Now We Have Schedule Silly Season, And A Racer’s Sad Goodbye
Oh, great. It’s complex enough keeping up with driver and team changes – now
the Winston Cup schedule could have its own silly season, this from the top kick
himself.
Looking decidedly healthy after several years of battling illness, Billy
France made the head-turning announcement that Atlanta, Darlington, Rockingham,
and Charlotte could see dates shuffled and "rented" out to other
tracks – for instance, the late-October Dixie 500 at Atlanta could become the
Desert 500 at Las Vegas by shifting the date from Atlanta to Vegas; the American
400 at Rockingham could see its date shifted to become the American 500 at
Fontana. Also mentioned in the varied analyses of the issue is Dover, which
could shift one of its dates to the Nashville Superspeedway track owned by its
parent company. There is even talk of "renting out" dates, such as a
Darlington date to Kentucky Speedway – the Southern 500 at Kentucky?
Also mentioned was desire that more tracks add lights for more primetime race days,
since TV ratings tend to go up in late-afternoon and evening sporting events.
Billy France and Mike Helton indicated the schedule will not go above the 36
race slate of present, but in cutting off the option of expansion, they may have
to regret such. For Speedway Motorsports has already made clear it will not
shift any of its dates to any of its other tracks (and added a cheap shot about
how their tracks supposedly outsell ISC’s lowest draws), and there is no reason
to think Dover will do likewise. ISC may drop a date at Darlington and one at
Rockingham, but it will have no real reason to do so.
So as it stands the idea of realignment already has some serious problems.
Who is going to bite?
And the reason for realignment isn’t convincing, either. The sport doesn’t
want to go beyond 36 races – problem there is that it can, and such a
self-imposed limit does not benefit anyone. The big concern is always that a
longer schedule will overtax race teams, a concern that regularly ignores how
race teams work like crazy whether there is a race on the weekend or a bye week.
It used to be that teams regularly tested more times than they raced, and with
only 12-16 crewmen total, so the stress argument isn’t convincing.
There is really no need for realignment – what is necessary is to add more
dates. Texas, Vegas, Fontana can get second dates and Kentucky can get two dates
for a 41-race schedule. Nashville can also be squeezed in, for a 42-race tour.
This is ultimately the most fair way of dealing with the issues of race dates
and Texas’ absurd lawsuit for a second date.
That Bruton Smith doesn’t really care for tracks he doesn’t control is shown
by his refusal to try and rebuild North Wilkesboro, and his apparant refusal to
sell his share to someone who will rebuild it. He recently stated he would
basically let the track die out because of recent storm activity. He griped
about how people don’t realize how expensive it is to rebuild the track. So
what? He co-owns owns it – it’s his duty to maintain it. He is the reason the
track has deteriorated.
Sell your share of the track, Bruton.
Carbon monoxide poisoning has ended the driving of Rick Mast. Such was a
recent announcement after considerable speculation over his sudden disappearance
from racing.
Mast was largely a failure at the Winston Cup level, but he did have some
great days and great efforts. His real racing success came at the Grand National
level, most recently with wins at Bristol and New Hampshire in 1990. Beginning
racing in the 1970s by selling a cow for his first racecar, Mast began winning
at local short tracks in 1976, and by 1988 had reached the Grand National level.
It was during this season that he got his first taste of Winston Cup; driving
for Buddy Baker after injury sidelined Baker, Mast ran two races.
His first break came with Travis Carter in 1989. Burt Reynolds and Hal
Needham sold their team after Harry Gant left with Skoal sponsorship for Leo
Jackson. Bill Edwards of Charlotte bought the team and Rick Mast entered the
Daytona 500 without a sponsor in a white #66 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. He stood
Daytona on its ear by drafting in the top three all day and finishing sixth.
It was his only top ten of the year; he would lose the ride for 1990 but
managed 20 1990 starts and a top ten before his big break came. Richard Jackson
hired him for his Skoal #1 Oldsmobile, and Mast escaped numerous crashes and
finished fourth in the Daytona 500. He managed two other top tens and also got
into two memorable incidents at Talladega. In May he drafted teammate Harry Gant
to the win, with many claiming he was pushing an out-of-gas Gant on the final
lap; in July he got clipped by Buddy Baker, got on his roof, and slid past the
start-finish stripe.
1992 was a dismal season, with only one top ten. Its highlight was his first
career pole, at Atlanta, but it erupted on the second lap when Brett Bodine lost
air on his spoiler, collected Mast, and was T-boned by Hut Stricklin; Mast hit
the wall and limped home well down in the order.
Jackson’s team switched to Ford and Mast had a productive 1993; one top five
and four other top tens. But it was 1994 and Hoosier Tire that made for his best
season; he won the pole for the first Brickyard 400 and rallied from a spin to
finish a close second at the American 500 at Rockingham. He managed three top
tens and a pole at Rockingham; at the American 400 there he led the most laps
but blew up in the final third of the race.
For 1996 Richard Jackson’s team switched the GM’s W-body Pontiac and Mast led
a few laps in the Daytona Clash. The team struggled with the car until
September, where Mast managed top tens at Dover and North Wilkesboro and a solid
top five at Martinsville. Ultimately Mast managed five top tens that year before
leaving for Butch Mock’s #75 Ford.
Mast missed two races and managed a pair of top tens. He then won the pole at
the 1998 Carolina 400, but managed only eighth at Sears Point as a highlight.
Switching to Cale Yarborough’s Ford, Mast bounced off another car while three
abreast with ten laps to go, nearly wiped out the field in the trioval, yet hung
on and finished tenth. He stormed into the lead at the Pocono 500 and finished a
respectable 12th, and was also 12th at the Yankee 400 at Michigan. His only
other top ten of the year came at the New Hampshire 300.
For 2000 he aligned with Larry Hedrick and Big Daddy’s Barbecue Sauce as
sponsor, but the sponsorship never came, and Mast jumped to A.J. Foyt’s Pontiac,
finishing 8th at the Summer 500 at Pocono and 10th at the Delaware 400. He also
finished 13th at the American 400.
Mast then went to Hal Hicks’ #50 Chevrolet, failed to qualify for ten races,
jumped to Jack Birmingham’s stillborn Pontiac team, could never finish higher
than 27th, then ended 2001 with three starts in Junie Donlavey’s Ford. His final
start came at the 2002 Richmond 400, finishing 35th.
In all, it was a commendable effort of persistence, but it ultimately came up
short. Rick Mast, though, can be proud that he put in the effort, that he won at
the Grand National level, and that he made quite a few fans along the way.