NASCAR announces 2026 Hall of Fame class

Kurt Busch, Harry Gant, and Ray Hendrick will join the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2026.

NASCAR announced Tuesday, May 20, the three-person class that will be inducted ahead of the 2026 NASCAR season.

Busch is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, racking up 34 NASCAR Cup Series wins (including the 2017 Daytona 500) and the 2004 series championship. Busch raced full-time in NASCAR’s top series from 2001 until 2022, when his career was cut short due to a head injury.

Gant was an 18-time winner NASCAR Cup Series races, with victories in the 1984 and 1991 Southern 500. Gant raced full-time from 1979 to 1994, finishing runner-up in points in 1984.

Gant spent seven years on the ballot.

Hendrick made it from the Pioneer ballot. Hendrick won over 700 times in the NASCAR Modified and Late Model Sportsman divisions.

Hendrick spent two years on the ballot.

The Class of 2026 will bring the total member count to 70.

NASCAR announced the ballot April 21 which included 10 individuals from the Modern Era and five from the Pioneer Era.

The first class for the NASCAR Hall of Fame was in 2010, which featured Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson and Richard Petty.

The first 11 classes featured five inductees per year, through 2020. Starting with the class of 2021, the Hall of Fame inducted three members per year. There was no class in 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, The Landmark Award winner is Humpy Wheeler, the former general manager and president of Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The award has been presented since 2015, with the exception of 2022, to industry personnel who have made “outstanding contributions to NASCAR.”