The defining factor between past and present

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 16: A view of the new NASCAR Hall of Fame logo, prior to the NASCAR Nextel Pit Crew Challenge on May 16, 2007 at Bob Cats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) via gettyimages.com

With the NASCAR Hall of Fame opening tomorrow in Charlotte, North Carolina, one would assume that racing pundits will begin to, as they often do, compare the contemporary crop of NASCAR stars to those who built the sport and those who carried it into the “modern era.”

The seemingly endless debate of whether drivers then or now are the best the sport has seen have plenty of partisans on either side.

Those who say ‘then’ point to the fact that in the day of NASCAR’s past immortals, such things as power steering, cool boxes and the like would have been to that era what the iPad would be to the pre-Apple days of computers.

Those who say ‘now’ point to the fact that as many as 25 or more of the drivers who compete regularly in the Sprint Cup Series have the potential to win a race, a far higher number than in the past, making the sport much more competitive, and therefore, its current drivers better.

Those who say ‘then’ attribute that to the fact that back then, you had to be a man to contend, whereas these days the cars are almost literally engineer-driven, allowing any driver capable of running the car at a fast pace with the right engineering to succeed.

The argument goes on and on, seemingly with neither side playing a trump card.

One thing that, oddly, never seems to be brought up is the safety revolution.

Now, let it be known that the safety revolution is one of the best things to ever happen to NASCAR. In this day and age of multi-million dollar sponsorship agreements, it is absolute necessity that the drivers be able to all but knock the wall down and climb out unhurt.

More importantly, speaking as a fan of the late Kenny Irwin, it is necessary that fans not be left grieving over the death of a hero on the track as was once, sadly, not exactly a rare position for fans to find themselves in.

Looking at the past, it seems to have been almost as much of an accomplishment to go home when the race was over as it was to finish in the top ten. A relatively strong hit with the wall meant a driver might be sitting a while to recover. A very strong, solid hit, often meant a driver didn’t go home.

Whereas today, the worst thing a driver has to worry about as he takes a corner is that he might end up sitting in a scrap heap at the bottom of the turn and lose valuable points in his pursuit of a championship, drivers of the past entered each corner with the knowledge, though it was likely far from the forefront of their conscience, that they might never make it to the exit, never make it home to their wives and kids.

While the debate will no doubt continue on as long as stock car races take place, that very fact seems to place favor to the drivers of the past.

Thats not to say that, knowing they might not survive the race, that some of today’s stars wouldn’t have raced just as hard as they do now, but one has to imagine the fact that these cars are as safe as they are adds at least a little more daring to the driving styles of more than a few contemporary racers.