The NASCAR Hall of Fame revealed the 15 nominees for its Class of 2026 on Monday, adding former champions Kurt Busch and Randy LaJoie to the ballot for the first time.
Busch and LaJoie — who were both added to the list of NASCAR‘s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023 — are among the 10 legends who will appear on the Modern Era Ballot when voters convene on Tuesday, May 20 in Charlotte for Voting Day. Title-winning crew chief Jake Elder makes a return appearance on the Pioneer Ballot for the five nominees whose careers began 60 years ago or more.
Longtime Charlotte Motor Speedway promoter Humpy Wheeler was selected for voting consideration for the Landmark Award for outstanding contributions to NASCAR.
Fan voting for the NASCAR Hall of Fame is now open until May 18 at noon ET. The collective ballot cast by fans online will count as one vote alongside those cast by the voting panel.
RELATED: Fan Vote open: Cast your ballot
Busch, 46, won the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2004, the first year the circuit went to a 10-race playoff format. The Las Vegas native won 34 times in his 20-plus-year Cup career, taking the Daytona 500 laurels in 2017. He was also a winner of multiple races in Xfinity and Truck Series competition.
LaJoie, 63, scored two championships in what is now called the Xfinity Series, going back-to-back in the 1996-97 campaigns and registering 15 wins over a 350-start career. LaJoie, the champ of the former Busch North Series in 1985, was also an innovator in the world of motorsports safety through his long-running racing-seat company.
Busch and LaJoie join returning nominees Greg Biffle, Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Randy Dorton, Harry Gant, Harry Hyde and Jack Sprague.
Elder, who appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2021, returns with a resume that includes three Cup Series championships and 44 wins. His nomadic nature earned him the nickname “Suitcase Jake,” but his old-school sensibility and mechanical know-how helped jump-start the careers of many stock-car racing up-and-comers.
Elder will appear on the ballot with Ray Hendrick, Banjo Matthews, Larry Phillips and Bob Welborn — all nominees from last year’s vote.
H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, 86, ushered in a new era of race-track promotions with his flair for creativity as president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Beyond his showmanship, Wheeler placed an emphasis on modernizing fan amenities, providing a blueprint that raceways would follow for decades.
Wheeler, Alvin Hawkins, Lesa France Kennedy, Dr. Joseph Mattioli and Les Richter are this year’s Landmark Award nominees.
Those new names fill the voids left on the ballot by Class of 2025 inductees Carl Edwards, Ricky Rudd and Ralph Moody, and Landmark Award winner Dr. Dean Sicking.
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