Another benchmark race is in the can.
There haven’t been that many in the history of Nascar. You don’t even have to take your socks off to count them. The last was maybe nineteen years ago. That keeps them special when they do happen to come along. I know, in the short- sighted corporate sort of way, Nascar’s goal is to have it like that every year – if not every race. But then the “special” would disappear.
What’s really amazing is that the event finally lived up to the blathering hype. Oh, to be a Tony Stewart fan! (I’m not, but I was Sunday.) For the 99 fans (I’m not), I can empathize.
The 14 drove as if he were the Kyle Busch of yesteryear (a few weeks ago) but with the ability to finish the job.
Hopefully, all of Nascar’s missteps during the year will not go unaddressed because of such a great ending to the season.
If my ciphering is correct, Tony has accomplished something that has never been done and will never be done again. He has won the Winston Cup, the Nextel Cup, and the Sprint Cup.
Speaking of benchmarks (and paragraph 5 above), let’s see… Nascar waited well over an hour (I believe) to call the race at Watkins Glen when it was obvious to everyone else early on the race was not going to happen. But it took only 7 minutes for Nascar to call the championship – deciding Truck race on Friday.
11.20.83: @ Riverside, Bill Elliott got his 1st Cup win.
Until February… (or something noteworthy happens)
By Gary Erdakos
Ref: racing-reference.info, Greg Fielden’s “Forty Years of Stock Car Racing”, Richard Sowers’ “The Complete Statistical History of Stock-Car Racing”, and John Sebastian.
only john sebastian would appreciate title of recent post more than me. and wasnt that comeback by tony stewart over last ten races the most phenomenal in all of sport since…well, since the fall, when st louis came from way back in august to win world series?