NASCAR Hall of Fame voters elected the stock-car shrine’s seventh class last week, selecting O. Bruton Smith, Terry Labonte, Jerry Cook, Curtis Turner and Bobby Isaac.
What might the class of five members look like 40 years from now?
That was the May topic of The Century Poll, which surveys 100 people – 50 from the NASCAR media corps and 50 from the NASCAR garage (including owners, drivers, crew chiefs, crew members, officials) – each month on a new issue.
Voters were given a ballot of 25 drivers born after 1990 and asked which five were most likely to reach the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Joey Logano, who turned 25 Sunday, was the leading vote-getter, receiving 91 of 100 votes. The Team Penske driver, who has nine Sprint Cup and 24 Xfinity victories (and a Camping World Truck win), surprisingly was absent from the ballots of seven media members.
Defending Xfinity Series champion Chase Elliott, who turns 20 in November and will move into the No. 24 Chevrolet being vacated by Jeff Gordon next season, was second in overall voting.
Erik Jones, who scored his first Xfinity Series win last month and made his Cup debut in place of injured Kyle Busch at Kansas Speedway, actually was first among media (with 45 of 50 votes) and was third overall, followed by Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Darrell Wallace Jr.
At least 19 drivers received a vote. Here’s the breakdown:
G M T
Joey Logano 48 43 91
Chase Elliott 45 44 89
Erik Jones 37 45 82
Kyle Larson 39 36 75
Ryan Blaney 23 22 45
Darrell Wallace Jr. 21 24 45
Austin Dillon 9 7 16
Chris Buescher 7 4 11
Ben Rhodes 3 6 9
Ben Kennedy 3 5 8
Cole Custer 6 1 7
Ty Dillon 2 3 5
Todd Gilliland 1 3 4
Brett Moffitt 4 0 4
Ross Kenseth 1 2 3
John H. Nemechek 0 2 2
Tyler Reddick 1 1 2
Gray Gaulding 0 1 1
Daniel Suarez 0 1 1
The 25 drivers on the ballot are listed below. Which five would you have chosen?
Trevor Bayne
Ryan Blaney
Chris Buescher
James Buescher
Cole Custer
Austin Dillon
Ty Dillon
Chase Elliott
Grey Gaulding
Todd Gilliland
Cameron Hayley
Erik Jones
Ben Kennedy
Ross Kenseth
Kyle Larson
Joey Logano
Brandon McReynolds
Brett Moffitt
John Hunter Nemechek
Brennan Poole
Tyler Reddick
Ryan Reed
Ben Rhodes
Daniel Suarez
Darrell Wallace Jr.