What’s In A Name?

I was 14 when I started to watch NASCAR.
My older brothers watched it all the time, so I thought I’d give it a chance.
Everyone in my family had their favorite drivers. But I wanted to be different.
I didn’t know too much about the drivers at the time, so I picked the guys with
the cool names. Buckshot Jones, Hermie Sadler, and Blaise Alexander’s first
names all seemed to jump out at me.

Time has passed and I obviously no longer
cheer for guys just because they have "cool" names. However, names are
a very important part of NASCAR’s history.

When you think of names in NASCAR, one of
the first names that comes to mind has to be Petty. The tradition began with
Lee, who scored 54 wins and three championships. Son "King" Richard
showed up good ole dad with 200 career wins (seven of those were Daytona 500s),
and 7 Championships.

Imagine what it was like for third
generation driver Kyle. When it came time for him to show his stuff on the
racetrack, there was no way to avoid the inevitable comparisons to his father’s
and grandfather’s styles of driving. Kyle, who has eight career wins to date,
has clearly molded his own identity in NASCAR, but expectations laid heavily
throughout his career. That’s just something that comes with having one of the
most popular names that is tied in with NASCAR’s history.

Another great NASCAR name is that of
Johnson. Way before the days of 2002 Raybestos rookie contender, Jimmie Johnson,
there was Junior. Having 50 career wins, Junior may be remembered equally for
his off track excursions with whiskey.

While Junior was growing up he would help
his father haul illegal moonshine in the trunk of the car. During his
bootlegging days he would take the back dirt roads, avoiding the authorities.
That’s how he learned to dirt race so well.

However, it wasn’t all clear sailing for
Johnson. After a race one afternoon, Junior arrived home to see the fire under
the whiskey still had gone out. Just as he approached it to relight the fire, he
was met by a slew of cops. In 1955, Junior was sentenced to two years in prison.

As the years have changed, so has the face
of the sport. From Johnson and his moonshine to Petty and his cowboy hat, to
Jeff Gordon and his Pepsi. Back when sponsorship wasn’t needed to race and there
were no "No Bull Five" million-dollar bonuses, what was the driving
force? Winning. And no matter how large the sport may get and how much money is
involved, that will always be the reason for racing. Looking back through record
books, we won’t think about who sponsored Jeff Gordon in 2002. We’ll simply see
another great name down in NASCAR’s history. We’ll see a guy who, at the age of
30, was a 4-time Champion, and had 58 career wins.

Being a fan of the sport, you can’t help
but be in awe at what Jeff Gordon has accomplished so far in his career.
Although his name isn’t what years ago I would have considered "cool,"
his stats sure are.