Memorial Day RacinDeals

A SPECTACLE ALRIGHT: No, I’m not
talking about 3 green flag laps in the first 20 of the Indy 500. I’m talking
about the pathetic performance of the National Anthem before the race. I haven’t seen
that much disrespect shown to the song (and the country for that matter) since
Rosanne did her number on it a few years ago. Steven Tyler didn’t know the
words, and the ending was atrocious. There’s no excuse for that, especially on
Memorial Day weekend.

VIRTUAL DOLLARS: Looks like the
technology is getting more advanced and they’re coming up with more ways to sell
advertising space on TV. The little sign sticking out of the sand in turn 4 at
Indy was computer generated and had different sponsors on it throughout the
race. I wonder how long it will be before TV networks start selling space on the
actual cars themselves?

HIT THE ROAD, JACK: Would someone
tell Jack Arute to shut up?  Or at least stop interrupting?

OPENING CEREMONIES: There was no
comparison.  The ceremonies opening up the Indy 500 celebrated the race;
the ceremonies opening the Coca-Cola 600 paid tribute to all the fallen
soldiers.  Which one is more appropriate on Memorial Day?

GETTING TANKED: Last week the
cartoon Tank McNamara poked fun at the CART drivers for backing out of the Texas
race a few weeks ago. But Sunday’s cartoon is over the limit. In it, he has two
Indy drivers (I assume they’re Indy drivers since that’s where  the big
open wheel race was). One is sponsored by a tobacco company, and the other is
sponsored by a company called "NicoAid", presumably a product that
helps people stop smoking.

The cartoon depicts radio communications
to the drivers as they’re racing for the win on the last lap. The "NicoAid"
driver is told that he’ll get an extra $50,000 if he wins (beating the tobacco
car). The tobacco-sponsored driver is told that he’ll get $25,000 extra if he
wins, but $75,000 extra if he wrecks the NicoAid car. 

Maybe Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds should
stick to stick and ball sports.

FACE TIME: Jack Roush could get
another couple million bucks from Citgo if he just put a Citgo cap on Kim
Burton. We saw more of her (and have seen more of her on other broadcasts)
during the last 30 laps than some of the cars. If you want to show a driver’s
wife, then show her on the last lap or two. I don’t need to see her lap after
lap after lap.

But at least Fox didn’t give her a full
screen shot. By putting her in the corner they show that they realize that fans
want to see the action on the track.

SPONSOR APPROVAL: I don’t see how
NASCAR can legally be on solid ground when a team has negotiated a sponsorship
and NASCAR vetoes it. They’ve vetoed a liquor company and a gaming company (how
does that jive with NASCAR’s trips to Dover Downs, which runs slot machines?). I
just don’t get it.

WHERE’S ROBBIE?: Knievel, that is.
They made a big deal last year when he announced that he was going to race this
year in the Busch North Series. So far, he’s been nowhere to be found. Must’ve
been a publicity stunt or something…

WHERE’S ROBBY?: Gordon, that is.
Aside from racing in the Indy 500 for AJ Foyt, it looks like he’ll be in a
Richard Childress Busch car at Watkins Glen. Robby proved Sunday that his niche
is open wheeled cars.

WHERE’S DALE?: Carnegie, that is.
Tony Stewart needs a dose of class. His comments after the race were completely
inappropriate. I don’t care how
good he ran at Indy and Charlotte. The fact is, he did put himself and the
drivers he races with every week in danger, needlessly… just to feed his ego.
Insulting the media isn’t a very good way to further your career, or get fans to
go to your sponsor’s store (like I did Saturday, which may be one of the last
times I go there).

SPEAKING OF EGOS: The "Humpy
Bumper" is apparently not going to be approved by NASCAR. When I first saw
this thing, I wondered what would happen when a bunch of carbon fibers spread
all over the racing surface after a crash. Imagine hundreds or thousands of
those fibers being run over immediately after a one car crash, and you suddenly
have something that makes "the big one" at Talladega look like a
Sunday drive.

LEAD CHANGES: I’m sure we’ll see
sometime this week stories about how competitive the race was. With 14 leaders
and 28 lead changes, on the surface you’d think it was a very competitive race.
But with a race of 600 miles, it had more boring parts than exciting parts. A
margin of victory of over 3 seconds is just another indication of how uneventful
the race was.