I've been a member on a certain message board for a long time, and today, I let my feelings run away. I said something bad about another driver. I'm sorry, other driver. You big baby. Oops, there I go again.
We live and die by the word, and I posted some stuff that really made 1 person mad. So I'm removing myself from the board for a while. It's never my intent to irritate people. I do it, somehow instinctively, but I never do so purposely.
I write almost on instinct. I think a thought, and my fingers move whether they are on a keyboard or not. I'm not pleasant company on a date because of that sometimes.
Anyone who watched the Nationwide race today probably knows whom the driver is of whom I'm speaking. The big baby. OOps, sorry.
Racing happens. So does my big mouth. Sorry folks. I'm going to be quiet for a while, except on this forum. You are always free to stuff your sock in my mouth here as well.
Racing, and Nascar? I'm here to stay. You can poke me, and you can prod me, but I will talk. It's what my big yap knows how to do best.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Reliable Sources
What is objectivity? What is bias? Is one more important than the other? These are questions being asked by people everywhere today, and of course not just in the racing world. Racing being the emphasis of this blog, however, I shall concentrate on information and misinformation in racing.
Is it possible for a journalist or TV analyst to be totally objective? Lately, a lot of fans have been complaining about Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip's seeming 'love affair' with Kyle Busch. Darrell has even joked about it. To those of us who are not Kyle Busch fans, it can be quite annoying. I think one thing we are forgetting here is that Darrell Waltrip was hired by Fox Sports because he is a former driver and past champion in Nascar. He was hired because he is not afraid to open his mouth and give his opinion. And that's the word: "Opinion". We don't really expect Darrell to be objective, but we at least hope he'll talk about more than one driver.
The same goes with the other former racing professionals, drivers, crew chiefs, or whatever. Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds are former crew chiefs, and all probably have soft spots in their hearts for certain teams, especially the ones they used to work for. The same goes for Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Ray Evernham and pretty much anyone else that I left out. I never really expect to hear an unbiased opinion from any of them, because they are not journalists by trade. The are racers, with all the passion that racers have to bring to the track to be winners in this sport. All have been winners too.
When it comes to the journalists, or in other words, the people that went to college and majored in journalism, or media, or broadcasting, I do have a problem with quite a few of them. It's not my intention to name any names here, but I have seen quite a few instances of bias over the years by the "professionals".
I have seen pit reporters on TV who continually harped on a particular driver's "failure" to win or to qualify well, or to sometimes just be uncooperative. Do the journalists that cover this sport have favorites and non-favorites? Of course they do, but they should be professional enough to not allow their personal biases to cloud their judgment on how to report on a certain driver or team or even an event.
For instance: A few years ago, a certain pit reporter made a very big deal about how a certain driver's team set up their tires, and caused quite a stir in the rest of the media. If the pit reporter had actually caught the team cheating, this would have been news, but at that time, what the team was doing was perfectly legal. Furthermore, they were probably not the only team doing this. What happened was the predictable outrage and led to Nascar banning the practice that the team was using. This is where the pit reporter was making news, not reporting it. I feel that Nascar has the right, under their own rules to police the sport, but should not be taking the word of a TV pit reporter as gospel truth. Had I been in the pits that day and had observed the supposed wrongdoing, Nascar wouldn't have listened to me had I complained about it. The pit reporter was using his status and celebrity to make a scene. The reporter was manufacturing the news, not reporting it.
For instance: A certain Associated Press reporter seems to have a bias against a driver that I truly admire. This person has repeatedly reported basically only the negative aspects of this driver's career. A few years ago, this reporter openly questioned the validity of this driver even having a career. The driver in question has won races, and has actually raced in the now defunct IROC series, which gives an indication of the driver's true credentials. Personal bias in a news story? Isn't that best saved for commentary? That isn't what this reporter has done, however. The reporter has presented the news as objective, and as fact. It is in fact personal opinion, and to me that is not acceptable.
Certain Internet sources are very unreliable as well. A couple of years ago, I was working in a classroom full of sixth graders who were asked to write a report about their favorite sport, and who they admired and didn't admire within that sport. I was in the classroom doing my other job, which means I was repairing equipment, as quietly as possible in the back of the room. I was pleased to hear that several of the students chose Nascar as their favorite sport, but was dismayed to hear some of the "facts" that they found on the Internet. For instance, I learned that Jeff Gordon was gay, that Tony Stewart was an alcoholic, that Jimmie Johnson was gay, that Dale Earnhardt once shot a man, that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was gay, etc. The teacher was not knowledgeable about Nascar in the least, and after class, I asked the teacher if I could see some of the Nascar reports that the students had written. She complied, and I noticed that the students were required to cite sources for the facts in their reports. Most of the "gay" sources cited Wikipedia. The source for Dale Earnhardt's "shooting" was a blogger. The source for Tony being an alcoholic was a site called "IhateStewart.com".
Wikipedia is a great idea that never really worked. Anyone can sign on and edit just about anything. Most of the unsubstantiated stuff is removed, eventually. But I have looked up a lot of drivers on Wiki, and have found comments such as "Dale Jr. is over rated, because he can't drive, has never won a race that he hasn't cheated in, and his daddy paid off Nascar to let him win." I once read a year or so ago that Jeff Gordon once had a homosexual relationship with Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush. I once read that Kevin Harvick beat his wife Delana so badly that she had to be taken to the emergency room. In other words, your child can click on a Wikipedia article and read just about anything as outrageous. If I had kids, I would discourage them from using Wikipedia as a resource for school work.
If you want cold, hard statistics on Nascar, I would recommend Racing Reference Info.
You will find complete stats here, with no opinion at all, unless you read the comments on the individual races themselves. Remember, blogs, such as this, and message boards are pretty much totally opinionated. I'm certainly guilty of that, but I'm not here to report the news. You can get that elsewhere, and I'm not at the track every Sunday, and I'm not in the shops during the week. I've only had in depth conversations with one current Cup driver, and I'm a fan of his. My opinion of him will be clouded because of the personal nature of our conversations, so I'm not qualified to write objectively about him, and on this particular forum, I don't. I do write elsewhere about him, but that's where my bias is welcomed, because I'm writing to fans of this driver. I make no bones about being a Dale Jr. fan on this blog, and that is NOT with whom I have had conversations. (Just wanted to head that off at the pass!)
If you've taken the time to read all of the above outpourings of drivel, I hope you will come away with one conclusion. Be careful what you read, recognize opinion as what it is, and let the statistics speak for themselves.
And I unabashedly say, in a totally objective way, Go Dale Jr! Heh heh heh.
Is it possible for a journalist or TV analyst to be totally objective? Lately, a lot of fans have been complaining about Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip's seeming 'love affair' with Kyle Busch. Darrell has even joked about it. To those of us who are not Kyle Busch fans, it can be quite annoying. I think one thing we are forgetting here is that Darrell Waltrip was hired by Fox Sports because he is a former driver and past champion in Nascar. He was hired because he is not afraid to open his mouth and give his opinion. And that's the word: "Opinion". We don't really expect Darrell to be objective, but we at least hope he'll talk about more than one driver.
The same goes with the other former racing professionals, drivers, crew chiefs, or whatever. Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds are former crew chiefs, and all probably have soft spots in their hearts for certain teams, especially the ones they used to work for. The same goes for Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Ray Evernham and pretty much anyone else that I left out. I never really expect to hear an unbiased opinion from any of them, because they are not journalists by trade. The are racers, with all the passion that racers have to bring to the track to be winners in this sport. All have been winners too.
When it comes to the journalists, or in other words, the people that went to college and majored in journalism, or media, or broadcasting, I do have a problem with quite a few of them. It's not my intention to name any names here, but I have seen quite a few instances of bias over the years by the "professionals".
I have seen pit reporters on TV who continually harped on a particular driver's "failure" to win or to qualify well, or to sometimes just be uncooperative. Do the journalists that cover this sport have favorites and non-favorites? Of course they do, but they should be professional enough to not allow their personal biases to cloud their judgment on how to report on a certain driver or team or even an event.
For instance: A few years ago, a certain pit reporter made a very big deal about how a certain driver's team set up their tires, and caused quite a stir in the rest of the media. If the pit reporter had actually caught the team cheating, this would have been news, but at that time, what the team was doing was perfectly legal. Furthermore, they were probably not the only team doing this. What happened was the predictable outrage and led to Nascar banning the practice that the team was using. This is where the pit reporter was making news, not reporting it. I feel that Nascar has the right, under their own rules to police the sport, but should not be taking the word of a TV pit reporter as gospel truth. Had I been in the pits that day and had observed the supposed wrongdoing, Nascar wouldn't have listened to me had I complained about it. The pit reporter was using his status and celebrity to make a scene. The reporter was manufacturing the news, not reporting it.
For instance: A certain Associated Press reporter seems to have a bias against a driver that I truly admire. This person has repeatedly reported basically only the negative aspects of this driver's career. A few years ago, this reporter openly questioned the validity of this driver even having a career. The driver in question has won races, and has actually raced in the now defunct IROC series, which gives an indication of the driver's true credentials. Personal bias in a news story? Isn't that best saved for commentary? That isn't what this reporter has done, however. The reporter has presented the news as objective, and as fact. It is in fact personal opinion, and to me that is not acceptable.
Certain Internet sources are very unreliable as well. A couple of years ago, I was working in a classroom full of sixth graders who were asked to write a report about their favorite sport, and who they admired and didn't admire within that sport. I was in the classroom doing my other job, which means I was repairing equipment, as quietly as possible in the back of the room. I was pleased to hear that several of the students chose Nascar as their favorite sport, but was dismayed to hear some of the "facts" that they found on the Internet. For instance, I learned that Jeff Gordon was gay, that Tony Stewart was an alcoholic, that Jimmie Johnson was gay, that Dale Earnhardt once shot a man, that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was gay, etc. The teacher was not knowledgeable about Nascar in the least, and after class, I asked the teacher if I could see some of the Nascar reports that the students had written. She complied, and I noticed that the students were required to cite sources for the facts in their reports. Most of the "gay" sources cited Wikipedia. The source for Dale Earnhardt's "shooting" was a blogger. The source for Tony being an alcoholic was a site called "IhateStewart.com".
Wikipedia is a great idea that never really worked. Anyone can sign on and edit just about anything. Most of the unsubstantiated stuff is removed, eventually. But I have looked up a lot of drivers on Wiki, and have found comments such as "Dale Jr. is over rated, because he can't drive, has never won a race that he hasn't cheated in, and his daddy paid off Nascar to let him win." I once read a year or so ago that Jeff Gordon once had a homosexual relationship with Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush. I once read that Kevin Harvick beat his wife Delana so badly that she had to be taken to the emergency room. In other words, your child can click on a Wikipedia article and read just about anything as outrageous. If I had kids, I would discourage them from using Wikipedia as a resource for school work.
If you want cold, hard statistics on Nascar, I would recommend Racing Reference Info.
You will find complete stats here, with no opinion at all, unless you read the comments on the individual races themselves. Remember, blogs, such as this, and message boards are pretty much totally opinionated. I'm certainly guilty of that, but I'm not here to report the news. You can get that elsewhere, and I'm not at the track every Sunday, and I'm not in the shops during the week. I've only had in depth conversations with one current Cup driver, and I'm a fan of his. My opinion of him will be clouded because of the personal nature of our conversations, so I'm not qualified to write objectively about him, and on this particular forum, I don't. I do write elsewhere about him, but that's where my bias is welcomed, because I'm writing to fans of this driver. I make no bones about being a Dale Jr. fan on this blog, and that is NOT with whom I have had conversations. (Just wanted to head that off at the pass!)
If you've taken the time to read all of the above outpourings of drivel, I hope you will come away with one conclusion. Be careful what you read, recognize opinion as what it is, and let the statistics speak for themselves.
And I unabashedly say, in a totally objective way, Go Dale Jr! Heh heh heh.
In drought stricken Georgia, Rain is a mixed blessing today
Lord only knows Georgia needs the rain, and it looks like they're getting plenty of it this morning, but it's not exactly what racing fans want to see.
Georgia's lakes have been drying up, and rain is a blessed sight to see, but it's too bad the rain couldn't have waited until next week. It appears that the Trucks and Nationwide practice will be effected today, but there appears to be a good chance that the Cup qualifying and the Trucks race will likely run as scheduled tonight. As of 5:45 AM, Eastern Time, a wide band of rain stretched over much of the Peach State, from central Alabama well into North and South Carolina.
As needed as is the rain, the several Go-or-go-home teams are sweating it out in the early morning showers in Hampton, Ga.
Georgia's lakes have been drying up, and rain is a blessed sight to see, but it's too bad the rain couldn't have waited until next week. It appears that the Trucks and Nationwide practice will be effected today, but there appears to be a good chance that the Cup qualifying and the Trucks race will likely run as scheduled tonight. As of 5:45 AM, Eastern Time, a wide band of rain stretched over much of the Peach State, from central Alabama well into North and South Carolina.
As needed as is the rain, the several Go-or-go-home teams are sweating it out in the early morning showers in Hampton, Ga.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Back to our Roots: Atlanta
Sorry Westerners! You've had your chance, now here we come back to the Southeast, and some of the best stock car racing known to man. Atlanta Motor Speedway isn't actually in Atlanta, but a few miles south in Hampton, Ga. Atlanta has nary a bad seat in the stands, in my experience at least. Atlanta is a 1.5 mile high banked tri-oval, and the speeds that race cars run here is just off the hook.
In recent history, One driver has dominated here, and for a change it's not Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon. It's Bobby Labonte, who has won here 6 times, with all of his wins coming in the 18 Interstate Batteries car. Bill Elliot has won here 5 times, and Jeff has won 4 times, followed by Jimmie with 3 wins here. Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, and Mark Martin have all won here 2 times. Among the drivers with 1 win each are Kurt Busch, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader, Kasey Kahne, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Probably the most remembered win from the last few years was Kevin Harvick's dramatic win at Atlanta only in his 3rd race driving the cup car for Richard Childress. Kevin is a true winner, and he celebrated the life of the driver whom he replaced, Dale Earnhardt.
Atlanta is almost always an exciting race, and I doubt that this week will be any different. Dale Jr. has been running good, and all the Hendrick cars are vowing for vengeance this week. Rouch driver has won 2 in a row, and he will certainly be in the mix. Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch and all of the Evernham drivers want to represent Dodge well also. And don't forget Toyota drivers Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin. All of these boys are hungry for a win.
Don't forget Bobby Labonte back there in a Petty Dodge. Bobby knows how to win here too.
Here's to good racing, good times, and good friends.
In recent history, One driver has dominated here, and for a change it's not Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon. It's Bobby Labonte, who has won here 6 times, with all of his wins coming in the 18 Interstate Batteries car. Bill Elliot has won here 5 times, and Jeff has won 4 times, followed by Jimmie with 3 wins here. Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, and Mark Martin have all won here 2 times. Among the drivers with 1 win each are Kurt Busch, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader, Kasey Kahne, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Probably the most remembered win from the last few years was Kevin Harvick's dramatic win at Atlanta only in his 3rd race driving the cup car for Richard Childress. Kevin is a true winner, and he celebrated the life of the driver whom he replaced, Dale Earnhardt.
Atlanta is almost always an exciting race, and I doubt that this week will be any different. Dale Jr. has been running good, and all the Hendrick cars are vowing for vengeance this week. Rouch driver has won 2 in a row, and he will certainly be in the mix. Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch and all of the Evernham drivers want to represent Dodge well also. And don't forget Toyota drivers Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin. All of these boys are hungry for a win.
Don't forget Bobby Labonte back there in a Petty Dodge. Bobby knows how to win here too.
Here's to good racing, good times, and good friends.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Why do I like Dale Jr.?
It's easy. He never gave up today. Not even once.
Dale Jr. drove his best race of the year in my opinion today. He didn't wreck, but was almost in one. He kept positive. He was even telling his crew chief to calm down. Dale was the quarterback on his team today.
Congratulations to Carl Edwards, by the way. I would have posted a picture, but once you've seen one flip, you've seen them all anyway.
People are trying to give me grief and telling me that Dale Jr. is the same guy as last year. No wins. I say, in points races, true. But Dale did win the Bud Shootout and his qualifying race. Dale Jr. came out of the chute winning races when it mattered.
Dale Jr. didn't win the Daytona 500. Dale basically had no drafting help, and that hurt a lot. Dale didn't win at California either, but that was because he got wrecked through no fault of his own, by his own teammate, no less, who hit a wet spot on the track and spun. Just bad luck.
Dale Jr. didn't win tonight at Las Vegas either, but he sure tried. He once again was the top finishing Hendrick car, finishing 2nd behind Carl Edwards. He did not have the best car all day, but he drove a better race than his car should have finished.
Dale Jr. has heart. He's got courage. He can drive a bad race car fast and he can drive a good race car wicked fast. When Dale Jr. makes a mistake, he's the first to admit it. He confesses to 'mistakes' that he didn't even make. In other words, Dale Jr. is humble.
Dale Jr. is the son of a 7 time champion, and he will likely not ever win as many races or as many champions as his father did. I don't care. Does he ever do wrong? Sure he does. He's human, just like you and me. Is he really a good driver? Try getting a 5 year contract with Rick Hendrick Racing if you think you could driver better.
I'm a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He's truly a man in his own right now.
Dale Jr. drove his best race of the year in my opinion today. He didn't wreck, but was almost in one. He kept positive. He was even telling his crew chief to calm down. Dale was the quarterback on his team today.
Congratulations to Carl Edwards, by the way. I would have posted a picture, but once you've seen one flip, you've seen them all anyway.
People are trying to give me grief and telling me that Dale Jr. is the same guy as last year. No wins. I say, in points races, true. But Dale did win the Bud Shootout and his qualifying race. Dale Jr. came out of the chute winning races when it mattered.
Dale Jr. didn't win the Daytona 500. Dale basically had no drafting help, and that hurt a lot. Dale didn't win at California either, but that was because he got wrecked through no fault of his own, by his own teammate, no less, who hit a wet spot on the track and spun. Just bad luck.
Dale Jr. didn't win tonight at Las Vegas either, but he sure tried. He once again was the top finishing Hendrick car, finishing 2nd behind Carl Edwards. He did not have the best car all day, but he drove a better race than his car should have finished.
Dale Jr. has heart. He's got courage. He can drive a bad race car fast and he can drive a good race car wicked fast. When Dale Jr. makes a mistake, he's the first to admit it. He confesses to 'mistakes' that he didn't even make. In other words, Dale Jr. is humble.
Dale Jr. is the son of a 7 time champion, and he will likely not ever win as many races or as many champions as his father did. I don't care. Does he ever do wrong? Sure he does. He's human, just like you and me. Is he really a good driver? Try getting a 5 year contract with Rick Hendrick Racing if you think you could driver better.
I'm a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He's truly a man in his own right now.
I miss Neil Bonnett
Neil is mostly known now as Dale Earnhardt's hunting buddy, and best friend. Neil was a great man in his own right though. Neil was born in 1946 in Bessemer, Alabama. He grew up and became a pipe fitter, working on what construction workers called "high steel", helping to build the towers and skyscrapers that dot Birmingham's skyline. At nights and on weekends, Neil raced. Neil said later that though there was a line of people that wanted to take away his day job, nobody wanted his job behind the steering wheel of a race car.
Neil eventually became one of the famed Alabama Gang, with fellow Hueytown drivers Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Red Farmer, and later, Davey Allison.
Neil won 18 Cup races, one Busch race, and an incredible 4 IROC wins in only 10 starts. At one point in Neil's career, he was in a bad accident, and actually asked a doctor to bolt his broken sternum together so he could drive the next race.
Earnhardt and Bonnett loved fishing and hunting together. They basically were much the same man. A true story from Leigh Montville's book At the Alter of Speed:
Bonnett is driving a 110 MPH bass boat on a river in Alabama one afternoon. He was driving somewhere around the maximum, 110 mph speed. He decided to pull into a small marina for something to eat, finishing the move with a fine fantail spray.A fish-and-game policeman, a ranger, was waiting for him. The ranger wanted to give Bonnett a ticket for excessive speed on the river.
"Do you know who I am?" Bonnett asked as the ranger began to write.
"No, I don't," the ranger replied. "And I don't care."
"No, really, do you know who I am?"
"No, and look, I don't care if you're the King of Siam. You're getting a ticket."
"You don't understand," Bonnett finally said. "You really don't know who I am?"
"No!" the policeman grunted.
"Fine," Neil Bonnett said as he gunned the 110 mph bass boat and escaped down river. "That's all I wanted to know."
In 1994, Neil Bonnett lost his life when he hit the wall in turn 4 while practicing at Daytona. In 2001, His best friend lost his life in the same place. They both lost their lives doing what they loved the most. Racing.
Neil eventually became one of the famed Alabama Gang, with fellow Hueytown drivers Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Red Farmer, and later, Davey Allison.
Neil won 18 Cup races, one Busch race, and an incredible 4 IROC wins in only 10 starts. At one point in Neil's career, he was in a bad accident, and actually asked a doctor to bolt his broken sternum together so he could drive the next race.
Earnhardt and Bonnett loved fishing and hunting together. They basically were much the same man. A true story from Leigh Montville's book At the Alter of Speed:
Bonnett is driving a 110 MPH bass boat on a river in Alabama one afternoon. He was driving somewhere around the maximum, 110 mph speed. He decided to pull into a small marina for something to eat, finishing the move with a fine fantail spray.A fish-and-game policeman, a ranger, was waiting for him. The ranger wanted to give Bonnett a ticket for excessive speed on the river.
"Do you know who I am?" Bonnett asked as the ranger began to write.
"No, I don't," the ranger replied. "And I don't care."
"No, really, do you know who I am?"
"No, and look, I don't care if you're the King of Siam. You're getting a ticket."
"You don't understand," Bonnett finally said. "You really don't know who I am?"
"No!" the policeman grunted.
"Fine," Neil Bonnett said as he gunned the 110 mph bass boat and escaped down river. "That's all I wanted to know."
In 1994, Neil Bonnett lost his life when he hit the wall in turn 4 while practicing at Daytona. In 2001, His best friend lost his life in the same place. They both lost their lives doing what they loved the most. Racing.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Some Las Vegas Notes
Kyle Busch won the pole at Las Vegas on Friday, which basically surprised no one. Kyle was fastest in Cup practice, and had a nice, late draw, going out 34th when track conditions were about as good as they got. Carl Edwards is still flying high from Monday's win at California, and will start on the outside of Kyle in 2nd place. Mark Martin in the 8 Chevy will start 3rd, best by far of all the DEI cars. Mark also had the benefit of the late draw. Jeff Gordon had a relatively early draw, but will start in 4th, the fastest of the Hendrick Motorsports cars in qualifying. One of the biggest surprises of the day was Mike Skinner, now in his 2nd race in the 27 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing, who will start 5th. Greg Biffle went out 2nd in qualifying, and held the pole for a long time, and will still start in 6th.
Scott Riggs was surprising as well, starting in 7th place in the 66 car owned by Gene Haas. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went out 5th, and will start 8th.
The most remarkable thing to me was just how much the track conditions changed from the beginning through the end of qualifying. The track obviously picked up a lot of speed as the 3rd and 4th turns went from sunlight to shade at Las Vegas.
Friday was the first time that Nascar implemented the policy of having the go-or-go-home cars all qualify together after the top 35 drivers qualify. This seems like the best of all worlds really, for all involved. It allows the drivers with the most at stake to have the best of qualifying conditions, and for there not to be obvious advantages or disadvantages from just the draw for qualifying order itself. The new rule allows small teams extra time after practice to work on the cars in the garage as well. By qualifying under cooler track conditions, the go-or-go-home guys are hopefully less likely to have a spin or a crash on the track during qualifying, and automatically be excluded from the race. Obviously that is not always the case, as we saw on Friday when Johnny Sauter crashed the 21 Wood Brothers Ford on the exit of turn 2 on his 1st qualifying lap.
The premise behind the new rule is that it is more fair to the small teams with fewer resources by have them all qualify under virtually the same track conditions. If a top 35 car crashes during qualifying, they will have to bring out the backup car, but they are still in the race, starting from the back of the field. If that happens to a go-or-go-home car, they are done. They go home and watch the race on TV. This may be one of the best rules I've seen Nascar produce in quite a while.
I've read some arguments against the rule, namely what happens if a 1 car show qualifies dead last in the order and wins the pole because the track is so much faster? What happens if say, AJ Allmendinger beats out Kyle Busch for the pole just because he went out and qualified so late? I say this: So be it. Points are not awarded for qualifying. There are pole awards, and you get to be in next year's Bud Shootout, but what's wrong with that? The pole winner gets a little extra money. That's not a bad thing for these small teams. Some of these cars are driving with little or now sponsorship at all, and money is very precious to just survival, not glamor or fame.
I have an acquaintance with whom I've had a debate over the last few weeks with over the above mentioned qualifying rule. He is not in favor of it for the aforementioned reason, namely it's not right seeing a relatively unknown driver on the pole just by benefit of qualifying order. "It's the Bud Shootout", he says. "It's an important race!"
I have replied by pointing out that the Bud Shootout is basically an exhibition race, and there are no points awarded. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Bud Shootout this February. His detractors are still saying that Jr. hasn't won a real race yet. I say the Bud Shootout is an important race, in that it's a lot of fun to watch, and the winner gets a nice paycheck, but the race itself awards no points to any of the drivers.
My acquaintance has also pointed out that Dale Jr. still has not won a real race. I reply by saying he won, as you said, an important race, and in his very first race, by the way in his brand new car.
The bottom line is that maybe some of the small teams might win a pole from time to time, but in the over all scheme of things, it just makes it more possible for small teams to make races than they've had in recent years. Nascar has always been a sport that has shown that if a driver wants to win bad enough, he can achieve success in the sport. Big teams have the majority of the sponsorship and the resources. Let's give the little teams a chance too.
As for my acquaintance? It's all good. Racing should be racing. You can't have it both ways. though.
Scott Riggs was surprising as well, starting in 7th place in the 66 car owned by Gene Haas. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went out 5th, and will start 8th.
The most remarkable thing to me was just how much the track conditions changed from the beginning through the end of qualifying. The track obviously picked up a lot of speed as the 3rd and 4th turns went from sunlight to shade at Las Vegas.
Friday was the first time that Nascar implemented the policy of having the go-or-go-home cars all qualify together after the top 35 drivers qualify. This seems like the best of all worlds really, for all involved. It allows the drivers with the most at stake to have the best of qualifying conditions, and for there not to be obvious advantages or disadvantages from just the draw for qualifying order itself. The new rule allows small teams extra time after practice to work on the cars in the garage as well. By qualifying under cooler track conditions, the go-or-go-home guys are hopefully less likely to have a spin or a crash on the track during qualifying, and automatically be excluded from the race. Obviously that is not always the case, as we saw on Friday when Johnny Sauter crashed the 21 Wood Brothers Ford on the exit of turn 2 on his 1st qualifying lap.
The premise behind the new rule is that it is more fair to the small teams with fewer resources by have them all qualify under virtually the same track conditions. If a top 35 car crashes during qualifying, they will have to bring out the backup car, but they are still in the race, starting from the back of the field. If that happens to a go-or-go-home car, they are done. They go home and watch the race on TV. This may be one of the best rules I've seen Nascar produce in quite a while.
I've read some arguments against the rule, namely what happens if a 1 car show qualifies dead last in the order and wins the pole because the track is so much faster? What happens if say, AJ Allmendinger beats out Kyle Busch for the pole just because he went out and qualified so late? I say this: So be it. Points are not awarded for qualifying. There are pole awards, and you get to be in next year's Bud Shootout, but what's wrong with that? The pole winner gets a little extra money. That's not a bad thing for these small teams. Some of these cars are driving with little or now sponsorship at all, and money is very precious to just survival, not glamor or fame.
I have an acquaintance with whom I've had a debate over the last few weeks with over the above mentioned qualifying rule. He is not in favor of it for the aforementioned reason, namely it's not right seeing a relatively unknown driver on the pole just by benefit of qualifying order. "It's the Bud Shootout", he says. "It's an important race!"
I have replied by pointing out that the Bud Shootout is basically an exhibition race, and there are no points awarded. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Bud Shootout this February. His detractors are still saying that Jr. hasn't won a real race yet. I say the Bud Shootout is an important race, in that it's a lot of fun to watch, and the winner gets a nice paycheck, but the race itself awards no points to any of the drivers.
My acquaintance has also pointed out that Dale Jr. still has not won a real race. I reply by saying he won, as you said, an important race, and in his very first race, by the way in his brand new car.
The bottom line is that maybe some of the small teams might win a pole from time to time, but in the over all scheme of things, it just makes it more possible for small teams to make races than they've had in recent years. Nascar has always been a sport that has shown that if a driver wants to win bad enough, he can achieve success in the sport. Big teams have the majority of the sponsorship and the resources. Let's give the little teams a chance too.
As for my acquaintance? It's all good. Racing should be racing. You can't have it both ways. though.
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