but it appears the box is a little too small to give the teams room to work.
I’ve read several articles and readers questions regarding NA$CAR switching to Ethanol. Be careful what you ask for. Here’s the deal. Corn based Ethanol takes one and a half times the energy to produce as it delivers, with less efficiency, to the engines. It also takes a huge amount of water to produce where many areas of the nation are suffering water shortages. Ethanol, while water based, can not be sent through pipe lines and must be trucked to its distribution points, further raising costs. The requirement for the corn to make this terrible product has increased the price of corn with sad results. The cost of beef will be driven up along with milk, eggs, and chickens and on and on. Brazil uses sugar cane for their Ethanol but high tariffs limit it’s importation to the US. Without federal subsidies, pure ethanol fuel would be well over $5 a gallon. Pure ethanol requires a whole different engine and fuel system approach as many boaters have found out. I’ve found, from personal experience, that 10% ethanol gas drops my mileage about 15%. The bottom line is we don’t need the stuff. We have enough untapped oil reserves in the US to last us well over two hundred years if the eco nuts and politicians would allow us to drill for it. There is no oil shortage but a lack of refining capability and the will to find new sources. Nuclear power would be a great source of energy free of the supposed dreaded carbon emissions. Wind and solar power can’t begin to meet our demands on a national basis. What happens when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. Ethanol doesn’t provide answers but does create problems worse than fossil fuels and the push for it is purely political.
How fast is fast enough? Do we need cars approaching 200MPH at Texas, Atlanta, Darlington or any where? Can’t we race just as well, if not better, at 150MPH? Everyone seems to be complaining that, due to aero, even with the new cars, the only place to be is out front in clean air. There are several ways to resolve this problem. We can reduce engine size to cut horsepower. We can take the splitter off and let more air under the car so that it has to be driven instead of steered through the corners. We can stop the taping off of the grilles and control the airflow behind them instead of the front of them. I well remember the old roadsters that raced at Indy at 150MPH back in the fifties. They were exciting and easier to follow. The rear-engined upside down wings that Jimmy Clark brought to Indy was the forerunner of 200MPH plus speeds and less competitive racing. Our guys are running supposed street cars at the 200MPH range and aero dependence takes precedence over drivers and the fans having fun with side by side racing, framin' and bamin'. The aero dependence is still there and we are seeing way too much single file, hug the white line, save the car, watch the leader pull away type of competition today. It’s time to slow them down. Racing isn’t all about speed as much as driving skill and car control.
Do the drivers need to unionize? Not in my book. Unions in their original concept of ensuring fair pay, work standards and safety standards did much to improve and ensure the American way of life. Once they achieved their main goals then other factors came into play, mostly corruption of the union leadership. They made it nearly impossible to fire incompetent workers. They made demands for side benefits that often times exceeded their actual wages. The end result is the loss of our textile and steel industries. Union demands on our Big Three auto makers raised the final prices too high to compete against the foreign imports. All you Toy lovers that praise the fact they are Made in America fail to mention their plants being built in right to work states without unions to drive up their costs. Sure, many of our domestic cars are built or assembled in Canada and Mexico but it isn’t because the manufacturers are disloyal to America or their workers but more a fact that a strong union made the workers disloyal to their employer. They were driven there in order to try and compete in a market they once owned. If you think our racing is suffering now then wait until the drivers unionize. Fuhgidaboudit. Tony’s outburst at Atlanta had a far bigger impact than any union rep could dream of. The drivers aren’t about to go on strike and lose their gravy train that provides them with luxury motor homes, multiple residences, airplanes and the good life. Difficult sponsorships would become even harder to obtain.
Enough with this points swapping nonsense. Kyle Petty is out of the top thirty five and there are numerous rumors about him taking Bobby Labonte’s points or bringing Terry Labonte out of retirement. Jamie McMurray dropped out of the top thirty five and rumors abound that Roush may pull a switch within his five teams as Kenseth is a past champion. Sam Hornish barely made the cutoff and one bad race, like at Martinsville, and he’ll be in deep doo doo. If, in fact, owner points are swapped to keep a non competitive driver in the races then swap cars. Does DeWalt want McMurray in their car? I doubt it. So long as the senseless top thirty five rule remains in force then it’s only fair that the only way to gain entry to it is by racing their way in. The bottom line for the Pigtail is he’s simply no longer competitive. Just like his Dad and DW, he’s hung in too long and is no longer a credit to his family name, himself or our sport. When Kyle drove for Felix Sabates I was a huge fan but his recent performance simply doesn’t warrant respect. Do away with the past champion provisional and make it the Defending Champion provisional. Terry needs to stay home and enjoy his family and free time.
The sad part about the current state of CA$HCAR is the focus has devolved from racing to money. It’s all about the big bucks. It started with NA$CAR’s demands on the TV monies and the Official Butt Wipe promo crap. We lost our standard starting time of 1PM EST and let the TV suits dictate later start times. In between, the team owners, always whining about the cost of racing, spend money like drunken sailors; wind tunnel testing, pull down rigs, shaker rigs, engineers, shock specialists and on and on. Instead of building race shops they now build palaces and have at least two mega buck haulers per team for test and race teams. Sponsorship became vital to their survival and up and coming teams and drivers simply
were priced out of competition. Even established
teams like Bud Moore, The Woods Brothers and
Morgan McClure were forced out or are on the
verge of closing shop. Everyone seems to have
forgotten their roots of back yard shops with dirt
floors but a lot of heart. Seat of the pants, dirty
finger nail racers no longer exist in today’s upper
levels of motor sports. It’s now an image driven
sport where acting is as important, if not more
so, than actual driving abilities. The day of a
Ricky Rudd or Jimmy Spencer and their Dads
building a race car from junk yard parts no longer
exists. Teams showing up at the track with cars
being towed or on open wheel trailers are long
gone. How can Rick Hendrick employ over 550
people to build and support four race teams? It has become a case of how much is too much. All major sports have limits on the number of team members but there is no cap on how many a NA$CAR owner can employ. Competition forces them to hire more and more to do less and less. The costs escalate as does the bitching about how much it costs to go racing. There is plenty of blame to go around and, sadly, I see no way to rein it in and return to basics.
This is my opinion based on my observations. You may disagree but not be disagreeable.
God bless and take care of those little ones. Never forget 911.
Mom, Apple Pie, John Wayne and NASCAR Racin. Now that’s America
Want to chat with other race fans about this article and other NASCAR stuff?
Have something you want to express...email us here to submit an article.
Go visit our home page, called appropriately The Pits & check out our photos & pages. Our most popular page; Race Recon is where you get all the info you need to go to the races including local camping, hotels, bars, restaurants, tracks, golf & other important race weekend information. We also have attending a NASCAR Race tips, tailgating tips & recipes, stories, trivia, quotes & more! While you are surfing see if you are a REAL RACE FAN. Be sure to read the Fan Fables, LAIDBACK RACING’S adventures with the tailgating race fan at NASCAR tracks.
