Marty Smith article

Pretty in depth look at retirement for those guys. A bit grim, really but a very interesting article. Guess that is why Farmer simply refuses to retire possibly.

It struck me as I was reading about DW literally hanging around until he was pretty much a joke in his last few years, that I sure as heck hope Mark Martin takes another path.
 
Paul Newman raced into his 80s, Mark still has quite a few years to race. I'd like to see him move to the Rolex series, he was offered a ride a few years back maybe he can still get into that ride. But that all would depend on if he likes to run road courses.
 
blue92 said:
Paul Newman raced into his 80s, Mark still has quite a few years to race. I'd like to see him move to the Rolex series, he was offered a ride a few years back maybe he can still get into that ride. But that all would depend on if he likes to run road courses.
Click to expand...

I think Mark just loves to drive competive cars in NASCAR.
 
It would be cool to see some sort of a seniors tour , near the Charlotte area ,where the guys could race inexpensive cars . If the races were midweek, the cup guys could go out and crew for the drivers they idolized growing up.If Nascar and Speedvision would get involved , it might be really interesting. I'd watch it .
 
ted@economy said:
It would be cool to see some sort of a seniors tour , near the Charlotte area ,where the guys could race inexpensive cars . If the races were midweek, the cup guys could go out and crew for the drivers they idolized growing up.If Nascar and Speedvision would get involved , it might be really interesting. I'd watch it .
Click to expand...
IDK, Bruton Smith thought this was a good idea once too. The Legends race. We all know how that turned out.
 
Yeah , I know . But maybe on a paved shorttrack , driving real cars . And I'm thinking more of recently retired guys like Rusty ,Dale Jarrett , Ricky Craven , Rudd ,etc.
 
Marty Smith will be on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio @ 4:30 to talk about this article. If the interview is half as good as the article, it's worth a listen.
 
Nice work, Marty! That was quite insightful. While there weren't many surprises it was still quite humanizing. The thing that struck me as the strangest was Dale Jarret's reaction to retirement from racing. He had the experience of Daddy Ned which he witnessed and I would have thought that that exposure would have helped Dale to better prepare for the inevitable and avoid the pitfalls. I guess each has to do it on their own!

Thanks, TRL! That was a good read.
 
robbybee said:
Nice work, Marty! That was quite insightful. While there weren't many surprises it was still quite humanizing. The thing that struck me as the strangest was Dale Jarret's reaction to retirement from racing. He had the experience of Daddy Ned which he witnessed and I would have thought that that exposure would have helped Dale to better prepare for the inevitable and avoid the pitfalls. I guess each has to do it on their own!

Thanks, TRL! That was a good read.
Click to expand...

Everybody is changing their avatars and confusing me so I thought I'd do the same
 
It wouldn't bother me if the older cup guys ran the Trucks, and the East Series. The young guns, and the old vets wouldnt be a bad show imo.

I am sure it hard to step down from Cup, but there comes a time. Most everyone thinks their to young when it comes to dying, or simply walking away. But once the edge is gone, it's gone and no amount of denial will make them 25 or even 35 again. The denial is not good for the sport either, it just gets us feild fillers and clock punchers.

Stick and ball sports have a built in system for this reality, they just cut you when can hit the way you used to, but in racing if you got the sponsors you can just keep on pretending. Being able to buy a seat alone is not a justification imo.
 
Greg said:
It wouldn't bother me if the older cup guys ran the Trucks, and the East Series. The young guns, and the old vets wouldnt be a bad show imo.

I am sure it hard to step down from Cup, but there comes a time. Most everyone thinks their to young when it comes to dying, or simply walking away. But once the edge is gone, it's gone and no amount of denial will make them 25 or even 35 again. The denial is not good for the sport either, it just gets us feild fillers and clock punchers.

Stick and ball sports have a built in system for this reality, they just cut you when can hit the way you used to, but in racing if you got the sponsors you can just keep on pretending. Being able to buy a seat alone is not a justification imo.
Click to expand...

I think that the golf senior tour must be a great thing for the golfers' ego . Yes ,you are out of the limelight , but you are there with all of your heros and they all are going through the same emotions as you are .
 
ted@economy said:
I think that the golf senior tour must be a great thing for the golfers' ego . Yes ,you are out of the limelight , but you are there with all of your heros and they all are going through the same emotions as you are .
Click to expand...

...and still competing for cash and prizes!

As drivers age they are less able to withstand the violence and trauma which comes with high-speed collisions. The fact that Farmer and Shepard are still racing is a testament to their fortitude. But brittle old bones and concrete walls are not good partners.
 
My avatar is a picture of my face and will forever remain. The article is okay with some good points but the people that get my admiration are the ones that give their all year after year and never make the show for one reason or other but never complain about depression or- woe is me self pity. One point Marty didnt address is that Brad Daugherty washed out as a Basketball color commentator before he was benched to, er downsized to the NW racing booth to honor his ESPN contract.
 
[quote="Johali, post: 515160, member: 6082"...give their all year after year and never make the show for one reason or other but never complain about depression or- woe is me self pity. [/quote]


I don't know . Depression and suicide are pretty serious .
 
ted@economy said:
[quote="Johali, post: 515160, member: 6082"...give their all year after year and never make the show for one reason or other but never complain about depression or- woe is me self pity.
Click to expand...


I don't know . Depression and suicide are pretty serious .[/quote]

Depression and suicide are serious and it affects people in all walks of life but thank goodness its very rare in nascar. I follow the lower ranks, local tracks, K&N, Arca etc. as well as Nascar and the very large majority of the drivers grin and have a helluva good time and accept that they are probably not going to get a shot at the show.
 
Johali said:
One point Marty didnt address is that Brad Daugherty washed out as a Basketball color commentator before he was benched to, er downsized to the NW racing booth to honor his ESPN contract.
Click to expand...

You may not know that Brad owned and drove a Pro Stock Dragster for several years after he retired from the NBA. He is also the primary owner of the 47 car, driven by Marcos Ambrose prior to the current driver, Bobby Labonte.

You may also not be aware of the fact that he wore number 43 during his college and pro basketball career in honor of Richard Petty.

Brad gets mad respect from me...
 
robbybee said:
You may not know that Brad owned and drove a Pro Stock Dragster for several years after he retired from the NBA. He is also the primary owner of the 47 car, driven by Marcos Ambrose prior to the current driver, Bobby Labonte.

You may also not be aware of the fact that he wore number 43 during his college and pro basketball career in honor of Richard Petty.

Brad gets mad respect from me...
Click to expand...
You sure the Pro Stock car was Brad????????

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/steve_aschburner/08/23/tom.hammonds.racing/index.html
 
robbybee said:
You may not know that Brad owned and drove a Pro Stock Dragster for several years after he retired from the NBA. He is also the primary owner of the 47 car, driven by Marcos Ambrose prior to the current driver, Bobby Labonte.

You may also not be aware of the fact that he wore number 43 during his college and pro basketball career in honor of Richard Petty.

Brad gets mad respect from me...
Click to expand...

Part of what you said is true, part of what you said is untrue and part of what you said is speculation. Its all according to who you listen to.
 
mike honcho said:
You sure the Pro Stock car was Brad????????

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/steve_aschburner/08/23/tom.hammonds.racing/index.html
Click to expand...

Larry Nance was Brad's teammate. He is the one who had the Pro Stock experience.

Johali said:
Part of what you said is true, part of what you said is untrue and part of what you said is speculation. Its all according to who you listen to.
Click to expand...

I was wrong about Brad and the NHRA. Primary or Part - he is a principal in the ownership of the 47 car.
And he DID wear 43 in honor of Petty.
 
I noticed they didnt talk to Kenny Schrader. And before you tell me that he wasn't the same caliber driver didnt have the wins didnt have this or that he was around the big series just as long all of the guys mentioned in the article. But instead of being depressed when he wasn't driving in cup anymore he loads up the modified or the late model and goes and finds other competition he can compete with. He aint down that hes not driving cup any more hes happy that hes still driving and driving competitive. More than one way to skin a cat if these guys really wanna race they just gotta swallow their pride and get a late model built or something close and head back to the short tracks where they started. The racing is just as intense and you get to race with a much wider group of drivers instead of the same 43 every damn weekend. Like some one else stated look at Red Farmer guys in his 80's still out running with the young kids on the dirt and keeping up. Of course thats the major difference between stock car racing and the stick and ball sports.
 
basscatcher89 said:
I noticed they didnt talk to Kenny Schrader. And before you tell me that he wasn't the same caliber driver didnt have the wins didnt have this or that he was around the big series just as long all of the guys mentioned in the article. But instead of being depressed when he wasn't driving in cup anymore he loads up the modified or the late model and goes and finds other competition he can compete with. He aint down that hes not driving cup any more hes happy that hes still driving and driving competitive. More than one way to skin a cat if these guys really wanna race they just gotta swallow their pride and get a late model built or something close and head back to the short tracks where they started. The racing is just as intense and you get to race with a much wider group of drivers instead of the same 43 every damn weekend. Like some one else stated look at Red Farmer guys in his 80's still out running with the young kids on the dirt and keeping up. Of course thats the major difference between stock car racing and the stick and ball sports.
Click to expand...

Damn well said. Look at the Rooster Ricky Rudd, Sterling Marlin, Terry Labonte and Jimmy Spencer among many many others. They just pulled up the old belt and continued to enjoy life. The main difference between us and other sports is the support from fans as well as other drivers and crews. We do not kick our drivers by the curb just because they retire from the top series.
 
robbybee said:
You may not know that Brad owned and drove a Pro Stock Dragster for several years after he retired from the NBA. He is also the primary owner of the 47 car, driven by Marcos Ambrose prior to the current driver, Bobby Labonte.

You may also not be aware of the fact that he wore number 43 during his college and pro basketball career in honor of Richard Petty.

Brad gets mad respect from me...
Click to expand...

First sentence untrue, second sentence true, third sentence speculation as I said, only he knows for sure.
 
The cars keep getting faster and the competition stiffer. The old guys are having to drive faster now then when they were in their heyday, just to keep up. If we could slow the cars down somehow the length of competitive driving careers might be extended and some of the old veterans could come out of retirement. This might rekindle some of the passion for the sport which has been on the decline in recent years. Who cares when one of the current crop of silver spoon kids wins a race when they have never earned anything and been issued top flight rides bought and paid for by someone else fast tracking their careers?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom