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Darlington In The Rearview And Richmond Right Up The Road
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I
bid you welcome gentle readers, and of course, a warm welcome to our assigned
reader of all things NASCAR. We do hope you enjoy your time with us. We’re
really quite harmless here, you know. We love to go racing and we love our
racers. That’s what fans are all about.
Did everyone enjoy the Southern 500, now back home in Darlington where it always should have been? I did, to be sure! I loved seeing all those Retro paint schemes racing on the “Lady in Black” while listening to the voices of Ned Jarrett and Ken Squier call the race for me. Yes, I guess that Ken made a couple of mistakes, but considering the fact that he doesn’t know any of those kids on the track today from Adam, that is understandable. Hey, Ken in his heyday was prone to a mistake or 6 while calling a race. It was still great to hear him again, and Ned too! Dale, we did notice that you backed away from your mic for much of the segment given over to the older generation. That was thoughtful and appreciated, just so you know. Thanks!
Another thing I enjoyed immensely was hearing Tanya Tucker sing our National Anthem, though I’ve heard a couple of complaints about her southern accent. Get a grip! This was the Southern 500, and that little Texas gal is about as Southern as it gets! Once upon a time, there was no “Voice”, no “America’s Got Talent” and even no “American Idol.” As an old song says, “Those were the days my friend.” Yes, those were the days when NASCAR was a southern sport, populated by southern drivers on the track and for the most part, southern fans in the stands. Darlington was a throwback to that time, and what would be more fitting than to have a gal endowed with a great husky voice intone “The Star Spangled Banner” with a deep southern accent? Once upon a time, the Anthem sounded like that almost every week as it was sung by folks that might have been our neighbors, not by some “Widely acclaimed singing sensation”, and coincidentally, one that happens to have a new recording coming out this week.
This race… this throwback we witnessed this past weekend… was probably the best actual “race” that most reading this can remember, not counting Watkins Glen. In this case, “most” does not include fans in my general age bracket, as we’ve been around longer than dirt and we’ve seen so much that the youngsters will never be allowed to see… some of it wonderful and some of it very sad… but we saw it, we lived it and we loved most of it!
Congratulations to Cousin Carl for making an astonishing recovery from 2 laps down to take the lead on the final caution of the many that flew Sunday night, setting a new record in that perhaps undesired category, with 18 caution flags taking up 89 laps of the 367 laps run. It’s funny, but one of our writers on Race Fans Forever pointed out that among all of us, we had picked every Joe Gibbs driver but Carl Edwards. Ahem… so much for “experts” I guess.
All in all, this fan would say that the low downforce setup (As I keep saying, “packages” are for UPS. Cars have setups) was an instant and all-around hit, with or without the special tires. We saw lots and lots of passing, all through the pack; we also saw lots of spinning as the tires began to wear out, most of them harmless one-car spins or wrecks if the wall became involved. It was everything one would hope a Southern 500 would be… and lest I be criticized for omitting them… Bo-Jangles! There, the race sponsor has been mentioned. I’m a good little NASCAR fan!
Oh yes, and harkening back to those “walls” for just a moment, I have something to share with you gentle readers. On the day before the race, Darlington Raceway released a news brief saying that they had added 4600 feet of SAFER barriers to the track by protecting both the back and front straightaways. Here’s a peek at what the track should look like now. I just love it when we can add green to these maps!
Did everyone enjoy the Southern 500, now back home in Darlington where it always should have been? I did, to be sure! I loved seeing all those Retro paint schemes racing on the “Lady in Black” while listening to the voices of Ned Jarrett and Ken Squier call the race for me. Yes, I guess that Ken made a couple of mistakes, but considering the fact that he doesn’t know any of those kids on the track today from Adam, that is understandable. Hey, Ken in his heyday was prone to a mistake or 6 while calling a race. It was still great to hear him again, and Ned too! Dale, we did notice that you backed away from your mic for much of the segment given over to the older generation. That was thoughtful and appreciated, just so you know. Thanks!
Another thing I enjoyed immensely was hearing Tanya Tucker sing our National Anthem, though I’ve heard a couple of complaints about her southern accent. Get a grip! This was the Southern 500, and that little Texas gal is about as Southern as it gets! Once upon a time, there was no “Voice”, no “America’s Got Talent” and even no “American Idol.” As an old song says, “Those were the days my friend.” Yes, those were the days when NASCAR was a southern sport, populated by southern drivers on the track and for the most part, southern fans in the stands. Darlington was a throwback to that time, and what would be more fitting than to have a gal endowed with a great husky voice intone “The Star Spangled Banner” with a deep southern accent? Once upon a time, the Anthem sounded like that almost every week as it was sung by folks that might have been our neighbors, not by some “Widely acclaimed singing sensation”, and coincidentally, one that happens to have a new recording coming out this week.
This race… this throwback we witnessed this past weekend… was probably the best actual “race” that most reading this can remember, not counting Watkins Glen. In this case, “most” does not include fans in my general age bracket, as we’ve been around longer than dirt and we’ve seen so much that the youngsters will never be allowed to see… some of it wonderful and some of it very sad… but we saw it, we lived it and we loved most of it!
Congratulations to Cousin Carl for making an astonishing recovery from 2 laps down to take the lead on the final caution of the many that flew Sunday night, setting a new record in that perhaps undesired category, with 18 caution flags taking up 89 laps of the 367 laps run. It’s funny, but one of our writers on Race Fans Forever pointed out that among all of us, we had picked every Joe Gibbs driver but Carl Edwards. Ahem… so much for “experts” I guess.
All in all, this fan would say that the low downforce setup (As I keep saying, “packages” are for UPS. Cars have setups) was an instant and all-around hit, with or without the special tires. We saw lots and lots of passing, all through the pack; we also saw lots of spinning as the tires began to wear out, most of them harmless one-car spins or wrecks if the wall became involved. It was everything one would hope a Southern 500 would be… and lest I be criticized for omitting them… Bo-Jangles! There, the race sponsor has been mentioned. I’m a good little NASCAR fan!
Oh yes, and harkening back to those “walls” for just a moment, I have something to share with you gentle readers. On the day before the race, Darlington Raceway released a news brief saying that they had added 4600 feet of SAFER barriers to the track by protecting both the back and front straightaways. Here’s a peek at what the track should look like now. I just love it when we can add green to these maps!
*Standing Ovation!* That looks markedly
improved! They say those inside corners are next. Great job on Darlington, Chip
Wile! Thank you so much for hearing the fans and doing what is needed. Soon
you’ll be joining Daytona and Michigan as tracks that have fully complied with
“SAFER Barriers Everywhere!”
I’m sure that I’ve overlooked a hundred things having to do with the Southern 500’s return to Darlington on Labor Day weekend, only because it gave me such a great time, watching a great race. If you have things to add to the conversation, please feel free to do so, but for now, it’s time to look toward Richmond, coming up on Saturday night… another race that should be on Sunday… if I had my “druthers.”
Well, let’s go directly from the penthouse to the outhouse and take a look at the SAFER situation at Richmond.
I’m sure that I’ve overlooked a hundred things having to do with the Southern 500’s return to Darlington on Labor Day weekend, only because it gave me such a great time, watching a great race. If you have things to add to the conversation, please feel free to do so, but for now, it’s time to look toward Richmond, coming up on Saturday night… another race that should be on Sunday… if I had my “druthers.”
Well, let’s go directly from the penthouse to the outhouse and take a look at the SAFER situation at Richmond.
Gentle
readers, just as in April, there is far too much red on this map and not nearly
enough green. I have searched everywhere I can think to search, including the
RIR site, Jayski.com and Google. The latter did come through with the fact that
the little inside backstretch where you see green was done in 2011. The outside
corners were done in 2004, most likely due to the horrific crash of Jerry
Nadeau in turn one in 2003… but maybe not. Because of lack of availability,
tracks were still erecting their initial installation of SAFER barriers in 2004
following the death of Dale Earnhardt. That backstretch took all of 900’ of
SAFER. Darlington, as noted above, just added 4600’ to their track!
Dennis Bickmeier, are you listening Sir? It has been encouraging to see the cooperation coming from many of the ISC tracks in adding SAFER barriers to everywhere that a car could go. As they keep on proving, those cars can go places we would never have guessed. With that being the case, the current suggestion is SAFER barriers everywhere!
Again, I hasten to reiterate that if anyone knows of any SAFER barriers on this track… or any of the others… that do not show on the map corresponding to the track, please let us know. The maps on Google Earth are of varying ages, and some give no imagery dates at all. We do our very best to come up with the latest info, but we’re not perfect… and neither are any of these track owners and managers. As fans that care, we only want to get everyone on the same page, and that page, which is making me sound like a broken record, is SAFER barriers everywhere!
This Richmond track has been the scene of some horrendous crashes, two of which I showed on these pages in April, and before another wreck might prove fatal, we’d like to see those SAFER barriers in place and protecting our drivers. If Daytona, Michigan and Darlington can do it, so can you Mr. Bickmeier! Richmond is a small track in comparison to any of those mentioned. They could afford it. You simply can’t afford not to erect those SAFER barriers… or the next wreck(s) will be on your conscience for a lifetime.
Dennis Bickmeier, are you listening Sir? It has been encouraging to see the cooperation coming from many of the ISC tracks in adding SAFER barriers to everywhere that a car could go. As they keep on proving, those cars can go places we would never have guessed. With that being the case, the current suggestion is SAFER barriers everywhere!
Again, I hasten to reiterate that if anyone knows of any SAFER barriers on this track… or any of the others… that do not show on the map corresponding to the track, please let us know. The maps on Google Earth are of varying ages, and some give no imagery dates at all. We do our very best to come up with the latest info, but we’re not perfect… and neither are any of these track owners and managers. As fans that care, we only want to get everyone on the same page, and that page, which is making me sound like a broken record, is SAFER barriers everywhere!
This Richmond track has been the scene of some horrendous crashes, two of which I showed on these pages in April, and before another wreck might prove fatal, we’d like to see those SAFER barriers in place and protecting our drivers. If Daytona, Michigan and Darlington can do it, so can you Mr. Bickmeier! Richmond is a small track in comparison to any of those mentioned. They could afford it. You simply can’t afford not to erect those SAFER barriers… or the next wreck(s) will be on your conscience for a lifetime.
Time now for our Classic
Country Closeout, and today we’ll be listening to the sometimes slightly
off-key but always lovable and talented showman, Ernest Tubb. By now you’ve
figured out that I seldom play the biggest hits, but when I was just a lass of
13, still in grammar school, this was on the “B” side of my 45 rpm recording of
Ernest’s biggest hit, “Walking the Floor Over You.” Here then is “Try
Me One More Time.”
Next up is one of my
all-time favorites from Ernest. This is “Let’s Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello.” I
should probably apologize for the video being a bit off sync with the music,
but this is the rendition I grew up loving… and old song from a young Ernest
Tubb.
This one is a “fun” song
from the days of WWII. How many ad slogans can you identify from the lyrics?
Here’s Mr. Tubb having lots of fun with “So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed.”
Oh dear, I’ve done it
again! I have so many recordings by Ernest, and it’s impossible to play them
all, so I must exercise some self-restraint. (Note from Jim: "Self-Restraint" is NOT five videos! Just Sayin'...) Here’s another oldie but goodie
from the man with the record shop. This one is called “Throw Your Love My Way.”
And in closing, here’s a
real tear-jerker from long, long ago. This one is called “Yesterday’s Tears.” I
hope you’ve enjoyed my choices today. If not, well, we’ll do it all again next
time.
Be
well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay