Mac promoting this ill conceived money grubbing play on emotions. As someone, who for many years, was "an anybody but Dale" fan I admit to weeping when he finally won the Big Race.
Now I weep at the disrespect shown this great man. This isn't respecting Dale but prostituting his fame for the almighty dollar. Is there no shame? Why didn't Richard bring a black 3 from his museum to pace the field? That would have the crowd on their feet.
One thing became overly obvious during practice, the Shootout, the Twins and Truck and Nationwide races. The track desperately needs repaving. It was last paved in 1979 and my rural home street has been repaved twice in that same period. With the money I$C takes in for Speed Weeks their failure to remedy the paving problem is criminal and inexcusable. If those bumps cause a Big One where someone is seriously injured or, dread the thought, killed will I$C's stinginess be worth the payoff?
As we enter the new season our drivers will be running for the Sprint Cup. The first thing I think of on hearing that is the Sprint cars. We were Nextel last year and before that, Winston Cup. What will we be next year when Sprint/Nextel goes belly up as they seem headed that way in a hurry? Why aren't we racing for the William France Cup presented by Sprint?
One thing the entrance of the Toys has done for me is change my rooting habits. While watching the Nationwide race I was rooting for Junior and I've never done that. Even though I disapprove all the Cup drivers being in the race it came down to the matter of who could beat Smoke to the checkered
flag. The Truck race had me rooting for Fords and Dodges to beat those dreaded top five Toys. Good on the Onion but horrors for us Americans who believe NASCAR should still mean what it once did as to being a National, not an international sport. I once rooted for Terrible Tony but his switch to the Toys, his weight gain and shaggy look is a total turn off against one of my home boys.
ESPN's NASCAR Now had a wonderful pre race brief history on Jimmy Johnson. I learned a lot about him that I never knew. Its obvious JJ wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he earned his way to his current status as a two time champ.
I believe it's pretty obvious to all long time NA$CAR fans, qualifying for the 500 sucks. The top 35 rule, once again, sent the ninth place qualifier home and allowed the cars qualifying outside the top forty to make the race. Since Daytona is unique in the way it sets the field for the 500, do away with the top 35 for this race at least. To have to run qualifying, the duels and have so many good cars sent home simply is wrong. When the same rule in the Nationwide Series allows over half the starting field to be slower than all the GOGH cars it's past time to reconsider this senseless rule. If King Brian thinks a certain number of owners need to be protected then reduce that number to the ten or twelve who make the also useless Chase. Thirty five is just too many to keep it fair for the lesser team’s chances to make any race.
During the Truck race I paid special attention Erin Crocker in her new Chevy ride. Near the end of the race she had worked her way up to seventh until the nine truck rooted her out of the way. Maybe she should have been closer to the yellow line but she was unmercifully bumped and had to go up the
track to save her truck and ended up fourteenth while the nine truck of rookie Marks finished eighth. Earlier in the race fingers were pointed at Kyle Busch for causing the big one, but it was clear to me that Skinner is the one at fault. Kyle drove this tail off with an ill handling Toy and finished second. While I don't care for his ride I can't help but be amazed at his ability.
Big heads up to one of our big advertisers. We NASCAR men don't go to the rest room so often because we need Flomax for BPH, it's because we drink too many beers. Where do these people get their ideas for their target marketing? Funny thing, within a week of my turning sixty five my mail box was flooded with flyers advertising various electric scooters, walkers and wheel chairs. Did I become a cripple that suddenly? The once cute NA$CAR promo featuring the giddy blonde in front of the jewelry store in her boyfriend's broken down car wasn't too bad the first thousand times but it
gets old after the ten thousandth airing.
Now for the Big Race itself. Surprise, surprise. The Dodges were pretty much counted out and here comes my home boy, Rocket Man Newman, for the win. Kyle Busch seemed to be the car to beat but couldn't get there at the end. It wasn't a good day to be a Hendrick car or driver as three out of the four were eliminated. Junior was the only one left running but he wasn't capable of his prior year’s dominance. Kudos to Robby Gordon for his eight place finish and Sam Hornish for his fifteenth place run. As mentioned before, the entrance of the Toys have changed my rooting habits and my rooting for a Dodge driven by Newman would not have happened last year. Look at me now. One final thought. Hey Pigtail, hang it up. You disgraced the Petty name by your usual poor showing. Put a driver in the car and quit being a road block to the real competitors.
As Daytona races go, I'll give this one a Kenny
Schrader one and a half thumbs up. The pre race
show and the Anthem were well done. It was
good to see Chubby Checker still twisting away
and Kool and The Gang celebrating. Brooks and
Dunn sang two songs that touched the foundation
of our sport. The biggest problem was running the
vintage racers around the track during the
musical portion of the show. More attention
should have been shown the cars we haven't
seen on the tracks for oh so many years. They
did pull Dale's black number 3 out from under the
pre race stage but I never saw it on the track. I
also never saw the lap three pit crew members
three fingers in the air.
This, once again, is my opinion based on my observations. You have the right to disagree but not to be disagreeable.
Until next we meet, be safe. God bless you and yours, our great nation, all who serve to protect and defend and all victims of terrorism. Please be extra careful in your care of those little defenseless ones.
Never forget 911 and always remember:
We Are the Land of the FREE Because of The BRAVE.
Mom, Apple Pie, John Wayne & NASCAR Racing. Now that's AMERICA.
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