Speaking of NASCAR Veterans

Don't think they are in a slump. NASCAR has made the rules so that all the cars are equal. As soon as someone discovers a competitive edge, NASCAR will make a rule to take it away. That's why you have 30 car packs jammed together on the track and no one pulls away. Really kind of boring.

 

In the past, young drivers had to start out on the bottom and work their way up to the top. The veteran drivers had the good teams and equipment and endorsement deals while the younger drivers had to suffer for a while with lesser equipment, less experienced teams, and less sponsor money to work with.

The came Jeff Gordon. Now the times have changed and when the young drivers are brought up they immediately have everything just as good if not better than the veteran drivers. There is a lot more pressure on all of the drivers now to win and have immediate success regardless of whether they are a rookie or veteran driver. A couple below average seasons in a row and a driver can lose their ride.

 

I see much validity in all the ideas posted so far. I think everything said contributes to what we are seeing.

I do sometimes wonder if there is more behind it, as drp737 asks, for two reasons:

1) it's obvious that the $$$ corporate and media see profits in the rookies, and hate nothing more than to have to give credit or recognition to a veteran.

2) I can accept that reaction time increases with age. In some cases perhaps the drive to win. These, though, can be offset by experience and maturity, up to a point. But, I know of no law of physics that would cause mechanical failures based on the age of a driver (except mistakes like overrevving or crashes).

Remember DW's last year or two? Did his engine say "My driver's over 50, so I'm going to blow on the fifth lap of every race"? Did his power steering say "This guy's old, I'm going to burst a hose"?

A definite, unexplained parttern, IMO.