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Well, just what in heck
was that? One of NASCAR's crown jewel
races, and no tires that could last or
even lay down enough GOOD rubber to cure
what ails you. Just a bunch of powdered
crap laying around up near the wall,
cars going at reduced speed, competition
cautions every ten laps, all made for
the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis come
across like amateur hour.
The GOOD thing about it all is that
nobody is at fault. Sure, they've had
this new car kicking around for a couple
of years now. The track has existed
since 1909. The fine folks of Goodyear
got into making tires for NASCAR fifty
years ago. Maybe there are other reasons
we have not factored in, like the
affects of Global Warming or the high
number of celebrity marriages that seem
currently in the dumper. There have been
those reports of UFO's. Someone or
something has to take responsibility for
that series of Brickyard 25's.
So what if this race resembled a swim
meet where everybody got to stop and
catch their breath on completing each
and every single length of the pool. No
one is to blame. Funny, I tried a
similar excuse after flunking a test in
school. The teachers agreed they weren't
at fault. Too BAD I still wound up with
an "F". Whatever the reasons and the
excuses from the Brickyard, let's just
hope it never happens again.
At least the best car won. Jimmie
Johnson was GOOD at the start, he was
GOOD at the end, and he was the right
guy to be accepting a shower of bubbly.
Too BAD some boys get to accept a free
pass to Pocono based on simply being a
Top 35 "cling on." A.J. Allmendinger
was 10th at Indy, but he needs to
qualify to run next weekend. Patrick
Carpentier was 18th, but that is not
GOOD enough either. So, the 34th place
Sam Hornish Jr (21st) and the 35th place
Scott Riggs (25th) get waved through and
all is right with the world.
Well, maybe not in the garage area. I
can just imagine how UGLY that scene
looked like after the Bonehead 400. Dale
Earnhardt Jr, who spent much of the
racing trying to get back on the lead
lap, probably was sitting in a corner
muttering how "the wheels on my car go
down, down, down." Matt Kenseth, who got
his car tore open like a tin can when a
tire blew, may have been trying to
accentuate the positive by pointing out
how great his air conditioning was. Ryan
Newman could have been responding to
reporter's questions by crying "Rusty,
Rusty, Rusty. Now I know how Jan Brady
feels!" I wasn't there, so I'm just
guessing.
NASCAR's UGLY tinkering with the rules
to put Toyota in its place did not quite
work out Saturday, when Kyle Busch won
the Nationwide contest. Let me get this
right. Toyota does its homework, its
teams have a clue, they invest enough in
R&D so that they produce engines that
kick butt, but they get penalized
because Chevy, Ford, and Dodge can't
figure out how to get ‘er done?
I guess you could say it is BAD to be
GOOD. Toyota wins 14 of 21 Nationwide
races and NASCAR comes up with a way to
lessen their horsepower. Chevrolet wins
26 of 36 in Nextel Cup last year and
nobody says a thing. I'm big on North
American stuff, even if it all will
eventually wind up being produced in
Mexico, but if the other guy's stuff is
that much better, maybe we should take a
look. Maybe we might learn a little
something. While we are at it, would it
hurt to check on Japanese tire
technology?
It would be nice to watch the boys go
round and round at Pocono and right and
left at Watkins Glen without having to
park every 25 miles. Hey, it could
happen. Here's hoping. While I'm off
taking care of some other projects, I
hope you enjoy the races!
You can
contact Ron at
thornton@speedwaymedia.com
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