Fabulous first-timers: Five new names among 20 Hall nominees
Twenty people were announced Friday as nominees for the 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class and, from the group of 20, five will be voted in on May 21.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame nominating committee also chose five nominees for the inaugural Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
First-timers named to the list of 20 include two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Terry Labonte; 1988 NASCAR Cup champ and 16-time Most Popular Driver Bill Elliott; nine-time NASCAR champion Mike Stefanik; 19-race winner Buddy Baker; and championship winning engine builder and team owner Robert Yates.
The nominees were selected by a 22-person nominating committee consisting of representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks, as well as one at-large member. The committee's votes were tabulated by the accounting firm of Ernst & Young.
Terry Labonte won a pair of top series NASCAR titles.
Following are the 20 nominees for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, listed alphabetically:
Buddy Baker, won 19 times in NASCAR's premier (now Sprint Cup) series, including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500
Red Byron, first NASCAR premier series champion, in 1949
Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series
Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion
Bill Elliott, 1988 premier series champion, two-time Daytona 500 winner and 16-time Most Popular Driver
Ray Fox, legendary engine builder and owner of cars driven by Buck Baker, Junior Johnson and others
Rick Hendrick, 14-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series
Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier series champion
Terry Labonte, Two-time NASCAR premier series champion
Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600
Raymond Parks, NASCAR's first champion car owner
Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier series champion
Larry Phillips, only five-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion
Wendell Scott, NASCAR trailblazer was the first African-American NASCAR premier series race winner, and first to be nominated for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
O. Bruton Smith, builder of Charlotte Motor Speedway and architect of Speedway Motorsports Inc.
Mike Stefanik, winner of record-tying nine NASCAR championships
Curtis Turner, early personality, called the "Babe Ruth of stock car racing"
Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR premier series champion
Rex White, 1960 NASCAR premier series champion
Robert Yates, won NASCAR premier series championship as both an engine builder and owner
The five nominees for the inaugural Landmark Award are as follows:
H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway
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.
Raymond Parks, NASCAR's first champion car owner
Ralph Seagraves, formed groundbreaking Winston-NASCAR partnership as executive with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Ken Squier, legendary radio and television broadcaster; inaugural winner/namesake of Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence
