Benny, You Have It All Wrong!

I hate to say it but Benny Parsons is
completely off-base with his comments that the door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper
racing we saw on Sunday is exactly what the race fans want. At least from my
perspective. I don’t care to sit and watch 500 miles of "racing" where
one single hiccup from one driver can take out half the field. I thank God that
everyone was able to climb from their cars and walk away. Well, almost everyone.
Ricky Craven wasn’t too steady on his feet but, I hear that he’s okay so that is
a great thing to hear. It was another one of those moments that I dread when I
see major wrecks that look like someone may get hurt. I literally hold my breath
until I see ALL drivers moving around and getting out of their cars. Yes, even
Jeff Gordon.

I don’t know how many times a driver has
to say "this ain’t racin’" before NASCAR is going to pull their heads
out of the sand and listen. Right now it appears that NASCAR is taking the old
Bill France approach of "you’ll race when and how we tell you to and if you
don’t like, hit the road." I’m sorry but this has become completely
unacceptable. And from what I hear, a large number of drivers, owners and crew
chiefs visited the big red trailer last Sunday afternoon and told NASCAR just
that. We’re hearing that NASCAR has decided to listen and do something about it
but, I’m not going to hold my breath.

I heard it a few times from the drivers on
Sunday. "The fans got their money’s worth." Not this fan. I am
definitely on the side of the drivers on this one. Something needs to be done
and it needs to be done before the next race at Daytona. There have been many
suggestions and I have made some of my own. Removing the plates and letting the
cars go 225+ mph is not really an option. Seeing a car fly into the stands is
something I’m not wanting to see anytime soon. Taller greenhouses and standing
the windshields up would definitely be a move in the right direction.

The most obvious choices would be change
the tracks and go to smaller engines. Back when the cars ran a top speed of 200
mph and averaged 180 mph around the tracks, five story high banking was okay and
useful. However, back then the cars weren’t nearly as stable as they are now and
a driver had to lift off the gas or he would be into the parking lot. It’s time
to bring those days back. Knock the banking down to about 18 to 20 degrees and
bring handling and driver skill back into the mix. How much skill does it take
to hold a gas pedal flat on the floor? Oh, and hold your breath and pray for 500
miles? None. All it takes is a voice in the back of y our head saying that this
is your job and it’s what you do and a blind faith (hope) that you’ll be one of
the lucky few to come out of the other side of the smoke unscathed.

Go to smaller engines. I don’t care if the
cars are going 210 mph or 180 mph. Makes no difference to me. I tune in to watch
the races because I am a race fan. I’m sure if you were to ask any driver out
there which he would prefer, a three hour race in a pack of 40 cars or a three
and half hour race with cars strung out, they would ask to have their workday
lengthened. The drivers love to race. They wouldn’t do this if they didn’t.

I’m hearing rumors that Mark Martin may
decide he’s had enough and may retire. If this is the case and it’s because of
the plates races, then I think NASCAR should be taken out in the town square and
placed in the stocks and left there until they, not only promise to do something
but, actually move forward and make changes. And mandating head and neck
restraints is just another one of NASCAR’s idiotic ideas, thinking that it shows
they are doing something when in fact, they aren’t doing a damn thing. But this
story is for another column. One to be written when I am a little less fired up.

Many times NASCAR has said that they will
look into the problems that are cropping up in the sport and many times they
have said they will do something about them. And many times they have sat back
and done absolutely no thing while the carnage continues. It appears that NASCAR
is feeding off the "need" for The Big One at each and every plate
race. They usually have the video up on the website immediately, showing all the
details and this weekend is no exception. You could find the video there under
the heading "The "big one" claims 16 cars on the last lap".
I’m sure NASCAR was heartbroken after the spring race at Dega when there was no
crash highlights to post.

I hear over and over again about how we
had Big Ones at Daytona and Dega before the restrictor plates were implemented
and Professor Benny is one of those that keeps bringing this up. Yes, we did
have big crashes during these races. A few of them. But now we’re having 3 or 4
a year. Now, every single time the drivers climb into their cars at the plate
tracks they’re not saying they think they have a car that can win. They’re
saying they hope they can position themselves in the right place at the rig ht
time to miss the Big One. None of them is saying they hope they can get through
the day without having the Big One. They already know it’s going to happen and
they’re praying they won’t be in it. And NASCAR doesn’t seem to care. I guess it
sells tickets. I guess all the "new" fans NASCAR has attracted want to
see the crashes and NASCAR is determined to give them what they want. At least
this is what one driver said. "They wanted this to happen."

My kids used to think that crashes were
cool and looked forward to seeing them during the races. They race high speed go
karts in the club here in Vegas and I decided it was time to enlighten them. So
a couple of years ago I pulled a video of a crash at Laguna Seca and had them
watch it. No blood. No guts. Not even much in the way of smoke or dust. Just a
simple crash of a CART Indy car slamming a wall head-on and flipping over the
wall. As usual they thought it was cool. Until I told them that they had just
watched Gonzalo Rodriquez lose his life in that crash. I could see from the
looks on their faces that a switch had just been turned on. The y no longer
think crashes are cool. They no longer laugh when they see one. It’s not an
enjoyable thing to see innocence lost but, sometimes preserving it would be the
greater sin.

It’s time for NASCAR to pull their heads
out of whatever smelly place they have them stuck in and open their eyes. The
fans, the "real" fans do not enjoy the wrecks and do not enjoy seeing
their driver heroes falling to the ground after climbing out of their cars or
seeing them assisted very slowly into the back of the ambulance. Benny, it’s
time to wake up and smell the coffee. It’s time for Mike Helton to take the
challenge from one of the drivers, one that I voiced back in May and strap his
big butt into a seat next to Rusty Wallace and go for a ride with him. Not for
one or two laps around the track either. Strap in for the whole 500 miles and
get an up close and personal look at the world from a driver’s perspective. Then
maybe things would change. Oh, and Rusty, if for some ungodly reason this were
to occur, I’d suggest some 200 mph tape over Mike’s mouth. I don’t think you
could handle the screaming and whining for 500 miles. Of course, your first
pitstop would be over two minutes long after you decided to throw him out.

Oh, one quick side note (question) before
I sign off here. How come the Silly Sticks (TM) made their appearance one week
after Dale Jr won a race and then were done away with the very next time he won
a race? Hmmmmmm? Curiouser and curiouser.