Monday, February 22, 2010

California, Version 2010

I think I forgot to mention it last week, but congratulations to Jamie McMurray for winning the Daytona 500 in only his first points race for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.  I watched Jamie during speed weeks, and was surprised by how strong he seemed to be right out of the box in that number 1 Chevy.  He got a great win, and he deserves it.

Back to the present.  Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for his win at California’s Auto Club Speedway, and though I’m not shocked that Jimmie Johnson won at California, he probably is.  The timing of that last yellow flag was perfect for Johnson.  Had it not been for that fortuitous series of events, it’s doubtful that he could ever have taken away the lead from the Richard Childress Racing duo of Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.  Though Harvick charged hard in the last laps, a brush with the wall ended all hopes of frustrating Jimmie Johnson’s 48 team’s resurgence to dominance.

For one of the first times in several years, I was impressed with the quality of the racing at Fontana on Sunday.  I don’t know whether it was the tire that Goodyear brought to the track, or if it’s because the teams are starting to get a handle on the new car, but the race at California was worthwhile for a change.

NASCAR and track officials seemed to get a handle on the weepers that perpetually plague this track in the February race, and a wet track never really was a factor for a change.  I still don’t know that California really should have two race dates every year, but I have to say that I enjoyed the race I saw on Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson’s win was meaningful, because Sunday marked Jimmie’s 48th win in the Cup series.  Jimmie Johnson has won 48 Cup races, all of them in the 48 car.  That’s a milestone, because JJ’s first win came back in only 2002.  If I’m not mistaken, that first win also occurred in California.  For those of you who follow statistics, you have to think about a few things.  It’s possible that Jeff Gordon, who has won a ton of races and 4 championships, might have passed his peak as a driver.  Jimmie Johnson is younger, and he’s already won 4 championships as well.  Has Jimmie peaked yet as a driver?  I really don’t think so.  Jimmie might have a few more championships left in him.  Jimmie Johnson is the only current driver that could seriously compete to equal or even surpass Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt in Cup championships.  That’s food for thought.

I give at least 50 per cent of the credit to crew chief Chad Knaus for the 48 teams success.  Sure, Jimmie is a very talented driver, but Chad is an uncommonly exceptional crew chief.  The relationship between Johnson and Knaus is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been watching for a long time.  I don’t know that Richard Petty and Dale Inman even had as good of a driver - crew chief relationship as Jimmie and Chad have.

Many would say that Jimmie’s victory at California on Sunday was a fluke, just a great piece of luck, and they would be correct in saying that.  Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson have that going for them though.  Part of it is instinct, part of it is pure luck, but the 48 team has it, and however they do it, they get the job done.

I haven’t read any estimates of the total attendance at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, and I don’t have much of a feel for it, except that I do know that FOX seemed to avoid camera shots of the grandstands during the race, which tells me all I need to know: 

Many Californians missed a pretty decent race on Sunday.  It’s a shame, but there are valid reasons why, and I’m going to lay it all out for you in a future article here.  I have my theories about why major metropolitan areas seem to not generate great numbers for NASCAR events.  I’ll share them with you at a later date, God willing.

This week, it’s on to Las Vegas.  From Daytona to Southern California to Nevada is a brutal tour for the NASCAR teams’ logistics departments.  So many miles to travel in so little time.  My FDNY hat’s off to all the car hauler drivers, the team hauler drivers, the owners and drivers’ motor coach hauler drivers.  These guys are running a marathon every February, and they do it all very, very well!

I’ve got a lot more thoughts about Sunday, and I will share them soon.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Things I Hope I Live To See

I hope I live to see Mark Martin win a Sprint Cup Championship.  Hopefully, that will happen in the next ten or twenty years.

I hope I live to see Michael Waltrip drive on North Carolina public highways without having a wreck for at least a year.

I hope I live to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. get married, settle down, and have some kids.  I really think that would help him find his place in life, and on the race track.  I would really love to live to see Dale Earnhardt III win 8 Cup championships and 201 races.  But I probably won’t live to see that happen even if it does happen.

I hope I live to see cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, lupus, and a myriad of other ailments.  I’d like to see a ten minute cure for a bad back as well.  I’d really, REALLY like to see that bad back thing happen, like, well…… NOW.

I’d like to see Colin Braun win multiple Cup championships.  I just like the guy.  I’d also really like to see Marcos Ambrose win a Cup race, because I just can’t wait to hear him in victory lane.  That Aussie accent just fascinates me, and I’d love to hear him really excited for once.

I hope I live to see some driver, any driver, even approach Dale Earnhardt’s passion and charisma in the sport of stock car racing.  There’s some potential out there, but I haven’t seen that spark yet.  I hope I live to see a driver as hungry as Dale was back when he broke into the sport.  I’ll know him when I see him.

I hope I live to see Jimmie Johnson get all the acclaim he deserves, which is being the first driver ever to win four consecutive Cup championships.  Jimmie wins four in a row, but what is the NASCAR world talking about?  Danica Patrick, who won an IRL race in Japan, and has never won anything in a stock car?  If I were Jimmie, I’d be perturbed.  A female friend told me not long ago that Jimmie Johnson is better looking than Danica’s husband.  I have to defer to a female’s opinion on that.  What I really like about Danica is her personality.  She’s a small woman, but she’s willing to take the gloves off and mix it up when she’s mad.  I’ve never seen Jimmie do that.  Who would be willing to give Jimmie Johnson some free boxing lessons?

I hope I live to see a world in which the sanctioning body of NASCAR lets the drivers drive, the crew chiefs make the cars faster, and fix things to where the best car wins, and only the fastest 43 cars get into the race..  Probably, that will never happen, at least in my lifetime.

I hope I see live to see that gopher on FOX TV disappear forever, and I really hope I don’t see him in the afterlife.  If he’s there, I’ll…… Huh.  Never thought about it before, but can you commit suicide after you’re dead?  If Digger is there, I’ll find out.  I’ll let you know by haunting the crap out of you about it.

Speaking of  haunts, I really hope the Ghost Hunters guys will find Casper the Ghost and take some photos of him.  A white sheet saying “Boo!” would be so cool!  Especially if the word “Boo!” was in a comic balloon over the sheet’s head.  Now, THAT would be some good TV!

I hope I live to see Paul Sr., Paul Jr. and Mikey repair their familial relationship and restart the American Chopper series, with a return to making motorcycles, not idiotic family soap operas.

I hope I live to see the day when NASCAR is America’s number one sport, because it is, after all, the only sport where people die playing the game, at least on a regular basis.  People say football is like a battle, but NASCAR is all war, every week, from February until November.  These guys may be friends off the track, but on the track, they have no real friends.  On the last lap, everyone is an enemy.

I hope I live to meet each and everyone of you who reads this column, because you’re all very important to me.  That probably won’t happen either, but even if I never met you, it was real.

Hopefully it will be real again soon.

If you’ve got anything you’d like to see, I will welcome your comments here.  Just click below in the space provided, and you can add to the list or tell me I’m full of it on one  or more of the suggestions I made.  Any and all comments are always welcome here.

Sports Figures and Apologies

All the big news of the day, it would seem, revolves around Tiger Woods’ first public appearance since the very strange events that took place on Thanksgiving evening last year.  His statement was carried on most of the major networks, including, of course, ESPN, ESPN2, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, and FOX News.

Tiger Woods is one of the most popular sports figures in the country, if not the world.  Woods is to golf what Michael Jordan is to basketball, or possibly Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt are to NASCAR.  For fans of golf, and even for those who aren’t, Tiger Woods’ name is known in pretty much any household which also contains a television.

I’m not going to analyze Tiger’s apology to his friends here.  He apologized to his friends and his family, and he also mentioned regret that he had let down his fans.  I thought he seemed pretty sincere about that, and I am more than willing to let it go at that.

The fact is, Tiger Woods doesn’t owe me an apology for anything.  Chances are, he doesn’t owe you an apology either.  My life has not changed in any way because Tiger carried on with women to which he was not married.  That’s not my concern.  I miss seeing Tiger Woods playing golf, because he is obviously one of the best players in the world,  but what he does off the golf course doesn’t really matter to me.

To people with kids who might be or have been fans of Tiger Woods, I can understand your concerns, and perhaps Tiger’s apology will help your child understand that it’s OK to admire great athletes, but sometimes even the rich and famous have problems away from the cameras.  Athletes may be the very best in their sport, but they might be a lousy father, or mother, or husband or wife.  Celebrity in and of itself only means that someone has been noticed, and the closer we look at people who’ve grabbed our attention, the more likely that some unsavory character flaws will emerge.

Jeff Gordon went though a somewhat similar event a few years ago.  Jeff and Brooke Gordon seemed to be the perfect couple.  They had plenty of fame, plenty of money, and somewhere, something went wrong.  NASCAR fans, whether they were Gordon fans or not, were somewhat shocked when all the allegations were flying.  The details of what broke up the marriage are not known by but a few people, but obviously Jeff Gordon showed that he was indeed human, and even Jeff Gordon can make mistakes.  Gordon now is remarried and has a child and another on the way, and the breakup with Brooke seems like it took place a million years ago to most fans.

Gordon’s situation got much less universal attention than Tiger Woods’ current mess, but in the NASCAR world, the Jeff and Brooke show was huge news at the time.  Most of us who have been fans for more than a few years remember it, but I doubt that few people who were Jeff Gordon fans before the breakup with Brooke jumped ship.  Whether that will be the same with Tiger Woods, only time will tell.

Tiger Woods should apologize to his family and his friends, and maybe even his sponsors, because they are the people he really let down.  As a casual fan of golf, my only thought was that golf will be less interesting if Tiger isn’t around for the tournaments.  The fact that he had so many affairs was surprising to me, but at the same time, I doubt it will change my opinion of his talents as a golfer.

Parents, if you’re offended by what Tiger Woods did, that’s fine.  If you’re worried that your kids will be adversely effected by Woods’ actions, then explain to them that Tiger is human, and he did wrong.  Don’t count on your kids finding role models for life on television.  Why not try to be the life role model for your kids?  So, you can’t play sports.  So what?  You do the right thing, your kids will notice, and hopefully they will decide to be like you and do the right thing when they are adults.

If your kid wants to be a great athlete, by all means show him the best and let him or her watch and learn.  If your kid wants to be a great golfer, show them tapes of Tiger Woods.  If your kid wants to be a great basketball player, she them tapes of Michael Jordan when he played for the Bulls, or UNC.  If your kid wants to be a great stock car driver, show them tapes of Petty, and Earnhardt, of Pearson, of Allison, of Yarborough, of yes, even Johnson, Gordon, Stewart, or whomever you consider to be a great driver.

Please remember that however great your favorite athlete is when he’s playing his game, he might not be so great away from the field or the track.  If your favorite athlete screws up in his personal life, remember, that ought to be personal.  Just because a guy has a zillion dollars, it doesn’t mean that he’s better than you or me, at least on a personal level.

We are all, each and every one of us, human.  Or at least you are.  I will reserve the right to reveal my true identity later!

Friday, February 19, 2010

The State Of NASCAR: February, 2010

We’re now only one race into the 2010 NASCAR season, but I’ve already seen some encouraging signs that the sanctioning body is on the right track as far as making the racing better and giving the fans a better experience, both the fans at the track and those watching at home on TV.

Before the Daytona 500, NASCAR announced that it was relaxing its rules on bump drafting on the restrictor plate tracks.  True, that’s only 4 races a year, but I believe it shows that NASCAR is finally willing to bend, at least a little, when it comes to changing policies to make the racing more interesting.

NASCAR has also announced the return to the spoiler, forsaking the ugly wing that seems to cause more problems than it solves.  Hopefully, teams that have been frustrated in their attempts to set up the handling on the current incarnation of the race car will find some more familiar ground with the spoiler.  Better handling cars should make more teams competitive in the future.

They Daytona 500 was a good race, when you take the pothole problem out of the equation.  The race itself was up for grabs until the last turn on the last lap, and that’s the way it out to be.  Daytona was just plain good racing.

In my maybe not so humble opinion, the sport has suffered as of late by too many restrictions, too many attempts to even the playing field, and by basically abandoning what makes this sport fun in the first place, which is, of course, good, hard racing.  If the racing is good, finding fans will never be a problem.

In such uncertain financial times, it’s not surprising that many fans simply cannot afford to travel to the race tracks as often as they did in years past.  Hopefully, the economy will recover, and fans will find their way back to the tracks, spend some of their disposable income on souvenirs, and the sport will recover the audience that it seems to have lost in the past couple of years.

NASCAR has the potential to return to its previous greatness, and even surpass what it has been in the past.  The potential is there, but the product has to be good enough to make the fans want to buy tickets and tune in every weekend for the races.  It appears that NASCAR is headed in the right direction, and one hopes they will continue to do so.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Daytona 500 Time. It's Finally Here!

In just a few hours, The 2010 Daytona 500 will kick off, and if you're like me, it's the most exciting time of the year.

The NASCAR season is just kicking off, and I can't wait to hear the command to start engines.  It's Daytona, the biggest race of the year, and there is just nothing quite like Daytona in February.

Who's going to win?  I don't have a clue, but I'd put my money on guys like Tony Stewart, or Greg Biffle, or Kevin Harvick.  Maybe even Jimmie Johnson, because JJ and Chad can seem to do no wrong. 

Personally, I'm pulling for Dale Jr., because another win at the Daytona 500 would take the no-win monkey off his back so fast, it would make your head spin.  Dale Jr. is due, and he's already won this race once.  Dale Jr. has the equipment and hopefully the right people behind him, so who knows.  It would be a great shot in the arm for not only Dale Jr. and the 88 team, but for NASCAR as well.

This is a day of celebration, NASCAR fans.  Let's scream at the TV, enjoy a few of our favorite beverages, at least in moderation, and let's get excited!  The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is upon us, and let's get fired up!  I am, and I invite you, no matter who your favorite driver is, to get fired up too.  Cheer your driver on to victory lane, and let's get this puppy started up!

Early congratulations to whomever wins the Daytona 500 later today.  The field is so tight, that just about anyone can win, if they're in the right place, at exactly the right time.  That's the way it ought to be every week in this sport, and often is.  Today is all about why we love racing and why we devote so much time and attention to it. 

Today, the Daytona 500 will hopefully show us something:  Racing at its very best.

Some People Ought To Know Better

I was listening to my local sports talk radio station yesterday, and late afternoons the station runs a popular talk show out of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Since the show does originate in Charlotte, the host does pay some lip service to NASCAR, but 99 per cent of the time, the show is devoted to stick and ball sports.
The other day, however, the host went on a rant about Danica Patrick’s 6th place finish in Saturday’s ARCA race, and basically said that ARCA is a nothing series, more or less a sandlot league.  The impression that he was trying to make was that even racing in the ARCA series proves nothing, because ANYBODY can race in ARCA. 

My friends, that’s just not true.  I understand the host’s frustration over the whole Danica phenomenon, because quite frankly, it’s being a little overdone in the media.  But to act like ARCA is just some little dinky racing series is just idiotic, and quite frankly, this host ought to know better.  Danica Patrick is not the first woman to race in NASCAR, not by a long shot.  She’s obviously not the first open wheel driver to cross the bridge to race stock cars.

ARCA is not the most elite series in stock car racing.  The most elite series is obviously the Sprint Cup.  But nobody just soups up the old Chevy in the backyard and goes ARCA racing.  Virtually all of the drivers in ARCA have raced their way up the ladder, beginning at their local bull rings, graduating on to regional series, and beyond.  These folks are in ARCA because they’re all winning race car drivers at other levels.  Danica Patrick did not become a Indy Racing League driver because she had a pretty face.  She grew up racing, and was good enough to eventually reach the big leagues in open wheel racing.

The arrogance that seems to pervade the mainstream sports media where stock car racing is concerned is pathetic.  Many prominent radio personalities simply scoff at the very idea that stock car racing is even a sport.  “Anyone can drive a car around in circles,” they say.  “Even my grandmother can do that.  It’s not a sport.”

I’ve got a newsflash for those sports talk show hosts who just don’t get it.  Not only is stock car racing a sport, it’s even more than that.  Racing is the most brutal sport of all, because people actually die driving race cars.  When is the last time you heard about a professional golfer suffering a broken neck on the 13th green at Augusta National?  Turn 4 at Daytona International Speedway has claimed the lives of more great professional athletes than pretty much any other sporting venue in the country.

It’s much like the old saying:  “Don’t criticize what you don’t understand.”  I don’t understand all the nuances of the NFL, but I still like to watch it.  Heck, I even watch curling, even though I don’t really get it.

Many racing haters say that stock car racing is just some stupid, redneck, hillbilly sport.  That’s simply not true anymore.  Judging by the readers of just this site, I have way more hits from California and New York than I have from North Carolina.  Sports personalities, especially popular ones in Charlotte, North Carolina ought to know better.  They do know better, but spouting ignorance such as what I heard the other day is more than pathetic.

It’s actually embarrassing.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Budweiser Shootout Starts the 2010 Season Off With a Bang

Saturday night’s Bud Shootout was an interesting race, and for me, at least, entertaining as well.

The racing itself was good, what I would consider to be an improvement over last year’s race.  There was quite a bit of passing, especially back in the pack, and the larger restrictor plates appeared to allow greater throttle response than in past plate races.  This all adds up to more exciting racing.

Kudos have to go to NASCAR as well for retracting the rules for bump drafting.  Any driver who gets pushed too hard into a corner is gong to complain about it, but it just makes for better racing when the drivers are free to bump and bang a little.  Drivers at the Sprint Cup level are among the best in the world, and if they couldn’t handle a little physical contact, they would be doing something else for a living.

The bottom line is that the changes that NASCAR has made for racing at Daytona appear to promise a good Daytona 500 on Sunday.  A better race means fans see a better product, and that’s really the most important priority.

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick, who, after being sick much of the week, pulled out the win on Saturday in a car in which he had not driven one practice lap.  Perhaps Richard Childress Racing will turn a corner in performance in 2010 and get back to victory lane in the points racing.

One major disappointment was the performance of the 88 Chevy, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr.  After running strong for a few laps, the 88 car faded back and Dale Jr. was complaining about a problem that plagued his team’s efforts in 2009.  In Junior’s words, the car was “wrecking loose.”  Though the Shootout is only the first race of the season, and fortunately carries no points considerations, the Junior Nation has to be somewhat dismayed by the handling problems on Saturday night.  It’s not time to panic yet, however.  Dale Jr. will be starting on the outside pole on Sunday, so he’s definitely got the horsepower to get to the front.  Hopefully crew chief Lance McGrew and the team will get a better handle on the handling problems by Sunday.

With the Budweiser Shootout out of the way, and the twin qualifying races coming up later in the week, it finally feels like the long off season is indeed over. 

I, for one, couldn’t be happier.

Friday, February 5, 2010

I'm Loving Me Some Daytona

I regularly listen to a local sports station, WCCP FM which is based in Clemson, South Carolina, and is the official radio station of the Clemson Tigers.  Feel free to Google it.  They’d love to have you listen online, if you don’t happen to be in the Upstate South Carolina area, and chances are you’re not.

A particular radio host who’s name is Walt Deptula, is on from 3:00 until 5:00 PM Eastern time.  Walt is a walking, talking sports encyclopedia.  If you ask Walt if he watched the basketball game between East Utah State and Northern Michigan, Walt will say “Of course.”  Walt watches everything, as long as it’s stick and ball sports.  You know, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc.  Walt’s not a big fan of NASCAR, but he does talk about it from time to time, whenever there’s big news in the sport.

Walt does talk about basketball a lot though.  Remember Dick Vitale?  You know, he’s the basketball color guy that says “Yeah, baby!” and is very entertaining to listen to, or at least some people think so.  Dicky V has a love relationship with Duke University, which usually has a great basketball program, and no matter what game Dick is calling, he inevitably brings Duke into the conversation. 

Walt Deptula regularly has a contest on his show where callers can call in and guess about how far into the basketball game Dick Vitale will mention Duke University.  Walt calls this contest “Dick Vitale’s I’m Loving me some Duke.” 

Well, I’m loving me some Daytona right now.  February, for quite a few years now, makes me get all tingly inside.  With some tickets going for as low as $55.00, I’d be there in a heart beat, because I’ve never actually watched a race at Daytona International Speedway, at least in person.  I’ve been to Atlanta, Charlotte, Darlington, Talladega, and some other tracks, which were all awesome, but Daytona is basically the Super Bowl of NASCAR.  On Valentine’s day, Daytona is the place to be for any NASCAR fan.

The off season is over.  It’s time to get back to some high octane racing fuel, the deafening sound of 43 racing engines screaming, making your eardrums bleed.  As General George S. Patton once said about war, I’ll say the same thing about NASCAR:  “God forgive me, but I do love it so.”

If there’s any way you can get to Daytona in the next couple of weeks, I would encourage you to do so.  Ticket prices are probably lower this year than they have been in decades.  Daytona International Speedway is an awesome place to see, even when you’re the only person inside the track.  Imagine being there with a hundred plus thousand of your friends and neighbors.  Imagine them all screaming, encouraging their drivers on, calling them home for the win, which may be the win of a lifetime.  It may be the event of a lifetime for you or someone in your family.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Do You Feel The Need For Speed?

I know that I do.  It’s racing season, and things are starting to get cranked up in Daytona.  For me, at least, I can’t wait.  I love speed weeks.  I can’t say that enough, because speed weeks gets my blood flowing.

It’s like a spring thaw.  Florida was hit with some of the coldest temperatures they’ve had in years, if forever.  California has seen some of the worst  rainstorms and snowstorms in decades.  In other words, doomsday is near at hand, right?

NASCAR  has the perfect solution to this bad weather, bad feeling that winter leaves behind.  The Budweiser Shootout, the Twin races, and the actual Daytona 500 are just around the corner.  We’ve got a ton of racing in NASCAR just around the corner, and it couldn’t come soon enough for me.

It’s been an unbelievably long off season, at least for me.  It seems like it’s been years since the guys were on the track.  I know it hasn’t been that long, but at the tender age of 46, I still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.  When I get older, maybe I’ll stop believing in the tooth fairy.

To me, February is the real Christmas, at least as far as racing goes.  No, no, I still believe in Christmas on December 25th because that is the day of the birth of my savior Jesus Christ.  But February 14th will have special meaning for me this year, because Valentine’s day coincides with the Daytona 500.  I’m hopelessly romantic, and though I’ve got no sweetheart to spend Valentine’s day with, I will be wired and fired up for the Daytona 500.

For me, Daytona is the best part of the year.  Gas fumes, burning rubber, can it get any better than this?

I don’t think so.

I’ll be back lots with more thoughts as Speed Weeks gets under way. 

Whoever your favorite driver is, I wish him or her well this season.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

What Makes a Great NASCAR Driver?

Probably every fan of any driver has a different template as to what it takes to be a great driver in NASCAR.  Does it take a racing pedigree?  Does it take a famous father?  Does it just take a boat load of money?

Many drivers followed in their father’s footsteps to become racers.  Many guys, such as Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and others have been around race cars since they could crawl.  Climbing into a race car one day and going for the checkered flag was as natural for them as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were for most of the rest of us when we were kids.  When I was a kid, I was fortunate enough to live in a place, where besides the hated hours I spent inside a school classroom, I had the opportunity to walk in the woods, ride my bicycle, and my friends and I would play endless hours of football, baseball, or shoot hoops out on the driveway.  Video games were still in their infancy, and quite frankly, boring to most of us.

On Saturday afternoons, we would gather in the living room and watch college teams play their various sports.  We always looked forward to ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and once in a while, we saw snippets of NASCAR races from places like Darlington, Daytona, North Wilkesboro, or Riverside.  I was born in 1963, so those of you who are old enough remember what NASCAR coverage was like back in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s.  Quite frankly, there wasn’t a lot of it, even here in South Carolina.

I read the newspapers when I was a kid, and always looked forward to reading the sports page on Monday mornings to see who had won yesterdays race.  Many times, NASCAR events were covered on the evening news as well, but to me, NASCAR was a world away, a world that seemed like a great place, but one which I had never actually experienced.

Probably, most kids in North America grew up in similar environments back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.  I grew up in a distinctly middle class family, and my father went to work every morning, and my mom stayed at home and took care of the house, and, of course, the kids.  Many of my friends had mothers who worked full time, but that was probably the exception, rather than the rule in rural South Carolina in those days, especially for a white middle class kid like me.

As usual, I digress.  Many kids throughout the South, and indeed, all over the continent, grew up with a garage that did not contain the family car.  No, this garage housed a race car.  In some instances, this race car provided a target to throw money at with little in the way of return, at least financially.  Yet some homes had a garage with a race car sitting inside of it that generated the income which put the food on the table, and kept the lights on inside the house.

Such was the case in the humble Earnhardt home in Kannapolis, North Carolina back in the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Like many Piedmont area cities back then, the local cotton mill was king.  Virtually everyone in neighborhoods in many of these southern cities worked at the local mill.  Ralph Earnhardt worked in the mill, just like all his neighbors, but went racing nights and weekends.  Ralph got so good at racing that he eventually gave up his day job to race his cars and build cars for other racers full time.

Ralph had a son named Dale, and of course the rest is history.  But Dale was a race car driver’s kid, and many of his father’s races were run in places like Columbia, South Carolina, or Myrtle Beach, and his father not only drove the race cars, he had to haul them back and forth to the race tracks.  Dale went to as many races as he could, but obviously couldn’t go to all of them.  Ralph would arrive home in the wee hours many mornings while Dale was asleep.  Dale would rise early, while his parents and his brothers and sisters were still sleeping, and go out to the shop, just to look at the race car.  If the car was banged up, or covered with mud, he knew his dad probably hadn’t had a good night.  If the car was relatively clean, he knew his father had probably won last night’s race.

Many of today’s drivers could tell you similar stories.  Dale Earnhardt sacrificed marriages to race.  Will Dale Earnhardt ever be named father of the year by most of his kids?  Probably not, but that was Dale Earnhardt’s passion:  Racing.

When Dale Earnhardt finally made it to the big time, which of course means NASCAR, in 1979, he was broke, basically homeless.  A couple of years later, after winning Rookie of the Year in 1979 and winning his first Winston Cup Championship in 1980, he was rich beyond his wildest dreams.  Dale Earnhardt went on to win six more championships, and a total of 76 races, amassing fortunes that no one could spend in a lifetime or two.

It sounds like a cliche, but drivers who succeed in this sport are driven.  It’s not always how much talent you have, it’s how you use it.  It’s never so much what you’ve been given, but how you use it, and how much fire in the belly motivates you to get there.

Anybody can drive a car fast.  Heck, even I can do it.  But it’s what motivates you to get to the point that you can clothe yourself, feed your family, and keep a roof over your head that really matters.

Right now, I’m not doing so good in that arena, but I’ve got heroes like Dale Earnhardt to study and hopefully, I can follow his example.

I’m hungry, just like Dale Earnhardt was at one time.  I want to succeed.  I don’t want to simply survive, I want to win!  I think I now know exactly how if feels to be a wannabe NASCAR driver.  Losing is not an option.  I’m here to Win!

Your thoughts and opinions are always appreciated here.  If I don’t respond, don’t worry, I do read them all.  I read them and think about them too, as an added bonus!

As always, thank you for all of your support!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

NASCAR To Bring Back Spoilers to Sprint Cup?

One of the most intriguing stories that I’ve seen over the last few days is the possibility that NASCAR will remove the infamous wings from Sprint Cup cars as soon as this year.  Possibly, the spoilers could be back, but it is unknown whether this will only be for certain races or if the sanctioning body will remove the wings altogether in the future.

Personally, I find this news to be encouraging, and I believe that most of the drivers and teams would much rather deal with spoilers than wings on the rear of their race cars.  In the preseason promotion at Daytona International Speedway televised by SPEED TV yesterday, several drivers, when asked, seemed to be whole heartedly in favor of the return to spoilers.  Some of the drivers questioned included Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Many, if not most of the Cup teams have had a difficult time getting a handle on setting up the handling for the winged cars since their introduction at the beginning of the 2008 season.  Personally, I’ve felt that the wings have been a hindrance to NASCAR’s never ending quest for safety, not only for the drivers, but also the fans.

We all remember the scary rides that Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman took at Talladega last year.  In Newman’s case, his car did not hit the catch fence, but had his car flipped upside down closer to the wall, it would have been easy for his car to have landed high up on the fence.  In Carl Edward’s case, his car did disintegrate when it hit the fence, and though the fence kept most of the car out of the crowd, at least one fan was badly injured by pieces of flying sheet metal.

Cars landing in the fence are nothing new at Talladega or Daytona.  One has to wonder, however, if the wing, which provides such tremendous down force on a car moving in a forward direction, does not also provide a tremendous amount of lift when the car is going backwards?  Keeping the cars out of the grandstands has to be NASCAR’s primary concern at any track, and it seems to me that the wing is clearly counterproductive to that goal.

The word being circulated by those in the know about NASCAR’s consideration of bringing back the spoilers has been centered mostly on the competitive advantages rather than possible safety gains.  Which ever way you look at it, bringing back the spoiler will be in NASCAR’s best interests to provide a better product for its fans in 2010 and beyond.

Besides, I’ve always thought those wings look rather silly, and as petty as that opinion sounds, it’s also part of what has to be the ultimate goal for NASCAR, which is of course producing happy fans who feel they’ve gotten their moneys worth.  To me, the COT, as it was known, was ungainly compared to the pre COT car, which I consider a thing of beauty, if not a true work of art.  I own several die cast models of pre COT cars, but I’ve not really been motivated to spend money on any COT replicas, mostly because they just don’t have the eye appeal that many of their ancestors had.  Putting a spoiler back on the new car will make it look better, at least in my opinion.  Spending money on merchandise is a tradition for NASCAR loyalists, and has helped the sport explode in popularity over the last fifteen or twenty years.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A Few Random Thoughts About the 2010 NASCAR Season

After the 2009 season, what do you think of your favorite driver?  If he happened to be Jimmie Johnson, you probably couldn’t hope for a better season for 2010, except to wonder if JJ can keep the streak up for a fifth season.  If you happen to be a Jeff Gordon fan, what do you think about his chances of one upping his teammate and winning the fifth championship he’s been trying to win since 2001?

What about Mark Martin, the man who’s come so close but never been able to seal the deal?  What about Kyle Busch, the man who starts so strong, but finishes out of the running?

What about Dale Earnhardt Jr, the man who keeps falling short of the media’s expectations?  Will this be the year that Junior wins some races and seriously contends for that first Sprint Cup championship?

What do you think about the state of NASCAR in general?  Has Jimmie Johnson’s four consecutive championships turned fans off from the sport?  Has NASCAR become too predictable?  Can Brian France, Mike Helton and company find ways to put more posteriors in seats in 2010?  Can the TV networks recover from ratings losses experienced in 2009?  What do you think?  After all, your opinion is every bit, if not more valid than mine.  I’d love to hear from you!

I’m having mixed feelings about what has been probably been the hottest off season topic in NASCAR, and that, of course, is the addition of the feisty lady of IRL into NASCAR’s ranks, namely in Nationwide and ARCA for 2010.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about Danica Patrick.

Personally, I like Danica Patrick.  Of course, I’m a relatively healthy male in my mid 40’s, who appreciates not only a nice looking lady, but even more a woman who has the intestinal fortitude to drive some of the toughest rides around.  I think that Danica will be good for NASCAR, and personally, I’m hoping she sticks around for the long run.  I’d love to see Danica Patrick in Cup, eventually, because whether or not she succeeds as a stock car driver, she will have an impact on the sport.  Danica will keep the media and the fans buzzing, and that’s not a bad thing.  I’m hoping that Danica will take some of the heat off the never ending media blitz that seems to constantly surround her Nationwide team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.  I believe that Dale Jr. might be able to concentrate on his own job as a driver more if someone else was getting all the interviews for a change.

In this never ending experiment called television broadcasting of NASCAR events, what big changes, if any, will we see in 2010?  We already know of one big change at ESPN, with Dr. Jerry Punch being replaced as the play by play man in the booth by Ralph Sheheen, and for me, that’s a very positive move.  Jerry Punch’s abilities to develop stories and interviews in the garage and on pit road are legendary, and I feel that Jerry Punch will be much better utilized in that role than he has been in the booth.  Ralph, Dale Jarrett, and Andy Petree will be a strong team that will hopefully be able to convey the magic that is a NASCAR race to the viewers.

More than anything else, I hope 2010 is a safe year, not only for the drivers, but also the crews, the officials, and especially the fans.  Race weekends can be and should be celebrations, and I hope all of you who are reading this will attend at least one racing event this season, or at least have an opportunity to do so.  Going to a racing event weekend does not mean that fans have to get falling down drunk though.  Unfortunately, that is one of the stereotypes that often make the highlight reel on racing weekends, and I know you all know what I’m talking about.  A fan at Infineon jumps a fence and asks Matt Kenseth for an autograph under a red flag condition on the track.  A fan is escorted out of Talladega for throwing beer cans over the fence.  You get my drift.   Have fun, folks, but don’t do anything that’s going to embarrass your grandchildren when they’re watching ESPN 50 years from now!

The 2010 season is nearly upon us, and personally, I can’t wait!  I say that every year, but I’m really needing that dose of high octane, heart pounding moment when the engines fire up, and the cars go around the track.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Reality In the Year 2010

Reality obviously means a lot of different things to different people.  For some, reality means TV shows that show people competing against each other on a far away island, or trying to convince a panel of judges that they can sing or perform some other stage act.  Reality might also mean a serious health problem, lack of money to pay the rent or mortgage, or losing a job you thought would last a lifetime.

Reality in NASCAR can be just as difficult to define as it is in anyone’s normal, everyday life.  NASCAR drivers are measured by an infinite number of yard sticks, but most agree that the number of wins or championships a driver has achieved is usually concrete evidence of a driver’s ability, and his standing in the sport.

Reality also means that many drivers who have never won a major championship or many races in the sport’s elite series have also had a huge impact on the sport.  Take Mark Martin, for instance.  Mark has yet to win a Sprint Cup championship, but is one of the few members of the so called ‘old school’ class of drivers to whom many other drivers are compared.  Mark generally behaves as a gentleman both on and off the track, and that simply cannot be said about some other drivers, young or old. 

Take Morgan Shepherd.  Can you name a race that the man has won in NASCAR?  I can’t either.  Morgan, however, has made his mark in the world, and in life by helping people less fortunate than him.  If you want to know what a true living angel is, look no farther than Morgan Shepherd.

Kyle Petty has won a few Cup races, but Kyle will long be remembered for his efforts to help children at Victory Junction Gang Camp far longer than his driving ability will be remembered.   Kyle says he was inspired by his son, Adam, who died tragically at New Hampshire in 2000, but truth be told, I think Kyle has always had it in his heart, and to me, he’s one of NASCAR’s greatest people, ever.  Kyle has truly given back, not only to the sport he loves, but to people that could have never experienced such joy and fun, were it not for his kindness and generosity.  If NASCAR gave out an award for person of the decade, I would nominate Kyle Petty.

In other sports, I just heard today that two NBA players who play for the Washington Wizards drew guns on each other in the locker room on Christmas Eve, either before, during, or after a game.  We’re talking teammates here.  Such seems to be the culture of the National Basketball Association.  Can you imagine Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon squaring off with pistols in the garage at your favorite NASCAR venue?  Merry Christmas, NBA.  I have not watched an NBA game in well over a decade, and don’t plan to for several decades in the future.  The NBA just exemplifies why I think NASCAR is the greatest sport in the world.  NASCAR is about family and loyalty.  Normal, everyday family members don’t draw guns on each other over a gambling debt, or for any other reason for that matter.  If NASCAR is like “Leave it to Beaver,” and the NBA is like “The Sopranos,”  I’ll take the happy family any day.  Am I old fashioned?  Why, yes I am, and pretty proud of it. 

There’s enough drama in life and on CNN and MSNBC without having to hear about pistol standoffs on ESPN.  Through my own super secret methods of readership demographics analysis, I’ve determined that most of you would consider me an to be an old guy anyway.  I don’t mind.  Everyone has that older uncle or friend of the family that nobody likes to talk about!  If that’s my niche in your life, then so be it!

2010 not only is a new year, but also a new decade.  NASCAR will go on, and just next month the show will get cranked up again at Daytona.  It feels so good to say ‘next month’ and not ‘next year.’  I, like most loyal NASCAR fans sometimes start to get bored near the end of the season when it looks inevitable who will win the Cup.  For four years in a row, Jimmie Johnson has been NASCAR’s champion, and he has deserved it.  But it does get old after a while, unless you’re a huge JJ fan.  Should Jimmie Johnson win the whole shebang in 2010, I’ll give him and the 48 team kudos yet again, because it will be again well deserved.

Personally, I hope we see a dark horse, a long shot, in other words suddenly shoot to the top of the charts in Sprint Cup.  It’s not that I don’t wish a record breaking (again) 5th consecutive championship, because Jimmie and crew are pretty likable guys, it’s just because I think it’s time for NASCAR nation to get excited again.  For whatever reasons, Jimmie just doesn’t create the excitement that 4 consecutive championships deserve.  NASCAR is a fan driven sport, and if the fans aren’t excited, then the sport needs something different.  It’s just that simple.  NASCAR needs some new heroes, and I doubt that Jimmie Johnson could slay a dragon or catch a bullet with his teeth and fit that description for most fans.  Jimmie Johnson is a genuinely nice guy who just doesn’t attract a ton of attention.

On another note, but one that is pertinent to the subject of reality, don’t look to your sports heroes or to so called reality TV for a dose of what the media calls ‘reality.’  Reality is everywhere.  You don’t have to travel far to get a big heaping dose of it, actually.  I haven’t written much here lately, in part because I’ve been spending a lot of time in a hospital, trying to help care for an ailing family member.  Many of you who read this know how this is, and for those of you who don’t, unfortunately you probably will one day.

A local sports talk show host has a son who has been in and out of hospitals and treatment centers for much of the last couple of years.  As I understand it, the boy is only in his teens, and never has really had a chance to have a life, because he’s been hit so hard by a disease neither he nor his father had ever heard of, until it hit this boy.  Recently on the host’s show, he remarked that he didn’t think much of reality TV shows.  His comment was along the lines of this:  “If you want reality, go spend some time in a hospital.”

I was struck by that comment, and now I indeed know it’s true.  I’ve spent a lot of hours this past week seeing what happens even in a small town hospital.  Battles between life and death are literally being waged not only daily, but hourly.  That, my friends, is reality.

By all means, please, please support your favorite NASCAR drivers and other sports heroes, whether they be football, baseball, or even, yes, the NBA.  Do your part in supporting your teams.  Support your favorite athletes or teams with all you heart, but remember to do one other thing, if not for me, then for yourself.

Support those who have helped you be who you are, whether it be family, friends, a mentor, a pastor, or whomever. 

Help them when you can, because sooner or later, everyone will need some help.

That’s reality, my friends.