A Voice for the Fans ~ Getting Started, Word Games and Playoffs
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My dear gentle readers, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you,
if you are not already aware, of the passing of one of our own here at Race
Fans Forever. My partner, Jim Fitzgerald, lost his Dad last week. Our regular
readers will recognize his name as a regular on all the comment boards as well
as a member of our “Fast Forward” gang.
“Alabama Fitz”, as he was called to distinguish between James Fitzgerald Sr. and Jr., which is Jim, was a close friend of mine, and all the rest of the good folks that call Race Fans Forever “Home.” Please, take a moment to say a prayer as comfort for Jim and the entire Fitzgerald family. Thank you so much for your prayers and warm thoughts, which are appreciated more than you could know.
~PattyKay
“Alabama Fitz”, as he was called to distinguish between James Fitzgerald Sr. and Jr., which is Jim, was a close friend of mine, and all the rest of the good folks that call Race Fans Forever “Home.” Please, take a moment to say a prayer as comfort for Jim and the entire Fitzgerald family. Thank you so much for your prayers and warm thoughts, which are appreciated more than you could know.
~PattyKay
I
bid you welcome gentle readers, and a warm welcome as well to our assigned
reader of all things NASCAR. Today we’re going to take a stroll through a bit
of history, with perhaps a pinch of semantics added in for flavor. While the
Chase believers are amusing themselves elsewhere, please come join us in
finding simple solutions to some simple problems.
First question for the day: Does anyone remember what the Lady in Black used to call the Starter? I do! She called him the man that lives in the little house on stilts. I don’t recall that she ever gave him a name, as she did everyone else. Reality tells us that in earlier days, he was Harold Kinder, and Harold was later replaced by Doyle Ford. Does anyone out there know who the current NASCAR Starter, or “Chief Starter” is? Let’s file this under “strange but true.” No one but perhaps his friends and family seems to know who reigns today in the little house on stilts, I guess because no one tells us.
I didn’t know the names of Harold and Doyle because they lived just down the block from me. I knew them because my informative friends on TV shared them with me. Folks such as Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Ken Squier, Eli Gold, Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, Dave Despain, Larry Nuber, Dr. Dick Berggren, John Kernan, Dr. Jerry Punch and many others, took time to familiarize the viewer with little factoids such as that the man in that little house had a name.
Alright dear gentle readers, it’s time to ‘fess up now. How many of you have already consulted Mr. Google, Mr. Bing or other pretenders to the search throne for the name of today’s Chief Starter? Did you find it? Quite frankly, I gave up quickly because I found something else that would prove my point… and yes, I do have one. Patience, my Darlings. You know I tend to be a bit long-winded at times… well OK, most times. If you’ll be kind enough to click right about here, you’ll be taken to an article that appeared on nascar.com in conjunction with this year’s Daytona 500.
The article tells us all about how a young lady named Kim Lopez was appointed as Chief Starter for the 2015 Daytona 500. It seems that Kim fits all the criteria, in that she has spent several years acting in that capacity in the Xfinity Series, and has also performed the duties a couple of other times in the Cup Series, but Daytona, it seems, makes a bigger splash when advertising NASCAR’s “Diversity Program.” You see, Kim gets two birds with one stone. She is both female and what nascar.com is describing as “Hispanic.” I won’t go to war with them on that term, though I believe it to be incorrect. I “think” the term they might be seeking would be “Latina”, but our American Language has become so bastardized by things such as “Urban Dictionaries”, that true meanings of words no longer seem to matter, as long as they are understood “on the street.” Quite frankly, I have no idea if Kim speaks Spanish or possibly Portuguese, as the term Hispanic would indicate. The best I can tell you is that she hails from the Bronx.
Now then, wasn’t that a fun way to get around to what I started to say in the second paragraph? You all knew, without question, that NASCAR does have a position knows as Starter, Official Starter or Chief Starter, depending on whose pages you are reading. The position of Starter has existed in auto racing since long before NASCAR, and probably before William H. G. (Big Bill) France was even an idea. It’s ever so easy to recognize why the position is important. Why, without a Starter, the restarts would be just a jumbled mess; drivers would run into each other and no one would have a way of telling what went wrong.
Yes, my Darlings, now you see the point. We already have all that, and our dear sanctioning body decries any part in policing the restarts. Why? I’d say it’s because they have all but buried the position of Chief Starter and anything even remotely resembling such a position. One job of the Chief Starter has obviously been to police the start and all restarts within the race. Often, this capacity is referred to as simply “Flagman”, as that word seems to encompass more of what goes with the position. Always, the person endowed with the title was literally in charge of the race. He stopped, started and ended the race, applying the proper warnings, cautions, penalties or directions to the drivers throughout the racing field.
Somehow, that has all become muddied in the past few years. Control of the race now happens in the “Tower.” How many are familiar with the name David Hoots?
First question for the day: Does anyone remember what the Lady in Black used to call the Starter? I do! She called him the man that lives in the little house on stilts. I don’t recall that she ever gave him a name, as she did everyone else. Reality tells us that in earlier days, he was Harold Kinder, and Harold was later replaced by Doyle Ford. Does anyone out there know who the current NASCAR Starter, or “Chief Starter” is? Let’s file this under “strange but true.” No one but perhaps his friends and family seems to know who reigns today in the little house on stilts, I guess because no one tells us.
I didn’t know the names of Harold and Doyle because they lived just down the block from me. I knew them because my informative friends on TV shared them with me. Folks such as Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Ken Squier, Eli Gold, Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, Dave Despain, Larry Nuber, Dr. Dick Berggren, John Kernan, Dr. Jerry Punch and many others, took time to familiarize the viewer with little factoids such as that the man in that little house had a name.
Alright dear gentle readers, it’s time to ‘fess up now. How many of you have already consulted Mr. Google, Mr. Bing or other pretenders to the search throne for the name of today’s Chief Starter? Did you find it? Quite frankly, I gave up quickly because I found something else that would prove my point… and yes, I do have one. Patience, my Darlings. You know I tend to be a bit long-winded at times… well OK, most times. If you’ll be kind enough to click right about here, you’ll be taken to an article that appeared on nascar.com in conjunction with this year’s Daytona 500.
The article tells us all about how a young lady named Kim Lopez was appointed as Chief Starter for the 2015 Daytona 500. It seems that Kim fits all the criteria, in that she has spent several years acting in that capacity in the Xfinity Series, and has also performed the duties a couple of other times in the Cup Series, but Daytona, it seems, makes a bigger splash when advertising NASCAR’s “Diversity Program.” You see, Kim gets two birds with one stone. She is both female and what nascar.com is describing as “Hispanic.” I won’t go to war with them on that term, though I believe it to be incorrect. I “think” the term they might be seeking would be “Latina”, but our American Language has become so bastardized by things such as “Urban Dictionaries”, that true meanings of words no longer seem to matter, as long as they are understood “on the street.” Quite frankly, I have no idea if Kim speaks Spanish or possibly Portuguese, as the term Hispanic would indicate. The best I can tell you is that she hails from the Bronx.
Now then, wasn’t that a fun way to get around to what I started to say in the second paragraph? You all knew, without question, that NASCAR does have a position knows as Starter, Official Starter or Chief Starter, depending on whose pages you are reading. The position of Starter has existed in auto racing since long before NASCAR, and probably before William H. G. (Big Bill) France was even an idea. It’s ever so easy to recognize why the position is important. Why, without a Starter, the restarts would be just a jumbled mess; drivers would run into each other and no one would have a way of telling what went wrong.
Yes, my Darlings, now you see the point. We already have all that, and our dear sanctioning body decries any part in policing the restarts. Why? I’d say it’s because they have all but buried the position of Chief Starter and anything even remotely resembling such a position. One job of the Chief Starter has obviously been to police the start and all restarts within the race. Often, this capacity is referred to as simply “Flagman”, as that word seems to encompass more of what goes with the position. Always, the person endowed with the title was literally in charge of the race. He stopped, started and ended the race, applying the proper warnings, cautions, penalties or directions to the drivers throughout the racing field.
Somehow, that has all become muddied in the past few years. Control of the race now happens in the “Tower.” How many are familiar with the name David Hoots?
Ah,
that’s what I thought… not all that many. Mr. Hoots’ official title is “NASCAR
Managing Event Director”, or as he now is referred to by some, “NASCAR’s Eye in
the Sky.” In most of the years I’ve been around, we had what was called a
“Director of Competition”, and the names of some of the men holding that title
were Bill Gazaway, Dick Beaty, Gary Nelson and the last one I recall holding
that exact title, John Darby, who is mysteriously gone now, with very little
fanfare I might add, and we have David Hoots seemingly residing in some place
high above the action and controlling all things supposedly having to do with
the race at hand.
Given the ultra-messy starts and restarts we’ve been treated to recently, my thoughts would be to either do the job correctly or give it back to the guy that most of us thought was doing it all along. Sometimes, the old way can also be the best way. Not everything needs to be computerized. Who could possibly have a better view of the cars as they are coming directly at him at every start and restart than the Starter, up in the flagstand? Surely, it’s not someone in a Suite, up above all the action, who then has to press buttons to turn on lights, which in turn signal the Starter to put out this, that or the other flag.
I’m sure it’s climate-controlled and comfy up in that suite, but that’s not quite the way I recall any of the other gentlemen directing the competition. This old timer is about 100% positive that if told to conduct his job that way, Dick Beaty would have handed in his credentials and left for a place where they were talking better sense. Eye in the sky? Really? Beaty was more about the “Evil eye” and anyone that ever received it did so with a cold shiver. He, and most of the others, took their jobs seriously, and one thing they did not attempt to do was mess with that guy in the flagstand, who also knew his job and did it very well.
It’s no wonder we have situations today that NASCAR doesn’t want to police. Everyone seems to be doing everyone else’s job instead of his own. Mr. Helton… Mike, may I make a suggestion? Let the guy in the flagstand live up to his title. He is the Starter… the Chief Starter! Let him control the starts and restarts. It’s quite simple, and most of us over 25 or 30 remember how it worked. The race starts, or restarts, when he waves the green flag. However, the leader controls the field until he/she crosses the Start/Finish line. After that happens, all bets are off and all’s fair in love, war and racing. If someone “jumps” the start and crosses that line before the leader, he receives the black flag next time around, telling him to come to the pits for a “conference.” It’s called the START/Finish line for a reason, and that should be sufficient.
If, as used to happen, the Starter doesn’t like the looks of the field as it comes to him… cars are out of position and not neatly aligned two by two… he will throw the yellow flag instead of the green, and the cars will have to come around and try it again, until the drivers can behave themselves and make a clean start. This one simple move will solve all of the crazy restart problems we’ve been seeing of late. Give the man his job back! That job, called Chief Starter, is to START the race! Trust me, whoever he or she is, it can only be an improvement over letting a light from somewhere on high prevail, and I am not referring to any Heavenly aura here, merely those man-made things that seem to malfunction at least as often as they function.
Given the ultra-messy starts and restarts we’ve been treated to recently, my thoughts would be to either do the job correctly or give it back to the guy that most of us thought was doing it all along. Sometimes, the old way can also be the best way. Not everything needs to be computerized. Who could possibly have a better view of the cars as they are coming directly at him at every start and restart than the Starter, up in the flagstand? Surely, it’s not someone in a Suite, up above all the action, who then has to press buttons to turn on lights, which in turn signal the Starter to put out this, that or the other flag.
I’m sure it’s climate-controlled and comfy up in that suite, but that’s not quite the way I recall any of the other gentlemen directing the competition. This old timer is about 100% positive that if told to conduct his job that way, Dick Beaty would have handed in his credentials and left for a place where they were talking better sense. Eye in the sky? Really? Beaty was more about the “Evil eye” and anyone that ever received it did so with a cold shiver. He, and most of the others, took their jobs seriously, and one thing they did not attempt to do was mess with that guy in the flagstand, who also knew his job and did it very well.
It’s no wonder we have situations today that NASCAR doesn’t want to police. Everyone seems to be doing everyone else’s job instead of his own. Mr. Helton… Mike, may I make a suggestion? Let the guy in the flagstand live up to his title. He is the Starter… the Chief Starter! Let him control the starts and restarts. It’s quite simple, and most of us over 25 or 30 remember how it worked. The race starts, or restarts, when he waves the green flag. However, the leader controls the field until he/she crosses the Start/Finish line. After that happens, all bets are off and all’s fair in love, war and racing. If someone “jumps” the start and crosses that line before the leader, he receives the black flag next time around, telling him to come to the pits for a “conference.” It’s called the START/Finish line for a reason, and that should be sufficient.
If, as used to happen, the Starter doesn’t like the looks of the field as it comes to him… cars are out of position and not neatly aligned two by two… he will throw the yellow flag instead of the green, and the cars will have to come around and try it again, until the drivers can behave themselves and make a clean start. This one simple move will solve all of the crazy restart problems we’ve been seeing of late. Give the man his job back! That job, called Chief Starter, is to START the race! Trust me, whoever he or she is, it can only be an improvement over letting a light from somewhere on high prevail, and I am not referring to any Heavenly aura here, merely those man-made things that seem to malfunction at least as often as they function.
There are 8
flags in the picture. Do you know what each means?
One
more bit of fun with semantics, and Brian, this one is for you. For 11 years
now, many more of us than you care to acknowledge, have grown increasingly
irritated by the word “Chase.” Still, at least this old-timer recalls why it’s
called that, and I think it’s time that I reminded those of my generation and
enlightened the younger fans. Back in that horrid year of 2004, when NASCAR’s
core fans began to leave, and sponsors were racing them to the exit door, the
cause of it all had begun with a press conference held on January 20, well
before Daytona.
Word of course, as to some of what would be discussed had “leaked out”, no doubt on purpose, and response to that leak was not positive in any way, shape or fashion. Indeed, there was one word that turned up more than any other on the “most hated”, “most annoying”, “biggest turn-off” lists everywhere the questions were asked. Do you remember what that word was Brian? I do, and strangely enough it’s the very word that we are hearing often and everywhere now, as it seeks to replace the word “Chase” in NASCAR’s vocabulary.
Gentle readers, the word to which I refer is “Playoffs!” Think hard now… could you even count the number of times that word has been proffered by anyone or everyone having anything to do with NASCAR in the past week or so? Yet, it was that very word, eleven years ago, that repeatedly came out at the top of the “Never use this word” or “Most offensive words” surveys run by NASCAR to assure that the new scoring system was warmly received. Apparently, someone… Brian… thinks that all that nonsense about fans not liking the word “Playoffs” has been forgotten, so it’s back on the table… in a big way.
What we have just before closing today, is a small excerpt from a Q&A that followed the formal announcement of the impending “Chase” format, scheduled to bow in at Daytona only a month later. Do you recall this Brian? NASCAR was nice enough to keep a copy for us, so that we can share it with all those new fans that never heard it back then.
Q&A from Press Conference, January 20, 2004
Q. Is there a seeding process for the Top 10 with ten to go?
BRIAN FRANCE: The seeding process is how you finish after the 26 events. That's the seeding process. You did see that we did reward if you finish first, you have got a 45 point lead over the 10th place competitor after 26 and five points for every position in sequence, so we have we won't call that a seeding because what we're not going to call this is a Playoff. It's not a Playoff. It's not a single elimination. It not a win or lose and you are out. Not a best three out of five. It's better than all that because it still has consistency; still has 10 tracks over two and a half months to compete. We think we have got something that's better than the Playoffs.
You know what Brian? That word still refers to stick and ball sports and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with auto racing, horse racing, snowmobile racing, frog jumping or any other sort of racing you can think of. You simply cannot have a playoff in racing because there is no one to play off against! You tried to bury the word once, but you just couldn’t let well enough alone. It’s back, and so is all the distaste it brings to so many that resent having our sport attempt to emulate or flat-out copy any sport involving a ball or a puck or anything remotely similar, even a badminton “birdie.”
There you have it, in your own words, which we now invite you to eat… “IT IS NOT A PLAYOFF!” Gosh, I do hope that all the folks at NBC and its affiliates are reading here today. Once they learn that you really don’t like the word “Playoff”, I’m sure they’ll stop using it so freely.
Yeah, Right!
Word of course, as to some of what would be discussed had “leaked out”, no doubt on purpose, and response to that leak was not positive in any way, shape or fashion. Indeed, there was one word that turned up more than any other on the “most hated”, “most annoying”, “biggest turn-off” lists everywhere the questions were asked. Do you remember what that word was Brian? I do, and strangely enough it’s the very word that we are hearing often and everywhere now, as it seeks to replace the word “Chase” in NASCAR’s vocabulary.
Gentle readers, the word to which I refer is “Playoffs!” Think hard now… could you even count the number of times that word has been proffered by anyone or everyone having anything to do with NASCAR in the past week or so? Yet, it was that very word, eleven years ago, that repeatedly came out at the top of the “Never use this word” or “Most offensive words” surveys run by NASCAR to assure that the new scoring system was warmly received. Apparently, someone… Brian… thinks that all that nonsense about fans not liking the word “Playoffs” has been forgotten, so it’s back on the table… in a big way.
What we have just before closing today, is a small excerpt from a Q&A that followed the formal announcement of the impending “Chase” format, scheduled to bow in at Daytona only a month later. Do you recall this Brian? NASCAR was nice enough to keep a copy for us, so that we can share it with all those new fans that never heard it back then.
Q&A from Press Conference, January 20, 2004
Q. Is there a seeding process for the Top 10 with ten to go?
BRIAN FRANCE: The seeding process is how you finish after the 26 events. That's the seeding process. You did see that we did reward if you finish first, you have got a 45 point lead over the 10th place competitor after 26 and five points for every position in sequence, so we have we won't call that a seeding because what we're not going to call this is a Playoff. It's not a Playoff. It's not a single elimination. It not a win or lose and you are out. Not a best three out of five. It's better than all that because it still has consistency; still has 10 tracks over two and a half months to compete. We think we have got something that's better than the Playoffs.
You know what Brian? That word still refers to stick and ball sports and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with auto racing, horse racing, snowmobile racing, frog jumping or any other sort of racing you can think of. You simply cannot have a playoff in racing because there is no one to play off against! You tried to bury the word once, but you just couldn’t let well enough alone. It’s back, and so is all the distaste it brings to so many that resent having our sport attempt to emulate or flat-out copy any sport involving a ball or a puck or anything remotely similar, even a badminton “birdie.”
There you have it, in your own words, which we now invite you to eat… “IT IS NOT A PLAYOFF!” Gosh, I do hope that all the folks at NBC and its affiliates are reading here today. Once they learn that you really don’t like the word “Playoff”, I’m sure they’ll stop using it so freely.
Yeah, Right!
Gentle readers, you’ll notice that there is no
SAFER map included in this week’s article. I was told by a local resident at
the time of the last race, that there had been some SAFER added to the inside
of the backstretch. The track survey issued earlier this year by that Florida
newspaper that magically let me read today, free of charge, does say that the
track added some 1850’ of SAFER barriers. Alas, I have no clue how much or
little of a 1-mile track that would cover. At least something was added.
Please, keep up the good work at New Hampshire. The job is nowhere near
complete.
Time now for our Classic
Country Closeout. I guess it’s become pretty clear that I love the singing of
Carl Smith. Well, while wandering through YouTube in search of something else,
I found a song done by Carl that I had not heard. I didn’t think such an animal
existed, but it did and I’ve brought it today to share with you, my gentle
readers. The YouTube poster states that sometimes the best songs somehow slip
through the cracks and advises that this is now a favorite. I must concur; it’s
a sad song, but beautiful. Please enjoy “Don’t Say You’re Mine”, as only
Carl Smith could sing it.
Ah, and would you just look
at what I came across as my little stroll continued. This is the King of the
Cowboys and the Queen of the Cowgirls, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, doing one of
the most recorded songs of all time… “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” Such
beautiful memories here, of a time long gone by.
Another sweet memory lies
deep within this beautiful song from Sonny James. His first and biggest hit was
“Young Love”, but I’ve always preferred this one… “I’ll Never Find Another
You.”
And one final one for
today… this one comes from my favorite female singer, Jean Shepard. The song
debuted in 1955, the year I turned 17. I loved it then and I love it still
today. Here is Jean to sing for you, “Beautiful Lies.”
Be well gentle
readers, and don’t forget to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay