Where is ... Butch Mock? (cont'd)

Mock actually drove three Cup races in the earliest days of his career, two in 1978 and one the following season -- the 1979 Daytona 500, an event that's come to be known as one of the most important in the sport's history. It wasn't as a driver that Mock was going to make his fame and fortune in NASCAR, and nobody knew that as well as Mock himself.

"I don't think I was that good at [driving], No. 1," Mock admitted with a laugh. "I never had a burning desire to be a driver. I think had I had a burning desire, my career might not have turned out because I don't think I would've been the driver that Neil Bonnett would've been."

After that, Rahmoc put together one-off and single-season deals for a multitude of drivers. At one time or another, Harry Gant, Tim Richmond, Kyle Petty, Lake Speed and Morgan Shepherd found themselves in cars prepared by Mock and Rahilly.

It was with Bonnett, however, that the team achieved its greatest successes. Bonnett first came to Rahmoc with the backing of California entrepreneur Warner Hodgdon in 1983, and almost immediately the relationship worked. Bonnett won four poles that year, not to mention races at Charlotte and Atlanta.

For the first time, Rahmoc Enterprises was on the map.

"Bob and I were in our early 20s and went to Daytona and won the Busch Clash and the 125 [qualifying race]," Mock said. "We should've won the Daytona 500. That kinda catapulted our career."

Bonnett, again with Hodgdon's backing, would move to Junior Johnson's operation in 1984. Rahmoc finished second in the 1985 Daytona 500 with Speed behind the wheel, but it took Bonnett coming back to the operation to get into Victory Lane again.

The driver rejoined Mock and Rahilly in 1987, but missed the last several races of the season after an accident at Charlotte. He would make a stunning comeback, winning an offseason race in Australia, as well as consecutive races in Richmond and Rockingham the following year.

Times were good.

"That was a good time to be in the sport," Mock said. "Right now, I haven't been around it much, but it just seems to be so political and nobody seems to be enjoying what they're doing anymore. Everybody just seems to be miserable that you talk to.

"Looking back, it was a fun time to be in [the sport], when Darrell [Waltrip] was still racing. Neil Bonnett drove for me. [Dale] Earnhardt was in his hey-day. Cale [Yarborough] was racing. The sport was starting to make a little bit of money. It was a good time to be in the sport. ... You felt the sense of family that I don't think exists anymore."

As the sport grew, however, Mock noticed a distinct shift in the garage. Relationships that had been so important were slipping away. The cost of being competitive was spiraling out of control. Mega-team armadas were becoming fashionable, and smaller operations like his were being edged out, ever so slightly, every year.

Mock has not returned to a Cup event since selling the operation nearly eight years ago.

"I was slipping further and further and further down the ladder, like Larry McClure and the Wood Brothers," Mock said. "You saw it. You saw it happening, and I got out. Luckily, I got out, because I could've easily gone down with the ship. We've seen it happen to several teams that just went down trying to hold on. I got out at a time when it was right to get out, and sold the team and have no regrets.

"I miss racing. I think ... you live that lifestyle, you're a racer. That's all I ever did my entire life, and I desperately miss the racing. But I don't miss the politics. I'm not so sure that I could've survived had I held onto it. In fact, I know I couldn't have survived. ... I miss the people. Your whole life and your whole family was the racing people. You grew up with all those people."

Mock would not go back to the way things were. He's simply too happy with the way things have turned out.

"I have to pinch myself," Mock said. "Life has been so good to me. I wouldn't change one single thing. I love racing. I think my racing career was successful. I wouldn't trade that for anything, but I'm glad I'm out of it for a lot of reasons. Had I still been in racing, I would be missing [out on having a] family. Things couldn't have been better."