- Between 2001-2020, Johnson and Knaus (from left to right above) won 83 races and a record-tying seven Cup Series championships for Hendrick Motorsports.
- In 2021, the Hall of Fame switched from five inductees regardless of their time within NASCAR to only three—two from the Modern-Era Ballot and one from the Pioneer Ballot.
- The 61-person Voting Panel will also select the winner of the Hall of Fame’s annual Landmark Award.
It’s almost a foregone conclusion that Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson and his long-time crew chief, Chad Knaus, will be named Wednesday to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina. The only suspense is whether one or the other will make history by being the hall’s first unanimous selection since it opened in 2010.
Together, between 2001-2020, they won 83 races and a record-tying seven Cup Series championships for Hendrick Motorsports. Their streak of five consecutive titles between 2006-2010 is considered one of stock car racing’s most untouchable records. (They also won the championship in 2013 and 2016).
Johnson and Knaus will be named from the 10-person “Modern-Era Ballot,” which is for racers who began their careers after 1964. Less certain is the single nominee from the “Pioneer Ballot,” for men or women who began racing before 1964.
In 2021, the Hall of Fame switched from five inductees regardless of their time within NASCAR to only three—two from the Modern-Era Ballot and one from the Pioneer Ballot. The only criteria for the three Hall of Fame honorees is that they lead the balloting, regardless of the margin. One vote is as good as 50.
In addition to Johnson and Knaus, the eight holdovers on the Modern-Era Ballot are the late drivers Neil Bonnett and Larry Phillips, crew chief Tim Brewer, the late crew chief Harry Hyde, and retired drivers Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Harry Gant, and Ricky Rudd.
The “Pioneer Ballot” features retired drivers Donnie Allison and A.J. Foyt, the late driver Sam Ard, and the late car builders/team owners/mechanics Ralph Moody and Banjo Matthews.
Janet Guthrie behind the wheel in 1976.
In addition to the three new Hall of Fame inductees, the 61-person Voting Panel will select the winner of the hall’s annual Landmark Award. Created in 2015, it honors a man or woman for their (as the citation reads) “Outstanding Contributions to the Growth and Esteem of NASCAR.” The winner must have received 60% of the votes cast by the panel.
This year’s five Landmark nominees are retired driver Janet Guthrie, NASCAR executive Lesa France Kennedy, the late Alvin Hawkins (among NASCAR’s founding members), the late track owner Joe Mattioli, and former NASCAR executive the late Les Richter.
The voting panel will meet in the Hall of Fame at 1 pm for deliberation and voting. The Class of 2024 will be announced at a 4 pm press conference in the Great Hall within the Hall of Fame complex at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Contributing Editor
Unemployed after three years as an Army officer and Vietnam vet, Al Pearce shamelessly lied his way onto a small newspaper’s sports staff in Virginia in 1969. He inherited motorsports, a strange and unfamiliar beat which quickly became an obsession.
In 53 years – 48 ongoing with Autoweek – there have been thousands of NASCAR, NHRA, IMSA, and APBA assignments on weekend tracks and major venues like Daytona Beach, Indianapolis, LeMans, and Watkins Glen. The job – and accompanying benefits – has taken him to all 50 states and more than a dozen countries.
He’s been fortunate enough to attract interest from several publishers, thus his 13 motorsports-related books. He can change a tire on his Hyundai, but that’s about it.
Read the full article here