The Class of 2012

The five inductees:

Richie Evans

Dale Inman

Darrell Waltrip

Glen Wood

Cale Yarborough

The Ring

Photo courtesy of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Each inductee receives a NASCAR Hall of Fame ring. The ring symbolizes each inductees passion, courage and skill. It’s also a symbol of achievement and excellence in a group of professionals. It’s crafted in 10k white gold, the NASCAR ribbon adorns the ring to represent the speed and spectacle about the sport. The ring is embellished with 25 diamonds totaling .303 carats, enhanced with two diamond cut blue sapphires. One side is personalized with the honoree’s name and year date he was inducted. The other side features the NASCAR Hall of Fame logo to represent “Where the Race Lives on.” The name of the honoree is engraved into the inside of the ring

The Induction Ceremony

The induction ceremony on Friday evening which was held in the Crown Ballroom of the Charlotte Convention Center and has increased the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s membership to 15.

Dale Inman, Richie Evans, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, and Glen Wood joins the previous two classes of Inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as the Class of 2012.

The night was set in elegance, yet down to earth as women wore evening dresses and guys wore suits, some with cowboy hats, and some with cowboy boots. As the Evans clan gathered before entering the ball room for the ceremony, there were plenty of orange ties to be seen as friends, colleagues and family were there in support of Richie Evans induction. I had the opportunity to talk to Richie Evans children, Jodi and Richie Jr. They were excited and very appreciative to have their father inducted. I was also very pleased to find out that Richie Jr. is a fan of Racingal.com as well as being a friend of mine on Facebook!! How cool is that?

As the night went on, the filming of the ceremony took place just as if it was airing live on TV. The first of the five inductees was Dale Inman. Richard Petty had the responsibility of inducting Dale into the Hall of Fame. How fitting was that? Inman, Richard Petty’s cousin, was credited for winning seven championships with Petty Enterprises. When Inman was presented with his NASCAR Hall of Fame ring, he noted “I’m kind of familiar with this ring. For the last two or three years, Richard has put it in my face a bunch of times.”

In conclusion to his speech, Inman said, “And I want to wish all the luck in the world to all the active crew chiefs now, and especially to the 9 and 43 – get after ‘em boys!“

The second inductee was Glen Wood. Wood, a four-time NASCAR premier series winner, stopped racing to become a full-time owner of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford team. With his four brothers, who include NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee and crew chief Leonard Wood, the organization counts 98 victories, including its fifth Daytona 500 win in 2011 with 20-year-old Trevor Bayne. Wood went on to remark that it took two families of working together that had resulted in him being inducted – the Wood family and the Ford family.

Next was the induction of the King of Modifieds, Richie Evans. His induction comes almost 27 years after his passing from a practice accident while at Martinsville Speedway, at the age of 44. Evans, nicknamed the “Rapid Roman” by virtue of racing out of Rome, N.Y., won nine championships over a 13-year span – including eight in a row – driving modified stock cars. His wife, Lynn, was there to accept his induction, which was presented by former crew chief Billy Nacewicz.

The fourth inductee was Cale Yarborough. His inductor was none other than Ken Squire. Yarborough made NASCAR premier series history in 1978 when he won his third consecutive championship, a record that stood until Jimmie Johnson claimed his fourth straight title in 2009. Yarborough, now 72, won 83 times – sixth all-time – including four Daytona 500s. The majority of his wins came in cars fielded by Junior Johnson.

“Racing is like a big, tall ladder,” Yarborough said. “When you begin, you’re at the bottom. And it’s a long, hard climb. And tonight, I feel like I’m standing on the top step.”

The final inductee was Darrell Waltrip. Did they save the best for last or what? But with all do respect, Darrell Waltrip finally made it into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, especially after last year’s class was announced, Darrell felt as though he was “dissed.”

Jeff Hammond was his inductor. Within five minutes of his speech, with no beating around the bush, it all came out…. Jeff Hammond (former crew chief for Junior Johnson’s team)  did NOT like Darrell Waltrip. He did NOT want him as their driver. “Why did it have to be Darrell Waltrip that came walking through those doors when Cale decided to cut back on his schedule?” asked Hammond. “Part of it is because he was beating us on the track more frequently, but the other part was, and you’ve heard this before…he would never shut up. He was always running his mouth.”

Hence, Cale’s famous nickname for Darrell – “JAWS.”  (cue the music to JAWS here).

With that said, here’s my segway to say ( and everyone knows DW… the man loves to talk!) that the media had a little bet going on how long his acceptance speech would be… (laughing). I was actually betting for DW to cry throughout the whole speech, but he held his composer pretty well.

Waltrip looked like a little kid in a candy store….he was excited and full of energy. “I was telling Stevie, (his wife) earlier this week that I hoped I wouldn’t get emotional tonight, but she reminded me ‘Honey, you always get emotional about the things you are passionate about,’” Waltrip said.

He got a little choked up when he started talking about his daughters, and that right there, impressed me…. and, of course, lost the bet. We all found out that Darrell’s going to become a Grandfather – his oldest daughter, Jessica and her husband, Fausto are expecting their first child. His other daughter, Sarah, was in the Philippines on a mission trip, but took a surprise 25 hour flight from the Philippines to be there for her father’s big night – that was his que to choke up… “and that means A LOT to an old dad, trust me.”

Overall the induction ceremony was well laid out and nicely done and I had a wonderful time. Congratulations to all the new members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame – the Class of 2012.