NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2023

Jun. 10—The Hall of Fame. Just saying the words has a sort of reverence about it.

Being chosen for any Hall of Fame is a lifetime achievement for a lot of people, even a life goal for some. The recipients of this particular honor had goals in mind when they started racing. However, reaching the Hall of Fame was never really a goal for at least two of these inductees.

Until 2010, the NASCAR Hall of Fame did not exist. They simply wanted to win races and championships, either as a driver or crew member.

Three new Hall of Fame inductees will receive their blue jackets and rings January 20, 2023, when they will be officially inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame: Hershel McGriff, Kirk Shelmerdine and Matt Kenseth, along with the NASCAR Landmark Award Recipient, Mike Helton.

Hershel McGriff's lasting legacy

Hershel McGriff's racing career spans almost the entire history of NASCAR.

McGriff started his career outside of NASCAR at the first Carrera Panamericana race held in Mexico in May of 1950 at the age of 22.

McGriff drove his Oldsmobile 88 from his home in Oregon all the way to Mexico to compete in a treacherous five-day event on open roads, where much of the course was at high altitude.

McGriff bested the field of 132 drivers to win the inaugural event, then loaded up and drove his Oldsmobile all the way back home.

He befriended NASCAR founder William "Big Bill" France at the Carrera Panamericana race, and McGriff made his very first NASCAR start in the inaugural Southern 500 in September of 1950.

McGriff would once again drive his Panamericana-winning Oldsmobile all the way from Oregon to South Carolina to compete at Darlington Raceway, where he qualified 44th and finished ninth, 26 laps behind the race winner.

The following year, however, McGriff quailed fifth and finished fourth in his second Southern 500.

McGriff's racing career extended well beyond NASCAR. He competed twice in the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race in France, the first time in 1976 in a Dodge Charger and the second time in 1982 in a Chevrolet Camaro.

McGriff rarely ran more than five NASCAR premier series races. The only year was in 1954, where he competed in 24 of 37 races that season, which netted him four wins, 13 top-five finishes, 17 top-10 finishes and ended the year sixth in the point standings.

Ultimately, McGriff competed in a total of 87 Cup Series races between 1950 and 1994.

His legacy was built in the Winston West Series, now the ARCA Menard Series West, where he earned 34 career wins.

His signature year came in 1986 when he won the series championship, part of a string of 10-consecutive seasons with finishes in the top 10 championship points.

McGriff was named one of NASCAR'S 50 greatest drivers in 1998.

In 2018, McGriff became the oldest driver to ever compete in a NASCAR race when he ran a K&N West Series race at the age of 90.

Kirk Shelmerdine: from crew chief to the "Daytona 500"

Kirk Shelmerdine started his racing career out as an engineer and crew chief for James Hylton at Hylton Engineering.

Shelmerdine was then hired as a crew chief by Richard Childress in 1980 and became a Richard Childress Racing driver in 1981, driving the #8 car and competing in one race that year at Texas World Speedway.

Starting in 1982m he oversaw Childress' transition from independent racecar driver to dominant racecar owner.

Shelmerdine earned his first two career wins with driver and fellow Hall of Fame member Ricky Rudd in 1983. The following year, he was paired with another fellow Hall of Fame member and his most famous and successful driver, Dale Earnhardt.

As the head of Earnhardt's crew, who were first dubbed the "Junkyard Dogs" and later adopted the moniker "The Flying Aces," Shelmerdine won 44 races along with four Winston Cup Series Championships (now the NASCAR Cup Series) in 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1991, helping put Earnhardt on the path to become only the second NASCAR Cup Series driver to achieve seven championships.

In 1992 Shelmerdine announced he would be stepping away from his position as crew chief career at the end 1992 season at the relatively young age of 34 to become a racecar driver himself.

Returning to the driving seat in 1993, Shelmerdine competed in the ARCA Series where he raced for a cumulative 10 years. That year he won three races.

He would eventually go on to compete in all of NASCAR's top series including the Craftsman Truck Series (now the Camping World Truck Series) for a cumulative three years, the Busch Series (now the Xfinity Series) for a cumulative four years and the Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup Series (now the NASCAR Cup Series) for nine years.

He made a total of 26 Cup Series starts as a driver between 1981 and 2009. One of his biggest achievements came in 2006, when he qualified for the Daytona 500. He finished 20th in the 2006 "500," which would be his highest finishing position of his Cup driving career.

Matt Kenseth's dominant career spans four decades

Matt Kenseth is one of the best drivers of his generation, from his early career successes in the Midwest to his crowning achievements in NASCAR Cup Series.

Kenseth started racing in 1988 at the age of 16 on several short tracks in Wisconsin and won track championships at Madison International Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway and Wisconsin International Raceway.

All os his early career wins earned Kenseth the nickname "Matt the Bratt" by his fellow competitors.

Kenseth quickly graduated on to the ARTGO, ASA and Hooters Pro Cup series (now the CARS Touring series), where he also found great success before getting his first full-time ride in NASCAR.

In 1997, Kenseth's former Wisconsin short track rival, Robbie Reiser, gave him his first real shot in the Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) as a replacement driver for the injured Tim Bender despite Kenseth only having one previous series start.

Kenseth spent two more years racing full time for Reiser where he finished second in 1998 and third in 1999. He went on to collect 29 career wins in the Busch/Nationwide Series (now Xfinity Series) over the 19 years he competed in the series.

In 2000, Kenseth got the call up to the big leagues the Winston Cup Series (now Cup Series) for Jack Roush at Roush Racing. He won the "Coca-Cola 600" and "Rookie of the Year," beating out second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kenseth was a constant Cup championship contender throughout the 2000s and the 2010s. In 2003, he put together a strong season and became the final champion of NASCAR'S Winston Cup era.

Kenseth earned 39 career wins in all, including two "Daytona 500" victories and a "Southern 500" victory.

His win total ties Kenseth for 21st on NASCAR'S all time wins list with fellow Hall of Fame member Tim Flock.

He was also runner-up for the Cup Series championship in 2006 and 2013.

As of 2022, he is the last driver to compete in at least one NASCAR Cup Series race in four consecutive decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s). Kenseth made the Cup Series playoffs every year he raced since the playoff's inception in 2004, except for one season.

Mike Helton leads through adversity

Beginning with the 2015 class, the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR was introduced to honor significant contributions to the growth and esteem of NASCAR.

It has been awarded seven previous times to seven worthy recipients and, this year, NASCAR's Vice Chairman Mike Helton is the recipient.

Helton's career began as a media member rather than an employee.

He supplemented his income by refereeing football and basketball games where a fellow referee introduced him to a small local AM radio station. He later became the station's sports director.

One of Helton's favorite assignments as sports director in the mid-1970s when NASCAR events frequented Bristol International Raceway (now Bristol Motor Speedway).

In 1980, Helton became the public relations director at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and, in 1985, was promoted to general manager.

In 1986, Helton joined the management team at Daytona International Speedway and was later the general manager of Talladega Superspeedway.

Helton was then promoted by NASCAR to vice president of competition in 1994, and later named senior vice president and chief operating officer in February 1999.

In 2000, he was promoted to be the third president of NASCAR and the first non-France family member to hold the position.

He guided NASCAR through two of its' worst events: the death of Dale Earnhardt in February of 2001 and the September 11th attacks later that year.

Helton continues to be one of NASCAR'S most powerful and influential figures outside of the France family.

It has been said he has a certain "aura" around him as he walks through the garage areas on race weekends.

Helton also helped lead a push to increase safety standards in NASCAR. That push led to the creation of the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord.

With the safety standards and development Helton helped champion, there has not been anymore on-track deaths in the NASCAR Cup Series.