Jarretts share in pioneer's crowning achivement

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Shortly after Ned Jarrett's name was announced Wednesday as a member of the second induction class to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Dale Jarrett darted through the crowd to embrace his father.

It was a special moment. Not just for father and son, but for anyone privileged enough to see it unfold.

Class of 2011

Relive the moments as Brian France reveals the second five voted to the Hall of Fame.

• Selection 1: David Pearson
• Selection 2: Bobby Allison
• Selection 3: Lee Petty
• Selection 4: Ned Jarrett
• Selection 5: Bud Moore

"It was somewhat reversed from some of the times I was able to share his success -- his first Daytona 500, and when he won his championship," Ned said of son Dale, the 1999 Cup Series champion. "Now it's a reverse situation, where he was able to come and share a moment with me.

"Even though he was alive when I was racing -- he was born in '56 and I didn't start my [full-time] career in Grand National [now Sprint Cup] until '59 -- he didn't know a lot about what was going on then. Even when I retired, he was only 9 years old. So he didn't get to share in a lot of big moments back then. Or I guess he did, but he wasn't old enough for it to mean as much to him then. This meant a lot to both of us here [Wednesday]."

Dale Jarrett admitted that at first he wasn't certain he had heard NASCAR chairman Brian France call his father's name.

"It was a little bit surreal. You weren't sure if you were actually hearing that," Dale said. "It took me a minute to get myself together and go over to congratulate my dad. Again, it's because I know how much this means to him -- not because this is what he set out to do. When he was doing what he was doing, there wasn't anything like this. He wasn't doing it for the recognition. He was doing it for all the right reasons."

More than numbers

Ned Jarrett put up his share of numbers during a driving career that was relatively brief. He drove full time in the equivalent of what today is the Cup Series for only nine seasons, retiring at age 34 after reaching Victory Lane 50 times and capturing two championships.

But his surprise selection -- at least most people were surprised -- was because the voting committee clearly has decided that being inducted into this Hall is about more than mere numbers. How else can Wednesday's exclusion of drivers Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough be explained? Their dual exclusion came at the expense of the inclusion of the elder Jarrett, Lee Petty and Bud Moore -- three men whose contributions to the sport reached far beyond the steering wheel of a race car.

Humpy Wheeler, who is on the 52-member voting panel (a 53rd vote was determined through NASCAR.COM online voting), admitted as much.

"There was a lot of consideration given to what you did off the track as well as what you did on the track -- because this sport had such a tough time getting off the ground," Wheeler said. "It took a lot of work by a lot of people. Some people would do that work and some people wouldn't; they didn't have time for it.

"So is this an auto-racing achievement thing or is it a PR thing? Well, really, it's all of it together. Whether you like it or not, that's the way it is." (Continued)