I am a new writer with HorsepowerKings.com. I am only 30 years old – but I have been watching NASCAR Cup racing pretty closely since the early 90’s.

You know, the Winston Cup days.

I vividly remember the likes of Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Sr, Sterling Marlin, Darrel Waltrip and Kenny Schrader workout out their differences in front of packed-grandstands on Sunday afternoons.

Those drivers were so admired by the fans partly because they were older racers – men that were fully grown into their wisdom, strength, skillset and basically encompassed the old-school-full-man status. These guys were like your friend’s dad – the guy that worked construction, had a strong moustache, wore steeltoe boots and worked hard – and you never thought about crossing them. These drivers drove Cup cars in an age where they all respected their fellow competitor, because one wrong move could mean the end of a human life. Speed, not safety, was a priority in those days.

And as fans we just sat back in awe and admiration of these guys. They were tough, older, wise and were driving cars that were far more dangerous (and even faster) than today.

You combine these older drivers with cars that were balanced more towards speed than safety, and the final result is the hero. The hero that was bigger than life. Even older folks looked up to these men, not just the younger generation.

I remember going to Fontana for it’s inaugural race in ’97 and seeing Earnhardt Sr. walk by (I am grateful to have seen him in the flesh and on the racetrack in person). I remember older gentleman were even intimidated by his presence. Same for Rusty Wallace, etc. It was like this elite, exclusive club of seasoned, hard, racecar drivers that couldn’t wait to get into their cars and race flat-out for 500 miles. Much less glamor, much more grit.

We just don’t see that anymore. Tony Stewart may be the last of those, but even he (as awesome as he is) still doesn’t quite have that brawn that those earlier drivers had.

Today we have the younger driver, highly talented but not fully developed and it’s just not as cool. Some of these kids can’t even grow facial hair – and as talented as they are it’s just hard to look up to them, especially if you are on older fan. Even older guys still need someone to look up to.

I love NASCAR and will always will be passionate about this amazing sport, but if we had modern day Dale Earnhardt Sr’s, Rusty Wallaces, Sterling Marlins – I would be exponentially more fanatical about racedays. Those guys didn’t care about the camera, all they cared about was wiping the grease off their face and getting in a car and driving the piss out of it.

These guys were men among men and we all looked up to them.. I know times change and the sport has evolved and we now have a different, modern interpration of a ‘man’ (don’t get me started) but we bring these rough n tough types back it will change the dynamics of the sport, in a good way.