By Staff
One race down and 25 more to go before we find out who the 12 drivers will be that will get a chance to win the NEXTEL Cup.
That is, of course, if there are any cars left to drive.
The carnage that was the Daytona 500 on Sunday left me feeling bewildered. How can NASCAR continue to stand by and watch millions of dollars worth of equipment be dragged off the tracks? How can car owners continue to shell out the amount of money it takes to bring a racecar to the track and then take it home in the back of the hauler in a pile?
Something has got to give.
I have never been, nor will I ever be, a restrictor track fan. I spend way too much time on Sunday watching the cars go around in circles under a caution because of multi-car crashes. These huge packs of cars may be exciting to watch if you are in the stands, but from my vantage point on the couch, there is nothing exciting about watching groups of cars go round and round without much passing.
There are two types of racing on restrictor plate tracks – large groups side by side attempting to pass and smaller groups of cars lined up trying to break away from that big pack. There is very little passing these days when it comes to the NEXTEL Cup. Even at a great track like the Michigan International Speedway. The racing surface is wide enough to support three- and four-wide racing, but is there any? Nope! Everyone is in a line and most of the passing is done on pit road.
We need to get back to the good old days when racing was just that – RACING!
This side-by-side stuff is for the birds. I want to see guys draft up behind somebody and sling shot past them on a regular basis, not just the final lap.
I want to see drivers going door-to-door with their competitors because they want to, not because they don't have enough muscle to get past them without a bump from behind.
I want to watch the really talented drivers of NASCAR putting on a show each Sunday afternoon or Saturday night, not protecting their place in the point standings.
I love NASCAR racing, but I am getting pretty fed up with the current version of the sport.
Perhaps things will change when the "Car of Tomorrow" becomes the "Car of Today" at Bristol in a few weeks. Then again, maybe we will be worse off than we are now.
Getting back to the Daytona 500, I was extremely disappointed that Mark Martin didn't win the race. Then again, I am getting used to NASCAR "playing it by ear" instead of having steadfast rules.
With a huge wreck behind Mark and Kevin Harvick, the caution flag should have flown. They have all kinds of reasons why they didn't throw it. None of which appeased me.
There is a reason why NASCAR felt it was important to stop the racing back to the flag. They sighted safety issues when they stopped racing back to the start-finish line.
So there were no safety issues with cars flying all over the track, including one, which was upside down and on fire? Guys were racing to the flag. Somebody could have seriously been hurt.
Come on guys. Either have a rule or don't have a rule. You cannot pick and chose when you want to throw a caution. Throw it all the time or don't throw it at all. I would be fine with that either way.
Since I am griping about NASCAR rules, how about fining and docking points for violations consistently.
When Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car was found to be too low following a race you docked him championship points. You said it didn't matter if there was intent or not.
So following the Duel at Daytona race last Thursday, you found Jeff Gordon's car to be too low. NASCAR officials said there was no intent, but just a mistake.
Consistency boys, that is all us fans want from you. You always preach about creating a level playing field. Yet time after time, we have found that NASCAR is anything but fair.
It's time to shore things up and get one of America's favorite sports back on the right track.