Waltrip, Yarborough heading into Hall

Darrell Waltrip was nicknamed "Jaws" as a driver for his trash-talking. His gift of gab launched his second career, as one of NASCAR's most recognized, and outspoken, television analysts.

But on the eve on his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Waltrip had no idea what he was going to say in tonight's ceremony.

"I've written 10 speeches and after the 10th one, I threw it away, and said, 'I can't write a speech,' " Waltrip said. "I'm pretty spontaneous, so I'm just going to get up and say what I think and hope it's the right thing."

The ceremony will start at 7:30. It will air on television Sunday on tape delay, at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. (Speed Ch. 512).

Waltrip hasn't always said the right things in a racing career that dates to his 1972 debut in NASCAR's top series. He angered his rivals as a driver, and his strong opinions as an analyst for Fox Sports and Speed have made him one of the sport's more polarizing commentators.

Some might even think that his outspokenness cost him a shot in last year's voting, when he was passed over for the Hall's second class despite three championships and 84 victories. Waltrip was an analyst for Speed on voting day, and his face couldn't hide his heartbreak. He tried not to get his hopes up this time, but everybody knew how badly he wanted to be in the third class. When Brian France, NASCAR's chairman, called his name last June, Waltrip rushed onto the podium and kissed him.

Waltrip will enter the Hall of Fame with three-time champion Cale Yarborough, modified great Richie Evans, innovative crew chief Dale Inman and Glen Wood, an original team owner.

But the show will belong to Waltrip, who knew as a child he wanted to be an entertainer and found a way to incorporate his desire to perform into his racing career. His style and showmanship were like nothing NASCAR had ever seen before.

"I always thought it would be fun to be an actor, or a comedian, but I guess race-car driving suited me," he said. "I like to make people laugh, which is better than making them cry, right? Some people take the path of least resistance, but I take the path I couldn't resist. I looked at everything I did, what if I did everything that everybody else is doing as they go down that path?

"I figured there's a lot more room going in this other direction then there is in that direction…."

Waltrip's larger-than-life personality seems sure to outshine Yarborough, Inman and Wood tonight. Evans, a winner of nine national modified championships over a 13-year span, was killed in a 1985 accident at Martinsville Speedway. He was 44.

Yarborough became the first driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships (1976-78), and his record stood until Jimmie Johnson's run of five straight titles. Yarborough finished second in the standings three other times and had 83 career victories. He was a four-time Daytona 500 winner but decided in 1980 to run only partial schedules for the final nine years of his career.

"I realized I had three daughters growing up, and I was away from them all the time," he said. "Even though racing was very important in my life, I felt like they were a little more important, so I was going to spend some more time with them and be with them in their growing-up years.

"There's no telling how many wins I left on the table, but I definitely made the right decision."

Inman led his cousin, Hall of Famer Richard Petty, to a record seven championships and won an eighth title with Terry Labonte. From 1958 to 1992, he led drivers to 193 wins and 129 poles. His standout year was 1967 when he guided Petty to a NASCAR-record 27 victories — including 10 straight — in a single car built the year before.

"Dale was a racing benchmark," Petty said. "He was the sport's first official crew chief, and people modeled themselves after him. He knew what, when and where — and when he made a mistake he wasn't afraid to admit it. Everyone respected him for that. Nobody even comes close to the number of wins that Dale has recorded."

Wood, at 86 the oldest member of this class, formed a team with his four brothers that still competes today in Stuart, Va. Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 last year for the Wood Brothers, giving the team its 98th victory spanning seven decades. Bayne's win was the team's fifth Daytona 500 victory, and the Wood Brothers also won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 with Jim Clark.

Wood's brother, Leonard, choreographer of the modern pit stop, is a NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee.

"It's such a long trip from 1950 to now. It's sort of hard to believe," Wood said. "It's one of the biggest honors you could have. I didn't come here alone; I had a lot of help."