NASCAR - I love this sport
I was thinking the other day about how long I have been
following NASCAR.
When I first got into this sport
there were of course Chevy’s and Fords.
But there were also many other manufacturers such as Buick, Oldsmobile,
Pontiac, Mercury, Dodge and Plymouth. They
were ALL American nameplates. There was
no Toyota in the sport. The sport at the time was known as the NASCAR Grand
National Series. Today the series is
known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
There was no Nationwide Series
which began in 1982 when Budweiser sponsorship helped create the second tier of
the sport, which 2 years later became the NASCAR Busch Series, and in 2007, the
NASCAR Nationwide Series.
There was no truck series. The NASCAR Super Truck Series began in 1994,
later sponsored and renamed the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and now the
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
The creation of the “Winston Cup
Series” in 1971 when R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company threw millions of dollars at
the sport in sponsorship, largely in part due to a ban of cigarette advertising
on TV. Television came on on board in 1979
with the first “Flag to Flag” coverage of the Great American Race, the Daytona
500 on CBS. The absolute highlight of
that race was, and is to this day; the fight between the Allison
brothers and Cale Yarborough at the end of the race after Donnie Allison and
Cale got together and wrecked each other racing for the win. By the way, The King won that race. Before CBS began the coverage I remember
watching bits and pieces of selected races on ABC’s Wide World Of Sports.
The Wood Brothers were a top
notch team running the famous #21 Motorcraft Mercury, Richard Petty, The King,
was in his prime driving the STP #43 .
Junior Johnson transitioned from driver to team owner. I still can see him slinging those heavy old
jacks around the front end of the car as he went from the right side to the
left side. Rick Hendrick was not car
owner. Neither were most of the
multi-car team owners today. Factory
sponsorship drove the sport for a while with a “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday”
philosophy.
Disputes were settled on the
track, or sometimes off the track. NASCAR
then was a good old boys thing. Cheating
was forbidden only if you got caught.
Car owners and crew chiefs used every means legal and sometimes illegal
to win. From this came the expression “If
you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.
Today the drivers in NASCAR
remain the most fan accessible athletes in any major sport. NASCAR has certainly changed over these 40
odd years, but the racing today is better than I have seen in in decades. Yes, there is still cheating, but the
penalties for getting caught are really severe.
Yes, there are still fist fights, and I still love seeing that
passion. Race car drivers are a special
breed.
That is why I love this sport.
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