Presenting your 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class
The 2013 inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame were decided on Wednesday, and making the cut were Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace and Leonard Wood.
Thomas and Wood tied with 57 percent of the vote. Wallace, the driver with 55 Sprint Cup wins who is now an analyst for ESPN's NASCAR coverage, got 52 percent of the vote. Owens had 50, and Baker and Fireball Roberts had the first tie of the first three Hall of Fame voting sessions with 39 percent.
That necessitated a re-vote for the final spot, which Baker got. The five will be inducted on February 8.
Current NASCAR team owners Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress were both on the ballot, but neither were in the top eight in the voting.
Baker: Baker won 46 races and 45 poles during his driving career which was from 1949-1976. He was the first driver to win consecutive NASCAR championships.
Owens: Owens won 9 races as a driver, including the first NASCAR win for Pontiac, and 38 races as an owner. He and NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson won 27 races together.
Thomas: While Baker was the first to win back-to-back NASCAR titles, Thomas was the first two-time champion, winning in 1952 and 1954. He won 48 times in 228 starts from 1949-1962.
Wallace: The 1989 champion and current NASCAR analyst for ESPN, Wallace won 55 races from 1980-2005.
Wood: Half of the legendary Wood Brothers, who inspired the modern pit crew, Leonard Wood was the team's chief mechanic. Glen Wood was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame earlier in 2012.
