Talladega Superspeedway Fan Favorite Bill Elliott Among Five Legends Named to Prestigious 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class
The NASCAR Hall of Fame named five new inductees to its 2015 Class recently, including the fastest man on the planet – Bill Elliott – who owns the all-time official qualifying record of 212.809 mph, set in 1987 at NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track, Talladega Superspeedway.
In addition to Elliott, the sixth NASCAR Hall of Fame Class includes two drivers who also competed at Talladega – Fred Lorenzen and Wendell Scott. Joe Weatherly and Rex White, who never took to the track’s 33-degree banking, were also named. All but Elliott, who isn’t yet eligible, are enshrined in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega.
Elliott, the 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, won two races at Talladega Superspeedway (1985 and 1987). In his 1985 triumph, after spending time on pit road to repair a broken oil fitting, he amazingly made up an incredible two laps under green flag conditions. The victory put him in position to win a $1 Million bonus later in the year, become known as “Million Dollar Bill” and then grace the front cover of Sports Illustrated.
Elliott is Talladega’s all-time pole winner with eight, including six straight from 1985-87 in which he swept the top starting spot for both of the track’s NASCAR Sprint Cup event weekends. He started second five times. In addition to his two wins, he recorded 10 top-five results (including four runner-up finishes) and 22 top-10s. His son Chase Elliott, who is leading this year’s NASCAR Nationwide Series championship battle as an 18-year-old rookie, made his Talladega debut on May 3 in the Aaron’s 312 and finished 19th.
Lorenzen, one of NASCAR’s first true superstars who won 26 career races, competed at Talladega five times, during the twilight of his career rom 1970-72. He claimed two fourth-place efforts and one fifth-place finish.
Scott was the first African-American to race full-time in NASCAR’s premier series, as well as the first to win a NASCAR premier race (1963 Jacksonville, FL). He, too, was in the twilight of his career when he ran at Talladega – from 1970-73. His best effort was 19th in 1971. Last year, Mobile, Ala. native Bubba Wallace became the first African-American driver since Scott to win a NASCAR national series race when he was victorious in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Martinsville.
The new inductees came from a group of 20 nominees that included in addition to the five inductees chosen: Buddy Baker, Red Byron, Richard Childress, Jerry Cook, Ray Fox, Rick Hendrick, Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte, Raymond Parks, Benny Parsons, Larry Phillips, O. Bruton Smith, Mike Stefanik, Curtis Turner and Robert Yates.
NASCAR also announced that Anne B. France won the inaugural Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
Next year’s Induction Day is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 30, 2015, broadcast on NBC Sports Network from Charlotte, N.C.
