Eastbound And Up

Another good race is in the can.

It’s catch-up time. A week off, but the song remains the same. It’s still tough for the best car to beat the best team. Some things never change – especially Nascar’s blatant (and arbitrary) use of the yellow.

Good news/bad news: on Saturday, Morgan Shepherd was penalized for “too many men over the wall”. At least he had more than a full crew on hand. He’s not just taking up space and keeping prospective good racers from breaking into the sport.

A new tweak for the All-Star race. Doesn’t that make it a different format for every year since Sprint got involved? I suppose it’s OK if it’s for the better. I admit, I’m a traditionalist (i.e. old), except for the DH in baseball.

These weeks in Nascar:

3.15.87: Benny Parsons replaced an ill Tim Richmond and finished second at Atlanta in the #35 Hendrick Chevy.

3.16.75: At Bristol The King beat a field of 23 by 6 laps.

3.16.80: Dale Earnhardt stunned the Atlanta crowd by beating Rusty Wallace. It was Rusty’s first Cup start. I’m quoting from Greg Fielden’s “Forty Years of Stock Car Racing”, so I don’t think the crowd was stunned because Dale beat Rusty. Maybe just because Dale won.

Having been wildly booed at introductions, DW was wildly cheered when he retired after192 laps (mechanical). This prompted Darrell to do his impression of Jesus Christ. (…they know not what they do.)

3.18.79: At Atlanta, rookie Dave Watson lost control in the pits. 18 year-old jackman Dennis Wade was killed. Watson retired immediately having led the last lap he ever ran.

Ned doesn’t have to tell us what’s up with Rick Wilson. If you missed it, (even if you didn’t miss it) Rick won the old timers race at Bristol last weekend. He was lookin’ good and runnin’ good. Last I heard Larry Pearson and Charlie Glotzbach were doing OK.

Ref: racing-reference.info, Greg Fielden’s “Forty Years of Stock Car Racing”, Richard Sowers’ “The Complete Statistical History of Stock-Car Racing”.

One thought to “Eastbound And Up”

  1. I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!

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