NASCAR Hall of Fame 2011 Class Announced

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) today confirmed the second class of inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. After a complex voting scheme put in place by the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel – through which both motor racing representatives and fans were asked to cast their votes – the 2011 class consists of David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett and Bud Moore.

The voting process involved members of the Nominating Committee along with 31 others representing all facets of the NASCAR industry meeting behind closed doors in Charlotte, hours before making the official announcement in the Great Hall inside the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

A total of 53 votes were cast for the 2011 class inductees, belonging to both the members of the panel and fans from across the country. Drivers like Dale Inman, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip were also voted a few times, but they couldn't reach the Top 5 in the end. The accounting firm of Ernst & Young presided over the tabulation of the votes.

In the fans' view, the Top 5 should have been Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Lee Petty, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough.

In the end however, Pearson got the most votes, 94%, followed by Bobby Allison and Lee Petty with 62% each, Ned Jarrett on 58% and finally Bud Moore with 45%. The Class of 2011 will be officially inducted in a ceremony in May 2011 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

The entire list of nominees for the 2011 class NASCAR Hall of Fame consisted of no less than 25 racers, as follows: Bobby Allison, Buck Baker, Red Byron, Richard Childress, Jerry Cook, Richie Evans, Tim Flock, Rick Hendrick, Jack Ingram, Dale Inman, Ned Jarrett, Fred Lorenzen, Bud Moore, Raymond Parks, Benny Parsons, David Pearson, Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts, T. Wayne Robertson, Herb Thomas, Curtis Turner, Darrell Waltrip, Joe Weatherly, Glen Wood and Cale Yarborough.