by richard teague tinynascars@yahoo.com
It’s that time again and, like I’ve done for the past few years, I’ll speak out about how I do not like the Chase format in NASCAR. I know there ain’t nothing me or you can do about it, and honestly we’ll just have to live with it, but gee whiz, I hate it! Brian France likens it to the major sports such as MLB and the NFL, but how in the world can he do that? The other sports play a FULL season and then come the playoffs and a championship series. Where is the relationship? This year NASCAR raised the number of chasers to twelve, only because certain drivers who are popular didn’t make it in 2006, so whatcha goin’ to do next year Brian? I know, make it 15 spots in 2008, but I don’t think that would help at all for you-know-who.
Now, I sat there Saturday night to watch the Rock n Roll at Richmond, not because Junior was trying to make the Chase but because I love Richmond at night with all the shiny racecars. It is even better than Bristol. So what if it was the last shot that some guys had to make the playoff, it’s just a great race track with tons of NASCAR history. Y’all probably know by now that I put tracks into three groups, but Richmond is the odd man out when it comes to this grouping. Just to refresh your memory, there are the big tracks that are 2 or more miles (and not all are super speedways either, I save that elite classification for only high bankers). In the second class are the milers, which are what I call “bathtub tracks,” an obvious naming. Then, in the third class of tracks are the toilet bowl tracks (another easily recognizable name), which are the two smallest.
Richmond falls into a group by itself because of its three-quarter mile length, which can give fans some of the best racing in NASCAR. Drivers get that little bit of extra front and back stretch so the pedal goes to the metal, even if only for a short time, to allow those guys to make moves on other drivers that you don’t get to see anywhere else. Not often does a driver who started way back in the field move up to the top ten to finish, unless he’s a big-time guy. On Saturday, not one, but two non-coms managed to do it: Johnny Sauter and J.J. Yeley.
Sauter went from a 35th place start to a FIFTH place finish, while Yeley started one back further at 36th and finished 10th. These two guys also did it in the Car of Tomorrow, which, by the way, I am beginning to warm up to since I ain’t got no choice in the matter. Anyway, only at RIR will there be racing like we were treated to Saturday, and since ISC owns the track, I bet it’s race dates will never be moved or traded, just like Bristol’s won’t. When France can put a hundred and twelve thousand fans in one place selling out for so many races, it ain’t never cutting back. He is probably thinking how he can add another 100,000 seats so the ISC coffers can get bigger.
Last week, I said that Dale Earnhardt Jr. wouldn’t make the Chase, but that was pretty much already known by all. It was just a hope and a prayer for some fans, and I really think that Junior knew it, too. It seems that fans are talking about how DEI has given the #8 car nothing but second rate stuff so that Junior would look bad, but I can’t see it that way, and really, can anyone truly believe that? Hey people, s**t happens and motors blow, as you can see from Roush Racing some time back. Saying that DEI is the bad guy here is like saying Junior isn’t driving up to his ability, and that would be another falsehood. Yes, the #8 team might be the black sheep (or short timers, as a better term), but the looking glass those people are under now would keep them from treating each other in a negative way.
Dale just had a weird season, and as I said, he has done a great job with all the things pilling on him. I saw in his interview after his motor blowed (I know blew or blown would be a better word, but I like to write so that my friends can understand, ya’ know?). Now he can do like Tony did last year and win some races, since the pressure is off. I will make a prediction that Junior will win two out of the next ten, just out of spite, and of course a couple of bucks. I did wonder what Kevin Harvick was thinking when he saw Earnhardt running way up front. He’s sitting there watching that stream of steam shoot out from under the hood of #29. Also, when Kurt Busch got damaged, was he thinking about his spot slipping away? There’s that dang word again, and since it has to be used in every single blooming article these days, I’ll say it once: drama.
Well it looks like Richard Childress’ “can’t we just get along” routine came up good for him and AT&T with the logo back on the #31 car. Man, I was excited to see that for Jeff Burton, Childress and RCR, but it cost them all. The big world is back on the hood for the next ten races, but for every good thing there seems to be a bad thing that comes along with it. NASCAR isn’t any exception. The way I understand it is that NASCAR and Sprint (since there ain’t no Nextel anymore) let the logo back with a condition that AT&T has to leave the Cup after 2008. So Richard has got a reprieve and can find a new sponsor for Jeff, which is SO LAME of Sprint and Brian France, but count your blessings RCR, it could have been much worse. The real losers on this deal are the lawyers that didn’t get the big bucks to go to court!
So General Motors wants to get Tony Stewart back in a Chevy just as soon as his contract is up with Joe Gibbs Racing. Just how do they intend to do that? You thought this thing with Junior was something, you just wait until a manufacturer tries to get a driver away from a team owner and signed to different team. Has GM absolutely lost their marbles on this one, or are we seeing the future with contracts between drivers, owners and car makers? How about the France family having race teams on the track? Now, just where this will go is a tough question that I don’t have an answer for...YET. I’m still sick that Gibbs is going over, but I do hope they will be happy and perform well enough so Toyota will bump the ante to get other teams to do the same.
What will be the acronym if Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises merge with the #43 and #45 cars next year, or even this year? How about a couple of suggestions? Don’t be scared, email me a few y’all come up with. You need to keep in mind that the G has to be first since he is the one with the money. GEEP, GPEEM, or perhaps GEME but I think this would be more apropos: GGSTTOREMARPEBHGTBB. Let me break that down for y’all. George Gillett Subsidizing The Teams Of Ray Evernham Motorsports And Richard Petty Enterprises Because He’s Got The Big Bucks. Rolls right off your tongue, don’t it? You talk about the end of an era? Well Bubbas and Bubba-ettes, you are looking right at it.
That’s enough from me this week, so let me hear from y’all at tinynascars@yahoo.com, and you really should know, If it ain’t NSACAR, It ain’t s**t!!
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