Elzie Wylie “Buck” Baker was one of NASCAR’s early greats.

He was the first driver to win back-to-back championships in NASCAR’s highest division in 1956 and 1957. The year prior to that and the following year, Baker was the championship runner-up.

Out of 636 career starts, Baker raced his way to 46 victories and 45 poles.

Shortly after his racing career ended, Baker opened up the Buck Baker Racing School which is now at five separate NASCAR tracks: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, North Carolina Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The school has seen many students go on to have successful racing careers including Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.

All of these things combined make Baker more than worthy of a nomination for the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

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