Ricky Rudd, Carl Edwards and Ralph Moody have been chosen as members of the NASCAR Corridor of Fame Class of 2025. As well as, Dr. Dean Sicking was named the recipient of the Landmark Award for Excellent Contributions to NASCAR.
The members of the NASCAR Corridor of Fame Voting Panel met on Tuesday in an in-person closed session on the Charlotte Conference Heart to debate and vote upon the 15 nominees for the induction class of 2025 and the 5 nominees for the Landmark Award.
Ten nominees appeared on the Trendy Period poll, which was chosen by the normal Nominating Committee. The identical committee chosen the 5 Landmark Award nominees. The Pioneer poll, which included 5 nominees whose careers started in 1965 or earlier, was chosen by the Honors Committee. Starting with the Class of 2021, every Corridor of Fame class options two inductees from the Trendy Period poll and one from the Pioneer poll.
The Class of 2025 was decided by votes solid by the Voting Panel, together with representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Corridor of Fame, monitor house owners from main amenities and historic quick tracks, media members, producer representatives, rivals (drivers, house owners, crew chiefs), acknowledged business leaders, a nationwide fan vote carried out by way of NASCAR.com and the final two NASCAR Cup Collection champions (Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson). In all, 62 votes had been solid, with two further Voting Panel members recused from voting as potential nominees for induction (Jeff Burton and Ricky Rudd). The accounting agency of EY presided over the tabulation of the votes.
Rudd acquired 87% of the Trendy Period poll votes, Edwards acquired 52%. Harry Gant completed third, adopted by Jeff Burton and Harry Hyde. Ralph Moody acquired 60% of the Pioneer poll votes. Ray Hendrick completed second.
Outcomes for the NASCAR.com Fan Vote had been: Ray Hendrick (Pioneer); Carl Edwards and Harry Gant (Trendy Period).
The 2 inductees got here from a gaggle of 10 nominees that included: Greg Biffle, Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Randy Dorton, Carl Edwards, Harry Gant, Harry Hyde, Ricky Rudd and Jack Sprague.
Nominees for the Pioneer Poll included: Ray Hendrick, Banjo Matthews, Ralph Moody, Larry Phillips, Bob Welborn.
Nominees for the Landmark Award included Alvin Hawkins, Lesa France Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mattioli, Les Richter, Dr. Dean Sicking.
The Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony is about for Friday, Feb. 7, 2025 on the NASCAR Corridor of Fame and Charlotte Conference Heart in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tickets for the Induction Ceremony will probably be obtainable later this month on NASCARHall.com.
Class of 2025 Inductees:
Ricky Rudd
Powerful. As. Nails. There isn’t any different strategy to describe Ricky Rudd. Often known as NASCAR’s Ironman for greater than a decade, the Virginia native held the Cup Collection file for consecutive begins (788) earlier than Jeff Gordon broke it in 2015. His 906 sequence begins rank second to Richard Petty’s 1,185.
Throughout his 32-year Cup Collection profession, Rudd posted 23 wins, 194 prime fives, 374 prime 10s (seventh all-time) and 29 poles. One of many few profitable driver/house owners within the trendy period, Rudd gained six races for his Rudd Efficiency Motorsports group he operated from 1994-99, together with the 1997 Brickyard 400. Rudd, the 1977 Cup Collection Rookie of the Yr, earned a greatest factors end of second in 1991. He scored not less than one win in 16 consecutive seasons (198398), which is tied for the third-longest streak in Cup Collection historical past. Rudd was named one in every of NASCAR’s 75 Best Drivers.
Carl Edwards
“In the event you’re in search of a driver, you’re in search of me.” Working instead instructor whereas chasing his racing profession, Edwards would hand out enterprise playing cards with that phrase. His persistent efforts led him to Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing and in the end a NASCAR nationwide sequence profession that featured 72 victories – every normally capped by a celebratory backflip.
Edwards’ fast Truck Collection success earned him full-time rides in each the Cup and Xfinity Collection in 2005. He gained his first races in every sequence throughout an early season weekend sweep at Atlanta Motor Speedway and by no means seemed again. Edwards completed within the prime two within the Xfinity Collection standings 5 straight years, together with his 2007 championship, and amassed 38 wins over seven full seasons. Over 13 years within the Cup Collection, he gained 28 races, together with the Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500, each in 2015. He was the championship runner-up twice, together with the closest end in NASCAR historical past, dropping by tiebreaker in 2011. Edwards was named one in every of NASCAR’s 75 Best Drivers.
Ralph Moody
For Massachusetts native Ralph Moody, it began with a Motel T Ford he in-built 1935 and raced on nights and weekends. After driving a tank beneath the command of Basic George S. Patton in World Conflict II, he moved to Florida in 1949 so he might race year-round. Moody gained 5 NASCAR Cup Collection races from 1956-57.
The mechanically expert Moody paired with business-minded John Holman to type Holman-Moody Racing in 1957, forming the inspiration of a powerhouse NASCAR group. Holman-Moody competed from 1957-73 successful consecutive championships with David Pearson (1968-69) and taking the checkered flag with Mario Andretti on the 1967 Daytona 500. Among the sport’s most legendary figures piloted automobiles owned by Holman-Moody Racing, together with NASCAR Corridor of Famers Joe Weatherly, Fred Lorenzen, Fireball Roberts, Bobby Allison and Pearson. General, the Holman-Moody partnership earned 96 wins and 83 poles in 525 premier begins.
Landmark Award for Excellent Contributions to NASCAR:
Dr. Dean Sicking
The affect Dr. Dean Sicking has made in protecting drivers protected can’t be overstated. Sicking is greatest often known as an inventor of the SAFER (Metal and Foam Power Discount) barrier, an development that has saved numerous lives over the previous 20 years. Following the demise of Dale Earnhardt in 2001, NASCAR partnered with Sicking and the Midwest Roadside Security Facility on the College of Nebraska-Lincoln to higher perceive the circumstances and assist forestall future tragedies — a partnership that is still in place right this moment.
Along with designing the SAFER barrier, Sicking studied every monitor’s incident historical past and helped implement a plan to cowl essentially the most harmful areas instantly. At present, all NASCAR nationwide sequence race tracks function SAFER limitations. For his efforts, Sicking was named winner of the Invoice France Award of Excellence in 2003 and was awarded the Nationwide Medal of Know-how and Innovation by President George W. Bush in 2005.
