After initiating the "Ramblings of Rentz" blog on the Clubhouse Connection site (via Blogger.com), the next logical step for me personally was to make a journal exclusively for NASCAR. I have touched on NASCAR already in Ramblings, but I believe this blog is the more intensive location for my perspective on what is making news in the popular stock car racing series. I hope to make the Rentz Racing Report an equivalent of a newspaper / magazine column where you can read insights regarding the multitude of races, drivers, tracks, etc. throughout the current season and into future seasons. Since the 2006 season has begun already, I will be playing a little "catch-up" to highlight some of the happenings from the season-opening Daytona 500 (from mid-February) up to last week's race in Las Vegas. Before I get into too much detail, let's back up a step...
For those unitiated with NASCAR, a quick history lesson. NASCAR is the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, formed in 1948 in Daytona Beach, Florida. The racing on the beaches of Daytona turned into the pinnacle of the premier NASCAR series: the Daytona 500, which opens the top series' season. Speaking of the "top series," it is today known as the Nextel Cup series with Nextel as the obvious major sponsor. Whether the Nextel name stays for a while or not remains to be seen, but Sprint now owns Nextel and may or may not change the name in the future.
Regardless of the future, the Cup series was most recently named the Winston Cup series until 2003, when title sponsor Winston was forced to relinquish it's sponsorship due to cigarette advertising restrictions. Winston helped develop NASCAR into the sponsor-driven sport it is today. Before Winston Cup, the top circuit in NASCAR was known as the Grand National series. There was no Winston or other primary sponsor prior to 1972. Some of the biggest names in NASCAR established the roots of the sport between 1949 and 1972, but Winston coming onboard in 1972 established what NASCAR defines as the "modern era" as cars that were "strictly stock" evolved into the more standardized machines we see today.
Not that I want to turn this opening post into an encompassing history lesson, but it is notable to look at the "firsts" of the sport of prior to the Winston Cup era. Red Byron (a name likely not known by many current racing fans) won the inaugural Strictly Stock Series championship in 1949. The 1950 season crowned the youngest champion in Bill Rexford, who claimed the Grand National title at the age of 23 over greats Lee Petty and Fireball Roberts. Herb Thomas became the first repeat champion with titles in 1951 and then in 1953. Lee Petty, famous as the patriarch of the Petty family of race car drivers, won his first title in 1954 followed by back-to-back crowns in 1958 and 1959, making him the first 3-time champion. Other repeat winners came after Thomas in 1953 with Tim Flock (1952, 1955), Buck Baker (1956-57), Ned Jarrett (1961, 1965), and Joe Weatherly (1962-63) as well as Petty.
The 1964 season was a very difficult one for the sport, which witnessed the losses of champion Joe Weatherly and contenders Fireball Roberts and Jimmy Pardue in track incidents. This season would prove to be a "passing of the torch" to a new era began with the first of many championships for Richard Petty, Lee's son, that year. Richard would come to be known as NASCAR's "King" with championships into the Winston Cup era, including the first Winston Cup in 1972. Petty amassed an amazing seven (7) titles in 1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, and 1979. If not for the amazing run of an unprecedented three consecutive titles by Cale Yarborough in 1976-78, Petty may have had more titles to his credit.
While Petty won the 1979 crown, the seasons that followed showed that a new crop of talent would be rising to the top. 1979's Rookie of the Year was Dale Earnhardt, the soon-to-become legend in the making. Earnhardt would establish himself as a champion only one year later in 1980, clearly taking over the reigns from Petty. Not to be forgotten, Darrell Waltrip had already begun establishing his winning ways starting in the 1975 season but was clearly overshadowed by Petty and Yarborough in the late 1970's. Waltrip would win the 1981 title in dominating fashion with 12 wins followed by a repeat performance, 12 wins and a title, in 1982. The "bridesmaid" winner of 1983 was Bobby Allison, who had five (5) runner-up finishes before finally breaking through. He would be the last driver from the "old school" to get a title in the 80's. The newcomers to claim titles in the 1980's included Terry Labonte (1984), Waltrip (noted already, repeated in 1985), Earnhardt (noted already, repeated in 1986 and 1987), Bill Elliott (1988), and Rusty Wallace (1989). These names had clearly established themselves as the superstars of the sport for that decade as well as into the decade to come.
The 1990's clearly showed a transition from Dale Earnhardt to Jeff Gordon, much as the 1970's had transitioned from Richard Petty to Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip in the 1980's. While Waltrip's career was on the decline as the 90's began, Earnhardt's was flourishing. As one of the sport's rarer 3-time champions, Earnhardt was pushing for more. He won the 1990 and 1991 titles followed by another pair of back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994. This established Earnhardt into the rarified air of only the King himself, Richard Petty, as the sport's only 7-time champions. Nobody else was even in their respective class. Whether Earnhardt knew it or not, he was about to pass the torch to a new name, Jeff Gordon, who would take the sport to the next level. Coincidentally, Gordon's first Cup race was the last race of 1992, which also happened to be the last of Richard Petty's career. Gordon snatched the 1995 title as the youngest of the "modern era" to do so. He would then go on to do something that few had before him, becoming a 3-time champion after the 1998 season. Of course, Gordon was not finished with championships, claiming a fourth title in 2001 and becoming the third-winningest championship driver in the process. As an active driver in 2006, it is hard to say if he will claim more titles in the future and challenge the mark of Petty and Earnhardt, but the challenge is probably even harder now than it used to be.
Earnhardt and Gordon clearly dominated the decade of the 90's, winning seven of the possible ten. The only other drivers to get titles in that time were Alan Kulwicki (1992 - tragically losing his life the following season in an off-track helicopter crash), Terry Labonte (1996, his second crown), and Dale Jarrett (1999, following in his father Ned's footsteps as a NASCAR champion). What would follow in the current decade of the 2000's has shown no clear dominant driver but a pool of talented drivers.
Only one driver has repeated as champion in the past six seasons since 2000: Tony Stewart (2002 and 2005). The reigning champion is the first to have won a championship in open-wheel racing (the IRL) before becoming a NASCAR champion. The other four drivers who claimed titles this decade are notable. Bobby Labonte, brother of two-time champ Terry, won his first title in 2000. As mentioned earlier, Gordon won his fourth title in 2001. In 2003 and 2004, teammates won titles for car owner Jack Roush with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch, respectively. What clearly has been established over the past six seasons is the car ownership connection to championships moreso than particular drivers. Not only did Jack Roush lay claim to the '03 and '04 titles, Joe Gibbs could take credit for three crowns, with Labonte's and Stewart's titles in '00, '02, and '05. Gordon's crown was the only non-Gibbs / non-Roush title of this decade for his team owner, Rick Hendrick.
All of that being said, the current crop of talent is deep, and the 2006 season could be ushering in a new era of championship-caliber drivers. While previous repeat champions (Gordon and Stewart) are among the contenders, non-championships winners could be clear favorites coming into the season. Jimmie Johnson, Gordon's teammate in the Hendrick organization, is the winningest driver in the sport since he started in 2002. Greg Biffle, the 2005 runner-up, is a talented Roush driver with previous championships to his credit in NASCAR's other two top-level series (Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series).
Will 2006 yield a repeat champion or (probably more likely) a new champion? Only time will tell as we follow the season's path. Enjoy the ride!
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