By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Four more legends of NASCAR were announced as 2025 inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame between the Modern Era ballot, Pioneer Era ballot, and Landmark Award.
Modern Era Ballot
One of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, Carl Edwards won the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity) championship. Although he never won a title in the NASCAR Cup Series, Edwards was a perennial competitor. The closest he came to a championship at the top level of the sport was in 2011. That year he tied with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. The tiebreaker, most wins, went to Stewart’s five versus Edwards’ single victory.
Although he never won a title in the Cup Series, Edwards did win two crown jewel races, the Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500 in 2015 with Joe Gibbs Racing. Of his 28 Cup victories, 23 came driving for Jack Roush with five during his tenure with Gibbs. Edwards also won 38 Xfinity and six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races. He earned 52% of the vote.
Joining Edwards in the Hall of Fame on the Modern Era ballot is Ricky Rudd. ‘The Rooster’ has the second-most starts in the Cup Series, 906, second only to fellow Hall of Famer, Richard Petty at 1,186. Driving for a variety of team owners, including Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Robert Yates, and himself, Rudd earned 23 victories including the 1997 Brickyard 400. He was also among those that were invited to a tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1992.
“Just to win at Indianapolis was a big thing for me,” Rudd said. “I was one of the first cars that tested at Indy, I was driving for Rick Hendrick (at that time), and we didn’t know if we were going to come back or not.
“It always meant a lot to me because Indy was my dream as a young kid… for some reason I knew about IndyCar, but I didn’t know much about stock car racing… Winning the Brickyard meant a lot because of the early childhood days.”
Rudd hasn’t attended many races since he was added to the NASCAR Hall of Fame ballot. He didn’t want to constantly talk about whether he would make it into the Hall. NASCAR’s ‘Iron Man’ even joked that he wished he could be taken off the ballot so he could rejoin the voting membership and enjoy the camaraderie.
The 67-year-old was at his home in Cornelius, N.C. near Lake Norman when a text message hinted that he may want to head to the Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.. Rudd earned 87% of the vote.
“Today I got an anonymous text (saying) ‘You might want to be in Charlotte downtown,’” Rudd said. “I was thinking, ‘Downtown Charlotte… it’s Hall of Fame day! Are you serious?’ It didn’t take long (to get down here). I hopped in the shower, jumped into some clothes, and here we are.”
Pioneer Era Ballot
Former team owner Ralph Moody represents the Pioneer Era ballot. As a driver, Moody won five races in the 1950s. After his driving career, he teamed with businessman John Holman to create Holman-Moody Racing. Together they won two Cup championships with David Pearson and the 1965 and 1967 Daytona 500 with Fred Lorenzen and Mario Andretti respectively.
Five Hall of Famers drove for Holman-Moody including Bobby Allison, Lorenzen, Pearson, Fireball Roberts, and Joe Weatherly. The team earned 96 victories through 525 starts in the Cup Series. Moody earned 60% of the vote.
Landmark Award
Receiving the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR is Dr. Dean Sicking. He invented the SAFER Barrier (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction), which has saved countless lives in not only NASCAR, but IndyCar, IMSA, and other racing series. All NASCAR tracks currently have SAFER barriers along with several IndyCar, IMSA, and Formula One tracks also utilizing the technology as well.
Sicking was named winner of the Bill France Award of Excellence in 2003 and was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President George W. Bush in 2005.