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Memorable Memorial Day racing

By DAVID GREEN

The first major holiday weekend of summer is always one of the biggest of the year for auto racing. This year, it was especially rewarding for those with eclectic motorsports tastes.

Even Coca-Cola 600 winner Kasey Kahne was juiced up by the thrilling Indianapolis 500 earlier Sunday, and Formula One -- the group which gave us a six-car farce of a U.S. Grand Prix last year -- provided some more unique gossip fodder by disqualifying pole winner Michael Schumacher at Monaco.

I know many race fans are anything but eclectic. They watch only one form of racing, and couldn't care less about any other. I think they're cheating themselves out of not only some great entertainment, but some context and perspective, as well.

Take Indy, for example. How can someone's appreciation of NASCAR racing be complete without an understanding of how the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and its 500-Mile Race were so instrumental in giving American automobile racing the qualities and characteristics that make it what it is?

Tracks such as Lowe's Motor Speedway feature turns identified as 1, 2, 3 and 4. That's really an artificial designation. There's one continuous, 170-or-so-degree turn at one end of LMS and another one very much like it in the other end. Why is each approximate half-circle divided into two parts? Only reason I can think of is the rectangular Indianapolis Motor Speedway, built in 1909, which truly does have Turns 1, 2, 3 and 4 -- four distinct 90-degree turns.

The building of IMS in the first decade of the 20th century helped influence American fans' preference for closed-course, oval-shaped tracks. In Europe, early auto races were held on roads and streets rather than purpose-built racetracks.

Fellows who built racetracks that are dear to the hearts of NASCAR fans were influenced by Indianapolis. H. Clay Earles and Harold Brasington both drew on their experiences at Indy when they built Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway.

And why would Brasington schedule a race on Labor Day 1950 that covered 500 miles if not for the original 500-miler, Indy, which held the first Indy 500 in 1911?

Likewise, Indy-car fans should have an appreciation for stock cars, a genre which is truly a spin-off of Champ Car racing that dates from just the years just before the interruption of all racing activities for World War II. If they want a reminder of how the Indy 500 rose from its origins to become major league, they have no better example than NASCAR.

Even if they don't ever cultivate a taste for stock cars, they ought to have learned better than to be so arrogant in their disdain for the supposedly inferior form of racing. The arrogance reached a peak when IMS President Tony George went ahead with his plans to stage the inaugural Brickyard 400 for Winston Cup cars in 1994.

It's no surprise that the attitude of the CART camp now serves as a textbook example of the concept of hubris ("overbearing pride or presumption," according to one dictionary). It's a lesson those on the NASCAR side might want to keep in mind now that NASCAR is the supposedly superior form.

This is NOT Ozzfest!

By Mark Young

Last night Elliott Sadler got lucky.  No he didn't win a race or sign a new contract, he had a brain fart and tried to stage dive into the crowd while on Speed's Trackside Live.  He slipped on the stage which was wet from rain and wound up bruising his thigh.  I didn't see this momentous event but my buddy Tom called to tell me about it.  This isn't the first time we have seen stage diving in racing, my blog brother Trent Cherry did it last year at the All-Star introductions and tried again this year.  I say tried because when he jumped into the crowd nobody caught him like they are supposed to and wound up getting hurt.

Stage diving originated in the rock concert scene and once the crowd catches them they ride the wave of fans to the front where people usher them back into the mass of people.  I have been to dozens of shows and seen this take place frequently.  I also see several people not get caught and then wind up getting hurt.  What if Elliott got injured to the extent to where he couldn't race?  What if he had made it to the crowd and then injured a fan?  Can you say lawsuit?  I am willing to bet that there are sponsors out there already drafting up letters to the teams telling them that kind of stuff will not be tolerated.  I know it is all in fun but like they say, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt."

I think you guys should stick with racing and let the stage diving happen at the concert arena. 

Exactly What IS Power in NASCAR?

By Mark Young

David Poole wrote a piece on the TR.com website today that ranks the most powerful people in NASCAR.  I was very surprised to see where he ranked some of the people on the sport, some higher than I thought, and others lower.  Forgive me David but I can't help but throw this fan's two cents worth into the fray and make some adjustments.  If you want to read my piece further I suggest you first go read David's article http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/14674216.htm

First off, David has been around this sport probably as long as I have been old and definitely knows more about what goes on within the inner workings of NASCAR better than I do.  I don't really have a problem with the list either but when I started reading it I was creating a list of my own in my head and was surprised at how far off I was with a couple.  With that in mind let me share with you a couple of the changes I would make to this list.

The biggest one to me was Dale Jr. ranked 7th.  Sure he is the most popular driver on the circuit and millions of dollars are spent each year by fans on the Budweiser merchandise, I guess I just underestimated the power he has but doesn't use.  In fact, I was surprised to see any drivers at all in this list because since the passing of Dale Earnhardt there hasn't been one voice to stand out above the crowd and be the voice of the drivers.

I was really surprised that Rick Hendrick wasn't much higher.  It seems that he is untouchable or that NASCAR treats him with kid gloves.  Take the Dover and Vegas post-race inspection issues last year and tell me that anyone else would have been run out of town.  Hendrick built the first true powerhouse racing organization and, in my opinion, carries more power in his pocket than Dale Jr. does.

Thank you for a very good piece David, you made me think a little bit more about the political side of our favorite sport.

A track by any other name is still Charlotte

By DAVID GREEN

The picture shows my older daughter, Kelly, getting ready for a trip down a playground slide. Her face is almost unreadable, but what shows is a mixture of eager anticipation and uncertainty. The trip down the shiny, polished metal will be exhilarating, but it seems like such a long, long way to the ground.

She is about 5 years old, and I'm visible, standing near the top of the slide, my head almost even with hers. Nowadays, Kelly insists I was standing on a platform, because in her memory, that slide was at the very least fifty or a hundred feet tall. As she remembers it, there's no way, absolutely no way, that I could be standing on the ground and still be nearly eyeball-to-eyeball with her.

My, how your perspective changes as you grow older.

My memories of racetracks I have seen and driven on are kind of like Kelly's recollection of that playground slide. The first time I saw the track where Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 will be run, it was only 6 years old -- and I was only 13. Boy, do we both look different now. We won't get into a discussion about which of us has improved and which has gone decidedly downhill (or over it), but the rich black texture of the new pavement has reminded me, again, of how much the facility has changed.

Apologies to the Lowe's folks up in North Wilkesboro, but no matter how much it has changed and how much it may change in the years to come, it will always be Charlotte Motor Speedway to me.

Were the turns really wider then, or was it just that the lines painted on the asphalt, dividing the surface into three lanes, made it look that way? Did the concrete barriers that replaced the steel guardrails really stand that much taller, making the racing surface look narrower?

Did the SAFER Barrier added along the inside of the concrete really claim that much real estate? Or is the altered view more accurately attributed to the apron at the foot of the banking, which has grown from one-lane width to about three times that much?

But, it's not merely the width of the track. The distance across the infield from main grandstand to backstretch seems to have shrunk. What seemed like an immense, wide-open space is now largely filled with structures, signage, too-small parking lots.

The view from inside out, likewise, has changed. The retaining barriers atop the banking in the turns, even with the debris catch fencing on top of them, no longer constitute the horizon. Look in any direction, and five out of six views will show some towering structure looming high above the track.

Many things have combined to change the look and feel. Yes, the visual effect is different without the lane-dividing stripes of paint. Yes, the retaining wall is taller and the SAFER Barrier has, indeed, stolen a chunk of the line we used to call the "airplane groove," where drivers like Richard Petty seemed to thrive.

But equally important, rising speed has had the effect of shrinkage. At pace-lap speeds, you can squeeze four or more cars into formation. Forty years ago, drivers could race three wide. But the faster you go, the more the raceable line diminishes. Nowadays, two-wide can be (usually is) dicey.

The overall dimensions of the track have not changed, but it seems smaller now that it is largely enclosed by gargantuan structures -- grandstands topped by VIP suites now wrap deeply into the turns instead of merely lining the straightaways, and there's that condominium tower rising above Turn 1.

But no combination of these things is strong enough to obscure the memories of events witnessed in person or second-handedly, thanks to various media:

• The upset victory by a curly haired upstart named Pearson from Spartanburg, S.C., in the second edition of the World 600 in May 1961.
• The dark day in May 1964 when a towering cloud of black smoke signaled the end for one of the superstars of the sport, Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, and presaged a similar tragedy to come six days later at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• The blown right-front tire that sent Petty's Plymouth into the guard rail on the next-to-last lap in October 1964, leaving victory to Fred Lorenzen.
• The memorable, special, Indy-style four-lap qualifying format for the 600 and the nearly absolute domination of it by a red and white No. 21.
• The faces of youthful, hopeful guys like Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt, their hunger and grim intensity a contrast to the relaxed confidence of Cale Yarborough and the cocky arrogance of Darrell Waltrip in exchanges under the corrugated-steel roof of the old garage in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
• Mike Alexander's Busch Series car spinning off Turn 4 and pinwheeling down pit road, bouncing off the Armco one, two, three times, growing ever larger in my camera lens until finally I realized I probably ought to step back from the railing.
• Davey Allison and Kyle Petty locked in combat to the finish on One Hot Night in 1992.
• A familiar toothy grin on the face of an 18-year-old winner named Petty in 1998.
• Another stunning upset victory by a rising-star driver in a pinch hitter's role in October 2002.

The perspective changes on these recollections, as well. Memory is imperfect, and like the slide my daughter played on many years ago, some of the events I remember may seem today larger than they actually were.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Knaus on the move?

By Mark Young

We have all heard that Jimmie Johnson and Lowes have signed contract extensions with Hendrick Motorsports.  And we also have heard nothing about Chad Knaus and his situation.  I think that is because since the Daytona fiasco and subsequent suspension Chad has fallen from grace in the eyes of Rick Hendrick.  Should Chad be worried?

My answer to that question is a vehement NO.  Chances are Chad has already inked a deal or is close to one for a Toyota team in 2007.  He is the hottest crew chief on the circuit right now and his skills at being "innovative" could come in handy for a manufacturer coming into NASCAR's biggest series.  Whether you like him or not, Knaus has done one helluva job since coming to Hendrick.  If I was a car owner I would be drooling at the opportunity to have him in my shop and on top of the war wagon.

Why hasn't him name even leaked out from the Toyota camp?  Maybe there is no truth to these speculations.  Maybe Hendrick has slapped a gag order on him and Toyota regarding the status of any negotiations (if any are even going on).  I am convinced that Jarrett's departure from Ford is just the first domino to fall in what should be a silly season that could out-duel last year's mess with Bush and Mac Murray.

Stay tuned friends, I think this one is just starting to boil......

Busch Series dilemma revisited

By DAVID GREEN

There's a good discussion going on over in Mike Harper's blog in "The Infield" about the Busch Series, a subject of debate from time to time in this space as well.

I'll give NASCAR and the folks at Anheuser Busch credit -- they are trying to promote the Busch Series, at least in their television commercials. The latest one, showing the cars of classic rival drivers morphing from vehicles of the early days to the present, is very well done. And the series of "head for the mountains" ads has a couple of good ones that are keyed to the racing series.

I've been fearing for years that excessive domination by Cup drivers (and, lately, Cup teams) would harm the series. Yet, it seems to be at the very least holding its own with regard to attendance/ratings, and several statistics can be used to support an argument that it continues to grow.

I still think there has to be a limit on just how big the series can get, either as a standalone or with full or limited participation by stars from the premier series. The real "problem" with the series, as I see it, is its identity, purpose, and place in the overall scheme of things.

We are only a couple of years past the point where most casual fans realize that Busch is, in fact, a NASCAR series. It has been about that long since anybody told me something such as, "I don't care anything about the Busch Series. I only watch NASCAR," NASCAR meaning the Cup Series.

The question is, do they realize that Busch is a NASCAR series nowadays solely because Cup drivers are so prohibitively dominant?

As for the purpose, is it really supposed to serve as a minor league to prepare drivers for the majors? If so, then we need not worry about its image or even its business plan. It should rightly be the domain of the sanctioning body and the major league teams to subsidize. If some privateers want to get in on the deal and can afford it, there's a way for them to do so. (That's pretty close to an accurate description of what the series is now, in my opinion.)

If it is supposed to be a distinct, separate entity under the NASCAR umbrella, then it cannot hope to enjoy the same kind of prominence, profit, and popularity that it now enjoys, no more than the Continental Basketball Association ought to consider itself within sniffing distance of the NBA.

Why not? Because it is too similar to the major league series, with no realistic chance of overtaking or replacing it. It isn't that much different, really, from ARCA or the now-defunct ASA -- it is stock car racing, primarily on paved oval tracks. What makes Busch bigger than ARCA and not dead like ASA? Its ownership by NASCAR, financial underwriting and promotion by a bona fide major league corporate brand, and the regular participation of major-league stars in its races.

Which brings us to the question of the rightful place of the Busch Series in the overall scheme of things in the racing universe. Let me hasten to say that I find nothing wrong whatsoever with "niche" racing series. I love ARCA racing, and not just because I was fortunate enough to take part in a few events in 1997. It's a great series with excellent, entertaining competition. Likewise, there was nothing whatsoever wrong with ASA except fatally flawed business management.

The best thing about ARCA is that it knows its place. Ron Drager has done an excellent job of making ARCA exactly what it should be and what it has the realistic chance of being.

It is entirely possible that the same thing should be said about NASCAR and the Busch Series. For all I know, those of us who agonize over Cup domination may well be nothing more than "nattering naybobs of negativity," to parrot a phrase given to us by Spiro Agnew.

I'd be interested in hearing just how the NASCAR plan defines the Busch Series' identity, purpose, and place in the overall scheme of things. Right now, all I can do is observe and speculate.

The American Football League grew to rival the established NFL, and was absorbed by the senior league in a merger. Ditto for the American Basketball Association and the NBA. In my post of April 16, I hinted at a similar scenario for NASCAR, first discussed in the 1990s, consisting of a split NASCAR circuit with "American" and "National" leagues and a World Series-like championship.

The idea got lots of negative reaction when it first surfaced, and then-NASCAR President Bill France Jr. flatly dismissed it, saying that as long as he was in charge, there would be only one "star" show. But times have changed, and Bill Jr. is no longer in charge.

As for the debate over what the name of the junior circuit actually is -- if you log on to NASCAR.com and examine the logo, you will see that it reads "NASCAR Busch Series." I would offer the notion that, since NASCAR owns the series and operates the Web site, that pretty much resolves the debate.

Of course, the series formerly known as CART now has the official name of "Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered By Ford." Just about everyone in the real world calls it the Champ Car World Series. So, there's the question of what a series ought to be called versus what its owners have named it.

If we go back to the days of the stardom of drivers like Sam Ard, Jack Ingram, L.D. Ottinger, Harry Gant, et cetera, it was called Late Model Sportsman until 1982 when it became the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Division. Then, when Anheuser Busch substituted the Busch brand as the sponsor of that series, its name was changed to "NASCAR Busch Series."

NASCAR attempted to reprise the classic "Grand National" name by attaching it to the second-tier series for a couple of years in the 1990s. Just how that justifies anyone suggesting "that is the name of the series" with absolute conviction is beyond me, but some people value absolutism over accuracy.

Hey -- if someone wants to call it "Busch Grand National," I think we should permit him to do so and not bother him about it. To paraphrase what Don Meredith once told Howard Cosell, "Attaboy, Mike. 'Tell it like it is.' Even if it ain't like that."

Throwin' Caution To The Wind

By Mark Young

Ahhhhhhh yes, another Saturday night race, what more could a race fan ask for?  OK, free beer and unlimited steamed shrimp would fit in there nicely but that won't be happening at my house.  This Saturday is the third night race in four weeks and is filled with anticipation, excitement, and speculation.  The NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge is Saturday night and this fan is looking forward to see how all of the story lines are going to play out.

Let's start out with the track.  Humpy is sweating bullets this week in hopes that the new pavement and the hard as boulders tire compound will keep everyone happy, and don't forget the smaller fuel cells either.  History has shown us that fresh asphalt equals one groove racing.  Add these super hard tires and this recipe smells like boring pie to me.  The one saving grace we have is that there aren't any points to be won.  Conventional passing methods very well could give way to Bristol-like moves involving bumpers.

If the bumpers come into play we will definitely see some confrontations in the pits and along side wrecked race cars.  Anyone wanna bet Harvick will be one of them?  Second in line on the odds would be Smoke and I could almost GUARANTEE that Kyle Busch will be part of it too.  This race is right up his careless driving alley.

Who are the favorites?  Well to pick a winner for the Open qualifying event I am going with Bowyer or Mears.  The Fan's choice is going to be either Truex or Kyle Petty.  To win the whole thing I have to pick Johnson.  Jeff's Mini-me owns that joint and even though they are all on a clean sheet you have to look at the numbers on this and go with Jimmie.  Stewart is another favorite and Junior always seems to run well there.

This has been my favorite race to watch ever since the first night race in 1994 (I think it was) with Kyle Petty and Davie Allison crashing at the finish line.  How about the lap one crash that took out the entire field because the track was still wet?  Good thing they all got a mulligan and got to take out the backup cars.  I really hope the media doesn't make this thing any more of a circus than they already do and remember the main reason they are there.......to watch the biggest names in the sport hammer it out, no holds barred, for a million dollar grand prize.

Enjoy the race my friends.

A happy turn of events for Darlington

By DAVID GREEN

Chris Browning and the folks at Darlington Raceway have turned adversity into opportunity, making a rousing success out of a single race date on Mothers Day weekend for the second year in a row.

Many observers believed the spot on the Nextel Cup scheduled was assigned with the intention of creating an excuse to cut NASCAR's oldest superspeedway from the circuit -- setting the old track up to fail to draw a good crowd, and then punishing them for that failure. Or, in more diplomatic terms, using that failure as an excuse to justify a "business decision."

I'd like to think there were no such evil motivations on the part of the NASCAR/International Speedway Corp. hierarchy. That makes me a prime target for condescending criticism from the conspiracy theorists, of course, who will think I'm either hopelessly naive or in cahoots with the Evil Empire; but that's OK.

Regardless, Darlington seems to be on pretty solid ground with consecutive sellout crowds for its Saturday night Cup race, and that makes me happy.

As NASCAR continues to grow (which, apparently, it is still doing), as stock car racing becomes a more and more mainstream sport of the 21st century, there are some things that need not be completely left behind. Darlington is one of those things.

The cantankerous old oval is a year younger than Martinsville Speedway, a charter-member track on the Strictly Stock/Grand National/Winston Cup/Nextel Cup trail. But it offers the best hard-wired connection to the sport's roots that still exists.

It was the original major southern speedway. It was the site of the original 500-mile stock car race. It remains one of the most severe tests of man and machine and it, perhaps more than any other track on the circuit, showcases the skills of the driver.

The only way to have a closer connection to the early days of NASCAR might be to strip the asphalt pavement off another venerable, surviving South Carolina oval, Greenville-Pickens Speedway, and bring the Nextel Cup circuit to a half-mile of red clay. That, it's safe to say, is not going to happen.

There's much about Darlington nowadays that I don't really like. I don't like the consequences of the decision about a decade ago to flip the track, making what used to be the backstretch the front straightaway. I don't like it that the track's signature event, the Southern 500, is gone. Many people like the night format of the single Cup event still held at the track, but I liked the Southern 500 in the daytime.

If I had my way, the old covered grandstand along the frontstretch would have been replaced by a multi-level tower along the lines of the main grandstand at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which sits just as close to Georgetown Road as Darlington Raceway does to S.C. Highway 151-34. Turn 1 would still be Turn 1, and Turn 4 would still be Turn 4. And the Southern 500 would still be held on Labor Day weekend.

But, regardless of which end is labeled Turns 1-2, it's still the same ornery track it has been for 58 years. It still provides the same challenges, the same degree of difficulty and, quite often, the most entertaining competition on the circuit.

North Wilkesboro and Rockingham are gone, and are not likely to return. Darlington not only hangs on, but appears to be establishing a firm, well-defended spot for itself.

"The Track Too Tough to Tame" in more ways than one, apparently.

Making it look easy

By DAVID GREEN

Here's hoping for some mercy from the weatherman, because Richmond is one of my all-time favorite racetracks and I hope all of you race fans get to see the show. I'll have to settle for a replay, as I'm on prom duty tonight.

While you all are watching the race, keep in mind it's a safe assumption that every driver is doing his best to do the best he can do.

If that sounds redundant or roundabout, I apologize. I think the comment is necessary, given that many fans seem to be of the opinion that all a driver has to do to succeed is have the fortitude to press his right foot down and enough driving ability to hang on to the fast-moving car.

It all fits in with H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler's long-standing assertion that auto racing is popular because it's what he calls a reality sport, whereas baseball, football, basketball, etc., are fantasy sports. (Humpy came up with that a long time before today's so-called "reality" television, by the way.) What he meant was that most folks know they could never do the kinds of things LeBron James or Tom Brady or Albert Pujols do, but they can drive an automobile -- and that's just what Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. do.

That their notion is ridiculous does nothing to undermine Humpy's theory. It fits neatly with it, actually. It fits with Big Bill France's on-target presumptions about spectator identification. France keyed on that notion as it pertained to the racing equipment; Humpy explains how it is relevant to the fan's concept of the driver.

All major league-level professional athletes excel at making extremely difficult things look easy and seemingly impossible things look spectacular. Racecar drivers make something unimaginably difficult look as easy as driving down an Interstate highway.

Ninety percent of the population have about as much chance of dunking against Carmelo Anthony, throwing a football 30 yards on target or hitting a baseball 450 feet as they do of doing the things Jeff Gordon and Dale Junior do, but they aren't quite as vividly aware of that. To those who don't get and don't like racing, it's "just driving cars in circles." Many fans have the same oversimplified notion of the sport, whether they realize or would admit it.

Formula One veteran Mark Webber remarked recently about how fan criticism can be frustrating, especially the barbs from some of the more impatient ones from his homeland of Australia, and offered this opinion:

"It's like me watching yacht racing. I respect the guys that do it, but I don't really know what I'm looking at. You can't tell that the guys in the boat [that is not performing well] are rubbish; you just don't know."

Next time you pass somebody on the highway, try to imagine how difficult that overtaking maneuver would be if you did not initiate it while running at about 10 or 20 percent of your automobile's capability. Imagine if you and the other guy were at about about 90 or 95 percent, and the other guy did not want you to pass him.

Imagine that, instead of "matting it" and getting a kick-in-the-pants jump on the other car, that the other guy was "matting it," too, and his car was about as fast as yours.

Keep that in mind when you're watching a race on TV or from the grandstands and you get frustrated because your favorite driver just can't seem to work his way up from 12th place, or doesn't zoom from 25th starting spot to take the lead at the end of the first lap.