Current, past Cup drivers weigh in on NASCAR's four major events

The question is simple: Which Cup series races comprise NASCAR's four majors?

The answers from current and past NASCAR drivers aren't as uniform as we thought they would be.

ESPN's Bob Pockrass and Ricky Craven have answers from a driver who was born in 1997 to a driver who has seven Daytona 500 wins on his resumé. Here's what they uncovered:

The 'young guns' | by Bob Pockrass

The Southern 500. A NASCAR tradition. Until it wasn't. And then came back.

The Southern 500 was staged at Darlington Raceway from 1950 to 2003. In 2004, NASCAR moved its Labor Day race to California. And then to Atlanta in 2010 before returning the Southern 500 in its rightful place on Labor Day weekend in 2015.

With its 11 years when it wasn't run on Labor Day, has the Southern 500 (Sunday, 6 p.m. ET, NBCSN) lost its place among the Mount Rushmore of races?

We asked six of the "young guns" to give their views on which four races would be the biggest for them to win.

Their answers might surprise you.

Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports, age 22): Bristol night race, Darlington Southern 500, Charlotte 600, Daytona 500

Elliott said he thought about putting Atlanta, Brickyard and Homestead on the list.

He mentioned the Bristol night race first.

"I always thought that [Bristol night race] was a really cool race," Elliott said. "Bristol and Darlington, when people ask me what races to come to, those typically are my first two recommendations. ... I just loved watching them. They are two races that are really fun to watch."

William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports, age 20): Darlington, Charlotte 600, Bristol night race, Homestead

Byron, having grown up in Charlotte, said Darlington and the World 600 are always special to him, and the fan interaction at the Bristol night race is big.

But Homestead?

"It's the last race of the year and everyone has their best equipment, their best stuff in that race -- that's probably the most difficult race of the year," Byron said.

Not Daytona?

"There's a lot of fortune that has to happen in that race," Byron said. "I feel like the more I get older in this sport and maybe I win some other races, the more I feel like this is a big deal. That is not a huge deal right now for me.

"In terms of what it means, it would be a big deal but not as a driver skill."

Byron won at Daytona and Indianapolis in the Xfinity Series last year.

"They meant a lot because of what everyone said they meant, but it didn't really hit me like it did [winning the championship] at Homestead," Byron said.

Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports, age 25): Daytona 500, Southern 500, Brickyard 400, Charlotte 600

"As a driver and being part of the sport, the four big races are [those]," Bowman said.

Bowman said he watched a lot of NASCAR as a kid, including the Bristol night race. But with Bowman having grown up in Arizona and racing midgets to start his career, it makes sense he has the Brickyard on his list and maybe not Bristol.

"I think it pays a little more than the Bristol night race, too -- that probably helps it out," Bowman said with a laugh.

Bubba Wallace (Richard Petty Motorsports, age 24): Daytona 500, Bristol night race, Martinsville, Charlotte 600

Martinsville is on this list considering what it means for Wallace.

"For sure [Martinsville is on the list] -- that was my first win in the trucks," Wallace said.

Wallace did want to add a fifth, saying, "maybe Talladega, being from Alabama."

Ryan Blaney (Team Penske, age 24): Bristol night race, Southern 500, Charlotte 600 and Daytona 500

"My George Washington would be the Bristol night race -- that's my favorite one by far," Blaney said.

Blaney said the triple crown of races in some ways are Darlington, Charlotte and Daytona.

"A big reason I picked those three is my favorite NASCAR driver, David Pearson, won all three with the Wood Brothers in '76," Blaney said. "That's the biggest feat in NASCAR to win all those races in one year."

Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing, age 26): Daytona 500, Bristol night race, Southern 500, Brickyard 400

Larson started out this conversation by saying "Daytona, Daytona, Daytona, Daytona" to make sure people understood he thinks the Daytona 500 is a big deal after comments about how winning some of the biggest sprint-car and midget events would rank as huge accomplishments for him.

"Indy, to me, is a big purse, and just to be able to kiss the bricks -- there has been a lot of legendary of people to win it," Larson said.

If there were five races to include, Larson said he probably would put Homestead on his list.

Drivers from my era | by Ricky Craven

The most identifiable race on the NASCAR cup schedule is the Daytona 500.

That event benefits more than all others from the anticipation and expectation of a new NASCAR season. The February Daytona race often draws comparisons to the Super Bowl, not only because it attracts such enormous fanfare, but because of the way NASCAR drivers covet and react to a Daytona 500 win.

Dale Earnhardt's receiving line of pit crew members waiting to congratulate him that stretched the length of pit road in 1998 symbolizes best how meaningful one particular race can be to a driver's career. But NASCAR's season opener is not the only one to which drivers apply extra emphasis. For almost as long as there has been a NASCAR, there have been four major races.

Several weeks ago I crossed paths with my hero, Richard Petty, in the garage area during a race weekend. We talked for a while about how good a time we had together on Kyle Petty's charity ride a couple of months earlier, and as our conversation was winding down, I asked Richard something I had always wondered going way back to my childhood.

I asked him if he could put into perspective how significant the Daytona 500 was to his career. That race, after all, was why I considered him my hero growing up and why I aspired to be like him -- the king who won seven Daytona 500s. Heck, his Daytona 500 wins are why I've always assumed he inherited the nickname, the King.

So I was taken aback when he explained that in the early portion of NASCAR's history it wasn't the Daytona 500 that drivers wanted to win most, but the most prestigious race for him and for all others was the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

There is no greater endorsement for this weekend's race than what I just shared with you, and I must say, while not shocked, I was surprised Petty put Darlington above all others.

Our discussion set me on a path to accumulate opinions from other drivers in my era, those I have competed against, to get their view of what they consider the major races each season. They were amazingly consistent.

Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports, age 42): Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, Southern 500, Charlotte 600

Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing, age 42): Daytona 500, Southern 500, Charlotte 600, Brickyard 400

Brad Keselowski (Team Penske, age 34): Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, Charlotte 600, Southern 500

Matt Kenseth (Roush Fenway Racing, age 46): Daytona 500, Southern 500, Charlotte 600, Brickyard 400

It is remarkable that all four drivers identified the same races, albeit in a somewhat different order.

The fifth driver I reached out to took it a step further. Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave me the same four races, but in this order: the Daytona 500, the World 600 (he went old school on me), the Brickyard 400 and the Southern 500. He added this caveat: "Also prestigious and significant are the Bristol trophy, the Martinsville clock, the All-Star Race and a driver's home track."

What I enjoy and appreciate about this exercise is that it helps all of you enter into the minds of race car drivers. Though they compete 38 weekends a year, not all race wins are valued the same.

Race fans remain the pulse of NASCAR, as none of this exists without the paying customer, but fans do not determine which races matter most -- drivers do! Drivers decide which races and which wins define them.

Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, and then he went on to win four more. Of course it makes sense Gordon would declare the Indianapolis NASCAR race as the most important of the season and perhaps of his career.

Kenseth's first win came in the 2000 Charlotte 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He valued that race the most until he won the Daytona 500 in 2009. He then set his sights on winning the Southern 500, which he captured in 2013. Kenseth told me last week that the Southern 500 has more meaning to him because the track is generally viewed as the most challenging on the circuit.

It was 15 years ago that I won at Darlington in a very celebrated finish. I cherish the fact my name is added to the list of winners at "The Track Too Tough to Tame," but I would be lying to you if I told you I hadn't wished it were the Southern 500 rather than the Dodge Dealers 400.

That's how drivers think. It seems ridiculous considering it's the same racetrack, against basically the same drivers, but the world remembers those who win major events in NASCAR with a little more clarity. Just ask the drivers which races matter. They'll tell you.