The Final Word

Rain. That was the theme of the cool, overcast, and often wet event at Bristol last Sunday. Rain delayed things, then stopped it all together for two hours as we sat on lap 125 of 500 for a spell. Often in the past, we have seen the guys who are leading near the start of the race just happen to be the same dudes there at the end.

Three races in, and the story of the 2014 Cup season is the success of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He wins at Daytona, finishes second in Phoenix, and a hiccup in his fuel pick up was all that kept him from victory at Las Vegas. That and Brad Keselowski. Still, take a gamble, have it turn sour, and still come home second is not all that bad.

Daytona was great. Phoenix was not bad, once you got used to the differences. One week we had a 2.5-mile superspeedway, the next we got was a single mile circuit. It rained in Florida, yet despite the forecast the only rain came to prematurely end the Nationwide race on Saturday. They ran in big packs in the southeast, not so much in the southwest.

Jeff Gordon is correct. Now that Dale Earnhardt Jr has claimed his second Daytona 500, all is right with the world. Now, what on earth has made a 20 race winner, one who has won exactly three races in the past 279 events, all that popular?

The long season, well it might have been just three months, of our winter discontent has come to a close. The engines are running, our hopes and dreams have been renewed, and NASCAR keeps trying its damndest to drive us to watching something else.

Matt Kenseth ruined NASCAR. He did not mean to do it, and we did not know at the time that he did, but it would seem his single win 2003 championship changed everything.

Imagine the Super Bowl as Percy Harvin takes the second half kickoff. However, before he gets very far, he is blindsided by someone from ... the 2 and 14 Houston Texans?

When they are done determining who is in and who is out each week, only 25 drivers on ten teams will actually matter. The rest will simply be hamburger helper sprinkled amongst the real meat.

Playoffs. As exciting as they might be from time to time, they are simply a gimmick to keep interested those who are not all that interested in the first place. Still, as long as they do not go beyond the pale, to be too stupid in presenting their post-season tournament, they can create a measure of excitement.

He is one of the greatest drivers of all time. Jimmie Johnson's name has long been among such icons as Tony Stewart, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, and Lee Petty. By the time he was done his run of five, he had even surpassed Jeff Gordon and now only Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty have claimed more titles.