PRE-TALLADEGA RACINDEALS

PLATE RACING: I’ve seen a
lot of agonizing recently about the upcoming race at Talladega. "Oh dear,
we’re going back to a restrictor plate track with those horrible, horrible aero
rules. How many more drivers will be killed before NASCAR comes to its
senses?"

To listen to the keening, you’d think that
there’s been a fatality at every plate race we’ve had in the last few years. The
three fatalities that occurred last year were at tracks that don’t run
restrictor plates (or at least in New Hampshire’s case, didn’t at the time).
Those deaths had "pack racing" we see at Talladega and Daytona.

Personally, I’m looking forward to this
weekend’s races. This will be the first time in six years that I’ll be home
watching the race instead of at the track covering it. The last two Talladega
races were some of the most exciting racing I’ve seen.

"Boy, this Harness guy sure is
callous," some of you are probably thinking.

I’d like to think I’m not. I’m more of a
realist. The men (and women) who strap themselves in those cars every week
recognize the risks. But yet they do it anyway. Ever since the days of leather
helmets and no seat belts, men (and again, women) have gotten behind the wheel
to do something they love, despite the risks….and people have been there to
watch it.

That’s what fans need to realize. Every
time you watch the drivers get into their cars at the start of the race, it
could be the last time you’ll ever see them. I guess what I’m saying is that if
you’re afraid that someone is going to get killed or seriously injured every
time you watch a race, maybe racing isn’t your sport.

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY:
Every time there’s a restrictor plate race, we hear stuff about "the big
one," meaning the big wreck that happens at ever restrictor plate race.

Personally, I think this is a
self-fulfilling prophecy. If every driver drives each lap with the expectation
that there’ll be a big wreck, then eventually, he’ll lose concentration for just
a split second and cause it.

Drivers want the field to be spread out
all over the track. The only problem with that at Talladega and Daytona is that
if the cars are all over the track, then you end up with single car accidents.
Ask Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt which they’d rather be in, a single car
wreck at 200 mph or a multi-car wreck at 200 mph. Oh wait, I guess you can’t ask
Earnhardt, can you?

THE ZAPRUDER FILM: Well,
it looks like Lee Harvey Oswald is alive and well, and apparently is the one who
tampered with Earnhardt’s belt…at least if you believe Bill Simpson.

There’s been a lot of noise lately about
how NASCAR claimed that the broken belt was the cause of Earnhardt’s death.
Maybe I’m misremembering, but all they said was "we found a belt in two
pieces, we don’t know why, or how, or when." Somehow, that got turned into
"Bill Simpson killed Dale Earnhardt." Of course, Simpson is on the
defensive, and now we supposedly have a film by a fan of someone cutting the
belt to extricate Earnhardt. It’s out being "enhanced." If it needs to
be enhanced, what good is it?

[Later that same week] I wrote the above
paragraphs on Monday. I’m writing this paragraph on Thursday. Since Monday it
has come out that another one of Simpson’s belts has had a problem. Mike
Harmon’s belt had a tear in it that was discovered after his wreck at Nashville
Superspeedway. Simpson is even more convinced that NASCAR is out to get him. I
guess if I manufactured safety belts and there was evidence that three had
failed or partially failed or might have failed in the last year or so, I’d be
on the defensive too.

And the media is still at it with this
latest belt situation. With headlines similar to "Another Simpson Belt
Fails in Crash" it’s no wonder that there’s confusion and that Simpson
thinks NASCAR is out to get him.

DAMNED IF WE DO…: It
seems that NASCAR is in a no-win situation. Fans and media cry out that "we
want answers and we want them now!" So, NASCAR has a press conference, not
quite a week after Earnhardt’s death, and gives the only answers it has. One of
their experts, Dr. Bohannon, gives the press an educated guess. Well, now it
seems that the educated guess was wrong. So now, NASCAR is getting heat for
jumping to conclusions. Which do you want, right information slowly or wrong
information fast? Seems the media and fans want the wrong information fast.

If NASCAR’s investigation won’t be
finished until August then fine. Let it take until August. Let it take until
August of 2002 if that’s what needs to happen for the correct information to
come out.

PAYING ATTENTION TO "THAT
INTERNET": If you’ve seen the front page of this site, you’ve seen
my invitation for people to send me columns. It should be clear that
RacinDeals.com isn’t a news site, it’s an opinion site.

But one of the conditions that I have
before I post your stuff is that you give me a real name and an email address.
My philosophy is that if you’re going to be critical of something, then you
should be willing to put your name on what you write.

As you probably know, anyone with a couple
hundred bucks can set up a web site and say anything they want to on it (hey,
that’s what I’m doing). So when someone sets up a site that claims the writers
are on Winston Cup teams, but wish to remain anonymous, I get suspicious.

You may know the site I’m talking about;
they certainly don’t need any publicity from me. They purport to be team members
but since they’re too afraid of loosing their jobs, they won’t say what teams or
even give their real names.

I just don’t give much credence to
"unnamed" sources or unattributed "rumors". It’s not worth
my time to deal with people who don’t have guts enough to put their name on
their comments.

RIP SMS: A few years ago,
the folks at Gaylord Entertainment (the ones who used to own TNN) got the idea
that they could make more money with a shopping mall than with the Opryland USA
theme park. So, they ripped out all the rides, built a huge building, and opened
a mall last May.

One of the tenants is NASCAR Silicon Motor
Speedway. After next Wednesday, that’ll be "was NASCAR Silicon
Motor Speedway." They announced yesterday that they’ll be closing next
week.

I don’t get it. They must have lost a ton
of money. The only financial data I could find about them showed that their
revenues went up from 1997 to 1998, but they also lost money both years, losing
more in ’98.

Perhaps the licensing fees from NASCAR,
the tracks, and the drivers were more than the company could stand. It’d be a
shame for all that technology to go to waste. Heck, if nothing else, maybe
someone could figure out a way to put the simulators in a few trucks and take
them to races.

Sure hate to see them go, especially since
I kept improving at Atlanta every time I ran it.