25 Hall of Fame nominees unveiled for inaugural class (cont'd)

Ned Jarrett
Jarrett had it all -- hard-charging capabilities combined with the consistency essential to stock-car success. The combination produced two Cup Series championships. His 50 career victories are tied for 10th all-time with Junior Johnson. He also won 28 races during the 1964 and '65 seasons.

Jarrett won his first series title in 1961 while driving a Chevrolet for W.G. Holloway Jr. He finished with only one victory, but posted an impressive 34 top-10s in 46 starts.

In 1965, he won his second title while driving for DuPont heir Bondy Long, and despite a back injury sustained at Greenville, S.C., Jarrett finished with 13 wins and 42 top-fives in 54 starts that season. He also won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway by 14 laps, (17.5 miles), still the largest margin of victory in Cup Series history.

In addition to his immense success in the Cup Series, Jarrett also captured two championships in the Sportsman Division (1957 and 1958).

Nicknamed "Gentleman Ned," Jarrett's family includes son Dale, who won the 1999 Cup Series title.

Since retiring, the elder Jarrett has become one of NASCAR's greatest ambassadors. He's also considered instrumental to the sport's growth through his second career as a broadcaster. Now retired from broadcasting, he is especially remembered for the emotional call of his son Dale's 1993 Daytona 500 victory.

Ned Jarrett was named one of NASCAR's "50 Greatest Drivers" in 1998.

• NASCAR Families: The Jarretts

Junior Johnson | Video Highlights
Robert Glenn "Junior" Johnson is unique in NASCAR history, with tremendous success both as a driver and a car owner.

Johnson won the second annual Daytona 500 in 1960 and in the process, became credited with the discovery of "drafting" on the massive superspeedways.

He won 50 races in the Cup Series then surprised many people by retiring from driving to become an owner. As a competitor, Johnson never missed a beat; through the years his drivers won 132 races. There also were six series championships produced with Cale Yarborough (1976-78) and Darrell Waltrip (1981-82, '85).

Johnson was immortalized in the epic 1965 Esquire magazine story on NASCAR, written by acclaimed author Thomas Wolfe.

"The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson. Yes!" romanticized Johnson's moonshine-running roots and glorified his accomplishments in NASCAR. Both aims were true, creating a larger-than-life caricature of a colorful man.

Named one of NASCAR's "50 Greatest Drivers" in 1998, Johnson resides in Wilkesboro, N.C., and remains one of the sport's most enduring -- and endearing -- personalities, at the age of 78.

• A day with Junior: moonshine, ham 'n stories

Bud Moore
A decorated World War II infantryman, Moore became a successful Cup Series car owner almost immediately upon fielding a team in 1961. Moore won back-to-back championships in 1962-63 with Joe Weatherly. Earlier, in 1957, Moore -- who referred to himself as "a country mechanic" -- was crew chief for champion Buck Baker.

During 37 seasons in NASCAR's premier division, Moore's cars won 63 times and finished with 298 top-fives and 463 top-10s. Moore-owned cars have visited Victory Lane in most of the sport's biggest events including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500.

Moore's cars, both fast and dependable, attracted the sport's top drivers. They included Weatherly, Dale Earnhardt, Glenn Roberts, David Pearson, Billy Wade, Darel Dieringer, Bobby Isaac, Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison, Ricky Rudd and Geoffrey Bodine.

As a top performer among Ford's motorsports stable, Moore frequently was tapped to spearhead the company's other racing endeavors. Among his successes was the 1970 Sports Car Club of America championship with Parnelli Jones.

• The Commission: Inside NASCAR's appeals system

Raymond Parks
Raymond Parks is one of stock-car racing's earliest -- and most successful -- team owners.

Funded by successful business and real estate ventures in Atlanta, Park began his career as a stock-car owner in 1938 with drivers Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall.

His pairing with another Atlantan, mechanic Red Vogt, produced equipment good enough to dominate the sport in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Red Byron won the first Cup Series title in 1949 in a Parks-owned car.

Though Parks' team competed for only four seasons -- 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1955 -- his place in NASCAR history is secure. Parks' team produced two wins, 11 top-five finishes and 12 top-10s in 18 events.

Drivers Red Byron, Bob Flock and Roy Hall drove his cars during the 1949 season. Byron drove for him again in 1950. Fonty Flock drove for Parks in '54 and Curtis Turner drove for him in '55.

Parks retired from racing in the mid-1950s. He announced in March 2009 that he will donate his trophies to the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.

• NASCAR legend Parks to donate collection to Hall

Benny Parsons
An Ellerbe, N.C. native who called Detroit home after driving a taxi for a living during his years living in the city, Parsons won the 1973 Cup Series championship in one of the most dramatic fashions in series history.

Parsons could be called an everyman champion: winning enough to be called one of the sport's stars but nearly always finishing well when he wasn't able to reach Victory Lane. He won 21 times in 526 career starts but finished among the top 10 283 times -- a 54 percent ratio.

One of Parsons' biggest victories came in the 1975 Daytona 500. He also was the first driver to qualify a stock car at more than 200 mph (200.176) in 1982 at Talladega Superspeedway. He was named one of NASCAR's "50 Greatest Drivers" in 1998.

Parsons also was known as a voice of the sport making a seamless transition to television following his NASCAR career. He was a commentator for NBC and TNT until his passing on Jan. 16, 2007, at the age of 64.

• Remembering Benny Parsons (Continued)