A Voice For The Fans ~ Leaving Sparta For Loudon
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I
bid you welcome, gentle readers, and included in that is our assigned NASCAR
reader of the day, thought to be tucked snuggly away in the Fan and Media
Espionage Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi there, and welcome to where
the fans that care hang out when not at the track.
Before
we leave the Kentucky cookie cutter, there are some things your scribe would
like to say about the weekend just past. This was NASCAR’s trial balloon using
the new aero package, albeit without the new, softer tires that were supposed
to be a part of it, but someone forgot to tell Goodyear in time. Even without
the softer tires, the test returned a positive reading, as both drivers and
fans were surprised and pleased at how well things went and how good the racing
was on track.
Kyle
Busch took the checkers for his second win of what to him is almost a brand new
season, having been laid up by injuries sustained in a crash into a concrete wall
at Daytona until his return at Charlotte for the 600. The folks whose business
it is to draw up polls love Kyle this year. Will he make the Chase? Won’t he
make the Chase? Does anyone out there care if he makes the Chase? Does anyone
out there care if there even IS a Chase? Internet polls hold for me the same
validity as Internet voting; that is to say, absolutely none!
The
important part of Saturday night was that for the first time in I can’t
remember when, we saw a good race at a 1.5-mile track. That, gentle readers, is
not just a good thing, but a great
thing! Having said that… the next time NASCAR plans to use that aero package
again won’t be until Darlington on Labor Day Weekend. (Yes, I do enjoy typing
that) So, when we’ve apparently stumbled on a way to markedly improve the
on-track “product” (No, I don’t enjoy typing that one, and do so a bit
mockingly), let’s wait 7 weeks before we try it again. “NASCAR logic” at its
oxymoronic finest! Oh yes, and Brian Z. France has already weighed in, saying he
wants to see more drafting and pack racing.
"What we're really looking for is, how tight
is the racing? How many lead changes are there? How much passing through the
field is going on? How many more teams are competitive by a given package? What
accomplishes those goals the best? That's how we go about sorting it out. We're
going to try some things coming up here at Indy (with a high-drag package).
I'll tell you what we didn't see that we would like to see more of, is more
drafting. We didn't see as much of that as we would have liked and more pack
racing. You saw that on the restarts but not quite as much (as we'd prefer).
There were a lot of things we liked; definitely an improvement on the races
that have happened at Kentucky."
Gentle
readers, forgive me, but that tiny tirade immediately following what the fans
and drivers have all felt was some of the best racing in years, brings a visual
to me of a man making a complete fool of himself, riding a pig through the
streets of Daytona Beach, furiously waving a beer in the air and screaming,
“More pack racing! More wrecks! More cars in the stands! Whoopee!”
Now,
what do you suppose the first thing I read was this Monday morning? Still at
Kentucky, the GM, Mark Simendinger is wringing his
hands out loud over a decision he must make… whether to pave the track or leave
it alone. Um… Mark, you had a great race once the track was dry. A GREAT RACE!
How often do you get that much rain in July? I’d’ say this wet July is about as
rare as lips on a woodpecker… but don’t let me color your decision. I’m sure
you’ll come up with something brilliant. Oh, and while you’re at it, please add
SAFER barriers to your “to do” list. That is sadly lacking at Kentucky Speedway.
And there we have the perfect segue to something else I caught at Kentucky. I
actually posted this as a comment on last week’s article, but by the time I
did, that article was stale and no one was reading it anymore.
Think
SAFER doesn't matter? If you watched the finish of the truck race last night
(Thursday), you saw Ben Kennedy's #11 Truck get not exactly airborne, but
"helped" to climb a wall by contact with others. There is video of
the wreck, which included a spectacular ride atop the SAFER barrier. Last
night, I tweeted that he rode that SAFER like a bull... for a full 8 seconds.
That was meant to be humorous, and not said until we were sure Ben would be
just fine.
There
was something in there that you did not see unless you were extremely
observant, because a good shot of it was only played once, and never repeated.
I "thought" I saw it, but then all subsequent video was shown from
another vantage point. Then, someone on Twitter posted a very poor quality
picture, I'm guessing taken from that first video, with a view from the infield
side of the track rather than the grandstand side.
I
just happen to have that picture, along with one that I've blown to close-up of
the track itself, showing exactly where the SAFER barrier begins in turn one,
and approximately where Ben's Truck made impact... SHORT OF THE SAFER BARRIER!
FoxSports1, in the person of one Michael Waltrip, made a huge deal of where he
contacted the SAFER and then climbed aboard, but never once mentioned or showed
again exactly where and into what that first impact occurred.
I
will!
The
video of the wreck can be found here:
There
are several on YouTube and the number will undoubtedly increase throughout the
day. Wrecks of that magnitude are big sellers, or so I'm told.
The
first picture in queue is the screenshot I made from a detailed map found
on http://www.nextracemap.com/. That site is great for
seeing things more clearly than on Google Earth, but they have their own
graphics all over it, which tend to sometimes block exactly what I might want
to show. When you watch the video, if you do so in stop-start manner, you'll
see that when the truck first makes impact with the wall, you can just see the
SAFER coming into the picture to your right. The video will give you reference
to the picture. Take careful note of where you see the yellow line at pit-out!
Great reference point. I've indicated in red, the approximate point of impact,
and in green, where the SAFER begins. As Maxwell Smart might say...
"Missed it by that much!"
The
second picture is the one from Twitter. It's a bit blurry, as I am certain it
came from a motion shot. It shows enough to clearly prove that the truck hit
where the SAFER barrier was NOT. No one can say for sure, but the “likelihood”
is that had there been SAFER at the first point of impact, the truck would not
have been cast back into traffic as quickly, and that whole ride atop the
barrier would never have occurred.
Still
think they're not important everywhere?
If
the only spot on a track not protected by SAFER were up a flagpole, some dang
driver would find a way to get a car/truck up that flagpole!
And
that, gentle readers will bring us to the upcoming race at Loudon, New
Hampshire. Jim had this map waiting for me this Monday morning when I awoke,
and one look almost sent be screaming back to my pillow and pulling the blanket
over my head!
Right
off the bat, this is not acceptable in any way, shape or
means. This has to be some sort of a joke! All of the red is not even showing,
as it should continue all the way through both turns on the inside, meaning
there is NO SAFER barriers on the inside walls of this track, anywhere! This is
the track that claimed the lives of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin back in 2000. The
meager bit of SAFER barriers we see indicated here were erected in 2003, which
is right in keeping with the schedule of availability at the time. I have read
every bit of track activity as recorded on Jayski.com, and combed the track’s
own website searching for the erection of additional SAFER, but there has been
none.
To
say this is not one of my favorite tracks would be akin to saying that a frog
and a fly are not close friends… a gross understatement. Aside from the fact
that two of our brightest young lights were snuffed out at this flat mile, the
racing here is, in a word, putrid! As much as we all loved Kentucky last week,
we shall all wallow in deep disappointment at the parade about to unfold in New
Hampshire. That fact however, has nothing to do with the map we’re looking at
today.
This
track was the property of the Bahre family and run by
Bob Bahre until his retirement at the end of 2007. At
that time, the track was sold to Speedway Motorsports Inc., aka Bruton Smith.
Now, Bruton also has retired, so Marcus, I’m sorry to say that the sins of the
father shall be visited upon the son. We spoke last week about Kentucky needing
some help, but my good man, Loudon is a mess! Do you realize how many years
have passed since 2003, without one single inch of SAFER being added to this
track that has already claimed two lives? It’s been 8 years since your father
took over ownership of this old girl, and in those 8 years, all he did was take
in the money. You are literate, and you know racing, therefore you have to know
that this is so far below expectations that it’s dragging in the mud.
Without
going to somewhere neither of us wants to be, my first suggestion would be a
new GM for this one. Hopefully, someone that puts the track first and other
things in their proper order of priority. Right now, if I were you and owned
this track, I’d be ashamed to let people know it. “Magic Mile?” Tragic Mile
would be more accurate, don’t you think?
Time
now for our Classic Country Closeout, and today we’ll be hearing a few of those
songs that sent a singer soaring to new heights before plummeting off the
charts and out of sight. First up is one I heard a friend mention recently.
This song was huge; alas, its singer never really became a household word, at
least in most households. This is Henson Cargill, doing the song that made him
famous… “Skip a Rope.”
Next
up we have another gentleman that had a hit song, but whose name isn’t often
written in a list of Country favorites. This is Ernie Ashworth, with his hit
rendition of “Talk Back Trembling Lips.” (Yes, it was also done by Johnny Tillotson and later by George Jones, but this was the big
seller)
Alright
then, it looks as though we’ve developed a theme here, so let’s hear one from
the distaff side. Talk about one-hit wonders, and this gal has to be right near
the top of the list. She is Jeannie C. Riley, and she made a huge contribution
to Country Music with this one, entitled, “Harper Valley PTA.”
Please
allow me to explain that by “one hit wonder”, I don’t mean to imply or even
hint that these artists only recorded one song; merely that one of their
offerings got a much higher rating than any of the others. Anyone that’s ever
worked in any sort of show business knows that it takes many years to become an
“Overnight success.”
Next
up is one from another lady we never heard a lot about in later days, but we
sure knew who she was when Bobbie Gentry gave us “Ode to Billy Joe.” What
was it he was throwing off that bridge, anyway?
Lastly,
this one has been one of my favorites for all the years it’s been around. Sonny
James had a big hit with it, but this version was first and best, in this
lady’s humble opinion. Here then is James Gilreath
singing “Little Band of Gold.” Please enjoy, and come back next time
for more racing and more great old Country Music.
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay