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Or maybe he needs to call the waaaaambulance.
Sometimes racing conditions are less than ideal. Sometimes teams have the set-ups off, somtimes the drivers just plain old fashioned screw up.
Richmond had a rash of cautions early in the race, so did Bristol. Much of what the fool writng this post saw was as easily attributed to heavy right feet and impatience as track conditions. This same poster saw an awful ot of passing both on the inside and the outside during the majority of the race. he also observed several different racing lines being used by drivers turning very fast laps.
One statement of DW's that seems way out of place is the racing the track is not racing one. Ever raced at Darlington DW?
Enough of my BS, the story:
NASCAR needs to set track standards
Racing the track and not other drivers isn't racing
Sept. 9, 2002 2:30 a.m. ET
BY DARRELL WALTRIP
FOXSports.com
Saturday night's prerace show was incredible. It made me proud of my sport and the people in my sport. It was an outstanding tribute to all the people who were involved in the 9/11 incident last year.
I was sitting there, watching this prerace show and thinking about the 100,000-plus fans and all the drivers -- the young guys and veterans -- who have incredible personalities. We've got great sponsors. We've got a great TV package. More and more and more people are seeing the sport every week.
I was thinking about how fortunate we are in this sport. We're just so blessed in so many ways.
They cranked the engines, and we've got two rookies on the front row. You've got a great points battle going on. It just couldn't get any better.
Then they dropped the green flag, and the race didn't go two or three laps before cars spun and hit the wall. Wouldn't you know that one of them would be points leader Sterling Marlin? The 40 car was the first one out of the race. It just made me sick.
It's a shame to have so much going so well for us in this sport and then we have to go to a racetrack that's been suspect since the May race at Richmond. Drivers complained about this track and how there was no grip in the sealer. I know there was some testing, but I don't think any changes were made to the track.
Next week, we've got to go to another track -- New Hampshire -- that the drivers complained about in July. Most of them just wanted to pick up and go home the last time that they were there. As far as I know, there hasn't been a lot done to that racetrack either.
What a shame it is for the TV audience and the people at the track who get robbed of great racing because people who own and run these racetracks are allowed to do whatever they want to them. That's totally wrong.
The tracks have to become accountable for screwing up the racetrack and messing up the races. I want the drivers to compete against each other. I want to see driver against driver, car against car, crew against crew. I don't want to see teams taken out because adverse track conditions created by the owner. The most disgusting thing that I hear about sealer is that it makes the track last longer. It might make the track last longer, but you can't race on it. There's something wrong with that picture.
NASCAR needs track czar
NASCAR has to come up with an operations director or committee who goes to these racetracks and says, "I'm sorry old buddy, but if you don't change your track before the race, we're going to pull your sanction." I'll bet you that would get people's attention.
Car owners and drivers didn't change their ways when NASCAR fined them so they had to discipline drivers by taking away points. NASCAR has to do the same thing to some of these racetracks. They're going to have to say, " Either fix it, or we're going to take your sanction away." They've got to play hardball because we can't keep going to racetracks that you can't race on.
That's not being unreasonable, and I'm not trying to start any huge controversy. I'm a race fan. I'm sitting at home, wanting to watch a great race. I don't want to see drivers get out and complain about a track that they can't pass on because there's only one groove. That's not what racing is all about.
As I was watching the first wreck on Saturday night, I asked myself, "Why do we have to go to racetracks that are not prepared properly?"
NASCAR is telling the teams that they're going to have a new body location. All bodies have to be located on the same spot next year. That's going to cost the teams millions of dollars. But at the same time, NASCAR lets owners seal a racetrack and create unsafe and unacceptable racing conditions.
We need standards. We need pit road standards. For example, pit boxes need to be a certain size. Walls need to be in certain places and built certain ways at each track. With as much emphasis on safety as we've had over the last two years, we need to have a similar laser-like focus on racetrack design and operation.
The sport has to do it, and the fans and race teams deserve it.
Sometimes racing conditions are less than ideal. Sometimes teams have the set-ups off, somtimes the drivers just plain old fashioned screw up.
Richmond had a rash of cautions early in the race, so did Bristol. Much of what the fool writng this post saw was as easily attributed to heavy right feet and impatience as track conditions. This same poster saw an awful ot of passing both on the inside and the outside during the majority of the race. he also observed several different racing lines being used by drivers turning very fast laps.
One statement of DW's that seems way out of place is the racing the track is not racing one. Ever raced at Darlington DW?
Enough of my BS, the story:
NASCAR needs to set track standards
Racing the track and not other drivers isn't racing
Sept. 9, 2002 2:30 a.m. ET
BY DARRELL WALTRIP
FOXSports.com
Saturday night's prerace show was incredible. It made me proud of my sport and the people in my sport. It was an outstanding tribute to all the people who were involved in the 9/11 incident last year.
I was sitting there, watching this prerace show and thinking about the 100,000-plus fans and all the drivers -- the young guys and veterans -- who have incredible personalities. We've got great sponsors. We've got a great TV package. More and more and more people are seeing the sport every week.
I was thinking about how fortunate we are in this sport. We're just so blessed in so many ways.
They cranked the engines, and we've got two rookies on the front row. You've got a great points battle going on. It just couldn't get any better.
Then they dropped the green flag, and the race didn't go two or three laps before cars spun and hit the wall. Wouldn't you know that one of them would be points leader Sterling Marlin? The 40 car was the first one out of the race. It just made me sick.
It's a shame to have so much going so well for us in this sport and then we have to go to a racetrack that's been suspect since the May race at Richmond. Drivers complained about this track and how there was no grip in the sealer. I know there was some testing, but I don't think any changes were made to the track.
Next week, we've got to go to another track -- New Hampshire -- that the drivers complained about in July. Most of them just wanted to pick up and go home the last time that they were there. As far as I know, there hasn't been a lot done to that racetrack either.
What a shame it is for the TV audience and the people at the track who get robbed of great racing because people who own and run these racetracks are allowed to do whatever they want to them. That's totally wrong.
The tracks have to become accountable for screwing up the racetrack and messing up the races. I want the drivers to compete against each other. I want to see driver against driver, car against car, crew against crew. I don't want to see teams taken out because adverse track conditions created by the owner. The most disgusting thing that I hear about sealer is that it makes the track last longer. It might make the track last longer, but you can't race on it. There's something wrong with that picture.
NASCAR needs track czar
NASCAR has to come up with an operations director or committee who goes to these racetracks and says, "I'm sorry old buddy, but if you don't change your track before the race, we're going to pull your sanction." I'll bet you that would get people's attention.
Car owners and drivers didn't change their ways when NASCAR fined them so they had to discipline drivers by taking away points. NASCAR has to do the same thing to some of these racetracks. They're going to have to say, " Either fix it, or we're going to take your sanction away." They've got to play hardball because we can't keep going to racetracks that you can't race on.
That's not being unreasonable, and I'm not trying to start any huge controversy. I'm a race fan. I'm sitting at home, wanting to watch a great race. I don't want to see drivers get out and complain about a track that they can't pass on because there's only one groove. That's not what racing is all about.
As I was watching the first wreck on Saturday night, I asked myself, "Why do we have to go to racetracks that are not prepared properly?"
NASCAR is telling the teams that they're going to have a new body location. All bodies have to be located on the same spot next year. That's going to cost the teams millions of dollars. But at the same time, NASCAR lets owners seal a racetrack and create unsafe and unacceptable racing conditions.
We need standards. We need pit road standards. For example, pit boxes need to be a certain size. Walls need to be in certain places and built certain ways at each track. With as much emphasis on safety as we've had over the last two years, we need to have a similar laser-like focus on racetrack design and operation.
The sport has to do it, and the fans and race teams deserve it.
