By: NASCAR Wire Service May 23, 2018 4:33 PM NASCAR announced today the inductees who will comprise the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2019. The five-person group – the 10th since the inception of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010 – consists of Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Jeff Gordon, Roger Penske and Jack Roush. In addition, NASCAR announced that Jim Hunter earned the 2019 Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. The distinguished group will be honored during the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Feb. 1, 2019.The NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met today in a closed session at the Charlotte Convention Center to debate and vote upon the 20 nominees for the induction class of 2019 and the five nominees for the Landmark Award.The Class of 2019 was determined by votes cast by the Voting Panel, including representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks, media members, manufacturer representatives, competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs), recognized industry leaders, a nationwide fan vote conducted through NASCAR.com and, for the fifth year, the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion (Martin Truex Jr.). In all, 57 votes were cast, with two additional Voting Panel members recused from voting as potential nominees for induction (Ricky Rudd and Waddell Wilson). The accounting firm of EY presided over the tabulation of the votes.Voting was as follows: Jeff Gordon (96%), Jack Roush (70%), Roger Penske (68%), Davey Allison (63%) and Alan Kulwicki (46%).

The next top vote-getters were Buddy Baker, Hershel McGriff and Waddell Wilson.Results for the NASCAR.com Fan Vote, in alphabetical order, were Davey Allison, Buddy Baker, Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon and Alan Kulwicki.The five inductees came from a group of 20 nominees that included, in addition to the five inductees chosen: Buddy Baker, Red Farmer, Ray Fox, Harry Gant, Joe Gibbs, John Holman, Harry Hyde, Bobby Labonte, Hershel McGriff, Ralph Moody, Larry Phillips, Ricky Rudd, Kirk Shelmerdine, Mike Stefanik and Waddell Wilson. Nominees for the Landmark Award included Janet Guthrie, Barney Hall, Alvin Hawkins, Hunter and Ralph Seagraves.The Class of 2019 Induction Weekend is set for Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019, through Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The official Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019. The Class of 2019 marks the 10th class and a total of 50 legends inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. To celebrate the momentous occasion, new events and special programs have been added throughout the extended weekend.Tickets to Induction Ceremony events begin at $75 per person (plus tax and applicable service fees). Tickets go on sale on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at 10 a.m. ET. A special pre-sale will be available to NASCAR Hall of Fame members Wednesday, May 30, 2018, through Friday, June 8, 2018. To learn about becoming a NASCAR Hall of Fame member, visit nascarhall.com/membership. For additional details about the Class of 2019 Induction Weekend schedule and ticket packages, visit nascarhall.com/inductees/induction-ceremony. Class of 2019 Inductees:

Davey Allison

Davey Allison was born with speed. The son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison grew up more interested in football, but could not escape the racing bug, following his father into the family profession. The younger Allison honed his skills at local Alabama tracks, getting his big break in 1987, taking over for legendary driver Cale Yarborough in Ranier-Lundy’s Ford Thunderbird. Allison spent no time continuing the family’s legacy, compiling two wins, five poles and nine top fives in his full-season debut to capture 1987 premier series rookie of the year. Allison won 19 races and 14 poles, including the 1992 Daytona 500, before his tragic death in a helicopter accident in 1993.

Jeff Gordon

Blessed with once-in-a-generation talent and charisma, Jeff Gordon helped take NASCAR from a regional sport to the mainstream. Gordon took NASCAR by storm in the 1990s, becoming the youngest driver in the modern era to win a premier series title as a 24-year-old in 1995. He went on to win three more championships (1997, ’98, 2001). In 1998, Gordon led the Rainbow Warriors – named for his colorful No. 24 Chevrolet – to a modern era-record 13 wins. Overall, he won 93 races, which ranks third on the all-time wins list. Gordon is a three-time Daytona 500 champion and won the Brickyard 400 a record five times.

Alan Kulwicki

Noted Wisconsin short-track racer Alan Kulwicki moved to Charlotte in 1984 with nothing but a pickup truck, a self-built race car and the hopes of competing in NASCAR’s highest series. He had no sponsor and a limited budget. Kulwicki burst onto the scene as the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year with his self-owned AK Racing team. Throughout his career, Kulwicki received lucrative offers from powerhouse race teams, but insisted on racing for himself. That determination eventually led to his first of five career victories at Phoenix in 1988. His signature season was his championship-winning 1992 campaign, where Kulwicki overcame a 278-point deficit with six races remaining to capture the NASCAR premier series title. Kulwicki never got the chance to defend his title, dying in a plane crash in 1993.

Roger Penske

A true captain of industry, Roger Penske has steered one of the most successful motorsports ships in the sport’s history. Penske, who celebrated his 50th anniversary in racing in 2016, reached a major milestone and collected a prestigious award during the golden anniversary season. That year, he reached 100 wins in NASCAR’s premier series and capped off the season by receiving the Bill France Award of Excellence. Penske won the premier series championship in 2012 with driver Brad Keselowski, and owns two Daytona 500 wins with Ryan Newman in 2008 and Joey Logano in 2015. And from 2013-15, Penske tied a record with three consecutive owner championship in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Off the track, Penske likewise makes an indelible mark. He built the two-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California in 1996, and previously owned Michigan International Speedway.

Jack Roush

Once a Michigan-based drag racing owner and enthusiast, Jack Roush made his best motorsports decision when he turned south in 1988 to start a NASCAR team. Since beginning Roush Racing (now known as Roush Fenway Racing), the graduate-level mathematician turned engineering entrepreneur has won a record 325 races across NASCAR’s three national series. Overall, Roush boasts five NASCAR national series owner championships, while his drivers have won an additional three driver championships. Roush has displayed a prowess for discovering and developing talent. He helped Matt Kenseth (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004) grow into premier series champions and also jumpstarted the careers of Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR:

Jim Hunter

Throughout his career, Jim Hunter left an indelible mark on NASCAR and those associated with the sport. His wit and wisdom helped guide NASCAR’s growth during portions of six decades as a company executive, track president, public relations professional and journalist. Hunter broke into the motorsports business as a member of the media in the 1950s. He worked as the sports editor of the Columbia Record, was an award-winning reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and columnist for Stock Car Racing magazine. He moved to the public relations side of the business with Dodge in the 1960s before serving as public relations director at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. In 1993, he became president of Darlington Raceway and corporate vice president of the International Speedway Corporation. He remained at Darlington until 2001 when he accepted an offer from Bill France Jr. to return to NASCAR to lead an expanded public relations effort aimed at responding to the needs of burgeoning media coverage.

By: Kelly Crandall May 23, 2018 4:46 PM Being elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame was a breathtaking moment for team owner Jack Roush, who now eyes the future.“I hope that I’m worth that,” Roush said, “and I hope that I’ll not do anything that will embarrass them as we go down the road further.”Roush received 70 percent of the vote Wednesday afternoon. His name was called after Jeff Gordon’s and before Roger Penske, Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki.Standing behind the assembled crowd in the Great Hall of the NASCAR Hall of Fame during the announcement, Roush was joined by former driver Mark Martin. Martin was the first individual associated with Roush Fenway Racing to inducted into the Hall of Fame when he was called last year.The two proudly watched the video package put together for when Roush’s name was called. In the initial moment of hearing his name called, Roush admitted, “I felt like I wanted to sit down. “It just means a to be up here with Mark and with everybody else who has already been inducted.”Roush is still active on the NASCAR circuit, fielding cars in both the Xfinity Series and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He has field a NASCAR entry since 1988. A championship winning car owner in all three NASCAR national series, Roush is also the sport’s winningest owner with a combined 325 victories.“I cannot imagine my name is up there with the 45 people who have already been inducted, all the things they’ve accomplished,” Roush said. “And of course, with Mark being in there. With Roger Penske being in there. Of course, all of my Wood Brother friends [Leonard and Glen Wood] being in there. “It’s rarified air and I’ve got to take a while to think about what it all means to me.”

By: Kelly Crandall May 24, 2018 10:22 AM Jeff Gordon tried to play it cool about the possibility of being elected to the 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame class despite it seemingly being a forgone conclusion.“You never know until they announce it,” said Gordon. “I was trying not to get my hopes up or get too caught up into all of it.”The four-time champion might not have been a unanimous selection, but he did receive the highest percentage of votes in Hall of Fame history. Gordon was selected by 96 percent of the voters. He watched the announcement while at the Fox Sports studios in Charlotte, the base of what has been his new job the last few years, with his family.“When you hear your name, I had different feelings,” Gordon said. “I wasn’t that nervous until it got to that moment. Then it was like, man, this is very special. When you’re surrounded by your family, especially my mom and dad, they sacrificed everything to get me into racing. I can just see the look in their eyes of how proud they are because of the role they played, how they’ve seen me since I was just a kid be passionate about racing. I think sort of disbelief for all of us that it’s led to this.“All that I’ve accomplished, the things that I’ve been able to experience, people I’ve worked with, people I’ve met, then now to get into the Hall of Fame is kind of surreal. I feel it was just yesterday I was driving a racecar, so it’s very surreal but a huge honor.”Following his name, Gordon was excited to hear the next four nominees, and he was excited for each one. And he also thought about his connection to each one in some way.Gordon raced against Roger Penske and Jack Roush teams. When Gordon debuted in the Cup Series in 1992 at Atlanta, it was the same race where Alan Kulwicki won the championship. Davey Allison was somebody “special” to Gordon, and someone to whom he looked up.Following a brief career in what is now the Xfinity Series, Gordon moved to Cup racing full-time with Hendrick Motorsports in 1993. By 1995 he was a champion, only to add two more in ’97 and ’98. Gordon won races everywhere and often, triumphing in the sport’s biggest races while helping transcend it off the track.Notoriety came quickly, and by 2003 he went mainstream, becoming the first –and so far, only — NASCAR driver to host “Saturday Night Live.” He’s also invested much of his personal time into charity and other causes away from the track through the years.When Gordon hung up the helmet on his full-time career after 2015, he had won four championships and 93 races. And with his Hall of Fame selection, he will join the only car owner he’s ever driven for, Rick Hendrick, and a crew chief he found most of his success with, Ray Evernham.That all three of those key pieces are now in the Hall of Fame says a lot about what Hendrick created with his organization, said Gordon.“The people. Then when Ray and I came to work for Rich, Ray told me that all the resources are there, that this could be something really special,” he recounted. “Obviously, it ended up being way more than we ever anticipated.“Those two are like family to me. To be able to follow them in is very, very, very special to me. They’re obviously extremely deserving. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for those two. Besides my parents, I owe those two everything, how they contributed to my life in more than just racing. But especially racing, when you look at the success we had on the track.”