{"id":497,"date":"2012-04-29T11:57:57","date_gmt":"2012-04-29T15:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/?p=497"},"modified":"2012-04-29T13:35:56","modified_gmt":"2012-04-29T17:35:56","slug":"nascar-2012-race-9-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/2012\/04\/nascar-2012-race-9-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR 2012 Race 9 Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Richmond – 3\/4 mile – Night race. Okay. After a season full of boring races, and the tradition of boring night races, I expected more of the same of Richmond. It didn’t disappoint for the most part. NASCAR seemed to try to mix things up. Almost as soon as Mike Joy or Chris Myers mentioned the dearth of cautions this season a debris caution occurred. But like the Nationwide race the previous night, a little action at the end does not make a good race overall. It appeared the Nationwide guys hung back and drove around for 194 of the 197 laps, then decided to race to the end. The fact that Sprint Cup drivers were racing for the win at the end of the Nationwide series added to the ho-hum factor. Kurt Busch won. Whoopee! While I applaud the efforts of Kyle Busch Motorsports and his stated intention to give young drivers a chance to race, Kurt beat a couple of his regular competitors, a lot of people who are not deemed appropriate for his regular series, a group of drivers in insubstantial equipment and a few dilettantes. Should’ve been a hollow victory for all involved, except, maybe new Nationwide team owner Kyle. He’s a young man and firsts are genuine triumphs for young men. Bravo for Kyle and KBM. Spread the wealth across the series, bring equipment parity, then let talent determine the results. \u00c2\u00a0The Saturday night win – congratulations Kyle. \u00c2\u00a0I figured he would win it with the Nationwide weight of the world was lifted the night before.<\/p>\n

Now, about this debris caution foolishness – on this day I say:
\nLast night’s debris caution was legitimate because NASCAR said it was legitimate. NASCAR governs the sport. The sport is racing. Therefore NASCAR governs the racing. If NASCAR says there was debris on the track that posed a danger\/impediment to the racing, then there was debris on the track that posed a danger\/impediment to the racing. The drivers complain if they don’t agree with the call, but if one of them had hit the bottle and it was filled with a heavy clear fluid that resulted in damage to their car, they would say, why didn’t NASCAR call a caution – everybody saw that bottle. Tony Stewart was unimpressed with his instant karma. He should learn the lesson, move on, and leave the tantrums to the people recently born.<\/p>\n

On the Carl Edwards controversy:
\nNASCAR governs the sport. The sport is racing. Therefore NASCAR governs the racing. If NASCAR says Carl jumped the restart, then Carl jumped the restart. Edwards as much as admitted it when he said (paraphrasing) I saw that NASCAR had put us at a disadvantage by putting us on the bottom though we are leading, but I will make the best start I can from this disadvantaged position. So I made the best start I could under those circumstances. To me that means, in non-spin language, I was in a bad position so I figured NASCAR would quietly look the other way while I corrected their mistake. He was in the moment and forgot that NASCAR has added caution laps when the cars were lined up incorrectly before a restart. If the cars were lined up improperly, if he as the leader had not had the chance to choose a lane, NASCAR would have added caution laps to accommodate that situation. I understand there was confusion. An unfortunate mistake may have been made by a NASCAR official on the spotter’s stand, but Addington wasn’t confused, nor swayed by the mistake. It was a tough break, but there’s a theory in sports that mistakes will even out in the end. Now whether or not Tony Stewart hung back to accentuate the infraction is at issue. The member of Menard’s crew pointing out the rolling tire in Johnson’s pit. Truly, the tattling and the tantrums and the childish, schoolyard behaviour is – should be – embarrassing to the sport.<\/p>\n

Saturday night’s Cup race at Richmond was a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. More long, boring, green flag runs, but occasionally they were broken up by an incident. Whether the debris cautions were legitimate dangers or not is irrelevant. It gave the viewer a reason to wake up and continue watching, because something interesting might happen for a change. It isn’t the worst Richmond race, nor the best. It was definitely more interesting than all of the races (except the Daytona Fireball 500) so far this season. There was a feeling of hope that was generated by unexpected occurences and by a break in the monotony of 36 cars making repeated left turns. A lot of people say I am not a race fan if I don’t want to see monotony. That’s ridiculous. If the fans only wanted to see cars driving in circles monotonously for several hours they would simply sit in front of a child’s racetrack. It combines the same elements, cars, speed, turns, and few surprises. NASCAR is more than that. The differences in driver skill, cars, tracks, conditions, and everything else are what make NASCAR more than 43 guys making left turns for hours. Drivers are afraid to make mistakes on the track. Everybody cries about how expensive wrecked cars are – SO WHAT! No one mentions how profitable winning cars are; how profitable butts in seats are; how profitable television viewers are. I can’t afford to be a car owner or track owner; so I am not one. If you can’t afford to lose, don’t gamble. Being a car owner and a driver and a track owner is being a gambler. If you dare, play the game. If you lose, take your lumps. If you win, celebrate your victory. But stop expecting to tie the driver’s hands behind their backs and receive their best efforts. You say “Boys Have At It”, but you really mean, give me more, just not too much. Let them give their best and punish them for the real ‘actions detrimental to the sport’. If that means secret fines – okay – the public doesn’t need to know everything. If it means subjective interpretation of a rule that is explained clearly behind closed doors to the parties involved, okay. Do what’s best to the make the sport the best it can be and make it a sport of which fans can be proud. Fans want it both ways, but if they always had the best ideas, NASCAR would have a lot of competition from people who came up with a better way to do the sport!<\/p>\n

There was a lot of talk about Bruton Smith’s blathering about changes at Bristol Motor Speedway. Officials announced that they’ll grind the top groove on the track to help the racing. So what? Bristol is Bristol and not my cup of tea. Money will win out apparently. Squeaky wheels getting the oil and the such, so changes will be made. People will complain. People will cheer. Life will go on and Bruton Smith will make more money – all will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well.<\/p>\n

Travis Pastrana made his long-awaited Nationwide debut in Friday night’s Nationwide race. So what! Another Danica. Lots of hype, not much actual stock car driving talent and no real experience. Travis is fun, but I’ve watched the K & N races. He’s not a professional stock car driver. He may be one day, but he’s not today and like Danica, he needs to learn to race before getting in with the ‘Big Boys’. The huge focus on unproven commodities in NASCAR is the equivalent of Paris Hilton, vapid and shallow. It may draw rubberneckers to a broadcast, but the rubberneckers will continue on their paths after they have had a look. Ryan Blaney’s debut thrilled me. Watching him in the K & N series I saw a driver who impressed me and I looked forward to his debut in a higher ranked series. Joey Logano’s debut was the same. I did not want to see him in the Sprint Cup series – it was too much too fast. I don’t want to see Ryan Blaney in Cup before he has a couple solid years in Nationwide. Logano is extraordinarily talented and has adapted to his situation, but it has slowed his learning process. The leaps and bounds he was making in the natural course of his career came to a screeching halt when he entered the Sprint Cup series. His performance and his confidence has suffered since he became a Cup drive and his development as a driver has been stunted. His promise is being wasted, used up on a fruitless quest, made fruitless by greed and desperation. He would benefit from being released from the Cup series and spending 4 years becoming the most amazing Nationwide champion that propels the series into the mainstream spotlight due to his amazing feats on track, generosity off track and dedication to and star power in the Nationwide series. Logano could be the franchise and Ryan Blaney could be his arch-nemesis. Talented young STOCK CAR drivers could be the building blocks of the series. Let the talented young bring the excitement to the series and make it as unpredictable as the truck series can be – as challenging as the truck series. Let the stars – the Danicas, the Pastranas – come to play, but their appearances should be as interesting as the music at the Super Bowl – a 1 hour wonder, quickly forgotten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richmond – 3\/4 mile – Night race. Okay. After a season full of boring races, and the tradition of boring night races, I expected more of the same of Richmond. It didn’t disappoint for the most part. NASCAR seemed to try to mix things up. Almost as soon as Mike Joy or Chris Myers mentioned … <\/p>\n

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