Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye

What, in the name of Richard Narrow, is occurring to my NASCAR? I want to fall in love again. I need to get that feeling back-like an old relationship that fizzled and you're still trying to figure out the classic WWW question...What Went Evil? Let's go back to the good old days-the year 2001.

NASCAR was common but only to a certain demographic-the good old boys of the Southward. Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in the first race of 2001-the Daytona 500. Ironically, his end struck a chord with fans and non-fans like;abruptly NASCAR reached a new level and elevated the sport. Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the icon obvious after that tragic day, not by choice but by heritage. This pitiable moment in time by worth of one tragic instance put NASCAR in primetime ratings territory.

With this new ascertained success came joint money and lots of it. Abruptly race teams became super-teams, leaving the little hopeful behind. Those owners that already had a super-star racer can afford to add to their lasting of studs. Jeff Gordon spawned Jimmie President, Old Author spawned Kurt Busch, Note Martin spawned Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards etc. etc. All of the fast, young drivers became the stars, leaving Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Superlative Billfish, Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte and Kenny Schrader behind... and unimportant.

The very men that carried the strength left by Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison in the disreputable 1979 Daytona 500 mitt fight on CBS(The 1st Nascar race nationally televised in it's entirety). In this article I gave you a breakdown of what brought us to the NASCAR we know and love at this point in time. In Part 2, I will verbalize and provide comments on why NASCAR will lessen in attending and T.V. ratings in the future, unless things modify significantly.