Brad Keselowski is the epitome of passion and personality in NASCAR. [Mark Walczak Photo]
When NASCAR announced new and radical changes to the process in determining the Sprint Cup champion prior to the start of the season, lifelong race fans and racing insiders approached the new system with great skepticism. But now with two races remaining and after witnessing post race brawls in two of the last four races, it is clear the format has succeeded in finally bringing out what put this sport on the map and what has been dormant for far too long… the passion and personalities of the drivers.
Now fisticuffs in the pits every week would be over the top and somewhat buffoonish but what the post race fireworks have shown everyone is that the drivers are still real people and despite financial successes, the intangible things such as race victories and championships still mean something deep down inside. With race wins now worth a precious automatic berth into the next round and in this case the championship finale, the intensity is extremely high and immediately afterwards it’s very difficult for the drivers to hide behind a public relations façade.
The famous 1979 Daytona 500 fight on national TV between Cale Yarborough and the Allisons launched the sport to a new plateau not so much for the knuckle sandwiches but more so in the way it showed the captivated viewers just how much determination the drivers had to win and just how devastating it was to lose when victory was within their grasp.
The general public could easily relate to that passion when it came to their own competitive contests such as golf rounds, softball games, bowling and dart leagues, or even their local short track races, and that relation made them feel close to if not a part of NASCAR racing. The sport’s popularity soared because unlike other sports, the main players, while vastly different in terms of personalities and backgrounds, all shared the same devout desire to win. Those personalities were allowed to flourish which made the races each weekend very interesting to watch. We all knew Richard Petty was the “King” with the largest fan following and the most wins, while Cale Yarborough was the tough South Carolina native who wouldn’t take any crap and even reportedly wrestled an alligator once. David Pearson was the “Silver Fox” who just when you thought was out of contention, charged through towards the end to take the victory and Darrell Waltrip was the brash driver who rattled the others with his wit, earning him the nickname “Jaws”. Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, and Neal Bonnett were the “Alabama Gang” who came from Hueytown and Bill and the rest of the Elliott family showed up out of Georgia with a small family operation to challenge the big stars. The “Iceman” Terry Labonte could not be rattled while “Intimidator” Dale Earnhardt took no prisoners and had perhaps the greatest passion for winning.
Along the way as the sport enjoyed more and more success, corporate America began to get involved and suddenly the public images of the drivers became the focal point and little by little the personalities were gradually pushed aside. Each week we watched “great” drivers who told us the “so and so Chevy or Ford was running well and we’ll take our fourth place finish and go on next week.” The personalities and passion was still there within the garage and motor home lot but outside those boundaries it was stifled by an overwhelming politically correct mantra of not offending anyone. The result was the sport became somewhat bland and while the racing action remained exciting, the human element which earlier provided the deep hooks that captured our souls to watching cars go around in circles suffered with 43 clones all towing the same standard line.
Enter 2014 and the new elimination style rounds to the Chase for the Sprint Cup. In the old days, when a driver knocked another out of the way for the win, he literally took food off that guy’s table which is why that guy fought so hard to keep his advantage. With today’s Chase format, wins and top five results represent that food on the table and with each race carrying so much meaning the goal of winning has become the number one priority.
So far in 2014, we have learned 2012 Sprint Cup Champion Brad Keselowski also employs a take no prisoners style with a ton of determination and his aggressiveness comes at the expense of the respect of his peers. We’ve learned that Matt Kenseth is definitely not the robot he was portrayed as in years past and while he remains low key, he will put you in the cheap seats if he has to. We have found out Kevin Harvick loves to needle his competition and uses his instigator characteristics to get inside their heads and throw them off base. Even squeaky clean Jeff Gordon has a breaking point and won’t back down when it comes to standing up for what he feels is right.
Bottom line is, the once friendly confines of the motor coach lot now has a touch of animosity within its fences and while it may produce some awkward and uncomfortable moments for the drivers, in the big picture, it has strengthened the fan base of NASCAR and the drivers themselves. How many Brad Keselowski fans were on the edge of their seats as the Texas race wound down, knowing he needed to win were vocally urging him to fill that hole between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson from their living rooms? And how many Jeff Gordon backers were just as incensed as Jeff was after the checkered flag and were shouting “Go get him Jeff” as he drove down pit road? The devoutly loyal and unquestionably passionate fans now seem to have a dog in this fight each week mainly because they can hang their hat on drivers with similar personality traits as them.
NASCAR drivers were once accurately described as ordinary people doing extraordinary things which helped the sport grow in popularity as everyday fans watched drivers not too much unlike themselves achieve success through good old fashioned hard work. Those qualities have always existed in NASCAR drivers but in recent years they were overshadowed by a relatively unachievable need to make everyone happy and it took a radical change in the way the championship business was conducted to finally pry them back out.
Say what you will about the new Chase for the Sprint Cup and how it goes against all conventional racing wisdom but one thing it has done is inject some life back into this sport and with just two races to go, I can’t wait to see how this all shakes out.
Brad KeselowskiFeaturedJeff GordonKevin HarvickMatt Kenseth