DARLINGTON RACINDEALS

SNOOZING: Let me get this
out of the way first: I slept through most of the Winston Cup
race Sunday at Darlington, so I didn’t see too many contiguous
laps. I did see the last 80 or so though. It’s not that I slept
late; I watched the prerace show, but by about 50 laps into the
race, I just couldn’t stay awake. I don’t know what that says
about the competition at Darlington, where they "race the
track" instead of other cars. So keep that in mind when
reading the rest of this piece.

JUSK ASKING: How many
drivers will end up getting serious or fatal burns trying to
escape their car with the cumbersom HANS collar before something
is done?

We saw yet another driver wearing the
device take way too long to get out of his car Sunday.

WIMMIN IN RACIN: Here’s
hoping Shawna Robinson does good in her Winston Cup starts this
year. I can’t believe some of the stuff I’ve seen on the ‘net
about her getting a ride. Someone all but commented that she
should stay at home like a good mother should, I guess, barefoot
and pregnant…. and that was from a female writer!

Uh, we’re now in the 21st Century folks.
Whoever wrote that needs to find a safer sport to be a fan of…

ELLIOTT’S FANS: Saw where
a Bill Elliott fan won a new Dodge over the weekend at Darlington.
Fellow said he’d been an Elliott fan since day one. Good for him.

When they made the announcement last year
that Elliott would be switching to Dodges, I got a lot of email
from "fans" who said they’d never root for him again.
Those folks were Ford fans, not Bill Elliott fans.

Hmm, I wonder if Elliott’s reign as the
Most Popular Driver might be coming to an end? If enough Ford
fans abandoned him, it’s possible. Dale Earnhardt might even win
it this year…

THE AUTOPSY PHOTO SETTLEMENT:
I’m still not sure what the compelling public interest is in Dale
Earnhardt’s autopsy photos, but the settlement seems to protect
his family while giving the Orlando newspaper a little bit as
well.

A truly independent medical expert, not one
hired by the paper, will be looking at the pictures, and the
paper gets to ask three questions about them.

Will it matter to the paper what the
answers are? Probably not. There’s nothing the independent
examiner can do that will satisfy the paper. They’ll print
something along the lines of "the examiner said this, but
since we didn’t get to do our own investigation, questions remain."

This has not been about safety or whatever
they claim. It’s been about selling newspapers, period, end of
sentence. They could prove me wrong by publishing their story as
a standalone piece, with no advertising, and for free
distribution. Will they do that?

And now it looks like they’re trying to
figure out a way to renege on the deal. According to the paper, a
member of the "public" has seen the autopsy materials,
so that means that the privacy issue is moot. Why they’re calling
Dale Earnhardt’s attending doctor, Dr. Steve Bohannon, a member
of the public just adds fuel to the fire.

When he spoke at the February 23 press
conference, I certainly assumed that he was speaking with the
knowledge of the autopsy results. It was just common sense.

To add fuel to the fire, some dinky student
newspaper in Florida is now trying to get the pictures…. to
"determine if they’re printable."

NASCAR’S GRASSY KNOLL: If
I honestly thought NASCAR was hiding something that would help
improve safety and possibly prevent more fatalities, I’d stop
watching the sport immediately. Disregarding the human aspect for
a minute, you don’t kill off your stars and expect to continue to
stay in business. It’s in NASCAR’s best interest to make their
drivers as safe as possible. Without drivers, there’s no NASCAR.

Note to Ben Blake: I’m not a "goober,"
and I resent the use of the phrase to characterize NASCAR fans.

NO PITS AT DARLINGTON:
Just read Monte Dutton’s article about the placement of the press
box at Darlington, and how the press can’t see when pit stops
happen.

I realize the article was written in a
tongue-in-cheek manner, but it really serves to illustrate the
fact that the racing press is getting a little bit carried away
with themselves. "If we don’t see it, it didn’t happen."

DOES FORD NEED A BREAK?:
Hmm, let’s see. Dale Jarrett claims that the Fords are at a
disadvantage. They only had nine of the top twenty finishers in
the Darlington race.

Some disadvantage.