RELATED: Class of 2017 enters Hall of Fame
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The name on the card for Friday night’s NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony read "Forever Legends."
But after watching and listening to the Hall’s eighth class as each was welcomed into the Hall, perhaps "Forever Family" would have been more fitting.
"How great is that, to have your wife and your two grandsons to induct you into the NASCAR Hall of Fame?" asked Richard Childress, who rose to prominence as the owner of Richard Childress Racing, his teams winning 12 championships across NASCAR’s three national series.
Childress, fellow car owners Rick Hendrick and Raymond Parks, and drivers Mark Martin and Benny Parsons made up this year’s Hall of Fame class.
And much like Childress, others paid tribute to family and the family atmosphere that has permeated NASCAR practically since it’s 1948 incorporation.
NASCAR drivers Austin and Ty Dillon introduced their grandfather on the special night. Although Childress is 71, Ty Dillon noted that he doesn’t believe his grandfather "will ever stop pursuing his passion."
"He will continue to live his life, fighting to keep this ground which we stand on tonight the best in the world," Dillon said. "He will always keep going to the track because that is what he loves to do, but most of all, he loves his family."
Family was also what drove Mark Martin to never give up on his dream, returning to the sport to rebuild a career that was halted almost before it began. With a wife by his side and four young children, Martin feverishly worked his way back into NASCAR to earn a second chance.
More than three decades later, after 96 wins in NASCAR’s three top series and five runner-up finishes in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points battle, Martin stood on stage and officially joined the list of racing legends.
"Tonight," he said, "for me is about recognizing the VIPs that made this happen. But the MVP is Arlene Martin.
"We met Christmas 1983, and Arlene, from that day, that day and every day since then, you have made me better. It’s incredible what we’ve seen and what we’ve done to get here."
RELATED: Martin recalls second chance, relishes induction
Emotions were kept in check, somewhat. Voices did crack on occasion. No surprise there. This was, after all, a big, big deal.
"We are like a big family, even though it’s a lot of us, we care about each other, and I don’t care if people think that’s corny," Hendrick, who was a racer himself long before he built a successful auto dealership empire, said. "That’s the way I was raised. It’s worked for me, and it’s worked in our companies, both of them."
When Hendrick arrived at the Hall prior to the ceremony, one of the first people he saw was executive director Winston Kelley.
Kelley, Hendrick said, told him that there was one thing he could tell the car owner and auto dealer about both his companies, that it was clear that his employees loved their boss.
"And I said, ‘You know what? Your telling me that means as much to me as getting into the Hall of Fame,’" Hendrick replied.
It was every bit as much validation for what he had strived to become as the Hall of Fame ring he would receive just a few hours later.
"I feel like ‘job well done,’" Hendrick said, "because you look after your people and they look after you."
Martin was still riding the adrenalin of the moment when he sat down with the media afterward.
"I feel like I’ve had a cup of coffee or I’ve been playing some Gucci Mane," he said, grinning. Retired from racing since 2013, he now spends his days focused on more mundane matters.
"How shiny can I get my motor home," he said. "I’ve got to get that trash and take it out. That lightbulb is burned out, damnit. …
"You know I just do all the things that I used to pay people to do. I still go like hell every day. That’s the same ol’ me."
It had been an emotionally draining week for others. Those still entwined in the never-ending cycle of competition, where forward focus is key and there’s no time for looking back.
"It really was," Hendrick, a leukemia survivor, said. "… This has been the toughest week, besides losing a family member.
"We’re all emotions up and down, and we had a little champagne toast before I went in there, and the two doctors, the doctor that invented the medicine that saved my life was in there, and I lost it. I mean, Jeff Gordon said, ‘I’ve never seen you that emotional in there since I’ve known you.’"
NASCAR is one big extended family. Full of the quarrels that divide them and the emotional ties that draw them back together.
"I meant what I said tonight about all the people in the sport," Hendrick said. "There are some great folks.
Hendrick and Childress had spoken earlier in the day. Joe Gibbs phoned, unable to attend Friday’s function but happy for his fellow team owner. So did Roger Penske.
Just three short months earlier, Penske, Gibbs and Hendrick met with the media in Homestead, Florida, each having drivers competing for the championship.
"We’re racing each other and we’re paying each other compliments," Hendrick said. "You wouldn’t see that in the NFL. We want to beat each other just as bad as anybody, but it’s really strange. It’s a different deal.
"I don’t know what it is, but it’s pretty special."
Forever Legends? Sure. But forever family? There’s no doubt.
