[NASCAR Gnome]

Given that the first non-animal or people-powered vehicle was invented in 1873 or 1889 or thereabouts, the history of the automobile is a very, very short one in comparison to many other technologies. Now, looking at stock car racing in comparison, the whole history of this sport is even shorter... and in that short amount of time a lot has happened and I was just wondering... I kind of know how it (stock car racing) got started you know, bootlegging and all, but if we were to account today's drivers as "descendants" of the originals, how many generations has passed?

Here's my take - and keep in mind I'm just naming a few drivers per generation:

Fireball Roberts and Junior Johnson - Generation 1
Buck Baker and Lee Petty - Generation 2
Buddy Baker, Richard Petty, The Allisons, Cale Yarborough - Generation 3
Dale Sr., Daryl Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett - Generation 4
Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip - Generation 5 (they raced against gen-4 racers)
Dale Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart - Gen 6
And so on...

I'm not so sure about the latest generations and who belongs where, so I'm hoping the GTG stalwarts can chime in and give your opinions on this as well!

I guess this thinking all started because of Dale Jarrett's retirement. I noticed that slowly but surely, the drivers who bridged one generation is fading away but I'm trying to figure out - just for fun - who raced who and when. I'll say this much though... NASCAR has come a long way in a very short time!

[PettyBlue]

L Petty 1949,R Byron 1949,Buck Baker 1949,Fireball 1950 Jr Johnson 1953=generation one.Ralph Earnhardt 1956,Cale 1957, Richard 1958, Buddy 1959,B Allison 1963= second generation.Dale Sr. 1975,Kyle 1979 and others=generation third.Adam Petty 2000 and maybe others by now=generation four.If you are speaking/asking, of/about, Grand National/Cup racing only.

[3fanforever]

I'd also have to include the future generation, who are on their way up, like Austin Dillon and Jeffrey Earnhardt, just to name two with ties to past generations. I know they're going to be racing each other starting this year, which means, God willing, they'll be keeping the "decendent" lines going for a long time to come.