NASCAR elects second Hall of Fame class

Five new NASCAR personalities will be introduced into the NASCAR Hall of Fame next May. Here is a quick look at them and there accomplishments:

• Bud Moore, Team owner- 2 cup championships and 63 wins as an owner, and introduced NASCAR to the small block V-8 engines in the 1970’s
• Ned Jarrett, Driver, broadcaster- two cup championships, and 50 wins as a driver. Helped bring Anheuser-Busch to NASCAR, and was a beloved broadcaster for a number of years
• David Pearson, Driver- 3 time champion, with 105 career victories
• Lee Petty, Driver/Owner- two time champion, won first Daytona 500, and 54 career wins. Started teh famed Petty Enterprises which would win 10 cup titles
• Bobby Allison, Driver- Bobby racked up 85 wins and one cup championship

On the surface it is pretty tough to argue against enshrinement for this group. However when we look at the people not enshrined things get a little more troubling. Darrell Waltrip with 84 wins and three championships and Cale Yarborough with 83 wins and three straight championships seemed to have been snubbed by the election committee.

Darrell was the Kyle Busch of his era and rubbed a lot of people the wrong way; he continues to irk people as a color analyst for Fox TV. Yarborough on the other hand was a pretty tough guy who refuses to show up to any event without a paycheck. These two personality faults seem to be keeping them out of their rightful place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

In my mind this process is hurt by the inclination of NASCAR to elect just five people a year. I think any sport is too broad to elect people this way. I think NASCAR should strive to elect people by category like drivers, owners, broadcasters, writers, crew chiefs and the like. If Ned Jarrett was elected as a broadcaster that would be tough to argue against.

Related Links:

• The Business of NASCAR
• MTR Auto Racing
• Joshua Lobdell.com