Busch, Gant, and Hendrick Headline NASCAR Hall of Fame Class

Membership in the NASCAR Hall of Fame increases by three with the induction of drivers Kurt Busch, Harry Gant, and the late Ray Hendrick.

The annual hall induction ceremony was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the downtown convention center, adjacent to the Hall of Fame building.

Gant, 86, did not win a NASCAR Cup Series championship but is remembered as one of the sport’s most popular drivers. Nicknamed “Handsome Harry” and the “Skoal Bandit” because of the long-time sponsorship his cars carried, Gant also was known as “Mr. September” after he won four-straight Cup races in September 1991 at the age of 51.

Gant was a short-track star in other series before making a late-in-life debut in the Cup Series at the age of 33. He won 18 Cup races and scored 21 times in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. He won the International Race of Champions title in 1985.

Busch roared into NASCAR’s top levels from his home in Las Vegas and quickly built a reputation for hard-knocks racing. Now 47, he was elected to the hall in his first year of eligibility.

Busch, who was followed into NASCAR stardom by his younger brother, Kyle, who also is on the road to the hall, won the Cup championship in 2004, the first year the new Chase format was used. He was driving for Roush Racing.

Busch, an often controversial driver who raced for several teams, totaled 34 Cup Series victories.

Hendrick, who died in 1990, won hundreds of races in NASCAR’s Modified and Late Model Sportsman series. A Virginia native, he typically raced up to five times a week while winning at tracks North and South. He ran from 1950 to 1988 and earned the nickname “Mr. Modified” along the way.

Hendrick finished in the top 10 in Modified points in nine seasons.

Also honored Friday night will be late track president/promoter H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, the winner of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. Wheeler died last August.

Wheeler was known across the motorsports world for innovative promotions. His idea to add a lighting system for night racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway led other superspeedways to follow suit, changing the dynamics of auto racing coverage on television.

Members of the Hall of Fame are elected by a panel that includes NASCAR officials, track operators, former drivers and crew chiefs and journalists.