Sofa Sideline – Pre-600 Thoughts; Other “Stuff”
I haven’t written much over the past couple of weeks;
partially due to the fact that I’ve been rather busy, in combination with
picking up a rather nasty cold – one that continues to linger. It’s making
me a little grouchy; I may have to revisit some of these statements later.
However…
Some thoughts about the upcoming weekend festivities in
Charlotte:
I predict the "usual suspects" will reign over the
Coca-Cola 600; we’ll see Tony Stewart up front as well as Sterling Marlin,
Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth. I think the young guns will not pace themselves,
and will suddenly find themselves in trouble either coming off the second or
fourth turns. Both get treacherous by the end of this race.
Ryan Newman, although he ran a good race during the Winston,
will fall off the pace; may even accidentally run into one of those drivers he
happened to tick off last weekend – they are not likely to cut him any slack.
Same thing holds true for Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson; they may not find the
track to their liking on the long run.
And Robby Gordon; well, let’s just say he’ll drive his
normal race and see what that brings.
Jeff Gordon; this one I just don’t know about; maybe??? But
there have been times that I’ve seen at Charlotte where he’s had to do
everything he could possibly do to keep it off the fourth turn wall.
So, when all is said and done – Tony Stewart will be the
winner.
Silly Season:
There is already so much "stuff" going around it’s
hard to keep up with. Okay so we know Elliott Sadler is leaving the Wood
Brothers organization, but going where? The word on the street has the 28 as the
place where he’ll wind up; with Ricky retiring at the end of the season.
So, if Sadler goes to the 28, then who is going to the 1?
Dark horse for that job is Johnny Benson, but with the news that DEI is up for
sale; who knows? If Benson goes to the 1 then will Nadeau stay in the 10? And
then will Nemechek stay with the 25?
And I bet we’ll hear some surprising news from the Petty
organization, which will keep the dominoes falling. I think we’ll see a
"stranger" become part of this organization by next season. Only time
will answer these questions. But I tell you, all this speculation; all pretty
early in the season, but I suppose it’s how the game’s played.
Other News:
After a rather "horrific" accident during the ARCA
RE/MAX race on Saturday, it’s good to report that Tina Gordon was released
from the North Carolina hospital today and sent to a hospital nearby her home in
Alabama. She is scheduled to go home after being checked out at that facility;
and from what I’ve read, is already asking when can she get back in a race
car.
We wish Tina the best of luck and look forward to her return
to the Series!
Also, our best wishes also to Jeff Purvis for a speedy
recovery. Jeff is recovering from injuries sustained during the Busch Grand
National Series in Nazareth last weekend. Our hope is that NASCAR is providing
the support that he and his family needs – if this is not the case, then by
all means they should step up to the plate.
The ARCA RE/MAX race was under caution for almost thirty laps
as they cleaned up the accident last Saturday – it was a shame, as there were
five or six cars that were definitely competitive with one another and it would
have been good to see them battle it out. Also, Chase Montgomery, Nashville
native, was flying up through the field; after starting 36th in a
back up car. He wound up with a 7th place finish – a great run.
There were some words with another youngster in the series after the race –
but ya know, it’s just racin!
That’s it for now.