NASCAR Hall of Fame members

The 35 men who already have been enshrined at the NASCAR Hall of Fame:

Class of 2010

Dale Earnhardt: Won 76 Cup races, the first in 1979 at Bristol, Tenn., and the last in 2000 at Talladega, Ala. … Won seven Cup championships, tied for most all-time with Richard Petty. The mark had been thought unreachable. … Known for his aggressive, controversial driving style, which earned him the nickname “The Intimidator.” … Son of NASCAR pioneer Ralph Earnhardt, and father of popular NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Richard Petty: Sport’s all-time victory leader with 200 in 1,185 starts. … Became a driver after working on pit crew for his father, 2011 inductee Lee Petty. … First victory came in Charlotte in 1960, at Charlotte Fairgrounds, and the last was July 4, 1984, at Daytona International Speedway. … Won seven Cup championships, tied for most all-time with Dale Earnhardt. … One of the most recognizable figures in U.S. sports.

Junior Johnson: Ascended from moonshine hauler during the 1950s to NASCAR’s pinnacle, winning the Daytona 500 in 1960. … Had 50 victories as a driver (1953-66), 140 wins and six Cup championships as a team owner (1966-95). … Won three consecutive championships as an owner with driver Cale Yarborough (1977-79). Won three more with Darrell Waltrip (1981-82, 1985).

Bill France Sr.: Moved family to Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1935 and began promoting races on the storied Beach Course. … Began the formation of NASCAR in 1947. … Proposed construction of Daytona International Speedway in 1953 and opened it for a 500-mile race in 1959. … Protected NASCAR’s interests with an iron will, leading some to call the sanctioning body a dictatorship.

Bill France Jr.: Son of NASCAR founder “Big Bill” France Sr., Bill Jr. learned motorsports promotion and speedway construction from his father. … Became NASCAR vice president in 1966 and president in 1972, when his father retired. … Secured sponsorship from Winston and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1972, starting the sport’s boom. … Expanded International Speedway Corp., led by the France family, to 12 major tracks.

Class of 2011

David Pearson: Retired after the 1986 season with 105 victories and 113 poles, including an incredible record 11 straight first-place starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1973-78. … Won titles in NASCAR’s top series in 1966, ’68 and ’69, the only years during a long career when he ran a full schedule. He took the first championship with team owner and Spartanburg friend Cotton Owens, the other two with Charlotte-based Holman-Moody. … Won the 1976 Daytona 500 in a memorable duel with Richard Petty.

Bobby Allison: Had 85 wins on NASCAR’s top circuit. … Joined team owner and inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Junior Johnson in 1972 to form a potent combination that won 10 races, finished second 12 times and took 11 poles. … Won the Daytona 500 in 1978 while driving a Ford for fellow Hall of Fame inductee Bud Moore. … Won the Cup championship in 1983. … Edged son Davey Allison by two car-lengths to win the 1988 Daytona 500 and become the classic’s oldest winner at age 50.

Bud Moore: During the late 1940s, pursued his interest in auto mechanics after returning from World War II in Europe, where he served as an infantryman and won two Bronze Stars and five Purple Hearts. … Fielded the winning car in the inaugural Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in 1950, for driver Joe Eubanks. … Served as crew chief for Buck Baker’s drive to the 1957 championship in NASCAR’s Grand National Division, which evolved into the Cup series. … Won the 1962 and ’63 Grand National titles with Joe Weatherly as driver, scoring 14 victories. … Also fielded cars for Darel Dieringer, Tiny Lund, Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt and Morgan Shepherd. … Sold his operation in 1999 and retired to his farm near Spartanburg.

Ned Jarrett: Retired in 1966 with 50 victories in 352 races. … Won national championships in NASCAR’s Sportsman Division in 1957 and ’58. That circuit evolved into the Xfinity Series. … Captured the 1961 Grand National championship, winning only once but posting 34 top-10 finishes in 46 starts. ... Won the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington by 14 laps, still the largest margin of victory in NASCAR history. … Jarrett won 12 other races in 54 starts that year and claimed his second driving championship. … Later became a radio/television analyst and expert commentator.

Lee Petty: Started NASCAR’s first race for the Grand National Division on June 19, 1949, at Charlotte Speedway, a three-quarter-mile dirt track. … Captured Grand National championships in 1954, ’58 and ’59, winning seven, seven and 11 races during those seasons, respectively. … Won inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959. However, he wasn’t declared the winner for three days after an incredibly close finish with Johnny Beauchamp. … In a cruel twist of fate, the cars of Lee Petty and Beauchamp sailed out of Daytona International Speedway in the 500 of 1961. The crash gravely injured Petty, essentially ending his driving career. … He recovered to lead Petty Enterprises, fielding most of the cars son and inaugural Hall of Fame Inductee Richard Petty drove to 200 victories and seven series championships.

Class of 2012

Cale Yarborough: Totaled 83 Cup victories during his career, which is sixth all-time. ... His 69 poles rank fourth all-time. … Won the Daytona 500 four times (1968, ’77, ’83-84), a mark that ranks second only to Richard Petty’s seven. … Was the first driver to win three consecutive series championships (1976-78), a record that stood until 2009 when Jimmie Johnson won his fourth consecutive title.

Glen Wood: Laid the foundation for the famed Wood Brothers racing team as a driver in the Cup series and continued his run as a successful owner. … Co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing, which has amassed 98 victories in 1,450 races. … Wood Brothers Racing, which dates to 1950, remains active. … Team’s all-time roster of drivers is a virtual who’s who of NASCAR and includes David Pearson, Curtis Turner, Marvin Panch, Dan Gurney, Tiny Lund, Parnelli Jones, Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Fred Lorenzen and Bill Elliott.

Richie Evans: Competed in an estimated 1,300 modified races and won about 475 during a career that spanned from 1973 until his death in 1985. … The recognized “king” of Modified racing, Evans captured nine NASCAR Modified titles during a 13-year span, including eight in a row in 1978-85. … His posthumous induction is a victory for all who race on short tracks and work on them at small garages for the joy of it.

Dale Inman: Served as crew chief for legendary driver and inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Richard Petty for nearly three decades. … Set records for wins (193) and championships (eight) by a crew chief. … Won seven championships with Petty (1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1979), and another in 1984 with Terry Labonte. … Credited with revolutionizing the crew chief position. … Standout year was 1967, when he and Petty won a NASCAR-record 27 races – 10 consecutively. … All 27 victories were in the same car they built a year earlier.

Darrell Waltrip: Made 809 starts in what now is the Sprint Cup Series from 1972 to 2000. … A three-time Cup series champion (1981-82, ’85), Waltrip won all three with legendary driver/owner and inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Junior Johnson. … Waltrip is tied with Bobby Allison for fourth all-time in series victories with 84. … His 59 poles rank fifth all-time in Cup history. … He won the 1989 Daytona 500 victory in a Rick Hendrick-owned Chevrolet. … He now works as a TV analyst for Fox Sports.

Class of 2013

Buck Baker: Started NASCAR’s first race in what was to evolve into the Cup series on June 19, 1949, at Charlotte Speedway, a three-quarter-mile dirt track. He finished 11th. … Won 46 times in what then was known as NASCAR’s Grand National Division. … Captured series championships in 1956 and ’57, the first driver to claim back-to-back titles. … Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, an honor shared by son Buddy, the winner of 19 big-time races.

Cotton Owens: Known as “The King of the Modifieds,” scoring approximately 100 feature victories. … Won NASCAR’s “beach race” in Daytona in 1957, becoming the first driver to average more than 100 mph (101.541) in the process. … Retired as a driver in 1962 and started fielding cars for others, including future Hall of Famers Junior Johnson and David Pearson. … Pearson won a championship in 1966 driving for Owens. … Overall, 25 men drove cars owned and engineered by Owens. … Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Rusty Wallace: Won 55 races during his career, ninth-most in history, and was the Cup Series champion in 1989. … Wallace won a Cup race in 16 consecutive seasons, the last 2001, that is tied with Ricky Rudd for the second-longest streak in history. … Won 10 times in 30 races in 1993 but finished second to Dale Earnhardt in the points chase. … Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Leonard Wood: Revolutionized pit stops, reworking jacks so they were lighter and could lift the car with fewer pumps of the handle. Stops went from almost a minute to just 25 seconds. … In 1966, his crew, with Cale Yarborough driving, won six times, including a sweep of the 500 and 400 at Daytona and 500-mile victories at Atlanta and Darlington. … With David Pearson driving the No. 21 Fords and running a limited schedule of mostly superspeedway events, triumphed 44 times, including 11 of 19 starts in ’74 and 10 of 22 in ’77. … Wood Brothers won 2011 Daytona 500 with rookie Trevor Bayne. … The Wood Brothers organization lists 98 Cup series victories.

Herb Thomas: Started NASCAR’s very first race in what was to eventually become the Cup series on June 19, 1949, at Charlotte Speedway, a three-quarter-mile dirt track. … Scored 48 career triumphs, tied for 13th-most all time in NASCAR’s top division. … Drove the “Fabulous Hudson Hornet,” the No. 92 that he was to help make famous. … Won series titles in 1951 and 1953. … A 1956 crash at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds track, a half-mile dirt layout in Shelby, fractured his skull and essentially ended his racing career.

Class of 2014

Tim Flock: Was one of NASCAR’s pioneers, competing in the sanctioning body’s first major-level race at Charlotte Speedway, a three-quarter mile dirt track, on June 19, 1949. He finished fifth. … Scored his first victory in what now is the Sprint Cup Series at same speedway on April 3, 1950. … Won 15 of 63 starts in 1951-52, taking the circuit’s championship in 1952. … Drove and won with a Rhesus monkey nicknamed “Jocko Flocko” in his car in ’53. … Won the championship and 18 races in ’55, a record for a season that stood until Richard Petty won 27 times in 1967. Flock’s 19 poles in ’55 remain a season record. … Overall, Flock scored 39 wins and 39 poles in 187 starts spanning 1949-61. ... Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Jack Ingram: Competing in as many as 60 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman races per season from Maine to Florida, Ingram won three straight series championships, 1972-74. … He did this while maintaining his cars out of an Asheville shop, often towing them to and from tracks himself. … His seemingly tireless work and determination brought a nickname, “Iron Man,” which endures to this day. … When NASCAR upgraded the division in 1982 to a series sponsored by Budweiser, he again took the circuit’s season-long championship and was named the series’ most popular driver. … Added another title in 1985 for five overall. … The first driver from what now is the Xfinity series to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Dale Jarrett: First Cup triumph came Aug. 18, 1991, edging Davey Allison by 10 inches in the Champion 400 at Michigan International Speedway, a race that perhaps ranks as the track’s all-time thriller. … Swept his Chevrolet past Dale Earnhardt on the last lap to win the 1993 Daytona 500 by 0.16 seconds, one of his three victories in NASCAR’s biggest race (1996, 2000). … Also won Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600 and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where his winning team started the “kiss the bricks” tradition. … Won the Cup championship in 1999 on the basis of four wins and 24 top-five finishes in 34 starts. … Cup career produced 32 victories, 260 top-10s, 16 poles and winnings of $59,812,759.

Maurice Petty: As a teenager, served – along with brother Richard – on the pit crew of their father, NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty, during part of his career that produced 54 victories and three championships. … Drove part-time 1960-64, logging 26 starts. He posted seven top-five finishes and 16 top-10s. Had a best finish of third. … Grave injuries suffered in a violent crash in the 1960 Daytona 500 led him to concentrate on building engines for Petty Enterprises. … As head engine builder he was nicknamed “Chief.” … His engines powered most of Richard Petty’s 200 victories, his championships and also the wins scored by Petty drivers Jim Paschal, Buddy Baker and Pete Hamilton. … First to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an engine-builder.

Fireball Roberts: Made his first start in NASCAR’s Grand National Division (now the Sprint Cup Series) at Daytona Beach and the Road Course on Feb. 5, 1950, completing only eight of 48 laps. … Roberts triumphed five times in 1956, starting a streak of nine years with at least one victory. … He started only 10 races in 1958, winning six. … Had major wins in the 1958 and 1963 Southern 500s at Darlington Raceway and the 1962 Daytona 500. … Roberts amassed 33 victories and 35 poles in 206 starts. … In 1964, Fireball was the first driver from NASCAR featured in a Sports Illustrated story. … During the 1964 World 600, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body in a fiery crash. … Died 39 days later after developing pneumonia.

Class of 2015

Bill Elliott: Became a superstar in 1985, claiming the first Winston Million Bonus by winning three of NASCAR’s Big Four Races – The Daytona 500, Winston 500 at Talladega, Ala., and Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C. He missed only in Charlotte’s Coca-Cola World 600. … Nicknamed “Awesome Bill From Dawsonville.” … In ’85, won 11 of 28 starts, all the victories coming on speedways of more than a mile. … Scored the last of his 44 victories in the 2004 Pop Secret 400 at N.C. Motor Speedway in Rockingham, where his big-time NASCAR career had begun. … Chosen by fans as “Most Popular Driver” a record 16 times.

Fred Lorenzen: Won 26 times in 158 career starts, with 84 top-10 finishes and winnings of $496,472. … Moved South and joined the Holman & Moody operation for the ’61 season, forging a storied pairing. Lorenzen won three times in 15 starts in his rookie season. … Won 23 more times over the next six seasons, excelling on superspeedways. Perhaps his best season was 1964, when he took eight checkered flags in only 16 starts. … Retired after the 1967 season but attempted a comeback with other teams from 1970 through ’72, running 29 races without winning. … NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver in 1963 and ’65.

Rex White: Won 28 times in 233 starts, with 36 poles, and was the 1960 Grand National Division champion. … Moved up to NASCAR’s top series, then known as the Grand National Division, in 1956, posting 14 top-10 finishes in 24 starts with a best showing of third. … Posted his first victory in the 1958 season opener at Champion Speedway, a one-third-mile paved track in Fayetteville. … Won one more time in ’58, then took 26 more checkered flags over the following four years while driving a No. 4 gold and white Chevrolet nicknamed “Yellow Thunder.” … He won six times in 1960 and finished among the top 10 in an amazing 35 of 40 races, winning his only NASCAR title. … Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Wendell Scott: First start at NASCAR’s top level was in the Spartanburg 200, Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds, March 4, 1961. Started ninth and finished 17th when failing oil pressure sidelined his Chevrolet after 52 of 200 laps on a half-mile dirt track. … Only victory came in Jacksonville 200, Dec. 1, 1963, at Jacksonville (Fla.) Speedway Park, a half-mile dirt track. Started 15th and won by two laps, but suspicious scoring led to Buck Baker getting the checkered flag. After four hours, NASCAR officials conceded that Scott actually had run 202 laps and won the race, with Baker second. ... The triumph made Scott the only African-American winner in the history of NASCAR’s major division, dating to 1949. ... Some observers consider him “the Jackie Robinson of auto racing.” … Overall, he had 495 starts from 1961 to 1973, with one victory, 20 top-five finishes, 147 top-10s and winnings of $226,563.

Joe Weatherly: In 230 major NASCAR-level starts, had 25 wins and 18 poles, racing from 1952 to 1964. … Was the most popular driver in 1961. … Won the 1962 series championship while driving for Hall of Famer Bud Moore with nine victories and an astonishing 30 other top-five finishes in 52 starts. … With no regular ride in ’63 for various reasons, he drove for nine teams and repeated as champion with three victories, 17 other top-five finishes and 15 more in the top 10 in 53 starts. … Career earnings of $247,418 … During the 1951 and ’52 seasons, Weatherly won an amazing 101 times in NASCAR’s Modified Division to become national champion both years. He earlier had won three American Motorcycle Association championships.

Class of 2016

Jerry Cook: Made his name in modifieds, winning six NASCAR modified championships, including four consecutively between 1974 and 1977. … Made 1,474 starts and won 26 poles and 342 races during his career, which ended in 1982. … Won nine track championships across three states. … After retirement, he served as the modified series’ director when it began in 1985 and remains with NASCAR as competition administrator.

Bobby Isaac: His 49 career poles rank 10th all time, and he won 19 in a single season (1969), still a NASCAR record. … Was runner-up for the premier series championship in 1968 and won the title in 1970 behind 11 wins, 32 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes in 47 starts. … His 37 premier series wins rank 19th all-time. … In 1971, Isaac set 28 world-class records on the Bonneville Salt Flats, many of which remain today. … Died Aug. 14, 1977.

Terry Labonte: A two-time champion in NASCAR’s premier series, and a two-nickname star. Early in his career he was known as the “Iceman” for his coolness under pressure. Later, he became known as the “Iron Man” thanks to his 655 consecutive starts, a record that stood until 2002. … The 12 years between Labonte’s two championships (1984 and 1996) stands as a NASCAR record. … One of only six drivers with championships in two decades. … Labonte has 22 wins and won 27 poles in 890 career starts. He officially retired at the end of the 2015 season.

O. Bruton Smith: Longtime chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., he bought his first race car at the age of 17 and a year later promoted his first stock car race, in Midland. … Built Charlotte Motor Speedway, which became the foundation of SMI, and currently owns eight NASCAR tracks hosting 12 premier series races each year. … Took SMI public in 1995 to become the first motorsports company to be traded at the New York Stock Exchange. … Is active in child-related causes with his philanthropic foundation Speedway Children’s Charities.

Curtis Turner: Called by some the “Babe Ruth of stock car racing,” was among the fastest and most colorful competitors in the sport’s early years. … Competed in NASCAR’s first premier series race, in Charlotte in 1949, and earned the first of his 17 career victories in his fourth start, at Langhorne (Pa.) Speedway. … Although many of his wins came on short tracks and dirt, he did win the 1950 Southern 500 at Darlington and the first American 500 at Rockingham Speedway in 1965. … Remains the only driver to win two consecutive races from the pole while leading every lap. … Turner died Oct. 4, 1970.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 9:33 PM with the headline "NASCAR Hall of Fame members."