The Winston And Nazareth Postscript
You knew it was going to be bad when Martina McBride delivered perhaps the
most disappointing rendition of "America The Beautiful" ever done –
I’m sorry, I like Martina McBride, but she blew it as a singer this time around;
interestingly McBride’s presence at a NASCAR race brought back memories of her
presence at the infamous 1996 Carolina 400 at Rockingham, back when she still
wore her hair like Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith.
But then you knew it would be good when President Bush delivered the most
dignified command to fire engines heard in decades – so dignified, in fact, that
it shamed all the pompous lunatic renditions of the command ever done like one
would not believe.
And then came The Winston, and it proved itself a typical Winston – that is,
passing was almost impossible, crashes wiped out car after car, and it followed
the form chart of 2002 by being a Ford victory, Ford’s seventh in The Winston’s
history.
The new format lived up to expectations – the top six to eight made no
serious effort to race for position, while tenth on back was the only real
combat all night. Cutting out set numbers of competitors after each of the first
two segments didn’t make for a better race, but it did lead to another Jeff
Gordon whine fest because Mikey Waltrip had the temerity to race him for
position – Mikey Waltrip may not belong in a Winston Cup car, but he didn’t do
anything particularly wrong by racing Gordon.
Ryan Newman joins Mikey Waltrip in somewhat dubious company – Mikey’s first
win in a Cup car was The Winston of 1996, a win so embarassing to the sport the
format was changed so a non-winner like Mikey at the time could not get in
again. The difference here is that Ryan Newman shows far greater potential than
Mikey ever could and it seems a given that he will win a point race this season.
But Newman cost himself his invitation to Elliott Sadler’s Christmas party,
at least according to Sadler’s Drew Bledsoe impression with his helmet to
Newman’s car – which got both Newman and Sadler called to the big red truck
afterward and ought to cause Sadler to reconsider that rumored WWE sponsorship
for NFL dollars.
Mikey also didn’t do his chances of staying with DEI – a team still rumored
on the auction block, a rumor I sort of doubt – any good, but at least he made
the second segment; Steve Park didn’t even make that after spinning early in the
first segment and never showing any muscle after that.
DEI did salvage something with Dale Junior; the near-cinch for Most Popular
Driver in 2002 exploded in the final sprint and may have been stronger than
Newman at the end. Junior’s charge was almost the only Chevrolet burst that
actually looked capable of winning other than Jimmie Johnson’s wins in the first
two segments.
DEI’s partners at RCR had another poor outing despite Robby Gordon’s wildcard
victory bid. Jeff Green didn’t run that well in the Open and No Bull Sprint,
while Kevin Harvick’s chicken caper laid a pretty big egg in the showdown
sprint; the egg promptly became a summons to the NASCAR trailer for mugging
Newman under yellow – please, somebody revoke this guy’s competition license.
The big wreck of the night began when Ward Burton tagged Sterling Marlin
entering Three; Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace had it missed but got together
instead and socked the wall further down – somebody missed a signal there, and
Rusty wound up with some serious hurts in his toes, which were felt in his later
test at Richmond. The wreck took out Bobby Hamilton and was the best
personification to date of the possible dying days of Andy Petree’s team.
Chevys and Fords dominated the Winston, while Dodge surprisingly struggled,
best shown by Daytona winner Ward Burton’s DNQ for the second segment. It was a
striking contrast with The Open and the No Bull Sprint; Dodge won the Open via
Jeremy Mayfield and the Dodges of Kyle Petty, Jimmy Spencer, Hut Stricklin, and
John Andretti showed impressive muscle in both sprints – Stricklin must have
taken some Jimmy Spencer pills the way he was punting people at times, a
striking change of pace for the normally mild-mannered driver.
Speaking of striking contrasts – was ANYONE surprised that Ron Hornaday
showed greater potential in Elizabeth Morgenthau’s #49 Dodge than Shawna
Wreck-em-some? Shawna reportedly is now officially fired from the team – what
took them so long to do that?
R.J. Reynolds honchos officially dismissed talk of moving The Winston, but
the idea is still a good one. This caused Mike
Mulhern to write, "Of course, drivers who criticized the possibility of
running this all-star spectacle at wild and raucous Bristol would probably be
aghast if RJR and NASCAR were to decide to take it it Talladega."
Obviously, Mulhern and everyone else has forgotten that the similar all-star
race The Daytona Shootout has not seen a caution since 1998 and only in 2000 was
there any crash in that span, so running The Winston at Talladega would be the
best possibility – the event would finally run a track where there would be some
actual combat for the win.
So with The Winston now wrapped, the 600 beckons. History is against Ryan
Newman, as only Darrell Waltrip, Davey Allison, and Jeff Gordon have won both
The Winston then the 600. Nonetheless, he’ll likely be part of a dominant Ford
squadron; the Roushketeers were the Ford team with the highest depth despite
Jeff Burton’s busted clutch. Only the Dodges show any real promise of beating
the Fords. Of the Chevys, only Junior and Jimmie Johnson look like they have
anything based on The Winston, while Tony Stewart is still the only Pontiac with
any shot at a win, this despite some nifty moves by Jerry Nadeau in Nelson
Bowers’ Grand Prix in the Open and No Bull Sprint.
Rain washed out Grand National qualifying at Nazareth, so the race started by
points. The weather cooperated enough for the GN North cars to run, and Ted
Christopher beat Matt Kobyluck for the win. It was an adventurous weekend for
Terrible Ted; in Stafford’s SK feature the previous night he blasted Jeff Malave
into main straight traffic and Bo Gunning got launched almost into the fencing
while six others were eliminated; Gunning reportedly accosted Teddy at his truck
afterward.
But it was a disastrous weekend for Jeff Purvis, seriously injured when he
slid into the wall after a stop, then got side slammed by Greg Biffle at full
throttle. It wasn’t a head-on shot like that incurred by Tina Gordon in the ARCA
race at Charlotte; that it was more a glancing side blow was immensely
fortunate.
But it was still a nasty crash, and it leaves Purvis hurting badly. Such is
the latest setback to a career that has never been able to grow to what it can
become. After graduating from ARCA to full-time Grand National in 1996, Purvis
won twice, then lost his ride with James Finch, got it back for 1998, went to
Gary Bechtel for 1999, went to Joe Gibbs in 2000, then lost that ride in
mid-2001 after sponsorship dollars dried up. He drove Richard Childress’ #21 in
selected GN events and won at Pikes Peak, and this year was in Clarence Brewer’s
#37 and got the win at Texas.
We all hope Purvis can come back very soon.
There of course was also Tina Gordon’s nasty melee at Charlotte. Trying to
pass another car, she got into the other car, spun, then slid into another car’s
path and got lanced in the nose and forward doorpost. The hit was brutal and
Tina suffered some broken bones.
We hope Tina gets back soon.
The sudden rash of serious injuries in the Indy Racing League has lead to John
Zimmerman’s examination.
Zimmermann notes the 1997 rash of injuries which were blamed on the EMCO
gearboxes used at the time, and he also notes the acknowledged surprise of IRL
officials at the recent rash of serious injuries, even to drivers slamming into
the new Stell And Foam Energy Reduction barriers at IMS. Zimmermann looks again
at the gearboxes used by the IRL and asks why the body is relearning the lesson
of 1997.
While the gearbox may be an immediate cause for concern, yet again the
ultimate aspect is ignored – the speed of the cars. It is tiresome to repeat
that the IRL’s cars, not to mention those of CART, NASCAR, and ARCA, are
multiple seconds a lap too fast, but until the sport finally admits what ought
to be obvious, then it will have to be repeated. Gearbox changes and additional
changes to the SAFER barrier may be necessary, but until the IRL gets the speeds
down at 190 or less for top end on super speedways like IMS, and NASCAR likewise
cuts top end significantly, then all the other efforts remain the old game of
treating symptoms instead of the problem.
Finally, Ricky Rudd scored two blows for common sense during the Winston
weekend. First a new Havoline commercial came out that openly and hilariously
mocks the preposterous sponsor-plug practice of victory lane interviews, and
during his driver interview at The Winston, Rudd spoofed FOX’s youth-oriented
marketing push and his own condemnation of it by flexing his pecks, WWE style.