Induct the major leaguers in Hall before Richie Evans

June 15, 2011 19 Comments »

Richie Evans shouldn't have gotten in the NASCAR Hall of Fame before those who succeeded at the top levels of the sport. Photo courtesy of ISC Archives/Getty Images

When I heard that the late Richie Evans had been inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s third class, I couldn’t help but think back to the batting cage scene early in “Bull Durham.”

Baseball maven Annie Savoy was the only person in town (or anywhere else, for that matter) who seemed to know that Crash Davis was only 20 homers away from setting the minor league home run mark and was so excited she wanted to call “The Sporting News.”

Crash was less enthusiastic, noting that “247 home runs in the minors would be a dubious honor, if ya think about it.”

Now, there’s nothing dubious about Evans’ estimated 475 wins in modified action or nine championships (eight consecutive from 1978-85, before his death at Martinsville). He definitely should be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame someday.

Just not now.

We’re populating a Hall of Fame 60 years after the formation of the sport. There’s a lot of catching up to do. How in the world, with all the folks we have to shoehorn in here, do we have room to induct a career minor leaguer in the third class?

To refer to him as a minor leaguer is not to disparage him or modified racing. But the bare facts are that A) he did not win at the highest level of NASCAR at the time that he raced, like a Fireball Roberts or Benny Parsons, and B) his success in modified racing did not lead to the sport growing appreciably (as opposed to contributors like Raymond Parks and T. Wayne Robertson, whose work can be directly linked to NASCAR’s success). If we were racing modified cars instead of trucks on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons because his presence had helped modified racing leapfrog into a third national series, then there’d be an argument. But that didn’t happen.

I’d be interested in knowing how much lobbying for Evans came from the executives in the room. NASCAR is always trying to grow while sustaining its grassroots image. For the suits Evans’ induction is at least a short-term marketing win, so it’s fair to ask if his push was completely motivated by merit.

In a few years, after the Hall of Fame is established, NASCAR can create a separate category to induct the likes of Evans or sportsman ace Jack Ingram.

But right now, with only one route to induction, it can only be about the best of the best.

And NASCAR’s Hall of Fame voters inducted its Crash Davis. It’s a feel-good story, for sure.

It’s just not right.

  • http://www.motorsportsphoto.com/ Drew Hierwarter

    Remember this is the “NASCAR Hall of Fame” not the “NASCAR Sprint Cup Hall of Fame”.

    Evans’ 9 championships are all NASCAR championships.

    The hall needs to be all inclusive, not just restricted to the top series.

    I do agree with your comment that there are 60 years of the sport to catch up on. I think that, at least for the first few years, each new class should be ten or even twenty. But I disagree that drivers like Evans or Jack Ingram should somehow be in a separate category.

    They all raced under the NASCAR banner!

  • Randy

    This is the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Nowhere does it say only the “cup” level pioneers go in early. Richie Evans was a hell of a race car driver in the FIRST division sanctioned by NASCAR. That means “cup” or anything like it came later. And BTW! “Balls” cut his teeth in a modified as did Bobby and Donnie Allison, Geoff and Brett Bodine, and many, many more.

    To try to make anyone believe that the Modifieds are anything less of a division is silly. If NASCAR had focused on excitement and popularity and tried to develop the division instead of coming up with new revenue streams (pick-up trucks that were used for towing the real race cars to the tracks) there may have been some opportunities for the Evans of the racing world to move up. Hell! Half these kids breaking into the sport on their daddy’s name couldn’t carry Richie’s jock strap.

    NASCAR has done a tremendous job in marketing “down” the Modified division and most weekly racing and you clearly aren’t old enough or smart enough to see past the “big three” push by the sanctioing body since RJR and T.Wayne lwnt by the wayside.

  • http://Jayski James Ricci

    Hey Josh,
    When you talk of Richie Evans, you are speaking about a man who was loved by all that raced cars in the nation! He was a hero to all that ran up and down the road to make that next race. He raced in a time when a modified racer made more money than a cup driver! He raced against Jerry Cook another legend, who also should be in the hall! To diminish his accomplishments are insulting to his many fans and at this point in time, modified racing was bigger than cup racing! Richie Evans was a local hero who loved to party and was outgoing to a fault. Ask Brett Bodine about Richie Evans.

  • Randy

    I must apologize to Josh. After making my comments, I checked out a little more of his site. After seeing where he is from, what he has covered before and his dreams for the future, I can excuse his comments. Richie would have chased him out of NY. Good luck with that web-site Josh.

  • mr clause

    This article smacks of elitism to say the least. As Kyle petty said NASCAR encompasses much more than the sprint cup division. Since the powers to be chose to limit the inductees to five per year it is now going to take decades for all those deserving to ever get in the hall. Because of that it is only right that each class of inductees be spread over all facets of NASCAR. Too many today think that NASCAR is the cup division. That is a major fallacy. All the combined divisions, the Modifieds, the Late Model Sportsman, the Busch series, all contributed to the current giant that is NASCAR. To say that Evans, Troyer, Baldwin, Spencer, Evernham, and others must be passed over as Ingram, Hutchins, Ellis, is nonsensical at best. Where do you think the Allisons, Farmer, Zervakis, Wood Brothers, Gant, the Jarretts , big and little “E” came from? All of that should be over looked, ignored? All the divisions combined to make NASCAR and it is after all, the NASCAR hall of fame. Ritchie Evans shouldn’t be in the hall yet? Just when should he be in?

  • Jimbo

    It’s the “NASCAR” HALL OF FAME, not the “Cup” hall of fame. Besides, NASCAR needs another driver known as “the greatest” who died while racing, to join Earnhardt.

  • f1kartracer

    Really I could give a hoot less about a guy I never saw race. I saw Richie race and the man would put even Tony Stewart to shame he was the best no matter what he drove. Also the fact that his number was the first retired by NASCAR should tell you something.

  • Butch Capuano

    This gentleman is obviously either fairly new to the sport, or misinformed. We must all remember, NASCAR was formed as a sanctioning body for modifieds. The current day cup cars came a bit later, and were called “Strictly Stock”. This is not the Cup Hall of Fame, it is the NASCAR hall of fame. Richie won more NASCAR championships in same division than any other competitor, period! Richie was to modifieds what Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty were to cup. Richie Evans, along with Dick Trickle, were probably the most universally known short trackers in America. Could Richie have excelled in Cup racing, had he decided to do so? Just ask Darrell Waltrip or Rusty Wallace. His election makes it truely a NASCAR Hall of Fame.

  • Wayne M

    So to be a little more clear on inductions it should be the NASCAR Sprint Cup Only Hall of Fame?

  • charlie

    Why D Waltrip instead of Buck Baker, Holman Moody, Tim, Bob or Fonty Flock along with those mentioned. D Waltrip deserves entry, just not now.

  • http://astheworldturnsleft.com/?p=487 Brian

    Are you that dense really?
    It is a NASCAR hall of fame not a Wiston/Nextel/Sprint cup hall of fame. NASCAR has several different entities and each has its palce in history and the importance of that history. Yes while Evans did not impact directly in Sprint Cup whose to say he wanted to? He was the best in his division and regularly beat Cup drivers either on their way up to top tier series or if they ran for “fun” in Mods.
    Several drivers have done this check out Jason Keller’s Busch stats for example. He was even on record as choosing to stay in Busch versus trying Cup.
    Deserving is based on success at what you do not necessarily what you did not do. You is to say that if he isn’t killed at Martinsville he would not have done Cup in the late 80′s early 90′s? He was hugely popular and successful and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame when he got in. Also, NASCAR if your looking at “angles” needs to keep looking at itself as a whole and not pigeon hole the Hall to Cup folks. Attendance is already way below expectations and likely drops further is actual history and variety are not enshrined. College football Hall of Fame does not discriminate just because its not DI athlete or coach. Its College football as a whole. Same thing here. Go boot yourself into some history books.

  • Frank Anthony

    ARE YOU NUTS::::: Minor league? This guy was one of the greatest modified drivers ever. Funny but he ran NASCAR events. He could drive anything in wheels. He absolutely deserves to be in the hall. I thought it was the NASCAR hall of fame, not the cup hall of fame. I’d like to see Walthrip drive one of these cars. Frank

  • Rich

    It could be because it is called the NASCAR Hall of Fame and not the Sprint Cup Hall of Fame. The NASCAR Hall of Fame has many displays showing not just cup racing but all divisions and Richie Evans was one of NASCAR’s greatest stars.

  • steven

    Didn’t Robertson sell cancer?

  • Paul

    Dear Josh,

    I respectfully disagree with your article. I don’t know how long you’ve been following NASCAR or what area you’re from. I’ve followed NASCAR since 1962 and I was raised in the Northeast where Richie is an icon. He is arguably the best NASCAR Modified driver ever as evidenced by his countless wins and NASCAR championships. FYI, his car beat him to the HOF.
    Richie raced at Daytona yet his skill at NASCAR tracks in New York and New England deserves praise- he was absolutely amazing. His induction will bring many of his followers to the NASCAR HOF to honor him, including me. His inclusion pays tribute to the man, it is entirely proper.

  • Jayce Ashline

    I have had the pleasure and fond memories of watching Richie Evans race and win. Geoff Bodine and all the others had to beat Richie if they hoped to win a Modified Race. The nomination of Richie Evans into the Nascar Hall of fame is two classes late.
    This was a past due no brainer.

  • http://twitter.com/Fisha695 Fisha695

    I know I’m a bit late to the comments here but there is something important to remember, his first 8 Championships came when the Modified series was a National Tour on-par with what the NNS series is today and if you were doing it right you were earning more money then Cup drivers at the time. Lest we not forget that Richie not only was “King of the Asphalt Short Tracks” but he was great at the big tracks too, Wins at Pocono (the big track not the short-track they used to have), at least 1 (maybe 2) win at Daytona driving for DW (NASCAR’s short-lived Superspeedway Modified division).

    Another thing to remember is that over the years Evans has constantly topped (or been near the top of) list of “Greatest Racing Drivers” whether it be a NASCAR specific list or all encompassing Stockcar/Oval Track/American racer lists. His number was the first and so far the only number retired by NASCAR in any NASCAR division.

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  • on the high banks

    My friend,  you had really ought to look at the results of his racing and the results of your champions, to see who could do the best and who had the very best records over whom.  Could they come down to his level and beat him,–No.  Could he come up to their level and beat them,–Yes.  And he did, by winning two out of three at Daytona, and coming in second in the third one.  I’d say that he is just as deserving of that honor as they are.