2020 NASCAR Thread

July 13, 1993 was the day I quit being a NASCAR "fan" and became someone who just watched races.
I still have a bunch of Davey stuff hanging on the wall in my back room.

 

I snatched the big sign off a Texaco gas pump about '92.

 

Absolutely right. Daytona used to. And if Trump didn't have to squeeze in 18 before his lap around the track, this race might not have become the fiasco (financially, might still be a good race) it is now.

 

Lot of folks have asked me about the parallels between the Kulwicki and Allison crashes. I really don't think they're comparable. Even Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty really don't belong in the conversation, because they hadn't reached a level of performance worthy of "what if?"

Kulwicki was a neat story: the "Underbird" engineer who shocked the bigger teams. But his title was one of those "everything comes together" kind of seasons that result in guys like Benny Parsons and Matt Kenseth winning championships. Would he have gone on to multiple titles? I doubt it, but I certainly would consider him the equal of Rudd, Jarrett and Martin: very good drivers who weren't in that pantheon of greats.

Davey was already there. After that crazy 1992 finale at Atlanta, everything was in place for him to assume his place as the top Ford driver in the series and seriously challenge Ironhead/Wonder Boy as the Next Great Driver. I can still remember coming into the office in Durham and Lee Montgomery telling me what happened. We spent the rest of the night putting together a full tribute page, combing through the AP archives and listing his accomplishments.

The loss of Davey, Clifford and Neil Bonnett effectively ended the Alabama Gang era, as much as Adam's death decimated Petty Enterprises.

There wasn't a Talladega race where I didn't go up to the fence surrounding the media center and think to myself how things might have been different.

Richmond basically was Peter Revson. (Or a more talented Tony Stewart with charm and good looks.) He was rookie of the year at Indy in 1980 and would have been right there with Mears, Michael and Little Al as the next generation of great open-wheel drivers had his momma not begged him to try NASCAR. He was the kind of driver who seemed brash and egotistical because he knew he was good at it. The dude could drive the wheels off anything, particularly at road courses. He was the perfect counterpoint to all the down-home good ol' boys, especially Earnhardt.

In an alternative world, I imagine Tim and Davey in retirement after each gave their own NASCAR Hall of Fame speeches. They'd be sitting in the garage today at Daytona, trading racing stories and bragging about all their trophies.

 

From a novice, what was wrong with the scheduling?

 

Didn’t the five hunnert used to start before noon?

 

Traditionally, NASCAR has always tried to get the race in as early as possible the next day, usually restarting at 11 (although I remember a couple of 9 a.m. west coast restarts). That allows for the maximum opportunity to complete the race and get the team haulers back to Charlotte in order to make long trip West for next week's race. And it allows fans who stuck around the additional day to get home at a decent hour.

Obviously, Fox wants to salvage any audience it can with the later start that may go into prime time, and NASCAR loves a 500 finish under the lights. So they're gambling the weather won't have a repeat performance on Monday, which is pretty damn stupid.

 

12:10 p.m. on my 1978 ticket. Not sure they ever ran earlier before that. Indianapolis was traditionally 11 a.m. local on the wave of the green. But then again, it was May 30 no matter what day that landed on until the Federal Holiday Act.

 

Is the rest (they hope) of the race on Fox, or is it on one of the FS networks. If it's the former, it'll be wiping out a lot of local news revenue for the affiliates on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

 

And during sweeps, even.
Know Judge Judy fans on the West Coast are gonna be pissed when she's preempted.

 

It's on the local Fox affiliate here in Boston. The way these superspeedway races go, this could cut into prime time, too.