Pre-Daytona 2 RacinDeals

I’M BACK: After 10 days
on the road in Florida and Georgia, I’m back!  (Actually got back last
Sunday) Here’s a tip for anyone who takes a laptop with them to a motel: make
sure that you’re dialing your ISP’s toll free number and not the local number
you usually dial. Ended up with a $27 long distance call at one place we stayed
because I thought I was dialing the 800 number but it was a Nashville number.
Doh!

WHY THEY BOO, REVISITED:
I had an epiphany while I was gone. I think in the past I’ve said that people
boo Jeff Gordon because he’s stinking up the show for the rest of the drivers by
winning so many races. While that may be true to some extent, in the back of my
mind I’ve been troubled by the fact that people are booing success. That’s not
what this country is about. Gordon and his team are doing exactly what they’re
supposed to do, and for that, they’re getting booed.

Here’s the epiphany: if anyone needs to be
booed, it’s the other 42 teams that aren’t getting the job done.

We don’t need to penalize success. Heaven
knows that the folks in Washington, DC do that enough already with the heavy tax
burden we all have. We need to celebrate success and if anything needs to be
penalized, it’s mediocrity.

LAPPED CARS: Although
while I was gone for 10 days, and hadn’t planned on even keeping up with racing
while I was gone, I did get to see the last 20 or so laps of the Sears Point
race. Before I turned it on, I noticed that it was awful cold down there in
Orlando… then I tuned in to see Robby Gordon leading and figured hell was
freezing over.

But then Kevin Harvick did his little deal
and knocked Gordon out of the way to get his lap back, and it started getting
warmer again.

Yeah, I know Harvick had fresher tires and
was faster in some parts than Gordon, but he wasn’t fast enough to pass him.
It’s one thing when the second place car taps the leader on the fourth turn of
the last lap to get him loose (that’s loose, not wrecked), but it’s completely
different when a lapped car takes out the leader.

One internet site says that NASCAR talked
to Harvick and Childress talked to Harvick, and then says no, they didn’t. If
they didn’t, someone should have. Sure, he’s got a win under his belt, but the
bottom line is he’s still a rookie, and he needs to remember that.

POOR TNN: TNN’s getting
the last laugh in losing the NASCAR broadcast rights. Seems that TNN is now the
fastest growing cable channel. Must be that wrasslin’.

NO COMMENT: I see where
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will not be granting interviews this weekend. Good for him.
How many times can you answer the question "How do you feel about your
father’s death?"

Speaking of the Senior Earnhardt, I hope
Daytona and NBC does some type of memorial, and then we go on. Fox’s silent lap
three got old after about three races (it should have been retired after Harvick
won). Sure, let’s pay tribute to Earnhardt, but it doesn’t have to be week after
week.

CABLE WOES: It looks like
the CNN/SI cable channel will be televising happy hour and qualifying in the
second half of the year. But I don’t get that channel. I’m going to miss happy
hour and qualifying. It’s not fair! [sound of stomping feet]

Ok. Now that I’ve got that out of my
system (did it sound like the whining the folks did who don’t get FX?), I have
to say that I never really watched happy hour and qualifying is generally over
by the time I get home from work… so it’s not a big deal.

RETIRE, MARK: Mark Martin
is scared to race at Daytona. If he’s scared, then he shouldn’t be in the car.
Seems simple enough to me. If he’s lost his nerve, then he’s a danger to the
other drivers out there.

DODGE PROBLEMS: "Why
hasn’t Dodge won a race yet?" That’s the big question you see these
mainstream racing media guys asking. Duh. Talk about high expectations.

I think Dodge has done an incredible job
this year. One of their drivers (Sterling Marlin) is in the top ten in points,
and is in the top ten in results just about every week. So it’s not the car, or
the engine, or whatever.

I think part of the reason that Sterling
is doing so good is that his team isn’t part of the Dodge R&D deal. They get
to spend time working on stuff for races, as opposed to developing the stuff.
Plus, the drivers for the other Dodge teams weren’t really burning up the
pavement before the switch. Combine the factors of R&D and mid-pack drivers
and that’s why Sterling is the only one doing any good this year.

NBC’S TEAM: NBC has a
hard act to follow. I think it’s fair to say that Fox surprised everyone with
their level of coverage. Sure, they’ve got some problems, but they’re not show
stoppers. Put Larry McReynolds on pit road and I think those problems go away.

NBC seems to be going for a "rock and
roll" feel. One big mistake they’re making right off the bat is this song
by the speed-metal group Metalica. Never heard the song they’re going to use and
don’t really care to. After what Metalica did to their fans last year, I don’t
really want to support them.

But another mistake is having three guys
in the booth. Read my lips: three announcers is too many. I’m afraid that
mistake will be compounded by Wally Dallenbach’s lack of on-air experience. And
face it, he’s not exactly a three-time champion.

PURVIS SCREWED AGAIN:
You’d have thought that Joe Gibbs would be the last guy to screw over a
driver… But I guess that’s wrong now. Jeff Purvis was released as driver of
one of Gibbs’ Busch cars. Ostensibly, he’s having to scale back because of lack
of sponsorship. Ok then.. why not eliminate the car that doesn’t have
sponsorship? Purvis is in the top ten in points, and has been all season. He’s
been close to winning several times. It was only a matter of time.

There’s been something smelly about this
whole situation from the beginning, when Mike McLaughlin baled out on his team
and sponsor to move to Gibbs’ unsponsored car (of course the sponsor he baled on
was the one he took with him when he baled the #34 team; do you see a pattern
here?).

I’ve lost a lot of respect for Gibbs.

AMERICA’S MOST WANTED: If
all missing persons got the exposure that Chandra Levy has gotten, then more
would be found. While it’s nice that Melling Racing will have her picture on the
car this weekend, it’s not exactly like this case hasn’t had any publicity. I
think it would have been better if they’d picked someone whose face hasn’t been
on national TV the last few weeks.

For example, there’s a team in the ASA
that puts a picture of a missing child on their hood. The child is from the
general area of the race location. They do this in conjunction with the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They’re
not trying to promote a TV show; they’re trying to find a missing child..

DAYTONA QUALIFYING: Four Dodges in
the front. I can already hear the other makes whining to NASCAR…