A week off with no races to forecast or summarize. Funny, I did not get the shakes or suffer any other negative reactions. That probably is not a good thing for NASCAR.
Martinsville, Virginia, was a place where a fan could go and learn a few things. First of all, NASCAR is not for snowflakes. Too many of them, and they have to move the race to Monday, as they did last week.
As they head to more traditional grounds this weekend, on a track built in 1947 at Martinsville, Virginia, we can hearken back to simpler times. It is a venue about to host its 139th event in the NASCAR Strictly Stock, Grand National, Winston Cup, Nextel Cup, Sprint Cup, Monster Energy Cup series.
Excitement, thy name is sure not Fontana. Not usually. There is a reason the idea to bring the Cup folks out to the Auto Club Speedway was abandoned after just seven seasons. It is bad enough to be a yawner on television, but when that is the perception live and in person, you have got a problem.
While Harvick led more than half the time, Brad Keselowski was second after holding point for 38 laps. Denny Hamlin was fourth with 26 up front, while Kurt Busch settled for eighth, taking the second stage and leading 52 circuits.
Even after starting second and finishing third in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Denny Hamlin was not happy after the race when he and Darrell Wallace Jr. had a post-race confrontation.
NASCAR can really tick me off, and the use of “tick” was not my first choice. Yet, every year I seem to get that itch, one that I had already scratched raw the year before, and every year I return. Why? Well, there seems to be a few things about NASCAR that I really, really like as well.
The cream rose to the top, as the top four accumulated half of the wins between them this season. Four drivers, 18 wins, and now four shared championships.
Thirty-six races. A few are great venues that produce very entertaining television events. A lot more are not. Some tracks have two events, and you wonder why. Some have two and you wonder...why not three?
Imagine a race that featured the excitement of Daytona or Bristol. Imagine a race with a broadcast crew that featured the talent of a Chris Economaki, Vin Scully, Danny Gallivan, or a Keith Jackson. Imagine that Yoko Ono co-wrote that song with her husband. That should snap us all back to reality, though that last one is apparently true.
