Brother Act

by Tom Jensen May 02, 2024

Four families have landed pairs of brothers in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

NASCAR fans know their favorite sport is a family affair and here at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, we have proof.

In addition to the father-and-son duos who are inductees, there are four pairs of brothers here too. Here are some fun facts about each of the brother duos and some of their notable artifacts on display at the Hall.

Richard (Class of 2010) and Maurice (Class of 2014) Petty

Richard and Maurice Petty won more races than any other pair of brothers in NASCAR history. The catch is that Richard won all 200 of them and Maurice none. Although he is best known for building the engines that powered Richard to seven NASCAR Cup Series championships as well as occasionally serving as a crew chief for Petty Enterprises, Maurice made 26 starts as a driver, all between 1960 and 1964. Maurice’s best finish came at South Carolina’s Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds, where in 1961, he wheeled the No. 42 Petty Enterprises Plymouth to a third-place finish behind race-winner Jim Paschal and runner-up Cotton Owens (Class of 2013).

The NASCAR Hall of Fame is home to numerous Petty family artifacts, including Maurice’s 1964 Mechanic of the Year trophy, his first of seven such honors. One of the most interesting of Richard’s artifacts is a plaque he gave to his cousin and crew chief Dale Inman (Class of 2012), celebrating the 1967 season in which Richard set two records that still stand today, winning 27 races on the season and 10 in a row. Neither of those marks has been seriously challenged in the last 57 years.

Bobby (Class of 2011) and Donnie (Class of 2024) Allison

Leaders of the so-called “Alabama Gang” of racers, brothers Bobby and Donnie Allison dominated the short tracks of the Southeast in the early to mid-1960s before turning their attention to Cup Series racing. Bobby won 84 Cup Series races, including three Daytona 500s, while Donnie scored 10 victories of his own. Interestingly, in Donnie’s first three Cup victories, Bobby was the runner-up each time. Of course, the Allison brothers are perhaps best known for their roles in the 1979 Daytona 500, where Donnie and Cale Yarborough (Class of 2012) crashed going for the win on the last lap. After they climbed out of their wrecked race cars, they started fighting, which Bobby joined in on.

Since Donnie is a member of the Class of 2024, he has a case full of artifacts and a race car in the Hall of Honor that will be on display until next January. Donnie’s 1967 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year award is in the Heritage Speedway exhibit. One of the more unique Bobby artifacts is a congratulatory letter he received from President Richard M. Nixon in 1972. The letter includes an invitation for Allison and other members of the NASCAR community to visit the White House.

Glen (Class of 2012) and Leonard (Class of 2013) Wood

NASCAR’s oldest continually operating team, Wood Brothers Racing, was founded in 1950 by Glen Wood, who drove for the team part-time through 1964, before concentrating fully on ownership and management of the team. From 1953-64 Glen won four races in 62 starts in what is now the Cup Series. Younger brother Leonard, the mechanical mastermind behind the team, built its cars and served as its crew chief. The Wood Brothers won 99 Cup races, including five Daytona 500s with five different drivers. Most recently at Daytona, the team scored a stunning victory in 2011 with rookie Trevor Bayne, who triumphed in NASCAR’s biggest race one day after his 20^th birthday and in just his second career start. Of the eight brothers inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Leonard Wood is the only one who didn’t compete in at least one race as a driver.

Through the years, the Wood Brothers have been incredibly generous lenders to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. One of the 18 cars in our “Glory Road: 75 Years” exhibit is a stunning 1961 Wood Brothers Ford Galaxie Sunliner convertible that Curtis Turner (Class of 2016) drove to a runner-up finish behind fellow Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen (Class of 2015) in the spring 1961 race at Darlington Raceway. In Heritage Speedway, we have a trophy Glen Wood won in a 1957 Convertible Division race at Chicago’s Soldier Field. In the same hallway, we also have the Wood Brothers’ Cup Series Owner’s Championship trophy from 1963, when six different drivers piloted the team’s Fords with Leonard as crew chief.

Terry (Class of 2016) and Bobby (Class of 2020) Labonte

Texans Terry and Bobby Labonte are so far the only pair of brothers inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame to both win Cup Series championships as drivers. Terry won in 1984 driving for Billy Hagan and again in 1996 driving for Rick Hendrick (Class of 2017). The 12-year gap between titles is the longest in NASCAR history. Meanwhile, younger brother Bobby has won four NASCAR championships in three different capacities. He was a crewman on Terry’s car in 1984 and won titles as a driver in the Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) in 1991 and the Cup Series in 2000. He also captured the Busch owner’s title in 1994 with driver David Green. In the 1996 Cup Series season, Bobby won the final race of the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway, while Terry clinched the championship in the same event, making for a memorable family day.

Bobby’s 1991 Oldsmobile Busch Grand National Series championship car is part of our “Glory Road: 75 Years” exhibit, while Terry’s first championship trophy from 1984 is on display in Heritage Speedway.

Plan your visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and purchase tickets by visiting nascarhall.com/tickets.