RacinDeals – Darlington Wrap

RESTRAINT ISSUES: The obvious question one has to ask in regard to
Tony Stewart’s crash is, "Is is he still modifying the Hutchens device to
render it ineffective?" Regardless of the answer, NASCAR needs to look at
the situation and determine how the device acted during his wreck. If the device
was found to have been a factor in his injuries, then knowing whether or not he
modified it is of paramount importance. If he didn’t modify it and it
contributed to his injuries, then NASCAR needs to remove it from the
"approved" list of head restraints.

If he did modify it and it contributed to his injuries, then NASCAR needs to
suspend any driver (and team) who modifies any safety device. Making them sit
out one race will give them the chance to fix the problem.

It strikes me that in other racing series, if a driver loses consciousness
after a wreck, they have to sit out at least a couple of weeks before they’re
cleared to drive. Apparently NASCAR has cleared Stewart to drive this weekend at
Bristol, despite the fact that he was knocked out in the race.

TROPHY WIFE: I guess there’s a lot that could be said about the
divorce case that’s "rocking" the Winston Cup world right now. And I
guess a lot of that would be pure speculation. At this moment, all we have is a
miniscule part of one party’s story. Depending on the other party’s story, we
may not hear any more than what we’ve already heard, or we may be in for a nasty
court case which could strain the fans’ loyalty to the driver in question.

Whatever the case, it’s always sad to see a marriage end. I guess this goes
to show that some drivers’ lives are more PR than reality.

I do disagree with the contention that this is a private matter. Sorry folks,
you can’t have it both ways. You can’t plaster yourself and your wife all over
TV in commercials and then expect to have complete privacy. Plus, I think the
fans deserve to know what factors are influencing a driver’s performance on the
track.

I found it funny that on one web site, the writer says that it’s no one’s
business, while in telling us how this whole thing will "unfold" he
says some things about the situation that no one else has said. I guess that’s a
do as I say, not as I do situation.

THE BIG ONE: Wait a minute! I thought "the big one" only
happened at restrictor plate races. Eleven cars in one wreck (25% of the field)
qualifies as a big one, right? And this "big one" resulted in a driver
being knocked out and taken to the hospital.

So, all those folks who keen at having to run restrictor plate race tracks
need to start keening on these other tracks where we have "big ones."
That is, if they don’t want to be considered hypocrites.

NASHVILLE CATS: Sterling Marlin is definitely at the next level.
Whatever Chip Ganassi has brought to the team was apparently what Sterling
needed.

It’d be nice if the other guys who cut their racing teeth at the Fairgrounds
Speedway at Nashville were doing as well. Of the dozen or so drivers in NASCAR’s
top three divisions who raced weekly at Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville,
Marlin in the Cup Ceries and Brian Rose in the Truck Series are the only ones
getting the job done.

THE BUSCH "RACE": I didn’t watch any of the Darlington Busch
race Saturday. Frankly, I’m glad I didn’t waste my time. How entertaining can
watching a race on TV be when one driver leads all the laps?

ENGINE RULES: In my last column I said something to the effect that if
you’ve qualified in the last 10 or 12 spots, why not go ahead and change your
engine to a "better" one. Well, NASCAR has modified the rule as far as
the penalty goes. Now if you change an engine without NASCAR approval, you’re
subject to a fine, lost of points, loss of finishing position (I’ll believe that
one when I see it), and suspension.

So now it looks like you really have to have a real engine failure so NASCAR
will approve the change. Guess those guys in the engine shop need to work on
those special engines that grenade after qualifying so they can change an engine
and only have to go to the rear.

BRISTOL’S PITS: Finally, they’ve figured out how to eliminate the
two-pit disadvantage at Bristol. But it’s an idea I had a few years ago. It
seemed so simple then that I figured they must have already thought about it and
wasn’t able to make it work. I guess we’ll see.