Hall of fame voters got it right
Bob Pockrass
Bob Pockrass began covering NASCAR in 1992, primarily covering short-track racing and events. He has worked for Street & Smith's Motorsports Group since 2003.
CHARLOTTE – The NASCAR Hall of Fame voters got it right.
A hall of fame is designed to honor those who had the biggest impact in the sport, the ones that had the biggest influence on the sport.
And that’s why both Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr. deserved to be in, and why Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty and Junior Johnson belonged in ahead of David Pearson.
With all due respect to my colleague Mike Hembree, Pearson might be the greatest driver of all time, but if I had a vote (which I didn’t), I wouldn’t have put him in my top five. The two drivers I would have put in would have been Earnhardt and Petty.
Earnhardt’s Intimidator persona resonated with the fans, and his marketing of the Earnhardt brand helped legions of drivers who followed him.
Petty? Well, when the movie “Cars” needed a driver’s voice, they went to him. And his 200 wins, no matter when they came, show a lifetime of dedication and commitment to the sport.
As far as Junior Johnson, not only were his 50 wins impressive, but look at the roster of people who won more than one race for him when he was an owner: Cale Yarborough (three titles), Darrell Waltrip (three titles) as well as LeeRoy Yarbrough, Terry Labonte, Geoffrey Bodine, Bill Elliott and Jimmy Spencer. And considering that he was the focus of Tom Wolfe’s “The Last American Hero” story, there is just too much history for him not to be in this class.
There was the argument that maybe two Frances didn’t need to be inducted in the first year. But Bill France Sr. took the gamble, and Bill France Jr. oversaw the growth. The voters did the right thing by putting them both in the inaugural class because without them, NASCAR isn’t big enough to find a city to build a $195 million hall of fame.
So that’s why the voters got it right. And that’s why the guy who might have been the best driver in NASCAR history will have to wait until 2011 to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
