2015 NASCAR Hall Of Fame Class Announced
Elliott, Lorenzen, Scott, Weatherly, White Comprise List Of New Inductees
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 21, 2014)
– NASCAR announced today the inductees who will comprise the 2015 class
of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The five-person group – the sixth in NASCAR
Hall of Fame history – consists of Bill Elliott, Fred Lorenzen, Wendell
Scott, Joe Weatherly and Rex White. In addition, NASCAR announced that
Anne B. France won the inaugural Landmark Award for Outstanding
Contributions to NASCAR. Next year’s Induction Day is scheduled for
Friday, Jan. 30, 2015, broadcast on NBC Sports Network from Charlotte,
N.C.
The
NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met today in a closed session in
Charlotte to vote on both the induction class of 2015 and the Landmark
Award. NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France made the announcements this
afternoon in the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s “Great Hall.”
Next
year’s class was determined by votes cast by the Voting Panel, which
for the first time included the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
champion – in this case, Jimmie Johnson. The panel also included
representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, track owners from
major facilities and historic short tracks, media members, manufacturer
representatives, retired competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs),
recognized industry leaders and a nationwide fan vote conducted through
NASCAR.com – which counted for the 54th and final vote. In all, 54 votes
were cast, with two additional Voting Panel members recused from voting
as potential nominees for induction (Jerry Cook and Robert Yates). The
accounting firm of Ernst & Young presided over the tabulation of the
votes.
Voting
for next year’s class was as follows: Bill Elliott (87%), Wendell Scott
(58%), Joe Weatherly (53%), Rex White (43%) and Fred Lorenzen (30%).
The next top vote-getters were Jerry Cook, Robert Yates and Benny Parsons.
Results
for the NASCAR.com Fan Vote, in order of votes received, were Wendell
Scott, Bill Elliott, Benny Parsons, Rex White and Terry Labonte.
The five inductees came from a group of 20 nominees that included, in addition to the five inductees chosen:
Buddy
Baker, Red Byron, Richard Childress, Jerry Cook, Ray Fox, Rick
Hendrick, Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte, Raymond Parks, Benny Parsons,
Larry Phillips, O. Bruton Smith, Mike Stefanik, Curtis Turner and Robert
Yates.
As
was announced last December during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s
Week, potential Landmark Award recipients could include competitors or
those working in the sport as a member of a racing organization, track
facility, race team, sponsor, media partner or being a general
ambassador for the sport through a professional or non-professional
role.
The five nominees for the inaugural Landmark Award were France, H. Clay Earles, Parks, Ralph Seagraves and Ken Squier.
Class of 2015 Inductees:
Bill Elliott
In
a 37-year driving career, Bill Elliott compiled a list of accolades
that put him near the top of a number of NASCAR’s all-time lists. His 44
wins rank 16th all-time and his 55 poles rank eighth. But his most
prestigious accomplishment came in 1988 when he won the NASCAR premier
series championship with six wins, 15 top fives and 22 top 10s in 29
races. In addition, he won a record 16 Most Popular Driver Awards, in
part because of his excellence on the big stage; he won the Daytona 500
twice and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway three times.
Fred Lorenzen
Fred
Lorenzen was one of NASCAR’s first true superstars even though he was a
“part-time” driver, never running more than 29 of the season’s 50-plus
races. Lorenzen got his start in NASCAR as a mechanic with the famed
Holman-Moody team in 1960, but was elevated to lead driver by the end of
the year. Lorenzen won three races in only 15 starts the following
season. Lorenzen’s best overall season came in 1963 as he finished with
six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. Despite missing 26
races that season, he finished third in the standings. In 1965, he won
two of NASCAR’s major events – the Daytona 500 and the World 600.
Wendell Scott
One
of NASCAR’s true trailblazers, Wendell Scott was the first
African-American to race fulltime in NASCAR’s premier series, as well as
the first to win a NASCAR premier series race. Scott posted a
remarkable 147 top 10s and 495 starts during his 13-year premier series
career. He won more than 100 races at local tracks before making his
premier series debut, including 22 races at Southside Speedway in
Richmond, Virginia, in 1959 en route to capturing both the Sportsman
Division and NASCAR Virginia Sportsman championships. Part of Scott’s
NASCAR legacy extends to present day with NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity
program, the leading youth development initiative for multicultural and
female drivers across the motorsport industry since 2004.
Joe Weatherly
Joe
Weatherly won two championships (1962-63) and 25 races in NASCAR’s
premier series. But that’s only part of his story, which is long on
versatility. A decade earlier in 1952-53, he won 101 races in the NASCAR
Modified division, capturing that championship in 1953. He even tried
his hand in NASCAR’s short-lived Convertible Division from 1956-59
winning 12 times. When he won his first NASCAR premier series
championship, in 1962, he drove for legendary owner Bud Moore. When he
repeated as champion a year later, he drove for nine different teams.
Rex White
Consistency
was the hallmark of Rex White’s NASCAR career. He finished among the
top five in nearly a half of his 233 races and outside the top 10 only
30 percent of the time. White was a short-track specialist in an era in
which those tracks dominated the schedule. Of his 28 career wins in
NASCAR’s premier series, only two came on tracks longer than a mile in
length. Driving his own equipment, White won six times during his 1960
championship season, posting 35 top 10s in 40 starts. He finished in the
top 10 six of his nine years in the series including a runner-up finish
in 1961.
Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR:
Anne Bledsoe France
Anne
Bledsoe France, paired with her husband, NASCAR founder Bill France
Sr., would create what today is one of the largest and most popular
sports in the world. Anne played a huge role in the family business.
“Big Bill” organized and promoted races; she took care of the financial
end of the business. She first served as secretary and treasurer of
NASCAR, and when Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, served
in the same roles for the International Speedway Corporation. She also
managed the speedway's ticket office. France remained active in family
and business life until her passing in 1992.
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