RickKarle's Blog

       This just in:   This is my 25th year of covering NASCAR racing, and I have an admission to make.  While I consider myself well-versed on the subject, I don't know the difference between a rocker arm and a wedge. On the other other hand, I've had the pleasure of personally witnessing some big-time racing moments- and after watching this sport, some things just seem to go with NASCAR- like Texaco.

   Whaaa? Are you talking gasoline Karle? Well, uh- yes.  I read where the Texaco people are pulling out of NASCAR after this season.  Are you kidding me? Racing without Texaco is like...  Charles Barkley without gambling... Bear Bryant without Golden Flake... Paul Finebaum with hair... Legion Field with a working scoreboard... Penn without Teller...  Beijing without smog... Local news without Betty Fine Collins... you get my drift.

     On a serious note,  the drivers that have alligned over the years with Texaco read like a Hall Of Fame class:  Davey Allison, Ricky Rudd, Kenny Irwin, Ernie Irvan, Robby Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya.  You must remember the pride of Hueytown winning his first Cup race back in 1987.  Davey Allison won the Winston 500 at Talladega in his Texaco Ford.  In 1992, Davey won the Daytona 500 in the Robert Yates Texaco Ford. For over twenty years, a Texaco race car has been fielded just about every weekend. In 2009, Texaco is going the way of the large SUV.

     Now please understand that I have no vested interest in Texaco. I'll put anything in my tank as long as it works and it's cheap.  A few years ago, Unocal gas made it's way out of NASCAR, now it's Texaco.  What next, Cup drivers from North Carolina?