If time period when raced is the primary criteria, then Dale Earnhardt, Sr and Darrell Waltrip should not be in either. Maybe not Cale Yarborough. Rusty isn't my favorite guy, but he did win a lot of races and a couple championships. I do agree there are other drivers who should be in the HOF sooner, like Buck Baker, Fireball Roberts, Red Byron, ****** Turner, Tim Flock, and perhaps Wendell Scott. I'm still ambiguous over Scott. Strictly going by his driving record, he has no claim, but he was an iconic man who wouldn't give up. I admired him very much, even tried to help on his pit crew at Bristol, but was told I was too young (16).
The 5 that will be going in are Rusty, Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Leonard Wood and Herb Thomas. I would replace Rusty with one of the guys you mentioned plus Joe Weatherly first. I don't know how Nascar's rules are set up, if they're like other sports where you have to be retired for so many years first before entering so I don't know where some of the owners fall in line such as Hendrick and Childress. At the rate of 5 people per year, it won't take long to get everyone in anyway so it's probably a moot point. I would just like to see some of the pioneers get in first but you're right, that shouldn't be and it isn't criteria. I wonder what they'll do in a few years when all the champions are in, do you see a point in time where guys like Harry Gant, a driver with less than 20 wins and no championships are considered or do you think they'll cut back and skip years of inducting members if no one is HOF quality?
I forgot Joe Weatherly, one of my favorites back in the day. Herb Thomas is HOF worthy. Being a series champ isn't required now, Junior Johnson. There are drivers such as Fred Lorenzen, ****** Turner, Fireball, and Mark Martin who should make the HOF.
I think it's a damn shame T Wayne Robertson isn't already in the HOF. If not for T Wayne bringing Winston into the fold in the late 70's there would absolutely not even be a HOF to speak of. I'm indifferent towards Rusty - I think he shouldn't be in yet either but I "think" the committee has to bring one of the bigger drivers of the 80s-90s in about every year for relevance purposes. Not trying to be crude but you don't want to induct 5 dead guys every year - they need that younger marquee guy going in to help out. I have no idea who'll be in next year in that category - maybe no one - but if not then I'm sure they'll roll out Childress or Hendrick to fill that void as a more relevant figure going into the HOF. Now, I heard that Fireball Roberts TIED Buck Baker for the 5th and final spot this year and then they made them re-vote. Why? For God's sake just put 6 in this year - if there's a tie just add that extra guy. How often will that really happen? I know they don't want to over saturate the HOF with too many names too soon but IMO they should have inducted 10 per year for the first 5 years then drop it down to 5. There's hundreds of names that could go into the HOF since it's the NASCAR HOF and encompasses all forms of NASCAR sanctioned racing. JMO
I quit worrying about the proper "order" in which they were being inducted when Allison went in a year before Waltrip*. I figure everyone that deserves to get there will eventually get there, especially with the incredibly loose and seemingly low standards they're using for their Hall of Fame. Do agree it'd be nice to get as many of the older guys in asap before they, you know, die. *To me, Allison, Waltrip and Yarborough would have been a nice group to go into together. Their win totals are very close together, they combined for seven championships in a span of 10 years and di the bulk of their winning against each other in roughly the same time frame.
I don't think there should be a picking order based on time, but still, there are several pioneers and early drivers/owners who deserve induction more than some who are in or are getting more votes. The concern I have is if they are not voted in before those voting in the future become too young to be aware of their history, they never will be. Many are already dead.
