It was on Wednesday that NASCAR revealed the ballot for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024. Very recently, Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports Vice President Chad Knaus were added to the list of 15 total nominees. While the list is an interesting one, Kenny Wallace pointed out why a certain driver did not make it to the list. This has made the fans nothing but unhappy.
Over the years, there have been several impeccable performers in the Cup Series. While fans desire their favorite drivers to be nominated and inducted, the latest list of nominees has left many upset.
Kenny Wallace presumes NASCAR’s stance on missing out former Hendrick Motorsports driver for Hall of Fame nomination
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The 2024 Hall of Fame is divided into two ballots with the modern-era ballot and the pioneer ballot. While 10 nominees are selected for the former, the remaining five are for the pioneer ballot. Eventually, two modern-era candidates and one pioneer candidate will be honored with the Hall of Fame by the 61-person committee on 2nd August.
The ten nominees for the modern-era ballot involve Tim Brewer, Neil Bonnett, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Harry Gant, Harry Hyde, Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, Larry Phillips, and Ricky Rudd. While Kenny Wallace started a discussion demanding recognition for Larry Phillips, things took a wild turn shortly.
Meet the 15 nominees for the #NASCARHOF Class of 2024. @JimmieJohnson and @chadknaus join the Modern Era Ballot while Donnie Allison joins the Pioneer Ballot for the first time. To learn more about each nominee, visit: https://t.co/cDyHRWAnAj #NASCARHall #ForeverLegends pic.twitter.com/3lD7Oyz7hH
— NASCAR Hall of Fame (@NASCARHall) July 12, 2023
One of the fans questioned Wallace about NASCAR’s approach. His question demanded recognition for Tim Richmond. More than that, it was about the governing body’s ignorance. While Wallace rejected this notion, he stressed how NASCAR would love to acknowledge Richmond sooner or later, despite knowing his story.
To those unaware, Richmond had an impressive career with 13 wins in 185 races. Since he joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1986, his career graph only went upwards. However, it all went downhill when he was detected with AIDS.
I don’t think NASCAR feels like that. I believe they would love to have Tim Richmond in the NASCAR Hall of Fame however, you and I both know the story and it’s not pretty. I thought Tim Richmond was the ultimate badass. https://t.co/94zKvSUSQI
— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) July 13, 2023
Eventually, he lost his life in 1989.
Because of how the events panned out, Richmond’s image took a big hit. Having said that, Wallace still considers him the “ultimate bada**” driver. However, the fans feel NASCAR does not see it the same way.
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Fans are left enraged as NASCAR’s Hall of Fame sees no consideration of Tim Richmond
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Despite his questionable past, Tim Richmond had a huge fan following. It was not just his exceptional driving but a very dynamic and impressive personality that built a loyal fanbase. Naturally, they have been waiting for years for him to be nominated and inducted but it is yet to happen.
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Following Kenny Wallace’s statements, fans bombarded Twitter with their unhappiness with NASCAR. Many of them believed the ruling body has an agent against Richmond.
“Yes, their ignoring a celebration of Tim Richmond because he contracted AIDS is exactly what NASCAR espouses not to be. Equality among diversity requires the big NASCAR business machine to wise up! You can’t have selective diversity.”
“The ugly of the story is nascar wrongly accusing him of drug abuse. So yeah he got mad. Rightfully so. There’s no way to paint this differently. Nascar did him wrong.”
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“I thought about this a lot it comes down to ability to drive a race car if you could ask the people that Tim raced with should he be in the Hall of Fame the majority would probably say yes”
“As I read this and think about it NASCAR doesn’t mention his name and hasn’t in YEARS”
“@NASCAR needed #TimRichmond more than he needed them, and then they never supported him. A shooting star that burned too fast, too bright, too soon. #RIP Friend, and Legend”
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It is interesting to see what NASCAR plans to do about given the outrage. What do you think? Does Tim Richmond deserve to be at least nominated for the Hall of Fame?