The NASCAR Hall of Fame added four new members on Tuesday that will be inducted into the 2026 class on Jan. 23, 2026. 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch and two-time Southern 500 winner Harry Gant are the newest members to earn induction via the Hall of Fame Modern Era Ballot, while former modified great Ray Hendrick will go in on the Pioneer Ballot. Former Charlotte Motor Speedway promoter H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler will be inducted with the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.
The announcement was made on Tuesday as members of the voting panel got together to discuss who the next members of the illustrious Hall of Fame would be. The panel also consisted of a nationwide fan vote to select two of the 10 members from the Modern Era Ballot, as well as one of the five members on the Pioneer Ballot and Landmark Award list.
How did each inductee get to the Hall of Fame?
Known for his fire behind the wheel and ability to win for multiple teams, the 2004 Cup Series champion and 2017 Daytona 500 winner is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. In a Cup Series career that spanned more than 20 years, Busch was a 34-time winner at the sport’s top level. In addition to a 2010 Coca-Cola 600 win, Busch won for seven different teams and is the only driver in the sport’s history to win for four manufacturers (Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, Toyota). He won a race in each of his last nine seasons and was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. A qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway in 2022 left him with a concussion and forced him to retire from competition
Along with his two Southern 500 wins, Gant won 18 Cup Series races. He is known for his four wins in a row in 1991. At the age of 52, he earned the nickname Mr. September and became the oldest winner of a Cup Series race in a record that still stands today. Gant also had 21 Xfinity Series wins and was a fan favorite throughout his career. Like Busch, he was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023.
Known as “Mr. Modified,” Hendrick is believed to have won more than 700 races in modified and late-model sportsman series from 1950-88. Also named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers and one of NASCAR Modified’s All-Time Top 10 Drivers, Hendrick finished top 10 in the standings nine times in the 1960s despite never winning the championship. He also won the most races all-time at Martinsville (20).
Wheeler, best known for his creativity and off-the-wall ideas, was president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the mastermind behind a lot of the pre-race and at-track promotions we currently see today. His push to install lights at Charlotte made it the first speedway of its length to host night racing in 1992, an event dubbed One Hot Night. He was respected by many in the industry and joins Busch as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The latest inductees to the Hall of Fame increase the total number of members to 70 as the sport honors those that have made contributions and achieved tremendous success in NASCAR.
