Cup off, but racing still on

By Dan Sipocz

It may be an off weekend for the Cup guys, but that doesn’t mean the Cup guys won’t be in action. Several will, in fact, be spending their free time at Nashville doing what they love to do, racing.

While Nashville is a unique track for NASCAR, I find the racing, at times, unbearable to watch. I’ll give credit where credit is due, though. A superspeedway with a concrete surface is something special.

I don’t feel that the track configuration lends itself to the tremendous side-by-side action that every fan wants to see, but it does allow for the drivers to be in control.

Drivers can go from the back to the front. Drivers are able to make up or give up ground based on how they run around the track.

For that reason, the developers of Nashville should get their credit. No offense, but I don’t find the racing all that exciting at Nashville.

I’ll acknowledge that the track has had a few exciting finishes, but finishes are not indicative of the type of racing you get. The racing we get there is strung out, two-lane racing in which the car on the bottom gets sucked around by the car or truck on top.

The two best finishes at the track came about from misfortune. A multicar incident on the final lap, going into Turn 3 cleared the way for Michael Waltrip to come from something ridiculous like fifth to win just as they froze the field.

The other was either Todd Bodine or Mike Skinner losing a tire and Johnny Benson going on to take the win (if memory serves me correctly, which in this care, I very well may be wrong, so feel free to call me on it if I am wrong).

So while the Cup guys who are running this weekend for fun and the win, we’re sitting and watching less than enthusiastic racing. It’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just the nature of the beast at Nashville. I, for one, am happy there is racing this weekend, but forgive me for looking forward to Martinsville next week.