The NASCAR Hall of Fame announced Wednesday its Class of 2019, headlined by four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon.
Gordon, who helped take stock car racing from a regional sport to the mainstream in the 1990s, received 96 percent of the votes from the Hall of Fame committee, making him the highest vote-getter in Hall of Fame history. Only two of the 57 voters did not vote for him.
Only Richard Petty (200) and Bobby Pearson (105) have won more Cup races than Gordon (93).
Gordon will be inducted alongside 1992 Cup champion Alan Kulwicki, 19-time winner Davey Allison, and current team owners Jack Roush and Roger Penske. This is the 10th class to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Kulwicki and Allison, two of NASCAR's top drivers from the 1990's, are also two of the sport's more tragic stories. Each died midway through the 1993 season, cutting short two promising careers.
Kulwicki, known for his wrong-way "Polish victory lap," and Allison, who won 19 Cup races, including the 1992 Daytona 500, were rising stars in NASCAR before their sudden deaths in 1993. Kulwicki died at age 38 in a plane crash that April, while the charismatic Allison lost his life three months later in a helicopter crash at 32.
Allison joins his father Bobby Allison in the Hall of Fame.
Bobby Allison couldn't hold back his emotions after hearing his son's name called, saying he had to gather himself after being overcome with emotion.
Roush, whose Roush Fenway Racing team includes Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt Kenseth/Trevor Bayne in the Cup Series, has worked with several of the best racers ever and won eight championships at every level of the sport. The same goes for Roger Penske, who has five combined championships and more than 100 Cup victories with Team Penske.
Along with these five inductees, the Hall of Fame voting panel -- comprised of former drivers, manufacturers, media members and others -- selected Jim Hunter as this year's Landmark Award winner, given annually to someone for their "outstanding contributions to NASCAR." Hunter worked in the industry for most of his life as an award-winning reporter, public relations specialist, track president and NASCAR executive.
The 2019 class will be inducted and officially honored in a ceremony on Feb. 1, 2019.
Sports on 05/24/2018