The potential first NASCAR Hall of Fame class

July 3, 9:27 PMDetroit NASCAR ExaminerJosh Lobdell

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The nominees for the first class to get elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame has been announced, and as with most everything NASCAR it is too big, the process for election is too convoluted and as with everything NASCAR the fans are not adequately represented.

It seems that most hard core, old school NASCAR fans would simply elect three people as the first Hall class. Those three people of course would be Big Bill France, King Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt Sr.

There is a lot of talk about electing the guys who made NASCAR what it is today, and it seems that these three men are the most responsible for the history of NASCAR. Sometimes smaller is better.

There are fifty members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame nominating committee. These folks along with a fan vote will eventually elect the first and successive NASCAR Hall classes. Why so many? No one put NASCAR officials know. It seems that NASCAR should have a nominating committee and then the folks who make up the NASCA media should get to vote, much as they do in Major League Baseball. In addition to this a veteran board of drivers should be assembled to elect those worth that failed the media vote. Again much as MLB does.

Under NASCAR’s plans 50 of the seats on the nominating committee are comprised of members of the NASCAR press, while the other seats are filled with NASCAR executives, one representative from each NASCAR broadcasting partner, a representative from each car manufacturer, three retired drivers, three retired crew chiefs, and three retired car owners, along with a few industry leaders, and representatives from the ownerships groups of all the Cup race tracks.

In the end it isn’t a bad plan, but it could focus more on the fans. With all of that being said here are the 25 people nominated, of whom five will be enshrined as the inaugural class to the NASCAR Hall of Fame:

• Bobby Allison-’83 Champ; won 84 races
• Buck Baker-The first driver to win consecutive Cup titles
• Red Byron- First Champ ‘49
• Richard Childress- 11 time car owner champ in NASCAR’s three top series
• Dale Earnhardt Sr.-7 time champion
• Richie Evans- 9 time NASCAR modified champion
• Tim Flock- 2 time Cup Champion
• Bill France Jr.-NASCAR President 1972-2003
• Bill France Sr.-NASCA Founder
• Rick Hendrick-11 time Car Owner Champion in NASCAR’s top three series
• Ned Jarrett-2 time Cup Champion
• Junior Johnson-50 wins as a driver, 132 wins, and 6 Cup titles as an owner
• Bud Moore- 63 wins, and 2 Cup titles as an owner
• Raymond Parks- First Championship car owner
• Benny Parsons-’73 Cup Champion
• David Pearson-3 time champ, 105 career wins
• Lee Petty-won first Daytona 500, first 3 time Cup Champ
• Richard Petty-200 wins, 7 Cup titles
• Fireball Roberts- 33 career wins
• Herb Thomas-First two time champion 1951 and ‘53
• Curtis Turner-First to win Daytona 500, Coke 600, an Southern 500 in same year
• Darrell Waltrip-won 84 races and 3 Cup titles
• Joe Weatherly-2 time Cup champion
• Glen Wood-architect of the famed Wood Brothers racing team
• Cale Yarborough-won three consecutive Cup titles 1976-78

Now let’s be clear here all 25 of these men deserve to be enshrined in NASCAR’s hall but being enshrined and going in in the first class are not the same thing.

It seems since Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress are still adding accolades to their resume that they should not be on this list. As already stated many NASCAR fans would elect France Sr., King Richard, and Dale Sr. as the first class.

If these fans were forced to add two more names to the first class they would most likely be Junior Johnson and a toss up between Yarborough and Pearson.

If that first class were some combination of these six men that NASCAR Hall of Fame would be off to a terrific start.