Sizzling In Spring, Sealer Steam, and More Season Silliness
First off, a belated apology is in order.
My "Some
People Don’t Ever Learn" piece criticized the recent Texas-Martinsville
controversy. Quotes denigrating the Martinsville track attributed to Texas
officials led to a public rebuke by Clay Campbell, and I seconded the rebuke by
noting the apparent arrogance of Texas’ campaign to get a second Winston Cup
date.
Subsequently came revelation that no such quotes from Texas officials were
ever verified, a fact I did not discuss in subsequent columns. Texas officials
state no such statements about Martinsville were ever made, and there seems no
reason to dispute this. So to this I offer a too-tardy apology to all the
members and supporters of the track and the parent company SMI.
As to where the quotes attributed to Texas officials actually came from, as
of yet I have received no particular information in that regard. As of now I do
not wish to speculate, though how it would transpire that Clay Campbell would
make his rebuke as he did does deserve some answers.
In criticisms of Texas I have made in the past, I felt I had made
sufficiently clear that a great deal of the problems there have less to do with
the actual track and a lot to do with the nature of the racecars involved; here
I should make this point even more clear. The track itself, despite its rough
short history, is unquestionably a showcase, and the particular pains of its
first two seasons have been weathered. And of course it is, or ought to be, well
known that the problems associated with NASCAR machinery at Texas have never
appeared with the track’s IRL races, which have become must-see events almost
from the very beginning via nonstop combat for the lead within multiple racing
grooves – even a third groove, seemingly unimaginable, was being carved in at
the IRL’s 300-miler last October.
I also should restate with greater emphasis what I have noted in the past –
realistically, whether anyone made a promise on the matter or not, Texas SHOULD
get a second Winston Cup date – just not at the expense of any other track.
Tony Stewart and everyone else were ticked off at how the Richmond track
raced with new sealer. "They should leave the surface alone," was a
common theme, never mind that the surface needs occasional resealing. The
overnight rain almost certainly made things worse, and when it was over Richmond
proved a typically destructive event.
The bashing and crashing began in the Grand National 250, an event that left
Johnny Benson with a broken rib, left Bobby Hamilton Jr. out of gas at the worst
possible time, and left Jason Keller – now rumored on the fast track to a
Winston Cup team – with another win, his third so far this season. It is a
rather remarkable turnaround for Keller, who had not previously won in bunches.
It also left Scott Riggs screaming bloody murder at Kenny Wallace – ironic
since Herman the German generally is so timid as to never put a fender to
anyone.
Then came the beginning of the Winston Cup race, the rain, and the switch to
a more sensible Sunday afternoon running. After two victories, Chevrolet
reverted to its 2002 form of being also-rans as Fords, Dodges, and Tony
Stewart’s Pontiac took over. It’s becoming rather normal now to see a Winston
Cup race with nary a single Chevrolet anywhere close to the win.
The RAD alliance had it worst, getting all its cars wiped out or torn up in
wrecks, and amid increasingly public rumors, hotly denied, that DEI will fire
two of its drivers or perhaps even sell out, amid more frustration for RCR –
this despite Jeff Green’s encouraging run – and amid reports that Jerry Jones
and Ford will buy out Andy Petree.
Amid the destruction wrought at Richmond, Stafford Motor Speedway went
through its own rain delay and finally got glorious weather for the 31st Spring
Sizzler. Three classes took green flags the first Sunday of May. All three saw
lineups before the crowd and full-scale intros before each feature, a change
from the past when only the Featherlite Mod Series competitors got the big start
treatment.
The Late Models provided the best finish of the day. The lead changed hands
several times, and on one early restart the leaders raced three abreast into
One, before Mark Atkinson and Woody Pitkat assumed control. Atkinson led until
Pitkat shot past on Lap 30, while Jay Stuart’s #6 Pontiac stayed with them and
the three got into the final showdown in a two-to-go restart. Stuart set up
Pitkat and shot past on the final lap.
The SK Modified feature got off to a nasty start with a rather huge pileup in
Turn Three around Lap Two. Ted Christopher T-boned Jerry Marquis, who complained
of a shoulder injury afterward. He nonetheless ran the Mod Tour feature.
Among those running in the SK feature was Tom Bolles, returning to racing
after several years away. Bolles was injured badly at NHIS in August 1998 and
had to wear a halo brace on his head for several months. The time off obviously
whetted a desire to return to action.
Bill Anderson and Brad Hietela battled for the lead early before Hietela
almost slammed the wall and Eddy Spiers and Bo Gunning took over. The top two
moved away by a straightaway and Gunning got a good run on Lap 32 into the lead,
and ultimately won the feature, his first such win since September 1998 and 39th
in the SK class. Spiers edged Frank Wainwright for second.
And then came the Modified Series feature and a rash of yellows – ten in fact
– in the first 80 laps, which made for a bevy of exciting double-wide restarts.
Terrible Ted, now driving the Mystique Motorsports #13 – his regular SK team
with which he’s run Tour events often before – grabbed the lead on Lap Three and
had to hold off Chuck Hossfeld in the Bob Garbarino #4; at one point Hossfeld
even squeezed ahead of Teddy up high.
Mike Ewanitsko was one of the big stories early on – nursing a sickness that
almost KOed him the previous week, Ewanitsko started last and clawed into
contention before breaking after a restart.
When the yellow flew around Lap 133, Dave Berghman took the lead when Teddy
and other leaders pitted. Christopher had torrid trouble getting past Tom
Baldwin – due a new Troyer racecar later this year courtesy of Ward Burton’s
crew chief. Baldwin slapped Teddy around on the backstretch twice but Ted
finally got past and closed on Berghman and Rick Fuller. A restart in the thirty
laps saw the most breathtaking sight of the weekend – Fuller got under Berghman
on the backstretch, and off Four Christopher dove three wide for the lead, a
pass nullified by an ensuing yellow. Teddy nonetheless got the lead with 26 to
go and won by over a second, despite a four-to-go restart. Finishing third was
Tony Hirshman, coming back from a spin earlier in the race, while Berghman
finished fourth and Tommy Cravenho finished fifth.
So ended the 31st Spring Sizzler, again living up to its catch cry, "The
Greatest race In The History Of Spring."
Meanwhile, opening practice occurred at Indianapolis, and the first test of
the track’s ballyhooed soft wall system came with Robby McGehee’s savage impact
in Three. "I can tell you it’s not soft," McGehee said. "I hit
hard."
Cleanup took some 30 minutes, and amid the usual self-congratulation by
others, Robin Miller looked less than reassured, as though, despite the usual
"It’s good that it’s there" rhetoric, even he couldn’t spin a really
great success out of it.
McGehee suffered a rather serious leg injury and appears to be unable to race
at the Memorial Weekend classic. Cries that "he would have suffered worse
if that SAFER barrier wasn’t there" will inevitably come, but such
disengages remembering similar such impacts before the SAFER barrier with
identical results.
It was all too obvious that the SAFER barrier made no real difference – there
was a quote that it reduced the impact to 40 Gs, though from the 50 Gs common to
such crashes, this sounds like a serious reduction but really isn’t sufficient –
instead serving as yet another excuse not to address the real safety and
competition issue. 220 MPH is 30 MPH too fast for these cars at that track – or
any other. Get the speeds at IMS down to 190 and THEN the SAFER barrier will
really do genuine good.
Silly season got even stranger with the surprise firing of Jerry Nadeau from
Hendrick Motorsports.
Actually, surprise is a bit of an exaggeration, as scuttlebutt has been over
the past year that Nadeau was wearing out his welcome via communication
breakdown with his team – the release of Tony Furr may have been a harbinger.
Also making waves was Ricky Rudd, strongly hinting at retirement after 2002
amid condemnation of the length of the schedule and the direction of NASCAR
marketing toward the 18-34 demographic. On the one hand I’d tell Rudd to shut
up, win races, and thus show these youngsters and their enablers what it’s all
about. On the other, though, you have to admit the sub-literate quality of some
of the marketing of recent is rather repellent.