The Pit Stop

Welcome to The Pit Stop. The Pit Stop will feature a weekly editorial about the hottest topic on the NASCAR circuit. Mostly it will be my deepest personal feelings about something past, present, or future related to NASCAR racing.

This week’s The Pit Stop will be my personal views about NASCAR’s past. NASCAR has changed a lot since I first became a fan in my early years, during the late 1970’s. My dad was a big racing fan, and since growing up in North Carolina, racing and NASCAR was a way of life.

We lived about 45 minutes from Rockingham, North Carolina, and we camped in the infield for every spring and fall race there. Usually we got to the track Friday evening and stayed until Sunday evening. We also took trips to Charlotte and Darlington from time to time. Ahhh….those were the days. That was back when the race cars actually looked like real cars, there were no restrictor plates, penalties for rough driving were unheard of, and Richard Petty was still King.

But NASCAR has moved on. Rockingham is just a fuzzy memory, the race cars look less and less like the showroom models, drivers can’t even look at another driver in a bad way without worrying about a penalty or a fine, and King Richard is almost out of business.

It is sad.

NASCAR wanted expansion and they got it. Don’t get me wrong, I think some of the moves NASCAR has made has been excellent for the sport. NASCAR has brought a Southern grass roots sport from Main Street to Manhattan. We have gone from drinking Budweiser to Don Pierron.

What upsets me is not NASCAR’s vision for the future, but in the way they have gone about accomplishing that vision. Almost every other sport out there revels in its past, its traditions, the glory of what was. Not NASCAR. NASCAR wants to hide from its moonshine-running days, get rid of the Southern good ole boys, and desperately tries to sweep it under the rug when ever it is brought up. Never mind that it was the moonshine-running, good ole boys that built the sport and made the France family billionaires. It was the blue-collar people of the South that bought the tickets, purchased souvenirs, and cheered the drivers during the early decades of NASCAR.

Why isn’t NASCAR proud of its past and humble beginnings? One very big reason is it is not “cool” to be associated with uneducated southern hicks that illegally transported alcohol during Prohibition.

Just like it is not hip to be associated with Winston cigarettes now. Winston supported NASCAR racing for over 30 years. They spent billions on supporting NASCAR. Winston was one of the major reasons NASCAR is the racing powerhouse it is today. In 2009, you can’t even get a NASCAR official to mumble the word Winston. That official may even turn a bit pink in the face, and turn his head if you say the word Winston. Sure, having a cigarette maker as a sponsor may have ethical and perhaps moral questions, but still you must acknowledge the fact that Winston got you where you are today. Might be ugly, might not be the greatest thing in the world, but it is what it is.

In a nutshell, it is all about image; perception. And NASCAR wants that image to be so beautiful that every man, woman and child will want to take a peek at NASCAR. There is nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is how NASCAR wants to forget its roots. NASCAR no longer cares about the dirt tracks, short tracks, and Saturday night bullrings where it all began. It’s really a shame. It can be disheartening.

NASCAR’s past is very unique, but it is nothing to be ashamed of. NASCAR should embrace its past. I’m not saying that NASCAR should live in the past, because living in the past brings no future. What I am saying is that NASCAR should celebrate how it came about. Recognize those that built the sport. We all know it wasn’t the Frances that did all the work. They shouldn’t get all the credit.

NASCAR needs to remember where it came from, remember who helped them along the way, and never shun those that sacrificed for the good of the sport. Your past is just that… past. There should be no regrets.