NASCAR announces second list of Hall of Fame nominees
As with most things NASCAR does, I disagree with how they are going about nominating people for their Hall of Fame. Even though the 2010 class which included: Bill France junior and senior, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and Junior Johnson, and for the most part seemed pretty appropriate. There are just too many people in NASCAR’s history that deserve consideration. The current model calls for 25 people to be nominated each year, and for five to be enshrined. However I think that NASCAR should break that down a bit more.
This sport is more than 60 years old, and there are a number of people that were not drivers that deserve enshrinement. If the plan to nominate 25 people each year I think NASCAR should break down them into categories. The current year’s list of nominees includes five team owners, or men who made their mark on this sport as car owners. It also includes two men who made their mark on this sport in the modified ranks, and one RJR Tobacco executive.
In my mind the 25 nominees each year should be about 5-10 drivers from all of the NASCAR series, 5 car owners, five crew chiefs, and then five promoters, sponsors, or other people who helped make NASCAR what it is today. As it stands I think the nominees list is a little heavy on drivers.
Here is a quick list of the 2011 NASCAR hall of fame nominees: Bobby Allison, Buck Baker, Red Byron, Richard Childress, Jerry Cook, Richie Evans, Tim Flock, Rick Hendrick, Jake Ingram, Dale Inman, Ned Jarrett, Fred Lorenzen, Bud Moore, Raymond Parks, Benny Parsons, David Pearson, Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts, T Wayne Robertson, Herb Thomas, Curtis Turner, Darrell Waltrip, Joe Weatherly, Glen Wood, and Cale Yarborough.
If I had to handicap that field I would induct the following five people:
1.Darrell Waltrip- 84 wins, three championships
2.Lee Petty- first Daytona 500 winner, and three time cup champion
3.Dale Inman- 8 time championship crew chief
4David Pearson- 105 career cup series wins
5.Richie Evans- 9 time modified series champion
Related Links:
•The Business of NASCAR
•NASCAR Complete Blog
•MTR Auto Racing
