Chasing and Whining
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I bid
you welcome gentle readers, and our usual cordial greeting goes out to our
assigned reader of all things NASCAR on this warm, sunny day in the hills of
North Georgia. Before launching into this week’s tirade, your humble scribe
sends prayers and healing thoughts to the family and friends of legendary
driver, Mike Stefanik, who perished in a plane crash on September 15, 2019. May
he rest in peace and race now on Heaven’s Raceway.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1173396121688969216
Video from NASCAR on NBC
Now
then, have you noticed? It’s September; the Chase/Playoffs/Whatever have
started and it’s time to be excited. At least that’s what the folks on my TV
tell me. So why am I not excited? Why am I not chomping at the bit in
anticipation of the nine races left? I think it’s because I’m old and remember
a time when we did get excited… not for some sham of a playoff when we’re only
playing off against ourselves… but for the end of the season and the crowning
of a real Champion.
I
recall one year especially, 1991. As we got to this time of year, one driver
seemed imbued with new strength and determination. Harry Gant, at age 51, won
consecutive races at Darlington, Richmond, Dover and Martinsville. In the next
race, he led 350 laps of the 400-lap distance at North Wilkesboro before losing
his brakes and having Dale Earnhardt slip by him for the win. Harry was second.
There was all manner of screaming and cheering for 51-year-old Handsome Harry
and buttons were circulated among NASCAR fans that read, “Life begins at 51!”
That dear race fans, was FUN! No, Harry didn’t take the Championship. He
finished 4th behind Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd and Davey Allison.
You see, back then, just getting hot at the “right time” as they say today,
wasn’t enough. The Latford point system sought for and rewarded consistency.
Today, it all boils down to the winner at Homestead. Check that… it doesn’t
even have to be a winner. The eligible “field” is down to four at Homestead and
the highest finishing of those 4 is somehow called our season Champion. All I
see that giving us is a Homestead Champion, sort of. This scribe is far more
into a Champion of all 36 races, and may the best man win!
We’ve
all heard talk about or even watched a replay of the finale at Atlanta Motor
Speedway in 1992. That was the race I’ve described as “A Defining Moment” and
it truly was, in so many ways. It was the final race for the “King”, Richard
Petty, and the very first race for a youngster named Jeff Gordon. Going into
the race, there were SIX drivers with a chance to take the Championship… Davey
Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Bill Elliott, Harry Gant, Kyle Petty and Mark Martin.
Guess maybe next week I’ll haul that one out and freshen it up for another run.
It’s one that I never entrusted to the Lady in Black. That one was all
PattyKay. It was fun writing it and fun remembering. It’s the perfect example
of why we don’t NEED Playoffs to choose a NASCAR Champion. No phony “Game seven
moment” created to simulate excitement can ever equal the real thing. Guess I’m
one of the lucky ones. I’ve seen the real thing.
Today,
the excitement seems to center entirely on the TV screen, with folks shoving
microphones in front of the faces of drivers that are not in the best of moods
after not performing up to par in the race du jour. Allow me to establish
something before continuing. Kyle Busch is probably the single best driver in
NASCAR today. Deal with it! That’s just fact. Sadly, he is also the nastiest
tempered driver this scribe has ever seen. Listening to him doing interviews
after any race, even if he won, can be unpleasant at best. When he didn’t win,
like this past week, no one wants to hear that constant whine! He was quite
honest in stating that he was only there so as not to get fined. Most of the
drivel that escapes his lips in times such as that, no one wants to hear, so
why bother? Just let him go to his motorhome and pout quietly.
Everything
that went wrong in the race was someone else’s fault… according to Kyle. The
final straw was an unfortunate, and apparently unnecessary meeting of bumpers
between KB and young Garrett Smithley. If I can work
my magic, here’s a video of what happened.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1173431232698441729
Clearly,
the #24 of William Byron, directly ahead of Busch’s #18, got around the slower
car by going to the low side. Busch claims he expected Smithley
to go high, so he drove directly into his rear bumper because the youngster
held his line, as they are instructed to do when the leaders are passing. Had
Busch merely followed Byron, there would have been no problem. The only problem
I see here is that Busch hit him because he never tried to avoid doing so.
You be
the judge and tell me how you see it. Right now, I want to duck back to the
discussion about the “Chase for No Sponsorship” as my alter ego, The Lady in
Black so adequately described it. On Tuesday your scribe was dragged rather unwillingly
into a discussion on that subject, during which I and several friends were
informed that the “Majority” of fans are in favor of the Chase/Playoffs, so
therefore our opinions were all wrong and didn’t count. Has anyone out there
seen any proof of this supposed “Majority” regarding who it consists of and
where they are? As close as we got was a veiled reference to the NASCAR Fan
Council. I know a great number of folks on that council, and a great many more
that used to be but left in disgust. If you, dear readers, can come up with a
convincing reference on that then I’ll shut up and go quietly… but the key word
there is “convincing.” Among all my friends, I think I know 2 that find merit
in the phony playoffs… and one was my partner on this website… but you could
never be sure with Jim. His favorite game was playing Devil’s advocate and
having fun while doing it.
OK,
that’s enough grumbling for today. Let’s get right to our Classic Country
Closeout, which this week features my all-time favorite Country entertainer,
Red Foley! This episode played on Christmas Eve, 1955. Please enjoy this
Christmas party in September.
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay