The Last Race of NASCAR’s Golden Era
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- Опубліковано 20 гру 2020
- NASCAR had a huge boom period in the late 90s and early 2000s but towards the middle of the 2010s it was becoming abundantly clear that this period was over. Still there was great racing all around and many memories still to be made. But this would have to come in a new era of NASCAR. Today I want to take you back to what I see as the the definitive end to the Golden Era of NASCAR racing. This is the last race of NASCAR’s Golden era.
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What race do you think marked the end of NASCAR’s most popular era?
Dale retirement
2016 Martinsville Fall cause of a certain driver making his final start
2015 fall Martinsville for me
2016 Daytona 500
2003 Ford 400
the solution is always a massive amount of horsepower
That’s why 90’s CART and Group B are still considered the best eras in their motorsports to this day.
As a wise man once said: POWEEERRRRR!!!!!
I say give em 2,000 horsepower babbyyy! 250 mph in the corners yessssiiirrrrrrr!
@@jonathankraus9365 Yet the current era of F1 is not, despite having the most power
@@minigungaming5915 F1 for some reason is sound over power. Late 80s turbo era was making 1600 HP in Qualifying Mode but it’s still overshadowed by the V10s.
Not gonna lie, I miss the drivers I grew up with on the track. There's only like 5 or 6 of them left
Same, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, David Ragan even, I miss seeing them on the track
Kurt is the main one I pull for that is still around
Roc and Ks: We still root for Truex.
This is why i think the “golden era” ended
Jimmay is gone as well
AND Alan Bestwick was the leading announcer. A truly perfect race
I miss Allen Bestwick.
@@redvue04 I think alot of us do.
Benny parsons
@@redvue04 I miss Allen Bestwick myself. I still am upset that he did not sign on with NBC and reunite with Wally Dallenbach there.
I havebeen publicly mourning the loss of AB in the booth forever. Even Lee Diffy must bow to his excellence!
Everything changed when the horsepower got lowered in 2015. That was the beginning of the end. Soon after that came stage racing, more downforce and even less horsepower. All of those factors really hurt NASCAR over the past 5 years.
How to fix it: get 900 home back and throw a fat f1 wing on the back and set them off
In my opinion the true "Golden Era" was from 1988-2006. Great racing, legendary drivers, huge attendances, with television ratings skyrocketing and peaking. I'm glad I was able to watch the last six years or so of this era live and in person.
Same
Absolutely 💯
Well bill France jr died in 2007 and then his addict son started to make so many stupid moves and make NASCAR look bush league today.
For me, 2014 was really the end of the golden era. However, there were still some sheds of light in 2015-16 as big names were yet to retire, and it was just racing.
I totally agree they killed the sport with the stages
@@ReviveAmericanism for sure
As a Jeff fan until he retired this one still hurts...
1988-2003 was the Golden Era of NASCAR in my opinion. The magic really started to go away after 2007 or so. You could just feel it. It wasn't the same.
Finally, someone brings up Jeff's final season
Except it wasn’t?
Final Full Time season was 2015. As a diehard Gordon fan I admittedly get confused 2014 & 2015 mixed up. Always remember. Final win: 2015 Martinsville. Never realized how much I miss those days before 2015
3:03 that transition was sweet.
@@ericandchocosluss5723 heck yeah
Man I miss that high horsepower package..
NASCAR's end to the Golden age started with Jeff Gordon's retirement and ended with Jimmie Johnson's retirement
And it's the beginning of a new era for NASCAR with 2021 on the horizon
I know I shouldn't be self promoting, but thanks for the subscription earlier
Everyone gets a trophy
With segments, lucky dogs and participation trophies 😂
Nascar has sucked since 2007. 2014 was a good one.
Kurt, Harvick, and Newman are the only guys from the old generation who are still left It really feels like an end of an era with Johnson leaving
I’m not gonna lie, I can totally agree with that
Yep and I dont know what I'm doing to do once Kurt retired. Hes been my favorite for 17 years. I'm sure Harvick and Newman are nearing an end too. These new guys dont excite me like late 90s to mid 2000s.
@@packisbetter90 yea Ive always been a jr fan but once he retired ive rooted for kurt and harvick a lot I say Kurt and Newman are going to retire way before Harvick
The last men to share the track, even for just a moment, with The Man In Black.
Yeah after Gordon and Johnson left, I didn't really care that much for racing.
The end of the "Golden Era" IMO actually has two ends. The first end was with the death of Dale Earnhardt Senior where the "spirit" of NASCAR died and the other end would be in 2004 when The Chase happened. Foolishly I kept watching up until 2014 when the Playoffs came in. I've moved on to IndyCar, F1, and IMSA and until NASCAR gets rid of the Playoffs and Stage Racing I won't come back.
@History Buff I do like racing which is why I dislike NASCAR now because it's not racing. It's gimmicky entertainment AKA pro wrestling on wheels. You sound like someone who only watches NASCAR and if that's the case I urge you to branch out and watch other, better racing series'.
@History Buff Because I'm not just going to enjoy every single thing that a series does. That's called being a shill. If the best driver who has been the most consistent all year isn't the champion then something is definitely wrong. Playoffs don't belong in Motorsports. SlapShoes has a great video on this very subject and I highly recommend you watch it.
@History Buff The racing sucks because of the Playoffs and because of the current high downforce package. Why should I bother to watch the races all season long if the champion is going to be decided by a really confusing playoff system which doesn't belong in Motorsports? Watch this video as it explains why the Playoffs are a horrible concept in NASCAR: ua-cam.com/video/p-GEmBSePLE/v-deo.html
@History Buff spare me the "your not a fan" bs nascar hasn't gave a damn about the hardcore fans in YEARS. they have been chasing the "normie" crowd guess thats why track attendance has TANKED.....
@History Buff no he is a true nascar fan so am I although I still watch nascar and always will I understand what he is saying.
You are not a true nascar fan you like gimmicky trash
I see so many people on Twitter and social media talk about these races and cars/driver of the 90’s early 00’s. Back before they watched the sport or might have been alive. I’m so glad I was there and watched it all from 94 onward. Haven’t missed a race since the 1994 Daytona 500. I have such a nostalgic feeling for that era. I still enjoy the sport but nothing will ever top things you enjoyed as a kid.
Also I have that Gordon diecast. Kinda want the Jr one to match lol
Well i don't know if this race was the last of the golden era, but i remember watching this race and those final 5 laps were awesome. Seeing Dale jr and Jeff Gordon battle for the win was amazing. I can't believe 6 years have passed since this race.
1948-1974: Weird point systems with some worse than the playoffs
1975-2003: Winston Cup points Era
2004-2013: Nextel/Sprint Chase Era
2014-20??: Playoff Era
I liked the chase the first few years honestly. It's when they did the stupid playoffs system that got me mad
Bold of you to assume that the playoffs will end before the year 2100
@@packisbetter90 I Agree.
Go Back To The Original Chase Format, And Bring Back, The 2004-2006 Format With 10 Drivers/2004-2013 10 Chase Race Format.
NASCAR Needs To Listen.
Stop Being Inconsistent.
Fire Steve Phelps, Steve O'Donnell, And Scott Miller.
Clean Up ALL Of Brian France's Mess.
Stop Splitting The Original 10 Chase Format Into 3 Elimination Rounds, Stop With The Points Resets, Don't Ever Make The Final Race As The Championship 4, And Lastly, Get Rid Of The The Win And Your In System.
And Lastly, Bring Back The Gen-6 Car, With The Unrestricted/High Horsepower/800/850/900 Horsepower Engine Package, And The Ride Height.
Gang it’s always a good time when there’s an upload 😎
Jr, Gordon and Stewart. The big 3 superstars watching on TV growing up. You make a good point. NASCAR is now in a transition period. I wish we'd get more horsepower too again.
Man I wish I was alive in this era
Well what year you where born? I was born in 2004 btw
Same especially 2014
Wait what
@@tannerjohnson5809 I meant watch the sport. I started watching full time in 2015. I’m not 5.
To everyone in this thread. You missed some great action. 90s through the 00s were great racing. Not every race was amazing though (every old fan likes to throw that in there like the 70s and 80s were magical). But easily the top 25 cars could easily win a race by the 00s.
For me the golden era ends in 2009. 2009-2014 was a good era but the sport had lost alot of fans by then. The current era 2015-present is just meh.
Golden Era probably truly ended In 07 COT Era lead to Nascar today
@@fatpatlives1998 at least in the COT era you still had big names like Gordon, Jr, Johnson, and Stewart that helped keep the sport somewhat relevant.... Now, you've got barely anything. Sorry, but Chase Elliott or Kyle Busch don't have the same national relevancy the big 4 of the 2000s/2010s had.
As much as I hate to agree it is meh. I wasn't stupid excited when I went to the ASR @ Bristol. It was fun and I still enjoy tuning in and keeping up with Nascar. Just don't know that kindle of me dropping $200 2x a yr at Dover, staying all weekend will ever come back. Plus keeping up with die-cast nowadays is a money pit in itself
Exactly.
I'd go with the 2003 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400. It was the final Fall race at Rockingham, Bill Elliott's last win and Matt Kenseth clinching the championship in the final year of Winston's sponsorship and the classic points system. I chose it over the next race at Homestead because it was the first race with the new configuration and Bobby Labonte lucked into the win even though it was his last one too.
It's a shame that the the true era ends.
Fr
I doesn't end. It ended
Honestly don't lose hope yet
I feel like the true end was actually 2 Years later at Homestead 2016 when we lost Tony, Carl and others cause with that pretty much killed the last of the true old breed of the 90s and 00s right now the only ones left as of 2021 is Harvick, Kurt, Ryan, Truex Jr and I guess Hamilin other than that I feel like the personalty of the sport which made it as good as it once was is gone cause I get some people are trying to revive it but I feel like with all the new drivers we might never quite have the same chemical reaction like in the 90s and 00s.
Absolutely right. It’s hard to duplicate the personality we used to have even from guys that didn’t necessarily run up front like Kenny schrader, jimmy spencer, Kenny Wallace, ward burton I could go on and on but when you look at these guys now they are kinda boring to be honest
@@keenenbenton9843 agree with both of you gents. We have some of that, but it's still not nearly as good as what made Nascar in the 90s & 00s. Part of what killed that is the late 00s sponsor machine polished mannerism expected.
I like Chase but for MPD. He's vanilla as a cucumber in front of the camera. Maybe we can get close to that sometime soon.
@@jamesdb7115 most definitely Chase actually became my favorite driver after Jeff retired but I’ll be the first to admit he’s very dull in front of the camera.. even guys that used to be more fun to watch are more dull like Harvick and Kurt Busch
@@jamesdb7115 I wouldn't call Chase "dull", his victory burnout and standing on top of the car at the roval last year, the middle finger and Truck Series win where he imitated Kyle Busch's victory bow. He does have personality. Maybe not in interviews, but by his actions from a distance.
I agree 95% but I'd like to throw in Jeff Gordon's final win the next year as kind of a tagging on to this race. I agree with everything you mentioned in the video.
I don’t know why, but today’s guys are just harder to connect with...miss those old days
I agree. Back then everyone had personality they easily could show live.
We need to go back to every rule in this season (minus the playoffs) no restricting speeds, no charter system, no stages just real racing, restricting speeds completely ruins nascar (if u want restricted speeds go watch old IROC) the charter system makes it even harder for small teams to compete and gives awful teams like RWR guaranteed spots every race, the playoffs don't belong in nascar period. and stages are the only idea i wouldn't have a huge problem keeping but I still wouldn't mind seeing them go either
At least we enjoyed that wonderful moments
I think that you should do a video on David Pearson.
I totally remember this. It was a great race! My dad and I were ecstatic seeing Jr win and Gordon come in 2nd! 2014 was a pretty exciting year watching the Cup Series.
The Golden Era may be over but there's no reason to be sad. That was a very special time in late 90s. I am very thankful that late 90s Nascar was essentially my introduction to sports. I stopped watching around 2003 and just came back....and although it's very very different and not as raw, it can still shine. Racing is a phenomenal sport. Those racers back then were my heroes. Seeing those deaths from 99 to 01 was....a lot for a little kid. So i went to basketball where you dont literally risk life.
Thanks for sharing! As a huge Dale Jr. fan, I'll always remember his only win at Martinsville. I was a sophomore in college at the time, but I took a break of studying that Sunday to watch the race (as I did every week then, and still do today). NASCAR isn't the same without Junior, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and all the other drivers I grew up watching since I first started watching the races in 2004.
2014 started the downfall of the sport with the removal of the ride height rule. As soon as they glued the cars to the track with that very little skill was required from here on and it became a downforce war since everyone was running super hard suspension packages- all aero no mechanical grip. 2013 was the end of the golden era and the end of real talent being required.
Awesome job! Felt like I was re watching the race. Sure miss the older racing
great video as usual. Thank you for all the content!
for me NASCAR ended at Homestead Miami 2003, I was there at the last winston cup race, the chases ended it for me
Ram horsepower back in the cars, the domino effect will lead to great things!! Fans love horsepower, the fans (customers) are singlehandedly the most important aspect to Nascar, I would base every single decision on that alone. Share holders/sponsors mean absolutely nothing if the fans don’t buy tickets and tune in on TV 🤠
_“Up to 2014 was the end of an era...”_
2015-2020 be like: *Meh package, OOFed sanctioning body, stages, and illegitimate champions...* 😐
2016 and 18 were fairly good
2020 sucks for the cup series.
KG has entered the chat
Roc: Well, 2017 was good for Truex. He would have won the championship regardless of the system because he won a lot that year.
2020 I feel like Harrick should have won, even though Chase had five wins. But, Kenneth did win in 2003 with 1 win, so...
Very very good video with strong and accurate insight. Great nascar historian.
Letarte was the best thing to happen to Dale Jr. since Tony Eury Sr. If letarte didn’t retire, I think they definitely could’ve built upon what they had in the previous years and possibly had another championship contender run. Maybe Dale jr wouldn’t have retired for a couple more years even.
Tony sr was his best CC unfortunately Teresa and Dale Jr fucked that combination up
I mean Jr. retired due to injury.. there’s no way he would have retired if he didn’t suffer multiple concussions. Had nothing to do with crew chiefs.
I always wondered how Dale Jr's career would have turned out if he had gotten Letarte earlier
@@dindog22 i always wondered how long dale jr would have lasted if daddy hadn't died...it's a shame they put a guy in the hall of fame because he was popular, (with daddy's fans of course), cause it damn sure wasn't because of talent or championships
Lasted? He won 3 Busch championships in a row you clown lol
NASCAR in the 90s was the best. I'm glad to be old enough to remember it and sad to see the state of the sport today.
2014 was the last golden season before NASCAR went full strict. I miss those Bump 'n Runs.
The Iceberg is on a roll lately. Love it!
The end of the greatest age of Nascar ended on February 18 2001. 1/4 lap from the conclusion of the Daytona 500 with the passing of The Intimidator.
Honestly there have been a lot of “ends of golden eras” in NASCAR. Talladega 1987 was the end of the golden era of speed because of something called a restrictor plate which changed racing drastically. Atlanta 1992 was the end of a few golden eras. It was Pettys last race, the last time an owner/driver would have a championship, maybe the last time that 6 TrueType competitive cars would have a mathematical shot at the championship and it signaled a “changing of the guard” with a young hot shot by the name of Jeff Gordon starting his first race. There are several tracks holding there last race like N. Wilkes pro and Rockingham you could consider ends of golden eras. For me personally Junior Johnson’s last race as an owner was the end of a golden era for me because of the impact he had on the sport. Of course Dale Earnhardt’s death was the end of a golden era because of the drastic changes made to the sport because of it. When Winston left the sport was the end of a golden era. And the are a few more that I probably am not thinking of at the moment.
Tony Stewart kind of counts?
I disagree that Earhardts death had much to do with eras. Nascar would go on to peak in the early 2000's. The true end of the peak was when Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin retired
I'd add Dale Jarrett to the list of Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace
I remember watching this race as a 12-year-old in my upstairs room w/NASCAR RaceView Mobile on my father's phone playing simultaneously. It was a fun one to watch and definitely a reminder of the past, which was when I became a fan. As for my take on NASCAR's "golden age", I say that 2014 was, really, the last year of it. 2015 was technically the last season of that era but it was such a dumbed-down version that it is not treated as such. Growing up with the roster of drivers that made those days what they were, was very, very special.
I guess it's fitting the others that competed in the same timeframe that didn't get a fair chance at success, were the ones who that were filling in the gap between '14 and the next generation of the sport. Guys like Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Truex, and even the current Penske duo of Keselowski & Logano, are the names that dominated the days bridging the void between the mid-2010s and early 2020s, while we see the future in other personalities like Blaney, Elliott, Bowman, Wallace, Briscoe, Custer, etc. The era that the "golden age" prepared us for is now upon us. The future has arrived in quite a few ways so far, but not entirely. To my beliefs, it is by the end of 2022 or '23 that that the "next generation" tag will be gone and slapped with the traditional one by the name of "current", solidifying that the younger breed of fans will have a cycle all to their own for the very first time.
I can't wait for that to come to fruition, considering the fact that I'm a part of the budding piece of the fanbase that's been eagerly waiting for the torch to be passed on to, or something along those lines. Whatever the case, though, I like the dynamics of the transitions between different eras of NASCAR. It's an interesting element that can be overlooked at times, and I believe needs to be monitored as the next wave of changes get built. Hopefully we get a good slice of the pie, as stock-car racing prepares for a new look and feel.
I looked at old articles of the Gen 6 car from 2013, and they've actually been thinking about putting tapered spacers in the engines for quite a while before they actually did it, as much as I hate the spacers, I'm glad they didn't put them in earlier because it could've completely changed the way we see these cars and we would've never seen this god of a great end to an era.
My golden era is
1980s-1990s Aerowars-2005
Aerowars were fun, especially looking back on it.
My era too. IMO it really started tanking after 2005-
What we have today is basically the old IROC series.
Well formulated opinion man. Well researched and spoken. I agree, and miss the days of having a Dayton 500 party at my parents house every year.
I was so excited watching the beginning part of this because as a diehard Gordon fan 2014 was such a fun year... until I remembered Texas.
2003 Ford 400 is The Last Race From The Golden Era
The Golden era died when Toyota and the COT came into the sport in 07. I started watching in 04 and watched every qualifying session, happy hour and race for about 3-5 years. Quit caring in about 13 or 14. I think that not long after 07, the Busch and craftsman series quit going to short tracks which hurt them too.
I think its really awesome how NASCARs rise in popularity occured when Richard Petty retired and a young rookie cup driver Jeff Gordon came into the series, elevated the sport to which its heights of popularity will never be seen again and then wained culminating with the race that ended this "golden era". You were correct to pick Martinsville as the last race, you even had the right season(the fall), even the correct driver(s) to end that era, just the wrong year. A year later at Martinsville Jeff Gordons final season won that race punching his ticket to Homestead. That race.so full of memories of past accomplishments Jeff achieved and seeing the youthful, hungry, excitement burst out of him like it was 1997 again was truly the end of that era, his era, my era of NASCAR Cup racing. GETTING OLD SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There’s a possibility that NASCAR might be working ahead to a brighter future sure… but you nailed it. 2013 for me was special just because it was another Jimmie Daytona 500 and championship but the JG DJ battle at martinsville was special. And since that moment I’ve had “feelings” about certain races but not the same goosebumps I used to have. The old guard is truly gone and now with the new old guard of Newman, Harvick, Hamlin, the Busch’s, and MTJ… it’s just getting difficult to cheer on the old guard drivers since they’re so horrible exposed right now. Harvick had a fantastic season but man…. 2021 has shown a lot.
When they stopped racing back to the line, the sport started downhill.
It's a Damn shame that by the time I became interested in NASCAR in 2008, the era was winding down.
But there is hope that we someday see NASCAR how it was before
I didn’t watch nascar until last year in 2019 spring Talladega, because all those other years I didn’t know the channel and what time it came on and I didn’t know if we had the channel. When I finally figured that out my mom lost the tv remote so I couldn’t change the channels. So I missed a lot of nascar. All I remember from growing up is a red Gen 4 car driving on a turn of what I think is Michigan, not sure what race or driver. Might be Dale Jr. idk. Wish I watched though
NASCAR is going through a big change (for all intensive purposes). And it is just going to take time to accommodate to the change. Give or take 5-6 years if NASCAR doesn't continue to pull itself through the wringer, we will at least feel some sort of resemblance to what was.
It's never going back to what it was late 90s to mid 2000s. Sucks. Lucky I'm 30 years old and basically grew up into watching when it hit its peak
Really I started watching in 2015 !
2011 for me
2005
2010
09
2004 or 2005
It's a shame when NASCAR tribute videos are more interesting to watch than today's live on tv racing.
Great video!
This was the race! I cried after this win. I had been a Jr fan since 2005 at that point and had been through some tough times as a Jr fan.
We're gonna drink....a lot of.......SENSODYNE! gosh I just love how the ad breaks come right in the middle of when someone is saying a word
This is your best video you've done. Your dialog is on point. Your speech is smoother. Less "you see" 's. Nice. But you've gotta change the outro music. It kills the mood and reminds me it's not Black flags matter/ Brock Beard quality. But your getting there. Still better than Danny B though. You got this man. Been with you from the start. 💯
literally the race right after that was the 1st nascar race that I went to
I've been thinking a lot about this and I would say that 1992-2014 was the Golden Era for Nascar
For me, I started watching in 2009. End of an era to me... *sigh* 2015, when Gordon retired.
I did watch Stewart retire in 2016 and Junior retire in 2017, but... I feel it's never been the same since those 2 retired, and with Jimmie Johnson retiring, it's gonna feel weird not hearing that name on the track every week.
I completely agree with you. I hate stage racing, NASCAR definitely isn't the same.
McMurray did pretty good this race apparently, might have to go and rewatch it
Damn, Gordon racing at Martinsville with 80% difficulty.
I was at that martinsville race. that’s the closest i’ve been to seeing Jeff Gordon win a race in person. I still think if there was one more lap in that race Jeff Gordon would’ve been the Cup series champion in 2014. I was devastated going home.
If Jeff had one more lap, Texas would not even have mattered, and he probably would have been a 5-time champ with how good his homestead car was. It would've been a very unpopular win, probably his least popular win since 2007 at Talladega of Phoenix, but he probably would have at least gotten a bumper to him a couple times
This is hypothetical
Nah, one of those is tomorrow, maybe Wednesday to
@@TheIceberg ahh ok
I think that jeff gordons final win to his racing career in 2015 at martinsville for the final 4 is the end of the golden age
It was awesome after growing up going to Martinsville every year from about 2005-2014 to be able to go to this race and finally see Jr. win in person. The Earnhardt Gordon rivalry was strong in the stands. Everyone was going crazy in anticipation during the red flag before the finish. It was the last race that had that classic nascar feel too me in the stands. I went to the 2017 Daytona 500 after that, and the energy was def different, and the stages just made it entirely different from a strategy standpoint. The era of stages and manufactures working together was def a huge change in feeling for me from the late 90s to mid 2010s for sure.
Definitely marked the beginning of the end. My dad and sister were Dale jr. fans, my uncle was a Stewart fan, and I was a Gordon fan. Racing isn't the same for me without those three, and that's the case for my family as well.
I believe once Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarret, and Andy Petree, Dr Jerry punch ,Hollywood Armstrong and the mailbag questions at the beginning of the race and all of that on ESPN is what ended Nascar tho. Once Allen said “we hope to see you at Dayton and the future races,this is Allen Bestwick signing off” that was what ended nascar for real
From a fans perspective i would say the 2001 Gatorade Duels, because after that, with Dale being gone, Nascar was gone, but being objective I think the end of the golden era was the 2007 Ford 400.
I’m currently watching 2000s Nascar on UA-cam and it is an era I truly wish I would’ve watched when I was younger. To me, I would say the golden age really ended with the beginning of the Gen 6 car, as the cultural relevance of NASCAR had pretty much seen all its heyday by 2013.
I love your vids
When jeff Gordon Dale Jr and tony Stewart retierd perfect 🏁
Man I was at the race and out of all the races I went to when Jeff raced I really thought that was gonna be the one.
2014 Is such a Great and Underatted Season 2016 And 2017 Were great too
2017 was boring though please don't rate it more than it should.
@@runrafarunthebestintheworld Shut up you probably didn't even watch
2017 sucked
@@packisbetter90 No It wasn't Bitch
Lol I forgot how epic a celebration that was
They had to protect the Trophy lol
Jimmie Johnson winning Championship #7 at Homestead with a perfect 2 lap shootout against Kyle Larson, that was the end of the golden era, everything changed after that. Watching Kyle dismantle the field this season was like a replay of Johnson in his prime, it was wonderful to watch!
I missed the days when any given week, it was gonna be either Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, or the Roush boys (Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards) winning it... add that along with Dale, Kahne, Harvick, Kurt here and there... and the new comers like Kyle and Denny... Damn the 2000s were amazing.
Cause there were way more competitive teams then.
Agreed. Nowadays if you see the 19 in the lead, that’s all she wrote.
I was there, will never forget it. Never gonna be another day like that one.
As a Gordon fan 2014 was so fun to see him return to his old glory but so painful to see him miss out on the final 4. And he had a really good homestead car too that probably could’ve won it all.
It’s crazy to think if he had just beaten Jr at Martinsville OR not crashed at Texas OR Newman didn’t wreck Larson he would’ve been in the final 4.
It was so frustrating that Ryan Newman was a final 4 driver.
The Golden Era ended when they introduced the COT.
That may be, but I'll endorse drivers popping out of horrible crashes like it's no big deal.
I agree. It was longer than what hes showing. Things were already falling off by the late 2000s
I agree completely. 06 was the last golden era year for me. I'm still a huge fan but I still remember when nascar was better.
I love NASCAR roots way more
You gave nascar a lot of grace lol. I consider the last race of the "golden era" to be probably the last race of 2004. The epic homestead race where Kurt Busch won the championship. Seems to have leveled off or declined ever since then.
04 was one of the last great years. I think from 1998 to 2006 were the peak years of NASCAR
Golden era was way before this. From late 90s to about 2006 was when NASCAR was at its peak. Look at old videos. Stands every track sold out and that was way before most tracks tore sections of them down. Way more people you knew followed Nascar and everywhere you went Nascar was somewhere like on a billboard, sponsors, and tv ratings at a time were at NFL levels. The COT and economy crash plus many things that happened since caused the popularity to drop
I was at this race in person. I sat in turn 3. It was a great race. It was cool to Dale Jr win a points race, although I am a Gordon fan. I saw Jr win the All Star Open in 2012 as well. I never saw Jeff win although I had the chance to go in 2015, but I turned it down.
Tony, Jeff, Kennseth, Edwards, the Biff..... We still have Harvick, but these young guys just don't seem to have what it takes. The passion and good commentators don't exists anymore. Except Mike Joy.
The NASCAR that I grew up with died a long time ago. That doesn't mean I still don't watch from time to time. I am just not passionate about the sport than I used to and I don't always like the direction that they go, but you have to understand the position they are in, they still have to run a series and try to keep things relevant and deal with a pandemic and still put races on. This is ongoing but hopefully things get better.
A lot of it before coronavirus was their own fault
jeff is the GOAT
I think it had to do with the relevance of the sport. The old guard that people had invested their passion and time into during a time when social media wasn't a thing was retiring with legendary shoes to fill.
Like what's happening to wrestling, noe that the internet has spoiled the magic of the industries, and the icons are retiring, it no longer means the same.
Nascar used to mean something to people. It was your battleground as a fan. My guy would beat your guy, and we were brand loyalists then. It was a poor man's car culture, a magical time indeed.
Racing tends to be better when the playing field is even and when driving skill is rewarded. In general, NASCAR is much better than other motorsports in that regard. But the current aero package seems to deter drivers from having close battles for position at the mile and a half tracks. It will be interesting to see if the new cars change things.
The era ended for me when Kyle Busch won a championship on half a seasons drive and was cemented over when they added a repair clock. The core of the series was a long grind to survive to the finish with beatin and bangin on the track and in the pits but that whole aspect is gone
I personally think that it happened slowly, cause there were still great races like this in 2015 but less and less, and slowly us fans have been drug into watching what once was great but is now lost it's touch and is boring.
Finally a happy ending to a video for Jr in the 2010's