NASCAR

I used to watch every Winston Cup race and knew the birthplace of every driver. Then Alan Kulwiki died in a plane crash. Davey Allison in a helicopter wipe out, then Neil Bonnett was gone. Swirvin' Irvin bonked his head badly, Darryl was no longer compeitive, had retired, then Harry Gant. Kenny Irwin got killed and never nervous Jeff Purvis bashed his head again along with up and coming phenomenom Steve Park.

Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon were mega-talented but lacked that Southern drawl. Tim Steele was dominating in ARCA and seemed like the next big thing until...bonk to the head in '97. Page Jones (son of Parnelli) was also headed for big things until... "Bonk" to the head. He remained in the hospital for some 10+ years and never walked again.

The only guy who could out Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt, Tim Richmond was gone, and awesome Bill from Dawesonville had switched to a Dodge. Mark Martin still hadn't won a cup and world class roller skater Morgan Sheppard was still hanging in there with Dave Marcus.

Terry Labonte made a ressurgance along with his little brother Bobby. Ned Jarretts kid won a lot too. Ricky Rudd stepped down and Rusty was still....Rusty.

One day a fairly minor looking crash took out the undisputed ruler of the sport and it really never seemed to recover. NASCAR racing is still a sport loaded with talented youngsters you never hear about protesting the national anthem or being busted for running dope up the interstate. Heck, there are even the occasional fist fights on pit road. But to me at least, the thrill is gone. I don't even know who won the title this year (or who sponsors the series anymore).

Maybe in February I'll make the effort to listen to the races on the radio.

Any NASCAR fans here?

I am in the same boat as you. I couldn't have said it better myself.
Remember when Harry Gant had that winning streak going. Those days are gone. 99 percent of the drivers could walk by me and I wouldn't recognize them.

More so with me, the last time I was into Nascar was during the dominance of The King, Richard Petty.

I agree ,nascar had a great history. I've only watched fit the last 5-6 years. I find myself watching every race now. Nascar is always trying to improve the racing and they are good role models as you mentioned. Still plenty of good racing. Give it another try!

Too many rules changes, too many points changes, and enough with the burnout's, bring back the Polish victory lap. And all the cars look the same.

Paul6ppca said:

I agree ,nascar had a great history. I've only watched fit the last 5-6 years. I find myself watching every race now. Nascar is always trying to improve the racing and they are good role models as you mentioned. Still plenty of good racing. Give it another try!

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Will do. Perhaps Jimmy Johnson can squeeze out another title.
I do hear that a lot of the stars are the offspring of racers who never quite reached that pinacle like Dave Blaneys kid Ryan or Brad Keselowski. I see Truex and Ryan Newman are still hanging around. Bill's kid Chase seems to be a real big future star too.

Yet, no Allisons, Petty's or Earnhardts seems to leave a big void. So I suppose Kevin Harvick, and Matt Kenseth will have to suffice while everybody stares at Kyle Bush's rear bumper week after week.

Yes I'm rooting for Jimmy to get that 8th championship. This year was not a good year for him. Hopefully his new crew chief will work it for him.

Same here. Lost interest over the years, but still watch occasionally. Mark Martin was my driver.

The greatest driver to never win a major series championship.

I followed for a good number of years, and agree it never really recovered after Sr. wrecked and died. My brother in law is a diehard fan and has been forever. I have tried watching the new format, but it's racing, not boxing! Flag to flag, best driver wins. Not this new stuff. And I'm tired of the manufactured "beefs" between drivers, and that some are allowed to get away with driving like they do. There was contact back in the day, sure, but not like this. There used to be a code amongst drivers. And Tony Stewart can pound sand after running that kid over. "But he runs dirt tracks to bring fans and money to the sport! And that was an accident!" Bull. He's an egomaniac who likes being the big fish in a small pond and tried scaring that kid and it went wrong. Guys who run short track do it for love of the sport and put their heart, soul, and every dollar they have into it, they don't need a multi millionaire coming to their track trying to elbow guys out of the way to win. End rant, sorry...

Well said. Used to be a big fan, now its boring.

Drivers getting away with stuff, you say? Like Bill Elliott driving the entire race at Phoenix with a blown head gasket steaming up an already slippery flat track in '92 because he was in the points battle with one race to go? (Voted most popular X number of years in a row so no way NASCAR was going to sideline that guy that day).
Failing a carburator on Mark Martins car after a race that was allowed in before the race at Richmond?

Hell one week NASCAR allowed Roger Penske's alluminum roof flaps but disallowed Jack Roush's carbon fiber ones.

I'll never forget when Gary Nelson left his role at Kyle Pettys team as crew chief and became head inspector he told Felix Sebates (Kyles car owner) that the car they kept winning with at Rockingham was banned from ever racing again.

Or when Zippy (Tony Stewarts crew chief) built a bannana shaped car that fit the NASCAR templates. That was funny.

What I couldn't like was this "bump drafting" nonsense where cars literally pushed each other down straight aways. As if that weren't bad enough NASCAR would park some kid for doing it and allow one of their golden boys to keep doing it.

I always thought "want to slow them down? remove the side windows like it's the 1970's again".
Make the cars match what sits on the car dealer lot. When manufacturers made cars to go fast at Daytona like Ford did the t-bird in 83, or Chevy did a few Monte Carlo Daytona editions....

Cale Yarborough and Bobbie Allison could come to any local track, and beat the locals on their turf any given Saturday night.

My boss used to drive what was called late model stock until about 1965. Later it became the Busch Series and late model was a lot more restrictive. He owned late model cars until the 80's. He raced against Ralph Earnhardt and Richard Petty back in those days. When asked who he worried about racing he said "Petty had a big checkbook so he went after bigger purses and Ralph didn't like our track". "It was Bobby Allison we hated to see pull in the parking lot, because he was the man to beat anywhere anytime".

My boss raced at a track still open today called Southside Speedway where young Denny Hamlin began his career. It sets next door to a junkyard I called Prelude Paradise when I was restoring Honda Preludes. Because that place always had the best selection of hard to find junked Preludes like the 89 4ws versions or ones with rare motors. Sometimes my son and I would walk over to the fence and watch the go kart racing there and ponder if one of those youngsters was going to become a "Bobby Allison or Denny Hamlin someday.

bykfixer said:

I used to watch every Winston Cup race and knew the birthplace of every driver. Then Alan Kulwiki died in a plane crash. Davey Allison in a helicopter wipe out, then Neil Bonnett was gone. Swirvin' Irvin bonked his head badly, Darryl was no longer compeitive, had retired, then Harry Gant. Kenny Irwin got killed and never nervous Jeff Purvis bashed his head again along with up and coming phenomenom Steve Park.

Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon were mega-talented but lacked that Southern drawl. Tim Steele was dominating in ARCA and seemed like the next big thing until...bonk to the head in '97. Page Jones (son of Parnelli) was also headed for big things until... "Bonk" to the head. He remained in the hospital for some 10+ years and never walked again.

The only guy who could out Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt, Tim Richmond was gone, and awesome Bill from Dawesonville had switched to a Dodge. Mark Martin still hadn't won a cup and world class roller skater Morgan Sheppard was still hanging in there with Dave Marcus.

Terry Labonte made a ressurgance along with his little brother Bobby. Ned Jarretts kid won a lot too. Ricky Rudd stepped down and Rusty was still....Rusty.

One day a fairly minor looking crash took out the undisputed ruler of the sport and it really never seemed to recover. NASCAR racing is still a sport loaded with talented youngsters you never hear about protesting the national anthem or being busted for running dope up the interstate. Heck, there are even the occasional fist fights on pit road. But to me at least, the thrill is gone. I don't even know who won the title this year (or who sponsors the series anymore).

Maybe in February I'll make the effort to listen to the races on the radio.

Any NASCAR fans here?

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Wow, amazing post! I watched every race, use to go to Pocono and Dover every year. I was a Rainbow warrior. It went downhill with the restrictor plates at the big races causing the cars to basically run equal in packs. Dale said it best in one of his interviews, " do ya wanna race or don't ya?" It was never the same after he passed. I eventually stopped watching.

I used to watch Thursday night Thunder on ESPN and later Saturday Night Thunder. I saw Sammy Swindell win a lot and this uni-brow kid named Jeff Gordon.

One day I was listening to a Saturday race at Martinville and Jeff had qualified 5th in his first ever stock car race. He finished 11th in an under funded Carolina Ford car set aside for whenever Mark Martin wanted to run it. His Winn Dixie car later was tough to beat.

Anyway I thought "holy smokes, that Gordon kid" ....


I managed to get his autograph at Richmond before most folks had ever heard of him.
Later everybody was talking about the guy in the baby ruth car.

Being a diehard Ford guy I took it hard when he signed with Chevy king Rick Hendricks, but I still admired the guy. I remmber tossing my Dupont Jeff Gordon hat on the floor and stomping it during his rookie cup year as he kept crashing what seemed like weekly.

Then when he won the Coca Cola 600 and cried like a baby my wife (back then) says "good gosh, is that kid going to be ok?"

History shows he was and thatJeff could actually drive, but former modified driver Ray Everham was his secret weapon. Together they made history. Ray had figured out a pound extra here or less there could make the car grip like the tires had glue and his modified experience made him a genious at suspensions.

I also remember Rusty saying "aint no **** computer going to make my car better than I can. Bobby Labonte said "ya know, once you figure out how to tell the computer what you want the car to do this thing might just work".

And unknown to most is that Dale Jr participated in online racing games in order to get tips from other gamers on how to set up his car. The Bush brothers both acknowledged that virtual racing at the big tracks helped them get better at it.

So, yeah gone are the days of Miss Winton in the winners circle, or a cigarette lighter in **** Trickles car. I have a photo of Kyle Petty getting light from Bill Elliott on pit road. Bill did not smoke but carried a lighter at times. Gone are the Allisons and the Jarretts. Gone are the cars you could watch race on Sunday and buy on Monday.

What remains has got the France family baffled as they try to gimic back the once sell out crowds. What also remains is the awesome smell of spent racing fuel in the granstands, the deafening roar, the 15 second pit stops, the hot dog and hamburger smell, the ability to bring your own beer, cheer of the crowd overtaking the deafening engines as a fan favorite passes a would-be foe, and the same drowzy feeling I used to get on a typical Sunday afternoon while watching Davey race Daryl on tv way back when.

I'll probably never have the enthusiasm I once had but the NASCAR racing memories will always remind me of some of the best days of my lifetime. I'll do my best to catch a race at the track this year with my 4 year old son who's now 32 years old.

And whatever happened to the hat man in winners circle?

Lol at Jeff Gordon with that 'stache!!!

ironhorse said:

And whatever happened to the hat man in winners circle?

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My son called him lion man. Bill Brodrick was the spokesman for Unical fuel who's job was to make sure the winner had his 76 hat on when time for the Unical photo. He became the unofficial hat guy.

One time at a local Chevy dealer Dale Sr., Richard Childress and Bill Brodrick were signing autographs. There mustv'e been 20,000 people there. My son was about 4. Well back then Racing Champions die cast cars were popular and hard to find. Earnhardt cars were like gold.

The parts department at that dealership had a few for sale. The craze was new so not many people knew about them or where to buy them. I bought two. My son being 4 imediately ripped his open. "Wait, what are you doing?" I said....

In about 30 minutes it was our turn to receive autographs. I handed my unopened package to Richard Childress who passed it to Bill who passed it to Dale. Dale did a lousy signature that looked like OoooOoooo on the back. I was ok with that. My son proudly shows his Earnhardt car to Richard Childress who says "can I see it?" My boy reluctantly handed it to this stranger. He says "Dale look at this"... then rolls it to Earnhardt while my son was like "dad, they took my car" lol. His eyes began to water as Richard, Bill and Dale rolled his car back and forth like they were 12 years old and just discovered Hot Wheels cars. It was awesome but my son was thinking those mean men had stolen his new toy.
Then Dale asked if he still had the included trading card. My boy sheepishly showed it to him. "Can I sign it?" Dale says... "Sure" says my son. He did an absolute awesome signature that took about 6 seconds as he took his time then stood up, hugged my boy and thanked him for letting them play with his car. The folks waiting behind us applauded.

Dale stayed there until the last person had a chance to get his autograph I was told.

That, THAT is awesome.

One year I went to Richmond on practice day, which back then was also the Busch race night. There was no Tony Stewart souvenier trailer yet.

Next night was the cup race. I had a tank top on with Tony Stewart in Sharpie on the front and a big 20 on the back. Me and a security guard who had done that to her safety vest were the only ones I saw.

Tony won that night.

Next spring there were orange clad fans all over the place.

Used to be the place sold out months in advance. They added enough seats to hold 120,000 people.
Nowadays there are still empty seats on the front stretch on race night.

I preferred the Sunday afternoon events. But back then they ran it shortly after Daytona it was still too cold most of the time to enjoy. One year my brother in law showed up from OBX with his Bill Elliott wind breaker. I laughed and offered him a coat. "Nah" he says.

The front stretch where we sat was shady all day. Folks in the grandstands were shivering so badly we thought there was an earthquake happening until realizing it was 30,000+ people shivering. lol. (Including my brother in law.) I think the Richmond race was after Atlanta back then, which was the race after the Daytona 500. It may have been after Rockingham though. It was March and Va was usually still thawing from February.

The last race at the 1/2 mile "flat" Richmond was Kyle Pettys first win. Terry Labonte was leading, then Dale and Daryl fighting for second. Then Daryl and Dale swapped positions in turn 2. By turn 3 Dale punted Daryl so hard in the turn it wiped out both of them and Terry. (Mighta been Daryl punted Dale, I forget) Fourth place Kyle made it through the carnage an cruised to victory while Bill Elliott was stranded on the guardrail on the back stretch and never made it to the finish line.

After that Richard Petty was on a bulldozer ripping up the old pavement.

The following year Richmond was a 3/4 mile banked track. Some say the old track was better. I only saw the one race at the short track so really couldn't say except the last one was wild, that's for sure. I don't think Dale ever won at the banked version. But the year Bill Elliott nudged past Alan Kulwicki as the crossed the finish line was amazing. Everybody waited quietly for like a minute until the PA system announced Bill had won.

Alan won the cup that year. If I recall correct he was sponsorless at Daytona that year and made the Hooters restaurant chain a household name that year. He was killed soon after that in a plane crash.

I always figured Ryan Newman was the next Alan Kulwicki. Mechanical Engineer turned race car driver. But Jimmy Johnson showed up and dominated all those years.

Back in the late 70's early 80's I went to thirteen races a year. Always camped in the infield. No advance tickets required.

A few 12 hour trips from Daytona to the Baltimore area and only one speeding ticket.

Daytona started the year, then Richmond. You had Bristol, Rockingham and North Wilksboro and Darlington.

Did both the Daytona 500 and the Firecracker 600, both Talladega races, then Dover, both Charlotte races.

NASCAR is about going around in circles, so Pocono and Watkins Glen favored road course guy, not NASCAR nobility.

NASCAR became corporate America. They wanted fans in the seats not the infield. I wasn't buying tickets a year in advance. Then the name changes happened. Tobacco was a nasty word, but telecommunications and banks were fine. The Grey Poupon folks turned out, but the faithful became bored.

Now Grey Poupon is gone and the faithful of the past have turned their collective backs. What's Chicago, Las Vegas, California know about racing unless it's a exotic or ricer?

The end is near NASCAR. RIP.

That's funny you mentioned the roundy round.

Someone asked Michael Waltrip "weren't you pretty good at baseball?" He said "yeah but I got bored with making left turns the whole game".