Where is ... D. Marcis?

Now that Dave Marcis has retired from NASCAR, he splits his time between Camp 28, a resort hotel complete with restaurant in Rib Lake, Wis., and his street-rod business that's housed in his former Arden, N.C., race shop.

Wait a second. Dave Marcis owns a restaurant? Could this be the same Dave Marcis whose appetite is legendary in racing circles? The same Dave Marcis who's been asked to leave more than one buffet, for fear he might shut the place down? Yep. Same guy. Let's put it this way. Dave Marcis with a restaurant isn't much different than turning the keys of the bank over to Al Capone.

That's an irony of ironies if ever there was one, huh?

"Yeah, I guess so," Marcis said with a laugh.

Camp 28 was first a logging camp that operated from 1881 through 1948 that now consists of a bar, hotel ... and the restaurant. The decor maintains the history of the place, with old logging pictures, saws and other assorted items.

The resort suits Marcis perfectly. Both are decidedly old school. Racing, on the other hand, has become so decidedly new school that it's hard to recognize from Marcis' heyday.

"There's no characters any more," Marcis said. "That's the impression that I hear from the customers ... the fan base. Everybody likes to be a cookie-cutter image of each other and keep their mouth shut."

For his last win, at Richmond in February 1982, Marcis collected all of $19,145. These days, most drivers probably make that in a weekend at their souvenir rigs. The sport has taken a different -- and richer -- direction since Marcis last visited Victory Lane.

"The financial part of it, for drivers and crew members, is certainly better than it's ever been from what I hear and see," Marcis said.

Although Marcis has been involved in the IROC program for years as a test driver, he doesn't seem to be a big fan of the Car of Tomorrow because it doesn't allow for creativity and a manufacturer's brand identity.

"We're just trying to get the cars too alike," Marcis said. "We're taking some of the creativeness away from the sport, that I think made the sport grow. Years ago, it was always a big deal, especially if somebody switched brands. Now, we're losing a little bit of the brand identity with all the common templates.

"When Richard Petty went from Chrysler products to Ford, that was a big, big thing with racing fans nationwide. It was the same thing when Junior Johnson brought Chevrolet back. They had been out for a long period of time. That was all big news. I guess I always wonder how good the race is gonna be if every car is identical, and nobody can be creative and do things on their own." (Continued)