NASCAR to name inaugural nominees for Hall Of Fame

From NASCAR PR:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 29, 2009) – The NASCAR Hall of Fame's inaugural class will take a significant step towards realization Thursday night when the first 25 nominees will be revealed. The announcement will take place during an hour-long special on SPEED (8 p.m. ET) that will be hosted by long-time NASCAR broadcaster Ken Squier. The Hall of Fame Voting Panel, which includes a fan-vote element, will then choose the first class of inductees – five NASCAR greats who will be honored next May at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.

The elite 25 names were determined by a 21-person Nominating Committee that consists of officials from both NASCAR and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, plus owners/operators of major speedways and historic short tracks. The list represents many who helped build the sport, including drivers, owners and promoters.

NASCAR will release the names of a handful of nominees with daily blogs on NASCAR.COM leading into Thursday (http://community.nascar.com/crews/NASCAR_Says). The remainder of the 25 finalists will be announced on SPEED Thursday night. The show will countdown all 25 nominees with background and footage of each of them. Immediately following the SPEED show, NASCAR.COM will go live with a gallery of all 25 nominees and will open registration for the fan vote.