Well, take the '64 season for example then. Big cars and minimal rules... Joe Weatherly and Fireball Roberts were both killed. Petty was running the new Hemi and wrapped up the Grand National Championship with 7 races still to go. If I recall, one of them was the old track in Augusta where he won by a full lap over Ned Jarrett who finished second!!!! At any given race in the 60's there was maybe a dozen cars capable of winning the race, and another 40 cars just out their running with much lesser quality equipment and financing. The Hemi cars ruled, with the Ford 427's about their only competition till Smokey came along with the big block Chevy in his 7/8 scale Chevelle!!!! At most of the races when the checkered flag fell there was maybe 7 to 10 cars even on the lead lap.... The cars with Factory backing, be it up front or out the back door, were the dominant cars, and the others were not even close on horsepower...Petty won his first of seven championships.

Having been following NASCAR since the early 60's, IMO the last 5 years have been some of the closest, most competitive racing ever. Points battles coming down to the last race of the season, even a bit of push and shove among driver's and crews at various races. Qualifying speeds are often less then a few tenths difference from 1st to 43rd!!! If a car has 5 more horsepower, or the tiniest bit less drag it becomes the "dominant" car that day, sometimes leading by as much as a full straightaway.... The rules are approaching zero tolerance on interpretation, the driver's are the cream of the crop from throughout Motorsports, and the winning car is the best prepared and most efficient team come race day. Sure, it's become a rich man's sport, what hasn't? It takes big bucks and big sponsorship to show up with a car every week that is capable of winning, but the same is true and most any dirt track throughout the country!

In 1964 we were racing Karts, had two of them. One for dirt and one for asphalt road courses. Probably a total of $2,000.00 investment. Today, to put one Outlaw sprint car on the track capable of winning would require a minimum of $100.000.00 and that would barely cover the cost of one of everything and a few spare shocks, bars, and wheels. The money is crazy, but it's what you have to spend to be competitive and have good racing, if you don't have that you have no fans, no money, no sponsors, no racing. Running with today's technology and yesterday's rules would have cars going 250+ mph, and probably result in a dozen or so dead driver's a year.

Having been around racing these years, IMO things are progressing just fine and the racing has never been better!!!