Earlier this year, NASCAR announced the 25 Hall of Fame nominees and said that the first group would be five of these people. The time has now come to announce who those five people are to create the inaugural group of inductees. That time is Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 4 PM live on Speed TV.

There's been somewhat of a consensus on who four of the first group should be, but the fifth person has been the question. NASCAR patriarch, Bill France Sr. and his son Bill France Jr. are two of the four that are pretty much locks as inductees. Bill Sr. for obviously his vision to organize the group of race car drivers and creating the sport and Bill Jr. for his continuation of the sport and bringing in television to grow the sport by expanding the viewing audience.

Then, another lock is "The King" Richard Petty, who after 35 years of racing won a league leading 200 races, 95 more than his closest competitor and in the process won a league leading 7 championships and at 72 years old continues in the sport as an owner. Finally, the 1990s was the decade where you either loved him or hated him, "The Intimidator" Dale Earnhardt, should be the fourth and final lock for one of the five inductees. Dale won 76 races and after 20 years of trying did capture a win in the Daytona 500 and so far he's the only one to match Petty's 7 championships as he is the co-leader in that category.

The question is: Who is number 5?

Some are going with Robert "Red" Byron and most fans today don't know who he was, but he was the first winner of a NASCAR race and the first champion. Then, others seeing the pattern of Richard Petty in the 1960s and first half of 1970s dominance and Dale Earnhardt's dominance in the 1990s and early 2000s that the fifth person should be somebody who fills the gap between the two. One of those names that fits that description is Darrell Waltrip. He made Junior Johnson a household name as an owner and also a nominiee for one of the inductees with his success in Junior's cars. Waltrip's number 11 Budweiser car was near the front a lot in the 1980s and his outspoken personality that earned him the nickname, "Jaws" led him to the broadcast booth for FOX after retiring from driving. Now, in the booth, he became even more of a fan favorite with his trademarked "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity" race starting theatrics.

Others who fit the bill to fill the gap are Cale Yarborough, who until Jimmie Johnson in 2008, was the only one to win three consecutive championships and he sits fifth all time in the wins list behind Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison who are tied with 84 wins. Bobby Allison is also another good choice for number five.

Overall, we'll find out who gets those five inaugural spots on Wednesday at 4 PM on Speed TV when Speed broadcasts the announcement of the five inaugural inductees live.