Chevy could be seeing end of era in NASCAR
Alba Colon doesn’t take pictures of race cars. As Chevrolet’s Sprint Cup program manager, she’s involved in the monotonous, science-andsweat daily business of helping crew chiefs and engineers put her manufacturer in victory lane.
But a few minutes before the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday, Colon caught herself snapping a quick shot of Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet as it staged at the exit of pit road.
Stewart, the retiring threetime Cup champion, had agreed to take a ceremonial lap before the green flag as he made his last NASCAR start in his home state race. He had asked that select relatives and friends, including Colon, be on hand for photographs.
Jeff Gordon, who won four titles with Chevrolet before retiring last season, also was in the field after agreeing to return as a replacement for injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. This made for a poignant moment that went beyond business.
“I certainly never take pictures of this,” Colon admitted. “No, this is a big deal. Jeff has been with us forever. Tony has been with us forever. Both are great friends of mine, but not only that, for the brand, they have done a lot for the brand. So for Chevrolet, yes, this is a big deal. It’s a big deal they are leaving, and it’s very sentimental.”
Amid a season in which their run of Sprint Cup dominance is under siege, Chevrolet officials could be left wondering if this type of moment will be a long time coming again.
Gordon and Stewart represent seven Cup championships (with the possibility of one more for Stewart, who most likely will qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup) for a company that has won the last 13 manufacturer titles. Part of that run has been because of the quality of Chevrolet’s teams (such as the series’ most successful, Hendrick Motorsports) and drivers (such as Gordon, Stewart and six-time champion Jimmie Johnson) and part because Chevy comprises a large portion of the field (21 entries out of 40 on Sunday).
Rival manufacturers that have toiled under Chevrolet’s run of dominance are unlikely to weep much for this age of parity, especially a Toyota Racing Development outfit that worked for nine seasons after entering NASCAR’s top series in 2007 before winning the championship with Kyle Busch last year. But Chevrolet’s most successful teams, Hendrick and Stewart-Haas Racing, are built for winning titles now, fielding veteran lineups. At Hendrick, Johnson, 40, and Earnhardt, 41; at SHR, 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick, 40, and 2004 series titlist Kurt Busch, 37.
Toyota has been ascendant this season in leading the manufacturer standings over Chevrolet, winning 10 of 20 events, including a repeat by Kyle Busch on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. JGR, which has nine of the Toyota wins, fields a comparatively youthful lineup of Busch, 31; Denny Hamlin, 35; Carl Edwards, 36, and Matt Kenseth, 44.
And it also has race-winning prospects awaiting their turns in a Cup ride, including Daniel Suarez, who leads the Xfinity Series standings; Erik Jones, the defending Camping World Truck Series champion; and William Byron, who leads the truck series for Kyle Busch’s team.
And then there’s Martin Truex Jr., 36, a race winner this season for JGR-affiliated Furniture Row Racing.
Ford boasts Team Penske’s Joey Logano, 26, and 2012 series champion Brad Keselowski, 32, and has a well-regarded rookie prospect in Ryan Blaney, 22, matriculating with Wood Brothers Racing. And Stewart-Haas will join the manufacturer next season, a move that might already have contributed to a stagnation at Hendrick as its collaboration with SHR inevitably wanes.
Chevrolet has Millennials already in Cup in 20-year-old 2014 Xfinity Series champion Chase Elliott, who replaced Gordon at Hendrick, and 26-year-old Austin Dillon, who is in Chase position in his third Cup season with Richard Childress Racing. There’s also Chip Ganassi Racing perennial prospect Kyle Larson, 23, who holds the 16th and final Chase spot. But none of these drivers has proved himself as a winner in Cup, underscoring the scope of the task in replacing Gordon and Stewart.
“We always have to be thinking of the future and the next generation of drivers,” Colon said. “That’s what’s in the back of our minds. But outside of that is the character and the experience that (Gordon and Stewart) bring to the sport, and they have a lot of followers in this sport. So we are developing younger drivers that we expect to provide for the fans.
“It’s hard, but it’s part of the game. It’s part of life, unfortunately; it’s part of the business.”
That doesn’t mean the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway — the expected last race for Stewart as a driver and as a Chevrolet-affiliated team owner — will be any less odd or emotional.
“The guys, we have talked. We said, ‘How is Homestead going to be?’ ” Colon said. “I am always with all my teams. It’s going to be weird when we don’t visit them the next year. But it’s a decision. It has been made, and, again, let’s just enjoy the races we have together. Let’s try to win a championship. But Homestead is going to be hard.”