Thank God for the SAFER Barriers and Other Varied Thoughts
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I bid
you welcome gentle readers, and a cordial “Howdy” to our assigned reader of all
things NASCAR today. It’s Tuesday afternoon as I pull up to the keyboard, all
ready to reflect upon the race at Pocono last Sunday. Yes, there was a race at
Pocono. The first thing I must say is that in the time that we were going to
races there, they were still 500 miles in length and that race started at 12:10
sharp. In those days, drivers were already in their cars and as the last notes
of the Anthem faded out, the command was given to start engines, hence the old
joke about “Gentlemen, start your engines” being the last four words of the
National Anthem. Someone was smarter back then. It takes a long time to run 500
miles. Today, the races there are only 400 miles, but now we have stages… a
couple of competition cautions with points attached, which for some reason seem
to necessitate many laps wasted under a yellow thrown for no reason other than
to show the viewers at home a string of almost eternal commercials. Even with
that reserved time, NBCSN somehow managed to miss a dramatic pass for the lead
by Kevin Harvick who had come from starting back in 29th, though he
had the fastest time in qualifying.
It was
that sort of day most of the way through. Starting the race 10 minutes short of
3:00 in the afternoon was probably fine for the folks on the left coast, but
for those of us here in the east, it meant supper was “fashionably late” at
around 7:00. Just like in the Snickers ads, I get cranky when I’m hungry and am
forced to go without my supper because a race ends so late. Keep it up and this
cranky old lady may be joining a lot of my friends in that No-fan zone. This
scribe doesn’t care about being fashionable; only having my meals in a timely
fashion.
Reverting
back to Harvick starting 29th, the NASCAR room of doom was in full
kill-mode at Pocono. No less than 13 (THIRTEEN!) drivers were sent to the rear
of the class along with some heavy point and monetary penalties and the
beheading of a couple of car-chiefs. There were some very hefty names relegated
to starting out the back door. OK, I confess, it was kind of fun to watch the
best of them slice through the field like the proverbial hot knife through
butter. It was rather like the old days, when the field was inverted and the
best shall be last, behind all the rest. It took Harvick just 9 laps to crack
the top-10. Allow me to reiterate… 13 cars is a full 1/3 of the field!
Personally, I don’t really care about someone being 1/10,000th of a centimeter
out of tolerance, and I doubt anyone reading this does either. We’d rather see
the crew chiefs granted a little more leeway in operating in the grey areas. If
one team gets too far ahead, the rest will work more diligently and soon catch
up and even surpass. It keeps everyone on his toes and is far more enjoyable
for the fans… those that are left, that is.
Once
upon a time, there was a series known as IROC. (International Race of
Champions) The theory was to have all cars identical. IROC no longer exists,
for that very reason. When all cars are identical, it makes passing almost an
impossibility. No passing equals boring races. RIP IROC. Really gentlemen, is
that what we want for NASCAR? Keep heading down that dead-end road and the fate
is inevitable.
We must
revisit now, something that happened near the scheduled end of the race. Bubba
Wallace, the young driver of the iconic #43, lost his brakes heading into
Turn-1. Watching the slide through the grass, which has been likened to driving
on ice, picking up speed as it went, then making the turn toward the wall and
heading straight for it was terrifying. Bubba managed to get the wheels turned
left enough to hit the wall flush with the passenger-side door. It looked to be
a horrendous hit, and collective breaths were held until the window net finally
came down. The impact was great enough to crack the concrete wall BEHIND the
SAFER barrier! But… Bubba walked away, shaken and probably stirred as well, but
alive!
Those
that have known me for some time know that I’ve been an advocate for the SAFER
barrier system for as long as it’s been on the drawing board. Dr. Dean Sicking
and I are on a first-name basis and he has approved of every word I’ve written
about SAFER barriers. In 2015, following the Daytona crash that broke both of
Kyle Busch’s legs, I took my campaign public, presenting Google Maps of every
track as we came to it on the schedule, with the assistance of my then partner,
Jim Fitzgerald, who can actually get curved lines to look as though they were
on purpose, delineating where each track had SAFER and where it did not. At
that time, Pocono was one that didn’t have nearly enough coverage, but along
with “most” others, (Yes IMS, I’m looking at you) has vastly improved the
amount of the life-saving barriers. The walls there used to be “Boiler-plate.”
Back then, a hit such as that one would have necessitated a long red-flag delay
to repair the damage to the tin can that was Pocono. When your scribe saw that
window net come down, my first words, uttered aloud to no one but JoJo were,
“Thank God for the SAFER barrier!”
Kevin
Harvick was a pleasure to watch come through the entire field twice from back
to front… the second time thanks to a little help from a friend… teammate Aric
Almirola, who hit him on pit road. Alas, between that and a lack of
cooperation from his pit crew, he was only able to make it back to 4th
place on the day. That worked out well for me, as no one in our little fantasy
game here on Race Fans Forever had the other 3, so I’m now in first place…
until after The Glen at least. Congratulations anyway to Kyle Busch, Daniel
Suarez and Alex Bowman.
This
was going to be what would no doubt have been a negative put-down of the
surprise Brian France call-in to SiriusXM radio a short time back. Forget that.
Brian said he's "locked and loaded." Let’s just leave it at that.
Instead,
it occurred to me that because of a full schedule of "stuff", I
neglected something very important after the race at Loudon. Your scribe made
it clear that Loudon is not on my favorite track list… even near the bottom.
BUT… credit where it's due. The following Wednesday night, relegated to a
smoldering rerun, I watched the Modified race that had run there the previous
Saturday. As I watched… and remembered my long ago youth, I realized that I was
seeing what made me a life-long race fan. In the Northeast, they called them
"stock cars" back in the 1950s, but I would later learn the
difference. What I watched back then and loved so much were the forerunners of
today's Modified cars.
As I
watched, I felt that old fire rekindle and I wanted more, more, more!!! The
Mods have for some reason fallen out of favor with the hierarchy of NASCAR.
They look down on them as poor cousins. Their only TV coverage today is as I
saw, days later, if at all. Mind you, I only knew a couple drivers in that
field, but that didn't matter. What I was seeing was racing as I remember it.
Intense! Thrilling! Multiple passes for the lead and for every other position
behind the leader. The camera didn't rest; it was constantly moving to catch
all the action.
In the
end, this tells me gentle readers, that what I've told you all along is spot
on. Racing is not dead nor will it die. However, that might not be true of
NASCAR stock car racing. That race proved to me that what I knew and loved as a
starry-eyed teen is not dead and gone. It is alive and well in the Whelen
Modified Series.
And
guess what! The elusive race broadcast has appeared on YouTube for your viewing
pleasure, should you be so inclined.
Now
that I’ve given you a full race to watch, it’s time now for our Classic Country
Closeout. Today, we have a live concert by the great Merle Haggard, performing
live at Church Street Station. It’s long, but the start time is noted on every
song, so if time is short you can pick and choose. Above all, please enjoy!
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay 