Kevin Kennedy
I know this comment is coming a bit late...Ragan, Petty, and Cope were sponsored drivers in the modern era of racing. Once they got to the top level of NASCAR, NONE of them had to turn a wrench, do their own pit stops, drive themselves to a race or have the entire field and 3/4ths of the officials against them. Wendell Scott was not elected into NASCAR's hall of fame solely on PC. He was selected for many reasons-because he was the FIRST of his ethnicity to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race (how long did it take for there to be a second competitive non-white driver-significance!)...he was also using equipment that not even a dirt track driver would want (did you happen to watch the video? How many NASCAR teams in the 60s were using all hand-me-down parts and being competitive? Top 10s in the current points style means you're at the upper echelon of race drivers! I could totally understand your point if we're talking about a driver like Derrike Cope, any of Richard Petty's children, or Dick Trickle. None of them were FIRST. Baseball, football, and basketball's Halls of Fame feature firsts among their inductees-why shouldn't NASCAR?