Ten prominent omissions to the list of HOF nominees

With the addition of Jerry Cook, Dale Inman, Jack Ingram, Fred Lorenzen and T. Wayne Robertson, the list of nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2011 is complete.

The committee did an excellent job by including Inman, who won eight championships as crew chief for the legendary Petty Enterprises operation; and Robertson, a marketing genius who helped shape NASCAR's growth from a relatively unknown regional sport to the multi-million dollar juggernaut it is today.

So who's missing from the list?

Opinions are like belly buttons, in that everybody has one. But there are still some prominent omissions from the list of 25 nominees that deserve recognition. Just like paring the nominating list, it's hard to choose just 10, but here they are in alphabetical order:

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Harold Brasington

David Caraviello recently touched upon the story of Brasington, who fulfilled his dream of building the first southern superspeedway to rival Indianapolis. His vision of a 500-mile stock car race at Darlington Raceway -- what would eventually become the Southern 500 -- came decades before similar ventures were commonplace. He wound up selling his share of the track shortly thereafter because of mounting bills, but he continued to have an interest in the sport. And over time, his contributions began to be recognized, not only by Darlington but by the sport as a whole.

Bobby Isaac

Catawba, N.C., native Isaac may not have had much formal education, but he earned a master's degree in racing. After both of his parents died while he was young, Isaac took jobs in sawmills and at an ice plant before the racing bug hit. He went to the new Hickory Motor Speedway as a spectator and then and there decided to pursue racing as a career. After six years of struggling, Isaac landed a full-time ride with Nord Krauskopf in 1968 and promptly won 36 races over the next five seasons, including the 1970 championship. Isaac was also a great qualifier, winning a total of 49 poles, including 19 in one season. He also set several world speed records at Bonneville.

In 1973, he was leading at Talladega when he claimed to have heard a voice telling him to get out of the car. He pulled into the pits and quit. Four years later, Isaac would have a heart attack while racing at Hickory and die after being taken to the hospital.

Carl Kiekhaefer

Kiekhaefer, an engineer who founded Mercury Outboards, decided to use racing to promote his business. To say he was successful would be an understatement. He was the Rick Hendrick of his day.

In a two-year span, Kiekhaefer's powerful Chrysler team won 52 races, including a stretch of 16 consecutive. Along the way, Kiekhaefer revolutionized several aspects of the sport. He was the first to use paper oil filters. His crew wore matching uniforms. His cars were hauled to the track in transporters. His cars were among the first to have prominent national sponsorship.

And yet, Kiekhaefer's reign was short-lived. When NASCAR changed the rules in 1957 in an effort to level the playing field, Kiekhaefer packed up and left, never to return. But much of what he pioneered is commonplace today.

Banjo Matthews

Matthews was a pretty fair racer in his day, but his forte was building cars. The native of Akron, Ohio, was a master at his craft, constructing three-quarters of the winning cars over an 11-year period beginning in 1974, including all 30 races in 1978 and four consecutive championships. As a car owner, Matthews won nine times, including three Firecracker 400s. And he was credited with dozens of Modified victories during his driving career.

But it was his attention to detail, particularly when it came to chassis design, which made Matthews a household name in the business. Smokey Yunick, a legendary mechanic and car builder in his own right, called Matthews "the Henry Ford of race cars." (Continued)