Drivers Carl Edwards, Ricky Rudd inducted into NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025, History
— NASCAR's heroes and legends gathered at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Friday to formally induct the esteemed class of 2025 – racing greats Ricky Rudd, Carl Edwards and the late Ralph Moody.
They – along one of the sport's great safety innovators, Dr. Dean Sicking, and one of its most accomplished storytellers, Associated Press reporter Mike Harris – were celebrated for their important contributions to stock car racing.
In a 13-year NASCAR Cup Series career, Edwards won 28 races, including the Southern 500 at Darlington and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. He was a two-time NASCAR Cup Series championship runner-up, losing out on the 2011 title in the closest title race in history – a tiebreaker with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart.
In all, Edwards earned 72 victories in the three national series, including the 2007 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. In 2005, he competed full time in both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series.
Nearly two hundred people – Edwards' family, friends and most ardent career supporters – accompanied the 45-year old Missourian to North Carolina for the career-defining moment on Friday. One of his former car owners, fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, rented an airplane for Edwards to transport his large group of support from Missouri.
It was a similarly moving induction experience for Rudd, known as one of the toughest competitors in the sport's history. His first NASCAR start of any kind came in the NASCAR Cup Series and he finished 11th in that 1975 debut at Rockingham, N.C. as an 18-year old – earning his first of 374 career top-10s the following week at Bristol, Tenn. In 1983, at the age of 24, he became the youngest pole winner in Daytona 500 history.
Moody, who died in 2004, served under Gen. George Patton in World War II before becoming a full-time driver and winning five times in NASCAR's premier division in 1956-57. But his legacy was only beginning. In 1957, he partnered with John Holman to form the iconic Holman-Moody Racing company – building cars and creating innovations that produced 96 Cup wins from 1957-72 and winning the 1968-69 Cup Series championships with driver David Pearson.
NASCAR Hall of Fame Winners List by year 2010-2025
Here is the previous winners list of all NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees from 2010 to 2025, organized by year:
2025
- Ralph Moody – Driver, Owner
- Ricky Rudd – Driver
- Carl Edwards – Driver
2024
- Jimmie Johnson – Driver, Owner
- Donnie Allison – Driver
- Chad Knaus – Crew Chief
2023
- Matt Kenseth – Driver
- Hershel McGriff – Driver
- Kirk Shelmerdine – Crew Chief
2021
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Driver, Owner, Broadcaster
- Mike Stefanik – Driver, Mechanic
- Red Farmer – Driver
2020
- Bobby Labonte – Driver
- Joe Gibbs – Owner
- Tony Stewart – Driver, Owner
- Waddell Wilson – Crew Chief, Engine Builder
- Buddy Baker – Driver
2019
- Jack Roush – Owner
- Roger Penske – Owner
- Alan Kulwicki – Driver, Owner
- Davey Allison – Driver
- Jeff Gordon – Driver
2018
- Ken Squier – Broadcaster
- Robert Yates – Owner, Engine Builder
- Ron Hornaday Jr. – Driver
- Ray Evernham – Owner, Crew Chief
- Red Byron – Driver
2017
- Benny Parsons – Driver, Broadcaster
- Raymond Parks – Owner
- Mark Martin – Driver
- Rick Hendrick – Owner
- Richard Childress – Owner
2016
- Curtis Turner – Driver
- Bruton Smith – Executive
- Terry Labonte – Driver
- Bobby Isaac – Driver
- Jerry Cook – Driver
2015
- Rex White – Driver, Owner
- Joe Weatherly – Driver
- Wendell Scott – Driver, Owner, Mechanic
- Fred Lorenzen – Driver
- Bill Elliott – Driver
2014
- Maurice Petty – Engine Builder
- Fireball Roberts – Driver
- Dale Jarrett – Driver
- Jack Ingram – Driver
- Tim Flock – Driver
2013
- Leonard Wood – Owner, Crew Chief, Engine Builder
- Rusty Wallace – Driver
- Herb Thomas – Driver
- Cotton Owens – Driver, Owner
- Buck Baker – Driver
2012
- Glen Wood – Driver, Owner
- Richie Evans – Driver
- Dale Inman – Crew Chief
- Darrell Waltrip – Driver
- Cale Yarborough – Driver
2011
- Bud Moore – Owner
- Ned Jarrett – Driver
- Lee Petty – Driver
- Bobby Allison – Driver
- David Pearson – Driver
2010
- Junior Johnson – Driver, Owner, Builder
- Dale Earnhardt – Driver, Owner
- Bill France, Jr. – Executive
- Richard Petty – Driver, Owner
- Bill France, Sr. – Founder
🚗🏁
____
0 Comments