Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Stevie Smith is Hall of Fame ready after 33 years of success 

nice article.  Personally, I'm not convinced Stevie is a Hall of Famer

If he is a "slam dunk first ballot" as you say, why wasn't Terry McCarl last year?  Credentials are as good or better yet he didn't make the cut.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's going to get HARDER to get inducted, not easier as the years go by.  They now induct fewer people than in years past, for another you have guys that have been nominated but not enshrined, you add more names to the list to choose from every year making it harder for guys to get in. 

If you had to choose today from the following who would you vote for?  Stevie Smith, Lance DeWease, Terry McCarl 

After voting, what if you found out only 1 of the 3 would be inducted and next year the following guys would be added to hte list to choose from:  Gary Lee Maier, Joey Saldana, Andy Hillenberg (OK), and Skip Jackson

Again, only 1 gets in and more names are added to the list the following year.

Outside of Donny Schatz, I can't think of a single driver that I would dub as a "slam dunk" fist ballot Hall of Famer anymore.

Stevie vs McCarl (I think both should be HoF but I think Stevie has a better career)

WoO Wins: Stevie 70 vs McCarl 12 (Stevie was on tour longer, but clearly had more success Nationally)

Career wins: Stevie 222 vs McCarl 300+? (More wins for McCarl, but also many more of them on tracks he was familiar with against lesser competition)

Knoxville Nationals stats:

Starts: Stevie 21 vs McCarl 19

Laps Led: Stevie 22 vs McCarl 15

Top 10s: Stevie 14 vs McCarl ?

It's clear Stevie has alot more success at the Knosville Nationals (including almost winning in 1993) despite never being a regular.

Lance vs McCarl is a better debate, but Stevie wins hands down in my opinion.

There is already one spot less available for everyone in next year's induction class for pretty much every auto racing hall of fame 2017 class because I can guarantee you that BC will be both nominated and inducted into all of them next year. Deservedly so as well. I have no doubt that Terry, Stevie, and Lance will be hall of famers before too long.

But you are comparing #'s, voters compare more than that, they take into account the equipment they are driving, their perception of the driver and other factors too.

They also compare the intagibles that can't be measured (impact on the sport, attitude, flashiness, etc., etc..).

And sadly, they vote based on their personal opinion of someone (they are human after all, someone with less acomplishments but a great guy is going to get in before someone with more accomplishments but a jerk to everyone).

My gut feel is that Stevie won't get in on the first ballot.  Steve, Sammy and Doug were first ballot HoFer's, I don't consider Stevie (or Jac H, Danny L., McCarl, Dave or Dale Blaney in the same breath as those three, yet all of them were first ballot Hall of Famers).  To me it lessons the accomplishments the more first ballot Hall of Famer's there are.  (this goes for every hall of fame (baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR, etc., etc.).

If everyone that is becoming eligible on the first ballot get in on the first ballot, it cheapens the honor in my opinion and makes the Hall of Fame less of an honor.

How do you measure someone's career versus a driver cut down in the prime of their career (guys that raced in the 50's, 60's and 70's that had 2 or 3 great years and then were killed or injured before they could have longevity).

Too bad he won't become eligible for another year by the rules, 6 months won't pass until well after the deadline from my math.  Hopefully those on the nominating and voting panels don't forget about his accomplishments before the following election cycle next year (2017 for 2018 induction).

 from the Hall of Fame's website:

III. ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES - Candidates to be eligible for induction in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame must meet the following requirements:

a. Individual must have been active as a sprint car racing driver, owner, builder, sponsor, mechanic, manufacturer, promoter, official or media member for a minimum of five (5) racing seasons. Exceptions to the length of activity within the sport of sprint car racing may be made for those who moved on to other divisions of motorsports (i.e. -Indy Cars, Stock Cars).

b. Individual shall be eligible on January 1st of the induction year following his/her fiftieth birthday (age 50), or

Individual shall be eligible if he/she has ceased to be an active sprint car racing driver, owner, mechanic, builder, manufacturer, sponsor, promoter, official or media member for at least five (5) years preceding January 1st of the induction year.

c. In case of the death of an active individual under age 50, or an individual who has been retired for less than five (5) full years, a candidate who is otherwise ineligible shall be eligible in the next regular election held at least six (6) months after the date of death or after the end of the five (5) year period, whichever occurs first.

VIII. TIME OF ELECTION - The duly authorized representatives of the Foundation shall prepare, date and mail nomination ballots to each elector no later than the final day of October, and final ballots no later than the final day of November, in each year preceding the year in which an induction is held. The elector shall sign and return each completed ballot within fifteen (15) days.

I am aware of the rules and for the NSCHoFM that is up to them. It's not the same for all of them. If the majority of the nominating committee decides to hell with the rules and nominates BC I find it hard to believe that it would be thrown out on a techicality. If so it would be 2018 but it's not a matter of "IF" but "when".

totally agree

I think one of Stevie's greatest accomplishments was running second at the Mopar Million, considering it was his first time w/o a wing!

I agree that both Stevie and TMAC are deserving of the Hall of Fame. Terry did not deserve to be elected first year, and I don't think Stevie does either, at least not a slam dunk. Between the two I do think Stevie has had the better career based on his number of WoO wins. He proved more deserving to be on tour longer than TMAC was and that pretty much says it. And the WoO Tour, and winning the biggest and most prestigious races are the measuring stick for ackomplishments. I agree with an earlier post that to make it first time up takes a spectacular career.....like Steve, Sammy and Doug. Schatz will be a first timer, no doubt. This may be unpopular, but I don't think putting BC in next year, which has been mentioned, is the right thing to do, either. I don't think tragedy should accelerate a driver's admittance to the Hall of Fame, when the career lacks longevity.  JMO! 

Success at the Knoxville Nationals should only be a small factor in determining who is accepted.  In my opinion, non wing drivers should have at least equal consideration.  Just because the HOF is in Knoxville should make no difference.

Good thing voting decisions for a driver to be inducted in to the HoF aren't determined by one weekend of racing......if that were the case, either every driver would be in......or nobody would be in! 

What Mr. Zero said. That performance at the Mopar Million against 137 other cars speaks volumes. Some of the talent that was there with the laps they have run at Eldora & for Stevie too have finished in 2nd place was Phenominal.

I was making a comparison between Smith and McCarl. Not saying that was the main factor.

Both Stevie and McCarl will be in the Hall very soon, if not this year ... the same with Dewease!! 

Who knows how many wins Stevie would have if he doens't race with the Outlaws for at least 10 years. If not for a rain delay in 1993, he wins the Knoxville Nationals. He was very close to winning it in the Zemco car too. He did win the Gold Cup in California in 1993 in the Hamilton #77.  If memory serves correctly, he led the Outlaws in "A" wins in 1998 in the Ingersoll-Rand #19.