Truck Series still boasts a few 'roughkins' of lost era (cont'd)

While most of the "roughkins" have disappeared, possibly forever, the few stragglers can be found in the Craftsman Truck Series.

"Think of the Truck Series as a salad bowl rather than a melting pot," said Tom Jensen, NASCAR Senior Editor for SPEEDtv.com and veteran NASCAR journalist. "Individual personalities stand out and add distinct flavors to the personality mix, rather than blending together in a bland and flavorless whole. You can be an older, 'Marlboro Man' type and fit in there, or a young gun on the way up. Each personality brings something different to the battle."

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You can be different and get attention and a chance, but if you don't perform, you will not last.

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DARRELL WALTRIP

Along with NASCAR drivers' images, the way in which they climb the ranks has also changed.

"In my time, very few people took a chance on an unknown," Waltrip said. "You had to have experience and certain credentials -- something more than you drove a go-kart or a Legends car. Now, owners are not so willing to go with the established. They're more willing to go with the unknown. Jeff Gordon is the guy who created that. When he came into the sport in 1992, it was like, 'What has this kid ever done?' He started this whole trend and it has continued to change the face of NASCAR."

The dirt-under-the-nails breed of driver is not completely lost to extinction, though, and often can be found in the Truck Series.

"There are plenty of rugged guys in the Truck Series mix -- men like Rick Crawford, Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague," Jensen said. "All these guys are hard-nosed racers who aren't afraid to bang a little sheet metal on Saturday night, but still adhere to an old-school code of racing hard, but racing clean."

"Tony Stewart is kind of obvious [as a 'tough guy']," Waltrip said. "Tony does it more than anyone else. Kevin Harvick is also a little bit of a throwback and Clint Bowyer is somewhat. They have that old 'stock-car look' and still wear their blue jeans, T-shirts and ball caps, and maybe have a cold beer every now and then. But there are no more Sterling Marlins or Jimmy Spencers or guys like I knew."

With survival in the sport contingent on sponsors with deep pockets, those bankrolling the teams can greatly influence their on-track representative, creating personas in stark contrast to those of decades past.

"Drivers' personalities too often seem to have been shaped by the sponsors," Despain said. "It's harder and harder to know what the heroes are really like because most of what they say sounds suspiciously like it came from the PR handler's phrase book. At risk of sounding like a curmudgeon, I liked it better when they weren't quite so polished."

Jeff Gordon, circa 1995

In addition to the tidy and cultured wheelman look worn so well by Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, some drivers' car know-how has changed throughout the years, as well.

"Years ago, a driver had to know and understand how to make a car work -- which springs, sway bar and shocks to use," Waltrip said. "A driver today doesn't have to have that knowledge. They have so much technology and things they can do with these cars that the driver isn't even involved in all that. They are really looking for someone to get in the car and drive it as fast as it will go."

While a younger, clean-cut driver may initially entice sponsors, longevity behind the wheel requires more than handsome and flashy looks. It demands on-track performance.

"Some of these guys show up and yeah, they're different and have had success other places," Waltrip said. "But back when Juan Montoya, Patrick Carpentier, Jacques Villeneuve, A.J. Allmendinger, Dario Franchitti and these guys from open-wheel racing showed up, we were all asking, 'What is going on in our sport?' But where are they now?

"The one thing that has not changed, and you can take it to the bank year-in and year-out, is you have to perform," Waltrip continued. "You can be different. You can be male, female, Hispanic, black, white or whatever. You can be different and get attention and a chance, but if you don't perform, you will not last."