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Jack Roush, Ricky Rudd Highlight 2017 NASCAR Hall Nominee Additions

NASCAR announced the 20 nominees for the eighth inductee class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday, with Jack Roush and Ricky Rudd highlighting the group of first-time nominees to the list.

Jack Roush is co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing, which won the 2003 and 2004 Sprint Cup championship. As a car owner, he has amassed 322 national series victories.

Ricky Rudd drove in the Sprint Cup Series from 1975 to 2005, taking a year off before undertaking one more campaign in 2007. He won 23 Sprint Cup races and earned 194 top-5 finishes and 374 top-10 finishes.

Also included as first-time nominees were Ron Hornaday, Ken Squier and Waddell Wilson.

Hornaday is a four-time Camping World Truck Series champion, winning the title in 1996, 1998, 2007 and 2009. He won 51 races in 360 starts in that series. He retired from competition following the 2014 season.

Ken Squier is best known for his broadcast and radio work. He called races for CBS and TBS from 1979 to 1997 before becoming an analyst through the 2001 Daytona 500. He returned to the television booth for a portion of the 2015 Southern 500, where he called some of the race as part of NBC’s throwback program.

Waddell Wilson is a three-time Sprint Cup championship-winning engine builder. His powerplants were used by drivers such as Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip and Rudd. All told, Wilson was responsible for over 100 wins and pole positions.

These five drivers will join fifteen others as the nominee pool for the 2017 inductee class. The other 15 include:

Buddy Baker, 19-time Sprint Cup winner

Red Byron, 1949 Sprint Cup champion

Richard Childress, 11-time championship-winning car owner

Ray Evernham, three-time Sprint Cup championship-winning crew chief

Ray Fox, engine builder and team owner

Rick Hendrick, 14-time championship-winning car owner

Harry Hyde, 1970 Sprint Cup championship-winning crew chief

Alan Kulwicki, 1992 Sprint Cup champion

Mark Martin, 96-time national-series race winner

Hershel McGriff, 1986 west series champion

Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner

Benny Parsons, 1973 Sprint Cup champion

Larry Phillips, five-time NASCAR weekly series national champion

Mike Stefanik, nine-time NASCAR champion

Robert Yates, championship-winning car owner and engine builder

NASCAR also announced the five nominees for the Landmark Award, awarded to an individual member of a racing organization, track facility, race team, sponsor, media partner or other ambassador for the sport. The five nominees are made up of four returning nominees and one new nominee: Janet Guthrie.

Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway

Janet Guthrie, first woman to compete in the Daytona 500

Raymond Parks, integral in the founding of NASCAR

Ralph Seagraves, responsible for bringing Winston to NASCAR in 1971

Ken Squier, radio and television broadcaster

About the author

Sean returns as a ringer in 2017, contributing once a month because he (gasp!) is living it up in the big city without internet. While he's not consuming race news on the Twitter app and reddit he's writing a ton of short stories and paying the bills by working in marketing.

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kb

Go Ricky Rudd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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