
"The Oldest Trophy"
Rockingham, NC - November 2001 (Click for detail view)

Ask any hockey fan and they'll tell you that the Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy in professional sports. I"m as big a fan of the sport as anyone -- bigger than most -- but I challenge this assertion on the grounds that the America's Cup predates the Stanley Cup by a good 50 years or more. But neither of those has the age on them that
this trophy does. The Rock at North Carolina Speedway hasn't been a trophy for 65 million years, but the rock that makes it up has probably been around that long. It takes a long time to form granite. Every driver in the Series Formerly Known as The Winston Cup that wins a race here has his name carved into the face of the stone for the archaeologists to dig up in 500 years. (Click the wide shot for a closeup.) Imagine being on a dig in the year 2509 and unearthing this stone with these names etched into it. Surely these must be the names of great leaders, right? MmmmNo. Just the leaders at the checkered flag.
