CONCORD, N.C. — With 2019 history and a new year looming large in the windscreen, it feels like there are big changes coming.
Sure, there have been major changes in the sport over the past 40 years — 32 of which I’ve chronicled on these pages. Drivers have risen, peaked and retired. Series have done the same and the shifting sands of time have put everything into sort of a hazy retrospective of the motorsports arena.
Will we use that hazy look at the past to make decisions about the future, or is what has gone before just a collection of stuff that happens in a vacuum?
First, a November announcement that next season will be the final one for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
The only man to win seven titles in NASCAR’s top division since the turn of the century will race this year and call it a career. At 44, he is the latest NASCAR superstar to pull the pin at a young age, following mentor Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others.
The debate is on as to who will fill those awfully big shoes in terms of competition, but it can’t be discounted that the void he will leave among the fan base is also concerning.
There are plenty of kids waiting to step into the role he once occupied. Chase Elliott and William Byron are two on his Hendrick Motorsports team, and there are more coming up that could be the next Seven-Time. The so-called “Big Three” of Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick will all be rookies in the Cup Series this season.
The fact that Johnson is stepping away at the end of 2020 is not particularly surprising. What else does he have to prove? Seven titles, five in a row and 83 victories are written in his bio, and he, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty are the only drivers to ever win seven championships. Gordon won four times and Stewart three, as Johnson, Gordon and Stewart have accounted for 14 of the last 24 Cup Series championships.
Speaking of change, there’s a new owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the first not named Hulman since 1945. It’s a familiar name, though, and while his name hasn’t been on the company masthead, he’s pretty much owned the 2.5-mile race track since 1972. Roger Penske is the new boss, same as the old boss.
After having some time to get used to the idea, I think it was the right move at the right time. Penske is 82 and he has the backing, the money and the business acumen to push the Brickyard forward into the next dimension. Not that it was doing badly at all, but Penske can bring weight others cannot. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.
For me, Indy is about tradition and Penske has been a staunch supporter of all things Indy for a long, long time. Those traditions will be observed and all of us who love the old place can keep right on loving it. We’ve already broken down some of the barriers with the Brickyard 400, Formula One and MotoGP — and there is room to grow.
The plant itself has space, infrastructure and the ability to host events 30-plus weekends a year and it is a good guess that it will hold more events than it has in the past.
There are rules changes coming in both NASCAR and IndyCar that will be interesting to watch. The Gen-7 car for NASCAR is widely expected to help the racing in the Cup Series, and the new Indy car specs are aimed at driver safety. The aeroscreen will debut this year and that will help with a safety problem that has plagued open-wheel racing for some time.
There are many changes coming, including a major shakeup of the NASCAR schedule this year and next, so you’ll see the first steps of what racing will be in the future this season.
If I had to bet, I would say the improvement will be noticeable and provide a blueprint that will keep the sport moving forward for the next 20-plus years.