Hungry For Bristol Action

by Jim on March 14, 2010 · 0 comments

So, how was your weekend off from NASCAR racing? I see Bump Drafts contributor Patrick Reynolds took in some Indy Car action, and was even talking Big East basketball tournament. If you saw yesterday’s post, John “Dawg” Chapman opined on what has become of SPEED. Me? I’m tuning up for our big, local 10 mile road run coming up in four weeks. I also spent some time with my guitar I hadn’t spent in some time, and enjoyed the company of family and friends, without having to worry about scampering home to watch a race.

The break was nice. Now it’s time for Bristol! The timing couldn’t be better.

On several levels, we’re due for this track. After three weeks of cookie cutter tracks, I’m ready for racing in tight quarters. I’m ready for a race where a lap can be clicked off faster than the time it takes me to get from the sofa to the fridge. What is it some sage said? That racing at Bristol was like flying an airplane in a gymnasium? Paints quite a picture, doesn’t it?

In light of the recent donnybrook between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, the timing for the track that produces its share of conflict comes at an interesting time. Like Martinsville, Bristol Motor Speedway has a way of taking ordinarily even-keeled guys like Matt Kenseth, and turning them fiesty. Speaking of crazy Cousin Carl, let’s not forget the fun he and Kyle Busch had with each other during the night race two seasons ago. Do you think Shrub or J.P. Montoya need an engraved invitation to mix it up? I think not. The half-mile track provides ample opportunity to administer “chrome justice” without flipping cars at 190 mph or endangering the fans.

And you can’t forget the history that comes with this track. Champions like Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough and Rusty Wallace owe a lot of their legend to the place they call Thunder Valley. What race fan will ever forget the “cage rattling” incident between Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte? That’s just a little slice of Bristol’s rich history. It’s track like this that reminds us of NASCAR’s roots and why the old schoolers got into racing in the first place.

This also provides opportunity for racers not named Jimmie Johnson to get a “W” under their belt. Oh, you can’t count him out, but Bristol is where Kurt Busch has had more than his share of success. Bristol is also where the stable of Richard Childress racers have run well, and they come in with some early season momentum. How fitting would it be for Jeff Gordon fans if he picked up historic career win number 83 at one of NASCAR’s signature tracks?

For this fan. Bristol Motor Speedway is a “Bucket List” track, perhaps even more so than Daytona. With it’s configuration, the venue has the feel of an old Roman coliseum, where gladiators fought to the death.

It’s been a nice break, now it’s time to get racin’ again. Bring it on! I’m ready!

{ 0 comments }

Soap Box: SPEED Has Let Me Down

by John Chapman on March 13, 2010 · 18 comments

When the SPEED Channel first came about, I was so excited. The very idea of an entire channel devoted to cars, racing, and car related programming was heady stuff. I had been reading about it for some time in AutoWeek. I was waiting with baited breath. Then I found out that it wasn’t going to be available on my cable even as an upgrade. That was a part, but not the only part, in my decision to change to satellite.

It quickly became my “go to” channel. Not the only thing I watched, by any means, but it got first crack at my attention. I’m not the norm in my demographic. I follow no team sports of any kind. Couldn’t even venture a guess at the last time I watched more than 2 minutes of a football game. If you wanted to torture some secret out of me, just force me to sit through
a baseball game. All you’d have to do would be to tell me that it was a double header. I’d spill my guts before the 3rd inning.

Racing is my thing. I like some forms of it better than others, but as they say, “Variety is the spice of life.” If it burns gas and makes noise, I’m in.

When I first started watching SPEED, they had wonderful array of racing. The Super Modifieds, the USAC, non-wing
Sprints, and Midgets were probably my favorite. I love dirt, and the Winged Sprinters race more like pavement cars.
They are way more sensitive to set up. The non-wing cars are more driver oriented. Get the set up in the ball park, and a good driver can carry the car. They carried some good local shows from places I never would get to see.

I was a confirmed “Thunder Head.” If I couldn’t see it live, I’d have the VCR set. The Winter Heat series was a no brainer. It sort of took the place of the time when all the best Sprints and Midgets were in Florida for the winter racing.
I’m not saying that Winter Heat was why Jeff Gordon, and all the other dirt trackers who followed him are in NASCAR today. Jeff was carefully groomed to get where he is, but I think the exposure certainly helped ease the
transition. Plus they could have been a factor in getting him hooked up with Hendrick, Sleepy Tripp, & Kevin Olsen in their prime were every bit as good as Jeff. They never made the move. Could have been lots of reasons, but the timing
of Jeff’s Winter Heat exposure was perfect.

Another special favorite was the occasional AMA Flat track races they carried. Hill climbs are fun. I just never seemed to connect with the Super Bike racing.

Then SPEED was bought by FOX. It seemed like it became All NASCAR, all the time. If they weren’t showing NASCAR, they were talking about it. The only non-racing, but racing related show that I watch now is Wind Tunnel. One thing I think could be hurting NASCAR, is over exposure. It’s gotten so bad for me that I check to see when the scheduled start time
is, give it a couple of minutes before I tune in. When I switch to the broadcast, I want to see cars rolling on the track. Not people talking about the same things that other people have been talking about for the last 3-4 hours. Granted my reaction may a little extreme, but I doubt if I’m the only one who feels this way to some degree.

I understand that they still carry some World of Outlaws, both Sprint, and Late Model, (the late models remind me of Slot Cars) and I do watch, but most of the stuff I used to enjoy is gone. No Bellville Nationals, the Chili Bowl, long delayed.

I do enjoy the F1 parade, but I watch it more for Bob Varsha and David Hobbs than for the racing. I will have to admit that I found Pinks mildly entertaining…..for the first couple of times I watched. Then I got tired of seeing people
sandbagged out of their cars. Wrecked, Pimp My Ride, Pinks, Pass Time, come on guys you can do better.

I know, because you have!

{ 18 comments }

Big 10 Driver Rankings- Week Off Edition

by Jim on March 12, 2010 · 3 comments

As the season is just four races old, there’s still plenty we don’t know. We’d like to speculate whether or not someone can beat out Jimmie Johnson for the championship, we’d like to opine on who that might be, but really, no one knows.

You do wonder though, if the week off will provide teams that are struggling a chance to re-trench and put it back together. Another burning question is one of whether or not that overachievers can become the Juan Pablo Montoya of 2010.

That’s the fun of the unfolding season, seeing what holds and what doesn’t….


    The Big 10

10) Tony Stewart- (ranked 8th last week)- It’s tempting to give this spot to an upstart like Scott Speed or Paul Menard, but does anyone seriously believe that Stewart won’t be a championship contender come November? I didn’t think so. He’ll be just fine. Believe it.

9) Mark Martin- (ranked 3rd last week)- A key figure in the Hendrick Motorsports debacle. In spite of finishing 33rd, Martin is still infinitely better off than he was this time last year. Believe it or not, that lousy finish was better than what he had last year, when Martin spent most of his day WATCHING the race.

8) Clint Bowyer- (ranked 5th last week)- The RCR revival hit a pothole last week for Bowyer and teammate Jeff Burton. In this humble opinion, he’ll be back come Bristol. The cars are too good, and Bowyer has too much skill to be regarded as otherwise.

7) Juan Pablo Montoya- (unranked last week)- Let’s face it, this is where the guy really belongs. The car is there, the skill is there. JPM has been killed by bad luck…until Atlanta. He always does well on speed tracks. Makes you wonder how the continually improving former open wheel ace will fair in the tight quarters of Bristol.

6) Kasey Kahne- (unranked last week)- Those footsteps you’re hearing belong to one Kasey Kenneth Kahne (want to bet the guy never had any monogrammed shirts growing up?). After a couple of duff outings to open the season, Kahne’s coming alive. In fact, I was just sure he was our race winner last Sunday.

5) Kurt Busch- (unranked last week)- Winning makes a great cure-all. Boding even better for Busch’s fortunes is that Bristol is his best track. If you think about, the 2004 champion is starting in a fashion reminiscent of how he ran in 2009. That wasn’t so bad. One thing’s for sure: he’s hit it off quite well with new crew chief Steve Addington. That has to eat at Kurt’s kid brother.

4) Greg Biffle- (ranked 6th last week)- Here’s further proof that Jack Roush and Company aren’t as bad off as I once thought. Four races, four top tens. It’s exclusive company. An 8th place finish at Atlanta won’t get you feeling all excited, but it has to feel good to be in this place, when you haven’t run an exceptional race yet.

3) Matt Kenseth- (ranked 4th last week)- I’ve got to tell you Matt the Brat is far exceeding any expectation I had of him. It bodes well for the 2003 champion, or any other driver for that matter, when you’ve shown you’ve got the speed and you’ve got the team to handle the plethora of downforce tracks. Yes, Kenseth fans, you can believe.

2) Kevin Harvick- (ranked 2nd last week)- You know you’re going well when you struggle with an evil car and still come out of a race with a top ten. It’s a far cry from last year, when it was plain to anyone with any degree of intellectual honesty that “Happy” was not, and he wanted out of Richard Childress Racing. It will be interesting to see how Harvick fairs at Bristol- an RCR haven.

1) Jimmie Johnson- (ranked 1st last week)- Tempting as it may be to think that the four-time champ is falling off, the truth is a 12th place finish ain’t all that bad. I can think of at least 28 drivers who would like to have a week that bad. Now if he’s not winning in the Chase that’s one thing, but we’re nowhere near there yet.


    FALLING OFF THE PACE

Jeff Gordon will recover at some point at be just fine. The jury is still out on the ever-improving Joey Logano, though let us not forget that he was a victim of circumstances, the lesser known victim of the early race dust-up between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. Jeff Burton is someone we haven’t seen the last of, either.

    READY TO STRIKE

You’ll have to excuse me if I’m not quite ready to jump on the Paul Menard and Scott Speed bandwagon just yet. By the same token, they’re making this early 2010 an interesting one to watch. Marcos Ambrose is also continuing his ascent after a disastrous beginning to the season.

{ 3 comments }

← Previous Entries