Filed under: Carl Edwards, Dale Jarrett, Talladega Superspeedway, IRL, NASCAR

No way. Won't happen. No need.

That's the prevailing consensus on whether NASCAR drivers will ever create the type of drivers organization formalized in the IZOD IndyCar Series a couple weeks ago and that has long existed in Formula One and even the National Hot Rod Association.

There have been concerted efforts over the years by some of NASCAR's biggest names, like Richard Petty, and even a rarely-talked-about effort in 1997 by the late seven-time champ Dale Earnhardt, but nothing sustainable. More often, it was a hush-hush, backroom suggestion that a committee or association was even necessary. The idea of anything resembling a union, pure blasphemy.

And that's from current and former drivers, not just the sanctioning body.

"It's pretty simple, NASCAR is the destination of choice for almost every driver in the world so if you don't like it, there's someone that will be right there on your heels ready to take your place,'' driver Carl Edwards said this week. "Maybe that's why they (NASCAR) have been able to do their own thing for so long.''

Or as 1989 champion Rusty Wallace puts it, "Having some sort of committee like that would just screw everything up.''

 

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