My Two Cents Worth for 11/2/04

By Todd Berger, LGR Staff Correspondent

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for winning Sunday.  It doesn’t come close to making things better for long, but if that win gives the families and friends a moments peace, then it was completely worth it.

Last week there were really only two or maybe three guys alive in the title chase, and now there are five or six.  I’m not saying there’s a conspiracy to save “the chase,” but I think it’s odd that Busch, Gordon AND Junior all had trouble on the same day.  I know that stuff happens in racing, but it doesn’t happen often, and the timing sure has to make you wonder.

For all those folks who rip Robby Gordon all the time, I am waiting to hear what he did wrong this weekend.  He qualified and ran up front in his own Busch car, then took a horrid car for a struggling Cup team and ran in the top ten all day before a front brake failure spilled brake fluid all over his legs.  NASCAR held Robby a lap because they said he had no brakes, and he finished 16th.  Another fine example of selective rules enforcement by the sanctioning body. 

It was also announced that, next year, the 31 Cingular car will be piloted by Jeff Burton.  Congratulations to RCR and Jeff. But my guess is that Jeff will have to endure the same incompetence and technological shortcomings as Robby has, and then it won’t be Robby that’s to blame anymore. 

There is also a rumor that Dave Blaney will re-join Childress to replace Burton in the 30 car.  Wow.  RC’s answer to Burton and Gordon is Burton and Blaney?  Egad.  Besides, how dumb is Blaney to go back with a guy that hired him “for the rest of the year,” only to dump him three weeks later when something prettier came along?

It’s now time for my weekly new system vs. the old system update.  Let’s see where we stand:

New System

1 Busch 6052

2 Johnson -59

3 Gordon -72

4 Martin -81

5 Earnhardt Jr. -98

6 Stewart -145

7 Newman -186

8 Sadler -237

9 Kenseth -257

10 Mayfield -316

the chase for 11th

11 McMurray 4195

12 Jarrett –221

Old System

1 Gordon 4532

2 Johnson 4490  -42

3 Earnhardt Jr. 4455  -77

4 Busch 4341  -191

5 Stewart 4282  -250

6 McMurray 4195  -337

7 Martin 4169  -363

8 Sadler 4106  -426

9 Kenseth 4102  -430

10 Newman 4047  -485

11 Jarrett 3974  -558

12 Mayfield 3919  -613

13 Kahne 3915  -617

14 Harvick 3867  -665

15 Labonte 3864  -668

Still a wash I’d say, except of course NASCAR would still have some of their credibility, but that’s a decent trade off…isn’t it?

At this point, I hope Jimmie Johnson wins out the rest of the way.  He had a 400-point lead this summer, and if not for the chase, his team would have never messed with their engine program were it not for that huge lead.  Hell, I bet Johnson would have been more likely to have a 700 point lead by now.  But we’d hate to honor a champion that dominated the sport in that fashion.  After all, networks that can’t stop showing Ryan Newman’s Daytona wreck from 2003 are televising this sport.  THAT’S the kind of action and excitement they seem to be looking for…

Also, it’s nice to see that Jamie McMurray is putting together a stretch of which dreams are made, but he’s relegated to 11th place.  Doesn’t matter that he’d actually be sixth and only 80 plus points out of the top five.  What gets me is THAT is a good story.  Yet we sit here watching these last ten races waiting and even hoping for bad luck to hit the leader or leaders so we can tighten the field. 

I for one don’t like wishing for bad things to happen to others.  I’d prefer to see everyone do the best that they can and then the chips fall where they may.  The contrived chase is nothing but a carnival house of mirrors. 

Rumors continue to swirl around the 77 team and Brendan Gaughan.  Shame on Rusty, Roger and Don Miller.  I hope Kvapil comes in and does less than nothing in that car.  Maybe THAT will show them.

For all of you blind Dale Earnhardt Jr. loyalists, I have a message for you.  Junior screwed up.  Carl Edwards didn’t do anything wrong.  It was NOT Carl’s responsibility to lift FOR Junior.  Period.  His job was to do his best to win the race for his team and his sponsor.  Carl drove a great race and did everything he could do to avoid Junior.  He just couldn’t stop to let Junior into line.  He’d have been run over from behind. 

I didn’t blame Nemechek for the incident with Stewart a couple of weeks ago, and I don’t blame Carl for this.  And you shouldn’t either.

I know the circumstances were tragic, but it is always refreshing to see true human emotion in sports, especially racing.  Seeing Jimmie awash with emotion was real.  It doesn’t get more powerful than that.

Overlooked in this race were good runs by two rookies as well.  Kasey Kahne scored his 11th top-five finish of the year, and Brian Vickers overcame more emotion than most of us could stand to even get into the car, but finishing seventh in the wake of the loss of his boss and best friend was a Herculean effort.  Vickers was obviously shaken being interviewed pre-race as well as during his private prayer (which NBC refused to cut away from even though the production truck had sent the audio elsewhere).  I said I enjoyed true emotion, but prodding to find it is unnecessary and a little mean.  Sort of like how they treated the interview with Tony Stewart.

I love Atlanta Motor Speedway and I love Bruton Smith and Ed Clark and everyone else who work to keep that facility fan-friendly. 

I went to the Busch race Saturday, stayed for most of the IROC race (had to leave because the Busch race ran long and some members of our group had a prior engagement that started at 8pm) and had a great time. 

Let’s do a quick comparison of AMS and any track owned by ISC.

AMS and Lowe’s Motor Speedway:  banked and wide, allowing for three wide racing all day.

Chicagoland and Kansas Speedway:  too flat for stock cars.  Usually lead to fan apathy.

ISC cooler policy: don’t bring one, but if you do, make it less than 6 inches long.  By the way, NASCAR and ISC ALSO own the ISC concessions provider, Americrown.  Coincidence?  Not likely.

Bruton’s tracks:  Bring a 14x14x14 inch cooler.  In my experience, it holds over 40 canned beverages, which is more than enough for me.  I already paid 115 bucks a ticket.  Don’t try to kill me with the four-dollar cokes and the seven-dollar turkey legs.  (Which they don’t).

I could go on and on, but why?  There’s no point.  If you want the best racing experience available and you want to be treated appreciatively, I urge you to patronize the tracks owned by Bruton Smith.  You won’t be disappointed.