Leaving Daytona And Headed For Atlanta
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I bid
you welcome gentle readers, especially those returning after a long winter’s
nap called hibernation… or race deprivation… your choice. We also offer a warm
welcome to the person assigned to keep us on the straight and narrow where
racing in concerned. I’d say that only applies to drag racing; we’re stock car
fanatics and make turns… mostly left, but we’re adaptable. In any case, I do
hope everyone enjoys the visit today. We’ll be talking about all the expected
stuff, though we usually manage to do it in the most unexpected way.
The
2016 Daytona 500 is in the record books and is now part of history, as we drive
up the road a piece to Atlanta Motor Speedway, located in the seemingly ever-soggy
state of Georgia… but we’ll return to Atlanta in a bit. First, let’s talk a
little about Daytona and the race just run on Sunday.
As
restrictor plate races go, I’d give it a rating of so-so, but take that with a
grain of salt because that sort of racing might excite Brian France, but it’s a
parade interrupted by an occasional wreck to me. We’re already certain that
whatever “package” was applied to those beautiful rolling billboards on Sunday
did nothing to eliminate “aero-push”, though the announcers seemed careful not
to let that term escape their lips. Ah, but the ending you say, was worth
waiting for. Was it?
It was
nice that we were not treated to a “Big One” at Daytona, but the race ran 3
hours and 10 minutes and those last couple of “wild” (Well, for Matt Kenseth
anyway) laps took less than 5 of those minutes. How about, we just run the last
two laps and get all that excitement up front? Then we can all go on about our
Sunday and look forward to racing, this year at least, at a real track, with
the new low-downforce package and keep our fingers crossed that it works.
The
Daytona 500 did have a few “moments” for the thrill-seekers among us. Matt DiBenedetto took ROTY candidate and reigning Xfinity Champ Chris
Buescher into the wall on lap 91 and finished the day for both drivers. The
scariest for this old race fan was a trip through the grass for the newest star
on the NASCAR horizon, Chase Elliott. He got loose and lost the car, resulting
in a trip through the infield landscaping that ripped the front end of his NAPA
Chevy into pieces. We were told that the young driver lost consciousness for a
bit because the stop was so sudden when the splitter dug in, and all he hit was
grass!
We at
Race Fans Forever do commend Joie Chitwood and “Daytona International Stadium”
for stepping up to the plate with the installation of SAFER barriers everywhere
a car can go. The track now sets a shining example for other tracks on the
circuit as to how it should be done… and no track is too big to do it. No
track! Are you listening at Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Obviously, it is
“feasible” for a track that size… the same size as Daytona, 2.5-miles.
With
that said, the rumor before the race was that some of the grass had become
asphalt over the off-season. I believe that only included the patch that cost
Kyle Busch 11 weeks out of the 2015 schedule when he slid across it in last
year’s Xfinity race and hit concrete instead of SAFER. Joie, Lesa, someone…
please don’t listen to me; I’m merely an old lady that likes and knows her
racing. Listen to your drivers. To a man or woman, they are telling you that at
the speeds they travel, and with that splitter thing all but dragging the
ground, that grass is far less than safe. Save “pretty” for the facility, but
pave the grass. Paint it green if you like, but give the drivers what they ask
for; in this case, that would be a chance to finish the race. Along with young
Elliott, NASCAR favorites Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick, each of whom
took a wild slide for life across what could pass for a par-5 green on any golf
course before being “injected” into the infield wall would surely agree.
As to
the wisdom of allowing a young driver that has been rendered unconscious to go
back on the track without completing something akin to the NFL concussion
protocol testing… that should become a point of discussion for everyone
concerned. In older times, with older cars… the ones before the splitter…
neither the driver nor the car were as adversely affected by what used to be a
simple spin through the grass. (With a splitter, Dale Earnhardt would never
have completed that “Non-pass in the grass” in the 1987 “The Winston.”) The
contention here is that head injuries simply should never be the result of
grass. No ifs, ands or buts; that’s just stupidity, and it’s not on the part of
the driver.
Ah, but
how about that finish? That was the stuff dreams are made of, right? I’d say it
was the stuff that bumpers were made for! Thanks to some help from Kevin
Harvick behind him and the cojones to knock aside teammate Matt Kenseth, Denny
Hamlin squeezed out a victory over Martin Truex Jr. by .01 of a second. Folks,
the race wasn’t much to speak of, but they’ll speak of that finish for years to
come! We’ve got ourselves a new highlight reel!
Ever
since the race ended, I’ve seen clever articles on various sites, all
announcing something in the vein of “Joe Gibbs Racing is for Real”, or “JGR
Means Business.” Really? You just noticed that what right now is arguably the
best team in NASCAR, with 4 extremely impressive drivers and a kid named Erik
Jones waiting in the wings, is pretty good? If that were the best I could find
to waste ink on, I’d hold off for a better day. Of course they are good! They
are the best right now, but that can always change in a heartbeat. That’s why
we run 26 races. Why we run those other ten remains a mystery. It’s a “Brian
thing.”
Just
before we let Daytona fade from view in the rearview, we have to address a
couple of quick points that readers have written in about. I already took my
little “cheap shot” about calling Daytona a stadium. Call it what you like, but
the racing remained disappointingly the same old, same old restrictor plate
stuff.
Please,
someone look up the meaning of “injector.” I did… in a half-dozen different
dictionaries. Nowhere could I find a definition or synonym that comes even
close to meaning a door or gate of any kind. To be injected indicates force.
Are they holding passersby at gun point to make them enter the “stadium?”
Folks, words have meanings, and I promise you that other than a satire, you
will not read the word “injector” on these pages unless referring to fuel.
To
those offering derogatory thoughts about anyone named Waltrip, no, I don’t know
what they have on Brian France, but it must be big. This week, FOX went to the
extent of sharing with us some multi-lingual coverage of the end of the race.
One of the Hispanic gentlemen was really excited and yelling in words that most
did not understand, and I saw one headline state that he “lost it” in calling
the end of the race. Hasn’t anyone noticed that we have that weekly when FOX is
the broadcasting network? Gridwalk? Could we please
get Robin Miller on loan from Indy?
OK, I
think that covered most of the insults you’ve asked me to pass on concerning
Daytona. Now let’s move on to Atlanta, which has to be my home track even
though I’ve never been there. This was the one track we never covered last year
with the SAFER barrier maps, as that series first ran right after this race. At
that time, the Atlanta map was not impressive, but a lot has changed over a
year’s time, and I’m more than happy to say “Well done” to Ed Clark and company
at AMS for now being in almost complete compliance with the “SAFER Barriers
Everywhere” movement. (Note: This map was rendered by these two aged hands and
10 arthritic fingers. It’s as close to correct as I can make it)
Thanks Atlanta!
We hope
the first question on everyone’s mind is, “Why are we going to Atlanta in
February? Isn’t it still cold there?” It’s been the first question in this old
mind since the schedule came out and gave Atlanta what seemed like a death
sentence, as this old girl only has one spot left on the calendar. Atlanta, from
1960 until Bruton, was proud to be known as the “Perfect Oval”, and she was
just that. It was ½-mile through each set of turns and ¼-mile on each
straightaway… high banked, 5 lanes wide and faster than your ice cream melts in
July or your nose runs in allergy season. Now she’s another Charlotte clone and
her glory days lie behind her… but Kansas has 2 races.
It is
Tuesday as I type, and well past noon. I am well north of the track and well
north of the capital city of Atlanta, but I’m quite literate and can easily
attain weather forecasts for the track as well as for my back yard. It’s been
constant drizzle for days in Georgia, when it’s not outright pouring rain.
Today and tomorrow we are to have thunderstorms… some severe… which is almost
always added into our forecasts. A little spice has been added with the
possibility of tornadoes forming in some of those storms. That’s one of the
joys of living in the “Sunny Southland” but with temps holding in the 50s the
next couple of days, I doubt we see those anywhere but near the Gulf coast.
Friday,
Saturday and Sunday promise to be sunny and though not warm, not frigid either.
Highs will range from 50s well into the 60s… or so it says on Tuesday. It looks
as though we can count this year as prayers answered, and go on to pray for a
schedule change that might be kinder to this venerable old lady once known as
Atlanta International Raceway. (Bruton has this thing about calling all of his
tracks “Speedways”, thereby keeping the acronym of Speedway Motorsports Inc.
relevant. SMI are the first three letters of Smith. Vanity, thy name is
Bruton.)
In
closing, our congratulations to Denny Hamlin, winner of the 58th
running of the Daytona 500, and condolences to Martin Truex Jr., who came in
second by .01 of a second. That has to sting, but Atlanta looms on the horizon…
And now
it’s time for our Classic Country Closeout. Last week, we played a request for
some of Hank Williams Sr.’s recordings done as “Luke the Drifter”, of which
almost all were sad tales, to be sure. Hank wrote and sang a whole lot of sad
songs that make one wonder what his life was like behind closed doors… but he
also did some really upbeat and quite humorous pieces, and today our focus will
be on those.
First
up we’ll hear one of my all-time Hank favorites, a little ditty called “Settin’ the Wood on Fire.”
Next,
we see and hear Hank as a victim of love as he performs “Howlin’
at the Moon” as only he could.
In this
number, Hank takes on the persona of a Cajun lover of both lady and food as he
gives us “Jambalaya.”
You
won’t find love the theme of this one. It’s a real, true-to-life tale of “Fly
Trouble” to which we can all relate.
Finally,
I’m going to do it again. This seems like two songs, but listen closely and
you’ll find that Hank cheated a bit and he got two for one when he did “Move
it on Over” and “Mind Your Own Business.”
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay