• Home
• Blog
• Podcast
• Forum
• Racing On TV
• Speed Shop
• Archives
• About Us

Subscribe

• Channels:
• Formula 1
• IRL
• NASCAR
• Motorcycles
• NHRA

Random Ramblings from Chicago

After a few weeks off in which I took a much needed vacation, got to see some family, and attended the Cup race in New Hampshire, I’m ready to start back into a venting/rambling groove again.  Would have been nice to write last week, but alas, my Comcast DVR decided that it didn’t want to record the race for me.  But…that is a different story for a different time.  On to the semi-conscious thought stream…

• First off, a sincere congratulations to the King.  Richard Petty was celebrated by the NASCAR community over the past weekend for his 50 years in NASCAR, and made a great appearance on the pre-race show on TNT with Larry Mac, Kyle Petty, and that other “forgettable TV guy”.  It was great to see him briefly speak on his illustrious career and share a couple stories with a younger fan base that might not know exactly why he is considered to be “The King”.  It really is incredible to me how ageless the man is.  To me, he looks pretty much to be the same guy I met and watched race in Darlington 20 years ago.  It’s pretty impressive when you can look the same at 71 as you did at 51.
• In that same vein, I also really enjoyed watching the Buddy Baker special before the race.  While I am a little young to remember Buddy Baker when he was in his racing heyday, it is always great to hear his fascinating racing related stories.  One of my favorite things about attending and following races is the stories.  Stories are one of the backbones of the racing community, and Buddy Baker is a great ambassador.  Whether waxing on The Morning Drive on Sirius or on TV in an interview, he’s a fascinating man.  I just wish that TNT could release the supposed 3-4 tapes that ended up on the editing room floor.  I’d certainly watch.
• Kyle Busch now has 14 wins in 2008 in the top 3 series, 7 in the Cup series alone.  If he keeps this up, which there seems to be no reason why he wouldn’t, he could easily tie or break the 13 win mark set by The King and later matched by Jeff Gordon.  Might be time to think about getting that trophy room addition started, Kyle.
• Speaking of Kyle’s win, it seems to me that this win was done in a little bit different than the other 6.  Kyle was a top 5 or top 10 car all day, but his crew kept putting him out in front during pit cycles, enabling him to stay in the ever-important clean air.  His crew was at least 50% responsible for this win, which is really scary when you think about it.  If this team is now just coming together around their driver, then the rest of the field should be shaking in their boots.  This is not to say they have been in a slump, just that they are getting that much better as a group.  It was also great to see Kyle emphatically thanking his crew in victory lane for the win.
• How funny was it to see the 18 get stuck in the sloppy infield after the race?  Gives the term “the car is stuck to the track” a whole different meaning.
• What is the point of qualifying and practicing during the day for a night race?  I fail to see the point of this charade.  Why even practice at all?  They might as well be practicing at a different track, for the good that it does.  These cars are so dependent on minute chassis changes that even a stray cloud can render a setup worthless.  So, other than giving younger drivers important track and seat time, I say again, what is the point?  I am sure that there are some logistical hurdles to leap over, like employing a track crew deep into the night, but I am confident that these hurdles could be cleared.
• I’m pretty impressed with the Red Bull #83 team, and Brian Vickers in particular.  With another top 10 finish last night (6th), he vaulted himself and his team into 14th place in the standings, only 105 points out of 12th place.  This was no fluke either, as they hung around the top 10 all night.  It is conceivable that the 83 makes the chase if things go their way like they have been.  I’m pretty sure that if you asked anyone outside that team if they would be a Chase contender back in February, you’d would have gotten more ‘no’ answers than ‘yes’ answers.  My hat’s off to them.
• Have I mentioned that I love Saturday night Sprint Cup racing?  This recent stint of night races has me just giddy.  Nothing better than settling in to watch the sparks, smoke, lights, glowing paint schemes and beautiful sunsets on a Saturday night.  When Fall comes around, NASCAR is always looking for a way to beat the NFL in ratings.  I have a silly idea - why not make all the races that conflict with Sunday NFL be Saturday night races instead?  Of course, this is just me being completely selfish, since that would be the best of both worlds for me.  But still, I think it could work…
• No matter who you cheer for, be it the 18, the 48, or even the 29, that was a great finish last night.  Just what a Green/White/Checker should be.  Any time you put the fans on the edge of their seat, you’re doing something right.
• What was that magic trick thing in the middle of the race supposed to be all about?  Was there something that I was missing there?  I wonder if Larry Mac was really on board with that fiasco.  Someone, somewhere should be reprimanded for that stunt, or even better, maybe they should be forced to watch a David Blaine marathon.  That’ll learn ‘em!
• This has nothing to do with the race, but I have to get it off my chest - NASCAR.com just plain sucks.  I was discussing this with a die-hard race buddy of mine in Loudon.  How can a great site go from “must read” status to “I’ll check it once a week if I have time” in the span of less than 10 years?  Two redesigns ago, that site was cutting edge in both content and usability, now it is confusing as hell to navigate, and even if you do get beyond all the advertising and corporate pandering, the stories and columns are boring and predictable.  A perfect example - this week, when the Tony Stewart-to-Haas story broke, I read about the official press conference here on FastMachines.com several hours before it was on the NASCAR.com radar.  How does that happen?  We aren’t professionals here, just a passionate group of fans who like to hear themselves talk!  To be fair, maybe they were covering a bleeding-edge Dupont paint story and didn’t have the staff to cover that “also-ran” Tony Stewart’s press conference.  Who knows?
• Lastly, since I didn’t have the chance to write about the finish of the Daytona race last week, can you NASCAR conspiracy theorists please just go away?  Or form some kind of support group so we don’t have to listen to you anymore.  About half of the Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain callers last week claimed that NASCAR wants Kyle Busch to win, hence the reason they didn’t call the race when Jeff Gordon spun.  That’s just ridiculous, and if you really believe that, you need to brush up on some NASCAR rules and practices, because you have not earned the right to speak up.  I agree with Mr. Despain on this one, folks.  Go back and look at the hundreds of caution flags not thrown for cars that have spun but are off the racing groove and you’ll see all the precedent that you need to see that they made the right call.  A few years ago it was Junior who was NASCAR’s “favorite”, now it is Kyle.  Please.  Isn’t there a grassy knoll or some Hollywood footage of the moon landing you could be investigating?

Comments