Modified Trio Up For Hall
Allison, Byron, Evans among 25 on ballot
Charlotte, NC — Announced Thursday, 25 figures that have shaped the history of NASCAR racing have been nominated for the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Among that select group are three competitors that earned fame in NASCAR’s Modified division.
During the 2008 season NASCAR celebrated 60 Years of Modified Champions. On Thursday, a trio of those championship competitors – Bobby Allison, Red Byron and Richie Evans – were among the 25 distinguished individuals on the ballot for induction in the first NASCAR Hall of Fame class in 2010.
Allison captured the 1964 and 1965 NASCAR Modified Division titles prior to his rise to stardom in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Named one of “NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers” in 1998, Allison’s dominant two-year run in the Modifieds put him on the map as a force to be reckoned within the world of NASCAR racing as he gathered 32 wins in his title campaigns. Prior to his NASCAR Modified Division titles, Allison also collected back-to-back championships in the NASCAR Modified Special Division in 1962 and 1963.
Allison went on to register 84 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories which ranks third in the division’s history. He was a three-time Daytona 500 winner, six-time Most Popular Driver and the 1983 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.
Byron was the ultimate racing pioneer. He won the first NASCAR-sanctioned race on the beach and road course in Dayton on Feb. 15, 1948 and later that year captured the first NASCAR championship in the Modified Division. Byron, a Word War II veteran, captured the first NASCAR Strictly Stock (now know as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) title a year later. While his racing career was short, his contributions and accomplishments have not gone unrecognized. He was named one of “NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers” in 1998.
The king of Modified racing, Evans’ accomplishments are nearly immeasurable. The Rome, N.Y., native captured nine NASCAR Modified titles in a 13-year span, including a remarkable eight in a row from 1978-85. Evans ranked No. 1 in the 2003 voting of the “NASCAR All-Time Modified Top 10 Drivers,” and he was included in “The 50 Greatest NASCAR Drivers of All Time” list in 1998. In the first year of the current NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour format in 1985, Evans won 12 races, including all four events at Thompson. Evans had already clinched his ninth career title heading into the season’s final race at Martinsville, but tragically perished in an accident during a practice session, cutting short a career that is unmatched still today.
Also among the list of 25 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees were others with ties to the Modified division. Raymond Parks was owner of Byron’s cars that captured the first NASCAR title and drivers Buck Baker and Tim Flock both raced Modifieds before finding success in what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in downtown Charlotte, is slated to open on May 11, 2010. The inaugural class, and each enshrined class thereafter, will consist of five inductees. The class will be selected by the Voting Panel from the list of 25 candidates that was assembled by a 21-person Nominating Committee. The Voting Panel will consist of the members of the Nominating Committee and 29 others from throughout the NASCAR industry. There also will be one more ballot, decided by a nationwide fan vote, for a total of 51 Voting Panel ballots.
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Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR