2. I missed most of the race Sunday while celebrating Ann’s birthday, not that I would have sat and watched all of a race from New Hampshire anyway as I absolutely detest that track. Partly because of the track I detest most of New Hampshire. As far as I’m concerned, they should still be paying taxes on their British tea and stopping in the afternoon to have a cup with a crumpet or two. I did catch the last 50 laps, however. As the race was ending, ESPN apologized for some “very offensive language” at the beginning of the broadcast and even though the camera was on the KYLE Busch car at the time, Ann thinks the announcer said it was KURT Busch who made the offensive remarks. Regardless of which Busch it was, it was still another indication that the Busch parents never understood what parenting is all about. They can find solace in their sons’ success on the race tracks because as parents, they are among the biggest failures in parenting. Lizzy Borden’s parents may have had an edge in that battle, but they aren’t around for me to AXE them. I would love to know what the very offensive language involved and which one of the Busch delinquents said it. Just for personal satisfaction purposes.
The race at New Hampshire was another of the fuel mileage deals which seems, in some ways, to rob the fans of a good close finish as was shaping up between Bowyer and Stewart, but such situations have been happening in NASCAR racing since it began and will continue. I don’t like such finishes, most fans don’t, and the crew chiefs that come out on the losing end of such gambles certainly don’t like them. It was almost poetic justice that Bowyer ran dry this year and Stewart won when last year it was reversed. It does become irritating to me, however, when for the fifty laps I watched the announcers were guessing that so-and-so could make it while the other couldn’t, or #000 was 3 laps short while #555 was 2 laps to the good but would have problems if there was a green-white-checker finish. Oh I know they get their information from monitoring the crew to driver radio transmissions but it still gets old hearing the guessing over and over through 50 full laps. As someone said on the Forum posts this past week, why not increase the fuel cell capacity back to 22 gallons where it was before the geniuses in Daytona decided 18 gallons would work better, requiring more pit stops to break up the packs that were causing the big ones at Daytona and Talladega which have been replaced by the two car push/pulls which are now being replaced by God knows what as, once again, the mastermind rules makers are increasing the restrictor plate size, messing with the cooling system popoff valves and making other rules before the upcoming Talladega race to prevent a car from going into the stands.
While I would not want a car in the stands, nor any fan injured in any way at any race track, and believe me, I speak with deep personal conviction on that score, I need someone with an engineering degree to help me here. How much more likely is a car to go into the stands running 200 mph than one running 195? Without the help of Duck Boy launching one, how likely is it that a car will actually make it through that catch fence running 200 or even 210. Someone told me once that when he got the car over 170 at Talladega, 200 didn’t seem that much faster. So, as for the Talladega race coming up next month we don’t know if we’re going to have two car breakaways, huge packs running nose to tail and side by side, or just a few cars able to break away and form a distinctive pack to run away from the field. But then there is the fuel mileage issue! And that is a big issue.
I read several of the stock car racing sites each day, along with keeping up with where it REALLY is, here on Racers Reunion, and I think every site has experienced heavy fan feedback about the fuel mileage outcomes. Even the ESPN site AND the NASCAR.com site were asking fans their opinion of the fuel mileage races. As I said, I don’t particularly like them to end that way, but it is a part of racing and it is a part of the strategy the crew chiefs have to figure out, win or lose. All in all, it’s not a bad thing. Some crew chiefs get a chance to shine while others are embarrassed by their failure to properly calculate the fuel consumption. But hey, I’ve run out of gas three times in my driving life in vehicles WITH fuel gauges instead of pressure gauges so it happens. I would say it happens to the best of us, but I see at least two people on the chat line who would jump all over the use of “best” in that statement in a heartbeat so I’ll let that go.
Changing gears for a minute, I want to say something about a particular announcer on the ESPN television coverage of Cup races. No, no, I’m not going to say bad things about D.W. because, thankfully, mercifully, he is not involved with the ESPN broadcast. I want to compliment Dale Jarrett for the job he does behind the mic. Like his Dad, Dale was a good driver and a winning driver. Now, like his Dad, he is making a name for himself behind the mic. He makes constructive comments with knowledge he has earned, and is not overbearing with his personal opinions or observations. He watches what is unfolding on the track and make insightful remarks without the inference that his opinion is the ONLY possible correct observation of the race. I have always respected and appreciated Ned Jarrett and I have developed a healthy respect for the job Dale does behind the mic. I will temper that judgment however my stating that if Dale chooses to pair himself with an antimated rodent in future broadcasts, he and I may have to engage in a serious discussion. Lord help us! One such abomination in the announcers’ booth is one too many already. I won’t mention Larry Mac, this time. I hope he is out pumping some of that “Sunoco Racing Fuel” in his Toyota Camry for his ride home on some of those Goodyear tires while he drinks his coke and holds the bottle out the window just right to be seen by passersby.
So,it’s on to Dover this weekend. Third race of the Chase. A chance for Tony to win the first three races in The Chase, or, as alternatively, known, the NASCAR short season. The talking heads are already spouting the lament that the driver in the lead AFTER the first two races in all the previous Chase Seasons has not won the Cup. Ever heard of precedence? Ever heard of it could happen? I really wish such soothsayers would acknowledge there is a first time for everything, such as someone winning five consecutive Cups. If they want to talk statistics, try to come up with something that makes sense instead of something that is based on the historic happenings in the convoluted world of a Ten race season that decides a champion.
It has been said, much more eloquently than I can say, that “it is what it is”. We are stuck with it, like it or not. I may not like it, but I do enjoy racing much more than any other sport. I will, when time and circumstances permit, watch the races even when they suck as bad as New Hampshire. Oh, and as for the new rule for Talladega that there is to be no lubricant on the rear ends of the cars, if I were NASCAR, I would watch Tony Stewart carefully when he’s leaning against the back of the number 14 eating one of those Whoppers. A couple of swipes across the rear bumper should grease that baby up for a good half the race easy.
