U Want Some?

By Mark Young

Well race fans a new season is upon us.  Just like baseball's boys of summer, the NASCAR world has a spring training and Monday was opening day with half of the NEXTEL Cup teams testing at Daytona.  With the excitement of a new season with new teams, new cars, and new rules also comes a bit of a new attitude from this blogger.  This season I am going to serve up my thoughts to you ala Emeril with a whole lot of "BAM".  No more sugar-coating and politically correct thoughts.  We have been complaining about how the sponsors seem to put a muzzle on the drivers and wind up saying what the sponsors want to hear instead of what they feel.  This year I am going to say it like it is, be the voice of the fans so to speak.  So buckle up and take a ride with me on the first laps of a new season.

I don't like starting off a new season with sad stuff but it wouldn't be right to not mention the passing of a Champion.  In case you hadn't heard, Bobby Hamilton lost his battle with cancer last week.  Bobby was a true racer and a true gentlemen.  I have heard and read so many good things about Bobby and send my sincere condolences to his family, his team, and his fans.  He will be missed.

David Poole kicks ass!!  In case you don't have Sirius radio or missed the announcement on the front page of TR.com David has his own radio show.  "The Morning Drive" is on daily from 7 to 11 on channel 128 and is co-hosted by Marty Snider (NBC).  David's reputation as a journalist and historical knowledge of the sport combined with Marty's personality makes this a great show.  They take calls from listeners and interact freely with them.  Just like TR.com is a fan's website so is this show.  Way to go David, keep up the great work.

Earnhardt vs. Earnhardt.  No I am not talking about the old promotional poster Budweiser put out to promote the Bud shootout the first year both Dales raced in it together.  I am talking about Theresa's comments questioning Junior's commitment to DEI.  Now call me silly but if I owned a race team and my #1 driver, who just happened to be my step-son, had a soon to be expired contract I wouldn't use the media to question his commitment.  I don't care how frigid their relationship is, if Theresa has a problem with Junior she needs to address it internally.  To go out and "call him out" like that in the media is not a real smart move.  Junior's comments on Monday showed that he is both unhappy and uncomfortable with this whole deal.  Unhappy that the media is being used to make a big stink out of it and uncomfortable talking about family business publicly.  If I was Theresa I would get this contract thing settled and done with ASAP before we the fans start questioning her commitment to the team (I know some of them have already).  In case she hasn't noticed Junior is the most popular driver in the sport and DEI would go belly up if he was to go to another team.  All he has to do is mention that he wants out of DEI and every team in the business will be kncking on his door.

Car Of Tomorrow.  Well tomorrow is here and in two months the COT will have to have a new name.  I personally think that this is a good thing and will create great racing.  The drivers hate it because they have lost a ton of their beloved downforce.  This is going to show the world who the real wheel men are.  The crew chiefs hate it because it is new and haven't figured out how to bend the rules to find an advantage.  The owners hate it because they have to build an entire fleet of new cars.  I figure it can all be handled in one sentence.  Get over it or get out.

That's about all I got............for now.  What say you?