Start Your Engines!

Inspired by Griffin Spier's One More Spark, the goal of this timeline is to focus on various what-if scenarios. All of his ideas will be incorporated, and even more will be included. The results to every race will be simulated in full using NASCAR Racing: 2003 Season. One thing that will be included in this timeline is Pacific Coast Racing, a fictional team founded in 1948.

1987

 * What if Tim Richmond is still alive? - After the NASCAR championship banquet in 1986, Tim Richmond fell ill and missed the beginning of the 1987 season. In this what-if, the #25 and #35 run at the same time. Richmond stays in the #25 Folgers Chevrolet, and Benny Parsons drives the #35 car until his 1988 retirement. Ken Schrader stays in the #90 Ford for Junie Donlavey until the end of the 1997 season. After 1997, Richmond moves to the #12 Ford for Penske Racing. He stays in the car until his retirement in 2007. Ryan Newman instead drives the #02. Robert Pressley drives the #33 for one more season, and Bobby Hillin, Jr. stays in the #77 Jasper Ford for the rest in the season.

1988

 * What if Bobby Allison never had his crash? - In the 1988 Miller High Life 400, Bobby had a scary crash that wound up ending his career. In this what-if, Allison retires at the end of the 1991 season. The #12 and #84 run at the same time in the 1989 season. Allison would spend his final two seasons driving for his own team. Hut Stricklin drives for Allison in the Busch Series in 1990 and 1991, before replacing him in the Cup Series in 1992.
 * What if Chrysler returned in 1988 instead of 2001? - In our timeline, Chrysler tried breaking back into NASCAR with the Chrysler LeBaron, but General Motors and Ford had built unwavering support bases, though the LeBaron was fielded in ARCA to great success. In this timeline, Chrysler began fielding the LeBaron in the Winston Cup Series in 1988, with two cars on-track, these being Tim Johnson (no relation to the Johnsonverse Tim) in the #80, and Richard Petty in the #43.

1989

 * What if NASCAR never left Riverside? - In this timeline, the residents who complained about the noise were told "deal with it", and the track stayed on the schedule for at least one date, this being the Budweiser 400.

1990

 * What if Rob Moroso was still alive? - Moroso was a promising BGN prospect. In 1990, he moved to the Cup Series and struggled. In this timeline, Moroso lived, and he became the fourth Chrysler on track along with Richard Petty, Tim Johnson, and Chloe Johnson.

1991

 * What if NASCAR brought back mid-week races? - With its growing popularity, NASCAR decides to bring back Wednesday night Winston Cup Series racing, mainly at venues that wouldn't otherwise get any spotlight. These races are broadcast on tape-delay as part of ESPNs Wednesday Night Thunder, which they still broadcast even under the 2001-2006 and 2015-2024 television packages. Among the tracks run on Wednesdays are Five Flags, Langley, South Boston, Myrtle Beach, Motor Mile, Thompson, Nashville (Fairgrounds), South Boston, Greenville-Pickens, Heartland Park, Road Atlanta, Portland International Speedway Huntsville, Winchester, Caraway, IRP, among many other short tracks and road courses.

1992

 * What if Clifford Allison was still alive?

1993

 * What if Jeff Gordon drove for Bill Davis Racing? - The plan was for Gordon to move up to the Cup Series in 1993 to drive the #22 Maxwell House Ford. However, upon being noticed by Rick Hendrick, Gordon immediately jumped ship to Hendrick Motorsports. In this scenario, Gordon drives the #22 Maxwell House car in 1993, and stays in the ride until the 2015 season (with Maxwell House sponsoring in 1993 and 1994, MBNA sponsoring from 1995-1998, and Caterpillar from 1999 onward), after which he retires. Bill Davis Racing's downfall would never happen. For Gordon's Cup debut in the 1992 Hooters 500, Davis fields a second car, the #23, with sponsorship from Gordon's then-sponsor in the Busch Series, Baby Ruth. Bobby Labonte drives the #23 car until the end of the 1995 season, at which point Ward Burton takes over the ride until the end of the 2003 season. Randy LaJoie stays in the Busch Series. The #23 Winston Ford fielded by Travis Carter from 1994-1999 is instead the #32. Penske's #22 is instead the #02, the number that Ryan Newman drove in his Cup debut in 2000 and several races in 2001, before running full-time in 2002.
 * What if Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison were still alive? - Kulwicki's plane crash almost happened in this timeline, but the plane was hijacked by a pilot who knew what he was doing, and successfully landed the plane; a shaken Kulwicki vowed to take Amtrak from that day forward. Davey Allison, meanwhile, never had his helicopter crash at all.
 * What if Cale Yarborough successfully fielded the Mercury Cougar? - See this link.

1994

 * What if Neil Bonnett was still alive? - Bonnett never had the crashes that caused him to pull back. From 1991, he drove the #31 Mom 'N' Pops Country Ham Lumina for Richard Childress before retiring at the end of 1996. He then became a broadcaster for TNN and later NBC full-time.
 * What if Dale Earnhardt went to Robert Yates Racing? -
 * What if Ernie Irvan never had his crashes? -

1996

 * What if Casey Elliott was still alive? - In 1994, Elliott planned to move up to the Busch Series. However, he would succumb to bone cancer in 1996 at only 22. In this scenario, Elliott never had his cancer, and was able to move up to the Busch Series and eventually the Cup Series in 1996 in the #94. Because of this, his uncle Bill Elliott used the #9 in honor of Melling Racing, the team he drove for from 1981 to 1991, as he used the #94 in honor of his nephew, with Melling using the #92 instead. For the 1997 Brickyard 400, Ron Barfield ran the #93.
 * What if NASCAR never left North Wilkesboro? - Instead of sending both of North Wilkesboro's races to Texas and New Hampshire, respectively, the historic track retained the Tyson Holly Farms 400, moved to a former off-weekend.

1997

 * What if John Nemechek was still alive?
 * What if Tim Steele never had his crash?

1998

 * What if the #64 Arby's FansTeam car actually raced? - In 1997, Bahari Racing co-owner Dick Bahre planned to start a team funded by fans that would debut in the 1998 season. The car number was going to be the #64, and would've been sponsored by Arby's. However, the team didn't get the required 2,500 signatures in time, and Arby's dropped out, with Bahre moving to Mansion Motorsports. In this scenario, the team races a Chevrolet in the 1998 season (as one t-shirt and the TNN website showed a Chevy), with a rookie from a different series driving. For more, see this link.

1999

 * What if Darrell Waltrip drove for DEI instead of Travis Carter? - Before Waltrip drove for Travis Carter, there were rumors that, if Waltrip can't find a ride, he would drive a second car for DEI. In this timeline, Waltrip drives the #01 MBNA Chevrolet for DEI in 1999 and 2000, he still retires and becomes a color commentator for Fox.

2000

 * What if Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, and Tony Roper were still alive? - In 2001, all three began running in the Winston Cup Series full-time, with Petty in the #45 Sprint Intrepid, Irwin in the #42 Bellsouth Monte Carlo, and Tony Roper in the #60 TracFone Monte Carlo.
 * What if Cale Yarborough was still a team owner?

2001

 * What if Dale Earnhardt was still alive? - Earnhardt's crash never happened, and he continued driving the #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet until retiring at the end of 2005, at which point Jeff Burton inherited the car; Burton retired at the end of the 2014 season, and Austin Dillon has driven the car ever since. Earnhardt's survival also has numerous knock-on effects for the future of NASCAR as a whole.
 * What if Jeff Gordon never discovered Jimmie Johnson?

2004

 * What if the Chase never happened? - With the replacement of Winston with Nextel as the title sponsor for the Cup Series, Brian France wanted to incorporate a postseason playoffs called the "Chase for the Cup". Dale Earnhardt, however, convinced him it was a bad idea, and as a result, the old points system remained in place.

2005

 * What if NASCAR never left Rockingham? The Ferko lawsuit was declared a mistrial (through a set of complex circumstances), and as a result, not only did Texas and California not get their second dates, but Darlington and Rockingham still retain both of their dates, including the Southern 500 being on Labor Day weekend.

2006

 * What if Shane Hmiel never did drugs?

2007

 * What if the Car of Tomorrow was never made? - Because Dale Earnhardt never died, NASCAR wasn't spurred to make safety enhancements. For one, they had already mandated the HANS Device after Greg Moore was killed in a CART crash at California Speedway in 1999, and numerous safety enhancements had already been implemented with the new body in 1997, colloquially called the SAFER CAR. The controversial CoT, as a result, never existed, and the Gen-4 car stuck around until 2011, when it was replaced by what we know in our timeline as the Nationwide CoT, but in this timeline, it was merely a new bodystyle meant to better resemble the cars on showroom floors, which have been tweaked in subsequent years for better aero efficiency; despite this, they still used the same chassis as the Gen-4 car, meaning the distinct high-pitch scream was never lost.

2008

 * What if Dale Earnhardt Jr. never left DEI? - Because his father never died, Junior didn't become disillusioned with the team under his mother's control, and he remained in the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet until his 2017 retirement. In 2018, his nephew Jeffrey took over, and flourished.

2009

 * What if Jeremy Mayfield was clean?
 * What if Dale Earnhardt Inc. never merged with Chip Ganassi Racing? - Instead of merging with CGR, DEI instead merged with Richard Childress Racing to stave off the effects of the Great Recession, forming Earnhardt-Childress Racing, a five-car operation (in this timeline, the four-car limit was never established). Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued driving the #8 Budweiser car, Martin Truex, Jr. kept the #1 Bass Pro Shops car, Kevin Harvick stayed in the #30 Shell-Pennzoil car, Jeff Burton retained the #3 Reese's car, and Clint Bowyer continued in the #31 Caterpillar car; teams that didn't work pre-merger were eliminated, these being the #15 of Paul Menard, the #07 of Casey Mears, and the #01 of Regan Smith (inherited from MB2 Motorsports). Because of this, CGR never switched to Chevy from Dodge, and remained a three-car operation with the #40 of David Stremme, the #41 of Reed Sorenson, and the #42 of Juan Pablo Montoya. From 2010-2018, Jamie McMurray returned to Ganassi to replace Stremme in the #40, like in real life. From 2019 onward, Kurt Busch replaced him. Bryan Clauson took the #41 since 2010, and like in real life, Kyle Larson replaced Montoya in the #42 for 2014 onward.
 * What if Petty Enterprises never merged with Gilette-Evernham Motorsports? - In this timeline, Petty Enterprises was more successful. Because Adam Petty brought renewed confidence to the team, owner Richard Petty saw no need to merge with any team.

2013

 * What if Jason Leffler was still alive? - Because Kenny Irwin, Jr. survived, Leffler didn't move to the Cup Series until 2002, when he started driving the third car for Joe Gibbs Racing.
 * What if Tony Stewart never broke his leg? - Because he never did so, his performance never started slipping, combined with a more liberal rules package that perfectly suited his driving style and the Kevin Ward Jr. affair never happening. As of 2020, Stewart is still active in the Cup Series, still driving the #14 Pontiac (more on that below).
 * What if Dodge never left NASCAR? - In this timeline, Dodge maintained a loyal base, including Team Penske, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing, and of course, Pacific Coast Racing.

2015

 * What if Pontiac never went under? - In this timeline, while Pontiac still left NASCAR at the end of 2003, they never went bust during the Great Recession. GM, wanting to counter the growing threat from Dodge and Toyota, elected to bring Pontiac back to NASCAR in 2015 with the G8. The model would change over the years, but it's still Pontiac. Their flagship team is Stewart-Haas Racing.
 * What if Honda entered NASCAR? - 2015 also sees Honda throw its hat into the NASCAR ring with the Accord.

2016

 * What if Bryan Clauson was still alive?