Bob Margolis has a series of articles on the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Bob is a good writer and I would usually defer to his expertise on all things NASCAR but I do take exception with a couple of points in his most recent installment.

Bob's ideal inaugural class is as follows:

Bill France Sr.: The co-founder of NASCAR. It is his vision of what the sport could be that drove him to make the decisions he made while the sport was in its infancy. His skill as a promoter was overshadowed only by his ability to lead.

Ralph Seagraves: Seagraves was the man primarily responsible for bringing the R.J. Reynolds tobacco sponsorship to NASCAR in 1972, thus changing the sport and sports sponsorships in all sports, forever. Most acknowledge that when the name to the series became the Winston Cup Series it ushered in the start of NASCAR's modern era.

I think every man on his list belong in the NASCAR Hall of Fame but I think he missed at least two key figures that made NASCAR what it has become.

More below the jump...

To understand my thinking you have to remember what a chaotic state motor sports was in when Bill France Sr. and the boys were first envisioning anything close to a national body. The sport was run in small regional pockets by boot-leggers and small time promoters. The loose alliances that were in place often did not bring their fans with them.

France figured out how to bring a common solidarity to the sport and his primary pitchman for this was the legendary Erwin "Cannonball" Baker. Baker was a living legend and had the passion for more. France convinced him to be the 1st Commissioner of NASCAR.

Baker held over a hundred land speed records and was famous for his transcontinental speed runs. The famous coast to coast race, the Cannonball Run is named for him. Yes, the movie was based on this famous race.

Baker gave NASCAR instant credibility and fixed a foundation that France could build upon.

France's son Bill Jr. was stationed in California while in the Navy in the early 1950's. France instructed him to look up Bob "Barky" Barkhimer. This was like a member of Hell's Angels sending his son to befriend a leader of the Outlaws.

Barky ran over twenty speedways in California and was the head of the California Stock Car Racing Association. At the time, he was arguably bigger than France and certainly more consolidated.

The gamble worked and Barky became more and more interested in Bill Sr.'s vision of a national association. He eventually traveled to Daytona Beach. In the spring of 1954, Barky introduced NASCAR as the top sanctioning body on the west coast with himself at the head.

Barkhimer's embrace of France's vision is what really made NASCAR a national body. Without Barkhimer and others that followed him, stock car racing in the US would likely have went the way of motorcycle gangs and no legitimate sport would have evolved.