Smoke Rises to NASCAR Hall of Fame, Leads 2020 Inductee Class

NASCAR's 2020 Hall of Fame Class (Google Images)

After three championships and 49 wins, Tony Stewart will join the NASCAR Hall of Fame after just one year on the ballot.

The 2020 class, which will be inducted this coming January, is the most closely connected group yet to be given NASCAR's highest honor. Joining Stewart are car owner Joe Gibbs, for whom Stewart won two championships, Bobby Labonte, Stewart's former teammate and winner of the 2000 Cup Series title for Gibbs, legendary crew chief and engine builder Waddell Wilson, who worked with Stewart early in his NASCAR career, and 19-time Cup Series winner Buddy Baker, who wheeled the Wilson-prepared "Gray Ghost" Oldsmobile to victory in the 1980 Daytona 500.

Tony Stewart  (Google Images)

Perhaps not surprisingly, Stewart earned the highest percentage of votes this year, with 88 percent of the ballots. Both Gibbs and Wilson received 72 percent, Baker earned 70 percent, and Labonte came in at 67 percent.

Baker joins his father, 46-time premier series winner Buck Baker, in the Hall. The elder Baker was elected as a member of the 2013 class. Labonte will also join his older brother Terry, two-time cup champion and member of the class of 2016.

Over the course of his legendary career, Tony Stewart was able to win three NASCAR Cup Series championships Two of those came behind the wheel of his famous No. 20 Home Depot car (2002, 2005) and the third came while wheeling the No. 14 Chevy as an owner/driver for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in an epic battle with Carl Edwards that saw Stewart grab the 2011 title in a tiebreaker.

Joe Gibbs (Google Images)

An Indiana native, "Smoke" was also able to win the 2005 and 2007 editions of the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While he was able to win Daytona's July race four times, he was never able to claim NASCAR's biggest prize, the Daytona 500. However, he was able to win the Great American Race in 2017 as an owner when Kurt Busch drove to victory lane for SHR.

Now a member of both the NFL and NASCAR halls of fame, Joe Gibbs has an impressive nine championships as a car owner between the Cup and Xfinity series', including four at NASCAR's highest level.

The three-time Super Bowl champion coach of the Washington Redskins has also won the Daytona 500 three times, including the 2019 race that saw Denny Hamlin score an emotional win for JGR after the loss of Gibbs' son J.D. just weeks before.

Buddy Baker (L) and Waddell Wilson (R)
(Google Images)

One of NASCAR's pioneer's, Waddell Wilson was dual threat in the garage. Serving as both a crew chief and engine builder for some of the sport's biggest teams and drivers. The three-time Daytona 500 champion crew chief and three-time series champion engine builder worked for teams such as Holman Moody, Harry Ranier Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports. His driver included the likes of Bobby Allison, Mario Andretti, Buddy Baker, Geoff Bodine, A. J. Foyt, Junior Johnson, Fred Lorenzen, Cale Yarborough, and Ricky Rudd.

After years of  hopeful anticipation from fans, Buddy Baker will now take his place in NASCAR's Hall of Fame. Know as the sport's "Gentle Giant," Baker won some of stock car racing's biggest events. He won the 1970 Southern 500, was a three-time winner of the World 600 at Charlotte, and drove Wilson's "Gray Ghost" to victory in the 1980 Daytona 500. Baker was also the first driver to eclipse the 200 mph mark in a stock car during a test at Talladega Superspeedway, clocking in at 200.447 mph.

Bobby Labonte (Google Images)

Baker was also known for his work outside of the race car, serving as a broadcaster for CBS and TBS, as well as his work as a host on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The final name elected to the Hall was Bobby Labonte. The third member of the Joe Gibbs Racing trio to be selected this year, Labonte won 21 times at NASCAR's top level. Each of these wins came behind the wheel of the green and black No. 18 Interstate Batteries car for Gibbs, as well as the 2000 Cup Series championship. Labonte also won the 1991 Busch (now Xfinity) Series points championship, driving for his own team.

He and his older brother Terry (Hall of Fame Class of 2016) are one of only two pairs of brothers to win Cup Series championships. Kurt and Kyle Busch are the other duo.

Edsel Ford was also announced as the recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.

The Class of 2020 Induction Weekend will take place January 30, 2020 through February 1, 2020 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte. The Class of 2020 is the Hall's 11th class, with the inductees growing to 55 members.