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StumblePublished Monday, Feb. 2, 2009 | 8:52 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 | 8:31 a.m.
Football’s Super Bowl is over and now it’s time to throw our attention to the Super Bowl of stock-car racing. As you know, Joey Logano will make NASCAR history by being the youngest driver to start in a Daytona 500. Honestly, the prospect of an 18-year-old kid driving in NASCAR’s premier race makes me slightly nervous.
Don’t get me wrong. I think Logano is an extremely talented and impressive driver, but the thought of him on the high-banked battlefield at 190 miles per hour--only inches from other cars driven by seasoned, take-no-prisoners veterans--is enough to warrant a trip to the drug store for some Maalox. Maybe my worries stem from the fact that I am a father of teenagers and, although I would want my children to go were their talents take them, I would still fret.
Surly Logano realizes he has to play it smart by keeping his car in a position to avoid trouble. No one expects him to ride the draft to the lead on the last lap and I’m sure the other drivers will keep a watchful and cautious eye on his driving.
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While considering Logano’s historic Daytona 500 start, I couldn’t help but think about what the future will look like for this young man and NASCAR. Assuming he races until he’s 40, the complexion of the sport two decades later may be something we won’t recognize.
In 15 years the type of vehicles coming out of Detroit could be much different than the models that current Sprint Cup cars represent. Recently, at the Automotive News World Congress, auto manufacturers painted a future that relies heavily on small, lightweight plug-in hybrids and battery-powered automobiles. The internal combustion engine could become a rare find under the hoods of cars in the near future.
Does this mean that the only thing fans will hear at the Daytona 500 of 2020 is the silence of electric vehicles whooshing around the high banks? I hope not, because that would be the day I stop being a fan. But the direction of Detroit does present questions about the future. In the short term, companies like Ford are still committed to vehicles like the Fusion, but as consumer tastes change, will the automakers feel compelled to have their new, solar-panel-powered mini-cars represented in the sport?
This all depends on whether there are Detroit automakers in 2020. Ford lost $14.6 billion last quarter, Chrysler is teaming up with Fiat in a desperate attempt to stay afloat (Fiats in NASCAR?), and General Motors is spending lavishly on developing the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt that needs a number of technological breakthroughs to avoid becoming a pipe dream.
Hopefully the economy will recover before it’s too late and people will begin to purchase cars again. But in this economic climate, that’s not going to happen tomorrow. As Frank Rich, a columnist for the New York Times wrote on Sunday, “What are Americans still buying? Big Macs, Campbell’s soup, Hershey’s chocolate and Spam—the four food groups of the apocalypse.”
All this hype about Logano... He's up against 42 competitors and the legacies of Petty, Gordon and Stewart. That's a lot of pressure for someone who just graduated from high school.
"that is the day I stop becoming a fan"
The correct phrase is "that is the day I stop being a fan".
Ironically, the day the sport turns electric is the day green freaks like myself are free to become fans. Can't wait.
Carlos
Hey 'temp', stop babbling and go hug a cactus.
Mike, you paint a rather bleak picture of the future of stock car racing. However, it is hard to argue with you. I would hope that someone in the future would see the need for internal combustion engines if Detroit et al stops producing them, and go to work on manufacturing them as replacements. Sponsors? Maybe we'll have some kind of weird name combinations like open wheel does. Gad.... maybe I'll just be dead!
Well, if gasoline stays below $2.50 a gallon the internal combustion engine could be around for quite some time. But I doubt this will be the case. In the short run, the cost of producing cars with gasoline engines will still be less than autos with new, expensive technology. So consumers who can't afford to spend forty thousand dollars on a Chevy Volt will buy a Nissan Versa instead.
But don't count on gasoline to remain inexpensive. One little foreign policy blip can change the price practically overnight.
What makes anyone think that NASCAR would go electric just because that's what they're selling in the showrooms? When was the last time you bought a carbureted car from the showroom? And yet NASCAR still is running carburetors.
As long as there are red-blooded American males with a love of cars, NASCAR will exist. When was the last time you walked into a showroom and saw anything like a Formula One car? And yet it's the most popular form of motorsport on the planet.
NASCAR will continue to exist long after the Greens shove hybrids and electric cars down our throats. Or should I say YOUR throats because I'll never give up my gas-guzzling V8 muscle car.