BRISTOL, Tennessee. (WGHP) — Throughout the different eras of NASCAR there have been a handful of drivers who have achieved superstar status with popularity that went beyond the typical racing fan.
Junior Johnson was called the last American hero, Richard Petty became The King, Dale Earnhardt was The Intimidator and Jeff Gordon carried the sport in the ’90s, which brings us to today: is there a superstar in NASCAR and the sport even do you need it?
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Petty, Gordon and Earnhardt were three very different personalities, but they became mega stars with one shared common trait; victorious. And winning was a big part of the reason they were considered superstars.
Each of them was the dominant driver of their era, often winning double-digit races in a single season and all with multiple championships. But the current era of NASCAR discourages an undisputed winner, leaning toward parity, where the playing field is level.
Cup champion Ryan Blaney says times have definitely changed, preventing even the most talented driver from breaking away from the field.
“There are no longer guys who win 10 races. This car doesn’t allow that. So how do you set yourself apart to stand out? How do you do it? Make yourself different from the rest of the drivers, who are really good at what they do and you know it all starts with success on the track,” Blaney told FOX8.
Hosts, including Denny Hamlin, use social media and podcasts to build “brands,” but like Blaney, Hamlin believes it’s all about winning.
“You know, it’s very possible to have 8 to 9 winning seasons, but I don’t know if you’re going to develop superstars these days, you know how things go. I think that’s really, really hard,” Hamlin said.
Fans have changed too, with so many options to get their attention. Kyle Busch, one of the Cup’s most popular and polarizing drivers, has seen the change over the years.
“For some reason, I’m not sure what it is, but you have the die-hard NASCAR fans like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Harry Gant, you name it,” Busch says. “I don’t feel like we’ve been able to transition a lot of the fans who were fans of those drivers, the names I just mentioned, to fans of William Byron or Kyle or whoever you know, they’re kind of like that. They probably “He went and just stopped following me so much.”
That’s a marketing problem that only NASCAR, the teams and the driver can solve. Kyle Larson is one of the sport’s most popular drivers on the track right now, but he tells a story about how he ate at an Applebees in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and no one knew who he was. He points to F1’s marketing power as an example NASCAR could follow.
“Formula 1 is huge. They’ve done a really good job promoting their drivers and making them superstars and you know, I don’t know what to do here to make us like that, but it would be great, it would be great. “It would be fantastic for the sport, it would be fantastic for all our brands.”
NASCAR’s current most popular driver moves the needle in many areas, but not yet to the magnitude of Petty, Gordon or Earnhardt.
“It’s hard for me to speak for the sport as a whole, what’s right, what’s wrong or what the solution is,” Chase Elliott said, then asked, “Who says there’s a problem? “.
Ryan Blaney says maybe the sport doesn’t need a superstar.
“I don’t know what the problem is right now with the need for a superstar. I mean, we’re all superstars, every driver, every one is special in their own right,” Blaney said.
The question NASCAR, the teams and the drivers must answer is how to move the needle like Gordon, Earnhardt and Petty in the era of Kyle, Ryan, Denny and Chase.
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