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Miscellaneous Observations, Opinions & Rants, What Were They Thinking?
By-Don Hamm
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When I write my Tuesday article recapping the race weekend I make
points that catch my attention. Sometimes it's something that
makes me angry. Other times it's something that surprises me or
inspires me. Last Sunday at Darlington had a lot of attention
getting occurrences, some of which I didn't write about in order to
keep the article a reasonable length. One thing that upset me
and, apparently many others, was Newman and Junior lining up inside the
front runners while being eight or more laps down near the end of the
race. What were they thinking?
There was no way they could dream of making up that many laps even at
the start of the race let alone that close to the end. I realize
they need exposure for their sponsors but I fail to understand why
NASCAR allowed them to be up there messing with the leaders.
Could Harvick have caught Terry? We'll never know. As it
stands, I, and many others, think it was wrong of those two to
interfere with the leaders. By the same token, that was on hell
of a save Ryan made. That brings back some memories of a black
three car. Great save Ryan.
One disgruntled reader wrote to tell me that I was wrong to point out
how lucky Matt Kenseth has been. He was outraged that, in his
opinion, I was downgrading Matt's talents. Well, my friend, how
many times has Matt had a flat and the caution came out to save him
from going a lap down? How many cars can smack the wall at
Darlington as hard as Matt did and not end up loosing laps to replace a
brake rotor or reset the toe out? How about Bristol when
Matt had a flat, checked up and the cars behind him wrecked while he
went to the pits without damage or lost laps? Of course he's been
lucky. Last year it was Tony. Before that it was Jeffie.
Before that it was Bobby. And on and on. It makes no
difference how good any given driver is, they also have to be lucky to
win a championship. Kenseth has been blessed with a great crew
and a bounty of luck. A true fan would recognize this. In
all the foregoing situations, Todd Bodine wasn't involved
Speaking of luck, what a
difference a season
makes. Last year, at this time, Sterling Marlin was the points
leader.
To date, he has not had a top five finish. Last year, until his
accident, he could do no wrong. This year he can't seem to catch
a
break except for bad ones. Jeff Gordon has four championships on
his resume and look at the luck he's had the past several races. Two
races ago, Mikey was fifth in points. Two races in a row he's
been wrecked out of the race and dropped to ninth. Tony isn't
having a championship season and I picked him to repeat. Bobby is
up and down with his luck. We can toss in DJ, Wadd, Spencer,
Newman,Benson, Schrader, Rusty and others.
A few wrote to tell me I wanted to see the points system changed
because Kenseth has such a big lead. Quite the contrary. I
have been writing about this for over three years. I was a
proponent of a change last year even though my man Tony was
leading. It makes no difference to me who is leading the
points. What matters is that winning is better rewarded and I
despise the current system that allows second place to earn as many
points as the winner. I also despise a system that encourages the
six modifieds running at Darlington when they were all sixty or more
laps down. For this reason alone, the current system is screwed
up. When first implemented, the current system accomplished it's
purpose of filling the field and stopping the cherry pickers.
It's no longer needed. Sadly, NASCAR says the only changes they
may make will be to award additional points for winning and possibly
poles but they have no intention of revamping the the points awarded
for the lower finishers.
I'm receiving more and more feedback from my readers who, as I, despise
the current provisional system. You folks already know my
feelings. The only way we'll see it changed is to let the suits
at Daytona Beach know. Writing e-mails has some effect but to
have a true impact, send them a snail mail. The same goes for
your senators and representatives. E-mails may or may not get
counted but letters that aren't in form format do generate
attention. If you really want to see change write a letter calmly
expressing your opinion(s), be brief and non antagonistic.
Concerning the Busch vs Spencer deal, some wrote to tell me I was wrong
to point out Kurt's rough driving without mentioning others.
First off, Kurt filled the headlines for two weeks and that was the
topic at hand. For what it's worth, I am not happy with the
behavior of Jeff Gordon of late. His driving, lately, seems to
show a certain amount of desperation as he has been seen rooting other
cars out of his way while back in the pack. He's also turned into
a potty mouth which is totally opposed to his previous goody two shoes
image. I like Jimmy Johnson but his whiney attitude that other
cars need to move over and let him by is irritating. There are
many others whose driving tactics might be questioned but that would
probably become a book instead of a weekly column.
Thank God Tony signed up for six more years with Joe Gibbs. As I
postulated some time back, I felt Tony would be a fool to leave such a
great owner as Joe Gibbs. The only reason for going to Gannassi
would be for the Indy connection and a few million dollars. Tony
says he likes the people at Gibbs Racing and that carried more weight
with him than the extra money. Good for you, Tony, for showing
that loyalty outweighs the almighty dollar. Now if NA$CAR would
follow your example.
I can assure you, there was no one any happier to see Terry win the
final Labor Day, Southern 500 than I was. Terry is a class act as
he showed by his victory celebration. I just wish he'd done a
Polish victory lap to make it even sweeter. After two years of
less than stellar performance it's good to see Terry and the Kellog's
team having a big turn around. I have one question for you,
Terry. What really excites you?
As I previously pointed out, I was truly impressed with Brian Vickers
and Kyle Busch's one two run last Saturday for Hendrick at Darlington. Tuesday night
I caught part of Totally NASCAR where Brian Vickers was the
guest. I was surprised to learn that he'll be moving up to CUP
next year. I see two things wrong with this. First, it will
most likely mean Nemecheck will be looking for a ride. Secondly,
I think Brian need another year in Busch while running his allowable
seven CUP races. There is no doubt that he's a very talented
driver but we've seen too many hot shoes move up too quickly and find out
they're not ready for the big time. Can you spell Casey Atwood? Once again, it may be more of a
caching thang. Seems like GMAC will follow Vickers to the 25 car
which is losing the UAW sponsorship. Kyle Busch will reportedly
take over the drivers seat in the 5 car but no mention of a sponsor.
It's being reported that Jeremy Mayfield is now the driver of
rumors. First he was let go by Everham. Then he extended
his contract with Everham. Now he's trying to get the seat in the
30 car of Childress. I guess Hornish going to Penske in the IRL
and Tony resigning with Gibbs make the rumor mongers set their sights
on a new target. At least Jeff Burton is out of the rumor mill
with his resigning with Roush. DJ has announced that he's staying
at Yates Racing. I wonder if it will be his final season?
Junior still hasn't signed his contract with DEI. Rumors abound
that he's talking to Childress and Gannassi. That Bud sponsorship
is quite a cherry to pick but Junior belongs at DEI.
The Truck Series will have a new venue in 04. It has been
announced there will be a 200 mile race at Atlanta in March. This
could be an exciting race if the way they race at Daytona is any
indication. Let's hope the improving economy will allow the
numerous unsponsored trucks to obtain sponsorship and we will be seeing
more competition in the series. On another scheduling
note, it seems NASCAR is trying to have an open date in August of
04. Let's hope so. I hate the off weekends but I can see
the need to give the crew members a break, especially in the heat of
summer.
Congratulations to DW and Harry Gant for their induction to the NMPA
Hall of Fame. Other good news is also being reported that Jerry
Nadeau may be allowed to return to the drivers seat for some test
sessions in the near future. That's great news but I hope he
makes sure he's fully recovered before returning to the Army car.
Love ya Jerry. Be well.
As always, the foregoing is one man's opinions based on
observations. You have the right to disagree but not to be
disagreeable. Until next time, be safe and secure and watch over
those little ones. There are many out there who bemoan the
attacks on our troops in Iraq. To those I can only say, better
that we fight the terrorists over there than here on our home soil.
Think about it. On a given day there are more being killed in our
nations capitol than in Iraq. May
you never forget why we are there as we are one week away from
the second anniversary of 911.
God Bless You and Yours, Our Great Nation, It's Leadership and All
Victims of Terrorism.
Don@insidethepitbox.com
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