My Two Cents Worth for 8/31/04
By Todd Berger, LGR Staff Correspondent
Saturday’s Bristol race was one of the more entertaining that I’ve seen in a while. I was astounded that the Cup race, while twice as long, had 44 percent fewer yellows and 35% fewer yellow flag laps.
With the number of guys that got taken out while just “racing for fun” in the Busch Series, I’d question why guys wouldn’t pick races that were more likely to send them home with a car. I mean, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Casey Mears, Michael Waltrip and others loaded up cars that were substantially different from whence they arrived in Tennessee. I can’t see where the exposure is worth the cost, but what do I know. It just makes me think of the old adage:
Q: How do you make a million dollars in racing?
A: Start with two million dollars.
In typical shotgun fashion, I begin by discussing Greg Biffle’s “incident” in the Busch race. I even watched this replay again last night to make sure I wasn’t missing something It seems that Greg was passing the often-wrecked Tina Gordon machine when Greg made a mistake, turned into her, overcorrected, and smacked the wall hard. He proceeded to chase Gordon down, waiting until she was exiting the corner at the bottom where she was supposed to be. Then, he went from the wall to the apron, gut under Gordon and just plain hooked her and took her out. Trouble was, she corrected into him and he pounded the wall, collecting point leader Martin Truex Jr. in the process. I think Truex Jr. did a good job in both racing hard to finish seventh and in handling the situation after the race. He could have pulled a Harvick on Biffle and jumped over some stuff, but he didn’t. Funny. This was the same thing that Biffle did to Harvick that caused that infamous confrontation at Bristol. I was and still am stunned that NASCAR can warn a guy like Robby Gordon on lap one, but Biffle got no so much as a “calm your driver down” out of the control tower. What a surprise. Inconsistency with how the rules are applied to the competitors. Thanks, NASCAR.
It was nice watching Junior running in the Busch Series and winning NOT on a plate track or at Richmond. It was equally nice to see his friend Matt Kenseth not wreck him when he clearly could have.
There are plenty of Junior haters out there, and plenty that read my columns. If either of those descriptions sound like you, feel free to skip forward to the next paragraph. I enjoyed seeing junior win at Bristol, especially since it was the fifth anniversary (to the day) of his dad’s famous cage rattling win in 1999. Junior’s excitement after winning the cup race on Saturday was sincere and enjoyable to watch. It’s clear that he loves to race and loves to win, and he’s clearly isn’t bored with winning yet.
I also enjoyed Junior’s nose to the wall, 100 fans pressed against the fence burnout. That’s the kind of celebration that is good for the fans and the sport. It’s not good for the engine shop at DEI, but I’m sure they didn’t mind.
Mark Martin pulled a Jeff Gordon and forgot the pit road procedure for Bristol. I know it’s confusing guys, but there must be 250 or so Roush Racing employees. Can’t someone be in charge of taping directions to the dash of the cars or training spotters to tell the drivers “Hey!! Don’t drive a whole lap going for pit road unless it’s under yellow and you’re following someone else. If it’s green out there, just come to your pit and go back out as soon as possible.
Speaking of Jeff Gordon, it appears that the four time champ had a lucky dog problem Saturday night, but the story is sounding worse by the minute from NASCAR’s side. Gordon said that several cars waved him, including some lead lap cars. NASCAR contends that Jeff was the lucky dog and was advised to go around to the rear of the field and he didn’t, so he was black-flagged. That is hogwash. Why black flag a guy that DOESN’T take his lap back? Jeff did come around, and was getting in line when NASCAR dropped their lit cigarette in their collective laps while driving the show, and they didn’t know how to make it right. Just another delightful “interpretation” of the unpublished rules by Brian and his cash-grabbing minions.
And speaking of lucky dog, Ryan Newman used it again this week…easily half a dozen times by Newman this year. That’s odd for a guy so opposed to it. Of course, I guess if he DOESN’T take the lucky dog, he will get black flagged by NASCAR. Ouch.
I don’t know about you guys, but after twenty some races of hearing professional singers butcher the national anthem, it’s nice to hear the driver’s kids singing the national anthem with feeling. That is one of the highlights of my pre-race festivities each and every year.
I was just making Labor Day plans, only to recall at the last minute that there is a 7pm non-night race on Sunday night, since NASCAR’s soul is on its way to Southern California as we speak. The 7pm holiday “night” race is another of NASCAR’s efforts to “grow the sport.” I think it’s highly possible that the grandstands are going to look like the Greek Olympic venues: three quarters full at best.
Oh, and one last thing this week. Anyone who has read any of my stuff concerning Martinsville this year should know that the future is now. Ticket prices haven’t changed for this year, but you now are being forced to pay a “processing fee” of $14 bucks, and that fee is for one ticket. 19.4 percent? Egad.
Oh, and starting in the spring of 2005 if you want to go to the Cup race at Martinsville, you’ll be forced to buy a two-day package of tickets. That means that you’re gonna pay over a hundred bucks per seat, plus processing, AND you’re going to have to pay for another night’s lodging and eats and drinks and parking. If you want to make yourself nauseous, go to http://www.martinsvillespeedway.com/. It’s got that delightfully uncomfortable ISC feel to it, doesn’t it?
Happy contrived chase for the championship, everybody.