Some Facts Are Indisputable and Some Folks Enjoy Being Unhappy
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I bid
you welcome gentle readers, and this is one of those times when I wish this
column ran on Monday, not on Friday. However, after thinking that over, Monday
was filled with a few hundred of journalism’s finest (?) stating their
self-proclaimed infallible statements of how things went on the weekend. Most
fell far short of the mark, in this journalist’s humble opinion, and this
attempt no doubt will leave something unsaid and some readers wanting as well.
So be it. “Pobody’s nerfect!”
(Ron Felix, if you’re reading, it reads exactly as I intend it to read.J)… Ron was my “Boss” and editor at Insider Racing News
many years ago. I tease him that the only thing he ever edited for me was that
phrase… Pobody’s nerfect,
and killed the whole joke.
Let’s
start it off with some indisputable facts. Kurt Busch won the Daytona 500. Deal
with it and get over it! When the winning car crosses that start/finish line,
the race is over, and all of the “ifs, ands or buts” in the world will not
change the outcome. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Move on to
Atlanta and cheer your favorite there, but for now zip those lips. Daytona is
in the history books.
Next
indisputable fact… NASCAR racing, at all 3 levels, has some new rules. They
were tested this past weekend at all 3 levels and everyone survived. The only
problem this scribe found, and it seemed to permeate through all 3 races, was
the unseen and therefore untrusted 5-minute clock. In our ideal sport (so I’m
told), the NFL, they show both time clock and play clock. NASCAR, it’s not too
much to ask that you do the same. Our races are not timed, but repairs now are.
Show the clock and play fair.
The
most prevalent fan complaint by far was exactly “When” that clock does or
should start. I’m on the side of those asking that it start when the car enters
its pit on pit road. In a few instances… and none of the races this past
weekend lacked for instances for testing the new rules… it seemed that the
clock started and pit road remained closed for a lap or two after we were told
a car was on the timer. That does not compute. Give it a tweak on that point
and make a lot of fans happier campers.
There
is one point in the damaged car rule that your scribe doesn’t understand. That
is the inability of a team to add new “sheet metal” to a damaged car. In my
last offering, we discussed the fact that a car that damages a splitter is
automatically out of the running, as it cannot be replaced in 5 minutes. Upon
further review, that may not be the case. The rule, as explained several times
over the weekend, only says you have 5 minutes on pit road to get it back up to
minimum speed… which doesn’t equate to race speed. Then, you can come back to
pit road without further recriminations and stay the afternoon if so desired.
OK, if you say so…
Even
so, it’s illegal to weld or pop-rivet a replacement part on the car… so under
that part of what almost seems self-contradictory, you can’t replace that
splitter… or a hood that’s lost its pins… or a fender torn off by another car…
or anything else. You can rebend or remold with a
sledge hammer to your heart’s content, but you cannot put a working and/or
serviceable part on the car instead. Which type of repair is more likely to
keep debris off the track? Your call; I know what my answer is.
I read
an interesting fact this morning. Two long red flags, one in the Xfinity race
and another in the Cup race, were caused when splitters became embedded in the
SAFER barrier. It seems to this scribe those now well-hidden but still present
little buggers are causing far more trouble than they’re worth. Why not just
scrap the splitters altogether? While we’re at it, why not raise up those front
ends and lose the fender skirts as well? Get the cars up off the track and
watch the aero-push grow less or even disappear. That gentle readers, is yet
another indisputable fact.
The one
“rule” that wasn’t tested over the three days of racing is the one I questioned
last week because of the severity of the punishment… that little almost hidden
bit about too many men over the wall and you can pack up and go home. That one
still seems to me to be more punishment than the offense calls for. Laps down,
I’m OK with. We get the idea… don’t do that or you’ll regret it… but out of the
race? Nope, there is still some ‘splainin’ to do on
that one.
Now
then, because it’s what I don’t get paid a plug nickel to do, I’d like to share
some of my observations of things your scribe found disturbing over Speedweeks
at Daytona, and right there is the first thing. It is SPEEDWEEKS! Take “Daytona
Day” and bury it wherever you dug it up! Boardrooms don’t make sports better
and have no business attempting to name things in any sport. Our sport is older
than anyone in those boardrooms, and folks in New York City (!?!) don’t
have a clue what to call something that has deep roots in the Deep South. Most
folks down here would rather watch the Green fly over Daytona than the Ball
drop in Times Square, and that’s the truth! We have parties and gatherings
where bunches of us get together to watch the Daytona 500, but it’s about that
Daytona 500 and never once have we called it “Daytona Day.” We know what it’s
about; don’t try to educate us or change our way of celebrating. We are race
fans… not “Day” fans. The race is the Daytona 500; always has been; always will
be… “The Great American Race!”
My
biggest disappointment of the entire weekend was the attitude(s) of some
supposed “fans.” The atmosphere was far too negative throughout the weekend,
but really crowned during the Daytona 500. Complaints were rampant about
dislike for the 5-minute clock, the damage rules… all parts of it, the segments
or “Stages” as we’re supposed to call ‘em, and probably a Mother-in-law or two
tossed in as well… all the fault of NASCAR’s new rules, which most times went
undefined. “I just don’t like ‘em!”
Once
again, here are the facts… on all three days, what caused the delays or the
fact that your favorite driver wasn’t out there wrecking again was not the
new rules… it was the carelessness or outright stupidity of some of the nuts
behind the steering wheels. On Sunday, one driver, whom I’ve always been fond
of, was the cause of not one, but two long delays, and no, he shall not remain
nameless. Jamie McMurray, I’m looking at you and asking, WHAT were you
thinking? One would have thought you’d learn after the first time just how wide
your car is and how small a space you cannot put it into. One would have been
wrong!
None of
the rules caused the long cautions or far too abundant red flags. Every time,
the cause was driver error. Every fan, as mentioned, was mad, disgusted or
distraught by something different, but the mood of the day seemed to be
complain, complain, and complain. At one point, I told a couple of my gentle
readers to write to Brian France, as I don’t get to make the rules… nor does he
pay much attention to what I suggest. One of the ultimate statements came from
someone I really don’t know, that wrote to suggest that it “Wasn’t fair to the
fans to have a favorite driver removed from the race.” FAIR TO THE FANS? Is
that why they race… to be fair to the fans? Sometimes, some folks jut confound
me with such convoluted thinking… fair to the fans? Which fans would that be?
Every one of them seemed to want something different! No one… not me, not Brian
France… hell, not even God can please them all, all the time… because they all
want something different.
And
then Monday morning, came the perfect closer for this article. Someone posted how
stupid the new rules are… and then went on to brag about how he never turned
the TV on all weekend and didn’t watch a minute of any of the three races. So…
oh gentle readers, that shot would be SO easy to take, but I’ll just let it
hang there. There are times when I feel sorry for anyone named Brian France.
There are times when I even feel sorry for anyone named PattyKay Lilley…
because some people are just never happy unless they are unhappy, and neither
of us can fix that.
Time
now for out Classic Country Closeout and this week your scribe has chosen to
entertain you with the distaff side of the Grand Ole Opry. This is a DVD simply
titled “Queens of Country.” I do hope you enjoy the wonderful music and
memories these Grand Ladies of the Grand Ole Opry bring you today.
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay