Back on April 11, the five new nominees needed to fill a slate of twenty-five names for the Class of 2013 were announced. They include:
Anne Bledsoe (Annie B.) France; Ray Fox; Wendell Scott; Ralph Seagraves; Rusty Wallace
Following are all 25 nominees, listed alphabetically:
Buck Baker, first driver to win consecutive NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series titles (1956-1957)
Red Byron, first NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion, in 1949
Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion
H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway
Tim Flock, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
Ray Fox, legendary engine builder and owner of cars driven by Buck Baker, Junior Johnson and others
Anne Bledsoe France, helped build the sport with husband Bill France Sr. Affectionately known as “Annie B.,” she is the first woman to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Rick Hendrick, 13-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
Jack Ingram, two-time NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion and three-time Late
Model Sportsman champion
Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600
Cotton Owens, driver-owner, won 1966 owner championship with David Pearson
Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner
Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
Les Richter, former NASCAR executive; former president of Riverside International Raceway
Fireball Roberts, 33 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series wins, including the 1962 Daytona
500
T. Wayne Robertson, helped raise NASCAR popularity as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company senior VP
Wendell Scott, NASCAR trailblazer was the first African-American NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series race winner, and first to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Ralph Seagraves, formed groundbreaking Winston-NASCAR partnership as executive with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Herb Thomas, first two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion, 1951, ’53
Curtis Turner, early personality, called the “Babe Ruth of stock car racing”
Rusty Wallace, 1989 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
Leonard Wood, former crew chief for Wood Brothers, revolutionized pit stops
Whew! Okay, I'm sure you each have your favorites or least favorites from that list, and so do I, but that's not what we're discussing here either. Allow me, if you will, to go one step further and cite the names of the 21-person Nominating Committee that chose the five new additions to the list of "possibles."
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
NASCAR Hall of Fame: Executive Director Winston Kelley; Historian Buz McKim.
NASCAR Officials: Chairman/CEO Brian France; Vice Chairman Jim France; Senior Vice President Paul Brooks; President Mike Helton; Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton; Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell; Competition Administrator Jerry Cook; former Vice President Ken Clapp.
Track Owners/Operators: International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa Kennedy; Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell; Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage; Atlanta Motor Speedway President Ed Clark; former Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George; Dover Motorsports CEO Denis McGlynn; Pocono Raceway board of director member Looie McNally; Bowman Gray Stadium operator Dale Pinilis; Riverhead Raceway operators Jim and Barbara Cromarty (1 vote); former Toyota Speedway at Irwindale operator Jim Williams; Rockford Speedway owner Jody Deery.
All information given so far comes directly from the NASCAR Hall of Fame's own website, which is simply, www.nascarhall.com. If you Click Here, you'll find the voting criteria for the Class of 2010, Class of 2011 and the Class of 2012, which was inducted last January. If you access the 2012 option, you'll find the names of both the 21-person Nominating Committee and the "Voting Panel", which contains 34 additional names, and of course, that lowly single fan vote, for a total of 56 names.
And that, gentle readers, is what brings me here today. When the announcement of the new Nominees and the date of Voting Day for the class of 2013, May 23, was announced back on April 11, I cut them some slack for only listing the Nominating Committee at that time, but here we are, over a month later, with the Fan Vote about to close and the final announcement due one week later, and still no clue as to the identities of the mysterious Voting Panel that will consider the Class of 2013.
This isn't my first rodeo, and when it comes to Internet searches, I can hold my own with the best of them, but nowhere can I find so much as a single name from that elusive list. Why? They were listed last year, right along with their kinsmen, the Nominators. It always piques my interest when someone appears to be hiding something from me. How about you? Did NASCAR just "forget?" Somehow, that seems very unlikely to me.
Has anyone out there heard a single word about exactly who will be deciding which five of the twenty-five are inducted into the Hall next January? If so, please leave a comment or email me at nas3car@gmail.com. Curiosity is near to killing this old cat, and I'm fixin' to pitch one rippin' hissy-fit if I don't find out who's on that Voting Panel! The only thing I know for sure is that I am not on it.
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