The future of NASCAR

[Atomic Punk]

Let me preface this by saying the sports forums on this board are the tops. I would like to see this particular forum hold up to those standards.

Everyone knows I'm a Michael Waltrip #15 NAPA Chevy homer, etc. for a few years. Mike is a technical driver that does well in marathon races that are super speedway type tracks. He is even a marathon runner. Watch him on Speed when he and Kenny Schrader have that show. Mike wears low-cut socks and running shoes.

The thing is, Mike is an ambassador of the sport. Once he goes as Mark Matin, Rusty Wallace, and someone else goes this year then we have youngsters with the temptations of acting like the asshole NBA, NFL, and MLB fucktards that chase away fans.

Jr. has a silver spoon but he can perform. He gets a pass. He found Martin Truex, Jr. by playing a video game of all things. Jr. gets a pass. Waltrip is my favorite driver but he hasn't earned a DEI free pass. Darrel Waltrip earned it for him.

I'm really worried about the future of NASCAR. I'm worried that it will get watered down and become an NBA of a bunch of shitty assholes. I respect Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick. I don't like the idea that they may influence the younger guys to be assholes that become Iverson's of NASCAR.

When Michael gets pushed out after this year, WTF? Kenny is the ultimate cockaroachie and has his #49 ride with no support. Steve Park and Johnny Benson got flushed out of DEI. Michael is there because DW is DW or he's gonzo.

Mike is not going to be picked up by any competitive team after DEI.

So if he disappears from Nextel then who do I nutsack swing off? I'd have to say Hendrick Motor Sports. Jimmy Johnson the Jeff Gordon (Jeff was born 30 minutes from where I was born). Weak reach on my part.

Hell, I stopped watching NASCAR when Richard Petty retired. I even got mail from his secretary when I was a kid. Maybe it was his pet chimp. I got an envelope full of different sized "STP" stickers from Richard Petty. It was so cool. I think I was 10 or 11 years old and I get this big envelpoe full of those stickers and put them over everything.

Mikey goes, and then who is going to carry the torch?

[rozy]

Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne.

There are plenty of classy younger drivers.

There is a fine line between passion and being an asshole. Tony walks that line and ventures to the wrong side a little more often than we would like but the motives and intentions are in the right place. Harvick and Krackhead Bush live on the wrong side of that line. Although a good case could be made that Bush has grown up a little. (shut up, Trev) :D

The demographics are different. Drivers won't chase fans away. Fans, owners, and sponsors would chase the asshole away.

[Atomic Punk]

Harvick is from (then) nearby Bakersfield and he didn't get any press from the Fresno Bee sports page. That's significant since David Carr does. Fresnan Gary Scelzi gets a lot of pub. The only NASCAR driver that gets mentioned is Tony Stewart as he has ties to the West Coast Outlaw series in nearby Madera.

I never liked Dale Earhardt but respected him. It was Richard Petty and that's it. I wrote his secretary to pass along good wishes when they first opened Kyle's charity before it was public. She told me she told Richard and he appreciated my e-mail (spam) .

You're right though, Harvick doesn't do it the right way and by trying to be the next Dale Sr. is transparent.

I didn't like Tony until I saw how he humbles himself and really just loves racing on all levels. His appearances at Madera Speedway with little fanfare and he not wanting any props made me re-evaluate my opinion of him. I listened to him with Track Pass and I respected him at Daytona. He and Michael Waltrip were almost teammates as they were working with each other as draft partners. Tony is a pure competitor.

Jimmie is a class act and is a golden boy that has no character issues. He is a winner and I think Rik Hendrick got himself two good drivers that can handle the press.

I just don't want to see Michael get shit-canned at the end of the season.

[rozy]

I was going to mention there was a melancholy tone to your post, probably brought on by Mikey's tough luck and the pending retirements of some old-timers, but I could see you already realized it.

I was the same way about Earnhardt. Didn't care for him but respected him immensely.

I understand where you are coming from. There sure doesn't seem to be a lot of gas left in D.J.'s tank. I will not enjoy him hanging it up.

[Atomic Punk]

There is a lot of nepotism in the sport but the elders teach the youngins. Ned taught Dale how to drive but I think he has a few years left outside of UPS, which is going corporate on young drivers.

Hey where is your shit troll ankle biter? ingrate?? or something like that?

[rozy]

RACK

Now that little turd-burglar ingrate should come running in.


I don't know that UPS will move away from him just yet. They may have put together the best advertising program the sport has ever seen with the Race the Truck stuff. Dale is too much of a central figure in that for them to give up those dollars just yet. But he could use a win or 5.

[War Wagon]

Kasey Kahne and Jamie Mcmurray are obvious choices, but the sleeper rookie driver to watch out there is Carl Edwards. I'm normally a Chevy guy, and wouldn't piss on a Ford, much less a Roush driver, if he were on fire, but this kid will be special.

Mainly, I liked him to begin with because he comes from just down the road Columbia, Missouri (and my fav college team the Tigers). Then I watched him in person win the Craftsmen truck race at Kansas Speedway. Dude gets out his truck after the race is over and climbs up on top the freaking roof of his truck and proceeds to do a perfect 10 backflip off the truck and onto the pavement.

I tells ya' what...Carl Edwards is a damn good athlete, stereotypes of race car drivers be damned.

[Atomic Punk]

Jimmy Spencer is the only thing keeping the obvious title of "athlete" from the ranks of NASCAR. Somebody previously tried to argue that NASCAR drivers weren't athletes and I beg to differ.

I'm telling you that it has got to be extremely physically demanding. I got to fly in the RIO seat of an F-14 Tomcat way back and the X.O. of VF-111 put that plane through all kinds of shit with me getting beat up in the back seat. If you are on the ground watching the aircraft do maneuvers you would just think it was smooth and pretty flying. An hour and a half of getting pummled really kicked my ass.

These guys sitting in a hot seat for 4 hours and travelling at those speeds is not for someone that isn't in excellent condition.

Jaime McMurray...... Is he going to replace Rusty in the #2 car or stay in the Havolive/Texaco car? You do know that he is dating Rusty's oldest daughter right?

Hendrick's team seems to be the ideal professional team with its technology and polished drivers. I know people bag on Jeff Gordon but the guy knows how to drive. I was listening to Michael Waltrip talking through the crews to Tony Stewart and they were talking about keeping the cars on the line because Jeff Gordon was just sitting back and waiting for one of them to screw up. Jeff came really close and Jimmie was in the same pack.

What I like about Hendrick is they seem to have solved the high RPM failures in their engines. THAT is significant since those are the only problems that kept the #24 and #48 from Cup titles last year.

I love this sport!

[War Wagon]

I love this sport!

Yeah? Well I'm friggin' addicted to it, and I don't know which is worse.

As for McMurray...no I didn't know that. Never been a big Rusty fan, but since I know that he and the #3 were tight, he gets a pass in my book.

Put it this way, both those cars (#2 and #42) have a storied NASCAR history, so I'd say it's a win/win either way.