NASCAR Announces Hall of Fame Nominees For 2013 HOF Class
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[/media-credit]On April 11th, NASCAR announced the 25 nominees for the 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class. The 25 nominees will be broken down to five via the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel and they will become the fourth group to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Along with the voting panel, fans will have the chance to go to NASCAR.com and place their vote, which will be counted in in the final vote. The date for voting is set for May 23rd and the class of 2013 will announced live on NASCAR.com that day.
As for the list, 20 people return from last year’s group as they were not inducted into the Hall of Fame. Added to those 20 were five new people who held their own level of high quality in NASCAR.
NASCAR’s First Treasurer and Secretary Anne Bledsoe France, who was married to Bill France, in which Big Bill formed NASCAR back in 1949. Anne took care of the financial aspects of building the sport, beginning her service to the sport in 1959. She kept working up until her death in 1992. France becomes the first female nominated for the Hall of Fame.
Engine Builder and owner Ray Fox built engines for a variety of race winners including Fireball Roberts and Junior Johnson. He built his first engine in 1955, which was for Roberts, but was disqualified after mechanic Red Vogt modified the push rods. 1956 was the year that Fox began hitting stardom as he built the engines for Carl Kiehafer, winning 22 of the first 26 races with three drivers. They would go on to win the championship that year with Buddy Baker. Fox would become a car owner himself in 1962, winning races with Johnson and Baker. He would retire in the early 1970s, yet became a NASCAR engine inspector in 1990. He held that role for six years before retiring at the age of 86.
NASCAR Competitor Wendell Scott, who became the first full-time African-American competitor. Scott made his first NASCAR start in 1961 at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds, but failed to finish due to oil pressure issues. He would become the first African-American to win a NASCAR race in 1964 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida. Over the course of a career that saw 495 starts, he had 20 top five finishes and 147 top 10s. NASCAR currently awards scholarships in tribute to Scott, handing out twelve each year to students from historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions. Scott becomes the first African-American nominated for the Hall of Fame.
Promotor and Sponsor Executive Ralph Seagraves, who brought R.J. Reynolds Tabacco Company to NASCAR. Junior Johnson went to Seagraves originally looking for sponsorship for his car, yet instead it turned into a sponsorship for NASCAR. NASCAR’s premiere series became the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1971. Winston would sponsor the Cup Series till the end of 2003, when Nextel took over. Seagraves led as the president of RJR’s Special Events Operations for 13 years, heading the sponsorship effort and leading many track upgrades. Seagraves would retire from R.J. Reynolds in 1986.
NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace, who won the 1989 NASCA Sprint Cup Series Championship. Wallace followed his father Russ into racing, winning the American Speed Association title in 1983. He made his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in 1980, driving for Roger Penske. He would not enter NASCAR full-time till 1984,winning Rookie of the Year while driving for Cliff Stewart. In 1986, Wallace would capture his first Cup win at Bristol Motor Speedway while racing for Raymond Beadle. The championship would come in 1989 while driving for Beadle, 12 points over Dale Earnhardt. In total, he would score 55 victories over his career, ranking him eighth all-time. The majority of his wins (25) came on short tracks like Bristol, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro and Richmond. He currently is an ESPN NASCAR analyst.
The rest of the 20 nominees are as follows (in alphabetical order)……
- Buck Baker, first driver to win consecutive NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series titles (1956-57)
- Red Byron, first NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion, in 1949
- Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
- Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion
- H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway
- Tim Flock, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
- Rick Hendrick, 13-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
- Jack Ingram, two-time NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion and three-time Late Model Sportsman champion
- Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
- Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600
- Cotton Owens, driver-owner, won 1966 owner championship with David Pearson
- Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner
- Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
- Les Richter, former NASCAR executive; former president of Riverside International Raceway
- Fireball Roberts, 33 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series wins, including the 1962 Daytona 500
- T. Wayne Robertson, helped raise NASCAR popularity as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company senior VP
- Herb Thomas, first two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion, 1951, ’53
- Curtis Turner, early personality, called the “Babe Ruth of stock car racing”
- Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
- Leonard Wood, part-owner and former crew chief for Wood Brothers, revolutionized pit stops
The nominees were selected by a 21-person committee, containing representatives from NASCAR, the Hall of Fame and track owners.
Those individuals are…..
NASCAR Hall of Fame: Executive Director Winston Kelley; Historian Buz McKim.
NASCAR Officials: Chairman/CEO Brian France; Vice Chairman Jim France; Senior Vice President Paul Brooks; President Mike Helton; Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton; Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Steve O’Donnell; Competition Administrator Jerry Cook; former Vice President Ken Clapp.
Track Owners/Operators: International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa Kennedy; Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell; Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage; Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark; former Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George; Dover Motorsports CEO Denis McGlynn; Pocono Raceway board of director member Looie McNally; Bowman Gray Stadium operator Dale Pinilis; Riverhead Raceway operators Jim and Barbara Cromarty (1 vote); former Toyota Speedway at Irwindale operator Jim Williams; Rockford Speedway owner Jody Deery.
Sadler: ‘It’s good for everybody’ to have Nationwide drivers running well, winning
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[/media-credit]Perhaps the Nationwide Series regulars had grown tired of hearing about the Sprint Cup Series drivers dominating. Or maybe they’d had enough of finishing second on their own turf.
Whatever it may be, the field of 2012 NNS regulars have come out of the gate strong. Following Cup drivers winning 28 of 34 races last season, NNS drivers have upped the ante and have won three of the seasons first five races. James Buescher, who competes for points in the Camping World Truck Series, won the season opening race, while Joey Logano earned Cup drivers a win in California.
Elliott Sadler, the NNS point leader, says it’s great see a wide open field and that NNS drivers have worked hard to better understand their cars. Sadler has won twice thus far, at Phoenix and Bristol.
“I think everybody is learning more about these cars,” said Sadler earlier this week. “I think the Cup guys had a lot of experience in this style of race car for the last five or six years. A lot of Nationwide guys it was their first year in this style of car with the splitter and now the valance and stuff on the front end.
“The cars definitely drive a lot different, react a lot different in the race, react a lot different in traffic and aero wise. I just think everybody has learned more about these cars this winter and we’re all kind of closer on the same playing field and I think that’s why we’re seeing some different winners than what we saw in the past.”
Sadler believes that all the NNS drivers are building faster cars this year. While NNS drivers said they enjoyed racing against Cup drivers, many grew tired of seeing the same drivers win. Calling it beating the little guys in a series they didn’t belong in.
Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards were often the most criticized. They won a combined 16 races and never heard the end of it along the way. This season however, Edwards isn’t competing as he focuses solely on the NSCS.
Busch though is running in his own equipment, Kyle Busch Motorsports and hasn’t yet won a race. Busch turns over the wheel of the No. 54 to older brother Kurt beginning this weekend in Texas.
As the attention from the Cup stars starts to dim, it’s put back on the NNS drivers. Storylines turn from how many races Cup drivers have won to how many NNS drivers have won. No longer about the domination of Busch and Edwards, instead its the turnaround for Sadler and the championship hunt for Stenhouse Jr.
“It feels good,” said Sadler. “I’m not going to lie to you. It feels good personally when you can go out there and compete on Saturday’s against a lot of guys that win and run well on Sunday’s. The race we won in Phoenix, I had to outrun Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, guys that really run good at Phoenix.
“When I went to Bristol and won the race, I had to compete against guys like Kasey Kahne and Dale Jr. and Keselowski again and Harvick, and these are all people that win and run very well on Sundays and are high in the points.
“So of course it feels good when you can go out there and compete with these guys in the same equipment on Saturday. It gives you a lot of confidence, feels like it gives you some momentum, gives you kind of the attitude that if you’re in a good situation on Sunday that you could also run with those guys then.
“I think it’s neat that the Nationwide guys are running as good as we are this year. I think it’s good for everybody.”
Including Sadler. After making his full-time return to the NNS last season he went winless in a much anticipated campaign. He did however, finish second in points. Then during the offseason his Kevin Harvick Incorporated team was moved over to Richard Childress Racing.
Promised by Harvick that it would be a good move, Sadler entered the season with a renewed confidence. His win at Phoenix in the second race of the year snapped a winless streak dating back to 1998.
Two weeks later he won again, visiting victory lane at Bristol for the first time since 2001 when he won his first NSCS race for the Wood Brothers. Now after being the underdog in 2011, Sadler’s hot start has him the favorite for the 2012 championship.
“You know, last year we did have a great season,” he said. “But it was the first year with this Nationwide car, and we all kind of had to learn it together, not only myself but also my crew chief Ernie Cope and also everybody at KHI.
“We went through some growing pains towards the beginning of the season, I felt like we got okay there at the end of the season and just missed our goal a little bit. We really wanted to win the championship and that didn’t happen, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort. But we felt like we steadily improved as the year went on.
“Fast forward to this year, I just think being on the same campus as a Cup-affiliated team and being on the same campus with Cup teams that have so much engineering help and so much technical support, and a lot of that trickles down to our shop. Just helps our program a lot.”
Sadler points to many different areas that his No. 2 OneMain Financial team has improved. From competing at a higher level to communicating better, building faster cars and having members of his team made of experience. Some he says, have come from Harvick’s Cup team.
Says Sadler of his season, “We’ve got better, faster stuff coming down the pipeline but we’ve just got to compete at a high level week in and week out because that’s what we’re going to have to do to stay where we’re at in the points.”
