CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Given his resume, Kurt Busch knew it was a matter of when, not if, he would be selected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Still, getting voted in on the first ballot on Tuesday was a huge relief for Busch, who let out an emotional sigh of relief after hearing his named called at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

“I’m very grateful and thankful that it happened this first time,” Busch said. “You want to have that answer as fast as you can.”

Ray Hendrick and Harry Gant were also voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Tuesday, while executive Humpy Wheeler was named the Landmark Award winner for his contribution to the sport. A ceremony will be held to officially induct the Class of 2026 into the Hall of Fame in March.

The 46-year-old Busch held off Jimmie Johnson to win the 2004 Cup Series championship and went on to win 34 Cup races, including at least one victory in 19 of his 21 full-time seasons on the premier circuit before he retired in 2023.

His journey to NASCAR stardom began in 2000 with a Truck Series rookie season that foreshadowed greatness. His big breakthrough came in 2004, when he became the first driver to win the title under NASCAR’s “playoff” system – a feat that proved both his excellence and adaptability.

The consistent Busch finished in the top 10 in the Cup Series standings 10 times.

“Things happened fast for me in this sport and I don’t know how or why,” Busch said. “There was no template, there wasn’t the ladder that these days you see the kids that have a system where it is going to be this or that. For me it was being in the right place at the right time and the universe smiled down on me.”

Hendrick, who died in 1990 at age 61, was the original “Mr. Modified.”

He is one of the winningest drivers of all time, with than 700 modified and late model sportsman wins between 1950-88. His success started in his home state of Virginia, where his No. 11 was well know. He won five track championships at South Boston Speedway — four modified and one late model sportsman.

He was known as a driver that was willing to race “anywhere and everywhere,” and did just that. He filled his schedule with modified and late model sportsman races across the East coast. Hendrick was known best for his wins on short tracks, but also produced victories at Talladega, Charlotte and Dover.

Despite never winning a Modified Division championship, Hendrick finished in the top 10 in the standings nine times from 1960-69.

The 85-year-old Gant, known as the “Bandit” for his long-time sponsorship with Skoal Bandits, won 18 Cup Series races, including the Southern 500 in 1984 and 1991. In the five seasons from 1981 through 1985, he finished in the top five in points four times, including a runner-up championship finish to Terry Labonte in 1984.

He also won 21 Xfinity Series races.

Members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel met Tuesday in an in-person closed session at the Charlotte Convention Center to debate and vote on the 15 nominees for the induction class of 2026 and the five nominees for the Landmark Award.

The 49-person voting panel included representatives from NASCAR, the Hall of Fame, track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks, media members, manufacturer representatives, competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs), recognized industry leaders, a nationwide fan vote conducted through NASCAR.com and the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion (Joey Logano).

Busch and Gant both received 61% of the “modern era” ballot votes. Jeff Burton finished third, followed by Harry Hyde and Randy Dorton.

Hendrick received 31% of the “pioneer” ballot votes. Bob Welborn finished second.

Gant raced into his 50s, and still holds premier series records for oldest driver to win a race (52 years old) and a pole (54). He drove the first race car with a telemetry system installed in it at Talladega in 1985 and relayed the data to CBS during its coverage of the event.

This was the Gant’s seventh time on the ballot. He did not attend the announcement ceremony on Tuesday and was not available for comment.

All three were among NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers and one of NASCAR Modified’s All-Time Top 10 Drivers.

Wheeler became synonymous with promotion and innovation.

He spent 33 years as the president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway and played a pivotal role in transforming the venue into a world-class facility.

Wheeler added a new dynamic to the sport, a visionary whose leadership and creativity helped shape today’s fan experience with the introduction of dramatic prerace ceremonies and the development of night racing at superspeedways.

He was known for his innovative promotions and stunts.

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) — Juncos Hollinger Racing hopes one of their drivers will be in the Indianapolis 500 Victory Lane on Sunday afternoon.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s motorsport legacy is built not only on track but also on a strong commitment to community and culture. Since 2015, it has been developing young talent and is now competing in the IndyCar series.

Ricardo Juncos, co-owner and president of Juncos Hollinger Racing, said, “I think the Latino community in Indianapolis is growing every year. It’s one of the most popular in the country, I have to say. I think there are about 300,000 Latinos in Indiana. As the only Latino team, our garage will be packed, and 80% will be Latino.”

Juncos immigrated to the United States in 2002 with only $400 in his pocket. While financial resources were scarce, his determination was unmatched. He set out to create a racing team capable of competing at the highest levels of U.S. motorsports.

“We started in the very low level of motor racing with go karts with kids 8 to 10 years old as a very small team. Twenty years later, here we are now with one of the best series in the world, the IndyCar series and the Indy 500.”

Juncos Hollinger Racing is based in Speedway, blocks from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team employs around 70 people and fields two cars: the No. 76, driven by Indiana’s own Conor Daly, and the No. 77, driven by Sting Ray Rob.

The team touts itself as an active member of the Indiana community, promoting inclusivity and diversity within the sport. “Last year, we did a nice event at the shop, which was an open house with local businesses; they either brought food, merchandise, or whatever they do and opened the doors for people to enter the shop.”

Juncos Hollinger Racing sees itself as a symbol of determination, community and cultural celebration, reminding everyone that racing is not just about competition but unity and shared passion. “We just need to keep fighting, trusting ourselves, and pushing, and one day you get there, right? Never stop.”

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Prime Video is taking its NASCAR coverage to a new level this week with an innovative partnership involving Amazon.

A key part of this new deal is a feature called Shop the Race, which will allow fans to easily buy merchandise while they are watching the race.

This weekend shall be a big moment for Prime Video, as it becomes the first streaming service to exclusively show a top-tier NASCAR race without it also being on regular TV at the same time.

The first race to be shown under this new setup will be the Coca-Cola 600, a very important NASCAR event that started in 1960 to compete with the IndyCar Indianapolis 500.

This race is the first of five that Prime Video will produce, with technical support from NBC Sports, another company that has the rights to show NASCAR races.

For its first season covering NASCAR, Prime Video is introducing several new things, including the Shop the Race feature, statistical analysis powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), and a theme song that mixes Eric Church and John Fogerty’s song Up Around the Bend.

Viewers can also expect to see commercials in a smaller window during green-flag racing, thanks to a collaboration with Prime Video’s advertising team, along with highlight packages made specifically for NASCAR fans by the platform’s product team.

The Shop the Race feature is part of a larger idea called Shop the Show, where viewers need to open the Amazon Shopping app and search for Shop the Show to use it.

According to Alex Strand, Senior Coordinating Producer at Prime Video, one of the big advantages of Prime Video is that it doesn’t have the same time limits as regular TV, which means they can have much longer post-race shows.

NASCAR are planning for the post-race coverage to last 45 minutes, but this could change depending on what happens in the race.

Prime Video is also trying out a new way to show commercials. During green-flag racing, they will show ads in a smaller window on the screen.

This means that advertisers can show their content while the race is still happening.

Full-screen ads will only be shown when there are yellow or red flags, which is a designed approach to make the viewing experience better for fans who don’t want to miss any action during commercial breaks.

In addition to these features, Prime Video will also introduce two new on-screen tools for NASCAR fans: Key Moments and Rapid Recap.

Key Moments will let viewers go back and watch important moments from earlier in the race, while Rapid Recap will give new viewers a quick two-minute summary of what has happened in the race so far.

While the specific details of the statistics that AWS will provide haven’t been revealed, it is expected to build on their work with Formula 1 broadcasts, focusing on things like car performance and race strategy.

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