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April 23, 2007
King Of The Mountain; Jeff Gordon
By Mark Young
What a good race on Saturday. Though there are many people who disagree with me, the COT did well on it's first large track race. 3-wide and 4-wide at Phoenix is a first in my memory bank. Jeff Gordon won for the first time ever at PIR and in doing so tied Dale Earnhardt for 76 career victories. As a tribute to Dale Jeff capped the night off with a victory lap holding a #3 flag, a classy act if you ask me. With all of that in mind I must decree that Jeff Gordon is KOTM this week.
What do you think?
April 23, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
Mark...
The NASCAR spin on the COT has been that it
would bring some parity in competition to the lesser funded teams. Saturday's race was just another indication this will not happen. The COT introduction has amplified the "haves and the have-nots" of racing. Just recently another cup team went on the
auction block...how many more will follow?
Obviously, Henricks and Childress have found
NASCAR's magic formula...but DEI, Everham, Penske, Roush and others have not. NASCAR
must concern itself more with what pleases
racing fans, than with the performance of any single racing team. Overall, motorsports in the U.S. is suffering a decline right now. Open wheel racing cannot seem to draw a crowd, outside of the Indy
500. Drag racing is growing because they have dedicated themselves to the roots of their beginnings. There needs to be a summit meeting of racing investors, NASCAR
management, team owners, drivers and most of
all fan representation to determine what is
wrong with NASCAR racing and begin the process. A corporate business left alone to function and grow on its own is doomed to failure. NASCAR is no different. The COT is
not going to save America's greatest sport that was not born on 2 and one-half miles superspeedways, but on half-mile short tracks. Many of the principles that applied to that success can well be applied to today's racing and bring back the glamour and excitement of racing to America. Expansion has contributed to the decline and will continue to do so. Just the mention
of racing at some of the "vintage" race tracks is an exhilerating feeling. The thought of Harry Gant storming back through the field with a damaged and patched up race car is a great memory. What do I remember about Saturday's race? Nothing!
Posted by: jim | Apr 23, 2007 9:08:11 AM
Mark, you're definitely going to hear from the fans this week - both good stuff & bad. Personally, I think you're spot-on with your choice this week and your comments. To me, the race was exciting, especially the last laps - and I did see some improvements for many of the teams.
Jim, I agree that those huge racetracks don't provide the same racing we saw years ago - wish there were more Cup races at the shorter tracks. I love the beatin' & bangin' type of races. However, "bigger is better" seems to pervade everything including NASCAR. And now Brian is over in China, so you can see what's on the horizon... Car parts from China, tires from China, uniforms made in China.... The list is endless.
On the bright side this morning, we all woke up with the ability to express our views!
Posted by: SrRaceFan | Apr 23, 2007 9:18:51 AM
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