At Daytona, Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop
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I bid
you welcome gentle readers. Our long winter’s nap is over and Speedweeks is
here at last! There was a grand amount of noise at Daytona this past weekend as
the big V8 engines roared back to life, with practices for both the Clash and
Daytona 500 qualifying. Saturday evening fell strangely quiet as Mother Nature
exercised her ability to halt racing, forcing both events to share the Sunday
spotlight. I liked that. I’d run the Clash in the sunshine from now on… if it
were that I was making the decisions.
You
don’t need yet another complete replay of Sunday’s activities, especially in a
Friday column, so let me just say that Joey Logano won practice and also won
the Clash by default when Denny Hamlin attempted to throw a block on Brad
Keselowski, with the expected result. Hamlin led the most laps by far, but lost
it when the Team Penske boys came calling. Following Joey were Kyle Busch, Alex
Bowman, Danica Patrick and Kevin Harvick. Then came qualifying for the 500 and
it will be an all Hendrick Motor Sports front row on Sunday, with Chase Elliott
nipping Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his second consecutive pole in the Great
American Race. At this writing, the rest of the field waits to be set by
Thursday night’s duals.
While
we all waited for nothing on Saturday night, one of my girlfriends on Twitter
dropped in to ask my thoughts on all the changes for the upcoming season. Up to
then, I’ve been fairly silent on all of that, preferring to provide some light
entertainment rather than rant after rant. We started chatting away and soon
maybe a half-dozen or more others joined in the conversation. For the benefit
of my gentle readers, here are some of the thoughts I voiced then, and agree or
disagree, conversation here is always welcomed and encouraged.
First
off, all the panic and uncertainty about the segments or “stages” if you will,
is unwarranted and much ado about nothing. If you look closer, all you’ll see
is just another adjustment to the point system. Aside from perhaps making a
too-long race even longer, it does nothing to change the “product” on the
track… merely the way it is rewarded. I would have preferred to see more effort
put into making a Ford look more like a Ford, a Toyota look more like a Toyota
and a Chevy look more like… well, you get the idea. Different noses, different
tails, up off the track and who knows? We might stop hearing the term
“Aero-push.” Alas, none of that happened; all we got is a different way to
score the same old cars. Bravo… NOT!
One of
the best things I’ve heard in years is the addition… finally, of a Traveling
Medical Response team that will be at every Monster Energy Cup race on the
schedule, courtesy of a new partnership with American Medical Response. Most
other top Series have enjoyed this feature for years. Along with AMR, NASCAR
also announced an expanded concussion protocol…
- As
part of the new rule regarding damaged vehicles, a driver whose car sustains
damage from an accident or contact of any kind and goes behind the pit wall or
to the garage is required to visit the Infield Care Center to be evaluated.
- The
medical portion of NASCAR’s Event Standards now require that Infield Care
Center physicians incorporate the SCAT-3 diagnostic tool in screening for head
injuries.
- AMR
will provide on-site neurological consultative support at select NASCAR events
during the 2017 season and will work directly with NASCAR in the continued
development of concussion protocol.
Your
scribe sees that as “Awesome-sauce” and hails the medical additions as long
overdue. However, there is a term within that description that we should look
at very closely; that being “The new rule regarding damaged vehicles.”
That one
seems to be about as convoluted as it gets and has far-reaching tentacles as
well. NASCAR claims it’s for “safety” reasons but this scribe sees fallacy
lurking in that assessment. If I’m another driver on the track, I dare say I’d
feel safer from debris with a car on track that had been properly repaired than
with one that had time for only a Band-Aid and is back out there spewing trash
and parts in its wake. It can’t be just the time element, as mechanical repairs
can take as long as needed and the car may return to the track without comment
or consequence. To date, I’ve heard no sensible justification for the
difference.
Another
concern for that 5-minute rule is that damage to a splitter will put a car
automatically out of the race, as it cannot conceivably be replaced in 5
minutes on pit road. Before that could begin to be fair to all concerned, every
blade of grass at every track ought to be removed in favor of asphalt. We’ve
all seen what even a lazy slide in the grass can do to that thing. Either lose
the grass or lose the splitter. I’d opt for the latter, as I’ve yet to see one
on any “stock” car on the planet. In so many cases, the slide was caused by a
driver seeking to avoid someone else’s mess or mistake. To be out of the race
entirely seems like Draconian punishment for avoiding a wreck.
Then
there is yet another tiny sentence tucked within that “rule” that states that
too many men over the wall will result in the car being removed from
competition. Ouch! Whiplash! Out of the race is a l-o-n-g way from end of the
longest line. Maybe penalize a lap or even two; that would be understandable; one
does not cut off a child’s arm for reaching for the salt shaker. In Sunday
morning’s Clash, Kyle Larson’s car was summarily parked for too many men over
the wall, therefore missing the final 10 laps of the Clash. In that exhibition
race, it’s probably not the end of the world, but I can see that nonsensical
rule affecting the outcome of the “Playoffs” down the line. Penalty is one
thing; parking is quite another, and this scribe thinks it overkill of the
highest degree.
At this
time, before racing has even begun, that’s just a glossary of things, both good
and bad, that have crossed my aged mind as change after change was announced
during the off-season. Now race fans, we all get to sit back and wait for that
other shoe to drop… the one we know as “The law of unintended consequences”,
and there will be many; I promise!
Please
note the distinct lack of the word “enhanced” throughout this or any other
column arising from this keyboard. That one grew old and trite before that big
“announcement” on January 23 was half over. When you put ketchup on a hot dog,
that hot dog in not then “enhanced.” In my view, it’s ruined, as this lady
prefers mustard, onions chili and slaw… THAT’s “Enhanced!”
Oh, and
Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa… I gave you two segments of a trilogy on the Golden Era of
Racing and completely forgot to add the third and final part last week. Here
then, long overdue but still wonderful to watch, is Volume 3. Please, let me
know if you enjoy things such as this, that you can watch at your leisure and
at your own pace.
The
little banjo signals that it’s time for our Classic Country Closeout. At one
time, not so many years ago, I thought I was the only one still walking that
remembered much about Classic Country, but God bless YouTube and all the good
folks that share so much with us there. This is a wonderful collection of Hall
of Fame singers, players and songs of the Grand Ole Opry that just recently
debuted on YouTube. It’s a star-studded cast performing a plethora of sweet
memories just for those of us that love Classic Country. Please enjoy:
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay