the "investigation" was that the 27 team and team owner Richard Childress were taken behind closed doors and told "you can't be allowed to manipulate the outcome of a race with a phony caution. That's OUR job!!!" Apparently, the Moustache Man was worried about copyright infringement by the 27 team...or something.
About All Of Those New Race Winners
Remember how excited everybody was about all of the first time winners this year, with those wins coming in some of the biggest races of the year? And remember how this new point system was supposed to put the emphasis on winning, and not on just consistency? Well, let's see how that worked out with all of our first time winners, and their participation in the Chase:
1. Trevor Bayne (Daytona 500): not eligible for championship; ran partial schedule
2. Regan Smith (Southern 500): 25th in points...maybe next year
3. David Ragan (Coke Zero 500): 18th in points...so sorry, no Chase for you
4. Daddy's Money (Brickyard 400): 23rd in points...nope, try again
5. Marcos Ambrose (Watkins Glen race): 21st in points...so sad, too bad
Meanwhile, two of the Chasers (Junior and Smokeless) had zero wins through the first 26 weeks (of course, Smokeless won the first two Chase races, so he got rid of his donut). I guess that consistency still counts more than winning races.
The Sponsorship Blues (Part 2)
A correction to my last column: I had Bud Lite as one of the remaining full-season sponsors for 2012. That was incorrect. It should have been Miller Lite. As they say, not all lite beers are the same...(Editor’s Note: My Bad! The correction was sent to me but I had a senior moment!)
The Sponsorship Blues (Part 3)
If getting camera time for some cars was difficult during the "regular season"; it's now become downright impossible during the Chase. There isn't a single sponsor of a car not in the top 12 who will get their money's worth in the last 10 races of the year. Even non-Chasers running in the top 10 of any Chase race will be short-changed when it comes to camera time, because, well, they aren't deemed to be worthy of the attention. Unfortunate, but true. Another reason sponsorship is getting difficult to attain.
The Psychology Of The Chase
Evidently, the Hamster is seeing a sports psychologist. I don't remember why...maybe it's to cope with the way he choked away the championship in the last two races last year, or the way he's ended all hopes of a title this year with the way he ran in the first two Chase races. He doesn't need a sports psychologist; he needs to have Suicide Hotline on speed dial.
Speaking Of Little Or No Chance...
It's a shame that Junior has also fallen as far back as he has after the first three Chase races. It's not because I'm a Junior fan (not even close), but because my next road trip is to Talladega in three weeks. If Junior can maneuver himself closer to the top of the point’s standings between now and then, Dega will be an absolute madhouse (more than usual). And by the way, those high-rise ledges that had been reserved for Junior Nation (if he had missed the Chase) are now available to members of Red Sox Nation. Just sayin'...
NASCAR Non-Stop...Commercials
ESPN's gimmick for the second half of Chase races is what they call "NASCAR Non-Stop"; basically the same side-by-side racing/commercial thing that TNT started. The thing is, it appears that this has given ESPN the excuse to run more commercials during the last half of the races. Even worse, the "racing" half of the screen is put into a square roughly the size of a postage stamp. And a lot of the time, the action is focused on one car. Wonderful...
We Have A (Repeat) Winner
October's Brown Starfish Award has already been sewn up, even though the month is only four days old. This month's recipient (and our first two-time winner of this prestigious award) is His Shrubness. Nothing infuriates a military veteran such as I like seeing someone refuse to remove his (or her) hat during the National Anthem. I've had to yell at people at races and football games to remove their @#*! hat and show some respect for the flag and what it represents. For this whiny, d-bag punk to refuse to remove his hat, even while on camera...it makes me want to go and snatch it off his head myself. And the women have no legitimate reason to do it, either (yeah, I'm looking at you, DeLana Bimbo).
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Watch The Chase
The ratings for the first three Chase races are up a bit from last year. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Bent Sh!tcan wasn't in the points lead, or even near it (well, until this week, anyway). Since he and his crew chief, Cheating Weasel, managed a second place finish at Dover and are now in 5th pace, 13 points out of the lead, I'll be interested to see what the ratings at Kansas this week are. And if somehow Bent Sh!tcan and Cheating Weasel leave Kansas in first place in the standings, you can kiss TV ratings and race attendance goodbye. A lot of the national NASCAR media types are falling over themselves because B.S. and C.W. could win a 6th straight title. If they do, it'll be the death knell for NASCAR. All but the most die-hard 48 fans (and the media, but I guess that's redundant) will stop paying attention after race 26.
Gotta comment, question or want to say hey there...email Mike
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