The Last Old Guard (Dale Earnhardt Survives)

"The last old guard" is a NASCAR fan term used to describe the drivers who retired between 2002 and 2007 namely Dale Earnhardt, Dave Marcis, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott. These drivers were known for their "old-school driving styles". The original old guard consisted (notably) of Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty. Drivers of the last old guard are listed below.
== Dale Earnhardt ==
Dale Earnhardt is regarded as the quintessential last tie to the true old guard of NASCAR. Earnhardt began his professional career in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1975, making his points race debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina in the longest race on the Cup circuit—the 1975 World 600. He had made his Grand National debut in 1974 in an unofficial invitational exhibition race at Metrolina Speedway, where with 8 laps to go he got under Richard Childress and spun out when battling for third. He drove the No. 8 Ed Negre Dodge Charger and finished 22nd in that race, just one spot ahead of his future car owner, Richard Childress. Earnhardt competed in eight more races until 1979, racing competitively against all of the original old guard in his first years as a driver. His aggressive driving style earned him the nicknames "The Intimidator", "The Man in Black", and "Ironhead". He is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. Earnhardt won a total of 106 Cup Series races over the course of his four-decade career, including a record eight championships (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, and 2001) and a record twelve wins at Talladega (1983, 1984, 1990-x2, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2005).
After his retirement, Earnhardt began fully managing his race team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He would race in the Sprint Cup Series one last time in the 2008 Daytona 500 as the last active member of "The Old Guard", standing alone among many fresh faces in the sport.
== Dave Marcis ==
Dave Marcis is arguably a member of both of the Old Guards. Marcis' career is notable in the history of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. While he is best known as the last of the non-factory supported independent owner drivers, he is also known as one of the top drivers of the 1970s. During his career, he drove for series championship car owners Nord Krauskopf and Rod Osterlund. Marcis retired in second place on the all-time starts list with 883 behind Richard Petty. Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt have since passed him on the list. Marcis often owned and drove the No. 71 car. He finished eight times in the top-10 season drivers' points. He retired after the 2002 Winston Cup season.
Marcis was a test driver for the IROC and the Nextel Cup series after his retirement from racing competition in 2002. He is currently an engine developer, engine builder and chief engineer at Earnhardt-Childress Racing, and refuses to retire despite reaching 80 years old in 2021, with Earnhardt commenting at his 80th birthday celebrations "You might be the only man I know more stubborn then me." He currently resides with his wife in the Asheville, North Carolina, area.
== Sterling Marlin ==
Sterling Marlin is known as a member of the Last Old Guard, retiring from full time driving duties after the 2006 season. He was known to be a rather ruthless "old-school" driver who took any available opportunity to get positions.
During the 2005 season, Ganassi announced Marlin would be replaced by David Stremme for the 2006 season in order to attract the younger male demographic. It was also said that Richard Childress Racing had offered Marlin a deal to drive the No. 07 Jack Daniels-sponsored Chevrolet, However, Marlin honored his contract with Ganassi and finished out the 2005 season. He did however miss one race-the 2005 Sirius at the Glen to attend the funeral of his father Coo Coo Marlin who died of lung cancer one day before the race. Road ringer Scott Pruett replaced Sterling in the 40 and finished fourth in the race. He reached as high as 6th in the points standings, but would later fall to 30th in the final standings.
Marlin joined MB2 Motorsports for 2006 to drive the Waste Management Chevy, running with the No. 14 in tribute to his father, Coo Coo Marlin, who died during the 2005 season. Marlin's only Top 10 finish in 2006 was ninth place at Richmond. His 2006 season was shadowed by bad luck and No. 14 finished 36th in owner points.
== Jimmy Spencer ==
Known for his hatred of a young Kurt Busch, alongside his friend Dale Earnhardt, Jimmy Spencer's later career is defined by this rivalry of old school vs new blood.
For the 2002 season, Spencer would join Chip Ganassi Racing and drive the No. 41 Target-sponsored Dodge Intrepid. He began the season by failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, then had a streak of four top-5 qualifying efforts, including at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started fourth and was leading the race when he was bumped by Kurt Busch to win, starting a long rivalry between the two. After another DNQ at Watkins Glen International, Spencer was released from the ride at the end of the season, causing him to file a lawsuit against the Ganassi organization, saying his dismissal was a violation of his contract. Also in 2002, Spencer won his last career Busch Series race, the Food City 250 at Bristol driving for Phoenix Racing.
Spencer joined Ultra Motorsports in 2003, piloting the No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio-sponsored Dodge. After some on-track incidents with Kurt Busch, Spencer confronted Busch after the GFS Marketplace 400 while Busch was still in his car. He was suspended for the next week's race, the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway while Busch was placed on probation. Despite the events that took place at Michigan, he had four top 10s and ended the season 29th in points. He was also hired to drive three races for in the No. 2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram for Ultra's Truck Series team, winning the pole and the race in his second start at New Hampshire International Speedway. He became a part-owner of the Cicci organization that season, when he put Stuart Kirby in Cicci's No. 34 United States Air Force-sponsored Chevy, but that partnership soon dissolved. He continued to remain involved as a part-owner, when he leased his shop to Bang! Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2004.
He began 2004 with Ultra's Cup team at the Daytona 500, but when the team closed down due to a lack of sponsorship, he replaced Kevin Lepage at Morgan-McClure Motorsports, which had also been running unsponsored. Spencer's best finish that season had been 17th at Dover after gaining sponsors in Featherlite Trailers and Lucas Oil, when on October 25, he was arrested after trying to interfere with the police, who had a warrant to arrest his son for vandalism. The incident cost Spencer his job at Morgan-McClure, and he sat out the rest of 2004.
Spencer returned to the No. 2 Ultra truck in 2005. While he failed to win a race, he had nine top-10 finishes and finished 12th in points. He came close to a victory, however, in the season opener at Daytona. He held the lead late in the race and held off 2004 series champion Bobby Hamilton until just before the caution came out on the last lap. Assuming he was in the lead when NASCAR froze the field, he completed the caution lap then pulled into victory lane, only to be told by an official that, in fact, he had finished second. He also ran part-time in Cup, running nine races in the No. 50 Arnold Motorsports Dodge, and one race apiece for Peak Fitness Racing and R&J Racing.
When Arnold was unable to locate a sponsor and Ultra closed its doors following a fallout with the Ford Motor Company, Spencer began working full-time on the Speed TV network. He had run both Cup races at Pocono Raceway for Furniture Row Racing in 2006, finishing 32nd and 36th, respectively. Spencer then worked full-time as an analyst for SPEED TV on NASCAR RaceDay, NASCAR Victory Lane and eventually was the host of his own show What's The Deal?, along with Ray Dunlap in 2010. The show was cancelled the same year. His segments on the Tuesday and Thursday editions of NASCAR Race Hub were done from the studio of that show.
In his television commentary, Spencer talked about the NASCAR highlights while he often feigning sobs with his gag called "The Crying Towel", for which a driver gets the crying towel and a fake cigar if they complain about something that cannot be punishable. In 2012 Spencer named his "Crying Towel" segment as "(Driver) Radio Sweetheart."
On November 21, 2013, on NASCAR Race Hub, Spencer said he was still not ready to announce his retirement yet, despite not racing in several years. As he still has not raced in a long time (and still has not announced retirement) he has not showed up on NASCAR Race Hub since late 2013. Spencer has been inactive in the NASCAR community since leaving Race Hub.
== Rusty Wallace ==
Rusty Wallace is an essential member of the Last Old Guard, standing next to Dale Earnhardt as it's top figures.
On August 30, 2004, Wallace announced that the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season would be his last as a full-time driver. Although at the time the possibility remained that he may have continued to run a limited schedule after the 2005 season—as semi-retirees Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte also have done, Wallace's current broadcasting contract forbids him from doing so. Kurt Busch would replace Wallace in the number 2 Miller Lite-sponsored Dodge in 2006–2010. In 2011, Brad Keselowski began driving the number 2.
In 2006, Wallace returned to his General Motors roots when he raced a Crawford-Pontiac sportscar, painted black and carrying the familiar stylized No. 2. The car was sponsored by Callaway Golf, in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, teamed with Danica Patrick and Allan McNish, In 2008, his Nationwide Series cars switched from Dodge to Chevrolet.
To date, Wallace has had 55 NASCAR Cup wins, which is tied for 8th on NASCAR's all-time wins list. They include victories at Charlotte as well as the series' last three road courses (Riverside, Infineon and Watkins Glen), but none at Daytona, Darlington, Indianapolis or Talladega. He has the most short track wins in NASCAR history with 34, and therefore he is considered among the best short track drivers in NASCAR history. He retired after the 2005 season with a 14.4 career average finish.
In 2014, Wallace ran at Daytona for testing before the 2014 Daytona 500 as part of a promotion for Miller Lite's 40th anniversary, marking the first time a NASCAR Hall of Famer has driven in a NASCAR test. When asked about the testing, Wallace stated, "It all started at Homestead. I was standing between the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and 2 (Brad Keselowski) cars joking around and those guys were egging me on to get back in a car and when Brad got wind of it, he called me up two weeks later and was serious about it and Roger (Penske) was all for it. Everyone in the world has been on me to test. ‘Why haven’t you been back in a car?’ This here kind of got me."
Category:Dale Earnhardt Survives