For NASCAR, five tough decisions

CHARLOTTE -- At 10 a.m. today, Junior Johnson and 49 other voters will gather in uptown Charlotte with a simple but complex charge -- determine the first five inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

This isn't like other racing halls of fame, which are scattered like freckles across the country, well intended but lacking the gravity and emotional horsepower of the sport's official shrine that sits on the corner of Stonewall and Brevard streets.

This will be NASCAR's version of Cooperstown, the almost mythical New York home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, a place where the faithful can come to visit, to remember and, even on quiet days, to feel a little of the thunder that echoes across more than 50 years. This is NASCAR, all grown up.

"We've had Halls of Fame, but some of them were in a motel," said Johnson, who went from running moonshine on North Carolina's backroads to being one of the sport's most successful drivers and team owners.

When the new facility opens on May 11 -- there's a countdown clock on the Hall of Fame's Web site at www. nascarhall.com -- it will include a splashy museum filled with race cars. But it's called the Hall of Fame for a reason -- five reasons to start.

Who are the five who will be inducted in the inaugural class?

Richard Petty? Dale Earnhardt? Bill France Sr.?

They're the favorites to get in on the first ballot, but that still leaves two spots to fill.

Some would argue five inductees aren't enough for the first class. But that's what baseball did and it's hard to argue with starting a Hall of Fame with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

"Some say put more in, some say put less in," said Winston Kelley, the Hall's executive director and one of the 50 voters. "Five is a hard number.

"It's easy for me to say, but I'd rather highlight five than have the 15th person that first year be something of an afterthought."

The 50 voters who will select the inaugural class are a combination of NASCAR officials, track owners, media members, former car owners, drivers, crew chiefs and others who have been around the sport for years. A 51st vote also will be included based on an online vote of fans.

A committee narrowed the list of potential inductees to 25. It is slanted toward the past more than the present, which means Raymond Parks, who helped Bill France Sr. start the sport, is on the list and Jeff Gordon isn't. Red Byron, who won the first NASCAR-sanctioned race in 1948, is on the list, and Rusty Wallace isn't.

"The initial Halls of Fame deals are all the same," said Humpy Wheeler, former president of Lowe's Motor Speedway and a voter. "You have a lot of people who know about the current people but don't know the past. They tend to nominate those they know.

"To do it properly, you need to look at the past and at the people who got us here."

Each voter received a packet of information detailing the 25 nominees' careers. There will be a presentation today reviewing the nominees followed by a time for open discussion when anyone in the room can speak on behalf of someone he believes should be inducted.

After a lunch break, the voters will be given ballots and asked to list five selections. Three voters -- Johnson, Ned Jarrett and Bud Moore -- also are among the nominees.

A representative of the accounting firm of Ernst & Young will tabulate the vote. If there is a tie for the final spot, there will be another vote until the tie is broken.

At 4 p.m. today, NASCAR President Brian France will announce the five inductees, two of whom could be his grandfather, Bill Sr., and his father, Bill Jr.

"The first-time vote, I've been struggling with that," retired driver and voter Ricky Rudd said. "There are so many great names. How do you choose? So many big names and so few spaces.

"I started to lose a little sleep then said there's no reason to fret. There's no right or wrong answer."

And there are many choices.

"I think common knowledge will tell you that Bill Sr., Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt are likely to be near unanimous selections," said Dustin Long, a voter who writes for Landmark newspapers and is president of the National Motorsports Press Association.

Beyond that, it gets more difficult. Tops among the remaining drivers could be David Pearson and Junior Johnson.

Someone deserving, more than one, will be left out. They likely will go in with the second class or the third.

"Halls of Fame are notoriously emotional," Wheeler said. "There will be great gnashing of teeth after the results are announced among relatives and friends of people who thought they should have gotten in."

That's when the lobbying will begin, Wheeler said.

This moment has been decades in the making. For a sport that started small, expanded across the Southeast and eventually went big-time, the Hall of Fame will honor the men who made it happen.

Johnson remembers small Halls of Fames in motels. This week, some voters will stay at the new Ritz-Carlton uptown.

What does getting into the Hall on the first ballot mean?

Let Junior Johnson explain:

"If I went in, it would be the greatest thing ever happened to me in racing. If I'm in that first class, you'll be able to hear me holler from miles away."

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