There is little question that much attention comes with the announcement of the annual inductees into the Hall of Fame and the official ceremony on the first Saturday in June. The weekend begins in earnest on Friday night with an informal roundtable of Hall of Fame members and key personalities.
Like every Hall of Fame, the selection often engenders a fair amount of debate, some of it highly emotionally charged. The good news is that it is a sign that people care. Individuals can offer supportive documentation when nominating a candidate, and the voting committee has access to such material.
The committee itself can be up to 72 members, divided among four geographic regions, the West Coast, Midwest, Mideast and East Coast. It is incumbent on individual committee members to do their due diligence and make an informed choice.
The vote itself occurs in a two-step process. An initial nomination form is sent to the voters and the results generated establishes the final ballot. Shortly after the votes have been tabulated and announced, Baker is prepared to receive passionate calls, email messages, texts and letters.
Tom Schmeh has been there, and he admits that sometimes the feedback is frustrating. “Some people don‘t see the big picture,” Schmeh said. “They want everyone in their area to be in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. I used to say, ‘Don‘t you know there are people in Dallas, Sacramento and Harrisburg who feel the same way?‘ I personally feel good that the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is truly national.”
Baker trusts the processes and procedures that have been established.
“We are members of the International Sports Heritage Association, which includes Hall of Fames from across the world,” he explained. “In the first meeting, I attended there was a seminar on induction committees. We went around the room and explained how we do things and a lot of groups had eight to 12 people on their committee. Then we got to the guy with the National Football Hall of Fame and he said he had over 120 voters. Everybody gasped. So they got to me and I said we have 72 voters and everyone gasped again. Then there was one guy who said it was his Hall of Fame and he was the only person who decided. More gasps.
“Finally, the moderator said the Football and Sprint Car Hall of Fame have the process right, because they have people from across the country involved and they have a lot of people making decisions. The thing is 90 percent of the people who call are exactly right. They are talking to me about good Hall of Fame candidates. But it‘s not easy to get in, and often people make the final ballot several times before they get the votes. That‘s the way it is supposed to be. It‘s hard to just get on the final ballot.”
Schmeh and Baker also had the pleasure of informing an individual or a family member about their election to the Hall of Fame.
“That is one of the highlights of this position,” Baker said. “It is very rewarding.”
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees are generally notified sometime late in the calendar year and are asked to keep the news under wraps until the official announcement is made during the Chili Bowl Nationals in January.
Shane Carson, who remains a great ambassador for the sport has been the happy recipient of two calls. The first came notifying him that his father Bud Carson was elected in 2003 as a result of his many years promoting races at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds and other race tracks. Long before he climbed behind the wheel of a race car, Shane Carson had watched and learned from his father. Bud Carson died in 1991, but when Shane took the call, his immediate thought was that this was all his dad had worked for.
“I was able to accept the award for him,” Carson said, “and that was big for me and the family. It was his passion. He strived for excellence and that is what got him in.”
Four years later, Shane Carson received a second call telling him he would be joining his father in the Hall of Fame.
“It was big for me,” Carson said. “The part of my life that I devoted to racing was recognized.” He admits that it was hard to wrap his mind around the idea and said his family was taken aback at first as well.
“They didn‘t think it was a possibility and to tell you the truth neither did I,” he said. “There were other people who won more races. No doubt. But I thought I was one of those people who served as a representative of the sport and that gave me a shot.”
When Jimmy Sills got the word, he was among the 2006 class he was in Auckland, New Zealand. As he recalls when Tom Schmeh reached him in a food court, he had two quick questions; how did you find me, and why are you calling?
He soon got his answers. “When Tom said I‘m calling you because you are being inducted into the Sprint Car Hall of Fame this year I almost fell over,” he said. “Aside from my marriage that was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me. You just feel so good inside. It validates all the hard work you put in, and everything you accomplished. You realize that somebody noticed and not just some people, but the right people.”
Tim Green‘s time arrives this June. As early as 1980, Green shined with the World of Outlaws but moved from his native California to the Midwest shortly thereafter.