NASCAR's good ol' boys play nasty and nice
Mark DeCotis
The worst -- and best -- NASCAR has to offer was in plain sight at Atlanta on Sunday.
First, the worst.
The track chaplain referring to the race sponsor, Bass Pro Shops, by name during the invocation. Please.
Unless the Lord was casting for bass from his Ranger, it's hard to see what one had to do with the other.
A Bass Pro Shops representative doing a duck call, or was it a turkey call, during the command to start engines. In hindsight, it was appropriate because for much of the afternoon, the race was just that.
Empty seats. OK, that has become an Atlanta tradition, but unfortunately it also is becoming a tradition in the sport's ultra-hyped championship playoff. Perhaps Florida's victory over Georgia on Saturday left more than a few fans incapacitated and unable to make the trek to the track. Either that or the fans know something we don't: Despite the tightness of the playoff, the races have been less than scintillating. If you happen to catch the final 20 or 30 laps, you've seen all you need.
Curiously timed debris cautions. Early in the race, the NBC announcing crew was going on about Dale Earnhardt Jr. being out of sequence on his pit stops and desperately needing a caution to avoid going two laps down. You could almost see it coming: a caution flag for debris. And whaddya know, what took place? You guessed it, a debris caution. But that wasn't the end of it.
A late-race debris caution caused by something that appeared to be flying out of a race car, thought to be a piece of roll-bar padding. To NBC's credit, it used a replay to track the debris and it appeared to come from the car of Robby Gordon which conicidentally got a lap back thanks to the caution. And to NBC's credit again, it confronted Gordon. Naturally he denied throwing anything out of the car, saying it appeared he ran something over.
Either way, the caution ruined a possible comeback by championship contender Jeff Burton. He angrily called for NASCAR to inspect each car for a missing piece of padding.
NASCAR said it checked cars following the race, including Gordon's, and found nothing out of the ordinary. A spokesman said officials are going to continue looking into the situation.
It's not surprising NASCAR found nothing, because if it was a piece of padding it could have been stored under the driver's seat. The trick is one of the oldest in the cheating book, and it works just about every time.
And now, the best:
Race winner Tony Stewart, who is not among the title contenders, climbing the fence to celebrate his second victory in the playoff. There are several reasons Stewart has endeared himself to a new legion of fans. His practice of climbing the catch-fence to celebrate a triumph is chief among them.
Earnhardt once again throwing points racing and patience and caution to the wind and racing for a victory. Earhardt may never win a Nextel Cup championship, and upon his retirement he might find his trophy case a little less full than it should have been. But that's OK. Because he doesn't play it cool and doesn't take the easy way out. And like his late father, seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, he races. No wonder he has the sport's largest fan base.
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon refusing to give in after multiple opportunities: getting squeezed into the wall by Joe Nemechek and later suffering a flat and being punted by Jamie McMurray. Gordon, mathematically still in the hunt -- seventh in points, 146 out of first -- may claim he and his team are racing for 2007 but don't believe him. He won't go down without a fight.
Jimmie Johnson continuing his miracle comeback and moving to second in points, 26 behind leader Matt Kenseth. Much like teammate Gordon, there's no give-up gene in Johnson's DNA. After being written off just three races ago, he appears to be in the fight to the final bell.
And finally, a magnanimous Mark Martin, realizing what could be his final shot at a championship was extinguished by to a late-race wreck, accepting his fate with a shrug and a smile and refusing to cast blame. In these days of dumb and dumber and bad and worst, that's the best the sport has to offer.
Mark DeCotis
The worst -- and best -- NASCAR has to offer was in plain sight at Atlanta on Sunday.
First, the worst.
The track chaplain referring to the race sponsor, Bass Pro Shops, by name during the invocation. Please.
Unless the Lord was casting for bass from his Ranger, it's hard to see what one had to do with the other.
A Bass Pro Shops representative doing a duck call, or was it a turkey call, during the command to start engines. In hindsight, it was appropriate because for much of the afternoon, the race was just that.
Empty seats. OK, that has become an Atlanta tradition, but unfortunately it also is becoming a tradition in the sport's ultra-hyped championship playoff. Perhaps Florida's victory over Georgia on Saturday left more than a few fans incapacitated and unable to make the trek to the track. Either that or the fans know something we don't: Despite the tightness of the playoff, the races have been less than scintillating. If you happen to catch the final 20 or 30 laps, you've seen all you need.
Curiously timed debris cautions. Early in the race, the NBC announcing crew was going on about Dale Earnhardt Jr. being out of sequence on his pit stops and desperately needing a caution to avoid going two laps down. You could almost see it coming: a caution flag for debris. And whaddya know, what took place? You guessed it, a debris caution. But that wasn't the end of it.
A late-race debris caution caused by something that appeared to be flying out of a race car, thought to be a piece of roll-bar padding. To NBC's credit, it used a replay to track the debris and it appeared to come from the car of Robby Gordon which conicidentally got a lap back thanks to the caution. And to NBC's credit again, it confronted Gordon. Naturally he denied throwing anything out of the car, saying it appeared he ran something over.
Either way, the caution ruined a possible comeback by championship contender Jeff Burton. He angrily called for NASCAR to inspect each car for a missing piece of padding.
NASCAR said it checked cars following the race, including Gordon's, and found nothing out of the ordinary. A spokesman said officials are going to continue looking into the situation.
It's not surprising NASCAR found nothing, because if it was a piece of padding it could have been stored under the driver's seat. The trick is one of the oldest in the cheating book, and it works just about every time.
And now, the best:
Race winner Tony Stewart, who is not among the title contenders, climbing the fence to celebrate his second victory in the playoff. There are several reasons Stewart has endeared himself to a new legion of fans. His practice of climbing the catch-fence to celebrate a triumph is chief among them.
Earnhardt once again throwing points racing and patience and caution to the wind and racing for a victory. Earhardt may never win a Nextel Cup championship, and upon his retirement he might find his trophy case a little less full than it should have been. But that's OK. Because he doesn't play it cool and doesn't take the easy way out. And like his late father, seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, he races. No wonder he has the sport's largest fan base.
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon refusing to give in after multiple opportunities: getting squeezed into the wall by Joe Nemechek and later suffering a flat and being punted by Jamie McMurray. Gordon, mathematically still in the hunt -- seventh in points, 146 out of first -- may claim he and his team are racing for 2007 but don't believe him. He won't go down without a fight.
Jimmie Johnson continuing his miracle comeback and moving to second in points, 26 behind leader Matt Kenseth. Much like teammate Gordon, there's no give-up gene in Johnson's DNA. After being written off just three races ago, he appears to be in the fight to the final bell.
And finally, a magnanimous Mark Martin, realizing what could be his final shot at a championship was extinguished by to a late-race wreck, accepting his fate with a shrug and a smile and refusing to cast blame. In these days of dumb and dumber and bad and worst, that's the best the sport has to offer.
