NASCAR's new Hall of Fame inductees include a WWII veteran, safety pioneer and former AP journalist

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The 15th class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be inducted Friday night and headlined by Ricky Rudd and Carl Edwards, drivers named to the top 75 in history.

But the five being honored includes a World War II veteran who returned from battle to chase a racing career, a safety pioneer, and the longtime motorsports reporter for The Associated Press.

Rudd and Edwards are being inducted alongside the late Ralph Moody, who was elected on the pioneer ballot. Dr. Dean Sicking, who is credited with creating the life-saving SAFER barrier following Dale Earnhardt’s 2001 death, is the Landmark Award winner for contribution to the sport, and retired motorsports writer Mike Harris of The Associated Press is being honored as recipient of the 2025 Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence.

Ralph Moody

Moody served under Gen. George S. Patton in World War II, then returned to Florida in 1949 to pursue racing.

He won five races as a driver, then partnered with John Holman in 1957 to form Holman-Moody Racing, which from 1957 to 1973 won consecutive championships with David Pearson in 1968 and 1969, and gave Mario Andretti the winning car for the 1967 Daytona 500.

Holman-Moody won 96 races and 83 poles with drivers that included Hall of Famers Joe Weatherly, Fred Lorenzen, Fireball Roberts, Bobby Allison and Pearson.

Dr. Dean Sicking

Best known as the inventor of the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier that was initially commissioned by Tony George when he owned IndyCar and the development was later expanded to include backing from NASCAR.

The SAFER barrier was introduced following Dale Earnhardt’s 2001 death on the last lap of the Daytona 500 and designed at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Sicking also studied track's incident history to determine which areas needed immediate SAFER barrier installation. Sicking was named winner of the Bill France Award of Excellence in 2003 and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President George W. Bush in 2005.

Mike Harris

Harris is the 13th winner of Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. He joined the AP in 1969 and became lead motorsports reporter in 1980, a role he held until his retirement in July 2009.

Harris began his fulltime journalism career in 1967 with the Rockford Morning Star in Illinois and Register-Republic before joining the AP’s Chicago bureau in 1969. He was the Indiana sports editor before moving full time to motorsports.

Harris is the 1985 recipient of the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence. He won the Jim Hunter Writer of the Year Award given by the Eastern Motorsport Press Association in 1987 and 1994.

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