Anatomy of a racer
Tony Stewart and Davey Allison, gunslingers.
Matt Kenseth and David Pearson, cerebral warriors.
Mark Martin and Richard Petty, blue-collar workers.
That'll give you a taste of a series of essays written by a guy named David Smith that attempts to classify current and past drivers into five categories.
All I know about Smith is from his bio: He turns 21 in August, he's from Florida, he is (or was) a college student, he's the son of an ISC official and he's a self-proclaimed talent scout whose career seemed to have started at age 4, when he correctly guessed, er, pronounced that Ernie Irvan would be NASCAR's next big star.
That's a backhanded way of saying I'm not sure if this guy knows what he's talking about. But from the looks of it, he's put a lot of thought into what he's written. It's easy to quibble with his terminology. For instance, I'd consider Jeff Gordon to be an innovator or even a revolutionary rather than the word he uses, a conservative. And there's a very fine line -- maybe no line at all -- between gunslinger and aggressor.
Still, it's an interesting read, in large part because Smith tries to put the newer drivers in the context of the long-ago stars. Go check it out.
Comments (11)
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Interesting, but I agree with you that Jeff Gordon's not really a conservative. I'm not sure its possible to win as much as Gordon has by playing it safe.
Posted on June 28, 2005 12:44 PM
I agree with Jon. The person who wrote this obviously does not remember the Daytona 500 a few years back where Gordon played chicken with Rusty Wallace as they were closing in on Ricky Rudd's crippled car going into turn 1.
Posted on June 29, 2005 10:53 AM
Jon - I would say that Gordon is a conservative, mainly, because his equipment will allow him to be. He shows his aggressiveness at times sure, everbody does, especially in late race situations, but not all race. That's what I'm referring to when making these groupings.
Mark - The 1999 Daytona 500 was the first time I attended the 500, so I remember that move very well. It was the move that single-handedly made NASCAR create the "out-of-bounds" line at plate tracks. Keep in mind...ANYONE would have done that in the late stages to win the 500.
To call Gordon aggressive would seem to me like a slap in the face for him. He doesn't wreck very often and he's very conservative on his shifting (Sonoma aside). He is a very intelligent racer and knows what the car can do for him, thus driving less desperate.
Thanks for reading my articles
- David Smith
Posted on June 29, 2005 4:15 PM
David, thanks for reminding me what year that was when Gordon made that move. I was at that race as well, but was in turn 4.
The best "save" I ever saw in turn 1 was the IROC race in 2001 when Eddie Cheever forced Big E down on the grass and Earnhardt just kept going and eventually made it through turn 1. It made the "pass in the grass" at Charlotte look like nothing.
In hind sight if Big E were a cat he used up his 9th live with that move because he was gone in 48 hours.
Posted on June 29, 2005 4:25 PM
David, by the way, I realize that there is 1 installment in your series to go; but where is Bobby Allison in this Anatomy of a Racer?
I still remember the nights he came to the local track near me in NJ to race modifieds back in the late 60' & early 70's. Back then he was larger than life.
Posted on June 29, 2005 4:31 PM
That seems weird...I posted it on Monday. Check it out again and if the link isn't there then look on the left and click "main page".
Posted on June 29, 2005 4:41 PM
About you comment about Bobby being larger than life...my dad worked with ARCA when Davey Allison ran in that series and both being from Alabama they traveled together. Whenever Bobby would come to watch Davey race, he would arrive in his helicopter to the certain track and it attracted so many fans and media that security couldn't ever keep things under control. Eventually, they started sneaking Bobby in just so the garage wouldn't get ransacked.
Posted on June 29, 2005 4:53 PM
David, now the link is there when I'm at home. At work the link was not there.
By the way this drives the host, John, crazy when I divert to modifieds during a Cup post, but here goes:
All Time/Current
Aggressor: Jimmy Spencer/Ted Christopher
Conservative: Jerry Cook/Jamie Tomaino
Gunslinger: Charlie Jarzombek/Mike Stefanik
Cerebral: Richie Evans/Tony Hirshmann
I can't go in to long explanations to defend my position, John will wave the black flag on me.
Posted on June 29, 2005 7:42 PM
Jerry Cook and Richie Evans may be the best rivalry in any form of racing ever. I really wish they would have made it into Cup, but I think they were happy just beating up on each other in Modifieds.
Posted on June 29, 2005 8:05 PM
Richie Evans, the original "Big Orange" long before it became fashionable with Tony Stewart and Home Depot.
When Evans came to your local track it was an EVENT. Back in the 70's he used to come to tracks in NJ in the fall after the tracks in New England had shut down for the year. If I am not mistaken he even used to make it to Bowman Gray Stadium into the early 80's for the track's season opening 200 lap event. He hauled a lot of trophies back to Rome, NY.
Posted on June 30, 2005 12:19 PM
Mark: If you want to talk modifieds, have at it. I'm learning a lot about it thanks to you, so keep typing.
David: Thanks for stopping by. Let us know if you've got any more articles coming. That was good stuff.
Posted on July 2, 2005 8:28 PM