Ever wonder why NASCAR is losing its Southern champions

#88 Nationwide Chevrolet, stands on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 8, 2015 in Kansas City, Kansas.">

Denny Hamlin might have been the one. Or Dale Earnhardt Jr.

But as the unforgiving nature of NASCARs new Chase for the Sprint Cup format pushed both out of title contention at Talladega Superspeedway, it unwittingly pushed the sport further from its past and harder toward its future.

The next champion at stock car racing's highest levelcould be the guy from Connecticut; or the one from Missouri; or Indiana by way of California; or Michigan, New Jersey, or California, again; or maybe one of the two from Nevada.

In any case, the champion of this Southern-born, Southern-bred series will not be a Southerner, just like every year of this century, every year since Hickory, N.C., product Dale Jarrett claimed the title in 1999. If Texas - where NASCAR races this weekend - is Southern, and sometimes it is, depending on the cultural sensibilities and the accent of the beholder, then Bobby Labontes 2000 championship counts.

Be it good, bad, another facet of NASCARs expansionist aims or a melancholy demise of a regional cultural icon all grown up, it is fact. There are fewer competitive Southern NASCAR drivers than ever and therefore fewer likely to become champions.

Thats progress, said seven-time series champion and Hall of FamerRichard Petty, a North Carolinian.

Its immaterial, he told USA TODAY Sports. From our standpoint, from my standpoint, from NASCARs standpoint, were more diversified like this. If everybody came from North Carolina that won, the guys in California wouldnt want to be involved. The fans in California wouldnt want to be involved. The basic deal is, its been good for the sport.

But with the roster of Sprint Cup regulars from NASCARs ancestral wellspring of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia down to Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin and Austin Dillon, Jarrett said, the trend likely will never be reversed. Such is a loss of cultural heritage the equivalent of barbecue or SEC football, he conceded. But such is the timeline of sports that grow beyond the niche.

It really is (a loss). But theres two ways to look at it, Jarrett told USA TODAY Sports. Obviously, for the fans - and we still have a huge fan base from the South - it would be nice if they had someone in that way. And they still do, especially with Junior, but were not that many years away from him starting to talk about the retirement side of it or getting out from driving. So then, who is going to fill that? And will the southern fan base stay with the sport because they are getting names that they dont necessarily recognize?

But from the other side of it, I think it certainly opens up a lot of doors from outside other places in the States that will help fill that void. It will be interesting to see if theres one place in particular that more start coming from. And I think weve seen that more from a sprint car side than anything else in recent years.

Twenty Southerns combined to win 44 championships from the series inception in 1949 to 2000.Just eightcurrentlyin the top 40 driver points are Southerners- Hamlin,Earnhardt Jr., Aric Almirola, Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., David Ragan, Trevor Bayne and Jeb Burton -and just two qualified for the 16-driver Chase this season - Hamlin and Earnhardt Jr.

Im like one or two of the last ones left, Kannapolis, N.C., native Earnhardt Jr. chuckled.

But like most with a stake in NASCAR, hes more pragmatic than nostalgic as the series, its broadcast partners and the sponsors that underwrite it all seek greater market proliferation. Earnhardt Jr. called Xfinity Series driver Daniel Suarez, a native of Monterrey, Mexico,a key figure in expanding the sports profile, saying, the more diverse we get as far as our personalities in the cars, the better.

Theres been so much attention paid to our attendance over the last several years and our ratings, Earnhardt Jr. told USA TODAY Sports. For us to reach these goals or the ambitions that (NASCAR chairman) Brian France and NASCAR has, and NBC has in their deal, for them to reach these ambitious goals and lofty goals I think it has to get bigger. We race in Canada, we go to Mexico, were racing in Europe. They have a NASCAR Euro series. If one of those guys comes over here and is successful, those are the things we need for this sport to get bigger than we are now. I dont think well reach our past peak unless were continuing to be in front of new audiences.

Like many this season, this is very much a Jeff Gordon story. Originally from Vallejo, Calif., he relocated with his family to Indiana to further his career racing in sprint cars, and the four-time series champion set to retire from full-time Cup racing after this season is credited with opening two channels to NASCAR from previously untapped sources.

--His spectacular entry into NASCARs highest levels showed a generation of Midwestern sprint car drivers that theirs was a route to a professional stock car career as well as open-wheel racing. The likes of Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne followed.

--And, in conjunction with Ron Hornaday Jr., Gordon helped tap the west coast and particularly California as both a market and a source of driver talent.

It just changed the culture for owners, that you dont have to be born and raised in a stock car to get a shot, said six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, a native of El Cajon, Calif., who followed with several drivers, including defending titlist Kevin Harvick, from the Golden State.

NASCAR was just not on anybodys radar on the west coast until Gordon came along, added Johnson, Gordons teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. I mean, you definitely had your circle track guys, so Hornaday is that. He was banging that drum and going to the East Coast and running all these touring events and showing that hey, we can race out here. So I think Hornaday was probably priming the pump.

And then Jeff, on the scale that came with his arrival, I think woke up the west coast, like hey, this is a very cool form of racing, we should pay attention to it. TV moving around like it did, I feel like the more polished persona was becoming more of a need because of the sponsorship dollars and revenue and the way the world is today. Gordon is really responsible.

Former Xfinity and Truck series champion and Lewisville, N.C., native Austin Dillon and his brother, Ty,were schooled in dirt Late Models because their family had the means and motivation to travel to the Midwest to compete. And because the best training ground was not on Southern pavement, he said.

Most of my dirt racing came from the Midwest when I was growing up, said Austin Dillon, in his second season racing in Cup for Richard Childress Racing.I didnt live there, but we traveled out that way. Our short track programs here just arent what they used to be. Denny Hamlin came from the south, he ran short tracks. You just dont have what they were. When my dad (Mike Dillon) was racing, you had South Boston (Va.), Tri-County (N.C), New River (Va.) and you had Elliott Sadler, Andy Houston, all these guys racing in that area. Youd have 25-30 Late Models a night and you go to a short track on a Saturday now and you see 11 Late Models, 12 Late Models. You dont get those numbers you had when they were asphalt racing.

"Thats why we were able to take the dirt route and you go run a race out at Eldora (Ohio) and you have 115 cars. You sit on the pole there and people watch. You go to a West Coast deal and somebody goes to a race and it's got 60 Midgets there or Chili Bowl for instance, guys win those races and you see it. You win a race with 11 cars in it and its kind of hard to justify those opportunities. Thats why I think the south is kind of behind right now as far as short track racing goes.

Dillon said the best Southern short track is Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., but the knowledge you get from that place isnt going to help you in the next level. I think weve got to make our short track racing better in the south.

Dillon said that dirt tracks in Florida and Pennsylvania have made inroads, but that the heartland of southern grassroots racing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia lag. The problem, Dillon said, is geographical, financial and, oddly, geological.

Dirt racing is getting more popular here, but the dirt is not as good, he said. The soil is not as good. Thats a part of it, too. Having the right dirt to come race on, we would have dirt track racing on a Saturday night here 30 minutes from where I live and wed choose to go six hours away because the dirt was better and you see better dirt racing.

You just have to have the economy, right dirt and right tracks and right promoters to get the big races. And thats when youre going to see more southern champions, when they get to NASCAR.

Former Charlotte Motor Speedway promoter H.A. Humpy Wheeler said the next Southern stalwart champion is perhaps, wreaking havoc on some short track in the Alabama pines or a wild track in the foothills of the Carolinas. Problem is he probably doesnt talk right, dress right or have the social skills that some sponsor wants.

Have I described a young Dale (Earnhardt) Sr.? Yep.

Added Wheeler: Never in the history of NASCAR have we needed that Dale Earnhardt Sr., Junior Johnson super star (more than right now). NASCAR wants itit is the sponsors that are making it difficult in this age of movie star drivers.

Hamlin was nearly the one. So was Mark Martin, with two of his five career runner-up points finishes comingafter 2000.

Hamlin, from Chesterfield, Va., entered the penultimate race of the 2010 season with a 33-point lead on second place Johnson but was undone by a miscalculation by crew chief Mike Ford that forced him to cede the race lead for a late fuel stop. He subsequently cracked statistically and emotionally as Johnson won his fifth straight title the following week, with Hamlin second. Hamlin finished third in 2014, but at 34 and racing for the most successful team of the 2015 season in Joe Gibbs Racing, figures to have several years left in his prime.

Martin, from Batesville, Ark., won 40 races over 31 years before retiring after 2013. He was bested by Stewart in 2002 and Johnson in 2009. If there is consolation for the South, two of his runner-up finishes came to seven-time champion and Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, of Kannapolis, N.C. The other came to Gordon, who nowis going for his fifth crown in the Nov. 22 finale.

Earnhardt Jr., a two-time Xfinity Series champion, is NASCAR's most popular driver. Junior Nation still yearns for a title, but Earnhardt Jr.'s best Cup finish so far is third, in 2003.

Maybe the Dillons will re-establish a Southern foothold. Austin Dillon doing so in a No. 3 Chevrolet made sacredby the late Earnhardt Sr. would have additional resonance.

And Chase Elliott has the opportunity to provide a perfect symmetry for those yearning for a Southern revival. The defending Xfinity Series champion and 19-year-old son of 1988 Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott, a native of Dawsonville, Ga., with the drawl for verification, Elliott will succeed Gordon next season at Hendrick Motorsports. Granted, an Xfinity championship has been no harbinger for Cup success, as Dillon andRicky Stenhouse Jr. (of Olive Branch, Miss.), have not established themselves as weekly threats or Chasequalifiers.

But if Elliott can fulfill the weighty expectations and bear out his vintage NASCAR bloodlines, he could use the No. 24 Chevrolet to re-establish a link to NASCARs Southern roots after Gordon used it nearly a quarter century ago to spur an evolutionary leap.

And for some still with a taste forpre-boom NASCAR, that might be progress, too.

There are a lot of mixed feelings over what has been dished out lately by all involved in high places.

But if you take all the Boys have at it and no policing in the ranks you will shortly have a group of Rockingham,North Wilkeboro,Middle Ga Raceway,or even Columbia Speedway growing weeds of days gone by you may just end up with a bunch of good ole boys running on dirt tracks JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT..

taken in part from "Brant James"

The southern driver has not gone anywhere.........they just ain't in NASCAR. Georgia boys Shane Clanton (World of Outlaws) and Jonathan Davenport (LUCAS Oil) are the 2015 DIRT National Champions. What's more, Clanton's team is owned by Georgian Marshall Greene of CAPITAL RACE CARS. Davenport drives for Greensboro, NC's LeRoy and Kevin Rumley, with a North Carolina-based, Bobby & Terry Labonte-owned LONGHORN CHASSIS. The south is very much alive and well, thank you very much. What's more, one of dirt's most promising and exciting new talents is Mount Holly, NC's (Charlotte's BACK YARD) Chris Ferguson.....multi, 2015 winner, and holder of the track record at Eldora Speedway. Ferguson also set the overall fast time at the recent WoO "World Finals" at the Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Austin Dillon - Dirt racing is getting more popular here, but the dirt is not as good, he said. The soil is not as good. Thats a part of it, too. Having the right dirt to come race on, we would have dirt track racing on a Saturday night here 30 minutes from where I live and wed choose to go six hours away because the dirt was better and you see better dirt racing."

Can one of you racers in the know explain about the better dirt he's talking about? I've never heard this.

Maybe it is his way of saying he does not like the promoter at a certain track.

its very possible he's saying the local track doesn't prep the track and keep the surface prepared. I have run on tracks that feel good, look good and then the top clay is wheeled away leaving sand and dirt and the dust is terrible. Other tracks keep bringing in good clay and using proper equipment the track holds its surface all evening making for great racing. Its all about the clay content and water management...

"dirt is not as good here........" In the south the dirt is red, in the mid-west, it's black, in Florida, clay does not even exist. "good dirt" has much to do with whom and how, it is prepped for racing. When one can't think of anything or anyone else to blame........blame it on the dirt. Again, if the dirt ...."is not as good here" (in the south) then how, and where, did this year's champions learn their craft?

Well... lets see how much trouble I can get in on this one... I have run on that Sand in South Ga andFla,you know the sand that wont compact. Well I went there with a white car and won the race and left with a dark grey car from the oil thats used to make the surface hard. And hard as abrickim talking about. Ask Bill Mcpeekabout that oil surface. And in North Georgia they use that Cayola red dirt. It will compact easy but is dusty so water is poured on it and massaged in the dirt making one tacky surface. My wife walked out of her shoes at Jones county Speedway above Macon after the feature at the flagstand . Now that mud is tacky and a car loves that mud with slick soft compound tires. On out in the midwest that dirt out there will get hard and crack open on a track and you run a different compound tire with a tread pattern and it is blazing fast. Outlaw sprints burn a right rear tire off in a heat race if not careful . Columbia speedway was a sandy clay mix that was abrasive like Sumter.

So where you run depends on the person prepping the track, it can go from slick to start and then a dust bowl at the main or a track thats a pleasure to drive on or to watch from the stands.

The red clay at the pre-pavement Wake County (Raleigh, NC)Speedway in the 70swas so darned slick after the race there was no way to walk up the banking to get to the exit gate. You had to hitch a ride on something moving quickly from the infield.

Dave, I went to Wake Co, (on Simpkins Road) in 1975....I was a young undergrad at nearby Chapel Hill......it was Dirt!............. This photo is early in the evening, the track has been thoroughly watered, and this '55 Chevy is having a tough time getting out of the pits, and on to the speedway for practice.

That photo brings back memories,not so much at thisparticular track but of many back in the 60s and 70s . It was a chore getting out on the track anfd if you were not careful you would spin out"the wrong way"

Bobby, in 1973 we raced Wake County (Limited Sportsman) every Friday night and Wilson County on Saturday night.

That 1973 Wake County Speedway photo of Fred Lewton's #44 Limited Sportsman car slipping and sliding on the wet red clay was originally posted at the Local Race Chat site by Racin_girl_22.

Ya know, all kinds of intelligently sounding reasons and explanations can be given for the demise of the southern NASCAR driver......But, the real explanation, is a narrative that main-stream 'intelligent' America has been following since the Civil War. In the opinion of the establishment, Southern America simply does not fit into the picture. This mantra could not gain traction during the golden era of RJR/Winston, as they were a Southern-based firm....but the mainstream eventually hadthemeliminated as well. So, if NASCAR is going to be in bed with Madison Avenue, it sure a'int gonna include the South, and its drivers.

You hit the nail on the head Bobby.

by far the hardest oiliest track I ran on was the Fairgrounds at Waycross, Ga. It was like asphalt as far as handling. The best prepared track was west of Brunswick on rt. 82... It was Golden Isle Speedway.. Such a beautiful track, Fast too. The worst was Putnam Co. Speedway in Palatka, Fla.

Lots of loose sand . I have hundreds of pictures showing how all the classes would take the track and run it in going in the reverse direction. Still had fun tho and miss those days. My favorite Florida dirt track was East Bay.. the ground people really knew how to set up a track surface..