If you are a subscriber to the old saying “things happen for a reason” - or as I like to say “change is good” - then you are probably in the mindset that Humpy’s recent retirement will at some point be more positive than negative. I don’t think it matters what brought on the split between Bruton and Humpy. What really matters is what is to come of it.

I’ve been thinking for years that men like Humpy usually have a successor, someone waiting in the shadows ready to make their mark on the sport. Being a positive thinker I realize that change like this, although it may close doors, usually opens doors to new opportunities for some folks that have worked hard and believe in their ability to fill his shoes. Regardless of what the future holds or who his successor is you will never replace Humpy’s name in the pages of history.

Change has always been a dynamic of our sport from the beginning, and the latest very major change is of course the C.O.T. That change also is something that I have been contemplating for some years. If you look back three years ago the teams were pouring tons of money into their aero programs. The cars were stuck like glue and all but drove themselves. Personally I didn’t like that kind of racing near as much as the older boxier cars.

Flash back to the seventies when the cars were shoe boxes on wheels and the drivers were up on the wheel every second their foot was on the gas. The tires were bias ply hockey pucks and the cars would slip and slide off the corners. The nose and tail of the cars had real bumpers on them and for good reason.

The drivers were tough, gritty, manly men like Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Richard Petty and the Allisons just to name a few. If you study some of the old footage you will realize that these guys had to be tough to run up front. Look at the cars they were driving and the way they had to be driven to be competitive.

Well don’t be fooled by the name Car of Tomorrow because even with all its modern safety innovations and carbon rear wing the body shape is NASCAR’s attempt to step back in time. I would say what is old is now new. The cars are boxier and less aerodynamic which lends itself to getting the drivers back up on the wheel. People can say what they want about the new car but I was impressed with the decision and I am pleased with the results.

Now if they stop the teams from cheating up the new car I think it will be a good deal. I’ve noticed that they are already off setting the rear end so the car will turn itself. The damned thing is sideways on the straightaway. The dirt late model guys figured that out years ago and I think it is goofy. I say put the rear end in straight and let the driver drive the thing. In my opinion a stock car should not look like a crab on the straightaway.

Change is good, and I’m sure it always will be a part of our industry and the sport that we know as stock car racing or the bigger picture of oval racing as a whole. I sense more change on the horizon I can feel it in the air. I have a feeling that something major is just around the corner. Something exciting for those who dare to dream and for those who are there to bare witness and behold the spectacle of speed.