2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame ~ Selections and Elections
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I bid
you welcome gentle readers, to the 2018 version of my annual NASCAR Hall of
Fame explanation of how it works and maybe how it doesn’t. Please note that ALL
data quoted within has been gathered directly from the pages of the NASCAR Hall
of Fame website.
Opinions
are vintage PattyKay unless otherwise credited.
If you
are not familiar with the workings of the Hall, it helps to know that although
NASCAR has been a race-sanctioning body for 70 years (since 1948), the Hall of
Fame has only existed for nine of them. Some gold-star calculus student decided
that 5 would be a nice round number to induct annually, so somewhere around the
year 2525, if man is still alive, things may even out, providing that very few
new stars appear in the racing sky between now and then. (In this scribe’s
considered opinion, a whole host of racing pioneers will simply be forgotten
eventually under this failed system. Those men and women from the early days
made the sport of stock car racing, and should… in the perfect world according
to PK, be grandfathered into the Hall as a group before another year passes,
then another, and then another…)
To date,
the Hall consists of 45 inducted members (or slightly over half an inductee per
year that NASCAR has raced), and as Mike Helton would say, “It is what it is.”
Our purpose today is not to say who should or should not be in that number, as
that is something no two people can agree upon, let alone all “80 Million” of
us. That’s why they have a voting process, and that, dear hearts and gentle
readers, is why we’re gathered here today.
Each
year, there are two committees involved in the selection/election process.
http://www.nascarhall.com/_files/pages/2018-NASCAR-Hall-of-Fame-Nominating-Committee-Members-.pdf
NASCAR Hall of Fame Nomination
Committee Members - 2019 Nominating Committee (24):
NASCAR Hall of Fame (2)
1. Winston Kelley
2. Tom Jensen
NASCAR officials (8)
1. Brian France
2. Jim France
3. Mike Helton
4. Brent Dewar
5. Steve Phelps
6. Steve O’Donnell
7. Jill Gregory
8. Scott Miller
ISC (3)
1. Lesa Kennedy
2. Clay Campbell
3. John Saunders
SMI (3)
1. Marcus Smith
2. Ed Clark
3. Eddie Gossage
IMS (1)
1. Tony George
Dover (1)
1. Denis McGlynn
Pocono (1)
1. Looie McNally
Historic short track operators –
one rep. from each track: (4)
Bowman Gray Operator – Dale Pinilis
2. Rockford Speedway Operator – Jody Deery
3. Holland Motorsports Park – Ron Bennett
4. West Coast Short Track Representative – Ken Clapp
Media (1)
1. Mike Joy, Fox
Then,
as in several years past, with only one exclusion, there is a roadblock set up
as to what names will make up the Voting Panel for the current year. Don’t ask,
as I don’t know the answer. For whatever reason, it is almost impossible to
find who will be voting on the current year’s nominees… in this case for the
Class of 2019. Next year, the list will magically appear in time for the Class
of 2020. Really… I don’t make this stuff up. Please go to this page:
http://www.nascarhall.com/inductees/induction-process
When
you get there, this is the listing you will see. Of the years listed, which for
reasons unknown to me is not a complete list, all show the “Voting Panel
Members” with the exception of the current year. Only once has it ever shown up
where this scribe could find it before the actual Election Day came and went.
2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame
Nominating Committee
2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and Voting Panel Members
2017
NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and Voting Panel Members
2016 NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and Voting Panel Members
2015
NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and Voting Panel Members
2014
NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and Voting Panel Members
2013
NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and Voting Panel Members
The
data pertinent to our conversation here is dated 2019, which refers to when the
eventual 5 nominees chosen in May will be inducted into the Hall. Yes, the
dating system is confusing, but that’s why I’m here, hopefully to unconfuse!
I can’t
make up the missing list, so the best I can give you is last year’s electors and
point out that Martin Truex Jr. replaces Jimmie Johnson as reigning Champion on
the list, and sadly, Robert Yates and Bud Moore are no longer with us. Eli Gold
is no longer with MRN and I doubt that Tom Higgins will be in attendance as he
fights to recover from a stroke. NASCAR really could do a better job of letting
us know who is and who is not on the list. I see several names mentioned that I
would classify as “doubtful”, but that’s not my call.
Voting Panel (36) Total (58):
National Motorsports Press
Association (1)
1. Kenny Bruce
NMPA President Eastern Motorsports Press Association (1)
1. Ron Hedger
EMPA President
American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters (1)
1. Dusty Brandel
AARWB President
Print & Digital Media (7)
1. Holly Cain, NASCAR.com
2. Jenna Fryer, AP
3. Brant James, USA Today
4. Tom Jensen, FOXSports.com
5. Al Pearce, Autoweek
6. Nate Ryan, NBCSports.com
7. Jim Utter, Motorsport.com
Broadcast Partners
(7)
1. Rick Allen, NBC
2. Jeff Burton, NBCSN
3. David Hyatt, MRN
4. Jamie Little, FS1
5. Dave Moody, SIRIUS/XM
6. Doug Rice, PRN
7. Marty Smith, ESPN
Car Manufacturers
(3)
1. Jim Campbell, Chevrolet
2. Edsel Ford II, Ford
3. David Wilson, Toyota
Former Drivers (3)
1. Ned Jarrett
2. Richard Petty
3. Ricky Rudd
Former Owners (3)
1. Junior Johnson
2. Bud Moore
3. Robert Yates
Former Crew Chiefs (3)
1. Buddy Parrott
2. Waddell Wilson
3. Eddie Wood
Reigning Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series Champion (1)
1. Jimmie Johnson
NASCAR Community Leaders (5)
1. Paul Brooks
2.Mike Harris
3. Tom Higgins
4. Ken Squier
5. Humpy Wheeler
Fan Vote (1)
Well
gentle readers, that’s the best I’ve got on that part of the process. Let’s now
take a look at who’s eligible for what this year. Those whose names were added
this past January to the list of now 45 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees, the
“Class of 2018”, included: Red Byron, Ray Evernham, Ron Hornaday,
Ken Squier and Robert Yates.
Replacing
those gentlemen will be these five newly nominated candidates:
Two
drivers, Harry Gant and Jeff Gordon; Two legendary car owners, John Holman and
Ralph Moody and a crew chief, Kirk Shelmerdine, who oversaw 4 of Dale
Earnhardt’s Championships.
Following are the 20 nominees
for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, listed alphabetically:
Davey
Allison
Buddy Baker
Red Farmer
Ray Fox
Harry Gant
Joe Gibbs
Jeff Gordon
John Holman
Harry Hyde
Alan Kulwicki
Bobby Labonte
Hershel McGriff
Ralph Moody
Roger Penske
Larry Phillips
Jack Roush
Ricky Rudd
Kirk Shelmerdine
Mike Stefanik
Waddell Wilson
The
five nominees for the Landmark Award for the Class of 2019 are:
Janet
Guthrie
Barney Hall
Alvin Hawkins
Jim Hunter
Ralph Seagraves
Jim
France was your Class of 2018 Landmark Award Winner. And there, guys and gals, are
your 20 nominees eligible for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the 5
names eligible for the Landmark Award. The official vote this year will take
place at the Hall of Fame on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 and will be announced live
at the Hall and probably on NBCSN. Fan voting is now open! I received that
notice about 4 paragraphs ago. How’s that for timing? The ballots are easier to
find this year, at least for now. When you visit nascar.com, the link is lit up
in bright orange at the upper left. Or, you could bookmark this one: https://www.nascar.com/halloffame.
When
that disappears, as it usually does, just click on “More” then on “Discover.”
That is where they hide it.
There
is a limit to the number of ballots any one person can cast, this year… 50 per
day. My guess is, this voting is where that 80 Million number arose from, so
perhaps that fairy tale will be laid to rest. Deadline for voting is May 21st.
Then it will rest in the hands of the Official Voting Panel, whoever they might
be, to meet and decide the final nominees for the Class of 2019.
Please
allow your scribe to say a word or two about the Fan Vote by way of
explanation, in case anyone was thinking that their vote actually counts for
more than a cat’s whisker. There are 58 total votes cast in one day, and the
five receiving the most votes will be at the induction ceremonies next January.
The Fan Vote is counted as ONE vote, and yes, you will be competing with those
kiddies that will be attempting to weight and control that single vote with
machines and technology that might get one to the moon. Is it any wonder that
NASCAR does not allow the fans to actually control the bulk of the voting?
Vote early
and often as they say in Chicago. Come May 23, you’ll find out how much your
millions and millions of votes do for you. Yours, mine, theirs, everyone’s, all
cast over a period of almost 2 months this year, will be rolled up into a teeny
little ball and cast as one single vote. In that room, among the members of the
voting panel, are three members of the France family and many highly placed
NASCAR officials, all carrying fancy titles. In fairness, I am acquainted with
and have questioned a couple of the folks on the Voting Panel, albeit not in
recent years, and they swear there is no coercion to vote one way or another,
and there probably is not… at least that’s verbal or verifiable. Still, I know
that if I were sitting in a room with the aforementioned people, and my job
depended on NASCAR in any way, I’d at least be paying attention when pleas were
made in favor of this or that person. It doesn’t take much to get one’s point
across, if one is seated at the head of any table, anywhere.
In
conclusion, unless I think of more to say, I want to make mention of the usual
elephant in the living room… the name that is not, and may never be on the list
of nominees. There was a man; a very intelligent and ambitious man; a man who
cared more about the lives of the drivers than some of the drivers themselves.
He worked and worried and invented all manner of automobile-related things; he
built cars and he built engines. Those engines, coupled with the cars he built,
won races… lots of races. His racing stable included many of the best and most
recognizable names in early racing. As I look over those 20 good folks on this
year’s list, I see several crew chiefs’ and engine builders’ names… Ray
Evernham, Ray Fox, Harry Hyde, Waddell Wilson, and Robert Yates… some of the
very best, from several different eras. Still, I would guarantee that everyone
I named would defer his place to that one man, and do so with complete
understanding that he was at one time, better than any of them. I know it; they
know it, but that man, that genius, known nationwide as probably the best
mechanic ever to turn a wrench in an engine, quarreled with Big Bill France,
and some 50 or so years later, the newer generation of the France family does
not allow his name mentioned as a possible nominee for the Hall of Fame that
bears the NASCAR name.
His
name? Why, his name is Smokey Yunick. You’ve all heard of him. He is legendary
in NASCAR and IndyCar as well. He has been inducted into every meaningful
Racing Hall of Fame that doesn’t require one to be born in a certain state to
qualify for membership, yet his name may never appear on the list we deal with
today. Fair? No, of course it’s not fair, but it is true.
I
apologize for my digression, but it is stories such as this one that make it so
very difficult for folks of my generation to take this particular Hall of Fame
seriously. Just a single mass-induction of a given number of our pioneers… the
folks that made the wheels turn and the engines hum with the sweat of their
brow, the blood from their cracked knuckles and not much more… would have
changed so many bad things to good things, and it still could. It’s not too
late. It’s never too late to do what’s right.
Time
now for our Classic Country Closeout, and if you’re still with me through all
of that, you deserve a treat and I’ve found one for you. This is almost a full
hour of songs from Jim Reeves, Ray Price and Ernest Tubb. It’s a live show from
1956. Please enjoy!
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay 