A fan's point of view of Nascar racing

I've been a racing fan since the early 1970's, and I've watched Nascar and open wheel racing.  Back in the early '70's, there was not much racing on TV except for the Indy 500, and an occasional open wheel race over seas.  ABC's Wide World of Sports would sometimes show some Nascar highlights, but there was not that much racing on television back in those days.  In February, 1979, all that changed, when the Daytona 500 was carried live on TV, and the great fight broke out after the race that is still familiar to this day for Nascar fans.  With the cable revolution, Nascar became available for more and more viewers.  

In just a few years, Nascar became a venue that was familiar to people from all over the country, not just in the Southeast, where the sport began.  Petty was winning races, but not as many as he did back in the early part of his career.  The King was starting to show some age, and there were a lot of hot drivers out there challenging Richard for the crown.  Waltrip, Yarborough, Allison, Pearson, Parsons, Rudd, Labonte, Bodine, Earnhardt.  Yes, Earnhardt.  1979 was Dale Earnhardt's first full season in Nascar, and he won Rookie of the Year.  In 1980, Earnhardt went on to win the championship, the Winston Cup, and is still the only driver to accomplish that incredible feat.  

The 1980's saw moderate growth in fans for the sport.  In the 1990's, the sport exploded.  A young driver named Jeff Gordon began winning everything there was to win, and Dale Earnhardt basically invented the modern business of sports marketing, selling tee shirts, hats, diecasts, and every other imaginable collectable.  By the end of the 1990's decade, Nascar had become a huge sport, with tons of money being exchanged.  In 2000, another Earnhardt came along, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his easy manner and party style garnered him lots of fans from the very beginning.  In many of the fan's minds, a dynasty was born, with Dale Jr. driving for the company that his old man started, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.  Drivers no longer drove to the track in their cars, or hauled their race cars behind their pickup trucks as they had in the 1970's.  Drivers now flew by private jets, the cars were hauled by professional truck drivers in high tech 18 wheelers to the tracks.  The drivers didn't stay in cheap motels anymore near the track.  They stayed in comfortable motor coaches in the infield at the track.  Nascar was booming.  This is business, baby!

In 2001, Nascar and the broadcasting networks made their moves.  FOX and NBC bought the rights to broadcast the races, paying multiple millions of dollars for the right to broadcast the races.  FOX hired veteran driver Darrell Waltrip, and crew chiefs Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond to provide color for the races.  NBC hired Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach for the same reasons.  This was the big show now, and Nascar was destined to become America's most watched sport.

The 2001 Daytona 500 was huge even for FOX, and everyone was ready to see racing on prime time TV.  Bill Elliot started on the pole, and many people were watching Dale and Dale Jr., the Master of Restrictor Plate Racing and his son, and DEI did very well, with DEI driver Michael Waltrip winning his first race ever in the Winston Cup, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushing him to victory.  But on that last lap of the Daytona 500, history was made, and the sport changed forever.  Dale Earnhardt hit the Turn 4 wall slightly off center, and died instantly.  Driver Kenny Schrader was involved in the accident, and stopped down in the infield near Dale's car.  Kenny was worried about his old friend, and jumped out of his car to check on Dale.  Kenny looked in the window of the GM Goodwrench Chevy, and turned away, shocked.  Kenny had lost a good friend, and the Nascar world had just lost it's biggest hero.

In the aftermath of Dale Earnhardt's death, Nascar implemented numerous safety requirements.  New inspections of seat belts, new crash bars, and the requirement that all drivers wear head and neck restraint devices.  Nascar soon began thinking about softer walls, and the end result was the SAFER barrier, a little bit of a cushion between the car and the hard concrete wall.  For some reason, the safety craze didn't really hit Nascar until Dale Earnhardt died, even though the year before, drivers Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty had died of similar injuries.  Dale Earnhardt's death was the event that forced Nascar to change, though.  Within a year, Nascar became much safer.  Unfortunately, the measures that Nascar took were much like shutting the barn door after the horse has escaped.  The damage was done, and Nascar was changed forever.

In the years following Dale Earnhardt's death, Nascar changed the system around.  They implemented the Free Pass, or what is commonly called the Lucky Dog pass, for the first car one lap down.  Nascar implemented the Chase for the Cup, which still has many mixed reviews among fans.  The actual racing became more orchestrated, or more of a pageant.  Networks covering the sport spent more time on the nuts and bolts of racing, and talking up the current favorites than they did actually showing the racing, the true racing on the track.  A leader leading by 3 seconds is exciting for the fans of that particular race car driver, but what about the cars mired back in the pack?  That's actually where the majority of the racing occurs, but many of the TV networks don't show much of that these days.

When I go to my local short track, Anderson (SC) Motor Speedway,   I can pick and choose which driver to watch.  If watching the leader gets boring, I can just go back through the pack and pick the particular battle I want to watch.  TV doesn't give you that option, and I can sympathize with the TV crews, because some of them are not really race fans, and think we just want to see the leader or the booth's favorite driver drive endless circles around the track by himself.  Racing is about competition, and they all compete at some point, but having a camera follow lap after lap of a driver who's just keeping time and not really racing anyone is just plain boring.

Today's racing world is all about money, and that's not likely to change soon.  Nascar today is all about packing in the most fans, selling the most tee shirts, making the best TV ratings.  Nascar today has not much in common with the racing of the past, where the drivers raced, and the cameras covered the action.  Nascar today is all about the money, and the racing is a by product, it would seem.

If you want to see what racing is really all about, go to your local short track and watch the people with names you probably don't know do what they do best:  Race.

I wish Nascar would get back to racing.  If they don't, one of these days, people will be comparing stock car racing to the WWE. 

Oh what?  Really?  Guess what, they already are.

Message to Nascar:  Do what you do best.  Go racing again.  In my opinion, IRL broadcasts are much better than the current overhyped Nascar broadcasts.  In IRL, you can actually see the racing happen on the track, not the drama of a Kyle Busch blowing his top after doing something stupid.  I mean, we want to see it all, but really, why waste time with Kyle when you know he's going to say something stupid when you could be showing racing on the track?

Maybe Nascar should change it's name.  What used to be the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing has become the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Marketing.  

NASCAM.  Kinda has a ring to it, don't you think?

Talladega Dreaming

This weekend Nascar goes to Talladega, the 2.66 mile super speedway that is all about restrictor plates and drafting.  Talladega is the longest oval in all of Nascar, and before the days of the restrictor plate, the highest speeds ever achieved in the sport happened at this track.  The track has good, high banking, and nice soft turns, and this is the track that all the drivers keep the gas pedal pegged all day long.  Aerodynamics are really more important here than horsepower, and drafting skill is the major difference among the drivers, because most of the cars will be just about equal.

Jeff Gordon is the current active driver with the most wins at 6 total.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 2nd with 5 wins at the monster track.  The late, great Dale Earnhardt holds to most wins ever at this track, at 10.  The fact that Jeff and Dale Jr. are now teammates could be very important at 'Dega this weekend.  In the past, they've always been on different teams, but this year, they are teammates.  That will all go out the window with about 4 laps to go, but the Hendrick cars have the opportunity to draft together and work their way to the front if they indeed have that opportunity.  Racing being what it is, there's not guarantee that they will be able to run together at all.  I'm guessing that Jeff, Jimmie, and Dale Jr. will find their way to the front, and if the Hendrick invisible driver, Casey Mears can get in that mix, it's all good for them.

Talladega has always been a very unique race track.  The fans that regularly attend the race are among the most hard core in all of Nascar.  There will be partying in the infield, and there will be a few fights amongst drunken fans, but Talladega is a track that almost defies description.  I've been there, and looking down the track is like looking at a small airport, without the airplanes.  You just cannot believe the size of this track until you've seen it in person.  Remember, you're looking at cars, not jumbo jets out there.  Without binoculars, you will miss a lot of the race, if you are in the stands.

My one and only race at Talladega was in 2004, and I was sitting in the Turn 1 stands.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, and I saw a cloud of smoke over around the start/finish line, but I never actually saw the burnout.  Like I said, I was in Turn 1, and I couldn't see anything but smoke.  If I were to go back to Dega, which I surely would, I'd sit up high in the front stretch stands, and I'd have some good binoculars.

When you look at a track like Talladega, it's easy to see why the 1.5 mile tracks have gained a lot of popularity over the last few years.  At Atlanta, you can sit just about anywhere and see everything, without magnification.  I've never been to Pocono, but I imagine there is much the same feeling as I had at Talladega.  I never really saw the race, or at least most of it, until I came home and watched the video.

In my opinion, all racing is good, and I would be interested in seeing what Cup cars could do on a 3 or even a 5 mile oval, if given the opportunity.  I suppose it's not much different from watching a road course race in person, because you never get to see everything when you are there.

Personally, as much as I love Talladega, I'd rather see more Darlington or Rockingham style race tracks, where the fans can see everything, all the way around the track.  Shorter tracks mean often lower speeds, because of the restrictor plates on the really big tracks, but if Nascar could created drafting on a 1 to 1.5 mile track, I'd be interested.

Nascar needs the 2.5 plus mile race tracks.  It's good for the sport, because it challenges the teams and the drivers, just as much as running a couple of road course races per year does.  It's all different strokes, and I love Daytona and Talladega, but sometimes I think the best racing happens on the short tracks.

This weekend we'll get to see if Chevy has got the groove back, or if Toyota and Dodge still rule the restrictor plate tracks.  Or will Ford make make another run?  We won't know until we get there, and I can't wait!

Danica Patrick wins in IRL

On Saturday, Indy Racing League driver Danica Patrick made history, becoming the first woman driver to win in a IRL race. Danica has been probably the most talked about driver in open wheel racing in the USA since her debut at Indianapolis in 2005, but now there are a lot more reasons for her to be the buzz of the racing world.

Traditionally, women have been racing since the very beginning, but very few have reached the top levels, and even fewer have actually won at the highest levels. Nascar has had several women racers since it's beginnings, but none have scored wins at the very highest level.

It's not uncommon to see women racing at short tracks all over the country, with varying levels of success. Some are track champions, and are highly respected among their male peers. Some just struggle to get a decent ride, and struggle even harder to be competitive on a weekly basis.

Danica's historic win in IRL proves what I've been certain of for many years; that women can win at the very highest levels of auto racing. Shirley Muldowney has been doing it for years in drag racing, and now Danica Patrick has proven that it can be done in open wheel racing. When will Nascar have a Danica Patrick moment?

A female winner in a Cup Series race may still be a few years away, but Danica's feat should give all women racers hope. Years ago, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and brother Kerry were first getting into racing, sister Kelley wanted to go racing too, so their father helped her set up a car as well, and the 3 young Earnhardts went racing at short tracks around the Carolinas. Kelley gave it up after a few years, but father Dale Earnhardt once said that he thought Kelley had the most talent out of his 3 racing kids. Who knows what might have happened if Kelley had stayed with racing? She is still certainly involved, overseeing the operations at JR Motorsports and acting as her brother Dale Jr.'s business manager.

Danica Patrick's win in Japan Saturday showed that women can compete at racing's highest levels, and hopefully soon we will be celebrating our first female Cup winner or maybe even Cup champion.

It's just a matter of time now!

And as we used to say back in Old Mexico City

AMF. For those of you who live in the DC area, your probably know what I'm talking about. The Greaseman Show is still on, and let's all drink one more martini to that guy. Funniest guy on the radio, EVER! I used to hear him in Atlanta years ago, and I still wish I still could. For those of you not in the DC area, or for that matter, back in Old Mexico, AMF means Adios.... My Friend. Or something like that. Use your imagination, this is a family oriented blog here!

Mexico is basically a marathon for the Nationwide Series teams, as they travel tremendous miles to drive even more miles at a race track that is higher than Denver, Colorado. I like watching the races at Mexico City though, because that's one of the more competitive road courses on the circuit. There is always a great turn out for the race, and that's all good for Nascar. More than a couple Cup drivers will be making the trip down to Mexico City to compete on the Corona Mexico 200. Clint Bowyer will be there. So will Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch. Stan Barrett will drive Stanton's car for him. Interesting stuff.

I have no idea how many Mexican TV viewers watch Nascar on a regular basis. There appears to be a fan base there, and I know that Nascar will try to use it. If any of you Canadian residents would like to see a full blown Nascar race, I wouldn't mind seeing that, though we already do see one in Montreal. Want to see a circle track? Canada has some good tracks, and quite a few of them would be perfect for a Cup Series race, and I think Canadians should unite and demand a race in Canada. The drivers will come, but will Nascar?

Nascar in Mexico City is great, but I'd love to see more Nascar in Canada, or even the U.K. because I feel like there is a fan base there. Let's go to where the fans are, instead of where the population centers are. Mexico City was a major coup for Nascar, but let's see what we can do in Alberta, or Quebec.

A word of Thanks

I just wanted to thank each and every one of you who have taken time out of your busy day to read my blog. The hits are up, both here and on my web site, which is somewhat surprising, because those of you who have visited my site know that I am much more a writer than I am a web designer. I continue to work on the site, and am coming up with some ideas to re do parts of it, and hopefully make it a more entertaining place.

My blog is my passion, and it's hopefully getting better as time goes by. I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the range of locations represented by the readers of this blog. My recent visitors have ranged from California to Maine, from Miami to Alberta, Canada, and even Spain, Poland, Germany, and Korea. I'm still trying to get a hit from North Dakota, or Idaho, but I'm not going to give up until I've got a few! I've had several readers from the U.K., and I know one or two of them are transplanted Yankees, but at least a couple are natives to England. It's exciting to know that people who have never smelled the fumes of a Nascar race are still fans and read something as insignificant as my blog. I hope one day Nascar will run an exhibition race in the U.K., as they did years ago in Japan. For some strange reason, I would pay money to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Elliot Sadler wear a traditional 'Bobby' helmet. (For those of you who haven't heard that term, that's a policeman's helmet)

While giving thanks, I'd also like to say thank you to Mike Helton. Mike has had a tough job over the years, but he is basically the guy that keeps the wheels on Nascar. Mike has been a friend and mentor to many drivers over the years, has always been there to pray with a friend, or to give a little much needed stern advice. I don't know how much Nascar pays Mike Helton, but it's probably not enough. Mike has seen this sport go through a lot of changes, some of them very tough changes. I'll never forget the moment, back in the evening of February 18, 2001, when Mike had to do the toughest job he's ever done, which was announce to the world the death of a good friend and hero to many, Dale Earnhardt. God Bless you, Mike Helton.

There are so many others within the Nascar organization who deserve our praise, and also frequently our scorn. Racing fans are a tough crowd to please, but these people do their best.

April 29th would have been Dale Earnhardt's 57th birthday. DEI will be having it's annual Dale Earnhardt Day, and I went to the first one, in 2002. As a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, I've certainly got my differences with DEI, but I'm willing to put them aside and go up that day and celebrate the life of a man that has made an impact upon my life. DEI was started by Dale Earnhardt, and whether or not we agree on how Teresa Earnhardt has run the place since then, I'm going to go and pay my respects to the man I consider to be the greatest race car driver ever.

Thank you, the readers of this site. I will try to improve my skills and hopefully provide more interesting columns as time goes by. I'm flattered that you are willing to visit this site, and I hope to give you much more as time goes by. I originally started this blog with some advertising, but I removed it, because I didn't like they way the ads fit with what I was doing. This site, as will my website, will remain ad free.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to rip me a new one, go ahead. This is a work in progress, and all comments will be read. You folks are great, but I warn you! If you keep reading, I'll keep writing!

Is Nascar facing a drug problem?

The recent news that Craftsman Trucks Series and Nationwide Series driver Aaron Fike had been arrested for heroin use and his confession that he had injected himself with the drug prior to racing is very disturbing news for the world of Nascar. Aaron's problems raise questions about just how wide spread is drug use in Nascar. As disturbing as Aaron's confession is, I'm guessing that illegal drug use in Nascar is not that big of a problem, but it is certainly a concern.

Nascar instituted a policy that allows random drug testing of basically any driver, at any time. We will never know just how often Nascar implements this policy, but the supposition would be that Nascar does random drug testing. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, a couple of years ago, that he had never been tested for anything. I've worked for companies before that also had random drug testing policies, and I was never tested either, except for preemployment screening. Once, I sustained an injury on the job, and had to take a drug test prior to a visit to the doctor, but that was a Workman's Comp case, and from what I understand, that is standard procedure. I'm fortunate in that I've never had a problem with using illegal drugs, and the random testing policy was always enough to keep me from wanting to experiment.

But what about people who do have drug problems, for one reason or another? Apparently, Aaron Fike started taking pain killers following a racing accident, and became addicted. That addiction eventually led to heroin use. I don't think anyone reading this would dispute that Aaron should not be allowed on the race track after taking a pop of heroin. One of my best friends is on a narcotics squad for a state law enforcement agency, and his take on heroin is this: Give a guy a little heroin, and he'll go to sleep. Give him a little more, and he'll die. Obviously, Aaron wasn't taking enough heroin to put him to sleep, but the thought of him on the track with other drivers, racing at high speeds, with heroin in his system is enough to make me shudder. In a way, I'm glad Aaron got arrested. I'm also glad he confessed to the pre race drug use. The first step in recovering from an addiction is admitting you have a problem. I think Aaron's got a long road ahead of him, and his racing career is certainly in danger. But I'd rather see Aaron live a long healthy life off the track than I would to see him kill himself with heroin.

Shane Hmiel is currently under a lifetime ban by Nascar, after being suspended for failing a drug test in 2003, testing positive for marijuana. Shane was reinstated in 2004, but failed a drug tests again in 2005 and 2006, this time showing positive not only for marijuana, but also cocaine. It is not known if Shane was actually under the influence of either of these drugs while racing, but the residue can be picked up weeks later after use by most drug testing methods. Nascar apparently has a 2 strikes policy for drugs, at least it did in Shane Hmiel's case. Will Nascar give Aaron Fike another chance, since Shane had another chance? Who can say, since this is Nascar we're talking about.

To me, there is a big difference between smoking a joint on your day off or showing up at the race track and puffing away in the hauler before the race. I don't know that Shane was doing either the first, or the latter, or both. Virtually everyone knows somebody that smokes pot on a casual basis. If you don't think you do, then you're most likely wrong. I'm not talking about everyday use, but maybe a little hit on the weekend, or maybe just a few puffs while on vacation. Personally, I don't have much of a problem with that. I don't use marijuana, but when I was about 18 or 19 years old, I tried it. It made me paranoid, so I quit, and I haven't used it in well over 20 years now. Back in those days, I would smoke a little, and suddenly feel like the SWAT team was about to take down the door and take me away in shackles. For me, that was all the reason I needed to quit. I've had good friends who have smoked a little though, and most of them have led perfectly normal lives. I certainly would not want to see a race car driver take a couple of last tokes and then climb into the race car though. I know of a few drivers that could probably benefit by mellowing out a little, but that's probably not the best way to do it.

I'm going to make some dangerous assumptions here, and I know, it's always dangerous to assume. I have no idea how Nascar implements it's random drug testing policy, but let's assume that roughly half of the drivers have been tested at least once since the policy came into existence back in the late 1980's. If only 2 drivers have had problems in all that time, I'm guessing that Nascar does not have a drug problem. Think about it. I'm only talking half here. Or if it was only a quarter of all drivers since the late 1980's. That's a lot of drivers. That's not much drug abuse found. Compare that with virtually any other major sport, and Nascar looks pretty good.

Nobody gets into any of Nascar's top 3 series without racing a lot of hard races to get there. Every one of these drivers have had crashes, some of them very painful, and have been administered drugs to help with the pain. Most of them eventually heal, and stop having to use the painkillers. But as happens in life, a few get addicted and continue to take the drug, often acquiring it illegally. It's a shame, because promising careers can be ruined, but it happens in every occupation, every day.

Nascar does need to step up it's testing policies though. I think all the drivers should be tested at least once in a while, if not for fairness, then at least for safety.

I don't believe Nascar has a drug problem, but they need to be sure they catch anyone who does before he or she causes big problems on the track, and ultimately, for the sport itself.

As for Aaron Fike, I hope he can beat the drugs and will race again. I hope the same for Shane Hmiel.

Finally, a win for Hendrick

Jimmie Johnson basically coasted to his first win Saturday, after a wild gas mileage race at Phoenix. Dale Earnhardt Jr. led many laps, but finally just couldn't come up with the late speeds he needed to stay in front during the long green flag runs. All in all, it was a very good day for Team Hendrick.

The early dominance of the Toyotas and Dodges and even Fords was not in evidence at Phoenix. Chevrolet led by far the most laps, and produced the eventual winner. Phoenix is a 1 mile track, however, and it will be interesting to see if Chevrolet can keep up the speed at tracks like Charlotte in May.

The night races at West Coast tracks such as Phoenix can be a real challenge for those of us here in the East. For night owls like me, it's not such a problem, but I feel sorry for the folks that are used to going to bed at 9:00 pm Eastern time. I'm a big fan of night races, but maybe if we had more of them in the Central time zone, more people could actually watch the races without losing sleep.

Fox has received much harsh criticism this weekend from Nascar fans, as well as I'm sure, a lot of baseball fans. Nascar fans missed nearly all of the pre race festivities, and were about half way through the first lap when Fox decided to dump the Red Sox - Yankees game for the "start" of the race. Baseball fans that only could watch Fox, missed the last out of the game, which occurred about a minute after Fox cut away. Until Fox switched to the race, they were simulcasting the race on Fox's sister network, FX. My question is why couldn't Fox have had the pre race on one network, and the baseball game on the other? FX would have been better than nothing at all. I understand Fox' commitment to broadcast both events, and Fox certainly couldn't be blamed for the weather causing a 2 plus hour rain delay in Boston, but showing only the baseball game on both networks seems a little foolish.

We've got an off weekend in the Cup series this week, and then it's back to restrictor plate racing at Talladega. I will be very interested to see how the various teams and manufacturers have progressed with their plate programs since Daytona in February.