Pro Racing Fans

Racing Message Boards

NASCAR Fatheads

NASCAR Merchandise

Pro Racing Tickets

NASCAR Credit Cards

Write About Racing

NASCAR Racing Teams

NASCAR Racing News

Racing Fan Sites

The end of the 2008 Nascar Season

Now that the year is officially complete and news has died down to virtually nothing—excluding the recent bit that Ray Evernham is leaving Sprint Cup competition altogether—let’s review 2008 on and off the track with a healthy handful of tasty morsels rather than a big focused main course:

-Lindsey Young of the Chattanooga Times became the latest in a series of overpaid NASCAR writers (assuming he earns a dime of any size) to moan about the sport and support the false premise that its on its way into the ground because races are boring. They’re not boring. Generally, they’re as good as they’ve ever been. Mr. Young, you’re just bored with it because the guys you grew up idolizing aren’t the same ones out there dominating. Heaven forbid a man without a moustache creates a dynasty in good ol’ NASCAR. Editors: happy young progressive writers are standing at the ready. Hint times ten.

> Pro Racing Fans gives fans a chance to buy discount NASCAR apparel and NASCAR Fathead wall stickers available online.

-Last entry, I suggested Duane Cross offered no alternative points system in his critique of the Jimmie Johnson-owned infantile Chase era. I was incorrect. Cross actually offered a system so pitifully flawed and manufactured for drama that it makes Brian France cringe. 43 points for 1 st, 42 for 2 nd and so on? Are you serious? I have a better idea, change the last race of the year to Talladega and reset the points for every driver to zero when the white flag comes out. DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA. Or how about this: you stop worrying about ratings and fireworks shows and let them race. May the best driver/team/car win. Remember when it was that way? The days of Earnhardt and Petty? I doubt anyone was worried about growing the NASCAR brand when Ned Jarrett lapped the field a dozen times back in the day. Writer-induced NASCAR panic is ruining the sport more than any Car of Tomorrow. I suggest NASCAR develop a “Writer of Tomorrow” and implement them immediately.

-Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus, if I haven’t said this already, are the best driver/crew chief combination in the history of the sport. Quote me at will.

-Johnson, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards put on a clinic this year. They all drive for different manufacturers. The COT (re: today) is fine and will probably create a lot of parity in the sport. That is, as soon as everyone without a 18, 48 or 99 on their car figures out what they’re doing. They have embarrassed the Sprint Cup Series and all three should be commended for their efforts. Everyone else has a lot of sleepless nights ahead in the offseason.

-Speaking of the COT, enough of the criticism. The same team—the best one—won with the old car, a mix of both AND the new one. The results are minimally different excluding safety which is always first priority. The 2001 Daytona 500 wasn’t that long ago. Until they’re able to design a car that handles like garbage in clean air versus in traffic, every car they come out with result in similar racing.

-David Gilliland should be fired. He’s in over his head, he was an impulse hire and his idiocy at Texas got several weeks from me to cool off of and to no avail. The man has no business in the Sprint Cup Series.

-I’m all for the little guy, but the economic crisis and the mass closings story that’s trying to make a stir in the offseason is beyond absurd. The worst case scenario for a lot of teams and drivers is a demotion into a “lesser” series. It’d be a story if names like Gordon, Kenseth, Burton were having sponsorship issues. They aren’t. With all due respect to organizations like Furniture Row and Bill Davis, these teams weren’t exactly tearing up the track to begin with. Survival of the fastest. Maybe only 40 or so cars will be able to show up and we won’t have to put up with the intense “drama” of go or go home qualifying. “Oh please let Sam Hornish get that extra tenth to knock off A.J. Allmendinger!” Please.

-Lastly a hearty congratulations to Craftsman and the truck series. An incredible year for everyone involved, some fantastic racing week in and week out and a terrific finish for Johnny Benson who was long overdue for somemore racing glory. I’d like to cordially invite all the aforementioned overpaid writers who feel they aren’t being entertained enough by the Sprint Series to take a paycut in order to cover the trucks. You’ll be home eleven more weeks a year and best of all, I won’t have to read nearly as much of your tantrums.

I’ll find as much to write about as I can in the offseason. G’day to you and yours.