Why Late ‘90s NASCAR Was Awesome (Besides Dale Earnhardt)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Veteran drivers determined to return to victory lane after several years of trying. Broadcasters who made the action feel bigger than life. Catchy commercials that weren't for insurance or medication. A real-life Russ Wheeler playing the villain. Oh, and Dale Earnhardt, too. This is what made NASCAR great in the late 1990s.
For a more complete feel of what it was like watching NASCAR from 1995-2000, watch the videos used in this one:
PHOTO CREDIT
Darryl Moran (Phoenix 1998)
VIDEO CREDITS
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I also credit Dennis Miller, who I'm pretty sure I'd heard that Dylan Thomas quote from before.
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The personalities were awesome. But, the tracks weren't all so similar, and the cars weren't so Aero dependent. Guys could pass. The cars weren't so over engineered.
DE 3N8 same thing that is happening to F1 as well. The cars actually drive themselves and it doesn’t take skill to drive like it used to be.
Exactly right. I love the sport today, but not the same love I had for it in the 90s and 00s. The personalities are #1 and there arent as many as there use to be. Too vanilla, and you know some of the drivers nowadays do have that personality. They just don't show it.
@@jamesdb7115 I agree
Races were won in the garage as well as on the track. IROCNASCAR is awful
@@robminmonaca f1 is boring. Mercedes and Ferrari are always at the top with a sprinkle of red bull and ,occasionally, Williams or Renault. I still watch, however.
My addiction is now GT3 endurance racing. Alot of fun, great tracks and a big field of top tier and amateur drivers. I've even raced with pro and pro-am drivers in Sims.
This video needs so many more views. It seems like it’s become popular to rip on the old fans to defend the bad decisions of modern NASCAR. Great video man, absolutely loved it.
They make it to easy to make fun of them. They can't see the forest for the trees because their rose tinted glasses are blinding them. I agree the whole package isn't as good as it used to be, but there's still way more positives than they give credit for.
Thank you! That's very kind of you to say.
The " new " fans, aren't fans at all, it's only about insecure people, having more crap, than the next guy, you can't talk to them about connecting rods, or cylinder heads, the repeat each other's bullshit, like mocking birds,
What do you mean by "It's become popular to rip on old fans to defend the bad decisions....?
@@floydfanTN You offered so much evidence. I'm totally convinced that NASCAR is better now simply because time has elapsed.
Personalities and TV production are really what is missing
Personalities are there.
Whether its you, bfm, iceberg or brock beard y'all care and make the community a better one.
Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett. They were the best trio
@@dennisbowen452 'Personalities' is referring to the drivers.
@@kl5_racing251 figured he meant the media personalities
@@dennisbowen452 Ok
Bob Jenkins is king, and that speedworld intro is still awesome
Yep. I like most of the modern TV crews, but they'll never compare to Bob Jenkins and Benny Parsons.
@@tbmaynard ...and Ned Jarrett
Even now, just.... chills
Ned, BP and Bob are just absolutely in a class of their own
One of the best booths in sports history, let alone NASCAR. All 3 highly knowledgeable, with 3 distinct personalities that balanced each other perfectly.
Remember when NASCAR was on TNN. It was the Nashville network but nicknamed the nascar network. Ahh the good ole days
Yes and they also televised other types of racing like asa, scca, goody's dash, nhra, world of outlaws, silver crowns, soda off road series, sprint cars, monster trucks, tractor pulls, mud buggy drags , arca, imsa, and that indoor motorcycle racing on short dirt ovals and dirt bike racing. I miss those days
@@sportsjefe yes great memories lol. I completely forgot about powerboats lol
Sort of like the Speed Channel.
I wasn’t born then but it sound very good
@@nascarracingfan0423 Back when NASCAR was on CBS, as well.
THIS. It’s ALL TRUE. It wasn’t just the racing. For me, from the mid 90s to 2004, everything was a labor of love. The commentary, the starting lineups, the commercials. This was a sport FOR the fans, rather than for money.
God I miss Daytona... I miss the era of the Winston cup... I miss all those collectibles ❤❤❤... and dammit those jackets😂😂❤❤❤
"All of this was in service to the greatest hope of all, that Jeff Gordon wouldn't win yet another race". 😀
That sir is hilarious!!
It was true - at least for me. Really tried to tap into how I viewed races back then. Ended up being an interesting experience.
@@LASTCARonBROCK At first when Gordon was winning I was like oh well too bad Dale Sr fans. Then that pesky Jimmie Johnson came along and I felt your pain. One thing I can take to heart is this. Gordon, Dale Jr, and Stewart got out just as Segment racing came upon the scene. Segments were the absolute final nail in the coffin for NASCAR oh and throwing the caution just to refuel!!!!
@@LASTCARonBROCK It was definitely true! Oh how I enjoyed hating on him as a kid! The youth, the looks, the energy, the money, the girl, and trophy...he had it all.
Turns out Gordon is a really good dude...so I look back at it and smile nowadays. But I loved the variety, the stats, the weird storyline....when it felt like he was winning 1/3rd of the races...well it *felt* like even more than that.
@@kateofone He never really did anything wrong...just had the best strategy and team to take advantage of the changes in how they dished out the championship....but I never could put Jimmy Johnson in the same category of racers as those guys. And maybe that isn't fair to him, but I get the sense many fans feel that way, too.
For a sport entirely build on sponsorships and company's branding, it sounds weird to say it....he also felt too "corporate" in a way. Ushering in a more blaze set of driver's that will never get fined by their sponsors or team in their entire career.
Do not forget the, OOOH LIKE A ROCK, Chevy commercials
i genuinely miss good watchable chevy commericals these new ones are just cringey!!
@@fatman1288 Yeah, well it's really out of touch advertisers. They market towards their target demographic which is younger people. They bank on the old school customers to a fault, and it ends up hurting them in the long run when those customers go to a different brand.
Oh snap! I can sing along with those too!
Fords bad to the bone......
Like a rock...to the bottom of a lake!
Things that killed NASCAR for me, in no particular order: changing the points system, homogenizing the tracks, corporatizing the driver's images
The 2nd one happened to pretty much every racing series in the world and the 3rd one happened to everything in general
Cautions for fuel and stages *shakes fists*
@@BloodyBoyBlue and thats why everything sucks now
MAN...... what a great video! I'm a Jeff Gordon fan but you hit the nail on the head with this video!
That piece is truth down to every last word Brock, and while I was a Gordon fan in that era (one of the very very few at that time), and all the way up to the end too, Earnhardt was also one of my heroes, and both still are to this day, I will say 80s and 90s NASCAR was the very best era in the sport for sure.
I'm in that same position. Definitely the best era for sure.
I loved Bobby's green car! I was a child and a teen in the 90's. I knew all these guy's names. NASCAR was amazing back then! Other Series were awesome too like CART, F1, and INDY. 90's the best years. then they all went to shit in the mid 2000's
Gordon had tons of fans. The people that booed him were Dale Earnhardt fans.
big Gordon fan here I dont even feel a need to watch nascar anymore I have nobody to cheer for anyway sense hes retired..
@@carlosb1 F1 I'd say actually got better in the mid 2000s, it was an era when the Renaults, McLarens and Ferraris were all as dominant as each other, and the cars still had a Screaming V8 and racing was still pure, 2009 saw an end to that era with the simple aero, and 2010 ended it for good with both the F duct and Red Bull being dominant. I would kill to have the 2008 season back.
This was very well done. It's easy to forget just how great NASCAR was in the '90's.
That is unfortunately why it is so hard to watch any more. The Chase, stage racing, and over engineering and over simplifing of the xars
I was born in 91. Loved nascar as a kid. Cannot stand it now. Make of that what you will
I was a crew member in those awesome times for a few different teams I have always said the same thing ...nascar will never be the same again
The guys racing in the 90s were my heros. Now I'm 30 and I don't feel like cheering on silver spoon 19 and 20 year olds
Well yeah? They aren’t the guys you grew up watching
Well there was Rusty and Darrell competition. All these guys were old Saturday nite racers. That could and would work on their cars. Old tobacco cars. Wow. .
I was obsessed with Nascar in the late '90's and early 2000's.
This was the golden age of NASCAR as far as I’m concerned. Great video.
I think it started in about 84. Of course I was 12 so it started with me. Until 2001 it was the best thing going. Harry Gant Was my 1st favorite. I chewed scoal. And then. pass in the grass. That's all I need it. Plus he was the only one who could go after Bill Elliott. That was my Golden Age
Right from the mid 80s until about 2011-2012…NASCAR was pretty damn good. I grew up with the COT so I’m a bit positively biased towards it, but I still think there were plenty of names, rivalries, and interesting characters to keep the sport going. Gen 6 for some reason changed all of that for me.
Everybody knows that Bob Jenkins Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons is the reason NASCAR was so great in the 90s
Benny was the man!!!
The voice of Bob Jenkins and the music of speedworld always gets me pumped
Outstanding video, almost depressing to watch. stage racing is some kind of sick nightmare
Ya know I dont mind it....but sometimes it shows it's ugly face. It should be tweaked. It kills real long-term strategy.
JD Bennett i feel like there should still be stage winners but they shouldn’t throw a caution for stages.
@@shilpi326 I always thought they were going to follow the same format WEC did and just offer points after a specific duration of the race was completed without stopping the race.
Slim2491 i hope they will adopt a format like that. brian france is gone and nascar now seems to be listening to the fans more. hopefully 2021 is when nascar’s rebirth will be. i’d like to see nascar gain some of the popularity that it had in the 90’s and early 2000’s.
Stage points with no cautions...why don't they do it that way?
Needs a sequel: Why Late 90s/Early 2000s CART Was Awesome (Split Be Damned).
it was but IndyCar is being revitalized right now the racing is awesome and so are the personalities
However the didn’t have the Indy if they did I’m sure they would have been classics with Greg Moore winning one in the late 90s and maybe Alex Zanardi. Tony George make stupid decisions which he shouldn’t have ever have gotten the power to do in the 90s from his mother.
And why it all fell apart when Penske left in 2002 and Ganassi and Andretti left in 2003.
Cart was absolutely amazing.
you mean why 97-00 was good, after that they started to lose people and manufactures. because early 00's is also including 2002-2005 and those were the death years of CART
man, the 90s was the height of not only NASCAR, but humanity
Sam Mattox not sure that’s true
@@LouieMeekin Ok, maybe it was the 80s
@@sammattox7945 That's DEFINITELY not true
@@OccasionalNASCARRaces 70s? Am I getting closer?
Pitt Burgh waaah phone bad anything past 1999 bad!Grow up and learn to get with the times and accept 2019 you washes up 30 year old
Segmented races and the “chase” format is how you destroy a racing series, there’s a reason why the IRL and the FIA don’t do those things. It’s because they’re absolutely stupid ideas
Zachery Abrams Brain France destroyed NASCAR plan and simple.
@@robminmonaca The drug charges were not a surprise at all... you had to be on on something to ruin the best thing America had going.
BlueTrane2028 however the damage has been done. NASCAR will never be like it was back then.
Tristan Ellis he should have been the CEO of NASCAR not Brian France.
Tristan Ellis the chase format wasn’t too bad but these extra gimmicks like playoffs and stages have killed my interest in NASCAR nowadays.
The chase killed Nascar. Pretty simple. It was good up until 2004
Negative......I like the chase.....its the damn aero and the fact that bumping is no more.....A bump and run was good in the day....now, they cant pass and the cars are so fragile they cant use em
Yeah the chase sucks
I wish I could upvote this a million times.
The fans:
Brian France: We're gonna change everything and you're going to LOVE IT.
Me: Well, I'm out.
I think the chase in it's current configuration is great if you like excitement. What needs to go are the stages, and the racing itself which gets more boring every year. NASCAR is limited in what they can change these days, and they can't go back to the eighties and nineties. They just need to get a CEO who's also a longtime fan!
@@BlueTrane2028 lol this sums it up perfectly
The 1998 Daytona 500 intro still brings a tear to my eyes.
Because they didnt have the dumbass chase. That's why it was awesome.
That's right that sorry ass chase sucks shit if DALE EARNHARDT was still here it wouldn't be there cause the GREATEST called alot of shots to the head dogs of NASCAR and they would agree most the time. Losing the GREATEST RACECAR driver is a major down fall to the sport!!!!!!!!
Calm down keyboard warrior. The chase isn’t at fault here and we all know it. One thing is at fault here that led us into the dark age is: the racing product.
@@burlingtonfan7492 no. The chase was a major killer for long time fans. And not only did they not get rid of it. They made it worse and worse.
Good moments that probably never been the same. The today's NASCAR is abysmal compared with this
lol nah, it's not as bad as you think. It's had its fair share of issues in the past but the dark ages are starting to get farther and farther away.
1:21 never knew Mark Martin was that jacked back in the day haha
Still is
Even the era of the early 2000s was still pretty exciting. You gotta remember the type of personalities guys like Harvick, Stewart, and Kurt Busch were when they stepped on the scene. Tony gave great interviews because he was liable to say anything he wanted, Kurt had attitude enough for himself, his car, and the backup sitting in the trailer, and had no problem ruffling some feathers on track or voicing his displeasure about "has-beens" and "never-wases" racing with him on track. And Happy Harv used to like vaulting race cars after the finish to get in someone's face about how he was raced on track.
The 90s are what made me love this sport. I used to have the 1993 Daytona 500 recorded on VHS, so I saw Kyle Petty and Bobby Hillin almost fight, Rusty Wallace flip on the backstretch, and "the Dale and Dale show" at the finish over 50 times. I could almost recite the broadcast word-for-word at age 13 in 2000. I got into NASCAR Racing on the PC, and played every NASCAR game I could find until I realized EA was ruining console NASCAR games for me.
It was those years in the 2000s, though, before they started using any playoff system, that settled it for me, that I would be a lifelong fan. The personalities now are... a bit monocrhomatic sometimes... But we also have a changing of the guard beginning to happen, and these young guys have shown a lot of promise. So unlike most people who were fans in the 90s and hate today's NASCAR, I'm still excited week-to-week to see how the next race will unfold. Given enough time, these young guys will start to show some personality. I mean, Jeff Gordon didn't have much in the way of color commentary starting out... he just won races.
Sorry this ended up so long, I just really like these kinds of videos. Thanks Brock!
Don't forget 2000-2003 NASCAR. Those years were good as well.
osurocks 24 then the cancer know as brain France came into power and just dropped a nuke on all the momentum NASCAR was having at that time with his stupid rule changes and the COT and it led to stage racing.
@@robminmonaca Exactly! You got it! I wish he didn't go into power because NASCAR became brain dead after that.
@@robminmonaca The safer car and soft walls were necessary. Aside from that, run the races themselves just like they were in the mid 90's. Pit speed limit yes, racing back to the line, mostly yes. Lucky dog, no. If the reason for the caution is at start/finish and precludes racing to the line, throw the lights on around the track to freeze the field as it is.
BlueTrane2028 they should have waited until the safer car was actually, you know, ready. The COT killed the tv ratings more than the chase, just google it
@@BlueTrane2028 Pit speed limit yes, all the safety features added in the last 20years yes, last lap once the leader has taken the white flag race back to the line but freeze the field electronically during regular cautions other than the last lap for safety reasons. Lucky dog yes but no wave around, no attempts at a green white checkered, no stage races except for the Charlotte All-Star race. No Chase racing back to the old points system.
I'm for the lucky dog for one reason only. It was a time honored tradition amongst drivers going back to the first ever NASCAR race that the race leader would slow down and let the first car one lap down pass him racing back to the yellow flag for the caution. It was never a NASCAR rule it was a gentlemen's agreement that went unbroken until around 2003 when either Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, or Ryan Newman I forget who broke that long honored tradition. NASCAR implemented the lucky dog the following race. Between that and automatic timing I'm for the lucky dog, especially if the double file restart for the lead cars were to be left in place. Go back to single file restarts with the one lap down cars restarting on the inside front rows I may have another outlook on the lucky dog subject but I doubt it.
Thanks for helping me re-live my childhood for a little bit
The late 90s also saw the highest average driver experience levels and ages in NASCAR history. A great deal of continuity.
Happened before the 1999/2000youth movement which imo is the greatest level of driver talent
I'm kind of a new fan, I knew most of these things but just how u explained and what u touched on really changed my mind on what made the 90s so amazing and what NASCAR could do to make it better today! Thank you for this amazing video!
@9:15
"All of this was in service to the greatest hope of all: That Jeff Gordon wouldn't win yet another race."
I've never heard it put that way, but it is so true. The 24 really was the greatest "villain" the sport had ever seen.
I wish I could've lived in this era. Everyone that experienced it has always told me it was the absolute golden era.
@Versatile Wolf Probably true.
The diveristy of teams is something I also miss. Smaller teams could hang with the bigger ones. Maybe not every single week but they'd still get their share of top 5's and top 10's. It grew so fast so much of that magic got lost. It is, was, and will always be my favorite era and it was when I fell in love with the sport.
David C furniture row won the championship in 2017.
@@shilpi326 true. They were also getting much of their resources from jgr though
David C true, jgr caused furniture row to shut down by upping prices for their equipment.
@@shilpi326 I don't fault JGR for that. It's business, prices go up for performance and the exit of Edwards took out an avenue for FRR to reduce that cost by fielding the second car for JGR. The loss of sponsorship first and foremost was the cause for them shutting down.
I remember you could win with the front ripped off basically
I seem to remember Earnhardt lapping faster with the front end removed, but something like 35 laps down at a mile track. Rockingham?
Harry Gant did it. Mr October.
One of the most vibrant decades in all of sports, including auto racing. I grew up in the 2000s era, when NASCAR (and literally everything about the sport) was undoubtedly at its peak. This era though, should be known for its fresh and colorful style, and vibes. It was an aesthetic version of what good was to come in the next decade. Almost everything in the sport at that time got as creative as possible, and then some. Innovations were prominent-- they were seen left and right, while some traditions still existed, providing young fans a glimpse of the past.
Historic moments were seen more often than ever, and in some cases the racing was top-notch. It didn't reach the height in popularity that 2000s NASCAR had but the variety in creativity reached its peak. I wish I could've lived in this era of NASCAR because it seemed like a good portion of the fanbase watched together as family, and the only things fans were split on were on-track occurrences. I don't think NASCAR will ever get this vibrant again. It isn't entirely impossible for popularity levels to be what it was at the time, but the vibes that were felt in that era look like they're gonna stay in that decade locked up as in a treasure chest. If only we had a time machine!
There are MANY adjectives to use on Dale Jarrett. I don't know if "mean" was one of them, haha. Aside from yelling at Gordon after a race, he was as gentlemanly as his dad.
He was definitely not one to cross on track though. Really, many drivers were not ones you'd want to cross back then.
Fair point - might not be the best word to describe him. But he was tenacious as hell, and I think rivaled Earnhardt in that regard. Shows in the results when they ran one-on-one. Certainly not ungentlemanly, but very serious in his professionalism and will to win. I was envious of him when he and Ricky Rudd were teammates - Rudd was my guy back then.
Reasons why NASCAR was the best in 90's
1 Dale Earnhardt
2 no playoffs/chase format
3 no stages
4 racing back to the line under caution
5 4 American car manufacturers
Yeah I agree they should bring back racing back to the line. Who needs driver safety anyway? Let's take roll cages out too and see who the real men are
@@MrMW2nd hey moron they have soft walls now
They didn’t race back to the line unless it was for the win. They had a gentleman’s agreement. Lapped cars on the other hand...yeah it’s better the way it is now.
Uh there were only 3 manufacturers running full time for the majority of the 90s. Buick stopped racing full time in 1992 and Oldsmobile did the same in '93. So in terms of the late 90's, there were only 3 manufacturers in the sport. Dodge didnt reenter the sport until '01
Freezing the field is probably one of the best safety improvements they've made. I thought Dale Jarrett was going to die on my television when he was sitting in the middle of the track and cars coming at him full song. And I always considered the makes of the cars to be funny since Pontiac and Chevrolet were both GM products. Would that have been 2 against 1 in the 90s? Lol
100% agree on the commercials. We went from Drive the Big Brown Truck to Like you do sometimes grandpa?
Sounds dirty, like Grandpa had a big, Brown accident, in his Dale Jarrett Depends.
100% agreed, went from the Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts classroom instructor commercials to the You maybe turning into your parents Geico commercials.
Early 2000's were great too. 2007 was the last great year of the sport.
Hell yeah! Made the credits. Where's my cut of the royalties?
You were sent some Water, in the form of Rain, for to make some Moonshine, with, is what i heard.
I know it's easy to say "NASCAR was so much better then!" but there's some kind of magic about that era that the current one lacks.
God I remember being so excited when nascar was coming on. Sadly I have no interest now. Jeff burton gone, Dale jr gone, Carl Edward's gone, Jeff gordon gone, Kasey kahne gone.
Well done video. I fell in love with NASCAR in the 1990s as a child. Growing up every weekend we would go to my uncles to cookout and watch NASCAR. My first favorites were Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan. I thought Irvan looked really cool with the eye patch when he was in the booth after the accident. The late 90s is a million times better than today. Wish we could capture that same magic today but its long gone.
Gordon really did own them all, especially the 90’s. Wow.
NASCAR is so boring now.
Ernie Irvan was who kept me watching in the 90s . Ernie could win and wreck in back to back weekends . Always exciting knowing your favorite driver has a brick taped to his foot !!! Ernie drove every lap as if it was his last...............and Ernie could stay out on worn tires and stay at speed better than most could even dream about . Hard Charging Ernie Irvan !!!
I used to watch every practice, qualifying, Wind Tunnel, etc. I had a paper on my wall where I updated the points each week. Hell, I even used to watch the replay of the race that they had if it was on ABC and then ESPN on the same day.
Great video!
Thanks for mentioning Gary Bradberry and Billy Standridge, and the footage of the 78 and 47 cars. My Dad worked/volunteered with those drivers and teams in the mid to late 90's. He would help them out in the garage area on race weekends. Real independents. It was an honor just to make it into the races in those days.
That's so cool! I love writing about those drivers, always love the independents. Billy was particularly impressive qualifying for all four plate races in 1998 in a Thunderbird.
How did it take me 3 years to see this?!? I missed the 90's and 2000's Nascar is the peak to me but I'll be damned if that isnt something special. Very well done👏
Amazing Video
Brock Beard said it best it was a perfect storm of several things that nobody had control over. One thing though that people don't realize is that when the movie the fast and the furious came out it really put street racing to a whole new light. When you say the word racing back in the 90s people thought about nascar. Now it's one of the last things people think about, especially young people.
I looked forward to every race. Man I miss those days. Bunch of rich brats today. Rip Kenny Irwin too.
Nascar sucks ! The chase ruined this once great sport. I will never watch again hope it goes under !
Crazy I never did the Nascar thing but know every single name you said.
Damn dude you got that spot on. Everything about that era was great, especially whenever Gordon DNF.
Back then, ESPN made every race feel important without the stupid chase
Yes! First time viewer here and love it!
“Only in America. You know what I mean?”
I know Gary Bradberry, my dad does his security
I always had a soft spot for him. I met him during the Opryland NASCAR week back in 1996 got a signed picture of his Shoney’s car.
One of the things that prevent anybody to be a NASCAR fan is that paint schemes change at every race, so it's impossible to choose someone you want to win. It's like using different football jerseys at every game. Last but no least, sponsors were recognizable: it was Bud againts Miller and Coors, Texaco againt Pennzoil, Valvoline, Castrol and Mobil, Mc vs. BK, Coke vs. Pepsi, Crown Royal againts Jim Beam and Jack Daniel's and so on.
Announcers were really professional. They give you the whole starting lineup and even the non qualifiers. It's a way to get into the climax.
I agree, I've gotten back into the sport as a fan, however I always relate the Driver w/ the number and the paint scheme of the car. They don't paint them anymore, its all wraps so it's much easier to change out each race.
This was beautiful. I smiled the whole way through.....unless Jeff Gordon was on the screen....unless Jeff Gordon had wrecked.
This video is dead on. I started watching with my dad when I was about 5 in 1990. The deaths of Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki are the earliest senses of personal loss I can remember. Cheering for Richard Petty (shared the last name) over Dale Earnhardt. Cheering for Dale Jarrett over my middle-school English teacher's favorite: Jeff Gordon. Cheering for Yates and Roush drivers over Hendrick and Childress. Basically anyone in a Ford over anyone in a Chevy. Listening to Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, and Benny Parsons. Texas Motor Speedway got built an hour from my house. I had NASCAR '98 on Playstation. The beer and autoparts commercials.
Then around the time I was nearing the end of high school, Senior was dead and The Chase came around, and the Thunderbirds had given way to the Taurus and then the winged Fusion "Car of Tomorrow," and the WWF Attitude Era-style drama between the drivers was picking up, and nothing seemed like the same racing I'd grown up with.
But that Ward impression tho
wah'buh'n
Legit laughed out loud at that 😆😆
Dem dayum lahped cahrs!
The 90s were, in my opinion, the absolute peak of color schemes. Bill Elliot's McDonald's cars, Ricky Rudd's Tide car, the Ernie Irvan Kodak and Texaco-Havoline cars, the Terry Labonte Kellogg's car, the Bobby Labonte Interstate Batteries car, Jeff Gordon's legendary DuPont cars...there's so many good ones I struggle to think of a BAD one.
Some people will never know about the “22 Cataputer Doge.”
To many rules to many car enhancements by NASCAR they have taken the sport of competitive racing and shit on it.........
All of this is a mute point.The main thing today is is that there are very few drivers today that viewers can actually like. Gordon wasn't the most popular, but nobody could argue his overall talent.
Do you really think that Austin Dillon could pull into a short track in Wisconsin in the middle of July and kick ass?
The only guy who even attempts it is Kyle Busch and even though he's not popular, I admire him for being old school.
This sport is dying a gradual death and I think it's okay, because greed and daddy's pocketbook has replaced talent.
You hit it right on the head. It’s not all about the product on the track that draws fans to the sport. It’s the personalities as well, and today’s NASCAR doesn’t have much personality. I admire the talent of all of today’s younger drivers but nobody wants to root for a rich entitled 19 year old brat who’s mediocre at best but can afford great equipment. People admire the grit of someone who’s paid their dues to get there and appreciates their accomplishment that much more. Guys who didn’t get a shot until their 30’s. And when someone like tony Stewart calls people out on that he’s a villain because hurting people’s feelings is illegal in 2019. Spoiler height and horsepower aren’t gonna fix the sport but people in the car with personalities similar to those in the stand will. NASCAR was a blue collar spot with blue collar fans when clean cut Gordon came in and it attracted a different crowd. The problem is, most of the drivers after were just like Gordon but all of those newer fans lost interest. The blue collar fan stuck around and now has nobody they can relate to.
I was a Jeff Gordon fan, but watching him race wasn't enough to keep me interested in the sport. When certain veterans started retiring and Earnhardt passed away, it left Gordon competing with some rookies and just wasn't the same anymore. I sure miss rusty, mark Martin, labonte brothers, dale Jarrett, Earnhardt all on the track, good ole days
You also forgot about the cartoon series NASCAR Racers that aired from 1999-2001. That was a great show.
Absolutely amazing insight, Brock. Great job on this video.
Great video. This brought me back to the carefree days of my early teens when all I cared about was NASCAR.
And that ESPN intro for the Richmond race at 6:42 with Bob Jenkins...I could watch that a hundred times.
I remember hoping Gordon would crash every race, which is embarrassing to think about now. By the end of his career, I was pulling for him to win.
8:58 *proudly sings the Busch jingle* "I don't even drink beer!"
I’ll tell you what I’m not a fan of NASCAR but the video was so damn well put together. I watched the whole thing like I was a fan of NASCAR
Wow - that's high praise. Thank you so much!
NASCAR will never be the same ! all the rich kid whiners...the good old boy days, when Racin was Racin is sadly gone forever...
This is one of the best NASCAR videos on TH-cam
It all started when NASCAR went to the "one network" contact with FOX start with the 2001 season (which they sublet some to NBC). You don't intentionally limit your exposure/coverage! The ratings and NASCAR itself have been slowly backsliding since.
Before that you had races on CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, TBS & TNN, plus they were not in group blocks, so each network reminded you to watch NASCAR while promoting their next respective race in a couple weeks. Plus each network had a vested interest to have some kind of coverage of the sport even if they did not have the race that week. Currently the coverage is on FOX and NBC who do not promote NASCAR except when it is their turn for their races. The other remaining networks have no need to cover NASCAR since they air no races, hence the downfall in ratings and NASCAR itself
The NFL has CBS, ESPN, NBC and Fox. The NBA has ESPN, TNT and about 20 regional networks. MLB has ESPN, FOX, TBS, FS1 and 20 regional networks which are constantly promoting the sport during other programming. None of these sports limit themselves to 1 network. All NASCAR needs to do is bid out the individual races again and the people would return slowly but surely because they would be reminded to watch and NASCAR would have max exposure. Let me put it this way, if you owned a business, would you want 6 people talking/promoting your business or just one person?
Everything NASCAR did after the One Network contract was never going to fix the primary issue of reduced exposure.
No crash clock. I remember at Bristol, Martinsville & North Wilkesboro, half the cars would finish the race looking like a dirt modified, & the sides would be covered in donuts.
:46
That was an amazing race.
Was 20th row on the front stretch by pit road entance.
Jarrett had the fastest car by miles.
Nowadays drivers are a bunch of wussies they would never survive the 80s and 90s in NASCAR when you drove hurt and when you rooted for the manufacturer like Ford and Chevy and Pontiac nowadays they have yo-yos aka Toyotas running around that track they don't belong
Sad that NASCAR had gone down hill. Back then it was about racing, rivalry’s, drama, different drivers making impacts and excitement. Nowadays it’s about making the playoffs, horrible stage racing and ratings.. Not about winning championships or even about racing!..
Rich Bickle #98 thorn apple valley was one of my favorite paint schemes of the 90s
Don’t forget about all the NASCAR related merchandise being available everywhere you went you couldn’t walk into a gas station or convenient store without there being NASCAR related stuff everywhere, and the video game market was capitalizing on NASCAR we had games for every console and Papyrus revolutionized the sim community when it released the original NASCAR Racing in 1994 NASCAR was everywhere starting in the mid 90’s there was even NASCAR merchandise stores popping up on every corner it seemed and every Monday you could stop in and talk about the previous days race with everyone, even remember NASCAR jumping in on this when they opened a chain of stores throughout the country called NASCAR Thunder there was one in my local mall in Mobile Alabama. It’s where I bought my first Dale Earnhardt GM Goodwrench jacket. The 90’s was great
I think the early 2000's was the peak of NASCAR. The late 90's featured in-my-view lousy mostly superspeedway racing and also worse coverage than the early years of Fox and NBC (this makes a lot of difference for me). Other than Gordon there was little in the way of young talent at the time. Like it was a great era it just wasn't as great as the early 2000's in my own mind.
It's like a video on Dale Earnhardt I saw mentioned, although he was the most prolific name in the sport at his peak, not just with the number of titles he won, but with his antics as well to get his way, with the exception of 2001, where he won it posthumously, he was never the most popular driver. For those less familiar with NASCAR, like I was prior to 2020, it's another example of how a successful sports person doesn't necessarily mean that they're the most popular
Now, just about every driver from this youth movement is retired, except for Busch and Harvick. Time rolls on
Good..God...almighty!!! I haven't heard some of these names since literally da fuckin 90's!!!!!!!👏👏👏
Modern Nascar sucks! It's not real racing anymore.
Gordon will always be a legend.
Half of your comment is true!
@@118chosen9 🤣😂🤣😂 I knew somebody would disagree. Gordon was hated because he was so good.
Like Kyle Busch now lol.
@@wireslinger927
He lost me as a fan when he ditched his father and all the people that got him where he was at for team Hendricks. It's easy to jump on the band wagon...I have a different set of standards then most of his fans is all.
@@shane7150
I'm glad you added the lol at the end.
One of the best videos I've seen on TH-cam.
I've kept pretending to myself that NASCAR is still great, that it's still the sport I fell in love with and it's the fans who have ditched the sport who are missing out.... then I watch this video and it hits home just how much less fun the sport is now. Depressing.
The cars were challenging to drive and better looking
The drivers weren't wusses
The rules weren't a gameshow
And don't compare today's commentary to Bob Jenkins + Benny Parsons.
Late 90s racing in general was pretty good. Lots of manufacturers in sports car racing (Audi, BMW, Toyota, Corvette, Panoz, etc). Same in open wheel racing in the States, minus the CART/IRL split, which had Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Chevy and Dodge if I’m not mistaken. Can’t remember all the chassis manufacturers except for Reynard/Lola. Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher fighting for the championship in 98 and 99 in Formula 1. Spoiled for choice in good racing.
Thru the 90s, I watched EVERY NASCAR race. Busch, Truck, Cup. The turning point for me was in 2005, when NASCAR started guaranteeing 36 spots. I remember Robby Gordon finishing 7th in a 125 Qualifying Race at Daytona and still missing the 500. Then came the Chase. Then the "Playoffs" - and I drifted away. I haven't watch any races in last few years.
Don't forget the nascar video games. I had nascar 99 and 2000, I prefered the latter for gameplay and mechanics but the former had a kickass intro. I also played nascar rumble 24/7 with my sister back in the day and she loved Dale Jarrett. My Dad loved the Earnhardts, mom Tony Stewart, and I Kyle Petty. Now we're more of an Indycar family since our first Indy 500 back in '08. Imo, outside of the crown jewels, it doesn't have the charm it once had.
Great vid. I miss 90s Nascar. I was just a kid then as well so it made the drivers all seem like super heros and only one true man was evil. And his name was Jeff Gordon. Younger fans should realize he was like the Tom Brady of Nascar. Felt like he won everyweek and nobody could do anything to him.
But thanks for shining a light on that era that isn't focused on just Dale. It had the greatest era of drivers to ever drive.
Gordon and Evernham were the Brady and Belichick of racing.
This is the NASCAR I grew up on. It was exciting! I could name every driver and team to every car number, back then. It was awesome because popularity grew for the sport organically. They didn't need silly gimmicks. It was so fun to witness! How those days are missed.
These terrible young drivers who are going to be the fave of the sport in 10 years are all rich kids with zero personality. TV coverage is a complete joke now. These are the things that will keep NASCAR from getting back to its glory.
Nah cause a few of them will not make,it ten years...Byron is an example
God, TNN. The Nashville Network, Spike for those of you who even still have that. And half of it are still the same shows.lol Rusty was the man, along with D.J., Mark Martin, BUILT FORD TOUGH!
Well, I don’t know you but you must be about my age too old to be a millennial and too young to be a GEN ex are. It was the last great era of NASCAR. I missed guys like Bobby Allison, and I love Rusty million dollar bill, DW and of course BIg E....and I hated Gordon....not only because he was so good and all the little kids like him, but it was a sign of things to come. This was the last era where NASCAR felt like it was “ours”....if that makes any sense....before that CoT crap, before everything got digital and fully corporatized snd before everything became so watered down and PC. The corporate nature of it almost forced people to hide there personalities snd be PC. When Big E died....God Rest His Soul, more went than just him....it was the unofficial end of that era.