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But not as strange as it may appear. An article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution
Steering through a silly season
Running rough: It's been an unconventional year in NASCAR so far
Al Levine - Staff
Friday, August 2, 2002
The Silly Season used to describe the portion of the stock car racing schedule when rumors preceded musical chairs as drivers switched teams. Now it seems to be an accurate label to sum up this unconventional Winston Cup year.
Sterling Marlin started it all in the first race when he got out of his car during a red-flag stop at Daytona to do a little fender work.
Since then, weirdness seems to have prevailed:
Kevin Harvick attacked a competitor in the pits, got parked by NASCAR and then was muzzled for much of the early schedule. Tony Stewart, who seems to have a problem juggling racing and celebrity, put the muzzle on himself.
The track at Richmond was resurfaced, and the result was like walking on marbles. The track at New Hampshire was resurfaced, and it came up like loose fillings. NASCAR seemed indecisive on when to stop a race with a few laps to go so it wouldn't end under caution at 35 mph. Fans at the Pepsi 400 showered Daytona International Speedway with seat cushions and beer cans when that event was not raced to the end.
Last week, new observers of the sport were mildly surprised when the Pennsylvania 500 became the Pennsylvania 437 1/2 as NASCAR shortened the length of the race because of approaching darkness.
New fans of the booming sport are asking: What's up with all this?
The answer is found somewhere between ''that's racin','' and ''welcome to our strange world.''
Jeremy Mayfield, in his 10th year on the circuit, offered his observation. ''Looking at everything, it's been a weird year. From the outside looking in, you step back and say why is all this stuff happening? It's kind of weird. There are a lot of issues that somebody's got to fix, but I don't know who that is or what it is.''
Veteran observers of the sport want the new fans to understand just one thing: We've seen all this before.
''You can go back to the mid-'80s and find the inconsistency of NASCAR,'' said Fox television analyst Jeff Hammond, a former crew chief for Darrell Waltrip. "They choose to make rules, they choose to adjust accordingly to what they feel they need to do. In my opinion, that's more the norm than the exception.
''The only thing they've been consistent about is maintaining the distance of the race. With the exception of a weather-pre-empted deal, they have not gone over the prescribed laps of a race. In all fairness, I think a lot of the people that are complaining or questioning this are the ones who don't understand how the sport operates.''
Tracks with surface problems are a NASCAR tradition. Speedways in Dover, Del., and Bristol, Tenn., were called undrivable before they switched from asphalt to concrete.
Muzzling cranky drivers?
''Harvick had his wings clipped a little bit,'' Hammond said. ''But this is not the first time NASCAR's done that, either. They've had issues with a guy named [Dale] Earnhardt, a guy named [Geoffrey] Bodine, [Bobby] Allison, Waltrip, [Cale] Yarborough. The list is long and very distinguished of the people that have either visited Billy France's office in Daytona or the big red truck. Years ago you used to be called to Daytona the following week. You'd fly up there, and they'd have a little word of prayer with you.''
''But the message is always the same,'' said Mike Joy, an announcer on the Speed Channel. ''You need this sport more than this sport needs you.''
Economics may yet be the biggest story of the season. Last week at Pocono, NASCAR had to fill its normal 43-car field with Cup irregulars Derrike Cope, Kirk Shelmerdine and 60-year-old Morgan Shepherd.
''There are not 43 full-time Winston Cup teams,'' Joy said. ''There are 40, and then you have part-timers and field-fillers. Where is all the growth and all the money in this sport?
"NASCAR was saved the embarrassment of a less than full field because they convinced one of the car owners [Travis Carter] to roll a car off the truck, put a different number on it and have somebody [Bodine] run four laps so the field wouldn't be short. First time in Cup this year they've had somebody come out for appearances' sake.''
This is still a season in search of a defining moment.
''There's really nothing to hang your hat on yet,'' Joy said. ''It may well be the silly season itself; that may be the story of the season, if we have as many driver changes as we hear we're going to have.''
Steering through a silly season
Running rough: It's been an unconventional year in NASCAR so far
Al Levine - Staff
Friday, August 2, 2002
The Silly Season used to describe the portion of the stock car racing schedule when rumors preceded musical chairs as drivers switched teams. Now it seems to be an accurate label to sum up this unconventional Winston Cup year.
Sterling Marlin started it all in the first race when he got out of his car during a red-flag stop at Daytona to do a little fender work.
Since then, weirdness seems to have prevailed:
Kevin Harvick attacked a competitor in the pits, got parked by NASCAR and then was muzzled for much of the early schedule. Tony Stewart, who seems to have a problem juggling racing and celebrity, put the muzzle on himself.
The track at Richmond was resurfaced, and the result was like walking on marbles. The track at New Hampshire was resurfaced, and it came up like loose fillings. NASCAR seemed indecisive on when to stop a race with a few laps to go so it wouldn't end under caution at 35 mph. Fans at the Pepsi 400 showered Daytona International Speedway with seat cushions and beer cans when that event was not raced to the end.
Last week, new observers of the sport were mildly surprised when the Pennsylvania 500 became the Pennsylvania 437 1/2 as NASCAR shortened the length of the race because of approaching darkness.
New fans of the booming sport are asking: What's up with all this?
The answer is found somewhere between ''that's racin','' and ''welcome to our strange world.''
Jeremy Mayfield, in his 10th year on the circuit, offered his observation. ''Looking at everything, it's been a weird year. From the outside looking in, you step back and say why is all this stuff happening? It's kind of weird. There are a lot of issues that somebody's got to fix, but I don't know who that is or what it is.''
Veteran observers of the sport want the new fans to understand just one thing: We've seen all this before.
''You can go back to the mid-'80s and find the inconsistency of NASCAR,'' said Fox television analyst Jeff Hammond, a former crew chief for Darrell Waltrip. "They choose to make rules, they choose to adjust accordingly to what they feel they need to do. In my opinion, that's more the norm than the exception.
''The only thing they've been consistent about is maintaining the distance of the race. With the exception of a weather-pre-empted deal, they have not gone over the prescribed laps of a race. In all fairness, I think a lot of the people that are complaining or questioning this are the ones who don't understand how the sport operates.''
Tracks with surface problems are a NASCAR tradition. Speedways in Dover, Del., and Bristol, Tenn., were called undrivable before they switched from asphalt to concrete.
Muzzling cranky drivers?
''Harvick had his wings clipped a little bit,'' Hammond said. ''But this is not the first time NASCAR's done that, either. They've had issues with a guy named [Dale] Earnhardt, a guy named [Geoffrey] Bodine, [Bobby] Allison, Waltrip, [Cale] Yarborough. The list is long and very distinguished of the people that have either visited Billy France's office in Daytona or the big red truck. Years ago you used to be called to Daytona the following week. You'd fly up there, and they'd have a little word of prayer with you.''
''But the message is always the same,'' said Mike Joy, an announcer on the Speed Channel. ''You need this sport more than this sport needs you.''
Economics may yet be the biggest story of the season. Last week at Pocono, NASCAR had to fill its normal 43-car field with Cup irregulars Derrike Cope, Kirk Shelmerdine and 60-year-old Morgan Shepherd.
''There are not 43 full-time Winston Cup teams,'' Joy said. ''There are 40, and then you have part-timers and field-fillers. Where is all the growth and all the money in this sport?
"NASCAR was saved the embarrassment of a less than full field because they convinced one of the car owners [Travis Carter] to roll a car off the truck, put a different number on it and have somebody [Bodine] run four laps so the field wouldn't be short. First time in Cup this year they've had somebody come out for appearances' sake.''
This is still a season in search of a defining moment.
''There's really nothing to hang your hat on yet,'' Joy said. ''It may well be the silly season itself; that may be the story of the season, if we have as many driver changes as we hear we're going to have.''
