Spade Racing: January 2019

100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": The Gordon Gambit

Nascar has a long and storied history, but it also has a past littered with “What If?” questions. Join author Mike Mackler as he takes a look back at stock car racing’s 100 most-intriguing hypotheticals in “100 Stock Car Racing ‘What Ifs’”, the book available on Amazon in both Paperback and Kindle formats. Here’s a preview of one of the one hundred “What If” questions asked throughout the book:

The boy who became the man who would
change motorsports

4. What if Jeff Gordon had gotten a ride in IndyCar?

Background: Jeff Gordon was lighting the sprint car world on fire in the late-80’s. The time-honored tradition of moving from sprint cars to IndyCar had been broken as IndyCar had become dominated by road courses and foreign drivers—as well as foreign money.

What Actually Happened: Gordon went to an IndyCar race garage, but was shunned by team owners once it was discovered that he had no sponsorship or outside funding. Despite the pleadings of John Andretti, nobody would give him a chance. Then AJ Foyt told him to take a look down south…

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if someone in IndyCar took a risk to foot the bill, realizing that he had the chance to become JEFF FREAKING GORDON?

What COULD Have Happened: An IndyCar team owner could have put Jeff in an Indy Lights (IndyCar’s version of the Xfinity or Truck Series) ride for a year, then move him up to IndyCar. One would have to think that with Jeff’s natural talent he could perform well enough to attract sponsorship.

One of Jeff's many Indy triumphs

And if THAT Happened…: IndyCar would have had its American Golden Boy years before “The Split” that tore it apart. Perhaps Tony George and CART team owners would realize there’s far too much money to risk it on a split, staying together in the process.

What Else Could Have Happened: Well, Nascar loses its ticket to the Manhattan boardrooms. Who knows what the sport evolves to in pop culture’s eyes without its frontman. Perhaps Dale Sr. finally wins that 8th Cup championship with one less competitor. Does Hendrick Motorsports become the juggernaut it could without Gordon? And does the world ever hear about IndyCar’s actual American Golden Boy, Tony Stewart?

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: Bringing money along to get a ride is a fact of life in almost any racing series. Luckily the right people in stock car racing saw Jeff Gordon’s potential and gave him the chance to achieve it.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": The PDA's Problems

93. What if the PDA stayed together?

Background: After Bill France Sr. squelched an early attempt by the Teamsters to unionize Nascar drivers in 1961, the next (and, to date, last) attempt at driver unionization came in 1969. This group called itself the Professional Drivers’ Association (PDA) and with Richard Petty as its leader, the group would see its first—and only—battle later that year at Talladega.

What Actually Happened: The first-ever race at Talladega Superspeedway saw drivers worried about the integrity of the available tire options at such high speeds. The PDA organized a boycott over safety concerns, with virtually all the top drivers and teams leaving prior to the race. However, France still held the race, using the few drivers who had remained and lower-series cars to make his point that no driver, car, or team was bigger than the sport. The PDA soon withered away after France made a small number of concessions to drivers (such as guaranteed appearance money).

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if the PDA viewed the boycott as a victory of safety over the show, and remained a united front?

Richard Brickhouse's lone win

What COULD Have Happened: The biggest battle the PDA faced was Bill France himself—he was virulently anti-union, to the point of reportedly using a pistol to make his point in his battle against the Teamsters-backed union in 1961. At the time it could be argued that the cars were more the stars than the drivers, and teams, not wanting to lose out on factory support, would simply have hired different drivers who were not affiliated with the PDA. Even if the group had survived 1969, it might not have lasted much longer.

And if THAT Happened…: The appearance money (aka “show money”) that France offered was viewed as a quid pro quo—abandon the union, and you’ll be fairly compensated. The appearance money system evolved into the “Winners Circle” program before transforming again into the current “Charter System” that guarantees payouts to teams and drivers. Ironically charters have granted teams more power than they’ve ever had, something that can be traced somewhat back to the drivers’ boycott.

What Else Could Have Happened: The first Nascar boom of the mid-90’s came as Major League Baseball was dealing with a crippling players’ strike. Work stoppages in the NBA and NHL would soon follow. Nascar took advantage of labor strife in other sports by showing how they would race every weekend no matter what (well, besides weather). Further driver boycotts or even a formal strike may have killed any chance Nascar had at growth at this time.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: Unions in Nascar are so anathema to the France family’s beliefs that the announcement of a semi-formal “Drivers’ Council” a few years ago was a shock to Nascar insiders.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": The Intimidator Incident

16. What if Dale Earnhardt Sr. had won the 1990 Daytona 500?

The two favorites in the 1990 Daytona 500

Background: Dale Earnhardt Sr. seemed to be able to win anything at Daytona International Speedway except for the Daytona 500. 1990 appeared to be his year, as The Intimidator led almost three-quarters of the race.

What Actually Happened: On the final lap Earnhardt ran over a piece of Rick Wilson’s blown engine, cutting a tire and allowing Derrike Cope to go by and win arguably the biggest upset in Cup Series history.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if Dale Earnhardt had never ran over that debris on the white flag lap?

Oh, will I ever look this happy

What COULD Have Happened: The long-running storyline of “Will Dale win Daytona?” would never have happened. Furthermore, we would have had two straight feel-good 500’s, with Earnhardt’s win coming a year after Darrell Waltrip finally won the race in 1989.

And if THAT Happened…: Its hard to figure out the details that motivate a champion, but the RCR 3 team used the race as a motivator to win the 1990 Winston Cup Championship, hanging the shredded tire from the race in their shop as a reminder. While a team and driver as great as that combination was probably didn’t need any additional motivation, one can wonder if Dale would have won that year’s championship without it.

What Else Could Have Happened: Derrike Cope’s later win in that year’s spring Dover race has often been used to disprove him as a “fluke winner”. However, without such a prestigious win as the Daytona 500, one has to figure that he may have simply faded away from race fans’ memories.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: Beyond superstition, Earnhardt simply ran over a piece of debris, and sometimes even the best drivers are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": Chad's Choice

97. What if Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson never worked together?

Jimmie before Chad

Background: Chad Knuas is unquestionably the most-successful crew chief of Nascar’s modern age. After a stint working for the famed “Rainbow Warriors” pit crew of Jeff Gordon, he bounced around a number of teams before crew chiefing Stacy Compton’s Melling Racing car in 2001. In 2002 he returned to Hendrick Motorsports to work with rookie driver Jimmie Johnson.

What Actually Happened: Knaus went to work with Jimmie Johnson in 2002, and he hasn’t left since. Knaus has helped Johnson to seven Cup Series Championships under a variety of Chase/Playoff formats, surpassing the Jeff Gordon/Ray Evernham pairing as the most-successful in recent memory.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if Chad Knaus was never asked to return to Hendrick Motorsports in 2002?

Chad before Jimmie

What COULD Have Happened: Knaus was a rising star in Nascar’s crew chief ranks, having taken the Melling team to a pair of pole positions in 2001 despite limited resources and a brand-new manufacturer in Dodge. He likely would have found himself working for a top team (perhaps Evernham Motorsports) before too long.

And if THAT Happened…: Would Jimmie Johnson have been as successful without Chad Knaus? That is a question we may never know. While its hard to argue that Johnson isn’t a talented wheelman, its also hard to argue that his success hasn’t been at least a bit due to the help of Knaus’s expertise. Perhaps their true talent is in staying together all these years, so we may never know the answer.

What Else Could Have Happened: While Johnson may not have been as successful without Chad Knaus as his crew chief, he may have succeeded with much less controversy. Knaus has been a master at exploiting the “gray areas” of Nascar’s rulebook, occasionally running afoul of the sanctioning body for it.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: The two of them just work well together, and kudos to Rick Hendrick for noticing that prospect.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": The Pearson Probability

14. What if David Pearson had run more full-season schedules?

Nascar's two-biggest rivals--who always
brought out the best in each other

Background: In the pre-1972 Grand National era it was hard to find a more-respected driver than David Pearson. The Silver Fox wound up totaling an amazing 105 premiere series wins from 1960-1980 and three season championships—all despite rarely running the full schedule.

What Actually Happened: After winning championships for Cotton Owens and Holman-Moody, Pearson went to the powerhouse Wood Brothers team, which at the time ran only a partial schedule.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if the Wood Brothers had decided to run a full-season schedule full-time, perhaps spurred on by their rivalry with Petty Enterprises?

What COULD Have Happened: Who knows how many races and championships Pearson could have won with more chances to do so. Furthermore, while the Wood Brothers typically skipped most of the short-track schedule, Pearson was renowned as a complete racer who could win on any type of track.

The man who made The Wood Brothers
into legends

And if THAT Happened…: Richard Petty would likely still be known as “The King”, but that tidy total of 200 wins would likely be a bit less with Pearson competing on a full-time basis.

What Else Could Have Happened: Would Richard Petty have won all seven of his Cup championships? His competitive career more or less coincided with Pearson’s (Pearson’s final win was in 1980, one year after Petty’s final championship), so maybe it would be Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jimmie Johnson alone at the top.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: At the time there simply wasn’t enough money to make running a full-schedule profitable for most teams, hence why Pearson and the Wood Brothers stayed on a partial run for the 1970s.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": Evernham's Evolution

29. What if Ray Evernham never left Hendrick Motorsports?

Nascar's 90's Dream team

Background: By the end of the 1999 season, Ray Evernham had won three Cup championships as crew chief for Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports. But a new challenge awaited him.

What Actually Happened: The ever-ambitious Evernham was soon tabbed to head Dodge Motorsports’ return to Nascar, starting his own team in Evernham Motorsports to do so.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if Rick Hendrick had made an offer so lucrative to Evernham that it would have been too difficult to leave?

What COULD Have Happened: Jeff Gordon would go on to win the 2001 Cup championship with new crew chief Robbie Loomis, but that would be the last one in his illustrious career. How many more championships would Gordon have won with Evernham still atop the pit box?

Dodge's return--led by Ray Evernham

And if THAT Happened…: On the flip-side, both Gordon and Evernham are hard-driving, demanding people who’ve used their personalities to fuel their successful careers. It remains to be seen if the two could have continued to co-exist without wondering if they could do so without the other—or without driving each other crazy.

What Else Could Have Happened: Would Dodge’s return to Nascar have been as successful without Evernham’s leadership? Possibly, but obviously a major variable would have been who was chosen to be the owner of the lead team. Roger Penske’s teams would surpass Evernham’s for Dodge in the coming years, but it remains to be seen if Dodge could have convinced a top-flight, successful team to partner with them on such a risky venture from the get-go.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: Evernham and Gordon both succeeded on their own, and likely had to find out first-hand if they could do so in order to be satisfied professionally.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": Vibration Variations

71. What if start-and-park operations were outlawed?

Blank white car--the uniform of the
start-and-parker

Background: By the mid-2000’s “field fillers” (teams that would only run a race if they were guaranteed a starting position due to a lack of entries) gave way to “start and park” operations—teams that would strive to qualify for a race, then intentionally drop out early on with spurious claims of mechanical issues.

What Actually Happened: Lower-rung teams—particularly in the Nationwide/Xfinity Series—realized that they could turn a bigger profit by running a small number of laps in a race, saving equipment for future races in which they could do the same. This was aided by a pay structure that saw little difference in the payouts for last place and mid-pack finishes.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if Nascar put rules in place (say, a rule stating that any team had to complete more than 80% of a race three weeks in a row) to ban start-and-park teams from doing so?

What COULD Have Happened: Nascar would have likely been stuck with a number of short fields, especially in the Nationwide/Xfinity and Cup Series. Teams simply weren’t willing to burn through fuel, tires, and possibly other equipment like sheet metal and engines in order to make a few hundred dollars more on a race weekend, and would have likely just stayed home.

Jeff Green, nowhere near the lead

And if THAT Happened…: Several drivers wouldn’t have become infamous as start-and-parkers. Joe Nemechek wouldn’t have been labeled “Last-Row Joe”, and Jeff Green would never have been able to exploit his past-champion’s provisional in the Nationwide/Xfinity Series. However…

What Else Could Have Happened: …NEMCO Motorsports, Leavine Family Racing, and others have funded themselves in their earliest years by start-and-parking, not just pocketing the money but using it to build their teams into more-legitimate full-time operations. NEMCO became a race-winning operation in the Truck Series, while LFR is one of the most-successful smaller teams in the Cup Series over the past few years. None of this may have been possible without the ability to start-and-park in their early days.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: Whether it was due to TV commitments or to avoid embarrassment, Nascar was steadfastly against short fields for most of the 21st century, and was willing to look the other way when start-and-parkers would help them out.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": Ironhead's Image

32. What if Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s car wasn’t black?

One Tough Customer

Background: Upon GM Goodwrench Service taking over for Wrangler as his primary sponsor, Dale Earnhardt Sr. gained an iconic new paint scheme—black, with white, red, and silver accents. But it wasn’t always going to be that way.

What Actually Happened: According to Richard Childress, GM came to him with a suggested paint scheme “that looked like a box of ACDelco brakes”—mostly blue with white accents. He requested the chance to have his team design their own scheme, which was granted.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if GM’s marketing team had simply said “its our money, we’ll choose the paint scheme”?

Dale's 1996 Japan racecar--what might
have been?

What COULD Have Happened: A handy way to divide up Dale Earnhardt’s career would have been lost—the blue-and-yellow Wrangler years as “Ironhead” and the black-car run as an iconic legend not just of Nascar, but of American culture.

And if THAT Happened…: Think of all the Dale Earnhardt merchandise you’ve seen. Think of all the t-shirts, the hats, the jackets, the plastic trinkets, the can coozies. Now imagine all of them in blue. Strange, isn’t it?

What Else Could Have Happened: The color of the car likely had little to nothing to do with Dale Earnhardt’s on-track success, but it likely DID help with his off-track marketing.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: Dale Earnhardt was always The Man in Black—he just needed a car to fit that image.

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