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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
BLAKE: When “They” Is “Us”
Everyone, it seems, wants to flock to fenders these days, especially superannuated former champions who can't make this kind of money anywhere else. RACER's Ben Blake contemplates what it all means.
Ben Blake  | http://www.racer.com  |  Posted October 08, 2007   Richmond, Va.
Old NASCAR favorites like Dale Jarrett are feeling the heat from the new batch of open-wheel ex-pats, like Villeneuve (27). (LAT photo) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS

Bill France told me once that "a healthy open-wheel series is good for racing, good for NASCAR." I hadn't thought of it that way before – the big motorsport picture always had been framed as us the stock car guys, vs. them, the Indy crowd. That France would see it that way indicated an acute awareness of what was good for racing.

Field host Jimmy Spencer reiterated that point on one of the pre-race shows from Talladega, adding that NASCAR and Tony George and everybody need to get together. There just isn't enough room for everyone in NASCAR, even with the Craftsman Truck circuit to provide a living for the culls – these are my words, not Spencer's, although I'm not sure Jimmy would not agree.

Everyone, it seems, wants to flock to fenders these days, especially superannuated former champions who can't make this kind of money anywhere else. Notable Sunday at Talladega was Jacques Villeneuve, former Indy 500 winner and Formula 1 World Driving Champion, who at 36 has run out of options . . .

. . . Except in NASCAR, and at least for the time being. Despite some very curious criticism about a neophyte making his stock car debut at Talladega, Villeneuve ran commendably in a Bill Davis Toyota. He, TRD and BDR left their plans open for next year – it all depends, of course, on sponsor dollars.

Which brings us in on approach to the point – does a racer need stock car experience to race stock cars? Well, aside from the likes of Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann, who came up on southern short tracks, the answer appears to be no.

There are quite a few observers, some of the smart guys, who believe we would immediately improve an overall soggy product by putting stock car racers in stock cars. That's how we'll get back to racing the way Earnhardt did it, or Waltrip did it, the way that attracted a lot of the current fans in the first place.

Then there are the blog-o-philes, still fond of pronouncements like the sport we love, and rubbin' is racin'. Excuse me while I puke; there are as many bad commentators in ratio as there are bad racers to racing.
Franchitti and Montoya have both shifted to stock cars by following The Ganassi Way. (LAT photo) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS

Where all this got started was in the good old days, the days when Southern sports fans were most devout about Alabama football, ACC basketball and stock car racing. Southerners at the time had a full regional chip on their shoulders – a sense that they were somehow being looked down upon, which translated to boosting the native product.

That was part of what built fervent loyalty to homegrown heroes such as Petty, Pearson, the Allisons, Yarborough, Waltrip, Earnhardt, and so on. Those of you who have adopted the Junior/8 mentality could think back to Kyle Petty's winning of his first race (ARCA) at Daytona, or of Davey Allison's crown prince debut. The main difference now is that NASCAR is bigger.

Meanwhile, the old regional distinctions have faded away (I won't try to get into what has wrecked open wheel), and there's no onus at all on racing the taxicabs. The product on the track isn't any better in NASCAR, but that's where the competition and the money are.

The big birds in the 1970s and 1980s were racers, regardless of what they drove. You could argue either side over which racers were better – the American hometown boys such as Petty, Pearson, Allison, Yarborough, and so on, or the national USAC stars – Foyt, Andretti, Rutherford, the Unsers, Mears.

The point was that Southern fans needed a them to make themselves distinct and equal. Petty, Pearson and Earnhardt gave them that.

Well, guess what? Like him or not, Juan Montoya, driving a full season for Chip Ganassi, has proven himself to be the equal of his track mates. Villeneuve ran well for BDR at Talladega in his first try and was suitably modest and deferential. Dario Franchitti, reigning IndyCar champion, will try a full year with Ganassi next year (the Ganassi way seems to have emerged as full-flight rival to the fabled Penske way.

Former IRL champion and Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish is on the fence after several unsuccessful tries, but he seems interested, if not committed. George Gillett, Ray Evernham's business partner, has expressed interest in Patrick Carpentier. A.J. Allmendinger, young former CART star, appears to be set with Red Bull and Toyota, despite first-year difficulties.

Jeff Gordon was the prototype, making Tony Stewart possible. There's still enough room for a Clint Bowyer, a Kurt Busch or a Martin Truex. There may not be enough empty seats for, say, a Travis Kvapil or a David Stremme, a Reed Sorenson or a Scott Riggs. Otherwise, bring them on.

Yes, I agree with France's big picture. If Dale Earnhardt Jr. never wins another race or Kyle Petty never qualifies for another, well, that's tough, that's what competition is all about.

The questions, then, are whether open wheel has anything to offer stock cars, or vice versa, to improve both breeds; whether we need distinct racing breeds, and if so, how they can prosper under the current management.

I wouldn't begin to try to answer those questions. That's for the smart guys . . .

Ben Blake is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SpeedTV.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED Channel, or Haymarket Worldwide.
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