announced was a bit of a surprise. Rome, New York's Richie Evans made his name racing in Nascar's modified division, winning an unprecedented eight consecutive titles (Jimmie who). The "Rapid Roman" won virtually everything there was to win in the modified division and turned down several offers to go Cup series racing because he was having too much fun racing his famous No. 61 orange and black modified. But despite this success, his career was tragically cut short.While practicing for a race in Martinsville, Evans' wrecked hard in the third turn and perished in the accident. It is great to see an icon from one of Nascar's lesser known divisions getting the recognition he deserves.
The final name announced was legendary owner Glen Wood. The patriarch of racing's second most famous family, Wood and his Wood Brothers Racing team (revolutionized the racing world. The Wood's No. 21 team was also selected to pit Jim Clark's Lotus in the 1965 Indianapolis 500. Clark and the Wood's went on to win the event. This team did some pretty revolutionary things to save time on pit road and practiced their pit stops to make them more of a mechanical ballet than a change of tires and a full tank of gas. One of their most significant innovations was using an adhesive to bond the lug nuts to the tires. This saved the team the trouble of having to put the lugs on the studs by hand, saving precious seconds. The No. 21 car also won an impressive 98 races ad has been wheeled by legends like A.J. Foyt, David Pearson, Morgan Shepherd, Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty. They also won the 2011 Daytona 500 with rising star Trevor Bayne.
So I think the voting committee definitely got it right this time. The mix of two cup champions, a legendary crew chief, one of the most successful owners in the sports history and probably the greatest driver to never reach the Cup series. Names like Yarborough, Waltrip, Inman, Wood and Evans are all hall of fame material with hall of fame numbers. These five names revolutionized the sport and dominated during their careers. But more than that, this class also demonstrates what this hall of fame is really about. It isn't a Sprint Cup Series Hall of Fame, it's a Nascar Hall of Fame and this diverse group confirms just that.
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