NASCAR's inaugural HOF class

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A 2005 gathering of Daytona 500 winners (from L to R) of Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip, Marvin Panch, Richard Petty, Mario Andretti and Bobby Allison could almost double as a Hall of Fame picture. Streeter Lecka/Getty Images Sport

NASCAR's Hall of Fame will begin the process of selecting its inaugural five inductees Thursday when 25 nominees are unveiled. It will be prestigious to make the list, virtually a guarantee of future membership, and it will be interesting to see who doesn't make the cut -- those forgotten by the passage of time.

It's vital that the 21-member nominating committee honor those who built what is now the Sprint Cup Series from its first season in 1949. If the Red Byrons and Herb Thomases aren't there now, they'll probably need to form an Old Timer's Committee to make sure deserving people make the Hall. Maybe Byron and Thomas will never make it, but they deserve to be nominated. In the absence of criteria being produced for nomination, the committee shouldn't consider active drivers. There's plenty of years ahead to install Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. It would leave more room for those from the formative years, those who did the heavy lifting.

Voting for those who will go into the NASCAR HOF in Charlotte, N.C., next May will be done by an expanded committee of 50.

Three should be unanimous: Bill France Sr., Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Anybody on the panel who doesn't vote for the three men most responsible for NASCAR's astonishing success shouldn't be voting.

Junior Johnson and David Pearson would get my votes if I had them for the final two spots in the first class.

Big Bill France organized a stock car series that has become a sports behemoth, and had the vision to build Daytona and Talladega, race tracks that made tremendous contributions to NASCAR's growth from 1949 to 1972. They led to International Speedway Corp., the nation's largest race track operator, and put the France family dynasty in control of its destiny. France defined the role of the benevolent dictator in racing.

Meanwhile, Petty, Earnhardt, Johnson and Pearson became the faces of NASCAR and created its image and wide-spread public appeal.

Petty will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his 200th victory this weekend at Daytona. King Richard also won seven championships and seven Daytona 500s. They are great statistics, but they don't tell the whole story of why he's beloved by so many. Petty never stormed off after a tough day. He was always there to sign autographs and take photographs with fans. In my first interview with Petty in 1980, he explained his patience this way: "My daddy [Lee] took me out and pointed at the stands and said, "Those are the people who are paying you. Don't ever forget that." King Richard never did.

With Earnhardt, fans either cheered or booed him, but all respected him. He was the Man in Black, the Intimidator, Ironhead, the driver who would do anything to win. He won seven championships and 76 races before his untimely death at Daytona in 2001. The fans voted him NASCAR's Most Popular Driver posthumously that year, a final sign of respect. Self-educated, Earnhardt also became a business tycoon, building the successful DEI organization and showed NASCAR the way to sell merchandise.

Johnson is famous for being the moonshine runner who transferred his driving skills to racing. He won 50 races in only 313 starts, and won the second Daytona 500 in 1960. After retiring as a driver, he made the transition to owner and won 139 races and six championships. Johnson has been called "The Last American Hero," the title of Thomas Wolfe's 1965 Esquire Magazine article.

Wolfe: "The legend of Junior Johnson! In this legend, here is a country boy, Junior Johnson, who learns to drive by running whisky for his father...one of the biggest copper still operators of all times, up in Ingle Hollow, near North Wilkesboro, in northwestern North Carolina and grows up to be a famous stock-car racing driver, rich...respected, idolized in his hometown and throughout the rural South, for that matter."

Pearson was Petty's rival in the 1960s and '70s. He's second on the all-time list with 105 victories, won three championships and the 1976 Daytona 500.

Pearson's 1974 victory in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona was described by Sports Illustrated's Barry McDermott this way:

"In a shocking move inspired by malice or strategy, depending on the viewpoint, Pearson deliberately allowed Richard Petty to take the lead on the final lap, then coolly caught up and roared past him to the finish line while the fans stood and howled a benediction of delight. That is how folk heroes like Pearson and Petty keep being folk heroes.

"Afterward, the fans streamed out with smiles on their faces and vicarious victory in their souls. One man stopped to ponder a question as to the stock car driver's appeal. He considered the inquiry impudent. "Simple, boy,' he sneered. ' They git grease 'tween their fingernails just like simple folk."

France, the great organizer, supplied the stage. Petty, Earnhardt, Johnson and Pearson sold the tickets. They are most responsible for putting NASCAR where it is today and should be the Hall of Fame's first inductees.