Will Gordon and Dale Jr be in the Hall of Fame together? (AP Photo/Chris Pizello)
NASCAR will reveal the inaugural five Hall of Fame inductees on Wednesday.
As we await the highly anticipated announcement, many analysts and fans have voiced their opinion as to who they feel should be included as a first-class Hall of Fame inductee. My five include Bill France Sr, Bill France Jr, Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. I began thinking about the current crop of drivers that could one day earn a place in the Hall of Fame. If you could choose five current full-time drivers or NASCAR personalities who would deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame tomorrow, who would they be? For me, the first three choices are obvious- four-time champion Jeff Gordon, three-time champion Jimmie Johnson, and two-time champion Tony Stewart. There is no denying the fact that Gordon, Johnson, and Stewart are the elite drivers in the sport. Their achievements are nothing short of spectacular. Filling the final two slots is a little more complicated. Do you go with another champion, such as Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, or Bobby Labonte. Kenseth owns a Daytona 500 as well as a championship in the traditional format. Skeptics will likely point to Kenseth’s struggles in 2001, his winless season in 2008, and the fact that he faded out of the Chase in 2009. Kurt Busch won a title in 2004, the first year under the Chase format. However, his statistics have been patchy ever since the relocation from Roush Fenway Racing to Penske Racing. The 2000 Cup champion and 1991 Busch Series champion Bobby Labonte has not won a race in nearly six years. How about drivers with stellar achievements in other NASCAR divisions? Kevin Harvick is a two-time Nationwide Series champion. Greg Biffle is not only a Nationwide Series champion, but he also boasts a Camping World Truck Series title. Kyle Busch and 2007 champion Carl Edwards have dominated the Nationwide Series win column over the past several years. Busch is no slouch in the trucks either. Dale Earnhardt Jr is a two-time champion. You could name several additional drivers that have enjoyed success in other series such as Ron Hornaday and Mike Skinner, but would they be deserving of a first-class induction? How about drivers such as Mark Martin and Jeff Burton? Martin and
Comments
Dale Jr? Third round? For what? You might as well throw in Truex for two BGN championships. Smith, Zippy, Wheeler and Penske would have to go in before.
you named some good people such as Gordon, Johnson etc. but you let out a well deserving driver who set all kind of records!!! Bill Elliott.....
Well, I have to agree.. And I'm going to stick to drivers only.. I'm not a fan of Hendrick's, but, I'd have to say Geff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson.. Plus MY driver Tony Stewart.. Your right, the last two are really hard.. Dale Jr is out though.. He's simply not that good.. Current drivers include all current drivers, right.. Part time or not?? If so, Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott.. They were not only great drivers for their day, they were classy drivers of all days.. Even as a long time fan of Bobby Labonte, I have to put his older brother first.. Two championships beat one..
I did forget Martin Truex Jr and his two Busch titles.
I am not sure where Bill Elliott falls on these lists, because he is semi-retired. But whenever he is eligible, he should ABSOLUTELY be included in the Hall of Fame. His accomplishments are more significant than those of contemporaries like Rusty Wallace, the Labontes, and Mark Martin. He has a championship (plus 3 runner-up finishes), he is a two-time Daytona 500 winner, the first winner of the Winston Million and the only driver to win it by completing all the scheduled laps of the races he won. He has won on every type of track, superspeedways, intermediate, short tracks and road course at Riverside (plus Watkins Glen in the Busch Series). He has won the Brickyard and the Southern 500. He holds the all-time speed record for his qualifying at Talladega. He has won at Daytona in unrestricted cars and with the restrictor plate. And he has more wins and poles than virtually every driver you listed except for Jeff Gordon. What MORE DOES THE MAN NEED TO DO?
Clint Bowyer and some of these names are just drivers... To go to a Hall Of Fame of sorts, you must stand out, way above the others for a long period of time....Really, come on. That would be like putting in the Baseball Hall of Fame a baseball player that had an average of 250 and played on a world seris team.Junior COME ON... WHAT JUST BECAUSE HE IS POPULAR... He is not even close to what his father was and I an a Dale Senior fan.... lets talk about people who have had the record to back it up... not the ones that could be if they get this win and that win... really why write this story... I feel like I just wasted 3 minutes of my life...
Bill Elliott.
Paul says 'really why write this story... I feel like I just wasted 3 minutes of my life...'
Sorry you lost three minutes. I wrote the story because, well, I just wanted to. Really, that's all. I thought it would be interesting to see who could make up a HOF for CURRENT drivers or persons involved in NASCAR. Because they are CURRENT drivers, some of the named drivers do not have as many accolades as a typicle HOF candidate, which explains why certain names like Bowyer, Kyle, or Edwards are up there. I did leave out some names though, the article was spur of the moment.
Bill Elliott is deserving. I focused more on the full-time drivers, but counting parttimers, Elliott should be first or second class. I would say first. T. Labonte too.
I agree with Paul. Being merely competent should not put somebody in the Hall of Fame. Neither should a championship at the minor league level. Let them have their own HOF. And seriously, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer? Dale Jr.? No. I would not even put Cup champions in automatically unless they had distinguished themselves throughout their careers, not just one good points season. So, unlike you, I would Mark Martin in over Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, and Bobby Labonte, since Mark's career is more outstanding overall. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards still have to prove themselves over time. Way too soon to know if they will ever be deserving. And definitely Bill Elliott should be there, no question whatsoever about him deserving it.
This one is easy. The five active drivers would be, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Mark Marin and Bill Elliott. Now there are several guys who could eventually be there like Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, both Labonte brothers and yes as much as I hate to admit it both Busch brothers. But for my money the 1st 5 I listed are no doubt entries.
Perhaps in the 2nd or 3rd tier - Ray Evernham, to honor his work and devlopment of Jeff Gordon. That was a hell of a combination!
Everyone forgets NASCAR's number one reason it's here today, Winston
Real race fans still call it the Winston cup for a reason. What we ave today is embarrassing to even call racing.
They should get in the hall right after Mr. France.
Without Winston's support it would just be a bunch of hillbilly's still driving shine around.
What a JOKE... France Jr makes sure he nominates himself!!! LMAO... Nascar is a JOKE!!!!
Dan, I have to say, I've not called it "Winston Cup" in years.. I'm an avid fan.. Since 1996.. Nor do I call it "Sprint Cup".. It's simply "Cup".. Everyone I know simply calls it "Cup Racing".. My grandfather DIED from smoking, spent the last 10 years of his life on his back sucking an oxygen tank, I won't agnolage those lying bastards at RGR... And everyone understands..
What about Ray Evernham?
What about Ray Evernham?
John, France Jr died a couple of years ago so if your going to bad mouth a sport maybe you ought to turn off Sport Center and learn something before opening your large ignorant yap! Does anybody think that David Pearson , Darrell Waltrip as well as Dale Inman might warrant consideration?
mark martin is a lock
to suggest otherwise shows how little you actually know about NASCAR history.....or sports history in general
Championships aren't everything in life
Last time I checked Dan Marino is still in the NFL hall of fame
etc etc etc etc
Clark wrote "Does anybody think that David Pearson , Darrell Waltrip as well as Dale Inman might warrant consideration?"
Well, Clark, the people in the HOF were already announced when I wrote that, so try to keep up. And, by the way, Iv'e never heard of Sports Center. I'll never understand people who can not politely point out an error and feel they have to go on a personal attack.
However, I was very wrong about France Jr. Thank you for pointing that out. I was thinking of Brian France and got the names confused. With that said, France Jr did this sport no favors. He took it national, destroyed the root southern fan base, and the sport is currently retracting to it's origional base in spite of his efforts. I saw in another post. One administrator per group is plenty. This HOF is for the fans, we want drivers and not desk jockies.
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