NASCAR's first Hall of Fame class is one for the ages

36 °F and Partly Cloudy
Complete Forecast

READ FULL EDITION

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Other Categories

The Lucky Dog Lounge

NASCAR's first Hall of Fame class is one for the ages

Published Thursday, October 15 2009 - (0) Comments

NASCAR's first Hall of Fame class has been named, and it is hard to argue against any of the first five choices.
Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson represent the foundation that this sport is built on. The only guy who has a gripe in my opinion is David Pearson, but he's a lock to get the call next time.
Besides, the five guys who made the cut did more to shape the course of stock car racing than anyone else.
Big Bill started the sport and his son pushed it to new heights by landing the television exposure that continues to this day. Without their vision and foresight, we'd all be stuck pretending to enjoy IRL racing.
Meanwhile, Richard Petty set the standard of excellence against which all other drivers have been measured. Not only that, Petty's 10,000-watt smile, signature shades and 10-gallon cowboy hat served as the face of the sport for decades. For virtually everyone outside the Southeast, Petty was stock car racing's first impression, so to speak, and he certainly put his best foot forward on behalf of NASCAR.
While Petty's 200 victories will probably never be approached, the seven titles he won during his long career is the brass ring every Sprint Cup driver reaches for. For now, the only driver to equal that mark is Dale Earnhardt, who tied that total thanks to a brash take-no-prisoners approach behind the wheel. While stories of his seven titles and the exploits that earned them have now been passed down to a new generation, one of Earnhardt's most important contributions hasn't received much attention.
While we take television coverage of NASCAR for granted these days, it was a brand new phenomenon in the early stages of Earnhardt's career. In many ways, he blossomed into the first television star in NASCAR history. As the audiences grew, so did the legend of the Intimidator. As Earnhardt's success reached its peak, NASCAR's ratings also climbed to all-time highs. Even Earnhardt's detractors have to admit that NASCAR got where it got in terms of popularity by riding shotgun with the man in the black No. 3 Chevy.
Of course, Junior Johnson will argue that he put the No. 3 on the map back in the 60s, and unlike some of the tall tales Johnson told NASCAR rules officials over the years, that statement is a fact. Besides, if Richard Childress didn't idolize Johnson, he never would have been inspired to snag the number when it was available and ultimately pass it on to Earnhardt.
Aside from the France family, nobody has had a bigger influence on the sport than Johnson. His roots stretch all the way back to the bootlegging that started the sport, but his innovations still affect competition to this day.
As a driver, Johnson is credited for inventing drafting on Superspeedways and much of his creative mechanical work helped make NASCAR's rulebook as thick as it is nowdays. As a car owner, Johnson helped bring sponsorship to a whole new level. He was instrumental in landing R.J. Reynolds as the sponsor of NASCAR's Cup Series and he also recognized that multicar teams would be the wave of the future.
So hats off to everyone involved in this process, because they got this one right. The first class in NASCAR's Hall of Fame is certainly first-class all the way.

Discuss This Story

Be the first to comment: Sign In or Create Profile

To comment, you must register.

Comments are the sole responsibility of the registered user participating in online discussions. You agree not to post comments off topic, abusive, obscene, defamatory, vulgar, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned.

Click here to review our complete user agreement.