even running in Brian's Big Top and yet they're already trying to make him look like the "next big thing". Don't be disappointed if he doesn't live up to the hype. It's happened before with other drivers and it'll happen again.
Still no news on the bastardized Uni-Car that will be run in the Busch Series next year or any updates on what makes will be run. The only ones we know of for sure is the Challenger and the Impala. I don't ever remember the Impala being a pony car, but with the way the rules change as well as the definitions of what a car actually is in NA$CAR, don't be surprised if the Prius gets offered up as a pony car from Toyota.
Hopefully, with DJ going to the booth full-time, he can do something to try to straighten things out on the announcing side. ESPN went overboard between the booth and their equivalent to the Hollyweird Motel. All they really need is a commentator, a driver, and a crew chief. All the extraneous car owners, Diversity Program members, and extra crew chief can go. Get rid of the "dead wood" that's being used in the broadcast and give us a commentary crew that knows what they're doing. A lean, mean commentating machine that doesn't have time to cheerlead or be shills.
Also with DJ going to the booth, it'll be the first time in many a year where there hasn't been a Jarrett racing in the top levels of NA$CAR. Maybe somebody needs to take another look at Jason Jarrett.
For you folks who are heavily into RV'ing, don't be surprised if you run across Marvin Panch in your travels. Rather than being stuck at home and living a quiet retirement, Marvin bought himself an RV and has been cruising around visiting old friends and even a race track or two that he ran at. So keep your eyes peeled. He may be drafting you.
A bit of a follow-up on Las Vegas. I got an e-mail from Terry and found out why a lot of the seats down low were empty. Thanks to Bruton's "zoo and amusement park" in the infield, if you sit down low you can't see a lot of the track because it's obscured by the zoo and amusement park. This is what happens when you try to play "Keeping Up With the Joneses". It's the fans who suffer for it. Thanks for the info Terry.
Last season, we were able to compare the old template racer against the Uni-Car and folks weren't happy. We were able to see every fault that the Uni-Car had when compared to the template racer. This season, we have nothing to compare it to. It's Uni-Car against Uni-Car. So just how do we judge it? If you have some tapes or DVD's of last year's races, you can match them up and compare. If you don't, listen to what the drivers are saying about the car and it's handling. While it's great to have things back in the hands of the drivers, all of the problems that the Uni-Car was supposed to eliminate are still there. It hasn't saved the teams any money, it didn't eliminate the aero problems, and it didn't eliminate the restrictor plate. It's still difficult to turn because of the tires and suspension and the only way to resolve that is by changing the Uni-Car's chassis and steering points. So unless Faux King Brian admits he was wrong and makes some changes to the Uni-Car, the racing will continue to suffer and the drivers and fans will continue to complain about the Uni-Car's performance and how boring the races are.
John Darby says that the Uni-Car is putting on good races. Ask Tony Stewart about that John. He'll beg to differ. Ask the fans. They'll beg to differ too. But what else can you expect from somebody who works for the man that says he knows what's best for the sport while driving away fans in droves. And you have to ask, is it the Uni-Car that's putting on a good show or is it the drivers? The car is useless unless somebody is driving it.
Speaking of which, I've come up with a mathematical equation:
COT + Cookie Cutter Track = Boring Races.
The more I read about the POS, the more I find out that it's definitely a hit or miss proposition. A good example is what happened to Jeff Gordon at Texas. And no, I'm not a Jeff Gordon fan. The car was totally off the mark even after changing out a lot of pieces and parts. That pretty much clears both the driver and crew chief. So, who's to blame? I'm finding out that the problem goes all the way back to the shop and the engineers who actually put the car together. If they're off the mark at the shop, then no matter what the crew chief and driver try at the track, they're never going to get it perfect or even close to being decent. Putting the driving back into the driver's hands is one thing. When the driver has a car that's a piece of garbage to start with and the crew chief does everything in his power to make the car better and doesn't succeed, you have to wonder. And this hasn't happened to just Jeff Gordon. It's happened to several drivers since the CORN showed up last year. Folks complained about how many engineers were needed nowadays and now the success or failure of a team is in the hands of the engineers more so than that of the driver or crew chief.
As we move a little closer to summer and the price of gas isn't coming down any, you might be wanting to get as much bang for the buck as you can. If you can't afford to be chasin' racin' like usual, you might give some thought to attending some of the drivers reunions as you don't have to pay for tickets or admission to most of them. The Augusta International Raceway Preservation Society (AIRPS) has their annual reunion coming up on Sept 13th at the site of the old Augusta International Raceway. I've been attending the event for the last few years and have enjoyed myself every time. So far, Rex White, Frank Warren, and Fireball's daughter Pan Trivette have confirmed that they'll be there. In the fall, there's the Dawsonville Moonshine Festival. Besides getting to see some great cars, you also get to see and talk to some of the legends of the sport like my friend Rex White, Cotton Owens, David Pearson, and many more. You might also want to check out the Old School Racing Touring Champions Series to see if they're going to be racing near you. It's a lot cheaper than what you're paying for a Cup weekend. The drivers for the Old School Series will be doing autograph sessions, so it might be a good chance to get some autographs from some of the sport's legends. So look into getting more bang for your buck this year.
For you folks heading to Charlotte for the races on Memorial Day Weekend, you might want to make a side trip to North Wilkesboro on May 24th. There will be a dedication ceremony of a historical marker remembering and honoring the track and the great drivers who raced there. You might even stop by a check out the "old girl" like Marvin Panch, Rex White, and a few others who have raced there do from time to time.
We all know that kids are starting out young to get into racing and while we accept the hazards for adults, we seem to forget about the hazards when they apply to kids working their way up. Here's a story about a 12 year old girl in Oklahoma named Harli White who was doing what she wanted to do and the price she's paying for it: newsok.com/article/keyword/3226922/ and
I'm not down on Harli for trying to live her dream or her parents for allowing her to race. But we all need to realize that there's a price even for those who don't make it to the top tiers of auto racing. The parents are trying to get changes implemented so that the tracks have mandatory safety equipment on hand so that nobody else goes through what this brave little gal went through. The first link has an address where you can send donations and the second link contains an address if you wish to help the family out or if you want to send get well cards. God speed Harli and I hope you make a speedy recovery.
For you folks who support the troops and appreciate the sacrifices they're making for our country, the third annual Military Appreciation Day is approaching. If you want to find out how you can help out, check out their web site at: militaryappreciationday.org/
And since we still have a lot of folks overseas,
you might consider helping them out by donating
a DVD or two. Back when I was a young buck,
the best we could hope for was going to the base
theater to catch a movie. Now, with the advent of
DVD's, troops can watch movies anywhere,
anytime. So if you want to help keep the troops
see how you can make a donation to bring the
troops a little piece of home.
Here's something that you definitely didn't hear
about from the mainstream media. Staff Sgt.
Jenet Akerson, a 451st Expeditionary
Communications Flight Network Control Center
technician, donated 13 inches of her hair to "Locks of Love," a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children with long-term medical hair loss. Akerson said the decision was difficult, but that it was influenced by her admiration for her mother-in-law's experience with alopecia, a condition of patchy hair loss, most noticeably on the scalp. So to Jenet, and big thanks on showing what our military folks are made of when it comes to helping out children.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, & John Wayne
Mad Mikie
Curmudgeon at Large
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