Well, this is it! At 4pm eastern time today, the five inaugural inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be announced to fans across the country. To be honest, I don't envy the position anyone on that voting panel is in. My five have changed quite a few times since the 25 legends who make up the list of inaugural nominees were announced a few short months ago, so I wouldn't want the pressure of making the final executive decision as to who goes in and who must wait until next year. If you would like information as to who is on the panel, who the nominees are and how the whole process will work, you can go to http://www.jayski.com/pages/hallsfame-nascar.htm.
While my original five inductees have changed from the beginning, after much deliberation, I have narrowed my selections down. I think that the inaugural class will consist of Bill France Sr, Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson. Now for the reasoning.
Bill France Sr was the founding father of NASCAR by organizing a meeting with drivers and track promoters in a Daytona Beach hotel and creating the sports governing body. He also was the brains behind the historic Daytona International Speedway.
Lee Petty was the patriarch of NASCAR's "Royal Family", winning 52 races and three championships. He also won the very first Daytona 500 in 1959, beating out runner-up Johny Beauchampe in a finish that took days for NASCAR to officially call.
Richard Petty, NASCAR's King, won 200 races and a record tying seven championships during his incomparable Winston Cup career. That's really all I need to say.
The late, great Dale Earnhardt, known as the "Intimidator", is the only driver ever to tie Petty's championship mark and, in my opinion, the only driver that ever will. He also fought his way to the top of the sport and won 76 races during his 25 year plus career. The "Man in Black" was also a working man's hero. He would race on Sunday and work on his farm on Monday. He also grew up working in a cotton mill and was forced to make his own way in the sport. Starting out on North Carolina dirt tracks he cut his teeth and developed his rough, tough, hard driving style. That is why people were able to relate to him because he was one of them. He was a blue collar worker like most NASCAR fans are and that is why he was so popular. And somebody who was that talented and worked that hard to accomplish what they did should be in the Hall of Fame. You don't win 76 races and seven titles by accident.
Junior Johnson was one of the sports pioneers. He was a moonshine runner turned stock car racer and won the 1970 Daytona 500. He also brought R.J. Reynolds tobacco into the sport as title sponsor of the Winston Cup Series. He won 52 races as a driver before retiring in 1966. He then ran his team, Junior Johnson and Associates, winning 139 races and six championships (three with Darrell Waltrip and three with Cale Yarborough). Even as a small town, country boy, Johnson was a mechanical wizard. He drove his cars, and told his drivers to drive his cars, basically until they broke and if a motor blew or another piece broke, he would fix it and make it better for next time. Junior Johnson really lives up to his nickname, "The Last American Hero."
These are only a few reasons as to why I believe these men should be in NASCAR's inaugural class. All of the drivers on the list of nominees deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and they will be at some point. There is no doubt in my mind. But I believe that the five drivers that I have talked about here help to bridge the past and the present of the sport of NASCAR and that is why they would make a great first class.
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