We have to apologize, as we have not been keeping up as much as we should be with the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but we do promise to rectify that in the upcoming months. Yesterday, the Charlotte based institution announced the class of 2015, which announced five men who many racing pundits will not likely question.
For many, the headliner is Bill Elliott who was the 1988 Winston Cup Champion. Calling Elliott a popular driver seems so understated as he was voted the Winston Cup Series Most Popular Driver sixteen times, which is the most by far and in 2005 the Governor of Georgia declared October 8th to be “Bill Elliott Day”. Elliott has 44 career wins, including the famed Daytona 500 twice and he was a 2007 inductee to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Fred Lorenzen, one of the most successful drivers in the mid-60’s, was also chosen for this year’s class. Lorenzen won the 1965 Daytona 500 and became the first man to win a race in all five of the South’s original speedways, which was comprised of Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, Charlotte and Rockingham. “Fast Freddie” was also a trailblazer in terms of the pocketbook, as he was the first to eclipse the $100,000 mark in earnings for a year. Lorenzen totalled 26 NASCAR wins and twice was named the Winston Cup Series Most Popular Driver.
This year’s NASCAR Hall of Fame Class also includes Joe Weatherly, who cut his teeth on the American Motorcycle Association in the late 40’s and won three Nationals. Weatherly would move on to the NASCAR Modified series and would win the Modified Crown in both 1952 and 1953 and would move on to the regular circuit and record 25 wins. He died in 1964 due to complications from a head injury from a crash that year at Riverside. Incidentally, he was the defending Grand National Series Champion.
Another inductee was Rex White, who was only five foot four, won 28 races on the NASCAR Grand National series. White was the National Series Champion in 1960.
The most intriguing inductee of this year’s class is Wendell Scott, who was not only the first African American in NASCAR, he was the first African American to win a race. Scott may have only won one race on the NASCAR’s big dance, but by breaking he color barrier, he is considered one of the great pioneers of North American sports.
We would like to congratulate this year’s Class, and we will unveil the next Notinhalloffame.com NASCAR list in two months.
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