NA$CAR: Never A Stale Moment

If there is a worried or depressed racing
soul wandering aimlessly out there thinking NASCAR has gone stone-cold stale,
please put the anti-depressants away and untie that noose, the 2001 season is
shaping up to be like none other!

It should be a season of surprises, yet
enjoyed with the steadfast knowledge that while some things may change, others
stay the same.

NASCAR is no stranger when it comes to
capitalizing on the enthusiastic anticipation and participation of it’s
ever-growing fan base, while continuously relying on the "old fans"
for support, they can now eagerly embrace the new fans, and their wallets, in
cities like Chicago and Kansas City.

There will be new paint schemes to
critique, new drivers to place under the microscope, and new rules and
regulations just begging to be broken. A very busy season indeed!

Let’s take a peek at a few prospective
scenarios to play out this upcoming season:

· They’re
baaaaaack…..the Dodge boys that is! The Dodge program will be led into
this new millennium by one of motorsports best mechanical minds, Ray
Evernham. Evernham, who took Jeff Gordon to the Promised Land in the not too
distant past, seems to have both ends of the spectrum covered by acquiring
the services of veteran driver Bill Elliott and the rookie, Casey Atwood to
field his stock cars. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, a mouthful
indeed, is a near mirror image of Evernham’s group by maintaining the
veteran driver, Sterling Marlin, while bringing aboard the rookie, Jason
Leffler as teammates. Both Elliott and Marlin have a vast amount of
experience and talent capable of putting either or both into the Winner’s
Circle for Team Dodge before the 2001 season concludes.

· Things
could become most endangering for the tracks in remote areas such as
Martinsville and Darlington maintaining their long-standing racing dates
considering new state-of-the-art speedways have cropped up in big cities
like Kansas City, Chicago, and even Kentucky. The Kentucky Speedway may not
have the cultural interest and population as Chicago, but it’s quickly
becoming a favorite testing center for many Winston Cup teams and getting
showered with praise for their track layout and facilities.

· Okay,
admit it, some of you will miss the two-day qualifying runs, not to mention
the dollars that extra day brought with it, but the teams will now have
equal time allotted for race day setup. But, never wager against someone
crying FOUL anyway. What would this beloved sport be without the Whiner
Corp. tuning up on occasion?

· Many of
the NASCAR boys will be sporting new cars, new paint schemes, new uniforms,
and even a few new attitudes! We’ll get to see Tony the Tiger and his
demanding stripes adorning Terry Labonte’s car. Jeff Gordon will no longer
look like the rainbow prince, but hit the track in flames. Sterling Marlin’s
Silver Bullet, looking akin to 2001: A Dodge Space Odyssey, will dazzle the
fans with the Rocky Mountain paint scheme and sterling silver shine, but the
jury is still out on the red uniform Sterling! Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Bud
ride will basically look the same with a fancier font, but he promises to
keep his ego in check in the 2001 season. Why Junior? The fans and media
appreciate your ever-present cockiness. You have the last name Earnhardt, we
can accept no less than a cocky attitude, an inflated ego, and wins, wins,
wins!

· Promises,
promises, promises. Goodyear swears the tires will not become the negative
focal point it acquired last season. Nobody out there in NASCARLAND believes
a big, fine corporation like Goodyear would renege on a solemn swear, do
they? Hmmmmm.

· What’s
up with the name on the crew uniforms? Maybe the TV announcers can tell the
world that Joe Blow really blew that pit stop! Or, did you see Joe fall down
and break something? Or, Hey Joe, having trouble remembering your teammates
names considering some of you move around so much from team to team? Well,
if it makes NASCAR happy, then we should ALL be happy! Uh huh.

· We hear
the words "Family Fun" coming from most of the NASCAR mouthpieces
incessantly, so assuming that’s a true statement, the average fan can
expect ticket prices and racing apparel to be lowered? A FAMILY cannot have
a FUN outing knowing they spent part of the children’s college fund for a
weekend at the track! So, gentlemen…..lower those prices if you want to
fill those seats!

· Old
Ironhead, I believe that’s a literal term now, Earnhardt, will turn the
big half century mark this season and can still challenge Bobby Labonte’s
reign as Winston Cup Champion any day of the week! Never overlook the
veteran drivers in favor of the "young guns" in the sport of auto
racing! Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Bobby Hamilton, and Sterling Marlin, to
name a few, still have the fire and talent to pull out a championship if
given the key competitive equipment and intelligent crew week in and week
out.

· Implementing
the newest safety devices, such as HANS, to protect a driver’s head and
neck, will always be a concern and hotly debated topic within the NASCAR
community, the fans, and the media, as it should be. Driver safety should
never become an extinct issue, or NASCAR could find itself on the brink of
extinction. The names nor faces of Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty will ever be
forgotten, nor the sacrifices they made to participate in a sport they so
dearly loved.

· Precisely
how many television commercials will it take to pay off the zillion dollar
deal between NBC, FOX, and NASCAR? If you listen closely this season you’ll
hear the crashing sounds of good television sets being tossed outdoors all
across the country on race day. You’ll hear and learn new curse words that
would make a soldier blush. And, if the creator of the old infamous "TV
Brick" is still in business, distribute a fresh batch to all the racing
stores nationwide, you’ll make a mint! There should be just enough
aggravating TV timeouts to keep fan blood pressures hovering in the Mt. St.
Helen’s range for most of the season! And you thought there was a chance
of a dull, stale season on the horizon!

Strap in, strap on, strap up, this 2001
Winston Cup NASCAR season will be anything but stale! One month and counting……