If they were racing at Rockingham, who would win?

Martin and Gordon would be favorites at the Rock (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

It is difficult to believe that it has been six years since the Sprint Cup Series visited the 1.017-mile track located in the small town of Rockingham, North Carolina. For the new fans who tuned into NASCAR’s post-Rock era, Matt Kenseth edged out then-rookie Kasey Kahne for the victory. In fact, that race is the featured Race of the Week.

Since the erasure of Rockingham from the Cup agenda, the track was revived by former field-filler Andy Hillenburg. The track hosts several events throughout the year, including an ARCA race. The track is testing grounds for most Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World truck series teams. Hillenburg added a short track mimicking the configuration of Martinsville Speedway for driving schools as well as a testing facility.

Despite the fact that the track is alive and well, many fans miss the days when the Cup boys banged fenders on the old speedway.

Every year since 2004, the week following the Daytona 500, I often mull over which driver I believe would win the second race of the season if it were still held at the track formerly known as North Carolina Motor Speedway and North Carolina Speedway.

When you think of drivers that succeeded at Rockingham, wheelmen such as Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Kyle Petty, and Jeff Gordon immediately come to mind. Every one of those drivers won three or more races at ‘The Rock’.

It makes perfect sense for accomplished and skilled drivers such as the ones mentioned above to thrive at a track such as Rockingham. It was a difficult track to master.

However, there were a few surprise winners at Rockingham. Ward Burton captured his first career win at the 1.017-mile track in 1995 in what was only his second full season in Cup. Bobby Hamilton surprised quite of few folks when he brought the famed No. 43 Pontiac back to victory lane in 1997. Steve Park and Joe Nemechek were not among the list of favorites when they won the 2001 races at Rockingham. Johnny Benson’s first career win in 2002 was an upset; however, very few complained when the popular veteran sprayed champagne in victory lane.

If the Sprint Cup series still visited Rockingham, the track would be even more weathered than before, that is assuming that a repaving project never occurred. The track was havoc on tires. I always thought of Rockingham as a smaller Darlington with more racing room, more grooves. Perhaps you may think of Rockingham as a smaller Atlanta. Drivers that were fast at Darlington typically performed well at Rockingham.

So, if the Sprint Cup Series was preparing for a 400-miler at Rockingham this weekend, who would be the drivers expected to contend.

1. Mark Martin- Martin was always tough to beat at Rockingham. Some in the garage even called the track Markingham because Martin was always a favorite when the series arrived at the facility. Martin is patient, fast, and mentally durable, which is typically the ingredients for success at the more intricate ovals.

2. Greg Biffle- Biffle is super fast at Darlington, and if I remember correctly, he enjoyed some solid performances at Rockingham in the Busch, now Nationwide Series. For some reason, I envision Biffle running well at Rockingham.

3. Jeff Gordon- Well, this is obvious. Gordon owns four victories at Rockingham, all in his heyday from 1995 to 1998. He was always a threat when the series traveled to the storied venue.

4. Tony Stewart- Stewart never won at Rockinhgam, but he enjoyed some decent showings at the track. It was just a matter of time before Stewart figured this track out. It seems to be his cup of tea.

5. Matt Kenseth- Kenseth won the 2002 and 2004 spring races at Rockingham. He also clinched his championship at Rockingham in 2003. He was always stout at this track.

6. Jimmie Johnson- Like Stewart, Johnson never graced victory lane at Rockingham, but it was just a matter of time. Rockingham is similar to a smaller Atlanta, and Johnson is always fast at Atlanta.

7. Kyle Busch- If a track is difficult to drive, Busch is going to be one to watch.

8. Carl Edwards- Edwards never competed in a Cup race at Rockingham, but there is no doubting that he would have figured it out eventually.

9. Kasey Kahne- Kahne nearly won this race in only his second career start. Clearly, he had this place figured out early on.

10. Kurt Busch- Busch nearly won the fall race in 2002 and the spring race in 2003, so there is no doubting that he would be a contender. Furthermore, the driver he replaced in the blue deuce was not too shabby at Rockingham.

Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick would likely be players as well.