The 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame Ballot

[CIRF]

Once again the clowns who are in charge of the NASCAR Joke of Fame have snubbed Smokey Yunick leaving him conspicuously absent from the 2020 inductee's ballot. Smokey should have been inducted with the 2nd or 3rd class. It is literally amazing that the motorsports press and media are not making this a huge deal. I reckon NASCAR would spank if any of them said what needs to be said about this travesty. Everyone that has the slightest knowledge and understanding of NASCAR history and development knows Smokey should be inducted long before now.

power boy/TS FAN/gutless wonder no doubt is licking his poster sized portrait of Stewart repeatedly given that ol' Stewart is on the ballot. LOL!

My favorite in this class is Bobby Labonte. He sealed the deal that ol' arnhead wouldn't be given that oh so coveted 8th championship in 2000. Plus, Bobby is a class act, start to finish!!

Here's the NASCAR HoF ballot for the 2020 induction class.




The 20 nominees:

Sam Ard, NASCAR Xfinity Series pioneer and two-time champion

Buddy Baker, won 19 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500

Neil Bonnett, won 18 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, including consecutive Coca-Cola 600 victories

Red Farmer, three-time Late Model Sportsman champion; 1956 Modified champion

Ray Fox, legendary engine builder, crew chief and car owner

Harry Gant, winner of 18 NASCAR Cup Series races, including two Southern 500 victories

Joe Gibbs, combined for nine car owner championships in Cup and XFINITY series

John Holman, won two NASCAR Cup Series championships as co-owner of Holman-Moody Racing

Harry Hyde, 1970 NASCAR Cup Series championship crew chief

Bobby Labonte, won a championship in both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series

Hershel McGriff, 1986 NASCAR west series champion

Ralph Moody, won two NASCAR Cup Series championships as co-owner of Holman-Moody Racing

Marvin Panch, won 17 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 1961 Daytona 500

Jim Paschal, 23 of his 25 NASCAR Cup Series wins came on short tracks

Larry Phillips, only five-time NASCAR weekly series national champion

Ricky Rudd, won 23 times in NASCAR Cup Series, including the 1997 Brickyard 400

Mike Stefanik, winner of record-tying nine NASCAR championships

Tony Stewart, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, two-time Brickyard 400 winner

Red Vogt, the first master mechanic of NASCAR, and a founding member

Waddell Wilson, won three NASCAR Cup Series championships as an engine builder

[Raceready]

Was it Janet Guthrie that also got shunned ? she could drive circles around Danica Patrick ! Any kind of car, any track, anytime ! Anyone that had a 6th place on the old Bristol surface cant be that bad !

[Barbecueboy]

Was it Janet Guthrie that also got shunned ? she could drive circles around Danica Patrick ! Any kind of car, any track, anytime ! Anyone that had a 6th place on the old Bristol surface cant be that bad !

They had a special on her a couple weeks ago that I'm sure was a rerun but was very interesting to watch .....she was tough as a two dollar steak.

[CIRF]

They had a special on her a couple weeks ago that I'm sure was a rerun but was very interesting to watch .....she was tough as a two dollar steak.

BBQB, I watched that special, as well. I was just a small child the first time she qualified for the Indianapolis 500. Justifiably Janet received a lot of publicity when she actually qualified for the 500. My Mom and my 2 older sisters took great interest in Janet qualifying for Indy and they cared very little about racing, but they kept an eye on what was going on with Janet.

Janet was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega, AL back in the mid 2000's and the TV special BBQB speaks of showed her acceptance speech. She's a class act and you're right Raceready, she could put Danica to shame given a competitive ride. Same with Sarah Fisher.

[ZERO25]

Glad to see Ray Fox on the ballot!

My dad worked for him in the 50/60's. He was a class act and understood how to make Cup cars fast!

[CIRF]

Glad to see Ray Fox on the ballot!

My dad worked for him in the 50/60's. He was a class act and understood how to make Cup cars fast!

ZERO, I met Mr. Fox at the Legends of Racing get together at the Drive-In Christian Church on A1A in Daytona Beach. He was as gracious as he could be. We had a great discussion about the 1960 Daytona 500 that was won by Junior Johnson driving a Ray Fox prepared 1959 Chevy with a 348 c.i. W-block engine. Ray proceeded to tell me how they were totally outclassed by Smokey Yunicks' 1959 and 1960 Pontiac's driven by Bobby Johns and Fireball but Junior had figured out the whole drafting concept and won with a much smaller and underpowered engine.

That race was before my time but it was a hoot hearing how Mr. Fox and his crew put that car together in a very short time. I wouldn't be surprised if your Dad was part of that effort.



At the very same reunion I had the honor of meeting Herb Thomas (not long before he passed away) and Rebel Mundy. I also had the distinct pleasure of looking over, and setting in, an authentic, never restored, Carl Kiekhaefer 1955 Chrysler C300 that had been raced on the beach by Tim Flock. The fellow that owned it was from New Hampshire, I believe. He said it's the only surviving authentic '55 Kiekhaefer Chrysler. Luckily my wife took pictures!

[ZERO25]

ZERO, I met Mr. Fox at the Legends of Racing get together at the Drive-In Christian Church on A1A in Daytona Beach. He was as gracious as he could be. We had a great discussion about the 1960 Daytona 500 that was won by Junior Johnson driving a Ray Fox prepared 1959 Chevy with a 348 c.i. W-block engine. Ray proceeded to tell me how they were totally outclassed by Smokey Yunicks' 1959 and 1960 Pontiac's driven by Bobby Johns and Fireball but Junior had figured out the whole drafting concept and won with a much smaller and underpowered engine.

That race was before my time but it was a hoot hearing how Mr. Fox and his crew put that car together in a very short time. I wouldn't be surprised if your Dad was part of that effort.



At the very same reunion I had the honor of meeting Herb Thomas (not long before he passed away) and Rebel Mundy. I also had the distinct pleasure of looking over, and setting in, an authentic, never restored, Carl Kiekhaefer 1955 Chrysler C300 that had been raced on the beach by Tim Flock. The fellow that owned it was from New Hampshire, I believe. He said it's the only surviving authentic '55 Kiekhaefer Chrysler. Luckily my wife took pictures!

Technically, John Masoni was the car owner when JJ won the 500.

I heard the story from my dad many times. Mr. Masoni called Ray Fox approximately 2 weeks before the 500 and offered Ray $10,000 to build and crew the car. My dad was actually standing there when Ray received the call, and after the call, Ray asked my dad what they should do.My dad asked Ray could he make any money and ray said yes. The rest is history!

fwiw.....Masoni bought the car at a local dealer and my dad and Ray picked it up and drove it back to Rays shop!

[CIRF]

Technically, John Masoni was the car owner when JJ won the 500.

I heard the story from my dad many times. Mr. Masoni called Ray Fox approximately 2 weeks before the 500 and offered Ray $10,000 to build and crew the car. My dad was actually standing there when Ray received the call, and after the call, Ray asked my dad what they should do.My dad asked Ray could he make any money and ray said yes. The rest is history!

fwiw.....Masoni bought the car at a local dealer and my dad and Ray picked it up and drove it back to Rays shop!

Great story, ZERO!

IIRC I heard an interview with Junior many years later and he said he was very close to packing it in and going back to North Carolina. He didn't think Ray and his guys could get the car ready and he was skeptical he could be the least bit competitive with the 348 engine. Junior said in this interview that the 348 was basically a truck engine and he didn't think he had any chance at being able to keep up with the Pontiac's.

I think I've heard that the dog track located off of turn #1 of DIS was pretty heavily involved with that '59 Chevy. The dog track was the sponsor and they really wanted a car in the 500 that year.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Hey SURF, can you believe that Tony Stewart is on that list???? Who would have thunk it????

Wonder who will chime in first????

[CIRF]

Hey SURF, can you believe that Tony Stewart is on that list???? Who would have thunk it????

Wonder who will chime in first????

Clay, are you tryin' to hurt my feelin's by not spellin' my screen name correctly??? If that's what you're tryin' ta' do ya' done did it! LOL! But I still like ya', Clay.

Regarding Stewart being on the ballot there is no particular surprise in that. And I reckon ol' Stew should be in on the first or second ballot he appears on............that is if there is any particular reason to give any credence to the whole NASCAR HoF concept. I don't, but it is what it is.

As far as the gutless wonder/power boy/TS FAN is concerned, he has taken to hatin' on me for delicately askin' questions he doesn't have the guts to answer publicly. LOL! Thus, he claims to have caused me to disappear so he prolly won''t be chimin' in givin' the fact that if he did he'd once and for all expose himself as being a bit of a fibber in addition to being gutless! LOL!

If you're still my buddy Clay you could quote this post in the event of the remote chance that he isn't fibbin'. LOLOL!!

[Clayton_Wetter]

Clay, are you tryin' to hurt my feelin's by not spellin' my screen name correctly??? If that's what you're tryin' ta' do ya' done did it! LOL! But I still like ya', Clay.

Regarding Stewart being on the ballot there is no particular surprise in that. And I reckon ol' Stew should be in on the first or second ballot he appears on............that is if there is any particular reason to give any credence to the whole NASCAR HoF concept. I don't, but it is what it is.

As far as the gutless wonder/power boy/TS FAN is concerned, he has taken to hatin' on me for delicately askin' questions he doesn't have the guts to answer publicly. LOL! Thus, he claims to have caused me to disappear so he prolly won''t be chimin' in givin' the fact that if he did he'd once and for all expose himself as being a bit of a fibber in addition to being gutless! LOL!


If you're still my buddy Clay you could quote this post in the event of the remote chance that he isn't fibbin'. LOLOL!!

I was expecting TS to be first, actually. Must be a sale going on at Wally World!!!

[Raceready]

Hey SURF, can you believe that Tony Stewart is on that list???? Who would have thunk it???? Wonder who will chime in first????

I'm the type that thinks that any HOF candidate should be entered on their popularity with common sense type of people. Therefore the people that worked hard and were grateful to be where they are should get in first. Labonte is a shoe in IMO. Hard luck handsome Harry Gant for certain. He was criticsized at first because he was always finishing in 2nd place. The critics would say " Always a bridesmaid, never a bride". After he won 2 crown jewels in the Southern 500 along with being called Mr. September in 1991 for winning all four races in that month, he gained even more popularity among the common sense fans in the sport. Harry was such a hard working rascal that his hobby was being atop buildings installing roofs in the southern sweltering heat in his off time. A happy go lucky guy that always had a big smile on his face and came across as a class act. Sam Ard, Baker, Harry Hyde etc. So many should be in because they were respected and loved by fans because they were friendly and appreciated their fans. There is one on the current ballot that should never be inducted because of his holier than thou attitude. Anybody that beats little people up, crashes people on purpose, defames older more senior drivers with twice as many wins, backs over top of cars after a race is over, steps out onto a track and throws his helmet into another drivers windshield, runs over another driver that he himself had wrecked should not ever be admitted for sure. Lets keep the admissions for the clean ambassadors of the sport that helped it grow and not the few that are responsible for dragging it down.