NASCAR: Young Drivers Can Follow In The Footsteps Of Legends On Sunday

Charlotte and the Coca-Cola 600 provide young drivers with a chance to follow down the same path as a few legends.

When NASCAR comes to Charlotte, it’s always special weekend. It’s the home of racing teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing and many drivers have homes in the area.

Even with that in mind, there’s something else that makes each season’s first race in Charlotte a little bit different. The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race of the year for NASCAR and with the primetime night racing for fans who watched the Indy 500 earlier in the day, there’s a certain atmosphere that most races don’t have.

Put it up there with the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500 as one of the premier races that drivers strive to win each and every season.

Some drivers, like Darrell Waltrip (5 wins) and Jimmie Johnson (4 wins) have seen success at the highest of levels in the 600 and others, like Casey Mears, have seen their only Cup Series win come on one of Charlotte’s biggest weekends.

But there’s a certain group of drivers to focus on who made a name for themselves and started their careers with wins in the 600: David Pearson, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Matt Kenseth. All have achieved success at the highest of levels by winning championships in NASCAR’s premier series and all earned their first win at one of NASCAR’s most historic tracks.

David Pearson, who won 105 races and three championships, did it in 1961 as he led 225 of 400 laps en route to the victory that started the career of a true legend.

Jeff Gordon, a 93-time race winner and four-time champion, did it in 1994, starting from the pole and leading just 16 laps. It was a win that started the success of one of NASCAR’s most iconic figures.

Bobby Labonte, your NASCAR Champion in 2000, pulled it off just a year later in 1995 by leading 85 laps in the JGR No. 18 car, and finally in 2000, Matt Kenseth led 32 laps in the 600, giving him his first career win which has led to a career of excellence that we still see today.

That opens the door for one of NASCAR’s promising young drivers to follow along and begin their racing career in the same way that a few legends of the past did.

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There hasn’t been a season in quite some time where we’ve seen this many rookies and this much young talent competing for wins in the the Cup Series. Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney are battling for the honor of becoming the 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year while Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon are looking to get their first wins after beginning their Cup Series careers in 2014.

But why should we think that any of the four drivers mentioned above can get the job done Sunday night? Well, the simple answer to that question is the fact that all four of them have competed for wins this season and all four of them look like Chase contenders.

Elliott has already logged four top-5’s and eight top-10’s, competing for wins at places like Texas, Bristol, Talladega and Dover, while Blaney has a top-5 and five top-10’s.

Larson had a rough start to his season but has changed his luck, finishing second at Dover after nearly capturing a victory, and Dillon has drastically improved, with three top-5’s and six top-10’s, including many solid days at some of NASCAR’s most challenging tracks.

Jeff Gordon recently offered some praise for the future drivers of the sport (via NASCAR.com):

"“We have some great young talents. Not to mention veterans that are doing great things … I’m all for bringing new fans and seeing fans get excited about it, people like Chase [Elliott] or Ryan Blaney or Kyle Larson.”"

Each of these drivers already got some practice at the track last weekend as all four were competed in the Sprint Showdowns while Elliott finished 6th in the All-Star race and Larson led 18 laps.

The 600 itself is not only a grueling test, both mentally and physically, but it also features strategy and the heart of a champion to get the job done. Each one of these drivers have shown the determination to get to the front and compete this season and there’s no doubt we’ll see them use their talents in one of the biggest races of the year.

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Every Coca-Cola 600 is special, but with a rare group of young talents, we could see the next future star earn their first career win in a way that some of NASCAR’s greatest drivers began their stretches of dominance.