CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- An outpouring of strong emotions accompanied Sunday's induction of five legends of stock-car racing into the newly opened NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Suspense wasn't one of those emotions. The inaugural class had been well-known and well-publicized -- and deservedly so. Included were NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., lauded for his vision of turning unregulated beach racing into America's premiere motorsports series; NASCAR's second president and CEO, Bill France Jr., remembered as tough taskmaster who poured his soul into NASCAR; seven-time Cup champions Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt; and 50-time race winner Junior Johnson, who also claimed six Cup titles as a car owner and was celebrated as the symbol of the sport's roots.

“

No one, and I mean no one, deserves to be in the Hall of Fame more than Bill France Sr.

”

-- JOHN CASSIDY

The ceremonies were alternately solemn and light-hearted but consistently genuine. In inducting his legendary father, Kyle Petty used the opportunity for some good-natured ribbing.

"When I was growing up, our house was right next door to the race shop," Kyle Petty said of his father. "He would go to work in the morning, at 7 or 8. He would come home for lunch when I was young, have lunch, and then he would lay down in the middle of the living room floor, sleep till 3 or 4 in the afternoon, get up and go back to work.

"I never found that strange until you look at his career, and you think, 'The man won 200 races, seven Daytona 500s and seven championships working half days.' That may be the greatest statistic of all time to me."

The King, clad in his trademark cowboy hat and dark sunglasses, deflected attention to his accomplishments in his speech, preferring to praise his parents, his family, the Frances, his team, media and fans.

"I never did anything by myself," said Petty, NASCAR's all-time winningest driver with 200 victories, who closed with "I guess I'm going to be like Gomer Pyle. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Vice chairman of NASCAR, Jim France, inducted his father, Bill France Sr., and said the promoter-turned-NASCAR founder would have been thrilled to see the racing series had far exceeded his visions of creating a national sport.

"If Dad were here today ... he would be proud mostly for NASCAR," Jim France said. "The NASCAR Hall of Fame in many ways is the ultimate tribute to my father, the hopes and dreams that he had for our sport."

NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France and International Speedway Corp. CEO Lesa France Kennedy did the honors for their father, Bill France Jr., after a stirring introduction from longtime friend Rick Hendrick. France Jr. who took the reigns from his father and guided NASCAR through a 30-year period of extreme growth

"He loved this sport. He was passionate about it. He built it literally from the ground up," France Kennedy said. "When I say 'the ground up,' I'm talking about a backhoe at Daytona International Speedway.' (Continued)