by richard teague tinynascars@yahoo.com
Yes Melinda, one more race. If y’all don’t know who Melinda is I’ll tell you again. She is my favorite reader in that she has been keeping me straight since I started this column last year and by the way is a huge Jeff Gordon fan. I once thought that I was a big fan of his but this lady puts me to shame when it comes to OUR boy. She will email me from time to time and let me know what is on her mind and I tell ya, she don’t hold nothing back when it comes to NASCAR and how this sport has been heading to another level. A level which she and I don’t like…along with a few other fans. Today I received one of those emails from her and I never know what I have done wrong until I open it, and so this week, to start off with, I’ll answer it here and share it with y’all.
It started simply, “Unfortunately we are getting down to the last race of the season,” and one might think that she is unhappy about the season being over, but that’s not it. Melinda is referring to “your boy” meaning Jimmie Johnson winning the Championship and that doesn’t sit well with her. I bet she is not the only one, but gee whiz people, somebody has to win and so far it seems there ain’t a one been able to stay on top. She still hopes for, as she puts it, “a miracle” that Kenseth or Harvick will win, but just as long as Johnson drives smart and stays out of harm’s way, he should be the next Nextel (previously Winston) Cup Champion. Melinda, Melinda, Melinda, why are you so down on my boy Jimmie?
Now I know you have told me before why he’s not one of your favorites but come on girl, give the guy a break and let him finally win it just once. I mean after all, isn’t our main guy co-owner of the car he’s driving? Tell me the truth, would you really feel that bad if Jimmie did win one for himself and Jeff? You know, there is still one more race and in this season of stranger than fiction, silliness and goofy driving. You may have a miracle and then I would feel really bad for Jimmie. I know I didn’t pick him to win the Cup. And yes I did pick Harvick. It’s that ole reverse psychology I used this year in hopes that he would win, and now that I said that, you watch, he’ll loose. Bummer if I have jinxed him and Kevin did win, or one of the other top five, just so long it isn’t Matt Kenseth, he has won it already.
Well I’m going to shut up for now and wait for next Sunday afternoon and be happy for the guy that does win. If it isn’t Johnson, I’ll just say, like so many fans say when their driver ain’t a winner, wait until next week (in this case next year). I sure hope it doesn’t come to that. Now my friend John and I are planning to pig it out one more time this season and watch the Homestead race. Since Kasey isn’t even close he won’t be too thrilled to watch, but maybe I can get him to cheer for Jimmie a little bit. I think he is a Kevin Harvick fan but won’t tell anybody and I know he’s not a Johnson fan even if he wins it. Now if Bill Elliott was chasing, John would be face first in front of the TV.
Melinda goes on to casually mention Gordon’s marriage and how he probably had a big time pre-nup signed, but I did detect a tad bit of jealousy there so I won’t dwell on that part. What has really got her up and running is how the other driver she likes, Tony Stewart, has been racing during the Chase and how she feels about a ten race rip-off - I mean playoff. I have got to quote her word for word here which echoes many fans thoughts about the Chase. She states, “That stupid Chase has altered the face of racing forever thanks to old Baby Brian. Someone needs to drop kick that little twit. What I find really sad is that a driver can do so well toward the end of the year, like Tony has done, and the highest that he can finish is 11th although in the old points system he may have finished much higher.”
Wow, does that say it all about the Chase or what? Not only could he have “finished much higher” he might have won it for a second straight year. Man I love phrases like “Baby Brian” and “drop kick” but I think my favorite is “little twit”, they don’t get no better than that. Dad burn it all I wish I had used them instead of some of the ones I have put in print about Mr. Brian “Crash Your Car Into A Tree And The Police Visit You At Home” France. I’m not going to go there for now. Perhaps in the future I’ll talk about “B B” spilling a soda in his fancy foreign car, hey a Lexus is a nice car, I wonder when they will enter NASCAR. Well maybe just a few words about it won’t hurt, ya think? NASCAR said that Mr. France, “cooperated fully with the Daytona Beach Police Department” and that he will be available for further interrogations if deemed necessary by police. Supposedly he spilled a Coke while turning into his condo which caused him to become distracted from his driving, which I guess could happen to any of us, right? Hmmm, let’s wait and see what happens - nothing!
I have just shared a few of Melinda’s thoughts, but like I’ve said, she speaks of things that are really on the minds of many real NASCAR fans that have emailed me (and others that post on talk boards around the Internet these days). Everything has changed in racing over the past few years since you-know-who took over. Seems to be he’s not only changing NASCAR, but the fans too, and neither is for the betterment of the sport. I agree with her and I know many others do too but the real problem is, “can anything be done about it?” or are we going to have to change with the sport? I think it is sad that these changes and adjustments will possibly hurt racing more than help it. I hope that soon NASCAR will realize this and maybe go back to what made us love this sport and the form of entertainment that we have enjoyed for so many years.
Yes indeed there is just one more race for this season and the words “wait til next year” really have a new meaning for racing, the cars, the teams and mostly the fans. Will there be the quality of fans or racers left next season or the year after when the COT and more changes come into play? Like Melinda and myself, will you still be cheering for your driver and watching it on the tube or just read an occasional article about what happened over the past couple of weeks? Can you also keep spending your money on the things that help NASCAR, like all the goodies of your driver or going to a race? Will you shop at Lowe’s or Home Depot because Jimmie and Tony are battling it out for the championship? I know I have my doubts, just as my star reader does, but I have got to give it one more season and perhaps it will turn for the better by this time next year.
Alright, Melinda and me are done for this week, and you know how to contact me at tinynascars@yahoo.com. If you want to contact Melinda you can do it at... yea right girl I’m going to tell them your address. Tell you what I’ll do, you send them to me and I’ll forward them to her, but only if you’re nice and I think she will approve of them. By the way, remember the new Nought Nought Seven starts this weekend and I’m sure ready to see how a new Bond, James Bond, because there ain’t been a real one since Sean. Well maybe that last one was OK but we know a real James Bond, don’t we, and we should know by now that, if it ain’t NASCAR, it ain’t s**t!!
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