Jimmie Johnson. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch. Kevin Harvick. Martin Truex, Jr. Denny Hamlin. Brad Keselowski. Kyle Larson. Chase Elliott. These men are NASCAR. These men, a few women, and so many others made the sport. Were the sport. Are the sport. Brian France is not NASCAR. There is a reason 97 percent of all family businesses do not survive as such into the fourth generation.
Change. Sometimes change is good, like when you win a few million dollars. That is good. You get married to your sweetheart. Good. Your children start arriving. If you are a mature adult, and not some self-serving narcissist, that is very good. New talented drivers emerge on the scene. That is also a good thing.
One thing that pops out at you are some of the unfamiliar names among our Hot 20 after a couple of races. Even more so, all the familiar names not there.
Any race fan who has been around the sport for the past 20-plus years knows who Smokey Yunick was. He was a genius on top of the pit box and under the hood. He was a brilliant inventor, a crass scoundrel, a blunt straight-shooting American who loved racing.
“He was as good as they come,” Petty said. “There have been very few guys who had more confidence in what he could do than Herb. He was so strong-minded that he ‘willed’ his wins and what he was doing on the track. He was going to beat the guys on the track no matter what was going on. That was his mind set.”
Dave Marcis was one of the last of a dying breed. He chose to walk his own path as an independent owner/driver with little or no factory support. The life he led was not an easy one but Marcis was never afraid of a little hard work.
When we take a look back at the beginnings of NASCAR, we often focus on the legendary drivers who became the stars of the sport. But if we stop there, we’ve really only scratched the surface.
