Son delivers Byrnes' NASCAR Hall of Fame vote

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Holly Cain

Bryson, wife Karen make late broadcaster’s ballot count for 2016 class

As the esteemed NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel gathered Wednesday in Charlotte to deliberate on who will be selected for the 2016 NASCAR Hall of Fame class, an equally esteemed single ballot arrived to be counted among the votes.

Completing that ballot was one of the last things longtime broadcaster Steve Byrnes did before passing away from cancer on April 21.

His 12-year-old son Bryson and wife Karen made the surprise special delivery. Then the voting panel, which includes the sport’s legends such as NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett, posed with Bryson in honor of the sixth-grader’s father — a beloved member of the NASCAR family and highly respected member of the media.

Bryson Byrnes (center) delivers his late father Steve Byrnes’ NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2016 ballot to Lauren Harju with accounting firm Ernst and Young as NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Brett Jewkes looks on.

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"What an awesome opportunity as far as things you could experience in the sport,” Karen Byrnes said. "Being in this group photo with people who are founding members of the sport of NASCAR racing, that’s pretty grand.

"One of the reasons I wanted Bryson to go to the (NASCAR Sprint All-Star) race on Saturday and one of the reasons why today is so important to Bryson is because at home, Steve was just dad. He emptied the trash, he was just dad.

"I want Bryson to realize and remember that even though he was just dad at home, out in the world, he had a great reach. He touched a lot of people’s lives in a positive and awesome way. I think it’s great Bryson gets to experience that now and see, ‘wow, dad did a lot of wonderful things.’ "

NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Brett Jewkes remembers the day he brought the voting package — ballot and background material — to Byrnes’ home. Almost immediately, Byrnes started perusing the information.

"As soon as I gave him that three-ring binder, he didn’t just set it down to the side, he opened the book and started scanning the pages,” Jewkes recalled. "It was interesting to me, here he was certainly very sick, but instantly started doing his homework. And if you talk to his former colleagues, they will tell you he was always very well-prepared and diligent.

"The fact he was going to go into the hospital for the last time the next day never entered my mind that night. He was so excited and honored for the opportunity.

"I gave him the ballot and said, ‘it’s up to you and if you’re there May 20 (for voting day), we’ll tear this up and you’ll be part of the debate.’ He made no commitment but just said, ‘I’m planning to be there May 20.’ "

Just this week Byrnes, was posthumously awarded the National Motorsports Press Association’s First Quarter Spirit Award, for his courage and inspiration.

And, Jewkes emphasized, Byrnes wasn’t selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel because he was sick, but because he has covered NASCAR for the past 30 years and was the choice of FOX executives to represent the network’s vote on the committee.

"We all knew this would give him a big lift,” Jewkes said. "It’s something I’ll never forget, Steve was just so grateful and just felt very, very honored and felt it was a great recognition of what he had achieved in his professional career.

"I’m just so thrilled he had that opportunity and that was important to me."

Bryson Byrnes and his mother, Karen Byrnes, sit amongst the members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel.

That’s something Karen Byrnes could particularly appreciate. She remembers how even from that first night Steve had the information to study, he would share facts about the nominees as she was cooking dinner. Even when he was admitted to the hospital — where he would pass away a week later — Byrnes was looking through the pages and making his selections. Karen found the ballot fully sealed in his briefcase after he died.

"When NASCAR and the Hall of Fame and FOX decided he should be the representative for FOX Sports 1 on the voting panel, it really gave him purpose and a sense that he still was working in the industry; even though his full-time job was fighting cancer, he still had a place,” Karen Byrnes said.

"The sickness can consume your life but for him to have this purpose, it was such a blessing they asked him to do that and that he was able to spend time studying and choosing.

"Steve just left behind such a wonderful legacy of not only his work, but his friendships and relationships and people respecting him in the sport, his family. Honestly, it’s unbelievable since he’s passed away to realize how many different lives his life touched. It’s amazing."

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Jason Lofing

For second consecutive NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze race, underdog wins

Alex Warren made it the second straight week an underdog has found his way to victory lane in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series Powered by iRacing, winning last night’s long, drawn-out race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Warren did not have a car that could win on outright speed but his gutsy pit call under caution with 18 laps remaining put him in the lead and the flurry of yellow flags that followed gave him all he needed to pick up his first win of the season.

The race came down to a three lap dash to the finish with Warren and Tyler Hill on the front row. Cody Byus and Kenny Humpe, the dominant cars of the night, occupied Row Two and looked to capitalize on the fact their fresher tires. However, the lead twosome got superb restarts and Warren pulled out to a car length lead over Hill as the field thundered down the backstretch. Further back, an intense battle for the remainder of the top five spots resulted in Humpe getting squeezed into the wall coming to the penultimate lap, leaving Byus and Nick Ottinger in position to challenge for the lead.

However, the two would not get the opportunity as contact between them entering Turn Three sent Byus into the wall. Deeper in the field, a similar incident saw Chad Laughton get turned into the outside wall and so the caution flew for the tenth and final time of the night, giving Warren the victory. Hill finished second and Ottinger took third ahead of championship leader Humpe and Rob Ackley.
Despite the high number of cautions the online race was one of the most competitive of the season with 15 drivers swapping the lead 25 times. Corey Vincent started from the pole, showing the speed he often displayed last winter in the NASCAR iRacing Pro Series. Vincent’s time at the front was short-lived as Byus charged from his third place grid position. Byus took the lead on Lap 11 and went on to lead a race-high 86 of 200 laps.

Byus held the lead until Lap 54 when Humpe took the top spot away during the first round of green flag stops. Humpe pitted a lap before Byus and used his fresh tires – combined with a blistering pit stop – to pull out a nearly two second gap on the former leader. The two stayed locked in their positions until a caution on Lap 115 bunched the field and gave drivers a chance to duck into the pits for tires, fuel, and adjustments.

Humpe won the battle off pit road but on the ensuing restart Ray Alfalla made a move to the lead, taking the point on Lap 124. Alfalla lost the lead briefly by going off-sequence with the rest of the leaders in the pits during a yellow flag but he regained the lead on Lap 147 after another yellow brought the leaders to the pits. While all the leaders who stayed out on the Lap 127 caution took four tires, Alfalla took just two and emerged with the lead.

After the restart, Byus was on the charge once again and passed Alfalla on Lap 156, just as the yellow flew for a crash in the back of the field. The caution was not what Alfalla wanted to see as his two tires would likely put him at a disadvantage on the next restart; that proved to be the case as the two-time champion dropped to sixth.

Things got even worse for Alfalla after he chose to pit with most of the leaders on Lap 181. A few laps after the race went green, Ryan Lowe got loose off of Turn Two and Alfalla plowed into him, sparking an accident that also involved Kevin King. Alfalla would wind up twenty-seventh after suffering heavy damage.

Alfalla also took a hit in the points, as he now trails Humpe by 58 markers: a huge margin after just seven races. Laughton also held steady in third despite his late race wreck but finds himself 70 points back. Patrick Crabtree and Chris Overland round-out the top five and are the only other sim racers within 100 points of Humpe.

In two weeks, the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series drivers have another 200 lap affair, this time at Dover International Raceway. Alfalla and Laughton desperately need a win to keep up with Humpe’s blistering pace, while the championship leader will look to take his fourth win of the season. Will a third surprise winner follow Warren and Allen Boes, or will one of the championship frontrunners return to victory lane on the Monster Mile? Catch all the action on iRacingLive!

Posted on May 20, 2015 by

Four drivers and track mogul Bruton Smith make list for seventh class

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The architect of some of NASCAR’s most impressive facilities joined four of the sport’s most tenacious racers in comprising the 2016 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class, selected Wednesday by the Hall of Fame Voting Panel.

Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Terry Labonte headlines a quartet of drivers that includes six-time NASCAR modified champion Jerry Cook, 1970 Cup titleholder Bobby Isaac and 17-time premier series race winner Curtis Turner, one of the most flamboyant figures who ever sat behind the wheel of a stock car.

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Joining the four men who made their reputations on the track was a man who has spent his life building some of the most prestigious venues in the sport, Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman O. Bruton Smith.

Another pioneer in the realm of race track construction, Darlington Raceway founder Harold Brasington, receives the Landmark Award for outstanding contributions to NASCAR, announced Wednesday along with the 2016 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees.

Known as “Texas Terry,” Labonte also earned the nickname “Iron Man” for his 655 consecutive starts in NASCAR’s foremost series. He won his championships 12 years apart, driving for two different owners—Billy Hagan in 1984 and Rick Hendrick in 1996.

Labonte, who won 22 Cup races and 27 poles in a career that spanned 37 years, was in a hotel room with son Justin Labonte when he realized he had been elected to the Hall.

“My phone started blowing up, and I said, ‘Oh, wow, I just got selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame,’” Labonte said in a conference call with reporters. “(Justin) said, ‘Oh, cool, is it on TV?’ and we started flipping channels looking for it…

“It was very exciting. It’s quite an honor to be in that group of people that are in the Hall of Fame—all these people I looked up to. I never really thought about being part of the Hall of Fame, because there’s so many great people that are in it.”

Isaac, who died in 1977, raced for the first time at NASCAR’s highest level in 1961, but the most productive stretch of his career was compressed into two seasons, 1969 and 1970. In 1969, the Catawba, North Carolina, driver won 19 poles in 50 attempts, still a high-water mark for a single season of Cup racing.

All told, Isaac won 37 races and 49 poles, ranking him 10th all-time in the latter category. Isaac’s conversion rate of poles to wins also was phenomenal; 19 of his 37 victories came from the top starting spot.

Known as the “Babe Ruth of Stock Car Racing,” Turner, who died in 1970, competed in NASCAR’s first Strictly Stock event in Charlotte in 1949. Three starts later, he recorded the first of his 17 victories in NASCAR’s premier division at Langhorne (Pennsylvania) Speedway.

Known for his prowess on the dirt tracks, Turner nevertheless won the Southern 500 in 1956 and the first American 500 at Rockingham Speedway in 1965. Turner, who also won 38 races in 79 starts in NASCAR’s Convertible Division, is the only driver to win two consecutive races from the pole, leading every lap, a feat he accomplished in back-to-back starts at Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester, N.Y. and Charlotte (North Carolina) Speedway in 1950.

MORE: See all seven NASCAR Hall of Fame classes

Renowned for his intense battles with NASCAR Hall of Famer and fellow Rome, New York, driver Richie Evans, Cook won more than 300 races in the NASCAR Modified division to go with his six titles, four of which were consecutive (1974 through 1977).

Cook helped shape the NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour and served as series director before continuing his career with the sanctioning body as competition administrator.

“This is like winning all the championships at one time,” said Cook, the only inductee present at the announcement.

Smith’s Speedway Motorsports Inc. operates eight tracks which collectively host 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. It was Smith’s vision, for example, that transformed Bristol Motor Speedway from a half-mile short track to a vast coliseum with seating for more than 150,000 fans.

“When I found out that I was nominated, I realized how much this meant to my family and the 15,000 employees that work for my companies,” Smith said in a statement released after the results of the voting were announced. “Now I realize how much it means to me. It will truly be an honor to be remembered at the Hall of Fame along with people like Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Glen Wood, Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip and so many others who helped build this sport.

“That’s what I’ve tried to do my entire life. I’m a frustrated builder who had a knack for promoting races, and it’s been fun to always try to push the sport to greater heights for the fans. From the first World 600, I’ve always wanted the fans to leave with something spectacular to remember about their experience.”

Smith was the leading vote-getter in the 2016 class, being named on 68 percent of ballots. Labonte (61 percent) was second, followed by Turner (60 percent), Cook (47 percent) and Isaac (44 percent).

The induction ceremonies for the 2016 class are scheduled for Jan. 22.

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Staff Report

Keep tabs on the activity at Charlotte Motor Speedway

This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series will be racing in motorsports’ backyard at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 will be held on Sunday, May 24, at 6 p.m. ET, with coverage on FOX.

The XFINITY Series Hisense 300 is on Saturday, May 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX.

For more information on track times, press conferences and GarageCam, you can check out the full weekend schedule.

We know you may not have the time to watch the race action without any interruptions, so if you’re on the go, here’s how to keep up at Charlotte.

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NASCAR.com’s live Sprint Cup Series leaderboard and XFINITY Series leaderboard update in real-time and offer constant text updates of lead changes, cautions, strategies, strong runs and everything in between. From the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard, fans can also access live standings. On the go? Download the NASCAR Mobile app to follow the leaderboards live from your device.

Lap-by-Lap will keep you caught up even if you can only take a peek here and there. Check in to read back through all the laps you’ve missed, or keep an eye on the feed for real-time race updates.

We’ll also send race updates via Twitter through the official @NASCAR and @NASCARStats handles.

RaceBuddy will have enhanced views and coverage for the Sprint Cup Series and for most XFINITY Series races with 10 HD live race views, including up to eight in-car cameras, two mosaic views, live leaderboard and interactive chat.

Haven’t tried RaceView yet? If you sign up, you’ll get virtual videos of cars on the track from various angles and hear what your favorite team is saying over the radio in both the Sprint Cup and select XFINITY Series races. Use it as a second screen or as your only screen. Just want to scan the radios? You can have that too with Scanner (formerly RaceView Audio). On a mobile device? Get RaceView Mobile here.

If you want to be more involved in the on-track action, you can manage your fantasy team on NASCAR.com and follow your team’s performance in NASCAR Fantasy Live. Mobile users can also download NASCAR Connect, a game from OneUp Sports that allows users to play other fans with race predictions for some off-track competition while drivers battle it out on the track.

Live Press Pass video streams will keep the NASCAR action rolling even after the winner goes in and out of Victory Lane. Catch interviews with the top finishers and series champions immediately following the checkered flag for both national series events, and stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the week for the latest news.

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Staff Report

Rain recovery, new seat belts highlight safety changes

What are some of the key safety improvements NASCAR has made for the 2015 season?

Join Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s Senior VP, Innovation and Racing Development, as he goes over talking points and takes you inside the driver’s cockpit to see some of them in action.

Plus, hear about the ways NASCAR is trying to make driving safer during rainy conditions.

Watch today’s video, which is part of NASCAR Inside Track presented by Mobil 1, then come back throughout the season for more behind-the-scenes videos from Mobil 1 and NASCAR.

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Zack Albert

Longtime track mogul was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Wednesday

The selection of race track mogul Bruton Smith to the seventh class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday came with a groundswell of support among the 57 votes that were cast. One of Smith’s most vocal boosters came from what might be considered an unlikely source.

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Helped by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France’s stumping, the 88-year-old Smith was Wednesday’s top vote-getter, leading the 2016 list of inductees with a 68 percent approval rating in his third year on the ballot. The selection comes four days before the 56th annual running of the Coca-Cola 600, an endurance race that Smith created as the hallmark event for the track he helped create decades ago — Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Though Smith’s contributions to the sport as a tireless promoter and innovator in the realm of track ownership are immeasurable, so is his history of being at loggerheads with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., and his son and successor, Bill France Jr., over how best to help the sport grow. That same adversarial relationship seems to have skipped a generation, according to 2011 Hall inductee Ned Jarrett, who said he named Smith on his ballot Wednesday.

"I already had him in my mind before then, but I think that might’ve made a difference overall," Jarrett said of Brian France’s statement. "I think some people might’ve been surprised with his support. Bruton and Brian have always gotten along real well, and just I think him showing his support was good."

H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, a longtime Smith associate at the Charlotte track through a period of tremendous growth for the sport, said he was present for many of the former struggles between Smith’s Speedway Motorsports, Inc., group and the first family of NASCAR, noting how conversations frequently went with Bill France Jr.: "We conked his head a whole bunch of times, but he was hard-headed enough that he let us have it back."

Wheeler said he believed the younger France’s push for Smith carried plenty of sway with the voting panel Wednesday, but beyond that, it may have also smoothed over any lingering hard feelings between the two factions.

"Brian has never been a confrontationalist — never — like his dad was and like his grandfather was," Wheeler said. "He’s live and let live, and let’s move on and get this thing going like we’re supposed to be, et cetera. It looks like he’s got a pretty good way of doing things because a lot of things he’s done have worked …

"I think we found out today that one of the great things about this business is you can bury the hatchet and everything’s fine. And the hatchets were flying so much 20 years ago, and you were wondering, when am I gonna get one right in the skull? I used to wonder and think I’m going to put a helmet on, but you’ve just got to learn to live and let live and bury that hatchet."

Though the relationship between Smith and the Frances was at times antagonistic, the net result was to take the sport to new levels. Smith introduced luxury suites, condominiums and other modern features that were soon incorporated into speedways nationwide, and the expansion of the sport to new markets was a mutual goal for both the Frances and SMI.

Friendly or not, the competition was healthy, and many innovations sprang from its intensity.

"He was, I think, a big challenge to NASCAR and the France family along the way," Jarrett said, "and I think that’s one of the best things that could happen to the sport because he made them better and make them do things better. It was good that they had that rivalry going on."

Jarrett said his respect for Smith stemmed from a long-ago victory at a half-mile dirt track Smith had promoted in the Charlotte area. When Jarrett went to the pay window, he said that Smith was there to help explain that he could not pay out the purse. Since the attendance that night was more than adequate, Jarrett said he asked for reasons why, only to be told that the IRS had seized that night’s gate to offset Smith’s early financial struggles.

Jarrett said Smith wrote him a check for his Friday night winnings — $150, he recalled — but was told there was no guarantee that it would clear Monday morning. It didn’t, Jarrett said, but Smith vowed that he would make the situation right. Jarrett said he stuck to his word, an unusual circumstance in the sport’s earliest days, when crooked promoters often skipped town with that night’s proceeds.

"Then the rest is history as far as all the other speedways and things," Jarrett said. "I mean, he has made major, major contributions to this sport."

With contributions and recognition for seven decades in the sport come the setting-aside of any long-ago grudges. In a statement released Wednesday evening by the speedway that he bet the farm on back in 1960, Smith thanked not only the voting committee, but also NASCAR’s fans — the lifeblood of any track owner.

Though he might not have known the behind-the-scenes process that potentially helped spur his induction, Smith could also give a tip of the cap to NASCAR’s chairman, who opted not to let bygones cloud the panel’s voting judgment.

"Rivalries are what makes the sport," Wheeler said. "But sometimes, you’ve got to put the peanut butter back in the jar and put the lid on it."

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Zack Albert

No. 88 driver: ‘You want guys sliding around … able to move around’

CONCORD, N.C. — One Hot Day? That could be the promotional tagline of the future for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race if the alterations some drivers are suggesting take root.

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A relative lack of side-by-side racing with an overwhelming advantage given to the leader in so-called "clean air" has sparked plenty of debate this week over ways to enliven the annual invitational event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Among the more novel concepts was running the race during daylight hours, an idea given a thumbs-up on Twitter by reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Earnhardt elaborated on the suggestion Tuesday at the Charlotte track, where he finished 10th in the All-Star event just three days earlier.

"I think everywhere, you prefer racing during the day as opposed to night," Earnhardt said. "Night racing sort of has its places, and certain tracks can put on a great show at night. Certain tracks put on a better show during the day. I think that your potential to have a good show doesn’t really depend on the time of day, but you’ve got I think a better opportunity during the daytime.

"There’s a bit of a science to it — the track surface is hotter, the track’s slicker, the groove’s wider. You saw this past week in the All-Star Race, a lot of guys struggled with running in the top, making the top an advantage. You could get up there and use it. You saw some guys maybe make some passes up there, but it was never really a place somebody spent a lot of time with and dominated with or found a really competitive time up there consistently throughout those little runs."

Those "little runs" referred to the All-Star Race’s format, with short segments of no more than 25 laps at a time. But Earnhardt also made reference to cornering speeds and how drivers tend to stay on the gas during the nighttime’s cooler temperatures.

"Any time you’re in the throttle more, using more throttle, driving deep in the corner and getting on the throttle sooner, that’s not really what you want as far as trying to have good racing," Earnhardt said. "You want guys sliding around, out of the gas, able to move around, and that’s why I think it races better during the day. I think when we practice during the day, you see us running against the wall and moving all over the place in practice. That’s what you’d see in the race if we ran here during the day. It’d be hot as heck, but. …"

The All-Star Race began in 1985 and went under the lights at Charlotte in 1992, a revolutionary event in the sport because until then, no track of its size had ever been illuminated for nighttime racing. Dubbed "One Hot Night," Davey Allison edged Kyle Petty in a dramatic crash across the start-finish line, cementing the event’s legend.

In recent years, the All-Star start time has pushed further into the heart of prime time. Because of scheduling, TV needs an extended period of pre-race ceremonies, this Saturday night’s All-Star event didn’t take the green flag until shortly after 9:40 p.m. ET.

The sanctioning body may have won over plenty of new young fans with title sponsorship from Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants the previous weekend at Kansas Speedway, but even NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said that the All-Star event’s green-flag time this year might have pushed the limit for younger viewers.

"I think it’s a fair point. I think it is something we want to look at," O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday. "We all certainly like the intros and everything that goes into it. (Track president) Marcus Smith and his crew do a terrific job with that, but I’ve got kids who like watching sports earlier and I hear the same thing. I think that is something we’ll sit down and address and look at, and see if we can’t get it off a little earlier and a little sooner, but still have all the fireworks and everything that goes into the event."

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Nascar

Terry Labonte voted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A year ago, Terry Labonte postponed a trip overseas to attend the announcement for the 2015 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

But the two-time premier series champion wasn’t one of the five selected for induction.

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Wednesday, Labonte, 58, was in a hotel room in Dallas, Texas, when the 2016 class was unveiled. And this time, Labonte’s name was one of the five called.

Labonte, Speedway Motorsports founder O. Bruton Smith, Modified champion Jerry Cook, 17-time race winner Curtis Turner and 1970 premier series champion Bobby Isaac will officially be inducted into the Hall Jan. 22, 2016.

Reached by phone after the announcement, Labonte said he and his son Justin, "and a couple of other guys are out here in Dallas on a project we’ve been working on. … We had just got back to the room, sitting down watching TV."

Shortly thereafter, the Corpus Christi native said said his cell phone "started blowing up." Congratulations began pouring in.

"I said, ‘oh wow, I just got selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame,’" Labonte said. "(Justin) said ‘Oh cool. Is it on TV?’

"I said ‘I don’t know,’ so he started flipping the channels looking for it."

It’s no surprise to those who know Labonte that his reaction seemed somewhat understated. It’s the same unassuming attitude that marked a NASCAR career that lasted nearly four decades.

Labonte made his first premier series start in 1978 for car owner Billy Hagan, and up until he hung up his helmet for good last season, his approach never wavered. No fuss, no frills. Just show up and get the job done.

His championship titles came 12 years apart, one won with Hagan in 1984 and the second with successful team owner Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports in ‘96. He won 22 points races, and on a variety of track layouts – short track, intermediate, road course and the bigger venues of Pocono (2.5-miles) and Talladega (2.66 miles).

MORE: Hall of Fame Class of 2016 revealed | Our writers’ predictions and ballot

His 890 career starts is third highest among drivers in the series while his 655 consecutive starts was the most by any driver until it was surpassed in 2005. It was a run of such magnitude that earned him the nickname "The Iron Man."

Labonte’s consecutive starts streak had ended five seasons earlier, in 2000, when a particularly hard crash at Pocono Raceway left him with an inner ear injury.

Forced to take himself out of the car the following week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a distraught Labonte went on to miss the road course race at Watkins Glen a week later before finally returning to competition at Michigan.

"When you start out racing, it’s not one of your goals you set," Labonte said of his selection to the Hall. "You set out to do as good as you can every weekend and try to win races and win championships.

"To be selected to something like this is really, really an unbelievable bonus, something you never really expected or looked forward to, I don’t think. So it’s really quite an honor."

Video from two of Labonte’s victories are among the most often replayed when the series travels to Bristol Motor Speedway, where he earned two of his 22 victories.

In the 1995 night race at BMS, contact from Dale Earnhardt as the two raced toward the checkered flag sent Labonte’s No. 5 Chevrolet nose first into the wall – but only after it had crossed the finish line for the win.

The 1999 night race also featured Labonte and Earnhardt dueling for the win, with Labonte taking the lead at the white flag. As the two cars entered Turn 2, a nudge from Earnhardt once again sent Labonte’s Chevrolet spinning. This time, however, there was no recovery.

"Didn’t mean to turn him around; I meant to rattle his cage though," Earnhardt said in Victory Lane.

"I don’t think I ever had a cross word with Terry, not that I can remember, for anything," 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Bill Elliott said Wednesday. "We always raced and respected each other and went on down the road.

"I can’t think of a single time ever. I don’t know of anybody that could say that. Except when he backed into Earnhardt at Bristol that time."

Labonte was the second driver to win at least one race in all three of NASCAR’s national series – Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series.

"Obviously this is a really proud day for the Labonte family," Bobby Labonte, Terry’s younger brother and the 2000 Sprint Cup champion said in a statement issued by his Breaking Limits public relations firm.

"I think back to when we were kids racing quarter midgets, and I always wanted to do what Terry was doing and be like him. He kind of blazed the trail as he advanced through different series, and I was fortunate to follow in his footsteps.

"I never would’ve thought way back then that we’d both grow up to be Sprint Cup champions and now one of us in in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. It’s a pretty special day."

The younger Labonte won the season-ending race at Atlanta in ’96 as his brother, who finished fifth, wrapped up his second championship.

While Terry Labonte‘s championships came 12 years apart, his final victory came 23 years after his first. Both came in the Southern 500 at Darlington (South Carolina) Raceway.

"You think bout how you started and who the people were … that helped you get started in the early part of your career," he said. "Winning your first race and the championship and then later I was able to drive for Rick Hendrick, the great team at Hendrick Motorsports and all the people that helped me win the second championship.

"It’s just really a lot of people that really were kind of part of this over the years that kind of help to get you where you’re at.

"It’s hard for me to imagine, really, to be in the same class as some of those people that are in there because some of them I really looked up to over the years when I was growing up that did so much for our sport."

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Nascar