My Picks For The Next HoF Class

Congratulations to the first class for the NASCAR Hall Of Fame. Whether you liked them or not, there’s no questioning the impact of "Big" Bill France, Bill France Jr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson upon the sport.

There’s little question beyond these five that there is a sizable list of drivers, owners, crew chiefs, promoters and even media worthy of induction at some point. It will be interesting to see how the hall evolves in its formative years.

For me, picking at least three of the five I voted for was pretty easy. Except for David Pearson, my other four selections (France Sr., Petty, Earnhardt and Johnson) got in. Picking the next class is a heck of a lot more challenging. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that the notables and influentials I select today may actually look a lot different when it comes time to vote.

But for the purpose of conversation, here’s what my list would look like today:

David Pearson- NASCAR’s second all-time career leader in wins (105) and three-time champion (1966, ‘68 and ‘69) was on my first class ballot. The "Silver Fox" had an incredible guile behind the wheel, plus a legendary rivalry with Richard Petty. Even more amazing is what he accomplished, considering he rarely ran a full racing schedule during his storied career. That he was a different breed of cat added all the more color to his legend.

Cale Yarborough- This is another no-brainer. With 83 wins and three consecutive championships (1976,’77 and ‘78). This banty rooster of a competitor was one of the first to top 200 miles per hour on the track and his well-publicized skirmish with the Allison brothers at the end of the 1979 Daytona 500 cements his place in NASCAR lore.

Lee Petty- Without Lee Petty, there is no Richard Petty. What’s more, the elder Petty won three championships of his own in 1954, ‘58 and ‘59. With 54 wins, Lee stands 9th on the all-time race winners list. Petty was one of the first of the "professional" drivers- and not merely using racing as a fun sideline to farming and moonshine running. The patriarch of a 4-generation racing family was also the winner of the first Daytona 500 in 1959.

Red Byron- A balding, war-crippled man of 33, Robert "Red" Byron hardly fit the description of a NASCAR "Young Gun" when it’s first launched in 1948. Heck, he was a whiskey runner and growing up in Colorado, he was something of a conspicuous presence in NASCAR’s formative years. Make no mistake though, Byron, car owner Raymond Parks and mechanical genius Red Vogt (the original Chad Knaus) were as instrumental in the formation of NASCAR as Big Bill France. Byron won the first NASCAR-sanctioned race of the beach/road course at Daytona, and he was NASCAR’s first champion. The cigar-chomping enthusiast accomplished his greatness in spite of a leg badly damaged while serving as a tail-gunner in World War II. He may have only won two races, big they were big races, and it would be a shame not to recognized what he contributed as soon as reasonably possible.

Tim Flock- Move aside, Jimmie Johnson, no one was equal to the most successful racer in the Flock clan in the percentage of races won. In 189 races, Tim won 40- a winning percentage of 21.2 percent. He also won championships in 1952 and 1959. Flock, his sister Ethel (yes, she raced too) and his brothers Bob and Fonty were among the original "colorful characters" of the sport- Tim sometimes raced with a monkey named "Flocko Jocko." Can you imagine trying that in the CoT with a HANS device strapped to you? He also won NASCAR’s only "sports car" race in a Mercedes- Benz 300 SL in 1955.

Of course, there are numerous more who should unquestionably be considered and inducted as soon as reasonably possible. Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett, Joe Weatherly, Fireball Roberts, Herb Thomas and Curtis Turner are just a few of the great drivers. Raymond Parks, the Wood Brothers and Carl Kierkhaefer represent great owners. Red Vogt and Smokey Yunick provided technical genius, and that’s to say nothing of what the Holman- Moody organization, "Humpy" Wheeler, Ken Squier, plus numerous others have brought to NASCAR.

Picking a Hall Of Fame class is much like selecting an all-star team. No matter what you do, there will always be debate and there’s a certain subjectivity to it all.

So who do you think should be next? As seen here, I think there’s couple of clear-cut favorites, but beyond that, there’s room for spirited debate over who should come next.