Sad RacinDeals

RIP, ANDY KIRBY: First thing I heard this morning was that three-time
track champion at Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville Andy
Kirby had been killed in a motorcycle accident. Andy was 7th on the all time
win list at Fairgrounds, and I think if he’d had decent equipment in his brief
Busch Series career, he’d have gotten a few wins.

I think he got a bad deal with Brewco. Basically, he brings them a sponsor
that he’d had a relationship with for quite a few years. They keep the sponsor
and fire him after a few races. That wasn’t right. Now Williams Travel Centers
is leaving the team. I guess what goes around comes around.

MORE FAIRGROUNDS: If you haven’t already read it, you might want to
check out my column entitled "Raw
RacinDeals." For some reason, all the headline link sites that normally
link to headlines here on RacinDeals.com never saw fit to link to it Monday. I
guess I could put my "racing fan" hat on and figure there was some
conspiracy here, but I won’t; I’m not that stupid.

Perhaps the saddest outcome in this mess is the fan reaction. Fans are
understandably outraged, as they should be. But unfortunately, they’re taking
that outrage out on the track. The track had no choice but to do what it did in
performing the teardowns and then disqualifying Renshaw; otherwise they would
have lost all credibility. The protest was legal (but unethical), Renshaw
insisted on it, and now the chips are falling in a way no one anticipated.

Some fans want Mark Day’s head on a platter, and failure by the track to
provide anything less, they say, will keep them away. I’m not sure how much
credence you should give to those statements, since a lot of them are from
people out of state who have never even been to the track.

Here’s what some people would have done, had they been in charge:

• Let the illegal motor slide. After all, it was just a minute amount off.
• Suspend the drivers involved in the protest.

The problem with these two "solutions" is that neither one of them
abides by the rules as set down in the rulebook. Day didn’t do anything outside
the rulebook. Renshaw’s motor was illegal. Folks, two wrongs don’t make a right.
If you want to show displeasure at what the DRIVERS did, then do it with your
pocketbook; don’t buy their sponsors’ products. But blaming the track for this
situation is just plain wrong.

WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ FACTS: As someone who was there during the
teardown, I continually am amazed at the so-called "reporting" this
incident has gotten. Larry Woody’s initial stories started out at about 90 to
95% right, and they’ve gone downhill from there. Each time the AP or some other
news entity picks up the story, they omit pertinent facts; facts that you really
need before passing judgment on ANYONE.

Here are some of those missing items:

• Deborah Renshaw’s teammate, Chevy White, was also torn down.
• The measurement that her engine was off was not 1/6000th. It was 1 cc.
• There was no rule in the book prohibiting the drivers from pooling their
  money, entering a car, and protesting another car.
• The track just decided on their own to do the teardown anyway. Track
  officials consulted NASCAR, who said throw the protest out. When the
  Renshaw’s were informed of that, they insisted on having the teardown go
  ahead.

So the next time you read something about this, just remember that you’re not
getting the whole story. And any outrage you feel about it is based on
incomplete and inaccurate information.

NASCAR’S WEASELS: I see where Mike Helton is apparently (after all, I
saw this in the newspaper) not going to take action against Day and the others,
and is leaving it up to the track. Only problem with that is, the track has no
grounds for sanctioning the drivers. They didn’t do anything against the rules
of the track.

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

CHICAGO HOPELESS: I sat in front of the TV Sunday with the race on.
But I didn’t really watch the race. I watched bits and pieces of it, but never
enough to get the overall flow of the action. I did see enough to know that
NBC’s coverage hasn’t really improved much. I guess they didn’t have time to do
a computer graphics version of their "3D" car.

I’ve seen other commentary touting NBC’s "Through The Field"
feature. It was ok once, but I think they did it too many times. If you’re going
to isolate one car, put it in a corner and continue to show the action on the
track (of course, that’s hard when there isn’t any).

MUPPET HEADS: it seems that the Muppets have their own sponsorship
problems.

SLEEPY HOLLOW IN REVERSE: It sure was disconcerting to see the drivers
heads floating above the cars.

THEY CALL HIM THE STREAK: I daresay that Jeff Gordon would be entirely
happy to win the championship even if he didn’t win any races this year.

RUDD’S FUTURE: How in the world did that situation get to where it is?
Who’s lost faith in who here? Seems like Ricky Rudd has been doing his contract
negotiations via the media, and that’s never a good sign (or a way to do
business).

Looks like if he doesn’t retire, he’ll be moving a step backwards next year,
because he’s with one of the top teams now.

43 CARS: I see where Haas Carter is fielding the #66 in New Hampshire.
Wonder if they’re planning on filing a protest against someone?