Yes fans, you are correct; we were just here on Friday, but this is a "special end-of-the-year edition." When last we met, it was for 48 hours of discussion over what some deemed the war to end all wars, but I viewed as a minor skirmish with nary an injury as a result. In the end, no one was suspended, hung or shot and we moved forward to Homestead where a Championship hung in the balance.
Before you ask, no, I did not soak myself in all those hours of pre-race hype. I know it's the last race of the season and it doesn't take four or five hours to explain that to me. If you enjoy that sort of thing, today was your chance to wallow in it. I did tell the NFL to take a hike for the day and watched the whole race, sans commercials, which in my parlance are known as pit stops... kitchen, bathroom or dog out, makes no difference; I am not here and not watching.
The race itself left some to be desired, but happily, on about the fourth try, someone made Homestead into a fair to middling track on which to race. Those that remember her in early days know exactly what I mean. Indianapolis should never be cloned, especially in a mile shorter version. It was ghastly, to put it mildly. Today, they were able to fan out and pass one another on occasion. Homestead doesn't offer the 5-wide of Michigan, but it's not as tight as Chicago or Kansas... sort of a happy medium.
But really... who cares? Let's cut to the chase and the results, which is what kept me watching while my Fantasy Football team fell further into a world of shame. There was a Cup Championship on the line today, which I'm pretty sure you already know. For me, and I think for a lot of us, that was what mattered. Sure, someone had to win the race, but it was that Championship on everyone's mind... and especially the minds of the drivers and crews of the #2 and the #48. The boys in the booth tried to keep it exciting, explaining after every round of pit stops how this or that could happen to influence the outcome until one was reminded of that old adage about how if the dog hadn't stopped to... well, you remember... he'd have caught the rabbit.
The race got a bit more interesting when the #2 crew had a slow pit stop and Brad had to restart in 15th while Jimmie, the enemy in the #48 was in first at the restart. That too would change when another round of pit stops caught the #48 with a loose lug nut. Oops! That hurts. Come back and get it tightened. Oh, but that didn't hurt nearly as much as when the car pulled slowly into pit road just a bit later, filled with smoke. A trip to the garage proved fatal for the hopes of the Lowes gang and after fulfilling the prescribed distance, the 2012 Sprint Cup Champion is Brad Keselowski.
Last week, and most weeks throughout the year, I try to be very good about not showing my heart and my favorites in my columns. No one comes to hear who I'm pulling for or why. They come to read what's going on from a fan's point of view... all of the fans, not just one. Today, the season is over and I can openly say that I am ecstatic that Brad Keselowski is our new Champion. I've watched his Dad race through many years of ARCA and later the Craftsman Trucks... yeah, I know, but it was Craftsman when Bob raced there.
And with this victory, what a glorious day this turned out to be for so many people. Yes, it was Brad's first Cup Championship, and a glowing Dad was in Victory Lane with him. Also there was the Captain, Roger Penske, team owner of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, finally enjoying his very first Cup Championship in NASCAR. Rusty Wallace, ESPN announcer now, but retired pilot of that #2 Miller Lite Blue Deuce was also there to enjoy the coup he never could quite accomplish for friend Roger, and Rick Hendrick, owner of the Jimmie Johnson piloted #48 was there as well, passing out handshakes and hugs to friends and competitors on the winning team. It was all good, and I was happy!
But wait! Rewinding to the end of the race, look who won! That would be the guy that many of you thought shouldn't even run the race today because of a temper tantrum last week. There were no such problems this week, and when the #18 and the #56 had to pit for gas before the end, the lead was handed to Jeff Gordon in the Hendrick Motorsports #24. And it only gets better! Remember the other car in the skirmish with the #24 last week? That would be Clint Bowyer in the MWR Racing #15. He would be the one several of you told me wouldn't have had a chance at that Championship no matter what. Would you like salt with your crow gentle readers? With Johnson's failure to finish, it is Clint Bowyer in second place, one seat removed from Keselowski at the head table come banquet time.
Surely you've read somewhere this week that it's been 20 years since that race to end all races, when Alan Kulwicki won the Winston Cup as an independent owner. I have long described that single race as a defining moment in NASCAR. My dear readers, it's quite possible that twenty years removed, we might well have seen another defining moment today. There was a definite passing of the torch, from a 5-time Champion to a fresh-faced youngster... from the Midwest, like Kulwicki, whose name begins with K, like Kulwicki and whose crew chief's name is Paul... again, like Kulwicki. Mindful of what happened to Alan Kulwicki, I won't pursue that train of thought further, but the similarity is there and hard to miss.
Another note that has to be acknowledged as this season grinds to a close is the news from the Camping World Truck Series delivered in person by Chairman Brian France on Friday. Gentle readers, I heard words and places in that statement that I thought had been erased from the vocabulary of NASCAR... Eldora, Greenville-Pickens, Myrtle Beach... and a road course in Canada! Taken along with having given the ax to the top-35 guarantee in the Cup series and shortening to three the number of races dependent upon last year's points, Mr. France Sir, I have to salute you. It seems you are on the right track. We still need to talk about the Chase, but we're getting there. Listen to your fans Sir. They are the ones that fill the seats, either at the track or in front of a television. Where they sit has a direct bearing on the sport, and if they are sitting watching football, it does nothing for stock car racing or NASCAR.
I am one of NASCAR's oldest fans, in every sense of the word. If you made me happy this weekend, you have accomplished something, because I guarantee you, there are many more of "me" out here, with different names and different faces, but fans all the same. We want to come back, but we want to feel welcome. The olive branches offered this weekend can be a marvelous start. What say you and I sit back and hear what my gentle readers have to say about this past season as a whole and about this weekend in particular? I think we both might be in for a pleasant surprise.
Well, there you go my gentle readers. Mr. France has proven that he is indeed listening to what we have to say. On the Truck schedule, I must warn everyone that these changes are trial balloons. If we do not support the new venues in large numbers, then we have only ourselves to blame. On the other hand, if the draw for a truck race increases measurably, we well might see the same changes in the other two series... all for the better. Don't hold back. It's the off-season now. Tell Mr. France what's on your mind; what will bring you back to being the happy fan you used to be. Please, as always, be respectful in your comments. That is most important.
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay
Email: nas3car@gmail.com
Twitter: @MamaPKL
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