In light of the Olympics craze, it’s easy to try and relate it to NASCAR. Sometimes it works, like comparing Michael Phelps’ Olympics to Kyle Busch’s season. It’s a stretch but at least holds some parallels. Other times it just won’t translate and looks like grasping at straws. Witness one such grasp from the AP:
In NASCAR, the safest record appears to be the 200 victories by stock car king Richard Petty, 119 more than Jeff Gordon, the leading active driver with 81 wins.
On first glance it looks like Petty’s record would be unattainable today. Of course Petty’s numbers are like adding apples and oranges to Gordon’s apples. Prior to 1972 NASCAR featured as many as 56 races per season and many of these events did not feature all of the top drivers. Some were the rough equivalent of a Nationwide race. 140 of Petty’s 200 wins came prior to 1972. In 1972 a more regular schedule was devised. Since 1972 Darrell Waltrip holds the record for most wins with 84, which is only three ahead of Gordon.
Another “record” was set at Watkins Glen this season when Kyle Busch won his third road course race in a season (Mexico City, Infineon, Watkins Glen). Somehow this one failed to capture my imagination too. Other drivers like Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart have swept the Cup road courses, but didn’t always choose to race in Busch/Nationwide races. Kudos for Busch for loving to race in any series, but it’s a little skewed when the races are in different series and many of the top drivers pass on the lower series. Plus there haven’t always been five road races in a season. It would be like Peyton Manning setting a record for most combined TD passes in NFL and Arena Football. He could do it but it wouldn’t really mean a lot because the competition isn’t at the highest level.
Another key to a worthy record is longevity. Swimming records mean nothing because they are broken in almost every big race. The same goes for a qualifying record at any track. No one really cares whether Ryan Newman sets a record for the fastest lap at Lowes Motor Speedway. But it would be impressive if Newman broke Jeff Gordon’s career pole record (65 to Newman’s 43).
To me a record only means something if it has lasting value. Dale Earnhardt and Petty’s 7 Championships is an easily recognized milestone. Ricky Rudd’s record of 788 consecutive starts is another record that almost anyone can appreciate the scope of. It doesn’t have to require longevity or compiling, but it has to be something that lots of people have attempted but failed. Like winning four Cup races in a row or 13 Cup races in a season.
I’d love to hear from others. Do you care about records in NASCAR? What constitutes something being noteworthy in racing? Because of the evolving technology, are records even applicable to NASCAR?