Petty: Don't base hall picks on popularity
Friday, Jul. 03, 2009
Lee Petty (left) and son Richard Petty, an eventual seven-time champion, sit on the hood of a race car in the garage at Darlington Raceway. (Charlotte Observer file)
AP
Team owner and former driver Richard Petty answers questions during a news conference at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Friday, July 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JULY 03: NASCAR Legend Richard Petty, speaks with fans during a NASCAR questions and answers session prior to qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 3, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JULY 03: NASCAR Legend Richard Petty, speaks with fans during a NASCAR questions and answers session prior to qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 3, 2009 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
AP
NASCAR team owner and former driver Richard Petty answers questions during a news conference at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Friday, July 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Richard Petty, the seven-time Cup series champion who is among the favorites to be named to the first class of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, said the selection process "should not be a popularity contest."
Petty was among 25 nominees announced on Thursday for the first five-member class, which will be inducted next May in Charlotte.
"You know, a lot of reporters and people today don't know a lot about (car owner) Raymond Parks, him winning the first championship, or (driver) Red Byron and him winning the first championship," Petty said. "It's going to be really hard and it's not going to be accepted by all people, no matter who they put in."
Petty said if he were selecting the class, he would look back to 1949 and determine who took the chance on creating big-time stock car racing.
"I would get the people who got (NASCAR) started," he said. "Those are the ones who planted the seed."
Parks, Byron, Lee Petty, Herb Thomas, Curtis Turner and others from NASCAR's early days, as well as William H.G. France are also among the nominees.
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