The third class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be voted upon and announced this afternoon in downtown Charlotte. As with the previous two votes, SPEED will have a preview show at 3 p.m. Eastern, followed by live coverage of the announcement of the next class of inductees at 4 p.m.
A pair of three-time champions, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough, are expected to highlight the Class of 2012 after many felt one or both men were outright snubbed from the 2011 class. Yarborough has four Daytona 500 victories to his credit, while Waltrip won the Coca-Cola 600 a record five times. Each man looks to join the owner for whom they won their six combined titles, as Junior Johnson was enshrined in the Hall's first class in 2010.
Dale Inman is another probable inductee. The man who helped manufacture most of Richard Petty's record 200 victories and each of his seven championships - along with an eighth championship with Terry Labonte in 1984 - is widely regarded as the greatest crew chief of all-time.
A sentimental favorite for induction could be Georgia's own Raymond Parks, who owned the first championship winning car in what is now the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Sadly, Raymond will not see his enshrinement in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, as he did when he was inducted as part of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame's first class in 2002. Parks passed away June 20, 2010 at the age of 96.
The entire list of nominees can be seen at the NASCAR Hall of Fame website.