NASCAR veterans aren’t pulling over for the rookies
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kevin Harvick put the brakes on the “New NASCAR!” movement with a dominating victory on a weathered old racetrack.
Away from Daytona, the veterans showed the young new drivers how to race on the dogged surface at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Harvick put on a clinic, and the top eight finishers were the familiar faces that seem to compete for wins every week.
All the new kids who sparkled in the Daytona 500 had their hands full at Atlanta,
a track that requires an entirely different skill-set. In the season-opening showcase, the idea is to go as fast as you can while avoiding the mishaps of others.
But the style of racing at Daytona, as well as Talladega, comes just four times a year. The rest of the NASCAR schedule is where the true talent rises. So at Atlanta, where experience matters, the finishing order showed five former series champions — four Daytona 500 winners — cross the finish line in order.
“This is a racetrack that takes a lot of experience, and there’s a lot of things that you have to know about your car and know about the racetrack to get the car around,” Harvick said. “This is where experience pays off.”
That doesn’t fit the fresh narrative that came out of Daytona, where the new crop of NASCAR drivers ruled. Alex Bowman won the pole, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney won qualifying races, Blaney led the most laps in the Daytona 500, Austin Dillon won the race and Bubba Wallace finished second in his debut. At 27, Dillon is the oldest driver in that bunch. Harvick, meanwhile, is 42.
The shift in focus to the new generation is not lost on anyone who follows NASCAR, particularly the veteran drivers. Some have nitpicked about the marketing push behind this “New NASCAR!” and they had to have felt the change in dynamic at Daytona.
Denny Hamlin, a former Daytona 500 winner who finished third in the 500 and fourth at Atlanta, shared his thoughts on Twitter on Monday night by posting a video of pro bowler Pete Weber screaming “Who do you think you are? I am!” after winning his fifth U.S. Open title in 2012. Hamlin added his own message: “All the old drivers after Sunday.”
A reply chided Hamlin that Elliott is the future, and “In a couple years you will be watching him win from your recliner,” the fan wrote. Hamlin didn’t back down. “Agree. But I won’t be on that recliner for some time,” he posted.