The Cup race at Martinsville was a step in the right direction. Had Denny Hamlin caught Jimmy Johnson after Johnson's final.... ahem, pass, and we had a closer finish I think this race would have gone down in history as great instead of good. That said I'm content enough with what I saw on Sunday to not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Something seemed different on Sunday as the laps wound down. Has it really been that long since we've had a race that built towards a dramatic conclusion?
Despite the loss Denny Hamlin invested a little in his racing credibility. He no doubt picked up a few fans to go along with those second place points. Don't feel too sorry for him then. The most valuable lessons in life are learned the hard way so don't expect to see him play bridesmaid at a short track again.
An indication that NASCAR has indeed changed, for good or ill I will not say, was on display for a second week. It seems as if the only dispenser of justice these days is NASCAR. The children don't necessarily play nice all the time but most drivers seem unwilling to take it upon themselves to exact on-track revenge. Juan Pablo Montoya might just be the rowdiest driver on the circuit today but even he seems to rein in his aggression quickly. (Despite his silly 'nom de vroom' Kyle "Rowdy" Busch only gives evidence of his young lack of taste. 'Days of Thunder' is a terrible racing movie.)
If Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch ever have a race where all three have race-winning cars, look out. It seems as if one driver is not just a little better than his nearest competitor but a lot better. Product of the new car?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
If I Were King........No more artificial Christmas trees
If I were king of the NASCAR Cup world things would be different. The very name 'NASCAR' is an anachronism. Truly 'stock' car racing probably only existed for about as long as it took for a driver to break a stock front end suspension piece and clobber a wall. In the interests of safety, first and foremost, and a decent racing product 'stock cars' are an ever-evolving toy. All very well and good. Drivers have died as the years rolled on but perhaps, hopefully, we'll have witnessed the last. In a seemingly divided racing world I think it safe to assume that all are in agreement on the safety improvements found in the new style car.
Gone too are the days of mass attrition in races. We take reliability for granted in NASCAR now. Having 43 cars on hand at the finish of each race only increases the odds of having a great finish. Since this is my perfect racing land that would mean 43 lead lap competitive cars. ...fantasy still but it would be cool.
The talking heads and NASCAR spokespersons claim that as the teams gain a better understanding of the new car the on-track product will improve and the hoped-for side-by-side racing will appear. Perhaps. Perhaps not. I don't have a handle on the aerodynamic problems that seem to plague the new car on those oft-hated mile and a half tracks. (Spit with me now: ptooey) I'm sure NASCAR has someone on that. But so long as the current setup is not working now is the time to implement my suggestion. Keeping everything the same under the skin of the cars, return to your roots NASCAR! Bring back stock appearing bodies! Make each brand identifiable.....
without the aid of stickers!!
I'm guessing a stock Camry body will not fit on the COT chasis with them big ol' racing slicks on there. That's fine. Scale the bodies up. But put back all those nuances that make each particular brand identifiable. It can be done. The wizards that build these cars can mold sheet metal (sheet metal!) as a sculptor molds clay. Add those door seams. Lift those side skirts. Round out those doors. Dirty the car up, aerodynamically speaking. By most accounts the car doesn't drive worth a damn anyway. NASCAR, now is the time to do this. The old school fan (the core fan...NASCAR, are you listening?) is angry. Extend the olive branch. And make it a good impression of an olive branch and not the cheap plastic ones you're using now.
Gone too are the days of mass attrition in races. We take reliability for granted in NASCAR now. Having 43 cars on hand at the finish of each race only increases the odds of having a great finish. Since this is my perfect racing land that would mean 43 lead lap competitive cars. ...fantasy still but it would be cool.
The talking heads and NASCAR spokespersons claim that as the teams gain a better understanding of the new car the on-track product will improve and the hoped-for side-by-side racing will appear. Perhaps. Perhaps not. I don't have a handle on the aerodynamic problems that seem to plague the new car on those oft-hated mile and a half tracks. (Spit with me now: ptooey) I'm sure NASCAR has someone on that. But so long as the current setup is not working now is the time to implement my suggestion. Keeping everything the same under the skin of the cars, return to your roots NASCAR! Bring back stock appearing bodies! Make each brand identifiable.....
without the aid of stickers!!
I'm guessing a stock Camry body will not fit on the COT chasis with them big ol' racing slicks on there. That's fine. Scale the bodies up. But put back all those nuances that make each particular brand identifiable. It can be done. The wizards that build these cars can mold sheet metal (sheet metal!) as a sculptor molds clay. Add those door seams. Lift those side skirts. Round out those doors. Dirty the car up, aerodynamically speaking. By most accounts the car doesn't drive worth a damn anyway. NASCAR, now is the time to do this. The old school fan (the core fan...NASCAR, are you listening?) is angry. Extend the olive branch. And make it a good impression of an olive branch and not the cheap plastic ones you're using now.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bristol: Help Control the Excitement - Have Your Track Spayed or Neutered
I think we'll need one more race to definitively prove that 'They' have ruined Bristol. Kyle Busch is just so annoyingly good these days that I'm inclined to believe that even if the race on Sunday had taken place on any of the previous Bristol racing surfaces the outcome would be the same. Little or no evidence for or against the charge can then be gleaned from his performance. The same can't be said for what unfolded in his wake.
It was an almighty bore.
Busch spent so little time in contact with 2nd place on back Fox naturally focused on the rest of the field. I didn't see much action back there. I don't blame the designers or builders of the new, progressively-banked surface. They were tasked with creating a second racing line. Mission accomplished. Who I do question is the person or person's who requested said work be undertaken. I ask, from a fan's point of view, what was wrong with Bristol? The driver's love it but I doubt highly that you can sell 160,000 tickets to see more of what was (wasn't?) on display on Sunday. The great season of zzzz saunters on.
For once the Green, White, Checkers rule might actually have guaranteed the 'rightful' winner his win. Lap traffic might have come into play had the last caution flag not come out when it did. Denny Hamlin might, might, have caught Busch. As it was, he had no chance of catching Busch on that last restart. My heart rate actually slowed as the green flew that last time so sure was I of the outcome.
Hooray for Marcos Ambrose. A little street cred earned. It's a shame his engine developed a case of the hiccups late in the race but given how relatively little time he's spent in NASCAR and how thoroughly out of reach from everyone Busch put the win, I think it safe to assume that team and that driver are more than a little proud of their effort. For the first time in my life I think I'm right to say you read it here first: this cat can run with the so-called big boys.
"Phew", says Mark Martin. The accepted take on Martin is that he's a very smart racer. Given that, given his team's ability to build exploding engines and end up saddled with exploding tires coming into Sunday's race and given how well in-hand Busch appeared to have the race as it rolled on, I doubt Martin pushed things very much. I think that team was quite happy to bring it home where they did and start salvaging their season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr's excuse list grows. He points to a poor qualifying effort for his poor finish, qualifying 34th, starting at the back and coming home 14th. That doesn't really cut it as Jeff Burton had a poor qualifying run, starting 40th but still managed to come home in 8th position. This poor devil couldn't be feeling more pressure if he was sitting at the bottom of the ocean. I think if his name wasn't Earnhardt and his mug wasn't plastered on a million t-shirts (number one is sales....) he would be winning or at least running better. His folksy demeanor and pedigree obviously appeal to a lot, nay most, NASCAR fans, but if commercial work counted towards championships Michael Waltrip would be the Richard Petty of his time. Earnhardt Jr's halting manner of speech of late is either indicative of a distracted nature or a brain injury. I don't say that lightly or in jest. The man appears too ill-at-ease and fidgety during interviews these days. He doesn't look well.
It was an almighty bore.
Busch spent so little time in contact with 2nd place on back Fox naturally focused on the rest of the field. I didn't see much action back there. I don't blame the designers or builders of the new, progressively-banked surface. They were tasked with creating a second racing line. Mission accomplished. Who I do question is the person or person's who requested said work be undertaken. I ask, from a fan's point of view, what was wrong with Bristol? The driver's love it but I doubt highly that you can sell 160,000 tickets to see more of what was (wasn't?) on display on Sunday. The great season of zzzz saunters on.
For once the Green, White, Checkers rule might actually have guaranteed the 'rightful' winner his win. Lap traffic might have come into play had the last caution flag not come out when it did. Denny Hamlin might, might, have caught Busch. As it was, he had no chance of catching Busch on that last restart. My heart rate actually slowed as the green flew that last time so sure was I of the outcome.
Hooray for Marcos Ambrose. A little street cred earned. It's a shame his engine developed a case of the hiccups late in the race but given how relatively little time he's spent in NASCAR and how thoroughly out of reach from everyone Busch put the win, I think it safe to assume that team and that driver are more than a little proud of their effort. For the first time in my life I think I'm right to say you read it here first: this cat can run with the so-called big boys.
"Phew", says Mark Martin. The accepted take on Martin is that he's a very smart racer. Given that, given his team's ability to build exploding engines and end up saddled with exploding tires coming into Sunday's race and given how well in-hand Busch appeared to have the race as it rolled on, I doubt Martin pushed things very much. I think that team was quite happy to bring it home where they did and start salvaging their season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr's excuse list grows. He points to a poor qualifying effort for his poor finish, qualifying 34th, starting at the back and coming home 14th. That doesn't really cut it as Jeff Burton had a poor qualifying run, starting 40th but still managed to come home in 8th position. This poor devil couldn't be feeling more pressure if he was sitting at the bottom of the ocean. I think if his name wasn't Earnhardt and his mug wasn't plastered on a million t-shirts (number one is sales....) he would be winning or at least running better. His folksy demeanor and pedigree obviously appeal to a lot, nay most, NASCAR fans, but if commercial work counted towards championships Michael Waltrip would be the Richard Petty of his time. Earnhardt Jr's halting manner of speech of late is either indicative of a distracted nature or a brain injury. I don't say that lightly or in jest. The man appears too ill-at-ease and fidgety during interviews these days. He doesn't look well.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
My NASCAR Tummy Ache
I'm falling out of love with NASCAR.
Not with stock car racing, mind you. Just with NASCAR. Stock car racing, fear not, I still love you, in more ways than I can count. Those three words, 'stock car racing', still excite me. But NASCAR, you've given me a tummy ache.
I can pinpoint the start of my love affair with this sport to two instances. The first is the still-unbelievable sight of Ricky Rudd making an early case for roof flaps in the Busch Clash in 1984. I had no idea who Ricky Rudd was. I had no idea where Daytona was. I did know that my weekend television would never be the same. As it was explained to me, this, or at least what the drivers had been doing up until the moment Rudd's Ford tried out for the gymnastics team, was stock car racing.
The other moment is seeing my uncle return home from the local quarter mile track one Sunday afternoon with his tales of that day's racing, wiping the dirt and rubber from his face. My uncle was never a racer. He just liked to sit close. His filth and my parent's insistence that the racetrack was "too rough" were enough for my 8 year old brain to conclude that this stock car racing thing was probably the greatest thing ever. I wasn't far off.
But the relationship today is not what it was. Admittedly I'm hardly floating a novel idea here. The griping and complaining, legitimate or otherwise, with all things NASCAR has reached a din of late only just drown out by the beloved roar of the engines.
North Americans are a gluttonous lot. I should know. I'm one. My 'treat' each week is to devour a large pizza while watching the Cup race. Our appetites extend beyond simply food however. Someone, somewhere, after witnessing Jeff Gordon descend from the racing heavens in the early 90's, saw a delicious, deep-fried racing product before them and, some distance away, an immense pile of salivating race fans. In between was a weedy, narrow little foot path. This had to change.
And change it did. That footpath is no more. The space between has been removed and has been replaced with moving sidewalks, conveying race fans around the clock to the biggest racing-related smorgasbord that has ever been. The hungry mob was then free to indulge itself. And indulge we did.
There was a time in the 50's and 60's when the 'Cup' season routinely encompassed 700-plus events. The '68 season is actually just coming to an end. Seriously, there were a lot of races in a season. But how many of those races were televised? I'd be very surprised to learn that any of them were. Perhaps the last few laps of the Daytona 500 were televised here and there. Those fantastic Bud Lindemann "Car and Track" race recap programs are just awesome to watch now (stock-appearing 'stock' cars...how novel) and they give you an indication of how big league stock car racing was meted out sparingly in the past. For those not lucky enough to attend a race it must have been a thrill to have seen that much. In light of today's safe-wall to safe-wall coverage only reading about a race doesn't sound like much fun. But I'm sure fans pored over whatever they could get their hands on "back in the day".
Then along came network and cable television and the sport got some much needed and deserved attention. Even so, I remember in the 80's and even early 90's that it wasn't unusual for me to see a half dozen races or fewer on television.
And now today we have a fully-televised 36 race schedule, plus the whatever-they-are-calling-it-now pre-season race at Daytona and the all-star race, topped with interminable pre-race and pre-pre-race shows, dozens of legitimate Cup-devoted webpages and an animated rodent.
Burp.
It's all too much. We've long since hit the saturation point. There have been and will continue to be some great races at the Cup level. But also in the mix are a few mediocre races and some down right awful races. 500 miles at California twice a year, business interests aside, are not necessary. Unfortunately, the toothpaste is out of the tube.
Aside from naive suggestions of paring down the schedule by a half dozen or so races or shortening most Cup events to 300 to 400 miles, I don't know how to restore the level of excitement to NASCAR Cup racing that I remember from the past. The arguments put forth from the television talking heads of "growing the sport" ring as hollow now as they did when they first appeared in the mid 90's. What's growing when you start getting away from what made the sport the delicious deep-fried product you wanted everyone to try in the first place? We've been back and forth to the great All-You-Can-Eat buffet that is NASCAR Cup racing too many times and now we've gone and eaten ourselves sick.
Not with stock car racing, mind you. Just with NASCAR. Stock car racing, fear not, I still love you, in more ways than I can count. Those three words, 'stock car racing', still excite me. But NASCAR, you've given me a tummy ache.
I can pinpoint the start of my love affair with this sport to two instances. The first is the still-unbelievable sight of Ricky Rudd making an early case for roof flaps in the Busch Clash in 1984. I had no idea who Ricky Rudd was. I had no idea where Daytona was. I did know that my weekend television would never be the same. As it was explained to me, this, or at least what the drivers had been doing up until the moment Rudd's Ford tried out for the gymnastics team, was stock car racing.
The other moment is seeing my uncle return home from the local quarter mile track one Sunday afternoon with his tales of that day's racing, wiping the dirt and rubber from his face. My uncle was never a racer. He just liked to sit close. His filth and my parent's insistence that the racetrack was "too rough" were enough for my 8 year old brain to conclude that this stock car racing thing was probably the greatest thing ever. I wasn't far off.
But the relationship today is not what it was. Admittedly I'm hardly floating a novel idea here. The griping and complaining, legitimate or otherwise, with all things NASCAR has reached a din of late only just drown out by the beloved roar of the engines.
North Americans are a gluttonous lot. I should know. I'm one. My 'treat' each week is to devour a large pizza while watching the Cup race. Our appetites extend beyond simply food however. Someone, somewhere, after witnessing Jeff Gordon descend from the racing heavens in the early 90's, saw a delicious, deep-fried racing product before them and, some distance away, an immense pile of salivating race fans. In between was a weedy, narrow little foot path. This had to change.
And change it did. That footpath is no more. The space between has been removed and has been replaced with moving sidewalks, conveying race fans around the clock to the biggest racing-related smorgasbord that has ever been. The hungry mob was then free to indulge itself. And indulge we did.
There was a time in the 50's and 60's when the 'Cup' season routinely encompassed 700-plus events. The '68 season is actually just coming to an end. Seriously, there were a lot of races in a season. But how many of those races were televised? I'd be very surprised to learn that any of them were. Perhaps the last few laps of the Daytona 500 were televised here and there. Those fantastic Bud Lindemann "Car and Track" race recap programs are just awesome to watch now (stock-appearing 'stock' cars...how novel) and they give you an indication of how big league stock car racing was meted out sparingly in the past. For those not lucky enough to attend a race it must have been a thrill to have seen that much. In light of today's safe-wall to safe-wall coverage only reading about a race doesn't sound like much fun. But I'm sure fans pored over whatever they could get their hands on "back in the day".
Then along came network and cable television and the sport got some much needed and deserved attention. Even so, I remember in the 80's and even early 90's that it wasn't unusual for me to see a half dozen races or fewer on television.
And now today we have a fully-televised 36 race schedule, plus the whatever-they-are-calling-it-now pre-season race at Daytona and the all-star race, topped with interminable pre-race and pre-pre-race shows, dozens of legitimate Cup-devoted webpages and an animated rodent.
Burp.
It's all too much. We've long since hit the saturation point. There have been and will continue to be some great races at the Cup level. But also in the mix are a few mediocre races and some down right awful races. 500 miles at California twice a year, business interests aside, are not necessary. Unfortunately, the toothpaste is out of the tube.
Aside from naive suggestions of paring down the schedule by a half dozen or so races or shortening most Cup events to 300 to 400 miles, I don't know how to restore the level of excitement to NASCAR Cup racing that I remember from the past. The arguments put forth from the television talking heads of "growing the sport" ring as hollow now as they did when they first appeared in the mid 90's. What's growing when you start getting away from what made the sport the delicious deep-fried product you wanted everyone to try in the first place? We've been back and forth to the great All-You-Can-Eat buffet that is NASCAR Cup racing too many times and now we've gone and eaten ourselves sick.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
March Atlanta Race - Busch Whoops Field
It's getting more and more difficult to defend NASCAR to the uninitiated let alone entertain questions about the sport. And it's not as if there are long lines of the NASCAR-curious. I get the feeling NASCAR management has wrung just about every new fan out of the big wet towel that is the North American sports-minded audience. Perhaps I'm being swept along in the seeming flood of "What's wrong with NASCAR?/What can we do to fix NASCAR?"-themed articles, blogs and comments but I'm more inclined to list my gripes with the Cup series these days than rave about how fantastic the racing has been this year.
It hasn't.
The race at Atlanta wasn't a bad race but it wasn't a great race. No doubt about it, Kurt Busch and his boys put a whoopin' on the field and on his own car. Did you see the right side of the #2 after the race? That much should appeal to the grassroots. By Kurt's own admission the run-in's with the wall came at moments in the race when he abandoned his strategy of racing the track instead of racing his competitors. Maybe Kurt bought into the weekend's theme that the Atlanta track has become the "new" Darlington with its reported lack of grip and worn surface? I think he deserves all the more credit for winning if the conditions were that bad.
What a shame then that he had to diminish his win with that silly reverse victory lap. This I expect of someone like Michael Waltrip but not a past Champion. In a series that now rivals professional wrestling for shtick, gimmicks and cringe moments this was a new low. On one hand the broadcasters present a picture of the drivers as fearless warriors, risking life and limb in the quest for glory. On the other hand they come across as mindless corporate shills mugging for the camera awkwardly playing "Garage Band". I'll forgive Kurt Busch this episode as a misguided attempt at originality in a homogenous sea of bland.
One positive thing to say about the teams performance is the point that a driver or a team or a car does not have to be 'off' by much to be really off. Aside from a strategy call win last year the #2 team had very little to show for their efforts at the end of the year. There 43 teams each week all clambering over each other to get to somewhere. Not all of them are striving to get to the top judging from the start and parker's. (Overheating? Really? I think the Bliss team's first item to work on is their imagination.) In a sport measured in terms hundredths and thousandths of seconds there are an enormous number of cracks to fall into. And it doesn't take too much to fall out of sight. My point being is it very difficult to succeed at this level of racing. Kurt Busch didn't forget how to drive. They were just a little off. And no knock on the skill and determination of any driver or team that becomes entirely dominant but it is much more interesting and exciting to see teams rise and fall over the course of weeks and months and seasons. Seems the Busch (elder) team is on the rise.
Lastly, I've developed a new rule of thumb for anticipating the level of excitement to expect during a race, restart, etc. It's an inverse rule. The more the broadcasters (Yes, Fox, I'm looking at you) go bananas and claim the proceedings are "fixin' to get good", the less likely it is something exciting will happen. On matters other than technical I regard the opinions of Mike, Larry and Darrell on par with those of politicians. Luckily they still maintain a chemistry which is enjoyable.
It hasn't.
The race at Atlanta wasn't a bad race but it wasn't a great race. No doubt about it, Kurt Busch and his boys put a whoopin' on the field and on his own car. Did you see the right side of the #2 after the race? That much should appeal to the grassroots. By Kurt's own admission the run-in's with the wall came at moments in the race when he abandoned his strategy of racing the track instead of racing his competitors. Maybe Kurt bought into the weekend's theme that the Atlanta track has become the "new" Darlington with its reported lack of grip and worn surface? I think he deserves all the more credit for winning if the conditions were that bad.
What a shame then that he had to diminish his win with that silly reverse victory lap. This I expect of someone like Michael Waltrip but not a past Champion. In a series that now rivals professional wrestling for shtick, gimmicks and cringe moments this was a new low. On one hand the broadcasters present a picture of the drivers as fearless warriors, risking life and limb in the quest for glory. On the other hand they come across as mindless corporate shills mugging for the camera awkwardly playing "Garage Band". I'll forgive Kurt Busch this episode as a misguided attempt at originality in a homogenous sea of bland.
One positive thing to say about the teams performance is the point that a driver or a team or a car does not have to be 'off' by much to be really off. Aside from a strategy call win last year the #2 team had very little to show for their efforts at the end of the year. There 43 teams each week all clambering over each other to get to somewhere. Not all of them are striving to get to the top judging from the start and parker's. (Overheating? Really? I think the Bliss team's first item to work on is their imagination.) In a sport measured in terms hundredths and thousandths of seconds there are an enormous number of cracks to fall into. And it doesn't take too much to fall out of sight. My point being is it very difficult to succeed at this level of racing. Kurt Busch didn't forget how to drive. They were just a little off. And no knock on the skill and determination of any driver or team that becomes entirely dominant but it is much more interesting and exciting to see teams rise and fall over the course of weeks and months and seasons. Seems the Busch (elder) team is on the rise.
Lastly, I've developed a new rule of thumb for anticipating the level of excitement to expect during a race, restart, etc. It's an inverse rule. The more the broadcasters (Yes, Fox, I'm looking at you) go bananas and claim the proceedings are "fixin' to get good", the less likely it is something exciting will happen. On matters other than technical I regard the opinions of Mike, Larry and Darrell on par with those of politicians. Luckily they still maintain a chemistry which is enjoyable.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Las Vegas Recap - no gambling metaphors here.....
Well, that was a little more like it, wasn't it? Coming on the heels of the California race, which we all can't let up on until they change the track, anything would look exciting.
What struck me about the race in Las Vegas on Sunday was how old timey it was, at least for the majority of the race. Attrition, wrecks and mistakes had more to do with the outcome than lead lap passes. A record number of cautions (14) and more engine fireworks than I can remember. People talk of the good old days in NASCAR and this race gave us a little glimpse into the past. There was a time when even the best teams learned how to change tires, calculate gas mileage and drive with fingers crossed, praying their engines held together long enough. Raise your hand all those that take reliability into consideration when making picks pre race these days. Me neither. Although less so, mechanical pride goeth before a fall still.
Jack Roush offered up a reasonable explanation as to at least his team's engine woes claiming a better-than-expected tire combined with what turned out to be the wrong rear-end gear choice lead to the failures. No doubt there'll be some scrambling and figuring before these cats in their hats get to Atlanta. The surface there is worn but it's still high, sustained rpm country that makes valve springs wish they had gone into the Slinky business instead. Hammond and Co. pointed to common suppliers of engine parts for the relatively widespread failures. Are there that few suppliers of top end engine parts out there? Then again isn't it the way things go in this sport and in life that variety is an endangered species? It would be interesting to see who gets what pieces from where.
Still others point to the economy (mostly the types that love buzz words and point to the economy as the reason it rained today). The theory is that corners are being cut and the double-, triple-, quadruple- checking system that insured bulletproof cars in the past is suffering because of it. I don't know. Maybe. Time will tell.
Kyle Busch is just the best natural driver that NASCAR has ever seen. Of course I base that on my deep knowledge of NASCAR history dating to about 1989. If you don't believe me, and you'd be wise not to, would you believe Jeff Gordon? Busch, as annoying as he can be and as limited as his knowledge of television history appears to be, is just that much better than anyone else out there today. There were a few instances during the race, shown in slow-mo replay so that us mortals could actually see it, of drivers getting the wiggles, correcting, the car taking a bite and then heading off in any direction other than straight ahead. Except Busch. To my eye he has this knack for car control that puts him above all others. If his car gets loose coming off a corner, he just seems to be able to coax it back in line with minimal over-correction. The thing just settles back in line. Much as I'd like to see close finishes it was pretty obvious that Busch was going to walk away from everyone else on the final restart.
Jeff Gordon is just lucky. Of course he's talented. You don't win 81 times just because you have good gear. But he is a lucky man. Who else shreds a fender and still comes home sixth AND leads the points at the end of the day? Grrr. This is shades of the luck of Wonder Boy Gordon. And that might not be a bad thing actually. It might be good if two superstars get hot and invincible at the same time (Busch and Gordon, for instance). Any competition would be wonderful to see. It is these stretches of single car dominance that bore me.
Could he have done so with the car of old? The slightest ding on a fender a few years back would have sent Gordon behind the wall. The new car does seem to be much tougher. I'm still not sold on the 'better racing' however.
Bobby Labonte must be feeling alright today. A nice solid 5th. I remember how DW reacted when he finished 5th at Pocono when subbing for Steve Park. It had been so long since he'd finished that close to the head of the field that the man was in tears. It wasn't quite so with Bobby Labonte (although I was surprised to see how long it has been since he's won a race) but he's been away from the performance-oriented limelight for a while.
What racing gods have it in for Mark Martin? What could he have possibly done in this life or a previous to have such crushingly bad luck. Two weeks, two engine failures. There were many, me included, who said/say this is the year that Martin has the keys to the kingdom and is being provided with all that he needs. .....except reliable engines. It still pains me that someone of Martin's standing and street cred gets out of the car after such rotten racing luck and leaves us with the impression that his sole disappointment that day was his failure to give the mighty fine folks at Kellogs a thrill. Where is the selfishness in NASCAR? There are people out there that respect a driver that puts his desire to win and compete above all other considerations. You're risking your life Martin! Stop caring what Tony the Tiger thinks!
Oh Mikey. You're on track to become a respectable driver and owner of a respectable just-outside-the-top-ten team. And then you go and try to pretend you're Harry Gant. When you do well, I cheer. When you do poorly, I join in the chorus of "Retire! Retire!" My clue that the team is doing alright is that young master Reutimann came home with a career-best 4th yesterday. Good stuff.
Talent is key. Patience for sure. But Pride can never be too far away. Jeff Burton, who had a very un-Jeff Burton run last week, lands back in the top 5 this week. I don't think it'll be long before he finds himself in a similar points position. LIkewise, look for Jimmie Johnson and his gang to remind us all of just how annoyingly good they are next week in Atlanta. Johnson will win.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., as a driver, leaves me very unimpressed. I'm beginning to side with the boo birds and say that he is where he is, financially and team-wise, because of his last name. 29th? One engine failure, yes, but not much else to justify his position among fans this year. Not a well-rounded driver. But neither was his father for that matter. If he was as aggressive as his father (Daytona not withstanding) he'd have more wins and maybe more fans, if that's possible.
I'm still pulling for Marcos Ambrose. I just like the guy. And a professional racing champion is a professional racing champion. Besides, he has more claim to being a stock car driver than most anyone else on the tour.
Tony is probably a much tamer fellow these days even after a disappointing run for his cars. Wheel trouble? Bugs to be ironed out. You associate quality and performance with Tony Stewart so I'll doubt we'll see this again. Despite Vegas I get the impression Tony read my early blog and is now intent on proving me wrong in my prediction that the title of owner/driver would drag him down. I think if I were Ryan Newman I wouldn't sleep well at night.
What struck me about the race in Las Vegas on Sunday was how old timey it was, at least for the majority of the race. Attrition, wrecks and mistakes had more to do with the outcome than lead lap passes. A record number of cautions (14) and more engine fireworks than I can remember. People talk of the good old days in NASCAR and this race gave us a little glimpse into the past. There was a time when even the best teams learned how to change tires, calculate gas mileage and drive with fingers crossed, praying their engines held together long enough. Raise your hand all those that take reliability into consideration when making picks pre race these days. Me neither. Although less so, mechanical pride goeth before a fall still.
Jack Roush offered up a reasonable explanation as to at least his team's engine woes claiming a better-than-expected tire combined with what turned out to be the wrong rear-end gear choice lead to the failures. No doubt there'll be some scrambling and figuring before these cats in their hats get to Atlanta. The surface there is worn but it's still high, sustained rpm country that makes valve springs wish they had gone into the Slinky business instead. Hammond and Co. pointed to common suppliers of engine parts for the relatively widespread failures. Are there that few suppliers of top end engine parts out there? Then again isn't it the way things go in this sport and in life that variety is an endangered species? It would be interesting to see who gets what pieces from where.
Still others point to the economy (mostly the types that love buzz words and point to the economy as the reason it rained today). The theory is that corners are being cut and the double-, triple-, quadruple- checking system that insured bulletproof cars in the past is suffering because of it. I don't know. Maybe. Time will tell.
Kyle Busch is just the best natural driver that NASCAR has ever seen. Of course I base that on my deep knowledge of NASCAR history dating to about 1989. If you don't believe me, and you'd be wise not to, would you believe Jeff Gordon? Busch, as annoying as he can be and as limited as his knowledge of television history appears to be, is just that much better than anyone else out there today. There were a few instances during the race, shown in slow-mo replay so that us mortals could actually see it, of drivers getting the wiggles, correcting, the car taking a bite and then heading off in any direction other than straight ahead. Except Busch. To my eye he has this knack for car control that puts him above all others. If his car gets loose coming off a corner, he just seems to be able to coax it back in line with minimal over-correction. The thing just settles back in line. Much as I'd like to see close finishes it was pretty obvious that Busch was going to walk away from everyone else on the final restart.
Jeff Gordon is just lucky. Of course he's talented. You don't win 81 times just because you have good gear. But he is a lucky man. Who else shreds a fender and still comes home sixth AND leads the points at the end of the day? Grrr. This is shades of the luck of Wonder Boy Gordon. And that might not be a bad thing actually. It might be good if two superstars get hot and invincible at the same time (Busch and Gordon, for instance). Any competition would be wonderful to see. It is these stretches of single car dominance that bore me.
Could he have done so with the car of old? The slightest ding on a fender a few years back would have sent Gordon behind the wall. The new car does seem to be much tougher. I'm still not sold on the 'better racing' however.
Bobby Labonte must be feeling alright today. A nice solid 5th. I remember how DW reacted when he finished 5th at Pocono when subbing for Steve Park. It had been so long since he'd finished that close to the head of the field that the man was in tears. It wasn't quite so with Bobby Labonte (although I was surprised to see how long it has been since he's won a race) but he's been away from the performance-oriented limelight for a while.
What racing gods have it in for Mark Martin? What could he have possibly done in this life or a previous to have such crushingly bad luck. Two weeks, two engine failures. There were many, me included, who said/say this is the year that Martin has the keys to the kingdom and is being provided with all that he needs. .....except reliable engines. It still pains me that someone of Martin's standing and street cred gets out of the car after such rotten racing luck and leaves us with the impression that his sole disappointment that day was his failure to give the mighty fine folks at Kellogs a thrill. Where is the selfishness in NASCAR? There are people out there that respect a driver that puts his desire to win and compete above all other considerations. You're risking your life Martin! Stop caring what Tony the Tiger thinks!
Oh Mikey. You're on track to become a respectable driver and owner of a respectable just-outside-the-top-ten team. And then you go and try to pretend you're Harry Gant. When you do well, I cheer. When you do poorly, I join in the chorus of "Retire! Retire!" My clue that the team is doing alright is that young master Reutimann came home with a career-best 4th yesterday. Good stuff.
Talent is key. Patience for sure. But Pride can never be too far away. Jeff Burton, who had a very un-Jeff Burton run last week, lands back in the top 5 this week. I don't think it'll be long before he finds himself in a similar points position. LIkewise, look for Jimmie Johnson and his gang to remind us all of just how annoyingly good they are next week in Atlanta. Johnson will win.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., as a driver, leaves me very unimpressed. I'm beginning to side with the boo birds and say that he is where he is, financially and team-wise, because of his last name. 29th? One engine failure, yes, but not much else to justify his position among fans this year. Not a well-rounded driver. But neither was his father for that matter. If he was as aggressive as his father (Daytona not withstanding) he'd have more wins and maybe more fans, if that's possible.
I'm still pulling for Marcos Ambrose. I just like the guy. And a professional racing champion is a professional racing champion. Besides, he has more claim to being a stock car driver than most anyone else on the tour.
Tony is probably a much tamer fellow these days even after a disappointing run for his cars. Wheel trouble? Bugs to be ironed out. You associate quality and performance with Tony Stewart so I'll doubt we'll see this again. Despite Vegas I get the impression Tony read my early blog and is now intent on proving me wrong in my prediction that the title of owner/driver would drag him down. I think if I were Ryan Newman I wouldn't sleep well at night.
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