Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, and Donnie Allison have been named the three inductees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2024, NASCAR officially announced on Wednesday.
Members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met on Wednesday in an in-person closed session at the Charlotte Convention Center to debate and vote upon the 15 nominees eligible, and the five eligible for the Landmark Award.
Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Harry Gant, Harry Hyde, Larry Phillips, and Ricky Rudd joined Johnson and Knaus on the 10-person Modern Era Ballot, all of which were selected by the traditional Nominating Committee.
According to NASCAR, Johnson, a seven-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series and co-owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, received 93% of the votes, meaning four individuals left the El Cajon, California-native off of their ballot.
Chad Knaus, who worked alongside Jimmie Johnson for all seven of those championships and continues to work with Hendrick Motorsports, received 81% of the Modern Era ballot votes. Harry Gant finished third, followed by Ricky Rudd and Carl Edwards.
Donnie Allison, an original member of the ‘Alabama Gang’, scored 53% of the Pioneer Ballot votes, with Banjo Matthews finishing in the runner-up position. Sam Ard, AJ Foyt, and Ralph Moody were also included on the ballot.
Janet Guthrie was elected the winner of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR, over Alvin Hawkins, Lesa France Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mattioli, and Les Richter.
Guthrie moved on from a successful career as an aerospace engineer in the early 1960s, in order to become a full-time racer in 1972. A true pioneer in motorsports, she would become the first woman to compete in a NASCAR premier series superspeedway event when she finished 15th in the 1976 World 600.
The following year, Guthrie became the first woman to compete in both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. Scoring five top-10 results at NASCAR’s top level, Guthrie had a career-best of sixth at Bristol in 1977.
The Induction Ceremony for the NASCAR Hall of Fame ‘Class of 2024’ will be held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, January 19th, 2024.
