A Voice For The Fans ~ No One Knows What Goes On Behind Closed Doors

06/05/2015

PattyKay Lilley

I bid you welcome, gentle readers, and extend a warm welcome as well to our assigned reader of all things NASCAR, assumed to be comfortably situated in the Fan and Media Espionage Center, located in the Queen’s City of Charlotte, North Carolina… or maybe not.

Some interesting things have taken place lately in the NASCAR world, though sadly, not one of them was a race. Over the past weekend at Dover Delaware (She wore a brand New Jersey), reports surfaced and then ran rampant, of a meeting between NASCAR and a newly formed “Drivers’ Council.” As the tale is told, this council is the brainchild of Denny Hamlin. Alright then… if any of you see what seems to be an oxymoron there… me too.

Apparently, and that is a key term here, the drivers have been “plotting” or planning the formation of the council since last fall, but then there’s another line that goes something like, NASCAR asked them to do it.

Whoa?

Is this the same NASCAR that banned new Hall of Fame nominee Curtis Turner and inductee Tim Flock for “life” [Later rescinded] for attempting to organize a union? The same NASCAR that smiled and waved goodbye as Richard Petty, head of the soon-to-be defunct Professional Drivers Association (PDA), led a caravan that consisted of almost every Grand National driver away from the track, the night before the Talladega track saw its first race? If so, then times have changed far more than any of us have surmised. But then, Brian France is not his Granddad, is he? In this instance, that should be taken as a good thing, as this lady simply cannot picture that man backing up his words with a pistol… or even holding it steady enough to be convincing.

If this council, coalition, token representation or whatever you care to call it was all the idea of drivers, then your scribe is all for it. Cue the applause, ring the bells and call for encores. It’s so far past time for something such as this that I have no words aside from, “It’s about time!” However… and here comes the other shoe… if this is something NASCAR asked them to do, then every hackle on the back of my neck comes to attention, telling me that no good can come of this.

NASCAR already has one council… the Fan Council… organized and chosen totally by NASCAR… for the purpose of making the sanctioning body appear to care what fans think.

Fahgeddabowdit!

NASCAR never gave a cat’s whisker about what fans think, until we started voting with our fannies by not putting them in their over-priced seats. At some point, they had to acknowledge that empty grandstands were at least mildly embarrassing, so they immediately moved to improve racing and bring the fans back, right? WRONG! They immediately moved to start removing those offensive empty seats in an effort to make the grandstands “look” fuller.

For no reason immediately apparent, the identities of the members of this new “council” were kept secret… well, as secret as anything ever remains when subjected to the garage rumor mill. That word, council, continues to strike a bit of a sour note with this oldster. The owners formed an Alliance, (Race Team Alliance = RTA) which rings with just a touch of legality. (In WWII, the Allies were an Alliance) Council is a weaker word, denoting a weaker position in the grand structure of things. (The word goes well with Girl Scouts) An Alliance can “bring the hammer down” as it were. The owners control ALL the money in NASCAR. Make no mistake about that. All the money that is spent, that is. If they stop spending, there is no racing; it’s that simple. Drivers, though exceedingly well paid, can be replaced in a heartbeat, and it happens every day.

Still, reports coming forth so far, though exceedingly sketchy, seem tinted with a rosy glow. It strikes me as a bit strange that almost all quotes come from Hamlin, who seems quite pleased with himself. Let’s just take a quick look at a bit of that, shall we?

"Overall, this is a good process to make our sport better. ... Everyone [from NASCAR] that was needed to make decisions was in there. The drivers were young to old, inexperienced to experienced, top of the standings to the bottom of the standings. It was very productive." Denny makes it sound like a good ol’ family reunion type get-together, but one has to wonder…

“Everyone from NASCAR that was needed to make decisions was in there.” On that point, we seem to be at the mercy of one unidentified source from NBC. No one else seems to know who was there from the NASCAR side of things, and if they know, they’re not talking.

“A source told NBC Sports that NASCAR was represented by Mike Helton, vice chairman, and Steve O'Donnell, executive vice president and chief racing development officer, among others.”

Well, “among others” can be just about anyone you can imagine, but it seems to me there is one executive type that would never be included in that catch-all phrase, and that’s the ringmaster, the guy that runs the circus, Brian Z. France. If he isn’t a part of the discussions, then they are rendered useless from the start. He has already tested those waters and shown us that he can change any rule about anything in NASCAR racing on a whim and in an instant, for no more reason than “Because he can.” There is no doubt about whose circus this is, and the clowns would do well to understand and act accordingly.

The following can be found in a much longer AP article by Jenna Fryer, and even she is at a loss to provide all of the information about this secret or not so secret meeting.

“Drivers were apparently grouped in three different classes for the vote, and all three manufacturers had to be represented. It's not clear exactly how many drivers are on the council, as not all those who participated have gone public. Confirmed to have been present at the Dover meeting were:

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Tony Stewart for Chevrolet; and Denny Hamlin for Toyota and Joey Logano for Ford. Larson was selected as the reigning rookie of the year and a representative of the youngest wave of drivers.”

I’ve also read from a “reliable source” that Greg Biffle was included in that number, for Ford, of course. As one that has been around for a l-o-n-g time, I want to feel good about the new “Council”, but I just can’t. I’m leaning hard toward the idea that NASCAR was behind the formation of this thing, not Denny Hamlin, though he may well have been made a willing tool. Am I the only one wondering “if” he were the organizer, why there is only a single driver from Toyota on the list? Of course, there may be more hiding in the weeds. If the drivers all voted on these representatives, wouldn’t one expect to see either Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth or both on the list before Hamlin?

Alright, no more tilting at windmills today, but it’s something we intend to keep a close eye on and keep you, the fans, informed about any meaningful developments. Are you listening Mr. France? Do you even care?

And now, let’s take a peek at Pocono and see what the SAFER barrier situation looks like for this week’s race.




Brandon Igdalsky, you’re now the President of Pocono Raceway, a track that my late husband and I visited many times over. Because we had such wonderful times at Pocono, I care more about this track… and pretty little Martinsville, than some others, but I care most about our drivers… all of them. It’s obvious from this map that there is still much to be done at your track, and I’m staring in disbelief at that front stretch… the longest front stretch in racing… and there is not an inch of SAFER to be seen its entire length. I have personally witnessed wreck after wreck after wreck along that front stretch. What is the holdup in protecting it?  

As always, allow me to offer the disclaimer that the Google maps from Google Earth are not always as timely as one might like, but they are what we have to work with. I have checked with Jayski.com, which usually notes all updates concerning SAFER barriers, and I find no mention of Pocono in that context. I have also run a Google search for news of any additions, and that too came up negative. This is just to let you know that we, the fans that care, are watching and hoping for better things from Pocono and in fact, from all tracks.

Time now for our Classic Country Closeout. I’m not sure I have anything to top Mack Magaha, whose YouTube videos I’m still playing, but I’ll try. We’ve been listening to music from the Old West and the Southern Hills for some time now, but we haven’t heard much about what made a cowboy a cowboy, and that’s one of two things, a horse or a cow. We’ve heard several about dogs, so now let’s move up to the larger critters and give them their due.


First up, here’s Marty Robbins… still so missed in Country Music… doing a song that he wrote called “Old Red.”
Next, we have another about a rodeo bronc; this time it’s Rex Allen Sr. telling us a tale about “The Strawberry Roan.” Along with Rex, those of you from my generation will recognize also a very young Buddy Ebsen [Jed Clampett from Beverly Hillbillies] doing microphone duty.




Well, now that we’ve been bucked off a couple of times from horses, let’s switch over and climb on the back of a “Bad Brahma Bull.” Here’s Tex Ritter to tell us all about what that’s like.
Next up we have one that was first recorded when my Mom was a child. If you’re not a fan of scratchy old 78 rpm vinyl, this one may not be for you, but here is Vernon Dalhart serenading us with “The Old Grey Mare, She Ain’t What She Used to Be”
And for our final song today, we move to one more from my childhood. This is Carson Robison offering up an answer to the song about the old grey mare. This one is called, “The Old Grey Mare is Back Where She Used to Be” and I remember this one vividly as a small child.
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!

PattyKay