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NASCAR Announces Hall Of Fame 2018 Inductees
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NASCAR recently announced the Class of 2018 for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, each new member responsible for monumental contributions to the sport of stock car racing.
The 2018 class includes NASCAR’s first champion, Red Byron; one of the sport’s greatest innovators as a crew chief, Ray Evernham; a premier engine builder and champion team owner, Robert Yates; the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record holder for victories and championships, Ron Hornaday Jr.; and a broadcaster who was instrumental in putting the sport on the map, Ken Squier.
The same night, Grand-Am sports cars series founder Jim France was awarded the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
Red Byron
The winner of NASCAR’s modified championship in 1948 and the first champion the Strictly Stock Division a year later, Byron was the last of the original class of nominees from 2010 to gain induction.
“I couldn’t tell you why it took so long,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton, who announced the 2018 Class and the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR, won by Jim France. “We’re going to have current champions, we’re going to have future champions, but we only have one first champion.
Byron was a war hero as well as a titan of the asphalt. He suffered a leg injury in World War II that forced him to drive with a special brace attached to the clutch pedal.
Ray Evernham
In a span of four years, Evernham won three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships with driver Jeff Gordon. As a crew chief he guided Gordon to a remarkable 47 victories and 30 poles in 213 starts in NASCAR’s top division.
Evernham was on the pit box for two wins in the Daytona 500 and two in the Brickyard 400. In 2001, Evernham led the return of Dodge to Cup racing as the owner of his own team.
Despite the stats, Evernham was surprised at his election to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Robert Yates
Yates has been on the ballot four times and had come close to induction in the past. This year, he was the leading vote-getter in the 2018 class, being named on 94 percent of ballots.
As an engine builder, he provided the power that enabled Hall of Famer Bobby Allison to win a championship in 1983. As a team owner, he fielded the cars that carried fellow Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett to a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title in 1999.
Ron Hornaday Jr.
Hornaday leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with 51 victories and five championships. Discovered by the late Dale Earnhardt, Hornaday himself has returned that courtesy over the years to such aspiring drivers as Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Ross Chastain and Ricky Carmichael, to name a few.
Hornaday always had a couch for the up-and-comers to sleep on while they established their careers.
Ken Squier
Perhaps best known for calling the 1979 Daytona 500 on CBS, the race launched NASCAR’s meteoric popularity, Squier co-founded the Motor Racing Network. The Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence, housed in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, bears his name and that of the late Barney Hall.
Jim France (Landmark Award)
The son of Big Bill France and the brother of Bill France Jr., Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR winner Jim France founded the Grand-Am sports car series and shepherded the merger between Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series to create what is now the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship.
Currently serving as chairman of the board of International Speedway Corporation, France was also a driving force behind the revolutionary Daytona Rising project that transformed the marquee venue of NASCAR racing.
The 2018 class includes NASCAR’s first champion, Red Byron; one of the sport’s greatest innovators as a crew chief, Ray Evernham; a premier engine builder and champion team owner, Robert Yates; the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series record holder for victories and championships, Ron Hornaday Jr.; and a broadcaster who was instrumental in putting the sport on the map, Ken Squier.
The same night, Grand-Am sports cars series founder Jim France was awarded the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
Red Byron
The winner of NASCAR’s modified championship in 1948 and the first champion the Strictly Stock Division a year later, Byron was the last of the original class of nominees from 2010 to gain induction.
“I couldn’t tell you why it took so long,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton, who announced the 2018 Class and the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR, won by Jim France. “We’re going to have current champions, we’re going to have future champions, but we only have one first champion.
Byron was a war hero as well as a titan of the asphalt. He suffered a leg injury in World War II that forced him to drive with a special brace attached to the clutch pedal.
Ray Evernham
In a span of four years, Evernham won three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships with driver Jeff Gordon. As a crew chief he guided Gordon to a remarkable 47 victories and 30 poles in 213 starts in NASCAR’s top division.
Evernham was on the pit box for two wins in the Daytona 500 and two in the Brickyard 400. In 2001, Evernham led the return of Dodge to Cup racing as the owner of his own team.
Despite the stats, Evernham was surprised at his election to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Robert Yates
Yates has been on the ballot four times and had come close to induction in the past. This year, he was the leading vote-getter in the 2018 class, being named on 94 percent of ballots.
As an engine builder, he provided the power that enabled Hall of Famer Bobby Allison to win a championship in 1983. As a team owner, he fielded the cars that carried fellow Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett to a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title in 1999.
Ron Hornaday Jr.
Hornaday leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with 51 victories and five championships. Discovered by the late Dale Earnhardt, Hornaday himself has returned that courtesy over the years to such aspiring drivers as Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Ross Chastain and Ricky Carmichael, to name a few.
Hornaday always had a couch for the up-and-comers to sleep on while they established their careers.
Ken Squier
Perhaps best known for calling the 1979 Daytona 500 on CBS, the race launched NASCAR’s meteoric popularity, Squier co-founded the Motor Racing Network. The Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence, housed in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, bears his name and that of the late Barney Hall.
Jim France (Landmark Award)
The son of Big Bill France and the brother of Bill France Jr., Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR winner Jim France founded the Grand-Am sports car series and shepherded the merger between Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series to create what is now the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship.
Currently serving as chairman of the board of International Speedway Corporation, France was also a driving force behind the revolutionary Daytona Rising project that transformed the marquee venue of NASCAR racing.
