First Hall of Fame class to be announced on Oct. 14

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR has announced that "Voting Day" for the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be Oct. 14 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Vote now!

Fans are invited to participate in voting for up to five nominees to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as the 2010 inaugural class.

• Hall of Fame voting
• Bios of the nominees
• More on the Hall

The NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, consisting of members of the Nominating Committee along with 29 others representing NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, major race track ownership groups, retired drivers, owners and crew chiefs along with motorsports media representatives, will meet in a closed session to deliberate and vote on the 25 candidates eligible for this first class. The vote will be followed by a news conference announcing the inaugural class of 2010.

The class will be chosen from the 51 votes cast by the panel and the nationwide fan vote -- which ends Sept. 27 -- conducted through NASCAR.COM. The accounting firm of Ernst & Young will preside over the tabulation of the votes.

The hall's inaugural class will consist of five members and are scheduled to be enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in May 2010.

The nominees, which include many of the sport's legendary names and were announced in July, include:

Bobby Allison, Buck Baker, Red Byron, Richard Childress, Dale Earnhardt, Richie Evans, Tim Flock, Bill France Jr., Bill France Sr., Rick Hendrick, Ned Jarrett, Junior Johnson, Bud Moore, Raymond Parks, Benny Parsons, David Pearson, Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Fireball Roberts, Herb Thomas, Curtis Turner, Darrell Waltrip, Joe Weatherly, Glen Wood and Cale Yarborough.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame broke ground in Charlotte on Jan. 25, 2007 and will open May 11, 2010. The facility honors the history and heritage of NASCAR and the many who have contributed to the success of NASCAR.

SPEED to broadcast announcement

SPEED is committing to all-day coverage from the NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural class announcement on Oct. 14, opening at 10 a.m. ET with a live show and candidate features, and programming continues throughout the day, including live coverage at 4 p.m. ET of the news conference announcing the five members to be enshrined. Coverage continues into prime-time.

"There is only one 'first' when it comes to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and SPEED believes the experience deserves extraordinary treatment," SPEED president Hunter Nickell said. "We will open the day by introducing fans to the voters and the process, while highlighting all 25 candidates. We'll then cut in live throughout the day, going live from the NASCAR press conference and going well into the evening with features and additional content on the inaugural class."