Legends not scarce for first Hall of Fame class

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- To either side of one of the greatest collections of stock-car dignitaries ever to fill one stage, two of the most prolific machines to grace a racetrack loomed above everyone and everything else at Thursday's groundbreaking ceremony for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The automobiles rested on pedestals of a sort, and rightly so. On one side was the blue-and-red No. 43 STP Dodge of Richard Petty; on the other the black No. 3 Goodwrench Chevy driven by the late Dale Earnhardt.

Have any other cars in the history of NASCAR gained more fame?

The answer to that question, of course, is no. But it begged another round of questions: as in who should go in the Hall of Fame first? And how many should make up the first class when the Hall opens, presumably in the first quarter of 2010 if construction comes off as planned?

Legendary driver Darrell Waltrip, who has only added to his fame as an announcer since he climbed out of the racecar, thoughtfully examined those questions after the ground had been broken at the Hall site.

"In my mind, the Hall of Fame should be based on your statistics. That should be the most important part of it. Then you're going to have guys who have devoted their whole life to the sport and given it everything they've got. And there is some room in there for them, too," Waltrip said.

"But if you look at any other hall of fame, whether it's baseball, football or whatever, you have to have accomplished certain things to be eligible. And I think that's important here, too."

But who is going to decide how to set the criteria, and what should it be?

"I hope they go by wins," said Waltrip, laughing heartily at the idea.

Yet he was serious. Waltrip repeated that answer each time the question was posed to him, and it was asked by several different media outlets. Each time after he answered the same way, his grin grew wider and his laugh louder.

Waltrip, of course, ranks fourth all-time in race victories with 84 -- trailing only Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Bobby Allison (85).

Petty may have been on to something when he commented that Hall director Winston Kelley "probably wants to have me bronzed and stood up in a corner, where I could answer everyone's questions as they come by." But should Petty, NASCAR's all-time leader in driving championships with seven and race victories with 200, be the first one through the Hall doors?

Well, none of this will be decided for a while. When the questions of who decides who gets into the Hall and how many people will be in the first class were posed to NASCAR, the company line was detailed in a sheet handed out at the groundbreaking ceremony -- saying only that "NASCAR retains sole control over the nomination and election of inductees." And that "NASCAR will develop an induction process that is of the highest integrity and honors the rich heritage of the sport in the best possible manner."

Since NASCAR is being so high-handed and vague about the whole deal, here are some ideas for the folks who will be running the Hall show.

There are so many deserving folks that they can't all go in at once -- and induction ceremonies will lose their charm quickly if more than five go in at a time. So here's what NASCAR should do: start holding induction ceremonies long before the Hall is opened.

How about beginning next year in Charlotte as a grand finale to the next Lowe's Motor Speedway media tour, when a vast collection of media already is in place? This year's tour was attended by more than 200 media from 36 states.

Then another five could be inducted at the same time during January 2009, and five more just before or as the Hall opens in January 2010. It might even make sense, on a one-time basis, to take 10 in the first shot before scaling it back to five each year thereafter.

But remember, you want to give these inductees their proper moment in the sun. That's why it usually should be limited to no more than five inductees at a time.

So if that is the case, who are the first five to go in?

Waltrip thought about that and took a hard look at the No. 3 car looming on the pedestal just behind him the other day. Then he said of Earnhardt, "When they open the doors, he's probably going to be the first one in. And you know he's going to love that. That would make him very happy."

Well, first he would have to hold the door for someone else -- Petty.

The first one in would have to be Big Bill France, the founder of NASCAR, and that's a no-brainer. Without Bill France, the sport might have never taken off. Or at least it might have remained fragmented in such a way that one entity never would have caught on in all parts of America.

Petty should be next. And despite Waltrip's fascination with statistics, The King should go in not only because of 200 race victories in 1,185 career starts and those seven driving championships -- but also because he has been such a great ambassador of the sport through the years.

Next is Earnhardt, with his 76 victories in 676 starts before his tragic death in the 2001 Daytona 500. He continued to make valuable contributions to the sport even after his death, which led to numerous safety improvements for drivers. Making him go in as the No. 3 man on the list would make him smile more than going in first anyway, and all of these guys are members of the first class regardless.

Fourth on the list is Pearson, the driver who dueled so many times with Petty and racked up 105 wins of his own in just 574 starts as he picked when and where he ran over a 27-year career. Many think he is the most talented driver to ever get behind the wheel of a NASCAR machine.

And fifth on the inaugural list? Sorry Darrell. Sorry Bobby. You'll have to wait until the next group, along with Bill France Jr., Junior Johnson and maybe Ned Jarrett or perhaps a legendary wrench turner like Dale Inman.

The fifth guy should be long-time racing announcer Barney Hall. Not only has he done as much as anyone over the years to promote the sport, but his inclusion in the first class would set a nice precedent for those who gain fame in NASCAR's media arena.

Waltrip sounded like he would have no problem with putting Hall in sooner rather than later.

"If Richard Petty was at the first race in '49, then Barney was calling it. He's been around forever," Waltrip said. "The thing I love about Barney -- and I listen to him a lot, because the TV will be on but the radio will be turned up -- but there is a calmness and an assurance about what's going on when you hear Barney on the radio.

"When Barney says they're running bumper-to-bumper, then you know that they really are running bumper-to-bumper. He's not exaggerating. When he says they're banging off of each other, they really are banging off each other. Because Barney didn't have to exaggerate. He just told it like it was in a way that would keep you glued to that radio, baby."

Then again, should someone like Hall go in before Johnson or France Jr. or Allison, or, of course, Waltrip himself? Undoubtedly, many will scream no.

"It's going to be difficult," Waltrip admitted. "The thing about racers is that we've got soft hearts. We want everybody deserving to be in the Hall of Fame. It's going to be difficult to come up with the right criteria for getting in.

"The Hall can't be all things to all people. What makes getting the Hall of Fame so special is that you did something special to get in. But you've got to have guidelines to get in. ... You've got so many categories. It's not like football where you've got just the players and coaches. Here, we've got crew chiefs and pit-crew guys, we've got drivers, we've got announcers and administrators. Where do you stop? This Hall of Fame could have a lot of different departments, a lot of different categories, and there are going to be people well qualified in each of those categories."

It's going to be fun seeing how it plays out.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.