CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The talk among several NASCAR Hall of Fame voting panel members in post-election mingling on Tuesday was that this was the toughest vote yet.

While this was only my third year on the panel, it certainly was the one where I walked away with the least amount of certainty over where the room was headed.

With first-year nominee Kevin Harvick a lock to make it, it left the voting room to decide which among the remaining nine nominees on the Modern Era ballot was the most extraordinary standout.

Ultimately, Harvick was joined by Jeff Burton, Larry Phillips from the Pioneer ballot and Landmark Award winner Lesa France Kennedy in the 2027 NASCAR Hall of Fame class.

My votes were for Harvick, Burton, Phillips and Kennedy. Let me explain why.

Harvick

Harvick was a no-brainer lock, and there’s nothing that could have happened in the room to change my mind about that.

He was 10th on the all-time Cup Series wins list at the time of his retirement (Denny Hamlin passed him earlier this year) and was by far the highest Hall-eligible winner. To put it in perspective, the next-closest Hall-eligible driver on the all-time wins list has 25 victories (Jim Paschal).

In fact, the discussion took Harvick for granted to the point that many names were much more talked about until late in the process. Then the tone suddenly shifted to sort of an, Uh, we’re all in agreement Harvick is a lock, right?

Ultimately, of course, he was. Harvick appeared on 92 percent of the ballots.

For many voters, the choice of Jeff Burton, left, over other drivers like Greg Biffle, right, came down to Burton’s legacy in the sport beyond driving. (Todd Warshaw / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Burton

Aside from Harvick, strong cases were made for Alabama Gang member Neil Bonnett and Hendrick Motorsports engine builder Randy Dorton, among others.

But ultimately, I went with Burton on my ballot for the second straight year. In full transparency, I also spoke in favor of Burton during the discussion.

Even if he had walked away from NASCAR following his racing career, Burton was already a Hall of Famer. He has 21 career Cup wins, which before Tuesday was the third-most of any eligible driver not already in the Hall of Fame (Harvick and Paschal, as mentioned above). Three of his Cup wins were in Crown Jewel races.

He also has 27 O’Reilly Series victories, which is 10th on the all-time wins list for that series.

But the voting room loves off-the-track contributions to the sport as well. There’s often talk of who has “given back” to the sport, and voters pay attention to who continues to help NASCAR grow rather than simply walk away after their career is over.

For me, Burton has been a Hall of Fame contributor off the track in addition to his on-track success. He has long been one of the top advocates for driver safety, was an eloquent ambassador for the garage during his racing career (“The Mayor” was his nickname), and then embarked on a lengthy TV career as a NASCAR analyst for NBC and USA.

His latest contribution is even more significant: Burton formed the Drivers Advisory Council and has tirelessly served as a liaison between NASCAR and the drivers. The lines of communication between officials and competitors are said to be more open than ever, and that’s in large part because of Burton’s behind-the-scenes work.

For all those reasons, I voted for Burton.

But the vote was very split, and Burton only appeared on 32 percent of the ballots. Bonnett and Dorton received the third- and fourth-most votes, respectively, followed by Greg Biffle.

I was surprised there wasn’t more of an emotional push for Biffle following his tragic death in a plane crash late last year. But ultimately, it wasn’t his year to get in.

The problem is there’s a bit of a logjam right now with drivers like Burton, Bonnett and Biffle, all of whom won a relatively similar amount of Cup races, in addition to deserving crew chiefs and engine builders. So it really comes down to the extras on the resume, and Burton had those with his off-track contributions.

Pictures of Larry Phillips, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, the drivers in NASCAR’s 2027 Hall of Fame class. (David Jensen / Getty Images)

Phillips

For each of the last two years, I arrived at the voting room set to vote for Phillips.

I ended up not doing so either time.

The thing about the voting room is you can tell which direction the room is leaning based on the discussion, and it becomes clear who the finalists are. From that point, you have a decision as a voter: Either vote for one of the most-mentioned names to weigh in on the debate — or toss your vote into the wind, like voting for a third-party presidential candidate.

This year, though, there was certainly enough momentum for Phillips in the room. It made my decision much easier this time, and the push he received on Tuesday only amplified it.

Simply put, legends like Mark Martin have publicly sung Phillips’ praises for years. Martin once said Phillips is “the only driver I would pay to watch,” and even NASCAR Hall of Famers consider him one of the all-time great racers.

The problem was that he never left the Midwest in pursuit of national glory. But local tracks and weekly racers are part of NASCAR’s grassroots, and Phillips was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers a few years ago.

So if he’s under the NASCAR umbrella, is one of the greatest ever and won an estimated 1,000 races (perhaps even more!), shouldn’t he be in the Hall of Fame?

Well, now he is. Phillips received 38 percent of the vote, and my guess is that’s because crew chiefs/engine builders Harry Hyde, Banjo Matthews and Herb Nab ended up splitting the rest as non-drivers.

Kennedy

Entering Tuesday, I was pretty set on voting for T. Wayne Robertson, whose promotional work with Winston helped launch NASCAR into its glory days. Sure enough, the room was told of Robertson’s contributions and how the sport wouldn’t have been as strong without him.

But then there was a lot of movement toward Kennedy, and it snowballed from there. Admittedly, I was swayed by the arguments.

Think of Kennedy’s signature projects. Daytona Rising, for example, transformed NASCAR’s iconic track into a beautiful, modern palace of speed. The Phoenix Raceway renovation resulted in an era of NASCAR titles being decided at a championship-caliber facility.

Then there’s the Kansas Speedway project, perhaps her greatest vision. When Kansas was built, it was basically a bunch of fields in the middle of nowhere. These days, the speedway is surrounded by loads of development, including an MLS stadium, a casino, hotels, restaurants and potentially the future site of the new Kansas City Chiefs stadium.

Many people in the room spoke of Kennedy’s desire to stay out of the spotlight and be behind the scenes, but also praised her importance to NASCAR as a whole.

Since the Landmark Award is about contributions to NASCAR, that fit the bill more than anyone this year.