TEAM WINS
TOP 5 TOP 10
Hendrick Motorsports
15
52 74
Roush Fenway Racing
6
25 49
Joe Gibbs Racing 4 22
42
Richard Childress Racing 3 17
43
Penske Racing 2 10
24
Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI)
1 13
23
Chip Ganassi Racing 1 5
14
The Hendrick team has
simply outclassed the rest of the field. When the green flag fell there was almost a fifty percent chance that a Hendrick
Motorsports car was going to take the checkered. Is this a good thing? It certainly is for Hendrick Motorsports.
Sponsor dollars flow into their bank account like candy from Santa’s hand at the Christmas parade. Fans line up
at the team boutiques every weekend spending thousands to purchase the latest merchandise. Everybody loves a winner.
Or do they?
I’ve talked with
a lot of blue collar fans who are tired of it. They are tired of the little guys getting pushed around by the big guys.
They are tired of the glitz and glamour running rampant in a sport that was built on the backs of the textile workers and
farmers in the Deep South.
They are tired of turning on the TV to watch a race on Sunday afternoon and getting an ad campaign with an occasional glimpse
of the race. Neilson ratings indicate viewers are not tuning in and leaving NASCAR in favor of other entertainment options.
Even the Nextel Race for the Chase has achieved ho-hum status. It’s turned into the Race for Hendrick Motorsports
and the other guys.
Beyond the 2007 racing
season, the question becomes, can the smaller, under funded race teams be competitive against the Big Four? Probably
not, but there will be the occasional anomaly like Derrick Cope winning the 1990 Daytona 500 for Bob Whitcomb Racing or Bobby
Hillin, Jr. driving the #8 Stavola Brothers Buick to victory in the 1986 Talladega 500. NASCAR 2007 is a totally different
beast than it was back then. The Big Four are just that much better. It’s a tough pill to swallow when you
consider the likes of Penske, Ganassi and DEI are second tier teams, but that’s where we are.
2006 StockCar Review.
