Can NASCAR's Different Eras Strike The Same Note?

(Originally published on Feb. 25, 2008)

The day before the Daytona 500, I made my way to a George Strait-Little Big Town concert in Philadelphia. The logic that a great title fight is made thanks to contrasting styles also held true for this twang twin-bill. Strait, as I've said in the past, for all intents and purposes keeps the term "country-western" from being rendered totally obsolete. And LBT, who opened for "King George," make up an eclectic four-part harmonic tour de force that one second leans bluegrass and screams "Flower Power" the next.

But as I gazed at the Wachovia Center audience, I noticed a trend that I feel ties in closely with the current state of NASCAR. No matter how much LBT jammed out, there seemed to be a dedicated effort not to get too excited. Playing amateur psychiatrist, I deduced that by going hog wild for the upstart Little Big Town-even though their performance deserved it-in the minds of the fans it would come off as being disrespectful toward the legendary Strait.

Thing is, I don't think Strait would've minded at all. It's just like when I went to a comedy club open-mic night to support a friend's debut performance. Everyone in the audience (including myself) seemed to hold their laughs for the person they were there to see. Their hearts were in the right place, but in the end it stunted everybody's potential as a whole.

In the same vein we can talk about Toyota, open-wheel drivers and the COT. If you're an old-school fan, you may not feel that you're properly respecting the past if you don't categorically dismiss the new NASCAR, even if you haven't given it a chance.

To those taking that philosophy, you probably didn't catch Cale Yarborough's comments on SPEED at Daytona. In the current atmosphere, he could've easily played the Saturday Night Live Dana Carvey "Grumpy Old Man" card ("In my day..."), talked about how the current era doesn't hold a candle to his and probably received a very sympathetic response.

Instead, he spoke in glowing terms about the progress of the sport and the caliber of the drivers who comprise every field. Not long after, I was watching an episode of Back in the Day with Dale Jr. where Yarborough was offered a guest spot to talk about one of his classic performances. That's not a surprising move from Junior, a guy who despite dominating the conversation of this generation holds a special reverence toward the past.

Different generations and styles don't necessarily have to clash. LBT/George Strait and Yarborough/Junior prove as much.

If they can be so open-minded, shouldn't we be, too?