Sofa Sideline – Hats Off to Dover!!

Congratulations to the folks at Dover for
a job well done! The pre-race ceremonies drew the crowd to a sense of unity
mirroring what is happening all across the country these days. The performances
of Lee Greenwood and Tanya Tucker lent an air of patriotism unsurpassed, with
140,000 cheering fans waving flags and chanting "USA – USA!" If there
is a positive note to what happened on September 11th, its that the spirit of
the American people has come shining through.

And the winner of the Cal Ripken 400 –
Dale Earnhardt Jr. He went to the front four times throughout the race, for a
total of 193 laps, but most importantly he took the lead when it counts most,
and went on to win! His victory lap, flag in hand, to a cheering crowd of
devoted fans, was the ultimate finish to a phenomenal day. Great race Dale!!!!
(I have a feeling we’ll be seeing "Wilson" in the car from now on.)

Coming from a 41st starting position,
Jerry Nadeau steadily climbed his way to the front to claim 2nd place. It was
good to see Nadeau finish well after a somewhat dismal season this year.
Rounding out the top ten were Ricky Ruddy 3rd, Jeff Gordon 4th, Tony Stewart
5th, Kevin Harvick 6th, Joe Nemechek 7th, Sterling Marlin 8th, Casey Atwood 9th
and Bobby Hamilton finishing in 10th place.

Points leader, Jeff Gordon, finished 4th,
after managing to "survive" a 23rd starting position, two incidents of
contact; one with Ricky Craven, where he sustained damage to the left front
fender, and a second involving Ron Hornaday. Unfortunately, the latter collected
Mark Martin, Ward Burton and Johnny Benson in the process and basically ended
their day.

A disappointing day for Bobby Labonte who
early in the race sustained major damage after contact with Bill Elliott and
wound up finishing in 36th place. As a result he lost three positions in the
points standings.

Jeremy Mayfield wrecked in turn one on lap
55, and was rendered unconscious for a few minutes following the hit. He was
taken to a nearby hospital for tests and later released. Glad to hear he’s okay!

Other Notes:

The Cup guys are appearing to be getting
as aggressive as the Busch group. Rudd and Wallace exchanged words after the
race, after Wallace hit Rudd causing him to spin and lose the lead. And we all
thought Stewart and Jarrett might get into it as well, when with 12 laps to go,
Tony touched Jarrett causing him to spin on the backstretch. They both clearly
respect one another, and we all probably need to chalk it up to something that
happened.

Congratulations to Jeff Green on his win
in the Busch Series event Saturday. Finishing second was Kenny Wallace followed
by Jimmy Spencer. Ryan Newman dominated most of the race, but after his pit stop
on lap 179, he came out in 4th place. With few laps left in the race, Newman
attempted to get by Matt Kenseth with Mike McLaughlin hanging on the outside
lane. Unfortunately, contact was made, sending Kenseth into McLaughlin, with the
number 18 car sustaining the most damage. There were not many laps left in the
race, and Newman was obviously anxious to move forward – but you can’t have
three across at Dover. Obviously it doesn’t work.

Quote of the day had to have been Jimmy
Spencer talking about Ryan Newman, "Kid’s got alotta talent, just doesn’t
know what to do with it. He needed to be patient." Isn’t there some saying
that goes something like "the pot calling the kettle……"

Best wishes to Steve Park – we are all
thinking of you, and hope you are back with us soon.

I originally wasn’t going to comment about
the NHIS date, as I am a huge proponent of that track being torn up and redone
to promote more competitive and safer racing, but this is different. I’ve read
the complaints by a few of the drivers about the rescheduled date for the race
in New Hampshire; it may be cold, and possibly snow on the ground, and there
will have to be practice held on Thanksgiving Day, etc. And then Texas Motor
Speedway offered to host the race, with monetary compensation to make up for any
loses that NHIS may incur. But, I have heard no one talk about the fans. There
is a huge fan base in the Northeast, and few opportunities to see a Cup race
without involving substantial travel. What about them? My experience has been
that those tickets are sold out well in advance, and you can’t even get them
without going through a reseller. Are we losing sight of the fact that the fans
are the most important part of racing? If all those people are willing to sit
out in the cold (and I think they’ll be there), then shouldn’t you just run the
race? If I make it home for Thanksgiving, I’ll put my long johns on and be
there.

If someone can give me compelling
arguments that racing when it’s a little colder will make conditions unsafe,
I’ll concede the point, but otherwise, let’s go racing!

Up next – a new track in Kansas City.

That’s it for now.