The 2027 NASCAR Hall Of Fame Ballot At A Glance

NASCAR has released the 15 nominees for the Hall of Fame Class of 2027, a group that spans several eras of the sport. The list includes championship drivers, influential crew chiefs, engine builders, and industry leaders whose work helped shape NASCAR’s direction on and off the track.

The selection committee will vote on May 19 in Charlotte, with fans contributing one official ballot through online voting from April 14 to May 17. Until then, the focus shifts to the résumés, statistics, and long‑term impact behind each nominee. It sets up one of the toughest ballots the Hall has seen in recent years.

MODERN ERA NOMINEES

Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick appears on the ballot for the first time, and his résumé immediately puts him near the top of the conversation. He won 60 Cup Series races, which ranks 10th all‑time, and claimed the 2014 Cup championship.

His career includes the 2007 Daytona 500, three Brickyard 400 wins, and more than 400 top‑ten finishes across NASCAR’s three national series. He also made 826 consecutive Cup starts, the third‑longest streak in the sport.

Harvick’s career carries added weight because of how it began. In 2001, he stepped into the Richard Childress Racing No. 29 car after Dale Earnhardt’s death and won at Atlanta in his third start. That moment still stands as one of the defining points of NASCAR’s modern era.

Ray Elder

Ray Elder dominated the West Coast long before NASCAR expanded nationally. He won six Winston West championships between 1969 and 1975, a record that still stands. Elder also won two Cup Series races at Riverside International Raceway, beating full‑time Cup drivers on one of the toughest road courses in the country.

His success helped connect regional racing to the national series. His success helped bridge the gap between regional racing and the national NASCAR scene. Elder proved that West Coast drivers could compete with and beat the established stars of the Cup Series, and his wins at Riverside pushed NASCAR’s reach far beyond its traditional footprint.

Ernie Elliott

Ernie Elliott enters the ballot as one of the most respected engine builders in NASCAR history. His engines powered Bill Elliott to 40 Cup wins, the 1988 Cup championship, and the historic 1985 Winston Million season.

Ernie’s engines set several qualifying records, including Bill Elliott’s 212.809 mph pole speed at Talladega in 1987, which remains the fastest official lap in NASCAR history. His work shaped the superspeedway era and influenced engine development for years.

Returning Modern Era Nominees

Greg Biffle, Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Randy Dorton, Randy LaJoie, and Jack Sprague return to the ballot. Together, they account for more than 150 Cup wins, multiple championships, and decades of competitive and mechanical influence. Only two Modern Era nominees will be selected.

A group this deep always creates tension in the room. Every name brings a different era, a different specialty, and a different argument for inclusion, which is why this portion of the ballot often sparks the most debate. Some represent unfinished business, others long‑overdue recognition, and all of them have résumés strong enough to make a legitimate case for induction.

PIONEER BALLOT NOMINEES

Ray Fox

Ray Fox earned the 1956 NASCAR Mechanic of the Year award and later became a successful team owner. His cars won 14 Cup races, and his engines powered drivers such as Junior Johnson and Fireball Roberts. Fox’s work helped shape the early superspeedway era and represents the hands‑on innovation that defined NASCAR’s early decades.

Herb Nab

Herb Nab recorded 92 Cup wins and two championships as a crew chief. He worked with Cale Yarborough and Junior Johnson during one of the most competitive stretches in NASCAR history. Nab’s setups were known for their precision, and he helped establish the modern expectations for a crew chief’s role.

Returning Pioneer Nominees

Banjo Matthews, Larry Phillips, and Harry Hyde round out the Pioneer ballot. Matthews built more than 400 race cars, with roughly 85% winning at least once. Phillips remains the only driver to win five NASCAR Weekly Series national titles, and Hyde earned 56 Cup wins and a championship as a crew chief. Only one Pioneer nominee will be inducted.

LANDMARK AWARD NOMINEES

T. Wayne Robertson

T. Wayne Robertson appears on the Landmark Award ballot for the first time. As the marketing force behind R.J. Reynolds’ Winston brand, he played a major role in transforming NASCAR into a national sports property. Robertson helped launch the NASCAR All‑Star Race in 1985 and pushed the sport into a new era of corporate involvement.

Robertson’s influence reached far beyond sponsorship logos. He understood how to package NASCAR for television, how to position drivers as marketable personalities, and how to build events that felt bigger than the weekly schedule. Much of the sport’s commercial growth in the 1980s and 1990s can be traced back to the strategies he put in motion.

Returning Landmark Nominees

Alvin Hawkins, Lesa France Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mattioli, and Les Richter return to the ballot. Their work in track development, business expansion, and organizational leadership helped build the structure that allowed NASCAR to grow. Each brought a different piece of the foundation.

Hawkins helped establish the sport’s earliest officiating framework, while Kennedy guided NASCAR’s modern business expansion and facility growth. Mattioli and Richter shaped two of the sport’s most important markets through long‑term leadership at Pocono and in California, leaving infrastructure that continues to anchor NASCAR’s national schedule.

Why This Ballot Matters

The 2027 ballot reflects a shift in eras. Drivers like Harvick and Burton represent the early‑2000s boom, a period defined by expanding TV coverage, major sponsorship deals, and a new generation of stars. Their appearance on the ballot marks the point at which that era begins to move into Hall of Fame consideration.

At the same time, the presence of mechanical innovators such as Ernie Elliott, Randy Dorton, Ray Fox, and Herb Nab reinforces NASCAR’s commitment to honoring the people who shaped the sport from the inside out. Their work influenced the cars, engines, and strategies that defined entire eras.

What’s Next

The Class of 2027 ballot is one of the strongest in recent memory. Fans can vote from April 14 through May 17, and the selection committee will make its final decisions on May 19. Whether your attention is on Harvick’s championship résumé, Ernie Elliott’s horsepower legacy, Ray Elder’s regional dominance, or Ray Fox’s mechanical influence, this ballot covers every corner of NASCAR’s history.

These nominees didn’t just compete. They helped build the sport. Now they move one step closer to their highest honor. Their work still shapes the way NASCAR operates today. Their influence reaches far beyond the eras in which they raced. And their legacies continue to guide the sport’s future.