Flashman's Take

There have been two races run in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint cup season. One, the Daytona 500, is a crapshoot. There is nothing that can be taken from that race that will apply anywhere but at the World Center of Racing and Talladega Super Speedway. Atlanta is a different animal, or was it?

It’s a big shock to me. I have been trying to word a column about Wood Brothers Racing which came from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour a couple of weeks ago, and then the news of the Charter system came down and everything said just went away.

The 2015 season is over and Kyle Busch is the champion for this year. It was a tremendous fête, missing 11 races and still winning five races and coming home the champ. Congratulations to Kyle, but something very troubling is going on in the sport. It’s almost like we turned back the clock to 2006.

What I saw at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday made me sick to my stomach. It ruined what otherwise was a good weekend at the track, the marvelous speedway that should be a blueprint for what racing should be. Everyone knows the story by now. Matt Kenseth decided to retaliate and knock the leader out of the race—on purpose. You may say I can’t prove that, but actions speak louder than words.

The championship playoff known as the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has had more turns that a West Virginia mountain, but Sunday’s campingworld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway took the cake.

"If it comes down to Homestead and he is one of the four and maybe somebody else isn't, they ain't going to make it easy on him," Kenseth crew chief Jason Ratcliff said. "Are they going to wreck him? No. I don't think anybody would do that. It's just uncalled for regardless of the situation.

I awoke this morning to a great shock when I learned that Buddy Baker had passed on so swiftly. It was only about six weeks ago when I heard Buddy had inoperable cancer and would be leaving his Sirius Satellite Radio program he co-hosted with Brad Gillie.

It is a big week for NASCAR. First we had Eldora and over the weekend Indianapolis. I guess I’m pondering the great love affair with a truck race on dirt and the revival of the road race. Once upon a time, the fan base hated road courses and didn’t acknowledge dirt tracks because they were “minor league.”

From my eyes, it appeared that the racing at Kentucky was better than the previous races at the Sparta, Kentucky track. The statistics bear that out and the eye test was overwhelmingly positive. Drivers loved it and all the slipping and sliding was entertaining to most fans.

Everyone is excited about Talladega. Well, everyone but me. Put me in the David Poole camp that basically believes that there is no racing going on there, only holding on and hoping for the best.