Four champions and an iconic broadcaster are the newest members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, with the Class of 2018 announced Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
Robert Yates headlines NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2018
Robert Yates, Red Byron, Ray Evernham, Ken Squier, and Ron Hornaday Jr. were voted into the NASCAR of Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
The five inductees consist of: Robert Yates, who not only built championship-winning engines but also won a Cup Series titles as a car owner; Red Byron, NASCAR’s first premier series champion in 1949; Ray Evernham, who revolutionized the role of crew chief and won three titles leading Jeff Gordon’s team; Ken Squier, legendary television and radio broadcaster regarded as the standard bearer for NASCAR media; and Ron Hornaday, whose four Truck Series championships and 51 wins are a series best.
Evernham, 59, was in Indianapolis with his wife when he learned the news. In addition to being a crew chief, he later formed his own team where he would win 13 races. He also mentored several current crew chiefs including Chad Knaus, Rodney Childers, and Tony Gibson, who’ve won a combined eight championhips and 103 races.
“My wife got a really big smile on her face and she said, ‘You’re in,’” Evernham said. “The emotions overwhelmed me and I have been at a loss of words since. I have never felt as overrun by emotions in my life.
“This is the biggest thing that can happen in your career.”
Getting selected was especially poignant for the 74-year-old Yates, who’s battling liver cancer. He earned the most percentage of votes with 94 percent, followed by Byron (74 percent), Evernham (52 percent), Squier (40 percent) and Hornaday Jr. (38 percent).
“I feel like I could take a jack and jump over the wall and I’d be on the right side [of the car] just like I used to,” Yates said. “I may not sleep a wink.”
A 57-member voting committee (including one online fan vote) met to determine the five inductees among 25 nominess during a closed session Wednesday at the Charlotte Convention Center, adjacent to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Hornaday and Alan Kulwicki, the 1992 Cup Series champion, tied for the fifth and final position necessitating a tiebreaker where the entire voting panel cast a ballot for one or the other.
Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and 2014 champion Kevin Harvick used to sleep on a couch in Hornaday’s basement when they first entered the sport, and credit the 58-year-old with helping launch their careers. Although Hornaday doesn’t consider himself retired, he last competed in a national touring race in 2015.
“We moved and the only thing I saved was that couch,” Hornaday said. “People say why and I said, ‘Because everybody was always too drunk to go upstairs and they would always pass out on that little couch, the closest one to the door.’”
The panel also selected Jim France to receive the Landmark Award for outstanding contributions to NASCAR. France is the son of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., and is recognized with having a significant role in growing the sport into a national entity.
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