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Staff writer Dustin Long, as president of the National Motorsports Press Association, was among the 50 people who met Wednesday morning at the Charlotte Convention Center to select the first class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. This is his report from inside the meeting room.

CHARLOTTE — The cries from fans came almost immediately after NASCAR's inaugural Hall of Fame class was announced Wednesday. How could the voters select two France family members and not David Pearson, the second winningest driver in series history?

For many of the voters, including myself, picking five was not easy even with three automatics in Bill France Sr., Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Just how difficult this would be became evident when a closed-door discussion, scheduled for an hour, lasted nearly 90 minutes. Passionate opinions filled the debate with Bill France Jr. the candidate most discussed.

Should France join his father in the inaugural class? Or should another driver take his spot and France be a part of the second class in 2011?

France's supporters struck first, taking command of the meeting early.

They questioned how he could be left off the first ballot. As the wave of opinion tilted the room in his favor, those who disagreed spoke.

Opinions swayed like a willow in a fall breeze and soon support to delay France's entry until the second year grew.

One voter, who had declared he would select Bill France Jr., later announced he was changing his vote and keeping France off his ballot.

Again, momentum changed. Support for France blossomed again. As the room seemingly ran in circles on this topic, NASCAR Chairman Brian France provided a release for the growing tension in the room. He noted how his father had said the sport was about "the actors" — in essence, the drivers.

He then added: "If there were a Hot Dog Hall of Fame, he'd get all the votes," noting Bill France Jr.'s penchant for hot dogs.

The joke brought laughter and put the room at ease. The message was clear: The family was stating it would be OK to vote for someone else and have only Bill France Sr. in the first class.

Others still felt the need to include both. Emotion was too strong for them. Many in the room had worked with Bill France Jr. They couldn't leave a man who guided the sport during its explosive growth off the list. Not even as they discussed which drivers to select.

That was part of another major debate that took place. With no guidelines from NASCAR on what parameters to consider, the talk became who the Hall of Fame was for. The fans? The sport?

Some said that the sport's pioneers needed to be a part of the first class. That without them, none of this would have been possible. Petty's comments about the sport's founders deserving to go in first were mentioned but quickly dismissed. How could the group leave off the sport's winningest driver?

One person stood in front before the group and said that the voters needed to consider that this first class would be the sport's Mt. Rushmore. That it needed those popular drivers from Petty to Earnhardt and even Darrell Waltrip.

The point was this Hall should be for the fans. They would want to see their heroes more than administrators who played a significant role in the sport.

NASCAR later revealed the five nominees from the fans. Four were drivers: Earnhardt, Petty, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough. Only one was an administrator, Bill France Sr.

Even as the discussion period came to an end for lunch, the debate did not. Talk continued at lunch tables about the process and who to select in between humorous stories from the past.

When lunch ended, the voters returned to the room where the debate took place. It was time to fill out the ballots. Put an X in the box next to the five names being selected per ballot. All 25 nominees were listed in alphabetical order.

At that moment, a comment spoken earlier in the day rang true.

"History," one voter said, "really starts today."

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com