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Jeff Gordon, Red Farmer named to NMPA Hall of Fame

Gordon Farmer 2

Jeff Gordon and Charles “Red” Farmer will be inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame Class of 2019.

Gordon’s career defined an era. His first Cup race came at the age of 20 in the 1992 season finale. That race was the last for Richard Petty. His last appearance was the 2016 fall race at Martinsville driving in relief for an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. Gordon scored his 477th top 10 with a sixth-place finish in that race.

Gordon’s first 93 wins came in the 1994 Coke 600 at Charlotte. Later that year, he won the inaugural Brickyard 400. In fact, Gordon had a penchant for winning big races with three Coke 600s and five Brickyard 400s to his credit along with five Southern 500s and three Daytona 500s.

At the age of 24 in his third full-time season, Gordon became the second youngest driver to win a championship. Bill Rexford won the crown in 1950 at the age of 23. Gordon added three more championships in 1997, 1998 and 2001.

Farmer’s first NASCAR Cup race also came at the age of 20. He finished 45th in 1953 on the Daytona Beach and road course in a field of 57 cars. His last top level NASCAR race ended with a 44th-place finish in the 1975 August Talladega race, but his greatest achievements came on short tracks in the Southeast. One of Farmer’s two NASCAR top fives came on the half-mile Middle Georgia Raceway in Macon, Georgia in 1967. His other top five was earned at Talladega in 1972.

It is believed that Farmer won more than 800 races on dirt and paved short tracks during a career that continues at the age of 86.

Gordon and Farmer will be officially inducted during ceremonies scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina.