RacersReunion.com…Promoting, Supporting, and Sharing the History of Stock Car Racing

by: Jeff Gilder
RacersReunion.com

    
    Throughout the history of the sport of stock car racing, we’ve seen new faces enter into the sport and familiar faces leave for retirement. Sadly, there are a finite number of “top” spots available. Many drivers retire, not due to lack of desire and diminishing abilities, but for a myriad of other reasons. Sometimes they retire because sponsors are looking for younger faces to reach a younger or different demographic. Sometimes team owners are looking for younger drivers to enhance “long-range” planning capabilities, and the older guys are moved to roles of mentoring, to coach and teach the attributes that only come with years of experience. And sometimes the ever increasing, hectic pace required in today’s evolutionary version of the sport is just more than they care to pursue. Family values and quality time away from the strenuous schedule often mean stepping away from a passionate love.

    When this occurs, waves of loyal fans are left in limbo, left with the task of determining which of the “new crop” of drivers will deserve their attention and following. This evolution almost always leaves floundering fans in the wake, yearning for the passion they felt over the years. Rest assured, these fans never lose their passion. They never lose the loyalty they felt for “their” driver. They remain a fan for life. This is evident when veteran drivers make appearances for autograph signings. Fans line up in droves carrying souvenirs, pieces of history, the history they relish, for the opportunity to have their hero sign and smile, acknowledging their appreciation for a fan's loyalty.

    This process has occurred throughout the history of stock car racing, each cycle leaving fans with the opinion that the sport has changed and will never be as good as it was. Yet each year there are new fans brought into the sport. Many are without knowledge of the past and the way it used to be, and they do not know the contributions the veterans and their fans made to the sport. Obviously, there exists a need to recognize those contributions and to keep alive the celebrity of those drivers. There exists a need to keep those drivers in front of the droves of loyal fans who boosted the sport of stock car racing into the pinnacle of success that it has become. This success didn’t happen without them. It didn’t happen without the drivers who provided the entertainment. It didn’t happen without the fans who bought the sponsor’s product in support of “their” driver. It didn’t happen without the sponsors who poured their money into the sport. It didn’t happen without the media who covered the sport.

    History is important, and there exists a need to celebrate it rather than discard it.  The sport of stock car racing and NASCAR in particular wouldn’t exist today without the contributions of the early drivers, fans, sponsors, and media…without the passion that drove it all. The passion lives on at RacersReunion.com. This central location to gather and share history among veterans and newcomers alike was created to give back to a sport that has given so much to so many.