(L-R) NASCAR Hall of Famers (front-row) Bobby Allison, Leonard Wood, Matt Kenseth, Hershel McGriff, Kirk Shelmerdine, Jerry Cook, Jack Roush (back-row) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Joe Gibbs, Bobby Labonte, Red Farmer, (back-row) Ray Evernham, Dale Jarrett and Ron Hornaday Jr. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

The NASCAR Hall of Fame—based in Charlotte, North Carolina—has welcomed its class of 2023 with an induction ceremony at the Charlotte Convention Center. 

Inductees included 2003 NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth; Kirk Shelmerdine, who helped guide Dale Earnhardt Sr. to four Cup titles; and Hershel McGriff, who secured four Cup races in 1954 and returned to NASCAR racing in 2018 at the age of 90.

“I always looked at my career as a ladder,” said Kenseth. “You start at the bottom, and you hope you climb your way to the top. My ladder had hundreds and hundreds of rungs on it, and without any of them—bottom, middle or top, wherever you sit—I wouldn’t be standing here without any of you.

“So, really, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all.”

In addition, NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton was honored with the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR, while the late photojournalist T. Taylor Warren was honored with the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. 

For more information, visit the NASCAR announcement here.