NASCAR announced the five inductees for the 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame Wednesday in Charlotte North Carolina. NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton announced the class and Landmark Award winner, Wednesday evening in the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s “Great Hall.”
The 2017 class features inductees including drivers and team owners all of whom enjoy immense popularity in the NASCAR industry and with NASCAR fans. The 2017 class is Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Mark Martin, Raymond Parks and Benny Parsons. In addition, Martinsville Speedway founder H. Clay Earles won the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
The class was chosen by the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel consisting of NASCAR executives, industry members and members of the media. They met in a closed-door session and debated, then voted to determine the five inductees chosen from 20 nominees. The voting showed Benny Parsons, a 1973 champion who became a commentator for NBC and TNT until his passing in 2007, at the age of 65, was the most popular with 85% of the vote.
Team owner Rick Hendrick whose organization is recognized as one of NASCAR’s most successful and owns an all-time record 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner championship titles – six with Jimmie Johnson, four with Jeff Gordon and one with NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte, received 62% of the vote.
Mark Martin never won a title but finished second in the championship standings five times.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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