By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer

Drivers

1. RICHARD PETTY: Seven-time champion and the winner of a record 200 races, including 27 in 1967 alone. He's not called "The King" for nothing.

2. DALE EARNHARDT: The only other driver to win seven championships. The Kannapolis native known as "The Intimidator" won 76 races and the hearts of millions of fans.

3. DAVID PEARSON: "The Silver Fox" won 105 races and three championships as Petty's chief rival in the 1960s and 1970s.

4. BOBBY ALLISON: Some historians give him 85 wins, others say it's 84. Either way, the 1983 champion is one of the greatest to ever snap up his seat belts.

5. CALE YARBOROUGH: From Timmonsville, S.C., he won three straight championships in 1976-78 and finished with 83 Cup victories.

6. DARRELL WALTRIP: A three-time Cup champion, Waltrip won 84 races before turning in his helmet and moving to the Fox broadcast booth.

7. LEE PETTY: The patriarch of the Petty racing clan, he won 54 races and three championships in laying the foundation of one of the sport's great dynasties.

8. CURTIS TURNER: Only won 17 races in the sport's top series, but in terms of pure talent -- and pure legend -- he stands out.

9. HERB THOMAS: One of the sport's first stars, he won a career total of 48 races as well as championships in the 1951 and 1953 seasons.

10. RICHIE EVANS: The king of NASCAR's modified series, he won at least 475 races at 37 tracks in his career. He won nine modified titles, eight straight beginning in 1978.

11. NED JARRETT: A two-time champion who won 50 races before retiring early, Jarrett served the sport for years with a distinguished career in broadcasting.

12. TIM FLOCK: The most colorful and successful of three racing brothers, Tim won 40 races, including 18 in 1955 on the way to one of his two championships.

13. BUCK BAKER: He started out as a Charlotte bus driver, then won three Southern 500s at Darlington, S.C., among his 46 career victories and two NASCAR titles.

14. GLENN "FIREBALL" ROBERTS: He had 33 victories before being killed in a 1964 crash at Charlotte. He was one of the first drivers to excel as the sport's superspeedway era began.

15. WENDELL SCOTT: The only African American to win a race in NASCAR's top series. Despite racing against people with much higher budgets, he still made 495 starts at the Cup level.

Team owners and mechanics

1. JUNIOR JOHNSON: Just as hall-worthy as a driver, with 50 career wins, Johnson had 132 wins and six championships as a car owner and was one of the sport's most innovative car builders and mechanics.

2. GLEN AND LEONARD WOOD: Their family's team has nearly 1,300 Cup starts with 97 wins and a veritable who's who of drivers on the all-time roster.

3. JOHN HOLMAN AND RALPH MOODY: Partners in a Charlotte-based empire that in a 15-year era took their "Competition Proven" motto to Victory Lane 96 times.

4. SMOKEY YUNICK: Proprietor of Daytona's "Best Damn Garage in Town," he built and worked on some of the greatest cars for the greatest drivers.

5. DALE INMAN: The most successful crew chief of all time, he won seven championships with Richard Petty and then an eighth with Terry Labonte in 1984.

Contributors

1. WILLIAM H.G. FRANCE SR.: The sport's founding father and the patriarch of the family who has ruled since NASCAR's birth in 1947. "Big Bill" laid the foundation for the sport we know today.2. WILLIAM C. FRANCE JR.: Followed his father into NASCAR's top job in 1972 and shepherded the sport through its transformation from regional curiosity to national phenomenon.

3. RALPH SEAGRAVES AND T. WAYNE ROBERTSON: Seagraves was the man who got R.J. Reynolds Tobacco into NASCAR as the series sponsor, and Robertson's energy and leadership made it work.

4. H. CLAY EARLES: Owner of Martinsville (Va.) Speedway from 1947 until his death, Earles stands out among the pioneer track owners who gave NASCAR fertile ground in which to grow.

5. BRUTON SMITH: He and "Big Bill" France were rival promoters in the early days. The rivalry lingers on some levels, but Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. sets the standard for the modern-day racing facility.

Media and PR

If NASCAR follows baseball's lead and provides a separate honor for contributions by those in media and public relations, here are five candidates:

1. CHRIS ECONOMAKI: A racing icon for his long career as a writer, publisher and broadcaster.

2. BARNEY HALL: The long-time voice of NASCAR on the Motor Racing Network, the Ernie Harvell of his sport.

3. KEN SQUIER: A generation that now wants to call racing on television grew up wanting to be Ken Squier.

4. T. TAYLOR WARREN: Fans have seen racing through the eye of this photographer's lens since the sport's beginnings.

5. RUSS CATLIN: Perhaps the sport's first great publicist and still one of the greatest of all time.