Pre Pocono 2 RacinDeals

WHO STOLE MY FENDERS?: So
I covered the IRL race for Racing Information Systems last
weekend. It was my first official open wheel event. I was
supposed to help cover the 1997 Indy 500, but it rained on race
day and I had to come back to Nashville, so I missed all the
track activity.

What are my impressions? Well, 21 cars just
isn’t a big enough field for a track that size. One wreck took
out one third of the field (is that the equivalent of a "big
one"?). Until Sam Hornish’s car had engine problems, he was
well on his way to lapping the field. As it was, only two cars
finished on the lead lap, and I think there was really only one
legitimate on-track pass for the lead.

I kept thinking "these are the same
cars that put on the best race I’ve ever seen at Texas last year.
What happened?" Indeed, what happened? That’s certainly not
a race I’d pay money to see.

ROBIN, THE HOOD: Robin
Miller’s at it again. He says that the IRL threw a "NASCAR"
caution a couple of times Saturday night during the IRL race for
debris that didn’t exist. His "sources" tell him that
the IRL threw the cautions to keep Al Unser, Jr. from going a lap
down.

He’s pretty good… he insulted the fans
of two series in one swipe. Miller is a "CARTisian" and
has had it in for the IRL from day one. And if you’ve heard him
"comment" on NASCAR, you probably figured out pretty
quickly that he didn’t know what he was talking about. ESPN does
its audience a disservice by continuing to give him an outlet for
his nonsense.

SPEAKING OF CART: Those
guys put on a heck of a show at Michigan. That was an incredible
race. It’s a shame that they’re not going back there next year,
but it looks like ISC is in bed with the IRL (which will be there
next year) to the exclusion of CART. It’s a shame that tracks are
aligning with one series over another. I don’t know why a track
couldn’t have an IRL race and a CART race in the same year.

BGN TIMES TWO: I guess
NASCAR was so impressed with Nashville Superspeedway that they
gave them a second Busch Series race next year. June 8, 2002 will
be a night race on a Saturday.

Nashville Superspeedway still has some
kinks to work out. I hope they get them worked out before the
Truck race in a couple of weeks.

NASCAR 2000: Sam’s Club
had EA’s NASCAR 2000 PC game on sale for something like $9, so I
figured I’d grab a copy. I’ve played Papyrus’ NASCAR games
before, so I thought it’d be interesting to see how they compared.

I installed it and decided to do a quick
race. I’m running in the back figuring out everything, and Benny
Parsons and Bob Jenkins are doing the "play by play." I
guess this was based on cars running in the 1999 season and
several cars that were expected to run in the 2000 season. It was
somewhat unsettling to hear Jenkins say "Adam Petty has
moved into the top ten".

Otherwise, it’s an OK game, and probably a
little easier to run than the Papyrus game. Graphics are ok, and
I expect that in the newest version (is there a newer version?)
they’re even better.

TEXAS TERRY: Has Terry
Labonte retired?

NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL
SPEEDWAY: That’d be a good place for a race track.

DRIVER BASHING: I try not
to get into what I call "driver bashing" here on
RacinDeals.com. To me, it’s one thing to criticize a driver’s
performance on the track; that’s not driver bashing. But it’s a
completely different thing when you get personal. I saw a piece
on another website purporting to be a letter to Robby Gordon, about him being in the #31
car. To me, that crossed the line.

If you’ve read my stuff here before, you’ve
probably figured out that I’m not a big Robby Gordon fan. I think
he’s had his shot in several good cars (from the #28 on), and I
don’t think he’s got what it takes to be a Winston Cup driver.
But, he does have enough courage to get out there and run with
the other guys, which is more than I can say for all the internet
(and print) columnists (including me) combined. I have to respect
that.

People need to remember (as if we haven’t
been reminded enough in the last year) that these guys risk their
lives every time they get in a car. The worse thing that can
happen to an internet columnist is writers’ cramp.

SOMETHING IS FILET O’ FISHY:
So, McDonald’s is unhappy with their Winston Cup sponsorship.
Let’s see, why would that be? Hmm, for several years, they
sponsored the driver who was voted most popular driver just about
every year. Then, all of a sudden, a relatively new guy to
Winston Cup racing comes along and says he can do a better job
for them, so they jump.

Surprise! The new team with the rookie
driver misses races, and doesn’t perform well. Which makes
McDonald’s unhappy, so they’re thinking about pulling their
sponsorship.

Who’s at fault here? McDonalds for
apparently putting their motorsports sponsorship program in the
hands of someone who apparently doesn’t know anything about
motorsports. Cal Wells, for wooing yet another sponsor from an
established team. Proctor & Gamble can’t be too happy with
their sponsorship either; wonder how long they’ll last.

McDonalds, you signed a contract to sponsor
a car for a year, stick with it. Cal Wells, try finding a sponsor someone else
doesn’t already have next time.

MEMO TO EEL RIVER RACING:
Maybe it’s not the driver.