Thirdly, there are TWO drivers tied for the points lead, Kevin “Happy” Harvick and Carl “duck boy” Edwards. TWO drivers are tied for third place, Tony “Smoke” Stewart and Kurt “I never shop at Lowes” Busch. Jimmie Johnson sits alone in fifth, only 13 points out of first place. Sixth is a tie between Brad “I saw the Miller Lite”Kesolowski and Matt “the great guy” Kennseth. Kyle “Candy Man” Busch is 8th, Jeff “Flash” Gordon is 9th, and Dale “Oh God let him win a race” is 10th. This is shaping up to be a fine race to the Cup and I, for one, am happy to see something working in NASCAR’s favor. With all the College and NFL football grabbing all the sports pages and television sports news, NASCAR needs something to stir some publicity and the tight battle should be doing almost as well at that as the Busch brats misbehaving as they are so prone to do.
Now, time for me to tell you what really is getting to me watching the race telecasts. How many times was it said Sunday “if the race ended right now, points positions would be……” fill in the blanks there. I tuned out after about 180 laps mostly because my youngest grandson was vying for Pop’s time and because if I heard Alan Bestwick or any one else use that sentence one more time, I may have started severe convulsions. There is a saying that comes to mind that fits that bunch of idle chatter to a “T” and that is: “If a toady frog (YOU KNOW ABOUT THOSE DON’T YOU PATTYKAY AND SLIM SHADY) had wings, it wouldn’t bump its butt when it hops”. I frankly do not care who would have the points lead after 50, 100, or 200 laps of the race. I only care about the positions at the end of the race. That is when the points are awarded and that is the ONLY time such a comment is valid. I have a good friend who is not the world’s greatest conversationalist, but when he speaks it is usually worth listening. He chastises me quite often about making him repeat himself (or in D.W. language “hisself”) and even more severely chastises me for repeating myself. Maybe that is part of my aversion to this insipid repetition of the broadcasters about “if the race ended now”. IF NASCAR would make Jimmie Johnson run with flat tires, he could not win number Six. IF Carl Edwards had never taken his mother’s advice and had 2,000 business cards printed up to hand out to anyone who would take one, chances are he would not be running for the Title. Stop it with the “Ifs” please. Or, if that doesn’t suit you, get me started on my personal “Ifs” and see what you hear. That could get to be very funny.
As to The Chase, I think I’ve made it clear how I feel about that. But, as I stated last week, when all is said and done and the victory burn out tire smoke has settled, as much as I complain, I still am very happy to see NASCAR getting some mileage out of this revamped points awarding and Chase Format. We still have seven races to go and Talladega, as usual, will probably play a big part in points positions but it will also attract a lot of attention because I am anticipating a very close top 8 or 9 positions going into that event and that race could cause a massive shakeup. I look for Jeff Gordon to make a huge move up in the points there. Kevin Harvick should have a field day there as well. But we shall see.
Ok, shifting gears, let’s talk for a second about last week’s show. During that show, Jeff created a club for our own Cody Dinsmore, which I was reluctantly forced to join immediately (ONLY KIDDING FOLKS). Seriously, I gladly joined as soon Jeff put up the club. Many nights, off air, I compliment Cody on a job well done, as do all the others on the show. That’s the part you folks don’t hear. The chat board also is so very complimentary for each of Cody’s segments, and very rightly so. But joining his club and reading a couple of the comments really impacted me with the great fortune that Racers Reunion has in having Cody as not only a very active member, but also as a contributor each week with his Georgia Racing History. I am fortunate to know Cody personally and to have visited him at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. To watch this young man in action as he shows you around that Hall of Fame with such pride as if it is HIS personal domain is a treat for any race fan. You know, come to think of it, that Hall of Fame IS his personal domain. This is not meant to be a tribute to Cody segment but it bears mention that we have a 15 year old individual who knows racing history as well as any historian I’ve encountered, can share it with his writing and delivery in such a way as to make you think you’re actually witnessing the event personally. That is a rare talent and one with which Cody Dinsmore has been blessed in abundance. Racers Reunion, Racin’ Through History, and any one who has Cody as a friend is blessed as well to be able to share in the development of someone destined to a great future in racing in whatever venue he chooses.
It is good to know that we have someone young, like Cody, who will be around for years to keep the history and heritage of the sport alive for those who believe the sport started in 1979 when CBS televised the Daytona 500 which ended with more excitement that fast cars. It is good to know that the Georgia Mountains that spawned stock car racing (at least according to Cody) from the moonshine runners competing with their cars have also spawned a young man dedicated to a preservation of that part of history some would as soon forget.
Ok, so let’s wrap up another Legendtorial. The season is winding down, the holidays will soon be upon us. We have much ahead of us. But let us never forget that we have much behind us historically that must remain presented in such ways as the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame seeks to do. I will be there Friday night, October 21st for the induction ceremony for this year. I’m looking forward to that if, for no other reason, I will get a chance to inform Cody that there IS racing history around in other places than Georgia!!!!! This Saturday I will be in Gastonia, NC at Charlie Craig’s event to benefit cancer research. That is an event well worth the time to support. Anyone within a few hours drive should join me. This will be my first time, but from all I’ve heard, it will be awesome. Hope to see some of you there.
You know, being a part of Racers Reunion is a good thing for someone who loves the sport as I do. Get to hang with some really great folks.
