Gluck: My 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame ballot — how I voted and why

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — My first time participating in the NASCAR Hall of Fame selection process was an eye-opening experience, particularly from the standpoint of a lively discussion inside the voting panel room.

It was fascinating to hear various participants make their cases for who should be voted in, and you could feel the flow of the room shift several times in what felt like a largely wide-open process heading into the day (with no true shoo-in candidates).

Ultimately, Ricky Rudd (87 percent of the vote) and Carl Edwards (52 percent) were voted in from the “Modern Era” ballot and Ralph Moody (60 percent) was voted in from the “Pioneer” ballot for the class that will be inducted in February 2025. In addition, SAFER Barrier inventor Dr. Dean Sicking was voted as the recipient of NASCAR’s Landmark Award for contributions to the sport.

Those selections were also the same four that appeared on my ballot. Below is an explanation of why I voted for each.

Modern Era ballot: Edwards

This was by far the easiest choice for me, and the only one I was fairly certain about heading into the process. Edwards is the top eligible driver in NASCAR Cup Series wins who is not already in the Hall of Fame. His 28 victories came in 445 starts, which is a higher win percentage (6.3 percent) than the nominees he was up against (Neil Bonnett 5 percent, Harry Gant 3.8 percent, Greg Biffle 3.7 percent, Jeff Burton 3 percent, Ricky Rudd 2.5 percent).

You could say, “Well, Edwards doesn’t have a championship.” OK, but several non-champions with fewer career wins than Edwards are already in the Hall of Fame, and he also was not up against any Cup champs this year.

Plus, let’s be real: Edwards could have easily been a two-time champion (he lost the 2011 title on a tiebreaker and was about to win the 2016 title until a controversial late caution, which led to a crash in what turned out to be his final career race).

Edwards also finished within the top five of the point standings six times, half of the seasons he ran in Cup. That’s as many or more than the other nominees in far fewer seasons. Gant also finished fifth or better in the point standings six times (but in four more seasons than Edwards), Rudd five times in 28 seasons, Burton four times in 20 seasons, Biffle three times in 14 seasons, and Bonnett once.

And finally, I covered Edwards’ entire career. He was an unquestioned star, and there was never any doubt in my mind as to whether he’d eventually be in the Hall. Edwards deserved to be in the Hall, and now he’s in.

Modern Era ballot: Rudd

This vote for me could have gone several ways heading into the process, but I was convinced by passionate arguments for Rudd inside the voting room. This was Rudd’s eighth time on the ballot, but it seemed like in the absence of a slam-dunk driver (like Jimmie Johnson last year), Rudd rode a wave of momentum from the voters.

He checked many boxes. First, Rudd was second to Edwards in terms of nominated drivers on the Cup Series wins list (23). Ultimately, this sport is about winning — even if it took Rudd longer to win his races (906 starts) than others.

But that longevity actually plays in his favor. He was NASCAR’s Ironman until Jeff Gordon broke the consecutive starts record and his total number of starts is more than anyone but Richard Petty.

Also impressive: His consistency. Rudd won at least one Cup Series race for 16 straight years, which is the third-longest streak in history.

So in a jumbled group of drivers who had similar qualifications — 20ish wins but no championships — Rudd ended up getting the nod on my ballot over Harry Gant.

Gant will make the Hall at some point soon, I would expect. There were strong cases made for his selection this year because he was a no-doubt star who continues to be very popular.

What’s working against him, at least in my view, was the 18 career Cup wins. My personal feeling has long been 20 career Cup wins should be the current standard for making it into the Hall (I wrote in 2014 for a column in USA Today: “Within a decade, the magic number of wins for Hall inclusion will be 20”).

That remains true as long as there are drivers with more than 20 wins who are eligible, so I couldn’t quite get there on Gant this year.

It also feels like Burton, Bonnett and Biffle will also have their time come, but they were in a jumbled group for this 2025 class.

Pioneer ballot: Moody

I’m going to be honest with you: When I arrived at the Hall, I was certainly leaning toward Larry Phillips enough to have pre-written this section. Instead, I voted for Moody over Banjo Matthews and had to delete the “Why I voted for Phillips” portion that appeared here.

Phillips seems incredibly deserving — in a 2011 book about Phillips, Mark Martin was quoted on the cover as saying, “Larry Phillips is the only driver I would pay to watch.” In an interview posted last year on NASCAR’s social media accounts, Martin compared Phillips to Dale Earnhardt Sr. and noted if the streaming services of today existed when Phillips was around, he would be a megastar.

While the number of races Phillips actually won has been lost to history, the Hall of Fame’s own website estimates it at 1,000 and perhaps even 2,000. Is that hyperbole? Maybe not, because he won an astounding 220 of 289 NASCAR-sanctioned starts during one 11-year stretch.

But it felt like the decision was more between Moody and Matthews. Numerous compelling cases were made for both, and the people making those cases were those who were around during their era.

I was not covering racing then, so I felt the need to listen to their strong points. Ultimately, it sounded like their selection was long overdue for both — but I gave the nod to Moody because he preceded Matthews, and Matthews later built upon what Moody had started in some ways. Perhaps next year, or one in the near future, will be Matthews’ time.

One particularly convincing stat: Of the top 12 winningest team owners in NASCAR history, all were already inducted into the Hall except for the Holman-Moody duo. Moody, the mechanical genius behind the operation, saw his cars win 96 times (including two Cup championships), which ranks ninth on the all-time list.

Landmark Award: Sicking

This was a no-brainer for me, and not much needs to be said about it. Sicking literally has changed the entire sport with his creation of the SAFER Barriers, saved countless lives and prevented an immeasurable number of serious injuries.

NASCAR would be in a completely different place today without Sicking. Knock on wood, but I covered my first race 20 years ago and have never been around for the death of a driver. That’s stunning in a dangerous sport like NASCAR, and Sicking played a massive role in that.

The award is for outstanding contributions to NASCAR. I’d say Sicking is the definition right there.

(Top photo of Carl Edwards celebrating a 2010 win with his patented backflip: Jason Smith / Getty Images for NASCAR)