With Bill Elliott entering semi-retirement this season, and a rocking chair rather than a driver's seat awaiting guys like Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte and Ricky Rudd in the next few years, Nextel Cup racing soon will take on a different face.

Yet while many of the biggest names in the sport enter the twilight of their racing careers, they remain popular with huge numbers of fans. They may not make it to Victory Lane often anymore, but they still have the adoration from millions of diehard backers.

It would appear, from looking at this unfold, a market is untapped at the moment. While it would be hard to accuse NASCAR of missing any marketing opportunity, why is it that golf has the Senior PGA Tour and NASCAR has nothing for its aging stars?

It seems NASCAR could benefit by finding a way to keep some of its big names in the game on a limited basis after they step out of their Cup cars for the final time. Such a move would be great for the drivers, fans and the sport. No longer would former Cup drivers fall into the "Where are they now?" category after they've retired.

So here's a proposal: Form a Senior NASCAR Tour.

I'm not talking about a full-blown 36-race, grueling week-in and week-out schedule. But an abbreviated tour of some sort might very well generate interest from the drivers, as well as attract sponsorship dollars that would foot the bill at the same time.

Imagine having Elliott squaring off with Wallace, or Darrell Waltrip jousting with Harry Gant, Ned Jarrett or Benny Parsons, maybe even A.J. Foyt, just like the good old days. Fans would go crazy if given an opportunity to relive that kind of history.

But there'd have to be a caveat of sorts, something that would make the playing field even for all participants. No one would get any special favor or treatment at the expense of other participants.

How can all this be done, you ask? There is a way.

	Want to see the King give the evil eye from behind the wheel again?

Why not form, say, a six- to eight-race IROC-style series, where all cars would be prepared equally and owned and operated under NASCAR sanction? Get one of the big-three auto manufacturers to kick in a dozen or so showroom stock cars for a comparable advertising trade-off. Get maybe one series sponsor -- like True Value was in IROC -- to take care of the associated costs (Winston/R.J. Reynolds would be a perfect sponsor, in my mind). Run between six and eight races at some of NASCAR's most fabled and popular older and newer tracks, places like Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, Indianapolis, Darlington, California, Texas and Charlotte.

And then have the mighty NASCAR PR machine promote the heck out of it.

I mean, who wouldn't like to see Richard Petty behind the wheel again at a place like Daytona or Talladega? Or how about DW making the seats rattle at Bristol? I'll bet even Junior Johnson would leave his expansive ranch to run with the good ol' boys once again.

The beauty of this idea is the cars wouldn't have to worry about some of the things today's Cup stock cars are so dependent upon, such as aero push or suspension adjustments during the race. They'd all be so equally prepared that each race would boil down to the overall talent of the driver.

Even though they might top out speed-wise at just more than 100 mph or so, they'd still be fast enough to give the fans their money's worth, particularly with the famous names and faces in the cockpit.

And even though the guy behind the wheel may be in his 50s, 60s or even 70s, if his spirit is willing, the talent will still be there in some form. Sure, it may be diminished and the reflexes may not be as quick as they once were, but racing is like riding a bicycle: one you learn, you never forget.

The rumor a few months ago was that new series sponsor Nextel was looking for different ways to meld the history and tradition of Winston Cup's 30-plus years of involvement with the new tradition that would be built under the Nextel banner. To their credit, Nextel officials didn't want all the accomplishments and achievements made during the Winston tenure to be totally wiped out just because a new sponsor was footing the bill for the series.

What better way to join the old with the new than to highlight some of the guys who made NASCAR racing what it is today?

At the same time, the drivers taking part not only would get the enjoyment of being behind the wheel again, they could make even more money selling merchandise and souvenirs with their names and faces plastered all over them.

And fans would be able to relive some of their favorite racing memories of old -- with a modern-day twist. How could such an idea lose?

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@MSN.com.