Overall, the Michigan race was very enjoyable. No major wrecks, and more importantly, no injuries. Carl Edwards' fans got to see another win. Other fans had some real disappointments. The race resulted in some shake-ups in the point standings. Now there is only a 136 point difference between 6th place and 12th place. That means if 6th place Stewart, (hopefully) or any other driver have a couple of bad days in the next 3 races, he's out of the chase. You can bet your soiled shorts that there will be some real aggressive driving coming up to either stay in or make the chase. I think it's going to be more fun than usual. I've hated this "Race for the Chase" concept since it was forced on us. We all know that the point standings could change dramatically in the last ten races, like they did in the good old days. Now we have 12 contenders vying for the Cup, and 31 'also-rans' mucking up the race. Drivers with many teammates that are not in the chase will have a big advantage over other racers. Their teammates can block, bump, push, and generally cause holdups of other drivers. Even on pit road. Remember the disaster Jeff Gordon just suffered at Michigan because his pit crew was terribly slow for 3 pittings. If Jeff had gotten out of the pits a few seconds sooner, he wouldn't have been back in the pack where he got bumped by Stewart and Johnson. No tire cut, no flat tire, no crash. The same thing could happen if a Cup contender's teammate intentionally blocks a pit or drives a little slower on pit road. If NASCAR is going to keep up this stupid 'chase' idea, they should at least restrict the last 10 races to be run only with the 12 contenders. I know, I know, the sponsors of the 31 'also-rans' would not allow it. But it WOULD be the fairest way to run the last 10 races.
Not long ago the NASCAR Busch Series Race changed it's name to the NASCAR Nationwide Series Race. Of course, that came with the change of sponsors. Now I'm wondering if the NASCAR Sprint Series Race is going to have to change it's name and reuse the Busch name. It might become the NASCAR Sprint Busch Series Race. The reason for that of course, is Kyle Busch. Watching the race now it seems I'm watching Kyle Busch and the 'also rans'. This young man is on a tear this year. We all know that every race there is always a little luck involved, like not getting sucked into an accident, guessing the right pit strategy, etc. But no one can win repeatedly on luck. Kyle's wins are coming from great driving, great cars, and great pit crewing. Kyle's a phenom today similar to what Jeff Gordon was in his earlier years. Whether you're a Kyle fan or not, you have to appreciate his ability. And I think it's great that most NASCAR fans have quit booing him and applaud him during the victory lap. He deserves it. Those of us that root for other drivers are just going to have to 'grin and bear it'. I know for me, no matter who wins, I love NASCAR.
Once again rain is messing up the NASCAR Sprint Cup Race. More usual East coast weather. Qualifying for the race was cancelled today. That means that great road racers like Boris Said couldn't qualify and had to be sent packing. He and a few other 'road race ringers' always add a lot of excitement to the races. Now the starting line up is set by points. It also means that the only laps the qualifiers will be able to run will be during 'Happy Hour' tomorrow. That is of course, if it doesn't rain. And the forecast says "probably". Whatever happens, NASCAR better not have the Sprint cars put on 'rain tires'. Watching the cars in 'slo-mo' is no fun at all. If you're curious, the weather forecast for the road course in Las Vegas is 'clear and sunny'. I wish I could put a big screen next to my pool. Sunday looks to be a long, long day.
Another weekend. Another race. Another East coast rain delay. It's gotten far beyond sickening. Why won't NASCAR wake up? Forget the immense annoyance for a minute. These delays are VERY expensive for everyone. Team schedules are hard enough to maintain without them. Tens of thousands of empty seats because of rain, or the threat of rain. Millions of fans missing all or part of races because they can't spend extra hours on the couch at home. I'm an avid, almost rabid fan of NASCAR. But like so many of the fans, my time is very precious. I had to fly out of town late Sunday afternoon, so I once again had to miss the last laps of Sunday's race. I'm not asking NASCAR to move all the races to fairer climes. But how about at least half of them. NASCAR is now a national sport. The days of the 'good ole Southern boys' showing off the cars they use for outrunning the 'revenuers' is long past. Now millions of West coast fans have joined the fold. Fans that fill the seats. Even the NNS seats. Nevada, Arizona, California, and New Mexico have a minute fraction of the rain that they have on the East coast. NASCAR should 'single up' all, and completely eliminate some of the East coast races, and 'double up' or add to the West coast races. I go nuts listening to the incessant babbling and pointless interviews of the TV announcers to fill air time. But even that's nothing compared to the ennui felt by the fans at the track. At least we TV viewers have a comfortable home, convenient restroom, and lots of food and drink at our disposal. Well, will the race this coming weekend at Watkins Glen be dry? Guess. And then schedule yourself an extra 3 or 4 hours just in case. It is the East coast you know.
Am I just getting forgetful, or has that never happened before. I mean the fiasco at the Indy raceway yesterday. What in the h*ll happened? Goodyear gave the drivers bio-degradable tires that turned to dust in around 10 to 12 laps. Sure, Indy is known for being a track that is hard on tires. But that was ridiculous. I've been watching the NASCAR Indy race since the very first one that Jeff Gordon won. I don't remember that kind of tire problem. To need Competition Caution after Competition Caution was horrible. It turned the Indy 400 into seventeen 23 1/2 mile dashes. To make it even worse, except for the last 7 laps, the drivers couldn't even race "all out" for fear of blowing a tire and crashing. Most of the drivers expressed remorse for what happened. Only one driver that I know of said he thought it was "great". That was Dale Jr., a driver I love and have immense respect for. He said he really enjoyed having a long series of dashes. Well, I don't know about the rest of you NASCAR fans, but I thought it sucked. It was supposed to be a 400, not a bunch of repetitive "Shoot Outs". The importance of the race was put on the pit crews, not on the drivers like it should be. How come the Indy Cars racing in The Indianapolis 500 don't have a problem with Firestone tires? They travel a lot faster. I do understand NASCAR officials intervening for the sake of safety, but WHY should they have to? They can pass the blame around all they want, but it was a Goodyear goof-up, and no one elses. They barely tested their tires on the "Car of Tomorrow". If the new car is that much harder on right side tires, then Goodyear should have compensated for it. It's obvious to me that if Goodyear is going to keep supplying tires, they will have to make harder tires or put on thicker treads. Whatever. And I think Firestone should be given a chance to see what they can come up with. Either that or advertise the race as the Allstate "Indy Day of Dashes", not the Allstate 400.
As a big NASCAR fan, I find myself looking for something else to do on the weekends when there is no Sprint race. Of course there are a million things, including that doggone "honey-do" list, but last weekend my brother-in-law came up with a great idea. He's a huge Yankees fan. He said lets go to New York and see one of the last games that the Yank's are going to play in Yankee Stadium, "The House That Ruth Built". What a great idea. So he and I and four other family members flew to the Big Apple. Even though I'm not much of a baseball fan, it was a blast. And the game we attended was made even better by having to go thirteen innings. The Yank's played the Oakland A's. Looking around while we gorged ourselves on hot dogs and pop will be a great memory. Built around 1931, that place is more of a shrine than a stadium. And think of all the greats that have played there. Without steroids of course. I highly recommend to all of you reading this that you try to go to one of the games left to be played at the old stadium. You too will be part of a great history.
I bet Jimmie won't do that again. Especially to a firecracker like Kyle Busch. Laying back on the restart in hopes of bursting away for the last two laps to win the race. Well Jimmie, it was your race to lose, and you did. Kyle taught you one heck of a lesson. Even though Jimmie had a faster car and more experience, his hesitation cost him the win. Kyle wound up all his 800 horses a few milliseconds before Jimmie and went around him. Whether you like Kyle or not, that was great driving. I'm beginning to really like Kyle. He's maturing and is bringing a whole lot of excitement to NASCAR. I'm still scratching my head wondering why Rick Hendricks let him go. I guess he figured the Mear's pedigree would develope into a winner. Very possible, but we'll see. The good news for Jimmie and his fans is that he remained the fifth seed in the Race for the Chase. On a totally different subject. Do any of you other NASCAR fans believe as I do that NASCAR drivers should have to choose between driving in either the Nationwide Race or the Sprint Race, but not be allowed to drive in both? I believe this for two main reasons. First, it gives the Sprint car drivers the unfair advantage of learning a track the day before the BIG race. It amounts to hundreds of practice laps. Secondly, the Nationwide Race is supposed to be where the "newbies" learn their trade. And many of the young new drivers and their teams don't have the deep pockets that the Sprint car drivers and teams have. Every Nationwide race we see the same thing. The Sprint car drivers just about always leading and winning the races. Their money and experience gives them an unfair advantage there too. I believe the Nationwide races should be like the minor leagues in baseball. A place for the new guys and gals to learn and get experience. If Sprint car drivers want to compete in more races each week, there are a lot of other venues to drive in besides NASCAR.
I love NASCAR. I have many "favorite" drivers. Stewart is definitely NOT one of them. And for many reasons. His bad attitude. His immaturity. His uncontrollable anger. And mostly, his self grandising ego. I believe he doesn't drive for the usual reasons. He drives purely for the glory. The adoration. He's always up front when he does well. But when he does badly, he ducks and runs. He has no loyalty to fans or sponsors. He proved that when he was penalized for refusing to speak to the media when he had a bad race. If you don't know, media interviews are contractrially required. And one other thing obvious to me. Have you noticed that Stewart has the so-called "flu" more times than all the other drivers combined? Last weekend he once again couldn't complete a race. Why. His symptoms again were sickness and dehydration. Very interesting. Those are exactly the same symptoms of a "hangover". Is he drinking, partying, and coddling his adoring female fans the night before a race? I believe these are some of the reasons Joe Gibbs is so willing to release Stewart from his contract early. I'm tickled he wants to spread his wings and go on his own. I'm certain he will fall on his face. Like he probably does now the night before a race. I believe his current success is due to his good, but not great driving, and the power and greatness of JGR. We shall see. And hopefully we shall also see a great young driver named Lagano in the orange #20. If Lagano does get the ride, look out Hendricks and RCR.
First, congratulations to Kurt Busch for his win. Like it or not, pit and fuel strategies are just as important as the other aspects of a race. Kurt and his Crew Chief deserve kudos on theirs. But now the bad news for us fans. As is happening all too often, another east coast race was "called" because of rain. It's really getting sickening. Far too many of the NASCAR races are long delayed or ended short because of east coast weather. We really need to see more races scheduled in the west and southwest. NASCAR isn't just an east coast sport anymore. The midwest and west have just as many fans, maybe even more. I know the Las Vegas races sell out every time. Even the Nationwide Race. Did you notice all the empty seats at the Nationwide Race at Loudon? Pathetic fan support. And that means less sponsor support. I'm not talking about eliminating the "big three". Daytona, Talledega, or Charlotte. Just eliminate some of the other tracks completely, and the duplicate races at all the other tracks. Here in the west we have the fans, the time, the money, and most importantly, the weather. Come on NASCAR. Give millions more of the fans a chance to spend a day at the races. Without umbrellas.
Hey guys and gals. Where have you gone? Last year there were many blogs to read and respond to. Many NASCAR fans talking up their respective favorite drivers. Now it seems like the bloggers are just trying to sell or push something. Many things that don't even have anything to do with NASCAR. No excitement about Jeff, Jimmie, Dale Jr., etc. This weekend's Infineon race in Sonoma should be as exciting as ever. Jeff, Tony, Boris, and Juan Pablo will be banging around the turns on their way to the checkered flag. Last year, by a stroke of incredible luck and circumstances, Juan Pablo won it. I doubt if he will repeat. His mediocre ability has become obvious. All the hype of him joining NASCAR has waned. But I know he still has a big fan base, even if it is almost all hispanic. But that's great. Drawing fans from other parts of the world is good for NASCAR. Now a few other open wheel drivers have come aboard, adding a lot of new European fans to the sport. Hopefully they can grow to compete with the "Big Boys" too. I know it was a shock for them to get out of the little kiddie cars and try to handle a real man's car. What do you other fans think? What about you DJFF?