NASCAR Hall of Fame

Members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame

By Richard Tix

Starting in 2010 NASCAR started introducing 5 NASCAR racing legends a year into the Hall of Fame. Here is a list of each Class and there year they were introduced. 

Class of 2016

• Jerry Cook- Driver
• Bobby Isaac- Driver
• Terry Labonte- Driver
• O. Bruton Smith- Executive/Promoter
• Curtis Turner- Driver

Class of 2015

• Bill Elliott- Driver
• Fred Lorenzen- Driver
• Wendell Scott- Driver/Owner
• Joe Weatherly- Driver
• Rex White- Driver/Owner

Class of 2014

• Tim Flock- Driver
• Jack Ingram- Driver
• Dale Jarrett- Driver
• Maurice Petty- Engine Builder
• Fireball Roberts- Driver

Class of 2013

• Buck Baker- Driver
• Cotton Owens- Driver/Owner
• Herb Thomas- Driver
• Rusty Wallace- Driver
• Lenard Wood- Crew Chief/Engine Builder

Class of 2012

• Cale Yarborough- Driver
• Darrell Waltrip- Driver
• Dale Inman- Crew Chief
• Richie Evans- Driver
• Glen Wood- Driver/Owner

Class of 2011

• Bobby Allison- Driver
• Ned Jarrett- Driver
• Bud Moore- Owner
• David Pearson- Driver
• Lee Petty- Driver

Class of 2010

• Dale Earnhardt- Driver
• Bill France Jr.- Executive
• Bill France Sr.- Executive
• Junior Johnson- Driver/Owner
• Richard Petty- Driver

2015 Hall of Fame Class: Bill Elliott

By Richard Tix

NASCAR Behind the Wall will take a short look at each 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee. These articles will be spread out in time until the 2015 Hall of Fame induction (mostly depending on how much free time I find).

Previous Wendell Scott, Fred Lorenzen, Joe Weatherly, and Rex White

Last up on NASCAR Behind the Wall's look at the 2015 Hall of Fame Inductee's is Bill Elliott. I decided to leave Bill for last not because his accomplishments where any greater then the rest of these men, but because I actually got to enjoy some of his greatness myself.

I never saw Bill Elliott race in his prime in person, but he was part of a cast of drivers that were flying around the oval on TV when I first started to love NASCAR growing up. His career spanned from 1976 until 2012 but most of his full time work in Cup came from 1983-2003.

In Bill's first full season (raced 30 of 30 races) he didn't win until the final race of the season at Riverside (his first ever career win). However, he has 22 top 10's and 12 top 5's during those 30 races which launched him into a career of winning.

Just two years later (1985) Awesome Bill won a total of 11 races, 16 top 5's, 18, top 10's, an amazing 11 poles, all in 28 starts. He won and had the pole in just under 40% of the races that season. 7 different times in 1985 he won the pole and the race including the Daytona 500, Talladega, Darlington twice, and Michigan twice (Pocono was the other). Yet, in the end he finished the season 2nd in points to Darrell Waltrip but 101 points. DW had only 2 more top 5's and 3 more top 10's on the season (So when fans yell for the old days where the best driver always won, well look no further than 1985). To add to it, Bill had 8 more wins (11 to 3), 6 more poles (10 to 4), and lead almost 1000 more last (1920 to DW's 969).

But, Bill just went on doing his work year in and year out. That's how he was, he had a great demeanor about him and was always a cool behind the wheel and off the track. Which, is probably why he won a record 16 most popular driver awards during his career.

In 1988 "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" finally got his break after his let down in 1985. Bill won 6 races, 15 top 5's, 22 top 10's, and 6 poles on his way to his first -and what would be his only- NASCAR Cup Championship. Only 24 points separated he and Rusty Wallace at the end of the season where Elliott led 1,598 laps during 29 races.

1988 was Bill's only Championship but he finished in the top 3 of the standings 5 times in his career. He ended his career running 828 races and winning 44 (sixteenth all time) races. He also ended with 175 top 5's, 320 top 10's, and 55 poles (eighth all time).

Million Dollar Bill seemed to either have a tast for the big race or get lucky. He was a skilled driver, so it definitely was not all lucky, but in his career he won two Daytona 500's (1985 and 87), the Brickyard (2002), three Southern 500's (1985, 1988, and 1994) and the Winston 500 twice (1985 and 1986). In 1985 he became "Million Dollar Bill" after winning the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, and the Winston 500 at Talledaga giving him the Winston Million.

What always strikes me when I think of Bill Elliott is that his career intersected with part of the major rise in NASCAR as a sport. He couldn't have become a star at a better time and he was the perfect star for NASCAR. He was humble and brought many novice fans into the sport that are still around today. If it were possible for fans to still vote for him in the Most Popular Driver Award, he might just still win, that's the kind of impact he had. ""You sit back and think, that's just crazy that people still support him even today," Chase Elliott (his son and NASCAR Nationwide rookie driver) said. "Even with how much things change, they're still rolling around with a No. 9 license plate on their cars. That's really cool. That makes you realize how many people supported him."

The impact the 2015 Hall of Fame Inductee's have made can still be seen in NASCAR today and for Bill it's two fold, his son Chase is a rising star himself. It's great for myself as a fan, because I started watching Bill and now get to see a humbled young kid (Chase) grow in the sport as well. Bill is such a humbled man that you might ask him what his greatest accomplishment was, and he would probably mention something about his family. That's just how awesome, Awesome Bill was and still is to this day.

Need more? Check out Elliott's Path from Runny-Noised Kid to Hall of Famer on NASCAR.com


Some Extra Bill Elliott Photos:

Congratulations Bill Elliott on your 2015 Hall of Fame Induction

2015 Hall of Fame Class: Rex White

By Richard Tix

NASCAR Behind the Wall will take a short look at each 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee. These articles will be spread out in time until the 2015 Hall of Fame induction (mostly depending on how much free time I find)

Previous 2015 HoF Driver Articles: Wendell Scott, Fred Lorenzen, and Joe Weatherly


Forth up on NASCAR Behind the Wall's quick reviews of the Hall of Fame Class of 2015 is Rex White. Rex's racing life began as a little boy when he was diganosed with Polio. White also grew up during the great depression so the last thing he thought would bring him fame and a career was a car. He just thought car's were a way of tranportation.

Rex White started in NASCAR in 1956 where he ran 24 of 56 races on the year. He finished with 14 top tens and three top fives that year.  The following year White only ran 9 of the 53 races but finishing in the top ten six times (top five four times).

In 1958 thinks started to turn into Rex White's favor. He moved to join up with Louis Clements who at the time was his partner and lead mechanic. At this time they started to build there own late model Chevy's to compete in NASCAR. That season they ran in 22 of the 51 races and White won his first race of his career which was also the first race of the 1958 season. White won two total races in 1958 with 13 top fives and 17 top tens while accumulating 7 Pole's.

1959 came and went somewhat like 1958. White ran 23 races of the total 44 and had 5 total wins. He also notched 11 top fives and 13 top tens.

Rex White will also go down in NASCAR history as a Champion. In 1960 White won his first and only championship along with becoming NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for the season. Along the way he won 6 races, finished top five 25 times, and top ten 35 times all in 40 races. He only finished outside the top ten an amazing 5 times in 1960 (14, 14, 12, 11, and 23).

The next two season's Rex White combined to win 15 races while also finishing top five 47 times, top ten 61 times, 16 Poles, all in 84 total races. In a two year span White only missed out on a top 10 23 times. During his entire career White finished in the top ten almost 70% of the time. He ran 233 career races, had 28 total wins, 110 top fives, and 163 top tens.

His run from 1959 to 1963 was one for the books. In that time span he had more wins then any other driver at the time. What makes it an even greater accomplishment is that he did it against some notable drivers like Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, Joe Weatherly, and Fireball Roberts.

Some Extra Rex White Photo's

Congratulations Rex White on you 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction

2015 Hall of Fame Class: Joe Weatherly

By Richard Tix

NASCAR Behind the Wall will take a short look at each 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee. These articles will be spread out in time until the 2015 Hall of Fame induction (mostly depending on how much free time I find).

Previous: Wendell Scott and Fred Lorenzen

Next up in the NASCAR Behind the Wall Hall of Fame Spotlight is Joe Weatherly. If anyone knew how to take advantage of the spotlight it was Joe Weatherly. Joe was one of the biggest characters of his day in NASCAR. his personality came out so much so that he even earned the nickname "Clown Prince of Stock Car Racing."

Joe was definitely known for his personality but he was not using that to hide any lack of talent on the track. Before even hitting the NASCAR top tier he had over 100 race win in NASCAR's Modified Division. He also won a championship in this division in 1953.

The Modified Division isn't the only place he tried his racing ability at. During his lifetime he also has a good run in the American Motocycle Association winning 3 Nationals between 1946-50. In 1998 he was also inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame. On top of that he also gave the convertible series a try during 1956-59 while winning 12 times.

It didn't matter what he was racing, he seemed to find a way to win and do it his way. It was in 1958 that his NASCAR career started to really get going though. That is the season in which he got his first win in the top tier. In the next 7 years he won 25 times, had 93 top 5's, and 129 top 10's in 191 races. That means during his last 7 years of racing in NASCAR he finished in the top 10 67.5% of the time while winning 13.1% of the time.

In 1962 and 1963 he won his first and second Championship. Both seasons are still the only years in NASCAR that he ran a full schedule. In 1962 he was running for Bud Moore and in 1963 he ran for 9 different teams. These Championships came just at the right time as he was named the most popular driver in 1961.

In 1964 Joe Weatherly passed away after incurring head injuries due to a racing accident at Riverside International Raceway in just the fifth race of the season. His untimely death (and a Richard Petty wreck in 1970) were major reasons that NASCAR started to mandate window nets on cars.

Even though Joe's passing was a shock and way too early his spirit and personality lives on in NASCAR. He was one of the first drivers to truly be known as much for his lively persona as his driving skills on the track. He will forever be remembered as being a two time NASCAR Champion and the "Clown Prince of Stock Car Racing."


Some extra Joe Weatherly Photo's:

Congratulations to Joe Weatherly and his Family. Cherish his memory, personality, and great accomplishments.

2015 Hall of Fame Class: Fred Lorenzen

By Richard Tix

NASCAR Behind the Wall will take a short look at each 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee. These articles will be spread out in time until the 2015 Hall of Fame induction (mostly depending on how much free time I find). 

Previous 2015 HoF Driver Articles: Wendell Scott


Lets start here, Fred Lorenzen came before my time (raced from 1956-1972). Even though he came before my time that does not mean he was not a big part of NASCAR history.  Fred was one of the first superstars in NASCAR. Now, that has been said about a few drivers but Fred really was a star.

He was a very popular driver at the time and along the way picked up many nicknames, including "Golden Boy" and "Fast Freddie." He reached this fan popularity even though he never ran a full season in NASCAR's top tier. The closest he ever got was when he ran 29 of 55 races in 1963. In that season he had 6 wins, 21 top 5's, and 23 top 10's in those 26 races.

When looking back at historic NASCAR drivers it is always a "what if" kind of outlook. 12 years is not a long career as a NASCAR driver and the fact that he never was really close to competing full time make his accomplishments all the more astonishing.

In 1961 Fred Lorenzen joined the Holman Moody team to become there lead racer. Fred was puzzled as to what he had done to deserve the spot, but he didn't complain. Well, Ralph Moody must have known something because 1961 started a 7 year streak where Lorenzen had at least 1 win. In that 7 year stretch Fast Freddie accumulated 26 wins, 61 top 5's, and 65 top 10's in 112 races.

If you are keeping track, that means over half the time (58%) he finished in the top 10 and top 5 (54.5%). Also during that stretch he won a race 23.2% of the time which is one of the best streaks in NASCAR. During this same stretch he won countless prestigious races on the NASCAR schedule including the 1965 Daytona 500.

The last season of his amazing 7 year stretch, 1967, he only ran 5 races (winning 1 and finishing top 5 a total of 3 times). He did not race again in the top tier until 1970 when he made his comeback. His come back was to little avail as he simmered out in his last 3 years just enjoying racing and bouncing around from car to car.

Fred Lorenzen's 7 year streak was something to remember him by. Since he never ran more than 29 races in a season he never competed for a title but he knew how to win and how to win the big races. If you think of it this way he was racing for money and not points as he came out strong in big events. He may have never won a title but he was one of the first superstars and was definitely one of the most popular drivers of his time.

Some extra Fred Lorenzen Photo's:

Congratulations Fred Lorenzen on you 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction