Corey Williams represents what we've got to look forward to

Take the case of Corey Williams, for instance.

In good equipment, Williams has the ability to make Super Late Model racing under the PASS banner his personal playground. He dominated the South Series last year, and with his win in the Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway over the weekend, he's the early favorite to win the first-ever PASS National Championship in 2008.

But the smalltown racer from Boothbay, one who took a job working for Andy Santerre Motorsports last off-season, is only the most recent illustration of how dire the straits of the stock-car racing world can be. He's got a ton of talent, an easy smile that ought to be a marketing strategist's dream and the desire to relocate to pursue his goals of a full-time driving career.

But without nearly $1 million in the bank, he's without a NASCAR ride -- even at the lowest levels.

Rumor was that Santerre would have loved to have Williams drive his No. 44 Chevrolets in the Camping World East Series this season. But Williams didn't have $850,000 to fund the ride -- the going rate for that seat, the one that went to Peyton Sellers.

The stories of drivers -- and we need look no further than Maine -- with talent but not enough money to buy their way into the sport are too many to list. A couple of years ago, Johnny Clark thought about purchasing second-rate Craftsman Truck equipment with help from financiers but balked at the costs that came without guarantees. Cassius Clark can drive just about anything -- but even his Super Late Model is run on a shoestring budget. Oxford Plains champ Travis Adams has proven able in Late Models, but he's not sure about funding a full ACT run, let alone a big-time NASCAR one on a family dollar.

On and on and on it goes...

For years we've lamented that the sport isn't what it once was -- that too many young drivers come and go too fast to build any rapport with the fanbase. Maybe what we're seeing, though, is a renaissance of sorts, one where the best talent -- though perhaps not by choice -- is racing closer to home because it's all they can afford.

Kind of like the good ol' days.

No one's suggesting these young talents don't deserve a shot to compete against the best that's out there. Who doesn't love to see that? But if the big talent is staying in the northeast more and more frequently, then maybe instead of cursing the rising costs of big-time racing these days, fans and media should embrace it.