Kenseth, Shelmerdine, McGriff enjoy NASCAR Hall of Fame honors

By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Matt Kenseth had already won a Cup Series championship when the NASCAR Hall of Fame opened its doors for the first time in 2010.

Decades prior, Kirk Shelmerdine had won four Cup titles as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt. Sixty years prior, Hershel McGriff had started in the first Southern 500.

All three probably thought that at some point, their career résumés would lead them into the Hall. Certainly, Kenseth and Shelmerdine had the championships and marquee victories. McGriff might have been the only one left to wonder, but his longevity in the sport — he raced in NASCAR regional events until age 90 — has been admired by many on the voting panel.

The three will be inducted as the 2023 class on Jan. 20 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 

Had they not been voted in for 2023, Kenseth and Shelmerdine may have had to wait until 2025 or later to enjoy the spotlight. That’s because next year, both Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are eligible for the modern era ballot. Johnson tied a NASCAR record with seven Cup titles, all with Knaus as crew chief.

With only two spots for the modern era ballot in the Hall of Fame class, 2024 likely will be Johnson's and Knaus' year. Some might think it's too much focus on one car for them to make up two of the three members of the class, but it would seem just as appropriate for them to enter the Hall of Fame together, considering that their successes were intertwined.

None of this year's inductees likely would argue with Johnson and Knaus getting in their first time eligible, and as they shared Wednesday, they feel honored to be among the list of nominees. For all three, this was obviously special.

Kenseth said that making it into the Hall on his first ballot did make it more meaningful.

"I would say for sure. It’s an honor just to be on the list and to be in consideration at all," he said. "To make it is a huge deal, and certainly to get in on the first ballot is definitely a good feeling."

Shelmerdine was on the ballot in 2018, was dropped in a controversial move in 2019 (the nominating committee meets annually) and then was back on the ballot in 2020 and '21.

"I’m still sort of in shock," he said. "I’ve been on the ballot before, and I figured there’s a whole lot of other deserving names in that group as well.

"I just figured it would be a few years more before it happened. It’s great. It sure means a lot to me. ... I’m happy, and I’m surprised and honored."

When the Hall of Fame was being built, Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, said he didn’t think about whether he would ever be inducted. He finished his career with 39 Cup wins, two Daytona 500 victories and the 2003 championship.

"In 2010, I still had a decade to race — or hoped I would — or longer," Kenseth said. "At the time, I never really looked forward to anything like that. And I never really probably looked back at the time, either, or really enjoyed some of the wins or things you had up to that point.

"It was just the next race. What can I do better the next week? How can we get more competitive? How can we win the next race? How can we run for the next championship?"

Shelmerdine has always had a bit of trouble grasping his place in the sport, despite his four titles with one of racing's most famous icons.

"It’s always kind of been a surreal thing for me that here I am in the middle of all these legends, and as the years go by, the stats pile up, and you start to be thought of in the same sentence," he said.

"It really is a big honor. It means a lot to me. My career has meant a lot to me. It’s a nice, little bit of icing on the cake, that’s for sure."

The 94-year-old McGriff had been on the ballot for seven years. He won four Cup races in 1954, but he primarily raced on the West Coast, where he won the 1986 regional title.

"I have some good friends in the Hall of Fame, and some have got in that I thought I should have been ahead of because of my background," he said. "But I only won one [regional] championship. I just raced where I wanted to race."

None of the three inductees attended the announcement Wednesday. McGriff was participating in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride. Shelmerdine was home after picking his kids up from school and was playing with his dog. Kenseth was also home, but he had big celebration plans.

"[My wife] Katie just left with [one of my daughters] to go to basketball practice," said Kenseth, who is known for his dry sense of humor.

"So I have my other three daughters here, so as soon as I get off this call, I’m going to go make them dinner."

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What to watch for

It’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, so watch for all the throwback schemes. Maybe the best are the Trackhouse schemes that throw back to Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. from an exhibition race in Japan (see below).

And it's not just Cup cars that have throwbacks. Many Xfinity and truck series teams are also paying tribute to drivers of the past. Some drivers are even throwing back to their own paint schemes, which is kind of weird, but sometimes sponsors like to do that if there is no obvious throwback that makes sense.

Some will say the throwback weekend has run its course — and it certainly requires some extra creativity — but it's still fun to see what teams come up with, even if the results aren’t all home runs.

Thinking out loud

NASCAR’s rule for when a wheel comes off is a four-race suspension for the crew chief and two crew members. Typically, those two crew members are the tire changer of the wheel (there are two tire changers on the pit stop) and the jackman.

But when Denny Hamlin’s wheel came off last week, NASCAR didn’t suspend the tire changer of the left front wheel, which came off. It opted instead to suspend the tire changer listed on the roster as the "front changer."

Joe Gibbs Racing’s tire changers, with the choreography they use on a pit stop, each change one front tire and one rear tire. The changer listed as the "rear changer" was working on the left front on the stop in question.

Did NASCAR make a mistake, not realizing it had the wrong person? NASCAR says no and that because it has discretion on crew members, it opted to use the roster and suspend the crew member listed as the "front changer."

That is a bizarre way to issue suspensions. And a NASCAR spokesman left open the possibility that the next time it faces this issue, it might suspend the changer who worked on the loose wheel. For sure, that is the way NASCAR should implement such suspensions. Why suspend someone who wasn’t involved in the wheel coming off?

Social spotlight

They said it

"All of a sudden, you've been doing this for over 40 years, and it’s pretty amazing." — NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton on being honored with the Landmark Award for contributions to the sport

Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!