Higgins one of five NMPA nominees

Longtime motorsports writer Tom Higgins is one of five nominees for the NMPA Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame's 2010 class.

Higgins, who began covering NASCAR racing in 1957 and retired from The Charlotte Observer in 1997, was nominated for the National Motorsports Press Association honor along with master engine builder Waddell Wilson, team owner Joe Gibbs and drivers Dale Jarrett and the late Tiny Lund.

Higgins, who still provides outdoors coverage for the Observer and is a regular contributor to ThatsRacin.com, is also a recipient of the NMPA’s George Cunningham Award and the NASCAR Award of Excellence.

The NMPA hall roster reads like a who's-who of racing's greats and includes, among many others, the names of Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, William H.G. “Big Bill” France and Bill France Jr. – the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s first five inductees.

Such leading media figures as Chris Economaki and Barney Hall have been similarly honored.

Click here to see the full list on the NMPA site.

Formed nearly half a century ago as the Southern Motorsports Association, the NMPA has grown from a small group of writers and broadcasters who covered stock car racing in the South to an international organization. It also boasts associate members who are among the most influential people in racing worldwide.

The NMPA Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame, in operation since 1965, is on the grounds of Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

More on the 2010 nominees

Dale Jarrett: The 1999 Winston Cup champion, Jarrett won 32 Cup races, including three Daytona 500s. He and father Ned are the second father-son combination to have each won at least one series title behind only Lee and Richard Petty. Also won Brickyard 400 twice and 16 poles. Finished in the top five in points seven times in his career. Also won 11 races and 14 poles in the Busch Series. Tom Higgins: Still writing and following NASCAR and other motorsports, Higgins' full-time journalism career spanned 40-plus years, 34 of them with The Charlotte Observer. Higgins was one of the first reporters to cover stock car racing full time and received NASCAR's Award of Excellence in 1996. He also won the NMPA’s George Cunningham Award in 1987.

Waddell Wilson: As crew chief, he won the Daytona 500 in 1980, '83 and '84. Wilson's engines powered teams to 109 wins, 123 poles and three Cup championships. He built the first engine to push a stock car to 200 mph, with driver Benny Parsons.

Joe Gibbs: The former NFL coach ha won three Cup championships as a car owner, in 2000, '02, and '05. Joe Gibbs Racing has 84 Cup victories (eighth on the all-time list) and 51 Nationwide wins. Gibbs' organization is widely considered to be one of stock car racing's powerhouses.

Tiny Lund: Ran in 304 races at NASCAR's top level and won five, including the 1963 Daytona 500. During practice for a sports car race that year at Daytona, Lund helped rescue fellow driver Marvin Panch from a burning car. Panch asked that Lund replace him in his Wood Brothers-owned Ford and the sub won the race. He also was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism for saving Panch.

Lund was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994. Lund was killed in a racing accident at Talladega in 1975.