Another couple good races are in the can.
A demoralizing defeat in Atlanta. An honorable return to his home in (i.e. near) Richmond. But can Mr. Hamlin, unlike his CSA ancestors, win the war?
I don’t know why I’ve found it so difficult to come up with material for this article. We’ve just had two pretty darn good races at a couple great tracks, and everyone involved – including Nascar – did a great job. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the races.
Well now, the party’s over. It’s on to Loudon and, interspersed with some great venues, some more Loudons. But I’m sure there’ll be great racing all the way.
So what’s worse, Nascar‘s ever-open-to-interpretation rule book, or the PGA’s voluminous and archaic one? ( Don’t get me started on the ludicrous and unfathomable NFL rulebook. )
Call Outs:
1.I don’t get to see the shows Ricky Craven is on much, but he always does a great job.
2.Recent good articles by Jim Utter and Kenny Bruce. Jim asks ” Remember when races were special? ” and Kenny talks about pit road safety issues. I don’t know if we’ll get back to the special races Jim talks about, but I guarantee Kenny’s topic will loom large in the future.
In the Short-Term Memory (or false memory) category: At Atlanta, about 10 minutes after the broadcast team commented on the great reliability of the JGR engines, Mr. Hamlin lamented about how they have been problematic all year. Huh?
There’s been a lot of chatter about shortening races. I suppose in this ADD era that’s a plausible concept, but it’s a non-issue for true race fans and it’s a certain step toward the demise of the above-referenced “special” races.
We’ve been informed JJ is the only driver to have been in “The Chase” every year. According to my math, he will forever be the only driver to make that claim – until, of course, a time comes when he doesn’t make the Chase. After that, those words will not be uttered again.
9.4.50: There’s never been a Smith in the Indy 500, but there were 6 in the first Darlington race.
9.4.78: @ Darlington, Terry Labonte made his Cup debut.
9.11.77: At Richmond, with crew chief Harry Hyde talking him through, Neil Bonnett got his 1st Cup victory.
If Ned were in the booth, we’d know what’s up with Nathan Buttke.
Ref: racing-reference.info, Greg Fielden’s “Forty Years of Stock Car Racing”, Richard Sowers’ “The Complete Statistical History of Stock-Car Racing”.
