Gordon leads list of hall nominees
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — To date, 45 men have been inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame. Five more will be inducted in 2019 — and this week, we learned the names of the 20 men vying for those spots.
Headlined by four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, the 2019 nominees also include team owner Joe Gibbs, Dale Earnhardt’s former crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine, and several other notable names. Only five of the men, including Gordon, are firsttime nominees.
The five inductees for the 2019 class will be announced later this year and inducted in January 2019.
Here is the full list of nominees, including a brief bio for each candidate:
— Jeff Gordon: Four-time Cup Series champion; won a modernera record 13 wins in 1998; three Daytona 500 wins.
— Davey Allison: 19 Cup Series wins, including the 1992 Daytona 500; 1987 Cup Series Rookie of the Year; died in a helicopter accident in 1993.
— Buddy Baker: 19 Cup Series wins, including the 1980 Daytona 500; longtime NASCAR TV and radio analyst.
— Red Farmer: Three-time Late Model Sportsman champion; 1956 Modified champion.
— Ray Fox: Legendary engine builder who also won 14 races as an owner; worked with Junior Johnson, David Pearson and other legendary drivers.
— Harry Gant: Won four consecutive races in September 1991 to earn the nickname ’Mr. September’; oldest driver to win a race (52) and pole (54).
— Joe Gibbs: Four Cup Series and five Xfinity Series championships as a team owner; 140 Cup Series wins, including two Daytona 500 victories.
— John Holman: Half of the famous Holman-Moody ownership group that won the 1968 and 1969 championships with David Pearson; 96 wins total.
— Ralph Moody: Other half of the famous Holman-Moody pairing that won two Cup championships with David Pearson in 1968 and 1969; 96 wins total.
— Kirk Shelmerdine: Won four Cup Series championship as Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief; youngest crew chief (25) to win a Cup Series race.
— Harry Hyde: 1970 Cup Series champion crew chief with Bobby Isaac; 56 career victories.
— Alan Kulwicki: 1992 Cup Series champion, defeating Bill Elliott by one of history’s narrowest margins; 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year; died in a plane crash in 1993.
— Bobby Labonte: 2000 Cup Series champion and 1991 Xfinity Series champion; 21 career victories.
— Hershel McGriff: 1986 NASCAR West Series champion; 37 career wins.
— Roger Penske: 2012 Cup Series championship owner with Brad Keselowski; three-time Xfinity Series championship owner; 107 career victories as a team owner.
— Larry Phillips: Only fivetime NASCAR weekly series national champion.
— Jack Roush: Two-time Cup Series championship owner with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch; four-time Xfinity Series champion and one-time Camping World Truck Series champion as an owner; 322 wins across NASCAR’s three divisions.
— Ricky Rudd: Won 23 Cup Series races, including the 1997 Brickyard 400; 1977 Cup Series Rookies of the Year.
— Mike Stefanik: Record nine-time NASCAR champion across various lower-level circuits; 74 career wins.
— Waddell Wilson: Threetime Cup Series champion as an engine builder; three-time Daytona 500 winning crew chief.