BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. — Mike Kerchner recently wrote a column challenging readers to appreciate the talent of today’s racers instead of dwelling on how great the heroes of the past were. In our opinion, he hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head.
Running up front in almost any series or type of racing has become much harder over the decades due to technical advances. There are more top shelf, evenly matched cars than ever and to win requires that extra measure of driving ability and aggressiveness shared by the superstars of all eras.
Drivers can no longer “carry” an ill-handling car, but the talented shoes will adjust their line and do better than someone else might. Retired modified hero Brett Hearn won more than 900 features, many by using a “hunt-and-peck” strategy of moving around until he found a line his car liked.
Still, if you listen to winners post-race, they universally credit their crew for a car that was better than the others on that particular occasion. Today’s shock technology alone can make a car superior one night while missing the set-up slightly another night can make it a handful to drive.
In short, a “good” car allows a talented driver the opportunity to succeed. And anyone who has been around racers for a while knows that when any driver admits his car is “good,” it is that — and more.
That doesn’t lessen the role of the driver in the equation. Even at the Saturday night/local level, most races have a number of top-notch cars and who wins comes down to the best driving performance.
Old timers venerate asphalt modified legend Richie Evans but Matt Hirschman deserves equal respect for being his counterpart in today’s world.
Kyle Larson is certainly the equal of the legends in NASCAR, sprint cars and even dirt late models. And the list could go on and on, with such talents as Kody Swanson, Bobby Pierce, David Gravel, Brad Sweet, Matt Sheppard, Mat Williamson, Brady Bacon, Otto Sitterly and a score of others comparing favorably to the short track giants of the past.
On the NASCAR and Indy car level, today’s top drivers would have been winners in any era. Larson, for example, was as competitive in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 as A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti were when they ventured to NASCAR decades ago.
Attrition alone used to advance those who made it to the checkers a handful of positions from where they should have finished. Today, from the short tracks to the superspeedways, two or three cars may suffer mechanical ills but losing more than that is extremely rare. To get to the front, you have to be aggressive and pass cars and that’s all on the driver!
When we were building modifieds back in the late 1960s, the cars were homebuilt and the engines, while balanced and blueprinted, were assembled using mostly high-performance Chevrolet parts with a good aftermarket camshaft.
In a 30-lap feature, it was rare that an engine or two did not expire while spewing a cloud of smoke and laying down a puddle of oil. Today’s engines cost a small fortune but far fewer “blow up” mid-race, allowing drivers to display their talent from green to checkers.
With factory-built chassis and well-engineered bolt-on parts now the norm at all levels of competition, there are also far fewer race-ending driveline failures, broken suspension parts and brake problems.
And while Richard Petty will always rank among the greatest ever, if he were active today and in his prime, he would not be finishing multiple laps ahead of the field as was common “back in the day.”
There will always be back markers and field fillers but the gap from front to back today is miniscule compared to the past. For affirmation, Google Herman Beam, also known as “The Turtle.”
Another relevant factor is that today’s race procedures let drivers get a lap or two back without having to pass the entire field by using the “lucky dog” provision.
The late broadcaster Ken Squier used to speak of “common men doing uncommon things” when he described race drivers. That remains true in general, but we would posit that the best of the best are well beyond common men. And that is the attraction for many, watching guys such as C.J. Leary, Stewart Friesen, Bobby Santos, Logan Seavey and others of their ilk do things with a race car that they know they could never do themselves.
If you have been sitting home lamenting the fact that Dale Earnhardt, Steve Kinser, Bubby Jones, Lealand McSpadden, Bentley Warren, Dick Trickle and other heroes of your past are no longer racing, get up off the couch and check out the action when racing resumes this spring.
You will be impressed by the talent level and the close competition and more golden memories will be generated.
The names and faces have changed but the excitement is still there.