Well, those good ol' boys that rule the roost in NASCAR did their best to screw up the spectacle that is Talledega. When the gang all arrived in Alabama, the organization that writes its rule book in pencil and refuses to let prying eyes gaze upon it had a brain wave. If the drivers bump draft at all in the corners, bad things might happen to them. They even parked Michael Waltrip during practice for pushing Jimmie Johnson around the banks. So, whatever the wheelmen thought, their game plan might be was basically tossed out the window at the last minute.
Funny, I wasn't invited to the drivers' meeting again this week, so I can't tell you exactly what was or was not said. From what we could gather from the television boys, it would seem the new rule was missing a lot of detail. No one seemed to know exactly where the line was that would get them in hot water. So what we ended up with was, for long periods of time, a damned Formula-1 race where we had a line of cars going real fast one behind the other. When they were in aircraft formation, that was racing. When they were in a line, it was time to check and see how the Eagles and Giants were doing. Usually, Talladega means a start to finish spectacular. No so much last Sunday.
It could have been worse, but there were times the cars did fan out, the three-wide formations were formed and some real Talladega racing took place. Imagine yourself in the middle lane as they cruise around nose to tail at 195 mph, and you can also easily imagine yourself screaming in your diaper. You don't need wrecks to make this exciting, but there were a couple of notable incidents in the late going.
Ryan Newman, you scared me for a moment. When his auto quit bouncing around, the Rocketman was all fizzled out just off the the asphalt in an upside down car that seemed to have much reduced head room. The rescue crews gently turned the sucker over, we heard Newman radio his boys to say he was alright, then climb out after they cut off the roof of his ride. He mentioned that he felt a bit uneasy to be upside down with the roll cage pressed down onto his helmet. For a time, a bunch of us felt uneasy just watching and not knowing.
Mark Martin said nothing about feeling blessed after the race. You might even get the feeling our happy warrior was just a tad pissed off. It might have had something to do with going over on his lid on the final racing lap, going into the wall, and seeing his points deficit to Jimmie Johnson run up to 184 markers. Both Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart were also wounded in the waning laps to find themselves even farther off the pace.
Hey, with three races to go, this Chase isn't over. Martin could win at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead, while Johnson could blow up on the opening lap in each. That would leave Martin with the crown by 299 points. Any amount below 195 that Martin picks up over the next three, and anything above 34 for Johnson, closes the window in a hurry. It might not be officially over, but I'm thinking the fat lady is warming up.
I'm thinking that Jamie McMurray is the next Michael Waltrip. Like the two-time Daytona 500 winner, Dimples doesn't win often but when he does it is at a big track with lots watching. Sunday's win at Talladega came just over seven years after he won his first at Charlotte, and a couple seasons after taking the July event at Daytona.
On Nov. 3, 1994, my fat butt was dressed up in a gown way too small for my girth as Amy and I waited for the additions to our family. Well, I was waiting, as Amy was rather more involved in the event. Happy 15th birthday, Ronald and John! Our sons are now taller than we are, much fitter than I ever was, but I keep pointing to my bald head so they might catch a glimpse of their future. Do you know what we call tall, lean athletic people in my family? The usual term is adopted.
Just 12 miles down the road from my in-law cousin Andy is the Texas Motor Speedway, the scene of this upcoming weekend's festivities. While my invitation to visit Andy at this time of year mysteriously failed to appear once again, the gents in those colored autos will be in Fort Worth to continue their quest. Johnson leads Stewart by just seven points in the season-long standings. Too bad they don't give out anything for that.
