Soccer line sport > Blog > Sport > A look at the five honorees set to join NASCAR Hall of Fame – USA TODAY

A look at the five honorees set to join NASCAR Hall of Fame – USA TODAY

Five new members will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Friday night in a ceremony in Charlotte.

A look at the drivers and team owners that make up the class of 2017:

Rick Hendrick

Born: July 12, 1949

Age: 67

Hometown: Palmer Springs, Va.

Claim to fame: Owner of the most successful team in NASCAR history with 12 championships at the premier level, including a record-tying seven by Jimmie Johnson and four by Jeff Gordon. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have earned a combined 299 victories across NASCAR’s top three national series (Cup, Xfinity, Trucks) through 2016.

Quote: ”I think it’s the passion and being able to compete, and it just fuels you getting up and coming out here and trying to do it again.”

PHOTOS: Memorable moments of Rick Hendrick’s careeer

Since 1984, Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick

Rick Hendrick, right, celebrates with his driver Jimmie

Rick Hendrick, left, poses with his driver Jimmie Johnson,

Rick Hendrick, left, and Pearl Jam lead singer Edddie

Rick Hendrick, right, and his wife Linda attend the

Rick Hendrick, right, stands with Jimmie Johnson crew

Rick Hendrick stands with Chase Elliott and the No.

Jeff Gordon hugs Rick Hendrick after the 2015 Ford

Rick Hendrick got his first win as a team owner in NASCAR’s premier Cup series with Geoff Bodine, shown here celebrating at Martinsville Speedway on April 29, 1984.

In his third year in Cup, Rick Hendrick, far left, scored his first of eight Daytona 500 victories. Geoff Bodine, celebrating, beat Terry Labonte by more than 11 seconds on Feb. 16, 1986.

Jeff Gordon, flanked by team owner Rick Hendrick, left, and crew chief Ray Evernham, celebrates his first Cup win and first with Hendrick Motorsports, at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 29, 1994.

Rick Hendrick, left, scored his first NASCAR Cup championship with Jeff Gordon, center, in 1995, the first of four titles for Gordon and 11 for Hendrick. Also pictured, Gordon's crew chief Ray Evernham.

Rick Hendrick, left, shares a moment with his son Ricky Hendrick, center, and father Joe Hendrick at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Oct. 5, 2000.

Jeff Gordon earned the 100th career NASCAR Cup win for owner Rick Hendrick at the KMart 400 at Michigan International Speedway, on June 10, 2001.

Ricky Hendrick, son of NASCAR owner Rick Hendrick, celebrates his first victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Kansas Speedway on July 7, 2001.

Jimmie Johnson, center, poses with owner Rick Hendrick, left, and teammate Jeff Gordon in victory lane after Johnson won the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway on April 28, 2002. The victory was Johnson's first in Cup and his first with Hendrick Motorsports.

Ricky Hendrick, left, talking with his father, Rick Hendrick in 2001, was among 10 people killed on Oct. 24, 2004, when a plane owned by Hendrick Motorsports crashed in thick fog seven miles from the Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Spencer, Va., near Martinsville Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his first win as a Hendrick Motorsports driver at the LifeLock 400, June 15, 2008, at Michigan International Speedway.

Rick Hendrick poses with his wife Linda at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series awards banquet at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel on Dec. 3, 2010.

Jimmie Johnson, with his wife Chandra, right, gave owner Rick Hendrick, left, his 200th career Sprint Cup victory at the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on May 12, 2012.

Jimmie Johnson takes a victory lap with owner Rick Hendrick sitting on the door after winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race for the third time on May 19, 2012. The following year, Johnson broke the record for most All-Star Race victories.

Rick Hendrick, left, celebrates with the No. 48 team after Jimmie Johnson, right, clinched his sixth NASCAR Cup championship and the 11th overall for Hendrick Motorsports on Nov 17, 2013.

The 2014 Hendrick Motorsports Sprint Cup team, from

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 2014 Daytona 500 to deliver owner Rick Hendrick his eighth career win at The Great American Race.

Rick Hendrick celebrates with Jeff Gordon, who won

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first grandfather clock

Last Slide Next Slide

Richard Childress

Born: Sept. 21, 1945

Age: 71

Hometown: Winston-Salem, N.C.

Claim to fame: A hard-scrabble racer who was winless in 285 starts at NASCAR’s highest level, he ceded the wheel of the No. 3 car to an up-and-coming hard-charger named Dale Earnhardt in 1981. Together they won six championships and set the foundation for Richard Childress Racing and a NASCAR legend.

Quote: “You look at life, I’m sure y’all have heard that old song, don’t blink, 100 years goes by fast.”

Mark Martin

Born: Jan. 9, 1959

Age: 58

Hometown: Batesville, Ark.

Claim to fame: Adorned with the double-edged descriptor of best driver to never win a NASCAR championship, the popular Martin claimed 40 wins in the Cup Series and 49 wins in what is now called the Xfinity Series. Despite winning neither a title nor a Daytona 500, his body of work convinced voters of his qualification after finishing as a championship runner-up five times.

Quote: “There are so many things in the world I don’t know, it’s ridiculous, but I knew racing pretty well.”

PHOTOS: Mark Martin through the years

Mark Martin, born Jan. 9, 1959 in Batesville, Ark.,

Denny Hamlin, left, talks with Mark Martin, right, before the STP 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., in 2013.

Mark Martin poses after winning the pole for the Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway in 2012.

Mark Martin, left, talks to Tony Stewart during the drivers' introductory lap before the Sprint Cup race in Fontana, Calif., in 2013.

Mark Martin smiles as he answers questions during his press conference at NASCAR's media day in 2013.

Mark Martin hits the wall after contact with Carl Edwards on lap 331 of the AAA Texas 500 in 2012, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

Pole-sitter Mark Martin, left, talks with Carl Edwards after qualifying for the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in 2011.

Mark Martin prepares to practice for the Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway in 2009.

Mark Martin waves a checkered flag in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2005.

Mark Martin celebrates his win in the Crown Royal International Race of Champions at Daytona International Speedway in 2005.

Mark Martin gives the thumbs-up in victory lane after he won the MBNA 400 at Dover International Speedway in 2004.

Entertainer Wayne Newton, left, jokes with driver Mark Martin after Martin's victory in the Las Vegas 400 in 1998.

Mark Martin, center, walks with Jeff Gordon, left, and Jeff Burton as they head to the garage during a rain delay in the Pepsi Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1999.

Mark Martin leads the pack during the third lap of the Bud at the Glen at Watkins Glen, N.Y., in 1994. He won the race for one of two victories that season.

Mark Martin has won 40 Cup races in his 31-year NASCAR career.

Last Slide Next Slide

Benny Parsons

Born: July 12, 1941. Died: Jan. 16, 2007

Hometown: Wilkes County, N.C.

Claim to fame: His drama-filled title run in the 1973 Cup series helped mint the former Detroit taxi driver as an everyman champion and weekly threat. A Daytona 500 winner and the first NASCAR driver to pierce 200 mph, he later became a popular broadcaster.

Quote: “Benny Parsons was the kindest, sweetest, most considerate person I have ever known. He was almost too nice to be a race car driver, and I say that as a compliment. In my 30 odd years of racing Benny Parsons, I never knew of anyone being mad at Benny.” — Darrell Waltrip (2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee)

Raymond Parks

Born: June 5, 1914. Died: June 20, 2010

Hometown: Dawsonville, Ga.

Claim to fame: The former moonshiner is regarded as NASCAR’s first team owner, running the car used by Red Byron to win the sport’s first championship in 1949.

Quote: Raymond Parks, on how to make a small fortune: “You take a huge fortune, and then you go racing.”

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames

PHOTOS: NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2017