NASCAR Hall of Fame: Which active drivers are locks to join the elusive club?

The NASCAR Hall of Fame, unlike some other prominent North American sports halls of fame, allows only the best of the best into its ranks.

As of today, there are only 61 members, but that will soon grow as Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Chad Knaus and others are nearing eligibility.

So, which active drivers are locked to join the ranks of the NASCAR legends upon their retirement?

Kyle Busch

Kyle "Rowdy" Busch is firmly in the discussion for best NASCAR driver of all time even if he won't sniff the all-time Cup Series win record or the seven Cup championship record. Not only is Busch the all-time wins leader in Trucks and Xfinity, but he has the most combined wins in NASCAR's three top levels (224) ever. A 2009 championship in the then-Nationwide Series alongside two Cup Series championships cements his name into the history books.

Chase Elliott

NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for the past five consecutive years, Elliott has three Truck wins, five Xfinity wins and 18 Cup wins, which is almost enough to already be sitting pretty, but it's his 2014 Xfinity Series Championship and 2020 Cup Series Championship that push him over the top. He's regularly up front at essentially every event he participates in, so two or even three more championships are in his immediate future.

Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin has won everything there is to win in NASCAR except for a championship. At 42, he could easily be the best driver to never win a title.

However, he is a three-time Daytona 500 winner, a three-time Southern 500 winner, the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 winner and has 67 combined wins across the top three series in the sport. Championship or no championship, he's in.

Kevin Harvick

Harvick has a Cup championship and two Xfinity Series championships under his belt along with a Daytona 500 trophy, three Brickyard 400 wins, three Coca-Cola 600 victories and three Southern 500 ones to boot. There is no doubt that "The Closer" has already done everything he can to be one of the best this sport has ever seen.

Brad Keselowski

Even though we may be seeing Keselowski's career fizzle out, he, like the previous two entrants, has won everything over the course of his NASCAR career. His dominance in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series is one of the more impressive stretches of racing ever and will surely get him in.

Joey Logano

Logano broke into the Cup Series at 18 and hasn't looked back. Thirty-one wins at NASCAR's highest level, plus two Cup Series championships and 30 Xfinity wins, say all you need to know about him and his legacy. The best part about Logano is that he's still only 32, so he may have quite a bit left in the tank.

Martin Truex Jr.

Truex, like Keselowski, seems to be experiencing a late-career decline as so many before him have done, but he already has done enough to warrant his being selected in the HoF. He has 31 wins and a Cup Series championship alongside 13 Xfinity wins and two series championships down there. Two Coca-Cola 600 wins do nothing but back up his claim to a spot in the Hall upon his retirement.