The Lady in Black has some new duds

With brand new pavement, and a new tunnel into the track, Darlington Raceway once again promises an exciting race on Saturday. Speeds of up to and possibly beyond 200 mph are possible there, and we will likely set new records in qualifying.

Darlington has always been the site for some of stock car's most exciting racing, and Saturday night promises to be some of the best racing ever at the legendary track.

Darlington Raceway is one of the oldest tracks in Nascar, and the tradition of hard fought racing carries on, this year with the fastest speeds ever.

Several drivers have had success here, including David Pearson, who holds the track record with 10 cup wins. Dale Earnhardt is second in the record book with 9 wins. Strangely enough, Darlington was never one of Richard Petty's best tracks, because even though he finished in the top 5 in 25 out of 65 starts, the King only won here 3 times in his career.

Among current drivers, Jeff Gordon has one 7 times at Darlington. Bill Elliot has won here 5 times, and just retired Dale Jarrett has won 3 times. Jeff Burton, Sterling Marlin, and Greg Biffle have each won 2 times. Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte have each won 1 time at the Lady in Black.

After a controversial finish at Richmond, Denny Hamlin must be looking forward to Darlington, having finished an average of 6.0 in his first two races at the track. Jimmie Johnson has an average finish of 6.8 in his 9 starts. Ryan Newman has finished on average 9th out of his 9 starts.

Darlington often proves to be a very challenging track for young drivers. Quite a few rookies have learned the hard way why Darlington is often called "The track too tough to tame."

Darlington also proves to be challenging to many veteran drivers as well. Kyle Petty has started 50 races at Darlington but has never had a top 10 finish.

Darlington would certainly be on the list of practically any driver to add to his win list. A win at Darlington looks good on anyone's resume.

"Security, we have a problem."

Last night's race at Richmond looked like it was going to be a flag to flag romp for Denny Hamlin, but that was not to be. With only laps to go, Denny cut a right front tire, and tried to stay out for the finish, even though he was rapidly losing spots. When the tire finally went, Denny got into the wall, a little, and stopped on the track. Nascar had little choice but to bring out the yellow flag. Once the caution was out, Denny drove to the pits for fresh tires. Nascar was not pleased, and parked Denny for 2 laps for intentionally bringing out a caution. Nascar does indeed frown on that, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. found out a few years ago when he admitted on the radio that he had looped his car to bring out the yellow flag. We all live and learn, I suppose, but what happened after the restart was proof that not all drivers learn.

When Denny Hamlin cut a tire, it allowed Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch to pass Denny. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead, and was driving away by about a tenth of a second gain per lap. When Denny brought out the caution, Jr. had over a full second lead over Kyle Busch.

Throughout the Earnhardt Nation, I think hearts began to sink. I don't think anyone who has been watching Nascar more than a few races doubted that Kyle Busch was going to do something, either on the restart or immediately afterwards, and we didn't have to wait long to find out that we were all right. Kyle was trying to pass Dale Jr. on the inside in Turn 3, and got into Jr.'s left side and spun out Dale Jr. Kyle was passed during that scuffle by Clint Bowyer, who eventually won the race, after charging through the pack all day, just biding his time. Kyle Busch finished second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 15th.

The predictable cans came flying over the fence after Dale Jr. got spun. My friends, I'm as passionate about this sport than anyone, but I really hate to see this, because it has become almost standard practice now to label fans of Dale Jr. as drunks and people that willingly endanger the lives of not only race car drivers, but the safety of other fans. I go to all the races I can, and I have been known to partake of adult beverages at times, and in some cases way too many. I think it's a shame that because of the not so smart actions of a few, the entire fan base of one driver gets labeled as a bunch of drunks. I know that all the fans throwing debris over the fence are not Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans, because a couple of years ago, we saw a fan decked out in Jimmie Johnson colors being led away in handcuffs, long before Dale Jr. and Jimmie became teammates. What does concern me is perception. A few people in the media blame it all on the Earnhardt Nation, so that gives all it's members a bad name in the eyes of a lot of casual fans.

Kyle Busch, when interviewed after the race, was seemingly sarcastic about the entire affair. He seemed more concerned with the one finger salutes that he was receiving from Earnhardt fans even before the accident, than he was about the accident itself. Kyle made somewhat of a half apology, but was not very sincere about it. One suspects that Kyle was probably disappointed that he did not win the race, but he appeared to be not very sorry about wrecking the race leader. One comment, in his half apology, was the observation that now he, Kyle Busch, was going to have to "deal with it," meaning the fallout from wrecking a guy who hasn't won in 71 races, and who happens to be Nascar's Most Popular Driver for several years running.

Did Kyle Busch wreck Dale Jr. on purpose? It's possible, but only Kyle knows the answer to that, and he's not going to admit it if he did. Friday night, in the Nationwide race, Kyle got into a little dust up with Steven Wallace, which led to Kyle putting his face right in Steven's after the race, while Steven was still in his race car. Something was said about bulls, and horns, but I suspect that Kyle's biggest threat is not the horns on a bull's head, but what the bull leaves on the ground. Steven grabbed Kyle by the helmet, and Kyle backed up in a hurry, but came back to the car as team members arrived to break up the possible fight. Kyle did not get wrecked in the action on the track with Steven Wallace, and after only momentarily losing a position to Steven, hit Steven in retaliation, and regained the spot.

I've been reading certain fan's comments about Kyle Busch being the new "Intimidator". I have to laugh at that, because Kyle's main claim to fame is that he is willing to slide his car all over the track, and hit people. If he wins, great. If he wrecks himself, he throws a temper tantrum and storms away, but not before making outrageous statements in front of live microphones and cameras. Kyle does have a reputation as a hard charger, and other drivers probably do hate to see him in their mirrors, but not because of Kyle's intimidation factor, but more likely because they know he's a wreck waiting to happen. As a long time Dale Earnhardt fan, I find the comparisons between Dale and Kyle to be insulting, at best. Dale drove rough, and he drove hard, but he also drove smart. Kyle just drives rough and hard, and there are countless examples of that behavior during his Nascar career.

In Texas last year, a car spun in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jr. lifted to slow down as he drove into the smoke. No one could see for a few seconds, and Dale Jr. wisely slowed down to miss the accident. Kyle did the opposite, by driving blindly into the smoke with the accelerator pegged to the firewall. Naturally Kyle hit Dale Jr. a ton, wrecking both cars pretty badly. Back in the garage, cameras showed Kyle climbing from his car, roughly shoving past his crew members and storming away. As it turned out, Kyle left the track.

Near the end of the race, the 5 team of Kyle Busch got the car drivable again, but just barely. They went looking for their driver, but he was on his way home. Dale Jr., the driver Kyle had just taken out of the race, climbed into the car and finished the race. In that instance, Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed his class, and Kyle Busch showed his ass.

I think that Kyle Busch still stings from being released from his Hendrick ride last year to make way for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Some of the remarks he's made since the announcement that Dale Jr. would be joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 led me to believe that he still harbors some resentment. Though Kyle has done very well at Joe Gibbs Racing, there appears to still be somewhat of a chip on the young man's shoulder.

Last night, Dale Earnhardt Jr. handled the disappointment with his usual class, not placing blame on Kyle, stating that he had not yet seen the replay. "If I do want to talk to him, I'll have to stand in line," he quipped. When he was being interviewed, he was asked if Kyle Busch was going to need extra security. "We all will," Jr. answered.

Though Dale Jr. remains 3rd overall in Cup points, Kyle Busch now is in first place. I have to admit that I was glad that Kyle Busch ended up not winning last night, because if nothing else, it was a mistake he made, if not an outright low blow to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kyle races in all 3 of Nascar's top series, and he's made quite a few enemies in all 3. I hope this young man will eventually mature and gain the respect of not only the fans of the sport, but his fellow drivers as well.

On a side note, Michael Waltrip was parked by Nascar in the latter stages of the race after colliding with Casey Mears, and then standing on the gas, pushing Casey's wrecked car down the backstretch. I knew Michael was having a bad day, but I didn't know he was having that bad of a day. Oddly enough, older brother and FOX commentator Darrell Waltrip for once had nothing to say about it.

Strange, huh?

Richmond is a special place

For a lot of drivers, Richmond is a special place. Quite a few current drivers have won races there, some have won more than once. I always enjoy watching races at Richmond because it's a unique track, 3/4 mile in length, and has seen some wild races in the past.

Drivers who have won at Richmond include Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Kyle Petty, Ryan Newman, Jeremy Mayfield, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, and Joe Nemechek. Each have a win at Richmond. There are a lot of other winners at Richmond, but these are some of the current drivers who have wins at the track.

Some current drivers have more than one win at the track, and with two wins each would include Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett. Dale won't be driving Richmond this year, so we can safely count him out on a third win this year.

Two current drivers have won 3 times at Richmond, and they were both important figures in last week's Talladega race. I'm talking, of course, about Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Richmond has been a great track for both of these drivers, and as strong as both drivers have been running lately, that trend is likely to continue for the Richmond race. Toyota teams have been strong right out of the box, and Chevrolet teams are getting better and better, especially the Hendrick team.

I can't rule out another rogue win by Carl Edwards this week, or a win by one of his Ford brethren, but I'm looking mostly at what the Toyota and Chevrolet teams will be doing. Dodge might make a run at it too, so who knows what will happen.

Right now the top rated teams by driver, and by manufacturer would have to be Chevrolet's Jeff Burton, Toyota's Kyle Busch, Ford's Greg Biffle, and Dodge's Ryan Newman. I'm just looking at total points here, not wins or anything else.

Will Richmond be another win for Toyota? Personally I hope not. I'm beginning to believe the talk that Toyota is enjoying a horsepower advantage, after the dismal performance they showed in 2007. Toyota has either really brought their game to the track, or Nascar allowed them some extra HP. It's that simple. The fact that Joe Gibbs Racing converted to Toyota for this season helped a lot, but I find it hard to believe that it helped that much. Toyota has to be making more horsepower than any other engines out there. I'm just saying!

And finally, in a new idea to include into the blog, I delve into the mailbag, or actually the e-mail bag, and take a question. And I'll try to answer it. Honest, I will!

Jason L. from Omaha, Nebraska asks "Why does Nascar pull out the yellow flag so much? Most of the time, we don't even see the stuff on the track! Do they do that to try to help certain drivers who need a pit stop?"

Jason, my best answer is that Nascar will always throw a yellow flag if they are concerned about safety. Debris on the track usually means cut tires and a car goes hard into the wall. Metal debris on the track will cut tires like you or I cut into a steak. As for do they do it for certain drivers? I doubt it. When certain drivers complain about debris, they probably listen more than they listen do over drivers, but there is not much objectivity in Nascar, it would seem. Certain drivers get more attention than do others, but there's not a whole heck of a lot we can do about it. If Jeff Gordon starts screaming about debris all over the race track, Nascar probably pays attention. If Regan Smith starts screaming about it, they probably don't pay as much attention. It's not really fair, but that's most likely the way it is. Nascar does monitor the communications between driver and spotter and crew chief, and I'm guessing that Nascar probably has thrown the yellow several times over the last few years, based on what a driver or spotter says. I don't think it's right, but it probably does happen.

I hope that answers your question, Jason. I'd like to make this a weekly feature, and if you'll just send your questions to jimcinsc@gmail.com, I'll be happy to answer, either publicly, as on this blog, or privately, at your discretion. I'm not an expert, but I've been watching for a long time, and I study the science of Nascar. All opinions are MY opinions, but if you ask, I will answer.

Have a great race weekend!

Missing Dale Earnhardt

Today, April 29, would have been Dale Earnhardt's 57th birthday, and I've had a difficult time thinking about what might be different about Nascar today, had Dale survived February 18, 2001. Ever since Dale entered the Cup series full time in the 1979 season, the sport changed radically, and a lot of the credit for that can be laid squarely on Earnhardt's shoulders.

Dale went from a hungry, wide eyed, total disaster at times on the race track to becoming Nascar's first international star. He saw the sport through some of the most important changes that the sport has ever seen, and when he left, suddenly, on a Sunday afternoon in February, not only did the sport change for ever, but for some, the entire world changed as well.

We will never know exactly what the Nascar would look like had Dale lived. We can only speculate, and as fun or as sad, depending on your point of view, that might be, we're still only guessing. One thing we do know is that Dale Earnhardt was very instrumental in the exploding popularity of Nascar in the 1990's. Had Dale lived beyond the first race of 2001, Nascar might be the most watched sport in America, by far. Dale was 49 years old when he died, but he still provided the Nascar world specifically, and the entire sporting world as a whole, a ton of excitement every time he climbed into his race car.

Dale Earnhardt electrified Nascar, starting back in 1979, when he won Rookie of the Year awards, followed by his first Winston Cup Championship in 1980, the first time in Nascar history, which is still a record unequaled, even by superstars of today, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Dale Jr. didn't do it either, and neither did Tony Stewart or Kyle Busch. Some might say that the Nascar world is more competitive now than it was in Dale's early years, but back then, the cars were a lot harder to drive, with no air conditioning for the drivers, and with no power steering. If you look closely, most of today's crop of Nascar drivers are relatively small men. The drivers are certainly in good physical shape, but back when Earnhardt started in Nascar, most of the drivers were big, burly men. They had to be just to take the physical punishment that a 400 or 500, or even a 600 mile race exacted from their bodies. Earnhardt was a pretty big guy, compared to most of today's drivers.

No matter what his physical stature was, he soon became the driver that seemingly stood ten feet tall and bullet proof. Earnhardt endured horrible pain in his racing career, but never complained about it. Dale defied doctor's orders, and swore them to secrecy after bad crashes, just so he could get back into his race car the next weekend. I don't think he ever considered taking a week off, unless he physically couldn't walk out of the hospital. He never considered it, because racing was what he did. It's all he ever wanted to do.

Dale Earnhardt never finished high school, a shortcoming that he regretted for the rest of his life. He went sometimes to extremes with his children, trying to make sure they got the best education they could get. Dale seemed to regret very much that he disappointed his father by not graduating, and he was determined to see that his father Ralph's grandchildren did get a good education.

Dale came up hard, as we say here in the south. At times, he practically starved to support his racing. It was often said that if Dale had enough money to pay the power bill or to buy a new set of tires for his race car, the decision was a no brainer for him. He bought the tires. Dale's overwhelming desire to race eventually cost him 2 marriages, and custody of 3 of his 4 children, at least for a time. Dale lived to race, early in his life, but on the day he died, he was a content family man.

It's pretty much assured that had Dale lived, he would be retired by now. Knowing Dale, he might still have run an All Star race or a Shootout, just for fun, or he might be running a few races in the Trucks series even. We'll never know, obviously, but we do know he would probably have been a very successful team owner, at the very least.

Dale was called the Intimidator, because many drivers lost their poise when they saw the black number 3 Chevrolet on their back bumper, especially late in the race. Dale never drove for consistency, he always drove to win. His steely eyes could back down the pushiest reporter, when he didn't like the questions they were asking. Dale also could be very friendly and open, giving up a lot of his time to try to satisfy the growing craving for all things Earnhardt, allowing camera crews onto his private property, to allow himself being photographed hunting and fishing. I know first hand that Dale was very gracious when it came to contacting with his fans. When he signed autographs, which was often, he would meet his fans with eye contact and his famous smile. Dale Earnhardt always knew on which side his bread was buttered. He raced hard, because he was great at doing it, and he was very appreciative of his fans, because he always knew that his fans helped to make him what he was.

Dale Earnhardt had an extremely good head for business, basically inventing the modern Nascar marketing phenomena that we experience today. Dale very quickly understood the demand that tee shirts and die cast cars might become, and he capitalized on it, making a fortune in the process. Dale went from being the guy that couldn't pay his bills to a multimillionaire, but he never really changed as a person. He lived in nice houses, drove nice cars, bought a private jet, but Dale never really changed from the kid who grew up in Kannapolis, NC. He never lived more than a few miles from the home he grew up in.

Dale Earnhardt was many things to many people, but to me he was more than a race car driver. Dale was a hero, in the truest sense. Dale beat the odds, succeeded on levels that are difficult to comprehend, and did most of it by sheer determination and will. That's a hero in my mind, and as long as I live, I'll never forget Dale Earnhardt.

Possible to like Nascar drivers but dislike their fans?

You bet. I joined the Harvick Online site a few years ago, but quit posting much, because even though I was a Harvick fan, I got ripped every time I posted there. I could say Harvick was the best driver ever, and there appeared some poster that had a problem with everything I said. Today, on the eve of the Talladega race, some poor soul admitted feeling sorry for Dale Jr.'s winless streak. She was invited to leave the site, and not very politely.

What was funny, was that about 2 posts above the Dale Jr. comment, someone thought it wise to post about Ferarri winning a Formula One race. There was not problem with that, but mention Dale Jr. and the entire board has a veritable hissy fit.

I joined the HOL board in good faith a few years ago, and have never, ever run Dale Jr. up the flag pole, but I could say that Harvick was the greatest driver out there, and I would find some poster who basically said the sky was green. You can't win on HOL. You either belong to the clique, or you don't. Lately, it appears that most of the HOL posters are of an emotional age of around 8 or so. Slash. Burn. It's what the HOL folks do. That's their right., I suppose, but even though I like Kevin Harvick, as a driver and as a team owner, his fans seem like absolute dweebs.

Why the problem with Dale Jr., you might ask. Good question. It's pure jealousy. HOL members will never admit it, but they are so jealous of the media attention that Dale Jr. garners, they just can't stand it, and they do the usual posts, Dale Jr. has no talent, he's a traitor, etc.

Kevin Harvick is a great driver in the Nationwide series. Until he puts up some numbers like Dale Jr. has in the Cup series, Kevin is a has-been. Kevin is a second tier driver, and will remain that way until he produces a lot more wins. Kevin Harvick, I like you, but you seriously need to torch your pathetic message board and start a new one.

And the Silly Season is in full force now

Rumors today are predicting that Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. are leaving their respective teams after the 2008 season. Stewart is rumored to be buying up to 50 per cent of Gene Haas' operation, and running a car there, possibly taking Home Depot sponsorship with him. Haas teams, both the 66 and the 70 Chevrolets are powered by Rick Hendrick engines, and supposedly, Tony wants to return to Chevrolet in the near future.

Martin Truex Jr. has had a couple of engine problems so far this year, and that might be leading to the rumor that he will be leaving Dale Earnhardt, Inc. after the 2008 season. Martin definitely has more than a few possibilities to pursue, namely the 4th Richard Childress team, or possibly Tony's old ride at Joe Gibbs Racing. Possibly a Roush driver or even two might be leaving after this year, and Martin could end up driving a Ford for Jack Roush. All of this is purely speculation at this point.

Bobby Labonte appears to be heavily favored to get the Childress team's 4th ride, since they will be carrying his General Mills colors next year. That's still entirely possible, but rumors also state that Bobby will remain with Petty Enterprises until he retires. Bobby's not saying, and neither is Robby Loomis, who is currently in negotiations with Labonte on behalf of Petty.

Richard Childress my just decide to chuck it, and put Scott Wimmer in the 33 next year. Or he could put a former Roush driver in the car. The fact is that we just don't know right now.

And we probably won't know until much later in the racing season. This is why the Silly Season is so much fun, because we can all speculate, and even if we are entirely wrong, so are probably at least half the other fans out there.

Last year, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. after the 2007 season, I predicted that Dale would end up at either Richard Childress Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing, but that was before I knew that Gibbs would be switching brands to Toyota for 2008. The rumors began to grow that Dale Jr. would eventually go to Rick Hendrick, but I dismissed many of those. As it turns out, I was 100 per cent wrong on that one. Dale Jr. has revealed in the past year that Hendrick was really the only place he wanted to go, since his relationship with Rick had been a strong one, since Dale Jr. was just a boy. Personal relationships mean a lot in Nascar, and Jr. went where his heart told him to go.

I will be following the news about Stewart, Truex Jr., and Labonte with interest over the next few months, and I'm not making any predictions this time. For all I know, Labonte may end up at DEI, Truex Jr. might end up at Roush, and Tony Stewart might just decide to go open wheel racing again, in the new IRL/Champ series. I have no idea.

My instincts tell me that Bobby Labonte doesn't want to retire, he wants to win again. RCR could be the place that he does that. Truex Jr. obviously wants to win, but he's probably frustrated with DEI's engine woes, even though they seem to have improved much over last year. It's been rumored before that Stewart wanted to buy into a team, and that he wants to go back to Chevrolet, so Haas makes sense to me. That might be a totally wrong guess, but unless I'm missing something, Haas is probably in a position to be bought into, and soon. Tony's got the money, and I would not be surprised to see him make a transaction with Haas before the season is over. Whether the Home Depot will follow Tony is debatable, but I think that Home Depot would be crazy for not following Tony.

If all these changes happen, who would fill the voids left by these drivers? JGR, DEI, and Petty would have some vacancies to fill. Martin Truex Jr. could go to Gibbs. I could see that. Who would go to DEI and Petty though? Probably drivers that are just trying to prove themselves, either fired Cup drivers that need a job, or some Nationwide talent. Bobby could probably have the job at RCR if he wants it. Whether he does or not will have to be revealed at a later date.

If DEI or Petty hires Jeremy Mayfield, we will all know they are scraping the bottom of the barrel, not because Jeremy is a bad driver, but he's had some problems with authority, in the past. Personally I like Jeremy, but he's burned a bridge or two in the past. Bill Elliot seems to be the driver that never retires, so he might be a fill in for a while. Personally, I'd like to see Kenny Wallace get a shot at one of the open jobs, if they become available. Jason Keller is another driver I'd like to see in a Cup car again. Chad McCumbee appears to be waiting in the wings to replace Kyle Petty or Bobby Labonte, but I wouldn't mind seeing him in a DEI ride either. Stephen Leicht might be another viable driver.

The point is, who knows? I certainly don't, and neither do you, I would suspect. Silly Season is just what it is, guesses and speculation, and it's fun.

What we tend to forget, as Nascar fans, is that fun is what it's supposed to be for us. It is fun.

Have fun, will ya?

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?