He sounds like a typical "Elitist" and your right Johnny his world (container)is the only place there is anything of importance. The rest of the country is just fly over territory. But heres the good news, fly over territory is where the best parts of Americaare.
I believe he's good enough to continue the legacy at RCR. I first noticed Harvick when he was driving a blue (#2 I think) AC Delco Nationwide Chevy at Texas Motor Speedway for RCR. I remember thinking then that this kid looked really good and even commented to my son that we would be hearing a lot more about this young driver in the future. I don't remember the exact date, but we were in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the races that weekend (I think '99 or '00) and I believe it was the same weekend when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got his first Cup win. Obviously, lots of things have happened in the world of NASCAR racing since that weekend, but I believe Kevin Harvick has represented himself well & has represented Richard Childress Racing well since he was so suddenly thrust into one of the most famous seats in the history of NASCAR racing. I also believe that this year is a great example of what is so bad about the joke they call the "Chase". If not for the Chase format, I think Kevin Harvick would be running away with the championship this year............as he should be. As I have said many times before, the championship should be representative of the best season-long performances on the tracks............not whoever does best in a 10-race runoff at the end of the season. That just isn't right. As Jeff (or maybe someone else) once said, the old rules, the old format, the old cars, etc. were all working just fine before Sir Brian & his henchmen started screwing around with a sport that wasn't broken. Now we have the COT, the "Chase", the "lucky dog", the top 35 and many other brilliant brainstorms that, in my opinion, are ruining the sport. I believe these things have a lot to do with the declining attendance & declining TV ratings. I didn't intend to go off on a tangent, but I do believe that, under the old format, Harvick would most likely be the Cup champion this year. I believe that, under the old format, Jeff Gordon would probably have one more championship.........and does anyone remember the year Ryan Newman had 9 Cup wins? Harvick is doing well, and although he is not likely to get the Cup championship this year, I certainly think he will be a strong contender to do so in future years............unless NASCAR's masterminds figure out a new way to screw him out of one.
Here is one for all of the conspiracy theory persons. Dennis, your key word here is identical. Just becuase they are all alike doesn't mean they are all the same. Hummmmmmm...................
In the Epilogue of the book "Bobby Isaac - What Speed Looks Like" by Steve Lehto it states plainly that the first race that a restrictor plate was mandated was at Michigan in 1970. This agrees with info. posted by PattyKay.
This would have been the Yankee 400 since it was the race just before the Talladega 500 in Aug. of 1970. Just as Pete said.
I have reread the chapter in the book where it talked about the first mandated restrictor plate race and have come to the conclusion that while the information was included in the section about the Aug. 1970 Talladega 500 it must have been stating that it was the first race at Talladega for the plate. The previous paragraph talked about the race at MIS and made no statement on the restrictor plate. When the next paragraph recorded the Talladega 500 and talked about the first use of the plate then I assumed that it was the first time at any track. Now we all know what assuming does but this time it did it to just me.
Dennis, I'm enjoying this discussion too. I was at the 1970 Yankee 400 at Michigan and I also found an article from a old MIS racing program about the race. The qualifying speeds were off by about 5 mph and 1.2 seconds per lap from previous races at MIS. There was a carb restrictor plate mandated and the man who came up with the idea Paul Goldsmith was the crew chief on Charlie's car that day. It was basically a 2 car race between Cale Yarborough (Wood Bros. Mercury) and Glotzbach's Dodge Daytona. Cale blew an engine at the end and the race finished under caution. According to Joe Frasson, the top teams were able to make the equipment change but he had to dig deep down in his pocket at a cost of about $600 to make the change. The independents were really hurt by the plate and Frasson said Nascar was up to their old tricks of stepping on the independents.
Also for this race, Nascar mandated the drivers side window be protected by window netting for the first time.
