Playing Past Your Prime

Doug Rice

One of the best things about NASCAR is the ability for its athletes to compete much longer than other sports allow.

By age 35 in most sports you're considered a wily veteran. By age 40 you're ancient.

In NASCAR Mark Martin proved last year that you can win and even compete for a championship at age 50 and beyond.  It's one of the beautiful things about the sport of NASCAR, and it's also one of the worst things.

Far too many times have we seen drivers hold on way beyond their prime. Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip both went winless over the last eight seasons of their illustrious careers.

So I must ask with all due respect why Bobby Labonte and Bill Elliott insist on hanging on when calendar has long since turned the page and the opportunity to be in first class ride has evaporated.

If it's just for the dollars, I can understand; a little bit. Even the last place money for a Cup race is probably more than most race fans bring home in a year. Hey, get it while you can.

If the reason is because they love competing, well it hurts me to say this; they are not competing they are merely participating. In his last 82 starts since 2004, Elliott has scored one top ten finish. Labonte has faired somewhat better, scoring 50 top tens since 2004 but both have zero victories.

Having watched both of these champions in their prime win races and championships, it just hurts me to see them on the track with no realistic chance of being competitive.

I realize Elliott has been helpful in making sure the Wood Brothers get in the show, and I admire Bobby for saying he doesn't want to be a start and park driver.

Stay in the sport and drive if you must, but I will remember you both from a different time when you were earning those champion provisionals and not using them.

It's the one truth that all aging drivers must face: In the battle against the calendar, the calendar is undefeated.

A Family Feud

Doug Rice

There as been a constant voice from the fans and the media that NASCAR really needed a good feud, little did we suspect that feud would be Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. 

These two have found themselves battling for the same real estate a lot lately.  There was battle at Martinsville that got a little testy, then more recently these two champions traded paint and irritated each other at Texas while battling for the lead. Then Jeff Gordon calls out Jimmie after Talladega, claiming that Jimmie cut him off in traffic and aided in the creating the wreck that eventually cost him any chance at winning. 

These 3 events alone are really not enough to create friction but if you look at the underlying circumstances you will see the real cause for this spat. 

Jeff Gordon brought Jimmie Johnson to NASCAR and from the moment Jimmie started racing fulltime in the Sprint Cup Circuit, Gordon has failed to win a championship while Johnson has won a record setting four in a row. 

One can only image that the routine of going over to congratulate Jimmie in victory lane is getting to be old news and each time it’s a little harder to smile and say "way to go buddy". Jeff Gordon is proud and a fierce competitor and he wants Jimmie to have to visit him in victory lane.  Plus, he would like to add a 5th championship to his collection and the primary person standing between him and that dream is none other than Jimmie Johnson.  

The outward feud may go away but the root cause won’t until Jeff Gordon outduels Johnson head to head.  You know the number 48 is two times 24, and it may take a times two effort from Gordon to turn the tide.  But no matter how the numbers add up, this battle may just be heating up.  

Before it's all over, we could be in for grand version of Family Feud.  

A New Directive

Doug Rice

Now that the dust has settled on the whole Carl-Brad altercation, here's what we know.

At least for now, NASCAR is going to stick with "have at it boys".  That is the new prime directive.

When NASCAR will let Carl Edward go unpunished for his tanking of Brad Keslowski, we realize that NASCAR is serious about letting the drivers police themselves.  This fits with the whole retro movement that NASCAR has made the past season in their attempt to capture the magic of yesteryear.

This is a logical progression of NASCAR's recent tweaking of the rules:   the dual file restarts, and multiple green white checkered restarts, standardized starting times, and now taking the handcuffs off.  It's really a journey to the past for the most part.

You can fully expect to see more of what we saw in Atlanta because NASCAR has shown that you almost have to be caught with a hood mounted uzi before you're punished.

A lot of folks are going to like that...until it bites their favorite driver.

I must admit part of me is excited about the new NASCAR attitude.  I'm also looking forward to the moment when a driver finds the new ceiling tolerance.  

I just hope there isn't a sad to story to go along with that discovery.