Veteran Drivers Provide Essential Link to Past

Fan Commentary by Grandstand Bob

Ricky Rudd’s career as a driver is truly inspiring. Yes, there are others who have won more races and titles, but there is no other current driver who can even come close to his record of consecutive starts (now 700).

Why that is so amazing is because so much can go wrong in a driver’s career. Injuries, sponsorship troubles – hell, having a bad car and not enough points on qualifying day – all of this makes it very difficult to race week in and week out. Even some of the best had trouble at some point in their careers, and more than a couple past champions ended their careers struggling to qualify for races, much less win them.

Ricky started racing in the Winston Cup series in 1975, when Gerald Ford was in the White House and no one thought twice of the Confederate flags in the infield, and he has continued racing and being competitive since. How many other drivers can claim such longevity and consistency?

Terry Labonte could, until an injury kept him out of the driver’s seat after 655 consecutive races. And Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace might get there too, if they can avoid injuries and other spates of bad luck. At this pace, Rusty will tie the record in three years, and Mark in six years. Then, it will be a while before anyone is ever close again.

The ability of veterans to continue being competitive for several years is one of the things that I enjoy about stock car racing. I mean, imagine being able to see Walter Payton, Joe Namath and John Riggins still on the gridiron, and competing against each other every Sunday. Viewership numbers would be through the ceiling. Not only that, these veterans would bring a style and grace sometimes lacking at the upper levels, and their opinions would carry considerably more weight than some new multimillionaire who travels with an entourage.

I enjoy knowing that many of the sport’s veterans know what it was like to compete with the likes of Richard Petty, Davey Allison, Tim Richmond and Alan Kulwicki – in front of wooden grandstands holding crowds of fewer than 20,000. It’s somewhat stabilizing to have guys around who struggled to find enough money to put tires on their cars, and who remember when helicopters and luxury buses weren’t standard. Guys who have tasted moonshine and been in a good fistfight or two definitely bring flavor to the sport.

How much longer will these guys be around? No one wants to think about that, but no wants to see them burn up all their past champions provisionals and become rolling roadblocks to the young guns. Thankfully, that’s not a problem now, but it probably won’t be long before one of these veterans starts showing the effects of age and has to take himself out of the game – I’m kind of hoping that’s Robby Gordon.

I do hope that the Kurt Busch’s, Ryan Newman’s and Jimmy Johnson’s last as long as Ricky Rudd, so that they can provide that tie to NASCAR’s previous generations. Does anyone else remember the gesture the late Dale Earnhardt threw Busch’s way in a Daytona race? Wouldn’t it be great to have that relationship with the past in 25 years?

I know that NASCAR is putting all of its focus on the young faces that appeal to its new target audience, but I hope that we still remember the greats who came before and made previous generations fans. Without that history, we will lose some of the sport’s flavor.

Grandstand Bob Profile and Past Columns

note: This opinions expressed in this column are those of writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of ARS Racing Outlet or its parent company, Beydler and Bell, LLC.