NASCAR Hall of Fame Nominees: Richard Petty, David Pearson, and...?

6.  Cale Yarborough.

7.  Junior Johnson. Here is one instance where an individual can be elected as both a driver and an "other."

8.  Dale Earnhardt.

9.  Fireball Roberts. THE superstar before Richard Petty went on a tear. I was at the 1964 World 600 where Roberts received his fatal burns. After the race, I bought a comic book that had an advertisement on the back cover that was for Hot Wheels type cars. Fireball was the endorser. I believe this was a first for a NASCAR driver. Unfortunately, like most all of my memorabilia from that time, I no longer have the magazine. (My mom cleaned out my “junk” when I went into the Army.)

10. Fred Lorenzen. This is the money driver. Lorenzen was the first driver to break $100,000 in a season. In 1963 Lorenzen won $113,750 (one source has $122,587); the same year that a pro golfer first broke $100,000: Arnold Palmer won $101,555. Lorenzen drove Cup in 1956, 1960-67 and 1970-72. Lorenzen entered a total of 158 races in his entire career, with all his 26 wins coming between 1961–67 going at least one win a year during that span (and he only ran five races in 1967, the only year he had only one win). Lorenzen also took 32 poles during his career, two of which were during his comeback years of 1970-71.

11. Lee Petty. Lee Petty set the win record that his son broke on the way to 200 wins.

12. Ned Jarrett. Besides being a two-time Cup champion, Ned decided after his first championship to get the speaking skills needed to be a good representative for the sport. He is best known today for his many years as an expert commentator during TV broadcasts.

13. Darrell Waltrip. In my opinion, “DW” loses points for the “boogity” thing.

And to follow the baseball model, an “Old-timers Committee” would be formed, to give the pioneers of the sport their due. This committee would be formed from the HoF members who were in the sport prior to 1972 (the beginning of the NASCAR self-proclaimed “Modern Era.”) and recognized historians such as Greg Fielden.

I wonder how many of the Top 50 drivers from the NASCAR 50th anniversary will be among the first entries?

Of course, that assumes that NASCAR cares to pay any attention whatsoever to the Pre-Modern Era!

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