Who Flies In Hall's First Class?

   While political leaders in Charlotte consider a $32 million requested increase in exhibit costs for NASCAR's new Hall Of Fame in downtown, the debate has begun over who should be among the first  inductees when the venue opens in May of 2010.
   If the extra money is approved by the city council on Sept. 22, the price of the huge venue will rise to $195 million.
   Whatever the eventual cost, there seems little doubt the hall is going to be a be a fabulous showplace, drawing motorsports fans from around the world.
    But who will they see honored as the "first class?"
    Historian Dan Pierce, a professor at UNC-Asheville and an avid fan of stock car racing, unofficially began that discussion a few days ago.
   "It's time to start thinking about it very seriously," said Pierce, whose book, "White Liquor And Red Clay: NASCAR In The Era Of Big Bill France," deeply researched over several years, will be released by the University Of North Carolina Press around the time of the hall's opening.  "The honor for whoever is inducted two years from now will be immense."      

   Indeed.
   And there are so many deserving drivers, team owners, crew chiefs, track owners and promoters.
   Here are Pierce's choices of who, say, the first 10 should be:
   "There are four 'no-brainers,'"  he said.  "Bill France Sr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and Bill France Jr.
   "The 'should be's' are Bobby Allison and Junior Johnson.
   "Dark horses are Raymond Parks, Fonty Flock, Curtis Turner and Smokey Yunick.  Anybody who knows anything about NASCAR history should include them."
   Big Bill France, of course, founded NASCAR and with an iron will built it into a big-time sports entity.  His son expanded the popularity greatly.  Petty won a record 200 races and shares the mark for championships with Earnhardt at 7 each.  Earnhardt won 76 times and is rated by many as the most talented driver ever.
   Allison triumphed 84 times and won the 1983 championship.
   Johnson scored 50 victories as a driver and 140 overall as a team owner.  His team won six championships, three each by drivers Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough.
   Georgian Parks was a car owner in NASCAR's early days in the late 1940s and early '50s.  Fonty Flock was a colorful driver posting 19 wins from 1949-57.  Virginian Turner was perhaps was the most famous driver of his era, 1949-68, winning 17 times and developing a huge following for his full-bore, wild driving style.
   The colorful Yunick was known as an engineering genius who fielded cars for many of the greatest drivers.
   Pierce said he made his selections on two criterion: "Long term influence in shaping the sport and ability to bring fans to the tracks."
  Pierce's friend, Don Good, a history professor at Milligan College near Johnson City, Tenn., and an ardent stock car racing fan, offered the following list, "submitted alphabetically,"  he said, "so as not to have to make comparative evaluations:"

   Buck Baker.
   Dale Earnhardt Sr.
   Tim Flock.
   Bill France Jr.
   Bill France Sr.
   Junior Johnson.
   David Pearson.
   Lee Petty.
   Richard Petty.
   Bruton Smith.

   Baker won 46 races and captured titles in 1956 and '57.  Tim Flock triumphed 39 times and was the champion in 1952 and '55.   Pearson scored 105 victories, second on the all-time list to Richard Petty, and was the top circuit's champion in 1966, '68 and '69.  Lee Petty, Richard's father, won 54 times and took titles in 1954, '58 and '59.
   Smith, along with Turner, founded Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1960.  Smith's Speedway Motorsports empire has grown to include the tracks in  Atlanta, Bristol, Las Vegas, New Hampshire and Texas.
   I asked some of my motorsports journalist peers to submit the original 10 inductees they would put on ballots if they had a vote.
   Here's who Thomas Pope of The Fayetteville Observer selected:

   Bill France Sr.
   Richard Petty.
   David Pearson.
   Junior Johnson.
   Herb Thomas.
   Bobby Allison.
   Dale Earnhardt Sr.
   Cale Yarborough.
   Dale Inman.
   Richie Evans.

   Tar Heel Thomas, a former truck driver, won 48 times and was NASCAR's champion in 1951 and '53.  South Carolinian Yarborough triumph 83 times and is the only driver to take three straight titles, scoring in 1976, '77 and '78.  Inman was the crew chief for most of Richard Petty's victories, and guided the team of "The King" to all seven of its championships.  Inman also won another title with driver Terry Labonte.
   Evans, 0f New York state, ruled the 1970s in NASCAR's Modified Division, winning approximately 400 feature events and nine national championships, including eight in a row.
   Jimmy McLaurin, the retired motorsports writer for the Columbia State newspaper in South Carolina, said this would be his vote for the new hall of fame's inaugural inductees:

   Bill France Sr.
   Richard Petty.
   David Pearson.
   Bobby Allison.
   Cale Yarborough.
   Bill France Jr.
   Ralph Seagraves.
   T. Wayne Robertson.
   Dale Earnhardt.
   Harold Brasington.

   Seagraves and Robertson were officials at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, the company that contributed mightily to the growth of NASCAR through sponsorship of the Winston Cup Series.  Brasington built stock car racing's first big track, Darlington Raceway.
   My longtime motorsports journalist pal, Steve Waid of NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated, submitted a list, too, and "not in any particular order," he noted:

   Bill France Sr.
   Bill France Jr.
   Richard Petty.
   Dale Earnhardt.
   Lee Petty.
   Fireball Roberts.
   David Pearson.
   Junior Johnson.
   Bobby Allison.
   Cale Yarborough.

   Roberts won 33 times from 1950-64, his career cut short by a tragic accident at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
   What about who I would vote for, given the chance?
   Here goes, and again not in order:

   Bill France Sr.
   Richard Petty.
   David Pearson.
   Dale Earnhardt Sr.
   Junior Johnson.
   Cale Yarborough.
   Darrell Waltrip.
   Bobby Allison.
   Lee Petty.
   Buck Baker.

   Waltrip was victorious 84 times and claimed championships in 1981, '82 and '85.
    Winston Kelley, executive director of the Hall Of Fame, said that NASCAR is "still developing a process" for selecting those who will be inducted.  "A lot of vetting is being done internally,"
Kelly added.
   I am interested in learning who you readers would choose.  If you're inclined to share your thoughts, please use the comment box and add your list.