The White Cliffs of Dover ~ Delaware
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I bid
you welcome gentle readers, and a cordial nod of this old grey head to our
NASCAR reader today. Sunday’s race was at New Hampshire, and most likely a
fitting send-off to a very boring parade. The only real story on the day was
which Toyota would win? As it turned out, that came down to which of the two
best ones was in the wreck and which one missed it. Kyle Busch missed it and he
got the lobster, but Martin Truex Jr. fought and clawed his way back from Kevin
Harvick’s smoke screen to finish 5th on
the day, with a stage win for good measure.
Because
I find racing at that track so much less than exciting, I’m going to turn today
over to my alter-ego, the Lady in Black, as she takes us on a stroll down
Memory Lane, not to New Hampshire (She didn’t like it either), but to Dover, the
next race up on the schedule both then and now. This is from the 2004 September
race and for those with failing memories or have no clue what or whom she might
be talking about, you can find the full race recap right
here.
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Even
Jimmy who never forgets remembered on that day to practice what he preaches and
showed up with a full-faced helmet, just as he insists that his son wear. Way
to go
The
festivities got underway in a most delightful fashion, with the Southern
Delaware Youth Orchestra offering a wonderful rendition of God Bless America,
much to the delight of what at Dover is always a very patriotic crowd. That was
followed by Miss
When
the green flag waved, it was Jeremy May Be Fast leading the charge, with Friday
Ryan on his outside flank. That however, didn’t even last a lap, with
That
flag unfortunately, signaled the demise of Hurrikahne’s
engine and a very early retirement from battle for that brave soldier. (Oh yes,
he was on my fantasy card) There was quite a long
When
they restarted on lap 23, the order up front hadn’t changed much, since those
stalwarts remained at their post. It was Flyin’ Ryan
out in front of May Be Fast, Mutt Ken
At lap
33, Matt the Brat took over the lead from Flyin’ Ryan
and still held it at lap 48, when the second yellow rag flew as Brian Snickers
decided to practice doing doughnuts. He wound up hard into the not so SAFER
boilerplate wall before cascading down the track and into the waiting SAFER
barrier at the bottom, ending his day long before he’d planned. There was a
mass exodus from the track and through the swinging tavern doors as all but one
soldier decided it was Miller Time.
On the
restart at lap 56, the pylon showed Matt the Brat leading Flyin’
Ryan, the Blue Deuce, May Be Fast, and Jeffy’s
Mini-me. Once again, the restart was not exactly smooth, as the Pfizer Ri
Lap 107
saw Casey Merely bring his Target to the bar with a flat right front Goodyear
and at lap 119, we learned the reason that Matt the Brat had been passed so
easily on the track. He had
That
lasted about 13 minutes as the gladiators sat motionless on the track, bored
and thirsty. Finally, they let them roll again and at lap 124, everyone marched
into the bar for a cold Coors Lite. While all that was going on, the
They
finally got back to jousting on lap 128, with Flyin’
Ryan leading Jeffy’s Mini-me, the Blue Deuce, the
Busch League Kid, the Bud Stud and the Big Brown Truck. At that point, there
were 19 warriors still in the battle for the lead. Things
At lap
171, the fourth free round of beer was signaled by a yellow flag waving for
Of
course, every soldier in the field opted for a Bud break, but one of them, Jeffy’s Mini-me, received an invitation to come back to the
bar because Field Marshall Helton deemed that he had left his bar stool too
quickly.
They
restarted on lap 178, with the Penske Partners, Flyin’
Ryan and the Blue Deuce followed by the Busch League Kid, the Big Brown Truck,
Mark the Munchkin and the Bud Stud. The Busch League Kid took the lead briefly
at lap 185, but Flyin’ Ryan took it back about ten
laps later. By lap 238, Mark the Munchkin had moved all the way up to
At lap
245, the Blue Deuce stopped by the bar for an early beer and four tires, since
one of his was no longer round. Ten laps later, the chief Pit Bull for Jeremy
May Be Fast
Others
began to hit the bar at about the same time, starting a full round of green
flag beer breaks that would stretch over the next twenty-five laps. When
At lap
280, when everyone had been served, there were only 12 warriors still at the
front of the battle. They were Flyin’ Ryan, the Blue
Deuce, Mark the Munchkin, the Car with the Flames (Hadn’t seen him all
afternoon), Busch League Kid, Greg Baffled (nor him either), Candy Man, Bud
Stud, Jamie McCutey, Rickety Rudd, (WOW) Tony the
Temper (still feeling the effects of that front end damage from Rubby) and the Big Brown Truck. It didn’t take long before
that Alltel Rolling Phone booth was once again out in its own area code.
At lap
317, the Blue Deuce pitted early once again, this time to repair a right front
Goodyear that had completely come apart. I wonder how encouraging it was to Flyin’ Ryan when his chief pit bull informed him that his
last right front had showed signs of
Ten
laps later, the final Miller Time of the day was signaled by a yellow flag for
oil in turn four. Heck, any old excu
They
restarted on lap 336, but it got a bit hairy when Tony the Temper slid up the
track from sixth spot, stacking them up two and three wide behind him. Ahead of
all that, it was Flyin’ Ryan still flyin’ high, followed by the Munchkin, Flameboy, Busch
League and Baffled. Lap 343 saw
At the
end of the battle, only eight gladiators had survived to remain on the lead
lap, led to the checkered flag of course by a very deserving Flyin’ Ryan, who had led 325 of the 400 laps run and had
just flat outclassed the field. Tho
Flyin’
Ryan treated the spectators to a long session of doughnuts at the start/finish
line before doing a burnout to Victory Lane. Once there, he was welcomed with a
major bath of spray from
Mark
the Munchkin seemed well satisfied with his position as runner-up, allowing
that they had a great car all day long but “We didn’t have anything for that 12
car.” In fact, every one of the front-runners was quite happy to have been one
of them except
Umm,
Tony, has it occurred to you that the car wouldn’t have been damaged if you
hadn’t taken the bait and hit him? His car wasn’t worth diddley-squat
all day and he would have soon been out of your hair. On
That’s
exactly the way it was at Dover on Sunday. Would I lie to you?
~LIB
Gentle
readers, this week my heart is heavy. There are forces that attempt to tear
apart the world as I know it. I really don’t want to be a part of all that, but
apparently staying with racing, where I have always been, now makes me some sort
of racist. One nut case called me a bigot for defending my flag, country and
Anthem.
So be
it. I know well what that Anthem stands for and because of those many reasons,
I stand for it, with hand on heart and often a tear in my eye. I am grateful to
God that I was born and raised in America. Below are some Classic Country Stars
offering their renditions of songs very dear to this old heart.
In
closing, this is Jim Nabors, singing The Star Spangled Banner at the inaugural
Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 1994. Crowd estimated in excess of
350,000 that day. Every fan and every team are standing, hats off and hands on
hearts in honor of the American Flag. Long may she wave, oe’r
the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay