Any NASCAR fans on here?

[shinerbock]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

Everytime I watch a race, I often wonder why these old drivers are still racing? Well, of course they drive for a paycheck, but why do the owners even keep them employed? They're past news. Years ago NASCAR was made up of older out of shape drivers, but now it's a young man's game. Drivers 40 and older still make up a healthy portion of the 43 car field in any given race. Think about it, at the start of the 2007 season, 15 such drivers were in full-time rides, including three. Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd and Ken Schrader who happened to be 50 or older. While visits to victory lane by the group may not have completely dried up, such appearances have certainly become less frequent. Dale Jarrett is the sports most recent winner from the over 40 crowd, when he won at the fall Dega race in 2005. Rudd hasn't won a race since 2002, and Schrader since 1991. I would say Mark Martin is the only old driver who is still successful. Not only has he qualified for the Chase three consecutive years, but he led the points after three of this years first five races, and like Jarrett he hasn't had a victory since 2005, but he's the only older driver who can give the younger drivers a run for their money.

I think it's a changing landscape, and one that's vastly different from a number of years ago, when veterans ruled the sport. It's not like that anymore. In 93' Jeff Gordon was the youngest driver in the sport at the time, and after 94' Big E, NASCAR's most dominant driver before Gordon wouldn't win another championship. Back in the day drivers had to earn good cup rides with experience. Now younger drivers with less experience are given top notch gear from superior teams. I think Gordon is a good driver, but a lot of that is because he was given good equipment. Big E didn't start off with great equipment. He earned good rides and worked his way up. NASCAR is just a different sport now than it was 20 and 30 years ago.

This is too long and too red, and i'm far to(o?) drunk to read it. Someone please summarize