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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A quarter century ago, tragedy struck the NASCAR world twice in a span of a few months.

Things came full circle Wednesday, as Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki joined Jeff Gordon, Jack Roush and Roger Penske as inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2019 on one of NASCAR’s happiest days.

The two drivers both lost their lives in separate 1993 aviation accidents, Kulwicki in April and Allison in July. The former was the defending Cup Series champion at the time; the latter perhaps on his way to his first title, fifth in points at the time of his passing.

RELATED: NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2019 selected

Both were fan favorites, and their losses and the impressions on the sport they left behind have been felt for quite some time.

“I felt like Davey eventually would be in there because he was good; his life was short, but he really did good,” NASCAR Hall of Famer and Davey’s father Bobby Allison said Wednesday at the Hall. “He did good with a race car, but he also gathered the people, too. Fans loved him. I had a taste of that — when he died, the mailman delivered 1,300,000 pieces of mail to my house in five weeks.”

Bobby Allison, part of the second Hall of Fame class in 2011, was clearly moved while speaking about his son, pausing at times to gather his thoughts. It was a fitting and joyous ending to a story that could have — should have — had plenty more chapters.

“Yes,” Allison said when asked if this was his proudest moment as a father. “I didn’t even really think of it in terms of that, but yes. And he was the ultimate son. He’d say, ‘Hey dad, how can I get better?’ I thought about that along the way. I’ve known a lot of youngsters along the years and seen a lot of talent, but I never heard anyone say that. He always was my buddy. Worked there in the shop for me, all hours of the night. Going through tough times and trying to figure it out to get something going better, he’d be there with me.”

Thirty-two-years old at the time of his passing, the eldest of Bobby Allison’s four children was well on his way to putting up a career that could have rivaled that of his father. Driving for Yates Racing and Class of 2018 member Robert Yates, Davey had come off two straight five-win seasons and was among the favorites for title consideration in 1993. All told, he won 19 races in just 191 starts for an impressive winning clip of 10 percent.

VIDEOS: Kulwicki’s legacy lives | Davey Allison joins father in Hall

It’s hard to extrapolate what his final numbers could have looked like had he been able to finish out his career, but it’s not out of the question that Davey could have put a significant dent in his father’s whopping 84 career wins. Regardless, his resume — which included a win in the 1992 Daytona 500 and a runner-up finish to his dad in the 1988 running of the Great American Race — was enough to secure his place in NASCAR history.

For Kulwicki, the collective sigh of relief Wednesday was tangible, as NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France announced Kulwicki as the fifth, and final, member of the Class of 2019.

An inspiration for every small budget, everybody-in-the-shop-knows-everybody-in-the-shop kind of team, Kulwicki and his AK Racing squad laid the groundwork for how to succeed at NASCAR’s highest level — and actually take home a title.

“I’m so happy,” Tony Gibson, car chief for Kulwicki’s 1992 championship run, told NASCAR.com via phone on Wednesday. “It’s been going on for so many years trying to get into that thing and in my opinion, he should’ve been in a long time ago. He was the little engine that could.

“We had a really, really small group of people and a really small budget, competing against guys that had $4 million and $5 million dollars for a year, which at that time was a lot of money. We were sitting there at $1.4 million a year. To be able to do it with the small group that we had … when we went to the race track, we were all there; there was nobody left (at the shop) to continue working. We would all go to the race track and come home and work. It was a seven-day-a-week, year-round kind of job as a small group.

“Alan was one of those guys that he had a dream and he had a plan and you either wanted to be a part of it or you didn’t want to be a part of it; you had to believe in it. Some of his stuff was pretty crazy and off the wall and you’re like ‘Man, does he really think we can compete with these guys?’ But he was like, ‘If you guys believe in me and believe that we can be successful, we can do it. I just need you to stick with me.’ He was a very smart person and spent a lot of time thinking and planning things out … we learned how to do a lot with less.”

PHOTOS: Top career moments for Class of 2019 selectees

Famous for his “Polish Victory Lap” at what is now ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Kulwicki made his impact known and worked his way up perhaps quicker than many thought he could, given the team’s circumstances.

He would receive offers to race for higher budget teams with more resources, but it wasn’t the Kulwicki way. He stuck by his team. He stuck by his people.

“What else can you say? My goodness, this is great … ” said Kulwicki’s longtime public relations guru Tom Roberts. “I’m so happy and so thrilled. I wish that Thelma (Kulwicki, Alan’s stepmother) was here. I know that she’s up there and she’s got a big smile on her face. This one, I feel like, is a win for the little guy. I’m just so blessed that I get to carry his name on … this is just like the icing on the cake. I’m happy, but I’m happy for so many people.

“Tony Gibson texted me about an hour beforehand and said ‘I got 600 cars to get ready. I can’t come, but my heart will be there.’ All the Kulwicki team, all the Kulwicki-ites through all the years, this is one for so many people. So appreciative.”

While it would have been incredible to see these two stalwarts of NASCAR folklore accept their nominations in person, they each had members of their community there to receive the honor on their behalf. It’s clear how revered they were not just by the fans, but by those closest to them.

“I don’t know (how we’ll reflect on this in the coming years),” Allison said. “I feel so good about it right now. I’m just really, really pleased. I’ll be smiling for a long time.”

MORE: Everything you need to know about the Class of 2019

Posted on by Zack Albert

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With a rousing 96 percent vote for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Jeff Gordon was a stone-cold lock for election from the moment his name first appeared on the ballot. But Gordon, still the picture of grace and decorum, demurred at the notion that Wednesday’s honor was a shoo-in.

“I mean, you never know until they announce it,” Gordon said after headlining the Class of 2019 with a record percentage of the vote. “I was trying not to get my hopes up or get too caught up into all of it. But yet today having my family, so many people reach out to me once the announcement came, that was fantastic.”

RELATED: Jeff Gordon heads powerhouse Hall of Fame Class of 2019

Voting Day for Gordon meant a celebration with his wife, Ingrid, and their children, Ella and Leo. But it also meant confirmation of his place in stock-car lore, a place among the immortal inductees, whose ranks swelled to an even 50 with Wednesday’s vote.

Very few drivers have reached the status of household names, figures that transcend motorsport. Petty and Earnhardt are the only other names that spring quickly to mind. Stats and on-track accomplishments alone were enough to merit Gordon’s inclusion, but the 46-year-old driver was the rare star who nimbly shifted from race track to the entertainment realm.

Wednesday, Gordon was in firmly on the racing side, celebrating the recognition and enjoying the achievement.

“I’m so honored,” Gordon said. “I mean, I’ve been coming here to the Hall the last several years, being a part of other inductees. Every time I’ve had a chance to come here, especially when it’s people that you worked with, like Ray Evernham, Rick Hendrick, people that you know, that you competed against like Mark Martin, those are when you start to realize how special this is. NASCAR has made it so special.

“I’ve always said that timing has been on my side in my career. The timing couldn’t be better than right now to be going into the Hall of Fame. This is very special.”

For Gordon, timing was part of a recurring theme that helped shape his illustrious career. The timing of meeting the right people steered him from a path toward Indianapolis-style cars to the Buck Baker Driving School and headlong into the stock-car world.

“To me, I was a kid from California that was racing sprint cars and midgets in Indiana, came down to North Carolina hoping and dreaming of something,” Gordon said. “But I didn’t know much about NASCAR racing.”

MORE: Hall of Fame Class of 2019 through the years | Career highlights

That background, Gordon said, made Wednesday’s honor all the more surreal. His path in NASCAR eventually led to crew chief Ray Evernham and car owner Rick Hendrick, who preceded Gordon into the Hall of Fame. Their combination yielded multiple championships, victories by the dozens and a foundation that launched Gordon into the elite.

“Those two are like family to me,” Gordon said. “To be able to follow them is very, very, very special to me. They’re obviously extremely deserving. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for those two. Besides my parents, I owe those two everything, how they contributed to my life in more than just racing, but especially racing, when you look at the success we had on track.”

It was Evernham who suggested another fortunate aspect of Gordon’s timing, the opportunity to share the celebration surrounded by his family during a special broadcast at FOX Sports’ studios.

“I am super, super happy for him to be recognized,” Evernham said. “It was kind of a no-brainer, but when you look at everything he’s done and how much of an ambassador he’s been for the sport on top of everything else, he’s a pretty phenomenal guy.

“And I’m happy that this is something he can share with his children. I know that’s important to him because they didn’t get to see all of the wins and all of the championships. They got to see some and do some things, and this I’m sure will be the highest honor of his career and he gets to share that with his family, so really happy for him.”

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 23, 2018) – NASCAR announced today the inductees who will comprise the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2019. The five-person group – the 10th since the inception of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010 – consists of Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Jeff Gordon, Roger Penske and Jack Roush. In addition, NASCAR announced that Jim Hunter earned the 2019 Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. The distinguished group will be honored during the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Feb. 1, 2019.

 

The NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met today in a closed session at the Charlotte Convention Center to debate and vote upon the 20 nominees for the induction class of 2019 and the five nominees for the Landmark Award.

 

The Class of 2019 was determined by votes cast by the Voting Panel, including representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks, media members, manufacturer representatives, competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs), recognized industry leaders, a nationwide fan vote conducted through NASCAR.com and, for the fifth year, the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion (Martin Truex Jr.). In all, 57 votes were cast, with two additional Voting Panel members recused from voting as potential nominees for induction (Ricky Rudd and Waddell Wilson). The accounting firm of EY presided over the tabulation of the votes.

MORE: Gordon highlights class | Photos of all nominees | Career highlights

Voting was as follows: Jeff Gordon (96%), Jack Roush (70%), Roger Penske (68%), Davey Allison (63%) and Alan Kulwicki (46%).

 

The next top vote-getters were Buddy Baker, Hershel McGriff and Waddell Wilson.

 

Results for the NASCAR.com Fan Vote, in alphabetical order, were Davey Allison, Buddy Baker, Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon and Alan Kulwicki.

 

The five inductees came from a group of 20 nominees that included, in addition to the five inductees chosen: Buddy Baker, Red Farmer, Ray Fox, Harry Gant, Joe Gibbs, John Holman, Harry Hyde, Bobby Labonte, Hershel McGriff, Ralph Moody, Larry Phillips, Ricky Rudd, Kirk Shelmerdine, Mike Stefanik and Waddell Wilson.

 

Nominees for the Landmark Award included Janet Guthrie, Barney Hall, Alvin Hawkins, Hunter and Ralph Seagraves.

 

The Class of 2019 Induction Weekend is set for Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019, through Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The official Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. The Class of 2019 marks the 10th class and a total of 50 legends inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. To celebrate the momentous occasion, new events and special programs have been added throughout the extended weekend.

 

Tickets to Induction Ceremony events begin at $75 per person (plus tax and applicable service fees). Tickets go on sale on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at 10 a.m. ET. A special pre-sale will be available to NASCAR Hall of Fame members Wednesday, May 30, 2018, through Friday, June 8, 2018. To learn about becoming a NASCAR Hall of Fame member, visit nascarhall.com/membership. For additional details about the Class of 2019 Induction Weekend schedule and ticket packages, visit nascarhall.com/inductees/induction-ceremony.

 

Class of 2019 Inductees:

Davey Allison

Davey Allison was born with speed. The son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison grew up more interested in football, but could not escape the racing bug, following his father into the family profession. The younger Allison honed his skills at local Alabama tracks, getting his big break in 1987, taking over for legendary driver Cale Yarborough in Ranier-Lundy’s Ford Thunderbird. Allison spent no time continuing the family’s legacy, compiling two wins, five poles and nine top fives in his full-season debut to capture 1987 premier series rookie of the year. Allison won 19 races and 14 poles, including the 1992 Daytona 500, before his tragic death in a helicopter accident in 1993.

Jeff Gordon

Blessed with once-in-a-generation talent and charisma, Jeff Gordon helped take NASCAR from a regional sport to the mainstream. Gordon took NASCAR by storm in the 1990s, becoming the youngest driver in the modern era to win a premier series title as a 24-year-old in 1995. He went on to win three more championships (1997, ’98, 2001). In 1998, Gordon led the Rainbow Warriors – named for his colorful No. 24 Chevrolet – to a modern era-record 13 wins. Overall, he won 93 races, which ranks third on the all-time wins list. Gordon is a three-time Daytona 500 champion and won the Brickyard 400 a record five times.

Alan Kulwicki

Noted Wisconsin short-track racer Alan Kulwicki moved to Charlotte in 1984 with nothing but a pickup truck, a self-built race car and the hopes of competing in NASCAR’s highest series. He had no sponsor and a limited budget. Kulwicki burst onto the scene as the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year with his self-owned AK Racing team. Throughout his career, Kulwicki received lucrative offers from powerhouse race teams, but insisted on racing for himself. That determination eventually led to his first of five career victories at Phoenix in 1988. His signature season was his championship-winning 1992 campaign, where Kulwicki overcame a 278-point deficit with six races remaining to capture the NASCAR premier series title.  Kulwicki never got the chance to defend his title, dying in a plane crash in 1993.

Roger Penske

A true captain of industry, Roger Penske has steered one of the most successful motorsports ships in the sport’s history. Penske, who celebrated his 50th anniversary in racing in 2016, reached a major milestone and collected a prestigious award during the golden anniversary season. That year, he reached 100 wins in NASCAR’s premier series and capped off the season by receiving the Bill France Award of Excellence. Penske won the premier series championship in 2012 with driver Brad Keselowski, and owns two Daytona 500 wins with Ryan Newman in 2008 and Joey Logano in 2015. And from 2013-15, Penske tied a record with three consecutive owner championship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Off the track, Penske likewise makes an indelible mark. He built the two-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California in 1996, and previously owned Michigan International Speedway.

Jack Roush

Once a Michigan-based drag racing owner and enthusiast, Jack Roush made his best motorsports decision when he turned south in 1988 to start a NASCAR team. Since beginning Roush Racing (now known as Roush Fenway Racing), the graduate-level mathematician turned engineering entrepreneur has won a record 325 races across NASCAR’s three national series. Overall, Roush boasts five NASCAR national series owner championships, while his drivers have won an additional three driver championships. Roush has displayed a prowess for discovering and developing talent. He helped Matt Kenseth (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004) grow into premier series champions and also jumpstarted the careers of Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

 

Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR:

 

Jim Hunter

Throughout his career, Jim Hunter left an indelible mark on NASCAR and those associated with the sport.  His wit and wisdom helped guide NASCAR’s growth during portions of six decades as a company executive, track president, public relations professional and journalist. Hunter broke into the motorsports business as a member of the media in the 1950s. He worked as the sports editor of the Columbia Record, was an award-winning reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and columnist for Stock Car Racing magazine. He moved to the public relations side of the business with Dodge in the 1960s before serving as public relations director at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. In 1993, he became president of Darlington Raceway and corporate vice president of the International Speedway Corporation. He remained at Darlington until 2001 when he accepted an offer from Bill France Jr. to return to NASCAR to lead an expanded public relations effort aimed at responding to the needs of burgeoning media coverage.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Editor’s note: NASCAR.com’s Zack Albert is among the 60 voting members — including the fan vote — casting ballots to elect the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019. This year marks his first time participating in Voting Day. Here, he reveals the reasoning behind the five choices on his ballot, a handful of honorable mentions and his pick for the Landmark Award.

Class of 2019 Selections:

Jeff Gordon — The four-time champion could waltz into enshrinement based on the stellar statistics alone. But beyond the 93 wins, records and accomplishments, Gordon had a reach that extended beyond the sport’s bubble, a charisma that made him a star on many stages. Absolute slam-dunk first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Davey Allison — It’s hard to measure Allison’s impact solely on statistics, but in his brief time driving at the premier-series level, he rose into a beloved fan favorite and one of the sport’s most talented. Joining his longtime team owner, 2018 inductee Robert Yates, seems overdue, even in just his second year on the ballot.

RELATED: Jeff Gordon leads powerhouse 2019 class | Hall of Fame Class of 2019 through the years

Alan Kulwicki — The story of Kulwicki’s stunning Cinderella journey to the 1992 championship as a driver-owner remains a dramatic piece of NASCAR lore. That legacy should be more than enough to offset and overcome the statistical gap (five career wins) that’s kept him from an earlier induction.

Roger Penske — The selections get harder with a thicket of deserving team owners among the 20 nominees. But give a salute here to The Captain, who has made an enormous footprint in all of motorsport, as a winning team owner, businessman and speedway mogul.

Buddy Baker — The last pick was the toughest, with strong consideration given to Jack Roush and Waddell Wilson among the decorated field of nominees. The nod, however, goes to Baker and his flat-out career that included 19 wins, twice as many pole positions, a Daytona 500 crown, and a claim to fame of being the first to cross the 200-mph threshold on a closed course.

Landmark Award

Jim Hunter — Another exceedingly difficult choice from a worthy field of five, but the vote goes to Hunter, whose wide-ranging career spanned the roles of journalist, marketing expert, track president and NASCAR executive, touching many lives throughout the sport.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

You see the number ’24’ and instantly think of this no-brainer, first-ballot Hall of Famer.

After all, he owned the 1990s, helping to usher his sport into the mainstream, newfound digital age while carrying a certain degree of coolness everywhere he went.

Not to mention he could hit a baseball into the upper deck at any stadium he walked into with a swing so pretty you’d buy a ticket just to get a peek at batting practice.

No, not Jeff Gordon — but Ken Griffey Jr.

Following the four-time champion Gordon’s near-unanimous election to NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening, the two long-time pals are both now the highest vote-getters of any inductee in their respective sport’s history.

RELATED: Gordon headlines 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame class

Griffey had been seen as one of the most likely players to receive 100 percent of the vote when called upon for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Class of 2016 inductee fell just short, receiving 437 of 440 votes — 99.32 percent. Gordon, of course, also fell just short, receiving 96 percent of the vote.

And the similarities between them don’t stop there.

The rainbow paint scheme and fire suit. The backward hat. From a strictly visual standpoint, each of these two athletes had their iconic “look” that was unprecedented at the time, and has been unmatched since.

For even the most fringe of sports fans, if you didn’t pay attention to a lick of stock car racing or baseball — you knew damn well who Jeff Gordon and Ken Griffey Jr. were.

And it’s because — despite the prime of their careers coming in an age of physical newspapers, magazines and dial-up internet — they managed to break through the ceiling of stardom within their sport to where they became a fixture of American pop culture.

A quick glance at their IMDB pages reveals a whopping 156 credits combined, and on some of the most-watched programming of the era. Gordon hosted Saturday Night Live, appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, showed up on Arli$$ and Spin City — the list goes on. Griffey’s resume includes a lineup of Arli$$ as well, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Little Big League, Summer Catch (hey, remember Freddie Prinze Jr.?) and even The Simpsons.

MORE: Jeff Gordon — the driver who brought NASCAR mainstream

Along with the TV and film credits — if you’d taken a casual perusal around the aisles of your local Blockbuster back in the day (hey, remember Blockbuster?), there’s a great chance you would’ve spotted their mugs. Gordon and Griffey both graced the covers of multiple video game franchises, from NASCAR 98 and Jeff Gordon XS Racing to Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball and Ken Griffey Jr.’s Slugfest.

They even shared a soft-drink sponsor, and you may recall being greeted by life-sized, cardboard cutouts of them as you entered your local supermarket, as I do.

They even shared a foursome with Tiger Woods back in 1997, participating in the golf legend’s Tiger & Friends match at Isleworth Country Club (along with Chris O’Donnell, remember him?)

You get the gist by now.  

Their careers have followed eerily-similar trajectories all the way down to Wednesday, when their Hall of Fame voting percentages were nearly identical — but equally incredible.

RELATED: All of Gordon’s 93 wins in the Monster Energy Series

The eeriness continued even after both had retired. Having just been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame weeks earlier, Griffey Jr. was named the honorary starter for the 2016 Daytona 500. The first car to pass under the flag stand as the home run legend waved the green flag for the Great American Race?

The No. 24 Chevrolet.

“I got a chance to play golf (in 1997) with a certain race car number, driver No. 24,” Griffey said at the time, according to FOX Sports. “I’m really superstitious about certain things. He’s no longer racing, but I hear he’s in the building so I’m going to definitely go visit him, but waving the green flag, 24 will be the first car coming by, which is pretty cool, too.”

With Gordon’s induction to the NASCAR Hall of Fame set to take place next January ahead of the 2019 season, perhaps we’ll see Griffey Jr. there to see his friend honored on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

After all, Gordon made sure to give the longtime Seattle Mariners center fielder props following his induction, appearing on the jumbotron at Safeco Field with fellow No. 24 and likely future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant.

“Hey Ken, Jeff Gordon here. Been a long time, man. We’ve been friends for quite awhile and I’ve gotta say — it’s a big debate of who represented that 24 the best. Was it Kobe? Was it me? Was it you? That’s a debate that I think will go on forever and all I can say is I’m really proud to be your friend and I’m really proud of what you’ve done on the field and off the field.”

While neither was able to come up with the golden goose of a unanimous, 100 percent of a Hall of Fame election there’s only one number that matters to two of the all-time greats and it’s the one that will bind them together forever — 24.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the least surprising racing story of 2018, four-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday in his first year of eligibility.

But Gordon certainly wasn’t the only worthy choice for the Class of 2019. Team owner Jack Roush, a brilliant innovator who has racked up victories and championships across a broad spectrum of motorsports, will join Gordon when the stellar class is officially ushered into the Hall on February 1, 2019.

RELATED: Photos of the inductees | Career highlights

Team owner Roger Penske, who fostered the Hall of Fame career of driver Rusty Wallace and won his first championship in NASCAR’s top division in 2012 with driver Brad Keselowski, will accompany his fellow Ford team owner into the Hall.

Davey Allison, winner of 19 Cup races and one of the brightest stars in the sport before he succumbed to injuries suffered in a helicopter crash at Talladega in 1993, joined his father, Bobby Allison, as a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Alan Kulwicki, whose life was cut short by a plane crash in 1993 less than five months after he became the last driver to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship as a “privateer,” was the fifth member of the Class of 2019 introduced by NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.

If ever there was a “lock” for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Gordon fills that role. Winner of 93 Cup points races—third all-time behind Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105) and ahead of Darrell Waltrip (84), Bobby Allison (84), Cale Yarborough (83) and Jimmie Johnson (83)—Gordon drove the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for 797 consecutive races from his debut in 1992 until he bowed out of the ride at the end of the 2015 season.

Now an analyst for FOX Sports, Gordon won four Cup championships, behind only Petty, Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Sr., who share the series record with seven each. Gordon won three Daytona 500s, four straight Southern 500s and a record five Brickyard 400s in his remarkable career.

“Man, I’m on cloud nine,” Gordon said during a televised interview after the announcement.

RELATED: Official press release | Gordon’s reaction to Hall’s call

He follows his long-time crew chief Ray Evernham and team owner Rick Hendrick into the Hall.

“The significance of being there when Rick was inducted and being a part of it earlier this year with Ray, that’s when it really started to sink in with me about how special it would be,” said Gordon, who was named on a record 96 percent of ballots. “They dedicated their whole lives (to racing), and that’s the thing I see as a common thread of anybody that goes into the Hall of Fame.

“They sacrificed everything for racing and for NASCAR, and it became their life. To be honored by going into the Hall of Fame makes it all worthwhile and makes it very, very special.”

Roush, who was named on 70 percent of ballots, started his career in drag racing and sports cars but gravitated to NASCAR racing in 1988. An owner with a keen eye for talent, Roush supported the careers of such luminaries as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

“When we got started, I was just hoping I could stay in the sport for a while,” said Roush, who won Cup championships in 2003 with Kenseth and 2004 with Busch. “I can’t imagine that my name is up there with the 45 people that have already been inducted, with the things that they’ve accomplished.

“It’s rarefied air, and I’ve got to take a while to think about what it all means to me.”

In addition to the 2012 Cup championship, Team Penske has won the 2010 NASCAR Xfinity Series title and four of the last five Xfinity Series owners championships. In addition to his NASCAR accomplishments, Penske has won the Indianapolis 500 16 times as an owner.

“There were many great candidates,” Penske said in a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio interview after the announcement. “This is my day, and I’ll never forget it.”

MORE: Gordon and Griffey Jr. stand out as Hall of Fame royalty

Wallace was delighted for his former boss.

“I don’t know of anyone that has accomplished as much across all levels of motorsports as Roger Penske,” Wallace said. “I don’t know of anyone in motorsports that is as respected among all levels of racing and business as Roger.

“He’s my personal mentor and my personal hero. He has helped me immeasurably, both in racing and in business. I can’t say enough about Roger — he’s just an all-around fantastic person.”

Penske was named on 68 percent of the ballots submitted by Voting Panel members.

Davey and Bobby Allison, the only father/son combination to finish 1-2 in the Daytona 500, are the second father/son duo to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, joining Ned and Dale Jarrett.

“It’s was a great feeling of happiness, of weakness and everything,” Bobby Allison said of the moment when France announced his son’s name. “I just had to bend over and get a hold of myself. It was really good news.”

PHOTOS: Top career moments for Class of 2019 selectees

Davey Allison received 63 percent of the vote from panel members.

Kulwicki, who was named on 46 percent of ballots, rallied from a 278-point deficit to win the 1992 series title, edging Bill Elliott by 10 points — then the closest margin in Cup history — after a thrilling season finale at Atlanta in which Davey Allison also had a shot at the championship.

Former NASCAR executive and newsman Jim Hunter received the 2019 Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. Known for his rapier wit and wise counsel, Hunter was instrumental in guiding the careers of an abundance of current and former NASCAR stars.

After his days as sports editor of the Columbia (S.C.) Record, Hunter served as public relations director for both Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. He was later named president at Darlington and corporate vice president of International Speedway Corporation, before returning to NASCAR to lead the sport’s PR initiatives.

Posted on by Jessica Ruffin

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Eunice Eckard wears a delicate chain around her neck that holds a small, round emblem with a gold star on it. She wears it every day — except when she “had an X-Ray one time” — and even keeps it on to sleep.

It’s important to keep it close, because the gold star represents her son, United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Chris Eckard, who was killed on Feb. 20, 2010 while conducting EOD operations in Afghanistan.

“When Chris went into the military, his first deployment was a … blue star,” Eckard said, also wearing a picture of her son on her shirt. “And we hung the blue star flag in my living room window. This started back probably the first war – if a family member shipped out, they put up a blue star. And after how many (deployments they were) gone, that’s how many stars you hung up.

“Well, I had one. If they don’t come home (from deployment), you take the blue down, put up a gold. And that’s what this is. I’m a gold star mom.”

GySgt Eckard’s name will adorn the windshield of Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 (Sunday, May 27, 6 p.m., FOX). As part of the NASCAR Salutes program, every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver will have the name of a fallen serviceman on their car windshields. The connection with the No. 2 team and the Eckard family is one that is personal, however; the team’s chassis fabricator Casey Mahoney grew up with GySgt Eckard in nearby Hickory, North Carolina and came to Keselowski with the idea to honor his childhood best friend in a special way.

The No. 2 driver, who has long served as a strong military supporter, immediately was on board.

“This program has existed here for a number of years in NASCAR for the Coke 600 where we get to honor the fallen soldiers,” Keselowski told NASCAR.com. “But it means more to us and it just hits a little bit harder when there’s a personal connection and the personal connection inside Team Penske with family and friends runs deep for that family …

“I’ve always loved the military, I like the discipline, just the ethics. I like, obviously, the freedoms that they enable and I always thought if I didn’t make it in racing, it was something I wanted to do. I’m thankful I made it in racing because I’m not sure I’d be very good at it. I (want) to show my respects to those who have gone out there and choose to serve and even furthermore, those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving.”

Keselowski met Eunice Eckard and her other son Chad Eckard at the Mooresville, North Carolina-based Team Penske shop on Wednesday morning. He visited with the duo before giving them a full shop tour, showing them the chassis and machine shops and telling them about the different race cars on the shop floor.

He also presented them with a No. 2 team shirt, which the Eckards said will be the first NASCAR item in a room in Eunice Eckard’s house that honors her son. A carport-turned-sunroom is now “Chris’ room.” It’s where his family keeps his framed dress blues, flags, a Carolina Panthers helmet honoring him and it’s where GySgt Eckard’s young children can look at photos of their father.

“I think he’d be proud of things that we’ve been able to do to keep his name alive,” Chad Eckard said. “Not only just for Chris or mom and I, but I hope that by keeping his name alive, when his children get old enough, they’ll be able to see how great their father was.”

The chance to honor a member of the armed forces and his family is special for Keselowski. He hosts military families at the track, works with the armed forces through his military-focused Checkered Flag Foundation and even holds an American flag while doing his winning burnouts.

Honoring the GySgt Eckard is a small gesture to give back to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, he said.

“When you hear the stories and you talk to the family, all you can think about is you wish you could fix it, you wish you could change the way things went, but you can’t,” Keselowski said. “So all you can really do is honor and remember and we get that privilege and honor to do that this weekend with Coke 600 with this (NASCAR) Salutes program.”

For Mahoney, his own team honoring his best friend in a public fashion is special. Mahoney and GySgt Eckard were staples at each others’ houses often growing up and each served as the best man in each other’s wedding. Eunice Eckard called him her “adopted son” and Mahoney referred to her as his “second mom.”

Marriage and children made their visits less frequent, but no less meaningful, he said.

“The minute we get back together, it’s like you never miss a day,” he said. “That’s just the kind of friends we were. Chris was just the kind of guy, he did everything 100 percent.”

He still remembers the day he got the call that his best friend had been killed overseas: “I could feel the color just drain out of me. I was just kind of numb …” he said.

“I feel really blessed to be able to be a small part to be honor Chris in this way. To just be able to honor him in a small way but at the same time get him a lot of exposure to who he was and the kind of person he was is a really big deal to me.”

The idea of the No. 2 Ford going to Victory Lane Sunday with GySgt Eckard’s name on it would trigger emotions that Chad Eckard “can’t even begin to describe.

“Having Chris’ name in the Winner’s Circle in such an honorable fashion in front of national audience, it just doesn’t get any bigger,” he said. “I don’t know if I’d be crying tears of happy or tears of, I don’t know.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — With NASCAR Salutes ramping up this weekend to coincide with the Coca-Cola 600 and “600 Miles of Remembrance,” Denny Hamlin unveiled his patriotic paint scheme on Wednesday morning that will help close out the 2018 running of the program in July at Daytona International Speedway.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver pulled the cover off his No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota at the team’s headquarters in Huntersville, North Carolina, alongside volunteers from Team Rubicon, which is also on the car and is an organization that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. The organization currently has teams working to help revive communities in Puerto Rico, Texas, Montana, California and more after last year’s natural disasters.

“I think it’s a dual win to support an organization like them,” Hamlin said. “Not only (is Team Rubicon) helping the people that need help, whatever the disaster may be, but they’re also helping veterans that are done serving their country maybe overseas or here and now helping people within the community on a volunteer basis.

“That’s a great thing that they’re doing and I couldn’t be prouder to support them in Daytona. NASCAR Salutes is always a big program that NASCAR runs every year and this’ll be a great patriotic paint scheme that I’ll be looking forward to bringing to Victory Lane.”

NASCAR Salutes will be in full swing with the upcoming events at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend, as the NASCAR industry will honor United States Armed Forces heroes and their families as part of the program, which is a collective expression of reverence, respect and gratitude for those who served and continue to defend America today. It will commence with “600 Miles of Remembrance” during Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the country’s largest Memorial Day weekend celebration.

RELATED: NASCAR Salutes Refreshed by Coca-Cola returns

While Hamlin’s family ties to the armed forces are limited — he mentioned his great-grandfather was a servicemember — he realizes the importance of what the troops mean to the country and our safety, and why it’s crucial to give them the recognition they deserve.

“To me, I’ve always not taken it for granted that we live in a country like we do and it’s because of the work that people do behind the scenes that make us able to do what we do,” said Hamlin. “I like seeing so many military members around the race track and you see in the garage the American flag is everywhere and flown on every single hauler and it’s something that we appreciate in the NASCAR community.”

MORE: Patriotic paint schemes for Charlotte | Top at-track military photos

Be sure to tune in to the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday to see Hamlin’s new paint scheme race under the lights at Daytona in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (July 7, 7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Jason Lofing

Nick Shelton scored his first victory of the 2018 NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series, after edging ahead of Jarl Teien in Turn 4 on the final lap. The two battled side-by-side to the checkered flag with Shelton winning by just .007 seconds. The thrilling finish capped off a wild final 50 laps that saw seven crashes and the dominant cars finding trouble.

Matt Bussa came from dead last on the grid to finish third. Bobby Zalenski was fourth and Michael Guest picked up his second top-five result of the season with a fifth-place finish.

RELATED: Full 2018 iRacing schedule

Polesitter Christian Challiner led the first 13 laps, but Keegan Leahy surged ahead as he looked like one of the cars to beat for the second week in a row. The first 81 of 200 laps ran caution free allowing Leahy to build his lead.

When the first yellow flag flew on Lap 82, not only was Leahy’s lead erased but he lost the top spot in the pits as Logan Clampitt had a stellar stop and beat Leahy off of pit lane. Clampitt took advantage of the clean track out front and began to build a gap on the field as Ray Alfalla and Leahy fought for second.

As the run wore on, though, Alfalla started to cut into the lead. Leahy, who had also been closing on the leader, chose to pit on Lap 146. The early stop would have surely cycled Leahy to the lead, but a yellow flag on lap 150 trapped him a lap down and forced him to take the wave around to gain the lap back.

The last 50 laps were quite chaotic with multiple crashes breaking the race into short sprints. Clampitt survived the first restart, but his race came undone on Lap 165 when another crash brought the leaders back to the pits for fresh tires. The leader overshot his pits and struggled to reverse, costing himself valuable time. In all, Clampitt lost 11 positions in the pits and would not challenge the leaders again.

Bobby Zalenski took advantage of Clampitt’s mistake and led the field to the restart. Zalenski would lead 11 laps before Shelton passed him to lead his first circuit on lap 178. With clean air in front, Shelton attempted to drive away from Alfalla, but another crash on Lap 181 turned the race upside down.

While the leaders headed to the pits for another change of tires, Adam Gilliland and Brian Schoenburg decided to stay out on old tires. Gilliand, the control car on the start, brought the field down deep into the restart zone which caused the field to stack up. The pack could not make it to Turn One before several cars, including Leahy and Clampitt, were spinning across the fronstretch.

Gilliland used the chaos to hold the lead, but his car was not fast enough to stay in front on the next restart as Teien timed the start and raced into the lead before yet another crash slowed the field.

Teien held the lead on the penultimate restart, which saw Gilliland and Schoenburg meet their demise. The race came down to a two-lap shootout with Teien getting a near-perfect restart to jump out front over Shelton. However, Shelton had the quicker car and by the time the duo took the white flag, Shelton was right on the leader’s bumper. Shelton made his move in Turn one, but could not complete the pass. He was still alongside Teien entering Turn three, giving him the preferred bottom groove. Giving it all his car had, Shelton got a great run through the middle of the corner, edged ahead, and won by inches.

The crazy finish concluded the first half of the 2018 PANiS regular season with Alfalla holding a 39-point lead over Leahy despite being involved in a crash during the last quarter of the race. Zalenski is third, Shelton surged to fourth and Matt Bussa rounds out the top five, knocking Ryan Luza to sixth after the defending series champion missed his second straight race.

With seven races remaining until the playoffs, the series heads to Michigan International Speedway for Week 8. Just a few short weeks ago, it appeared Luza and Alfalla were the only two with a realistic shot at the title.  However, Luza has seemingly disappeared and Alfalla has looked vulnerable in recent races, with Leahy and Clampitt both having more speed at times. Will the trend continue? Or can Alfalla get back to victory lane at Michigan?

Posted on by Staff Report

It’s Voting Day for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2019, and coverage on NASCAR.com already has begun. You can get up to speed on today with our one-stop shop here, or scroll through photos of the 45 members already in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The debate and voting begin this afternoon, prior to the official unveil at 5:30 p.m. ET on NASCAR.com.

BOOKMARK: Hall of Fame pre-show

Before that class is unveiled, though, NASCAR.com will host a pre-voting show beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET. The event will be streamed on NASCAR.com, and also on our YouTube and Twitter channels.

Hosts Jonathan Merryman and Kim Coon will tackle the most pressing questions facing voters this year, and we’ll talk to some of the voters themselves before they cast their ballots.

Bookmark this link and come back to start Voting Day off right.