When choosing to induct someone into a Hall of Fame, there should only be a sliver of thought, if any, when the name is brought up.
Richard Petty? Hall of Famer. Dale Earnhardt? Hall of Famer. Jeff Gordon? Hall of Famer. Tony Stewart? Hall of Famer.
NASCAR had some catching up to do when it opened its Hall of Fame in 2010. There were more than 60 years of the organization's history to go through and pick the best of the best to represent the early inducted classes.
The 12th class was announced Tuesday and it has gotten to the point where those on the fringe are going to be filling up the lists.
Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton were among the more recent drivers to be included on the modern era ballot. Certainly some hesitation when deciding to circle those names or not.
They all had their great and historic moments as drivers, but are they worthy of the Hall of Fame?
The voters thought Earnhardt Jr. was, and he will be inducted as part of the 2021 class, just three years away from full-time driving.
He was selected instead of ironman Ricky Rudd, crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine - who helped Earnhardt Sr. win four Cup Series championships - and a host of others.
It seems rushed to put Earnhardt Jr. in, even though he was the most popular driver 15 times, won 26 Cup races and two then-Busch Series titles.
As a driver, he was good and very good at times. Being an ambassador of the sport is what got Junior into the Hall before those more deserving.
Junior put rear ends in the seats, sold mounds of merchandise, became a team owner and is a prominent voice as a broadcaster. Point being: his resume is still growing.
When his No. 8 car is on the entry list for an Xfinity Series race, it gets people's attention. He's still relevant and is going to be for possibly decades to come.
Popularity needed to take a back seat to the future Hall of Famers still waiting in line.
There will be a time for Earnhardt Jr. to graduate from the Hall of Very Good to the Hall of Fame. 2021 should not have been it.
III
For last week's Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jason Strickland scored 731 points in the Riley Racing Challenge. Taking a chance on picking Jimmie Johnson as the winner didn't pay off. Four of his 10 selected drivers finished in the top 10, including the top three drivers. But three of them finished 21st or worse. The national high score was 902 and the top local score was 830 for Rick Derks of Wardsville. Derks earned 75 bonus points for picking three finishing positions correctly, including the winning driver Denny Hamlin.