It's David, Bobby, Lee, Ned and Bud! (But what about the 'other' 76?)

  The legendary Silver Fox himself, David Pearson (R), with his long-time crew chief Leonard Wood (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   The panel of voters for this particular HofF is a NASCAR-selected group, including a number of NASCAR officials, and some hand-picked media.
   While the new Hall of Fame is indeed a modern wonder, with grand exhibits, and in a heart-of-Charlotte location, there is still some controversy about it all – since the sport's veteran writers, members of the long-standing National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) have been inducting racing stars in the sport's Darlington, S.C., Hall of Fame since 1965. Some 86 legends have been inducted in the NMPA over those 45 years.
   To put the debate into some perspective, Wednesday's picks here were long ago inducted in the Darlington Hall: Lee Petty in 1969, Ned Jarrett in 1973, David Pearson in 1991, Bobby Allison in 1993, and Bud Moore in 2002.
   If the new Hall inducts only five men a year, it would take 15 years to get all the Darlington stars in.
   But then there is the sense that NASCAR might like to prune out some of those 86, as somehow not deserving.
   There are other controversies too: Raymond Parks, for example, the sport's first championship team owner, in 1949, died this summer, before he could be honored here. Parks was inducted in the Darlington NMPA Hall in 1995.
   Another issue, which some of this sport's current stars have pointed out, is that the new Hall should have categories – driver, crew chief, car owner, and others – in order to try to speed up the induction process.
   A complete list of those in the NMPA Hall of Fame in Darlington, and the date of induction is here http://bit.ly/c08NpJ .

  NASCAR's panel of experts, the voters for the new Charlotte Hall of Fame (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)