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Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus were voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame yesterday, but missed out on a chance to make history thanks to a handful of voters.
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Thumbnail Cred: Getty
0:00 LaJoie finalizes plans
3:22 SVG's oval debut
5:05 NASCAR Hall of Fame controversy
42 comments
I’m just glad Jimmie and Chad will go in together on the first ballot. Well deserved. Love seeing SVG do the IRP-IMS double.
12:16 Ryan Newman retired. I think he definitely deserves to at least be considered for Hall of Fame
Would he be eligible?
Yes he would, it would have been 3 years
I never was a Jimmie Johnson fan, but he has earned his spot, along with Chad in the Hall of Fame.
Correct, but not unanimous. Johnson was never a wheel man, happened to get in nascar when the points system worked in his favor. Great driver, not a wheel man.
The only explanation I could even see for Jimmie not getting in unanimously is he technically isn’t fully retires because he’s ran some races this year and no clue why people would vote no on Knaus. Also I get it’s Dale Jr but if Jr gets in the hof then so should Edwards very similar careers with missed opportunities not saying Carl is better than Jr just saying he should be in the hof like Jr
There were a few BBWAA who for years held a belief that no one should go into the hall of fame on the first ballot and would not vote for someone that was in the first year. Their thoughts were if Babe Ruth wasn’t a unanimous selection, no one should be. Sounds like we have something similar going on with NASCAR’s.
Even though this sounds likely, it’s still dumb and seems petty (no pun intended)
They could have a legit reason in that same light, but more them being confused/unclear since he is still running races.
Well, NASCAR also is dependent on so much, but Jeff or Jimmie not being unanimous is dumb. So was Richard and Dale Sr not being unanimous.
Babe Ruth didn’t win 5 championships in a row…
If that’s the case then again those people should be removed from the panel because now it’s not about how good you are it’s about who was in the ballet first. That’s complete bs
I’m not saying I agree, but It could be argued that the Johnson/Knaus tandem was more to their benefit than their individual accomplishments. Had the pairing not been so successful Knaus might’ve still been an above-average car chief, and JJ would still be getting pulled out of the tires at Watkins Glen. Again, I’m not making that argument, but it could be made.
I’ve often wondered if Evernham hadn’t left to do his own team, would he and chachi have been 6 or 7 time champions?
@Richie Rich po but proud yeah good question. Gordon and the 24 lost a lot of that Evernham mojo once he left. Aside from Loomis’ first year, he, Whitesell and Stevie couldn’t replicate Ray’s success. I mean, there was that one season he ran second to JJ in the championship too, but was that under any of those three mentioned or was that under Gustafson?
I believe Gordon and Johnson were both greatly aided by cars that wouldn’t pass inspection today. Not saying they weren’t very good drivers but Gordon’s cars were so dominate that he would intentionally hold back until the end of the race. Then blow everyone’s doors off. Johnsons were probably the same. Jmo
We need an “Honored Members/Drivers” category for the honorable mentions like Rikki Rudd as example. Leave the slots for the true “GREATS”. The list fills packed already
LaJoie has to be gearing up for an incredibly long term partnership, to possibly even outright trying for a part owner at Spire. He’s had offers in the past for better teams, and for atleast the next 2 seasons it seems like there won’t be a single seat open anywhere for Corey. Whether the Andretti deal happens or not, it seems like Corey is both very happy with his time at Spire so far, and very hopeful for the future with the team.
For years, many baseball sportswriters felt that no one should be unanimous.
I personally think SVG making his oval debut points to him racing full time. I see this as a practice for him to get used to oval racing.
As a fan of Lajoie I like his decision.
Unless he gets a chance with the top A level team like Hendrick, I like seeing him continue to build a rising team.
Why leave a rising C level team for a potentially declining B level team?
Good move #7
Crazy how Petty, Pearson, Gordon, Earnhardt, and Johnson, THE GREATEST drivers of their respective eras have not been voted unanimously into the HOF
Because most of them were on the ballot against each other. The HoF isn’t very old yet.
I agree. So dumb. Voters need to swallow their biases and just vote unanimously if their career warranted it.
@Jeffrey HammondThat should not matter. I think it goes by who you choose, so if there were not a ton of obvious ones the first year, then Dale Sr and Richard Petty should be unanimous.
Eric’s man-love for anything Hendrick is ridiculous.
C’mon Eric, man up.
I remember an article in Sports Illustrated from years ago where a writer who voted for the MLB hall of fame explained why he NEVER voted for anyone on their first year eligibility. “That implies perfection and the only perfect man died on the cross for our sins”……I won’t even bother to try and unpack that, I’ll just say that this years vote doesn’t surprise me.
Religion truly is the worst thing to happen to humanity.
Horrible statement whoever that “writer” was. Whether you are religious or not measuring men against a god is highly unintelligent.
Can anyone clarify whether there are a limited number of votes per voter? Because I could see someone trying to throw votes to someone they think might be borderline knowing that Jimmie Johnson was a virtual lock.
Is it possible Johnson’s dismall performance over last number of years may sour some votes ?
5 straight should dismiss 2018-2020
Ricky Rudd absolutely deserves to be in the hall of fame. I don’t think it’s fair to say that he isn’t in the same universe as Jimmie Johnson, Rudd drove a chunk of his career as an owner driver and yet still managed to get at least one cup win for 16 years in a row. Jimmie drove for the best team in the series for his entire career, that probably helped a bit.
They aren’t in the same universe. And yes, JJ drove for Hendrick, but they share their info and there were many years where his stats were far better than his teammates.
@jek 48 You couldn’t know the inner workings of Hendrick Motorsports unless you worked there. Johnson was a great nascar driver for his era, but Rudd won for almost every team that drove for in 3 very different decades, as for Jimmie…
@NikeHM69 It’s common knowledge that Hendrick was huge on having teams share information. And Rudd definitely drove in different eras where it was known to be easier to win. Jimmie won seven championships, five of them in a row. And Hendrick/Chevy was definitely NOT the best in the series for JJ’s entire career. Not even close. Lastly, Rudd won 20 races in that 16 year stretch. Jimmie won 10 races in just one year in a much more competitive era. These are entirely different universes.
@jek 48 I guess that’s your opinion, but to call those claims of Rudd driving in an easier era ‘a bit of a stretch’ is the understatement of the millennium.
@jek 48 now go back and look at that 16 year stretch for Rudds streak. Childress a NEW team at the time, Bud Moore, Kenny Berenstein, Hendrick and his OWN team. Meanwhile JJ was with the nascar super team at the time Hendrick. but yeah Rudds era was sooooo much easier……
I’ll be looking out for you Sunday. Hopefully the weather cooperates. Edit: I Aldo believe if trackhouse wanted to I believe they could run him as an open car. I’m sure he’s fast enough to race his way in every week. Although that would change the payout.
JJ not getting unanimous votes for his Hall of Fame induction is the textbook definition of a nontroversy XD
Johnson and Knaus deserved the honor into the Nascar HOF regardless. They accomplished what no driver-crew chief combination did in achieving the feat since Petty/Inman. On the Nascar HOF voting, I don’t even care if its unanimous or not unanimous. Whatever happened to Jack Sprague? He suppose to be on the ballot also. No surprise Lajoie is staying with Spire, that team is actually building up to become a good team for potential wins.