Is NASCAR Facing a Star Power Crisis?
Empires rise and fall. Heroes get older. One generation inevitably replaces another.
Jeff Gordon didn't go out as Cinderella but rather as the Prince. Now he will move on to the even more daunting task of finding enough oxygen to breathe in the same Fox Sports television booth as Darrell Waltrip.
| Races | Wins | Poles | Avg. Finish | Miles |
| 797 | 93 | 81 | 12.5 | 298,397.7 |
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The NASCAR great retired after finishing sixth in the Sprint Cup season's final race on November 22. At age 44, Gordon was one of four finalists in the title Chase, finishing third behind Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, who finished first and second, respectively, in the race and Chase, respectively.
At the Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet on December 4 in Las Vegas, Gordon said, "Now, I've had a lot of people this year ask me why not just one more year? It made me think, yeah, for a second about it, but then I quickly responded, hey, this goes all the way back to April of 1977 for me, when I was first introduced to a quarter midget, so, to me, it's more like 38 years.
"It's been a long time. It's been an amazing ride."
Gordon, a Cup rookie in 1993, won 93 races and four championships. He spent his final 14 years trying to win a fifth. He went from brash rookie to elder statesman, and he knew when to walk away.
What Gordon's retirement underscores is the realization that change is upon the sport. The champion is 30-year-old Busch, conqueror of the Chase format at last after years of trying.
A three-time champion, Tony Stewart, also 44, has already announced he is retiring at the end of next season. Stewart has visions of Gordon's graceful retirement dancing in his head this Christmas season.
"To be able to go out on his terms, and to have the opportunity to race for a championship in his last race, that is what you dream of," Stewart said back on November 19. "It doesn't matter what sport you're in. You dream of having that opportunity."
Gordon. Gone. Stewart. Gone next year this time.
| Driver | Age | Titles | Wins |
| Kurt Busch | 37 | 1 | 27 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 41 | 0 | 26 |
| Kevin Harvick | 40 | 1 | 31 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 40 | 6 | 75 |
| Matt Kenseth | 43 | 1 | 36 |
| Tony Stewart | 44 | 3 | 48 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been elected by fans as Most Popular Driver for 13 seasons in a row. Now he is 41, still trying to win that elusive title that his father won seven times. The six-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, is 40. The 2014 champion and '15 runner-up, Kevin Harvick, is 40. Matt Kenseth is 43.
What's the world coming to? Even Kasey Kahne is 35.
The clock is ticking on this illustrious generation. A transition will occur as fans grow more familiar and less scornful of mavericks like Busch and the current NASCAR Dictionary definition of "brat," Joey Logano.
Never mind performance. Drivers and teams will be only too happy to supplant the Gordons and Stewarts in the great Victory Lane celebrations of the land.
How about the fans? Who claims their hearts tomorrow? Talent is abundant. Which young champions will harness it? Which will show personalities that endear them to the fans, particularly young ones? Who will attain star status? Who will stake a claim to the void left by Gordon and others?
Will Johnson, as nice a guy as any played in old movies by Glenn Ford, finally receive the recognition he deserves? Gordon faced the scorn, not to mention the flying beer cans, during his greatest years. He became beloved as he grew older. Perhaps Johnson will find the same adulation.
Gordon made an extraordinary observation about the new champion, Busch, on the night he won it.
"He's more talented than I am," Gordon said. "If he keeps racing the way he did this year...To me, the edge I always had on Kyle, as talented as he is, as fast as he is, he sometimes never knew when to stop pushing his car toward the edge. ...You could sort of force him to push it over the edge because he's capable of pushing it so far.
"But, this year, I saw a new Kyle Busch and one where he held back at times when he needed to, and that's important, and if he continues on that path, then yeah, yeah, absolutely..."
The "absolutely" was to, Could Kyle Busch win 93 races and four championships?
No one in NASCAR could turn Busch into a hero faster than Logano, or, perhaps, even vice versa.
Recent feuds—Logano vs. Matt Kenseth being only the most memorable example—and NASCAR's responses have left the Driver's Code, which Ford (actor, not car) might have found similar to the Code of the West, as fuzzy as it has ever been.
On November 19, Stewart said, "What was it two years ago where we were all told to 'have at it'? ...It's kind of a touch of confusion for us as drivers to sit there and figure out what it all means and where it's at.
"I mean, for everything else we do in the series, there's a defined rule in a rulebook that tells you what that is, and that's one thing that's never been present in this sport is a defined line on what the etiquette is."
Toyota's first championship as a manufacturer reflects another changing of the guard. Joe Gibbs Racing has supplanted Hendrick Motorsports of Chevrolet as the best team. All four of JGR's Toyotas—driven by Busch, Carl Edwards, Kenseth and Denny Hamlin—competed in the Chase.
What of Hendrick? Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt made the Chase. The lone finalist, Gordon, is retiring and will be replaced by rookie Chase Elliott. Johnson and Earnhardt will enter this season, just as last, as prime contenders. Kahne's difficulties remain a mystery.
The trim Penske Racing operation, the Ford (car, not actor) powerhouse, fields entries for Logano and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski. Penske's two match up well against any half of Gibbs' four.
The sport thrives on rivalries to sustain it: David Pearson and Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Waltrip, Geoff Bodine and Dale Earnhardt, Gordon and Stewart and others that have shifted over time. The biggest current rivalry is between Kenseth and Logano, but that's only because it is the most recent and had dire consequences for Kenseth in the form of a two-race suspension.
It's not just a rivalry NASCAR needs. It's a rivalry with staying power.
Performance and popularity are separate issues, of course, and one affects the other, but it doesn't mean, obviously, that a driver who has never been champion cannot be wildly beloved. Even a Sprint Cup championship for Earnhardt Jr. in 2016 would be merely a short-term fix, though.
That's because, even for Junior, the clock is ticking.
Follow @montedutton on Twitter.
All quotes are taken from NASCAR media, team and manufacturer sources unless otherwise noted.
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