Trying to get a win...for how long?

If you're like me, you're scratching your head wondering where the "equal playing field" is. Wasn't the COT suppose to make equal cars and better racing?

Out 0f 43 drivers, only 12 have won races this year.

Here's a look at who's chasing a win and how long it's been?

#96 Schrader, Ken 4 wins, last win 6/2/1991 (17 Years)
#45 Petty, Kyle 8 wins, last win 6/4/1995 (13 Years)
#09 Marlin, Sterling 10 wins, last win 3/17/2002 (6 Years)
#7 Gordon, Robby 3 wins, last win 8/10/2003 (5 Years)
#45 Labonte, Terry 22 wins, last win 8/31/2003 (5 Years)
#55 Waltrip, Michael 4 wins, last win 9/28/2003 (5 Years)
#21 Elliott, Bill 44 wins, last win 11/9/2003 (5 Years)
#43 Labonte, Bobby 21 wins, last win 11/16/2003 (5 Years)
#19 Sadler, Elliott 3 wins, last win 9/5/2004 (4 Years)
#87, Nemecheck, Joe 4 wins, last win 10/10/2004 (4 Years)
- - Mayfield, Jeremy 5 wins, last win 8/21/2005 (currently without a ride) (3 Years)
#8 Martin, Mark 35 wins, last win 10/9/2005 (3 Years)
#83 Vickers, Brian 1 win, last win 10/8/2006 (2 Years)
#29 Harvick, Kevin 11 wins, last win 2/18/2007 (1 Year)
#5 Mears, Casey 1 win, last win 5/27/2007 (1 Year)
#1 Truex Jr., Martin 1 win, last win 6/4/2007 (1 Year)
#42 Montoya, Juan Pablo 1 win, last win 6/24/2007 (1 Year)
#26 McMurray, Jamie 2 wins, last win 7/7/2007 (1 Year)
#24 Gordon, Jeff 81 wins, last win 10/13/2007 (1 Year)
#17 Kenseth, Matt 16 wins, last win 11/18/2007 (1 Year)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Blues on October 22, 2008 at 10:07pm

That makes sense, but can the Nascar execs think that deep or that far ahead.....? I figure they actually believe the hype the spread...

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Permalink Reply by Robby2Win7 on October 22, 2008 at 6:34pm

I find it funny that POS is about to make his 1000th start, and he has only managed to get only 4 wins...................Yeah, I know 2 Daytona 500's is cool and he has one more win than Robby, but still...............

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Permalink Reply by Mario on October 22, 2008 at 7:31pm

To be fair, POS's "1000th start" is a combination of Cup, Nationwide (Busch), and Craftsman Truck races. In that combined 1000 starts, Michael Waltrip has 15 wins (4 Cup, 11 Nationwide/Busch). And unless my math was off (and it could very well be off), the Atlanta race would be his 1001st race. But I will double check my numbers when I get home from work.

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Permalink Reply by Mario on October 22, 2008 at 7:54pm

I was just checking the numbers using the career numbers from NASCAR.com's driver profile page for Michael Waltrip and it has him at 721 Cup starts, 271 Nationwide (Busch) starts, and 8 Craftsman Truck starts which means he hit 1000 career starts at Martinsville last weekend. Yet, on the chart included in the article about his 1000th start, it has him at only 270 Nationwide (Busch) starts. Very interesting.

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Permalink Reply by Brad on October 22, 2008 at 7:37pm

Your exactly right! Nascar is actually a spec series.

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Permalink Reply by racefanrobin on October 22, 2008 at 10:53pm

My GAWD..........Kenny Schrader has not won a Cup race in that long, someone get that poor man a Hendrick car to drive!!! What a list...mind boggling.......how defeated would you feel race after race knowing you were pretty much a field filler?? And these are not slouchy drivers, is this why NASCAR ratings are falling??

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Permalink Reply by Lance on October 23, 2008 at 9:00am

He HAD a Hendrick car to drive for a lot of those years.He drove for Hendrick from 1988-1995 and won all 4 faces there. When I first started watching racing he had already won his last race. That's how long it has been. I started watching racing in the fall of 1991.

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Permalink Reply by JoCo on October 22, 2008 at 11:06pm

Well if the cars were the same why even bother having teams? Or your own garages? Or team sponsors? IROC died for a reason, nobody likes the concept. Part of the mystique or appeal of auto racing is building the car and getting them spec'd differently and seeing what wins out and what performs well. The cars are just as much athletes as the drivers. That's why Formula 1 is so popular, because the constructors are just as important as the drivers.

Personally I wish NASCAR would give the teams a little more autonomy in making the cars and would deregulate it a lot. It looks like with the Nationwide COT they're having several different nose styles judging on the pictures of testing, but that could be because they're just trying a lot of different ones right now and are going to settle on one design later.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on October 23, 2008 at 9:39pm

The concept of IROC was fine, the practice was horrible. No one cared about an Race of Champions that had 8 mid pack NASCAR drivers in it and no one of note from any other series anywhere in the world. When people could count on Dale Earnhardt vs Al Unser matchups, they watched. The series got progressivly worse in the "variety" of tracks and drivers that were used. They made a last ditch grasp by dumping a bunch of 10th rate open wheel drivers (IRL mid packers) into the series.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on October 23, 2008 at 9:42pm

Thats what I keep saying. The obsession some people here have with Waltrip is fantastic/baffeling. Must kill them to see that Waltrip is ahead of RG in points this season.....The 55 is locked in to start 2009 in the top 35 and has full sponsorship for the season.

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Permalink Reply by GrayAntiMatter on October 23, 2008 at 9:40pm

Who on earth actually was dumb enough to believe that a transition to an entirely new car would not provide an immediate advantage to the larger high budget teams?