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CUP: Petty, Earnhardt Head HoF Nominations
Written by: Tom Jensen   
07/02/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
NASCAR was left with a big void when Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona. (Photo: Getty Images) ยป More Photos

Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR’s two seven-time champions, head the list of 25 nominees for the first NASCAR Hall of Fame class, which will be enshrined next spring when the new facility opens in Charlotte, N.C.

From the list of 25 nominees, who were unveiled Thursday night in a televised special on SPEED, five will form the first NASCAR Hall of Fame class.

Photos: HoF Nominees

Here are the 25 nominees:

BOBBY ALLISON — Allison, the 1983 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, ended his career with 84 victories – tied for third on the all-time victory list with Darrell Waltrip.

A charter member of the “Alabama Gang,” the longtime resident of Hueytown, Ala., has become one of NASCAR’s most beloved former competitors. Among his accomplishments are his three (1978, ’82, ’88) Daytona 500 victories – especially the third, when he beat his son Davey to the finish, earning what would be his last victory. Another was his fantastic 1972 season when, driving for another legend, Junior Johnson, he won 10 races, had 12 second-place efforts and 11 poles, in the process
finishing second to Richard Petty in the series championship standings.

BUCK BAKER — Elzie Wyle Baker Sr., better known as Buck, was born in South Carolina in 1919, but didn’t race stock cars until 1946. He quickly got the hang of it though, winning 46 Sprint Cup races in a career that spanned 636 races over 26 years.

Baker captured consecutive championships in 1956-57, and finished second in 1955 and ’58. The father of NASCAR racer Buddy Baker, Buck founded the Buck Baker Driving School after his retirement in 1976. One of his students was a young Jeff Gordon, who drove his first stock car under Baker’s supervision.

RED BYRON — The former World War II bomber tail-gunner became the first points champion in what today is known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 1949. During that inaugural season, the Alabama native had two victories and four top-five finishes in the eight-race schedule.

Byron also won the first NASCAR-sanctioned race on Feb. 15, 1948 in a Dodge prepared by Red Vogt. That same year, he took the Modified Championship by winning 11 races and finishing second five times. At the time of his death in 1960, Byron was trying to build an American car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.


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