DARLINGTON, S.C. — Mark Martin, winner of 40 NASCAR premier series races and a runner-up in the championship battle on five occasions, has been selected for induction into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame.

Martin, 57, will be inducted Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.

He was named on 95 percent of the ballots cast by the NMPA membership.

The Batesville, Arkansas, native competed in NASCAR for more than three decades. His 40 career victories currently rank 17th on the all-time list for the series while his 882 career starts rank fifth overall for the sanctioning body’s top series.

In addition to his premier series efforts, Martin also enjoyed success in NASCAR’s lower national series, winning 49 times in what is now the XFINITY Series and seven times in the Camping World Truck Series.

He is also a five-time winner of the IROC (International Race of Champions) title.

Others receiving votes but falling short of the required 65 percent necessary for induction were veteran crew chiefs Kirk Shelmerdine (61 percent), Buddy Parrott (59 percent) and Larry McReynolds (51 percent); and long-time Martinsville Speedway public relations director Dick Thompson (59 percent).

“Those guys are heroes of mine,” Martin said of his fellow nominees. “It is just such an incredible honor to be considered along with them. I feel very fortunate and blessed but most of all I’m thankful. Very thankful.”

Former statistician Bob Latford and driver Dan Gurney were also named as write-in candidates on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot.

Martin, who retired from competition following the 2013 season, earned 35 premier series wins with team owner Jack Roush. His final five victories came in 2009 after joining Hendrick Motorsports.

Alan Gustafson served as crew chief for Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Martin at Hendrick. He is currently the crew chief for 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Chase Elliott.

“Mark drove so much by just raw feel,” Gustafson said. “His ability just to flat out drive a car, no markers, no signs no nothing, he was really good at that, which produced some amazing lap times.

“We’ve all seen it. Mark Martin, first lap on the track, is just insane. Because he doesn’t have to figure out where he’s at, he just drives by feel. He was open to working on things and doing things but he just did it a different way than drivers like Jeff and Kyle and Chase.”

The National Motorsports Press Association was formed more than 50 years ago and its membership consists of motorsports writers, broadcasters and photographers from throughout the U.S. and abroad.

The NMPA Hall of Fame, established in 1965, is located on the grounds of Darlington Raceway.

The weather is getting colder, the leaves are changing colors, the days are getting shorter … and there’s no on-track NASCAR action for a while.

All of the above means one thing: It’s Thanksgiving.

Given that this is a time to pause and reflect on the many things for which we are thankful, here are some of the many NASCAR-related things the editorial staff of NASCAR.com are thankful for:

We are thankful for …

• Jimmie Johnson. NASCAR is fortunate that one of its greatest drivers is also one of its greatest men. — Brad Norman

• Martin Truex Jr.’s mean air guitar on the NASCAR on NBC intro song of “Bringing Back the Sunshine.” Truex showed off his rock star-like ability on the track this season in one of the feel-good stories of 2016. Seeing Truex and girlfriend Sherry Pollex tackle her fight with cancer head-on has been especially impactful for me on a personal level as my mother was recently diagnosed with cancer. — RJ Kraft

• Kyle Larson‘s penchant for riding the high line ever-so-close to the wall. It adds an element of edge-of-your-seat excitement to any race where he’s running in the front because you never know what’s going to happen next. — George Winkler

• Seeing the Tide car ride again at Darlington. — Kathy Sheldon

• Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s positivity and transparency. Not many athletes would let fans and media into a very personal concussion recovery process, but Junior has been as honest and upbeat as ever throughout his healing. His continued presence at the track and positive voice in the sport has been a blessing to us all. – Jessica Ruffin

• Jimmie Johnson. Being able to work for NASCAR and have a front row seat to history being made with his seventh Sprint Cup Series championship is something I’ll never forget. I’m in awe of his talent. This must be what it was like working for the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s. — Pat DeCola

• SAFER barrier and safety personnel. We haven’t stopped writing about injuries, but the instances are much less frequent today. — Kenny Bruce

• Martin Truex Jr., Sherry Pollex and Barney Visser, who had the courage to do something different and run a race team from Denver. All the time and effort the Furniture Row Racing team puts in is clearly paying off, and I look forward to watching them grow to two teams next season with Erik Jones. — George Winkler

• Night races in the summer heat. — Kathy Sheldon

• Short-track racing. The action at Bristol and Martinsville is typically among the most entertaining of the season. Richmond produced a bump-and-run between teammates in the spring, and Iowa also is a great track. Tempers tend to flare at the smaller venues, and the racing is among the tightest you’ll see all season. — RJ Kraft

• Local short tracks. Dirt? Asphalt? Quarter-mile? Three-eighths? Yes. — Brad Norman

• Daytona in February and Homestead in November. There aren’t two better places, or tracks, to begin and end a season. All the ones in between? Yeah, they’re pretty nice, too. — Kenny Bruce

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.– JR Motorsports fabricator Wade Jackson and his wife Kim accepted the second annual Comcast Community Champion Award Monday night during NASCAR’s XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series banquet at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

For this inspiring family, the recognition is also for their son Jacob, who passed away at the age of 17 from a congenital heart defect. They have channeled their unimaginable heartbreak into giving back to other children who suffer from the same medical issue and have formed Camp LUCK as a refuge for both those children and their families.

Also nominated for the award and honored with a large monetary donation from Comcast was Samantha Busch, for her work with the Kyle and Samantha Busch Bundle of Joy Fund, which has contributed substantial money to 13 couples undergoing the IVF treatment as the Busches did two years ago. Busch also works with the Pretty in Pink Foundation to raise money for uninsured and under-insured breast cancer patients, and founded an annual Prom Dress Drive to help young girls who couldn’t afford formal wear.

Richard Childress Racing pit crew coach Ray Wright was the third nominee for the Community Champion award. He founded “Pit Stops for Hope,” which raises money to help combat childhood hunger. Each week at the race track, pit crews donate worn clothing and various items that he then sells and uses the money to fund his program for local schools and children.

The award and recognition is a win-win-win situation for all the nominees, who benefit from a generous donation and publicity.

“Just to have our name mentioned by XFINITY and Comcast and last year’s finalists, just to get the word out about camp is incredible,” said Jackson, who was still emotional after accepting the award on stage Monday night.

“We have met so any lifelong friends, those that didn’t know Jacob but knew his story.

“Once you see the kids coming and playing and forgetting about the scars…. They get to see their doctors in a fun-filled environment, not with all the needles and stuff they have to do to save their lives. But with them singing and dancing and playing and when they go back to the hospital it’s not such a bad experience.

“They look forward to going back and seeing their doctor and talking about what they did at camp. It changes the way they perceive the hospital. And for the parents to be able to talk to the doctors outside the hospital setting and to talk to other families whose child may have the same heart defect and to see the older kids who are 15, or 18 years old.

“When you have a two-year old your whole world has just come crashing down when you find out they have this, but instead they see them running and playing and leading a regular life.”

The monetary donation to the winner is $60,000 with each of the other two finalists receiving $30,000 – help that will make an immediate difference.

The Jacksons, for example, said their award will fund an entire year of camp for 120 patients. It will also allow for siblings to attend, an important aspect as families often have to forego trips and vacations due to the health of a child suffering from heart defects.

“It’s just amazing,” Kim Jackson said. “Not only will it affect the kids and their families and their siblings, it allows us to change our relationship with the doctors and support staff at the hospitals because the kids just love the opportunity to be able to interact with the medical staff that takes care of them.

“It affects the whole family and for our Jacob, he was happy the whole time. He just lived life.”

A fellow JR Motorsports employee, the XFINITY Series’ Most Popular Driver winner Elliott Sadler said he especially was impressed with the list of nominees. And he has personal reason to appreciate the Jacksons’ work. His son Wyatt spent 10 weeks in the NICU – neonatal intensive care unit  — after birth.

“To see what Wade and his family have gone through and all the good job they’ve done and now get an award and get recognized is amazing,” Sadler said. “It’s so heart-wrenching watching families go through it but then you get a shining star like him that can turn it into a positive situation is so amazing.

“It’s so cool he’s on our team. When you see people give back in that amount it means so much.

 “When you see Comcast come along and use their platform like this, it’s really neat our sport is that close community-wise.”

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.– JR Motorsports fabricator Wade Jackson and his wife Kim accepted the second annual Comcast Community Champion Award Monday night during NASCAR’s XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series banquet at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

For this inspiring family, the recognition is also for their son Jacob, who passed away at the age of 17 from a congenital heart defect. They have channeled their unimaginable heartbreak into giving back to other children who suffer from the same medical issue and have formed Camp LUCK as a refuge for both those children and their families.

Also nominated for the award and honored with a large monetary donation from Comcast was Samantha Busch, for her work with the Kyle and Samantha Busch Bundle of Joy Fund, which has contributed substantial money to 13 couples undergoing the IVF treatment as the Busches did two years ago. Busch also works with the Pretty in Pink Foundation to raise money for uninsured and under-insured breast cancer patients, and founded an annual Prom Dress Drive to help young girls who couldn’t afford formal wear.

Richard Childress Racing pit crew coach Ray Wright was the third nominee for the Community Champion award. He founded “Pit Stops for Hope,” which raises money to help combat childhood hunger. Each week at the race track, pit crews donate worn clothing and various items that he then sells and uses the money to fund his program for local schools and children.

The award and recognition is a win-win-win situation for all the nominees, who benefit from a generous donation and publicity.

“Just to have our name mentioned by XFINITY and Comcast and last year’s finalists, just to get the word out about camp is incredible,” said Jackson, who was still emotional after accepting the award on stage Monday night.

“We have met so any lifelong friends, those that didn’t know Jacob but knew his story.

“Once you see the kids coming and playing and forgetting about the scars…. They get to see their doctors in a fun-filled environment, not with all the needles and stuff they have to do to save their lives. But with them singing and dancing and playing and when they go back to the hospital it’s not such a bad experience.

“They look forward to going back and seeing their doctor and talking about what they did at camp. It changes the way they perceive the hospital. And for the parents to be able to talk to the doctors outside the hospital setting and to talk to other families whose child may have the same heart defect and to see the older kids who are 15, or 18 years old.

“When you have a two-year old your whole world has just come crashing down when you find out they have this, but instead they see them running and playing and leading a regular life.”

The monetary donation to the winner is $60,000 with each of the other two finalists receiving $30,000 – help that will make an immediate difference.

The Jacksons, for example, said their award will fund an entire year of camp for 120 patients. It will also allow for siblings to attend, an important aspect as families often have to forego trips and vacations due to the health of a child suffering from heart defects.

“It’s just amazing,” Kim Jackson said. “Not only will it affect the kids and their families and their siblings, it allows us to change our relationship with the doctors and support staff at the hospitals because the kids just love the opportunity to be able to interact with the medical staff that takes care of them.

“It affects the whole family and for our Jacob, he was happy the whole time. He just lived life.”

A fellow JR Motorsports employee, the XFINITY Series’ Most Popular Driver winner Elliott Sadler said he especially was impressed with the list of nominees. And he has personal reason to appreciate the Jacksons’ work. His son Wyatt spent 10 weeks in the NICU – neonatal intensive care unit  — after birth.

“To see what Wade and his family have gone through and all the good job they’ve done and now get an award and get recognized is amazing,” Sadler said. “It’s so heart-wrenching watching families go through it but then you get a shining star like him that can turn it into a positive situation is so amazing.

“It’s so cool he’s on our team. When you see people give back in that amount it means so much.

 “When you see Comcast come along and use their platform like this, it’s really neat our sport is that close community-wise.”

Following a historic NASCAR Championship weekend, which saw the best drivers in the world fight for championships, Amy France and NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France switched gears last night to continue their fight against cancer.

The Frances lent their support to Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation and its annual Angel Ball which has raised $27 million for blood cancer research since 1996. After the Frances were honorees at last year’s event, Amy France took a larger role this year, assuming the position of co-chair helping to plan the annual benefit and maximize its impact.

As part of their support this year, the Frances gave a personal donation and also donated behind-the-scenes race packages that will be sure to put smiles on the faces of children with cancer at NASCAR races in 2017.

In addition, the Frances agreed to match any money raised by families affiliated with Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation who are involved in their own fundraising efforts. The Frances began personally hosting child cancer survivors at races in 2015. 

The Angel Ball took place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City and honored the work of Carl H. June, M.D., Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies and Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania, the late Robert Kardashian and Heloise Pratt AM, Chair of The Pratt Foundation. The event featured live performances from Earth, Wind & Fire, Dave Stewart, Vanessa Amorosi, Jon Stevens and CeeLo Green.

This is the latest effort from the Frances who founded the Luke and Meadow Foundation — named after their 5-year old twins — in 2011. The Foundation’s mission is to drive progress on issues that threaten the health and wellness of children. The Frances partner with dozens of world-class charitable organizations, devote significant time and make multimillion dollar donations to combat a wide-range of issues related to disease, poverty, abuse and education.

The Luke and Meadow Foundation, which is a personal passion of the Frances, complements NASCAR’s long history of social responsibility. As NASCAR Chairman and CEO, Brian is championing meaningful changes within the industry through the NASCAR Foundation, NASCAR Green and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.