This should be interesting. I wonder how many times His Royal Highness will drink the fifth, I mean take the fifth? If His Majesty’s speech during the Magical Media Tour is any indication, I sure hope the judge has lots of No Doze to make it through the ums, urrs, and other things the Imperial (Im)Potent-ate used in his speech. Good thing they edited those out of the speech transcript or it would’ve been the length of the book “War and Peace”. And you have to wonder why His Imperial Incontinence hired a criminal attorney out of Atlanta with his own money. Aren’t the other lawyers good enough or is the Noble Nincompoop’s 2 active brain cells starting to function and he might be starting to realize he’s in deep kimchee with this case and Judge Mullen?
One smart decision that was made regarding the Truck Series is the return to Darlington. With the closest thing to the good old days when it comes to racing, the trucks running at Darlington should be the best race of the entire season. I wonder if they can stuff a 2x4 in the right door like they use to do with the cars?
I was surprised that Mafia Mike actually admitted that the whole reason for the wing was to pull in the Fast & Furious wanna-be’s. It didn’t pull them in, that’s for sure, and it chased away a segment of the race fans who thoroughly believe that a stock car, and I use that term loosely, needs a rear spoiler. OK, so we now have a spoiler after how many years? I wonder how long it’ll take to get a body on the Kit Car that actually resembles what we drive on the street? Maybe before the end of the next decade?
Along with this, what happens if the teams can’t get a handle on the spoiler and the racing sucks as bad as with the wing? If you read the transcript that was put out, the fans have been set up as the fall guy if the spoiler doesn’t work. It won’t matter if NA$CAR screws up on what would be the correct design for the spoiler or the correct specs for the position or angle of the spoiler or the fact that the aerodynamics of the Uni-Car need some major work. If it doesn’t work out, the Ivory Towers Gang will be saying, “We told you so” even if it’s their foul up.
Another thing during the Dog and Pony Show was that they had made 2 dozen changes to the Kit Car. Funny how nobody from the Hapless Henchmen or even His Highness beat on their chest like a great ape, howled and shrieked and took credit for all these changes we fans couldn’t see since the introduction of Crusty’s Old Toilet. You’d think they’d want to keep the fans and the media informed to help reduce the criticisms of the spec series car. So did they actually make changes or did they just say that to help deflect some of the questions and criticisms the media in attendance might have had? But then, we shouldn’t forget. The Box on Wheels is the most perfect and technologically advanced race car around and like the rules and the Chase for the Chumps doesn’t need any changes. It just needs some “minor tweaking”.
Interesting that NA$CAR wants the drivers to be themselves and want input from the fans but they don’t want criticism. Your Highness, if you don’t want any criticism, then how the heck can you improve your faulty, boring product? Get rid of the Top 35 rule. Get rid of the Chase for the Chumps. Give us fans a decent race to watch and not just 2 laps of racing out of a 500 lap race. Stop controlling the media. Give the fans at home some decent broadcast coverage which shows all 43 cars during the race and some decent commentary and not cheerleading and shilling for drivers, products, and only one make of car. Give us some decent commentators who aren’t owned by a brand of car, the official fuel supplier, the official tire supplier, or who have a vested interests in certain teams and drivers because they own their cars. Give us and the teams a car which actually resembles what we drive on the streets instead of a generic box on wheels. Enforce the rules equally across the board and not selectively like you‘ve been doing since you ass-ended the throne. Stop the favoritism towards one particular make of car and certain drivers. Put an end to the Ms Terry DeBris cautions. Get off your La Fleur du Derriere and actually negotiate with the hotels and motels to bring down the cost for race fans instead of asking them to lower their prices. Sell the fans souvenirs that don’t cost an arm and a leg and don’t all look alike. Bring down the actual cost of racing for the teams instead of sticking it to them at every opportunity you get between the cost of the Kit Car, certification fees, inspection fees, sponsorship fees, mandated rental parts, only using sole source suppliers like NA$CAR, and the cost of the team hard cards. Try being pro-active about issues instead of reactive. Maybe by doing these things you’ll end some of the criticism that is rightfully levied against you, your minions, and the poor product we fans get served up for 38 weekends a year. Until then, you can expect to have criticism rightfully heaped upon you and your product.
I don’t know how many folks are aware of the movie “Red Dirt Rising”, which is about the origins of stock car racing, but a music video for the movie, Carolina Moonshine, really brought back some memories for me as I’ve been to the main “set” for the bulk of the music video several times:
Some upcoming events for this season for you folks who are looking for a little bit of history, saving a few bucks versus the cost of race tickets, and a chance to meet some of the legends of the sport:
On March 14th, “Legends Helping Legends”, from 11 am to 4 pm in Mooresville at the Memory Lane Museum. This year is the "Tribute to Rex White", my good friend and mentor. Proceeds from this event will be going to the Old Timers Racing Club’s Medical/Hardship Fund. I’ve been attending these events for several years now and haven’t been disappointed. Last year’s proceeds went to help out Suitcase Jake and there was an amazing turnout of racing legends and fans. So don’t miss it.
On April 14th through April 17th, the 2nd Annual Love Chevrolet/Racers Reunion.Com event at the old Columbia Speedway in Cayce SC. They’ll have a car show, parade, dance, cook off, and a lot of other things. Last year, they had a great autograph session with Buddy Baker, Rex White, Dave Marcis, and a host of others racing legends. You’ll probably find me there with Rex and his former crew chief Slick Owens.
On August 28th, the 4th Annual Historic Speedway Group will be holding their event in Hillsborough NC at the site of the old Occoneechee Speedway. There will be 2 ten lap heats on the dirt track. They will be honoring Tim and Frances Flock this year. They’ve had a lot of legends turn out in the past like The Silver Fox, Cotton Owens, Rex White, and many others. And with the recent news of the state wanting to plow the track under, it might be a great way to show your support for saving this historic track.
While everyone’s attention is diverted to Haiti and
the disaster there, folks from the 20th Brigade
and members of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry
Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team,
2nd Infantry Division have been delivering flour,
rice, sugar, cooking oil, and other food stuffs to
Sunni Arabs in the village of Sudoor, Diyala
province, Iraq. No matter if it’s a natural disaster
or people in desperate need of food, our folks in
the armed forces are showing once again that
there’s more to being warrior than fighting.
If you know any woman currently undergoing
Chemo, please pass the word to her that there is
a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. www.cleaningforareason.org
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