Gibbs Racing trio will be inducted together
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tony Stewart headlined a Joe Gibbs Racing trio elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
The three-time Cup Series championship driver will be inducted alongside car owner Gibbs and former teammate Bobby Labonte. Buddy Baker — another former driver — and mechanic Waddell Wilson also were voted in for the class that will be enshrined Jan. 31, 2020.
Fox analyst Jeff Gordon, who was enshrined this year, knew Stewart was “a lock” to get into the hall but believes it’s only fitting Gibbs and Labonte will join Stewart in the same class.
“One wouldn’t have happened without the other,” Gordon said.
Stewart won 49 Cup Series races during his 17-year career on the top circuit, including championships in 2002 and ’05 driving for JGR and another in ’11 with Stewart-Haas Racing. He
won another championship as an owner in 2014 via SHR driver Kevin Harvick.
Labonte won the Cup Series title in 2000, giving Gibbs the first of his four championships at NASCAR’s highest level.
Even though he no longer drives in the Cup Series, the 48-year-old Stewart’s thirst for racing continues: The Indiana native is scheduled to spend four days this week racing sprint cars in four different states.
Gibbs, 78, was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996 after coaching the Washington Redskins to three Super Bowl titles. Known as a master motivator, Gibbs’ 157 Cup Series wins rank third alltime among owners.
Labonte, 55, will join his brother Terry in the Hall of Fame. He won 21 Cup Series races, including the 2000 title, and is one of 27 drivers to win a race in all three of NASCAR’s national series.
Baker, who won 19 Cup Series races, died in 2015 at age 74.
Wilson, 82, built the engines helped some of the greatest drivers in history, including Hall of Fame members Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Fireball Roberts, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough.
The late Edsel Ford was selected as the annual Landmark Award winner for his contribution to NASCAR.
NASCAR buying ISC
NASCAR announced the $2 billion purchase of International Speedway Corp. on Wednesday, an aggressive move to gain control of key tracks on the national circuit and set itself up for sweeping changes that could save the country’s most popular racing series.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
ISC owns 12 tracks that host NASCAR races, including Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Its holdings stretch from New York to California, and ISC is one of two major facilities companies that host NASCAR races, along with Speedway Motorsports Inc.
Gaining control of a dozen tracks, along with Iowa Speedway, which it already owns, would seemingly make it easier for NASCAR to alter its racing schedule, including the possibility of fewer events.
NASCAR president Steve Phelps has made it clear the top-tier Cup Series’ 38-race schedule, generally considered too taxing for teams and fans, is among the areas the sanctioning body is looking to change. Seven of the ISC tracks host not just one Cup Series race each season but two.
NASCAR’s five-year agreement with tracks ends after the 2020 season.
The agreement is the latest makeover for NASCAR as it scrambles to win new fans and end a decline in attendance and ratings, and more deals could be on the horizon.