Turn 3

Kyle Busch Is King Of The Mountain

By Mark Young

It's been a while since I posted a KOM and I think it is a good time to do so.  Kyle Busch, whether you like him or not, is the hottest thing in NASCAR........period.  I don't care if you like him or not, every time he straps into that seat he is the one to be reckoned with.

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Old Darlington

By DAVID GREEN

It's not good to have a fixation on the past, and romantic recollections of "good old days" are usually rose-tinted distortions of how those days really were. But I miss the old Darlington Raceway.

I wish I still had the tri-fold brochure advertising the 1965 Southern 500 that was once part of my racing memorabilia collection. It was new when I first got it. I examined and re-read it until its glossy paper was tattered. In my mind's eye, I can clearly see the picture of Buck Baker's Ray Fox Dodge on the way to victory in the '64 race, the 15th running of the Labor Day classic.

I had a fascination with the race and the Darlington track that was very much akin to the reverence I have always had for Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500. I saw the the two tracks and their signature races as equals in the motor sports world.

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Race Attendance Vs The Price of Going

By Keith Ott

We NASCAR fans are a nation of sport crazy nomads. No other sporting genre in America draws crowds from a larger geographical area than a NASCAR race does. It has to be that way. There’s only one Cup race per weekend, and, if you want to see it live, you have to go to it. That means one thing in America. While formerly known as the gas and go, it now has such titles as, “The gas and cry,” “#!@###! OPEC,” and, “Pump pain.” It doesn’t matter what you call it, you have to do it to get there. Which brings up the question, “Where do you draw the line between gas prices, expenses, and attending.”

What is your comfort zone?

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Quit Whining, It Was Just Racin'

By Mark Young

OK people, after two full days of listening to people talk about how Kyle Busch purposely wrecked Dale Earnhardt Junior on Saturday night and cost Dale a win, I have officially had it.  Yes, Kyle drove agresivly into turn 3, I don't deny it.  Did he do it to purposely wreck Dale?  Hell no!!  I have watched the replay on my DVR so many times the box was smoking.  Kyle Busch was doing his job.  He was trying to win a race.  Should he have realized he was racing Dale Earnhardt Jr. the most popular driver in NASCAR and let up and finish second?  Hell No!!  What Kyle Busch did on Saturday was no different than moves we have seen Dale Earnhardt Sr. do many times.........QUIT WHINING!!

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Perception is reality

By DAVID GREEN

Hot-button issues wax and wane, usually growing hot when something triggers discussion of them and cooling when the excitement of the moment fades and other issues warm up. Such is the case with NASCAR's drug-testing controversy, which is back in the news.

NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter repeatedly used the word "perceptions" in the quotes relayed by The Charlotte Observer's Jim Utter in his story. That's the key word, not only in this but in other matters. Because, as tennis pro Andre Agassi put it so many years ago in those Canon camera commercials, "Image is everything."

Hunter voiced a concern that a more aggressive drug-testing policy might cause people to think there is a problem that is being addressed. However, since Aaron Fike's soul-baring in ESPN The Magazine, it's probably safe to assume that perception has already been triggered.

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Talladega All That and Then Some

By Keith Ott

Man, if you couldn’t find something to like during this race, then you seriously need to find you a new sport to follow. I found myself at the mercy of the almighty commercial when time arrived to replenish my beverage of choice. The action was so good I just couldn’t leave. It was an almost perfect race, which leaves us with…

The Big One – I almost thought they might make it through without TBO, but, true to form, restrictor plate racing comes with an almost certain guarantee of having one. Going that fast that close, for that long, only needs a tiny miscue and that’s all she wrote. Speaking of TBO in the Saturday event, I don’t care where NASCAR told Lepage it was ok to blend in. It was one of the dumbest racing moves I’ve ever seen. The crosswalk signal tells me I can cross the street; common sense tells me it’s probably not a good decision to step in front of a moving bus. To his credit Lepage did finally issue an apology.

Bump Drafting (Slam Drafting) – The new car excels at bump drafting, but, in my opinion it was getting way out of hand. There’s a not so fine line between a perfect bump draft and slam drafting. NASCAR won’t regulate it out of existence; it’s one of the only ways they can pass, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to be watching it closely.

Select Drivers…

Hamlin – Were Hamlin suddenly transfigured (I like Harry Potter) into a street sign, then, my hands down choice would be “One Way.” It would probably be easier to count the cars he didn’t push to the front and hang out to dry, than to count the ones he did. One of the ones he shouldn’t have was the 18. It’s always nice to be good to your teammates. But, what goes around comes around, and, had the race finished under green, he might have been hard put to find a dance partner.

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So You Still Dont Like The C.O.T. ?

By Mark Young 

OK People, if you watched or listened to the race on Sunday and walked away talking about how you still don’t like the C.O.T. raise your hand. Now put it down because nobody can see you. That was quite possibly the best restrictor plate race I have seen since the days of the wicker bill on the spoiler and the blade across the roof. Sure there are still people out there who think the plates should be gone but that isn’t going to happen so get over it. The C.O.T. might have just lost its rookie stripe. 

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Danica in a stock car?

By DAVID GREEN

We interrupt the Tony Stewart-to-Chevrolet feeding frenzy to offer some comment on the Danica Patrick-to-NASCAR debate which, if not for Stewart, might be our favorite topic of the weekend.

The Associated Press story posted Friday on TR.com has some interesting food for thought, including some of the most thoughtful remarks from drivers to make it to print in a while. For what it's worth from this viewpoint, I don't know if Danica could ever make a go of it in NASCAR. But, I hasten to add, I don't know -- nor does anyone else -- that she couldn't.

Heartfelt thanks to Jeff Burton and John Andretti for pointing out that different does not have to have superior-inferior connotations.

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Where There Is Smoke

By Mark Young 

The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is only nine races into a very long 36 event season and already the rumor mill hast started churning. Yesterday a story broke saying that through “sources of anonymity” they have learned that Tony Stewart is going to be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of this year. Now I know it is still April and there are a lot more rumors and even more gossip to follow but I think we have the beginning of a very ugly situation, one that we will all have front row seats for.
 

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Was It Worth The Cost?

By Mark Young 

Last week I posted about how I was in a way looking forward to the Nationwide Series race in Mexico City. I thought it would be a nice way to fill in the void of another off weekend for the Sprint Cup Series. As you can see by reading the comments of my fellow blog-heads, I was wrong. It is clearly evident that the only people who really want NASCAR in Mexico is NASCAR.

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