The Driver Suit Blog

By David G. Firestone

So the 2026 Daytona 500 is behind us, and it was actually a good race. The Duels were good, and the race as a whole was good. I will say that, like a lot of fans, I’m over a few things. First, when it comes to FOX, I do NOT need to hear Larry McReynolds say “You can’t make mistakes on pit road” every telecast. We get it. Making a mistake at a critical point in the race is bad.

But the other thing I’m over is stage racing. Seriously, nobody wanted this to begin with, and most fans are done with it. Maybe the drivers like it, or maybe the teams, but as a long-time fan, I’m done. I don’t see how this is a net positive for anyone here. Let the drivers race.

But I’m posting this just after the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Daytona 500. Growing up, the first race I ever watched was the 1990 Daytona 500. I saw that black and silver #3 Chevy Lumina running at the front, and I was hooked! That love carried stayed until the 2001 Daytona 500. I’ve never been able to have a favorite driver since Earnhardt’s death. One of my all-time favorite photos of myself is me next to one of Dale’s Luminas, taken at the museum at Talladega in 1999.

Dale’s death hit me hard. I cried in my dorm room after my roommate went to work out. I had just lost my idol, and a huge piece of inspiration. 25 years later, I’m still not fully over it, and neither is NASCAR. Sure, new drivers have slowly replaced the old guard, but with Dale Earnhardt, he was so much more. He was a true legend in every sense of the word. But his legacy means so much more to auto racing.

Dale Earnhardt’s death was a moment that robbed us of one of the greatest drivers of the modern era, but also was a water shed moment for racing safety. Auto racing safety has always been written in blood. It’s also a constantly moving target. As the cars get faster and more technically complex, the safety standards have to change too. Sometimes these changes are made in good faith, other times, blood has to be spilt.

After the 2001 Daytona 500, there was a massive shift in the way racing viewed safety. Before, for a lot of racing, the approach was a matter of fixing problems after they happen. After Earnhardt’s death, that switched to trying to fix problems before they lead to serious injury or death. While there had been pushes for new safety standards, Earnhardt’s death kicked all of that into high gear.

While I was thinking about this column, I came to a realization. F1 had already started that approach after Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994, but somehow, no real changes outside of F1 took place between 1994 and 2001. A major driver was going to have to die before this approach was implemented. The question I began to think about was, who would that driver have been?

Thinking about this, it’s a pretty horrifying thought. Would it have been Jeff Gordon? Dale Jarrett? Mark Martin? Michael Andretti? John Force? That number was going to land on someone, and on February 18, 2001, that someone was Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Another thought that I had was, what if none of the major drivers died? Sure, there were plenty of other drivers who were killed in wrecks across the world, but nobody’s death was more critical to the overall safety culture of the sport than Dale Earnhardt Sr. So if this major death never happened, what would auto racing look in 2026?

First, I can promise that there would have been a lot more deaths in auto racing across the board. Second, a lot of safety features, many of which are taken for granted, wouldn’t be as uniformly implemented as they are now. Eventually that major death would have happened, but there would be a much bigger body count.

In the end, Dale Earnhardt’s death was tragic. While NASCAR hasn’t recovered from it, there are countless race car drivers who owe their lives to the safety culture his death helped create. I can say for sure, his death wasn’t in vain. Rest in peace Dale.

By David G. Firestone

So, I’ve been following the whole Prock Family moving to Tasca Racing saga. Like many others, I have questions about the Prock Family leaving John Force Racing. It’s always odd when a driver leaves a championship winning team. It’s even more pecular when said team was consistency the strongest team in their division. But that’s what happened with Austin and Jimmy Prock.

Well, on January 30th, Bob Tasca gave an interview with Competition Plus. During the interview, he gave some perspective on the move, and had some interesting things to say. Some of his quotes include

“When you have a common vision of what you want to do long term and you’re not making decisions based on maybe what’s the best tomorrow, it kind of all fell into place,” Tasca said. “The Prock family’s long-term vision of keeping their family together and our long-term vision of building a championship caliber platform—it was really a perfect scenario for both families.”

“The kids made the initial moves. My sons Austin and Cameron started talking to Thomas and Austin. That’s where the concept really started. The Procks want to keep their family together, and that’s the harsh reality. There were other opportunities, not just with us, but they chose this one.”

“Jimmy’s learned a lot from my setup. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t consistent enough, but we ran as good as anybody against them for the last three years.”

Reading between the lines here leads me to beleive that there is some heat between John Force and Jimmy Prock. This would not be the first time. Long time NHRA fans will remember that, in 2014, Jimmy Prock was fired from John Force Racing after a falling out with John Force. He joined Don Schumacher Racing, and changing the angle of the exhaust pipes, helped Jack Beckman become the fastest man in Funny Car.

Even though Force and Prock eventually mended their relationsip, Force seems to be the source of strife. Why else would you leave a team where you were not only champion, but so consistent? Why else would you take chance on a team that isn’t on the level of John Force Racing?

I have a lot of respect for owner/drivers, but let’s be honest, who has the better engine program over the last several years? Bob Tasca is a great team owner, and driver, but you cannot argue that Force is the stronger team in NHRA Funny Car. It seems to me as if something happened behind the scenes, and the Procks felt the need to find greener pastures.

John Force is the greatest in his field, nobody is arguing that. But like a lot of those considered the best, he is a control freak. To outsiders, that might seem like a bad thing, but I would argue otherwise. James Cameron is one of the best directors in recent memory. He joins others like Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, and others who were control freaks, and made some of the greatest movies of all time. Would you rather work with easy-going director, and have an unremarkable career, or work for a control freak and work on an Oscar-winning movie?

There has to be, at least in my mind, more to this story than meets the eye, and I will be more than interested to see how this plays off, both on track, and behind the scenes.

Next week, my thoughts on the Daytona 500.

Sources cited:

By David G. Firestone

So the 2026 NASCAR Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium is behind us. It was, well, a thing. It wasn’t overwhelming, but not underwhelming either. It was fine for what it was. Like I’ve said, I think the Clash and All-Star Race should be held in different classic stock car venues every year.

Obviously, the major issue here was the weather. The snow storm gripping the country forced multiple changes. First, all Saturday events were canceled outright. Then the Clash got moved from Sunday to Monday. Then the Clash got moved to Wednesday, and then it was held. I think we can all agree that weather delays suck.

Again, The Clash was alright for what it was. I know I complain about this every year, but the lack of pit stops really hindered the race, at least in my opinion. All of the racing I watched pretty much lived up to what I thought it was going to be.

I will say that moving the race to FS2 to air The Masked Singer was a slap in the face of fans. I get that weather was an issue, but come on! Have a little respect for the fans!

Congratulations to Ryan Preece for winning the Clash, and now we look on to Daytona.