Edition 35, November 20th- 2008

The Good, Not Good, and the Ugly

As usual I was interested in watching the outcome of the final races for the championships in the three NASCAR series. The Craftsman Truck and Nationwide had the first and second place positions in a virtual dead heat coming into Miami. The Sprint Cup was decided in my mind weeks previous, with Johnson needing only to finish 36 th to win his third consecutive championship. Imagine that, someone winning three in a row (wait we just did that in Mid Am. Series) but we did it with style and heart.

Anyway the Craftsman Truck race was probably one of the best races of the year, and also probably one of the sparsest attended events, which is sad for the series. Several drivers fought to stay in front including Kyle Bush, but the way that Hornaday and Benson fought back and forth was amazing. Teammates tried to help teammates, and soon the point’s leaders were only three points apart as they competed. A final decision of whether or not to pit was made with Hornaday coming in for tires, while Benson stayed out on worn tires with better field position. And of course the outcome was like it was scripted, with truck series regular Bodine winning the race, and Benson finishing a few positions and a couple seconds in from of Hornaday for the win. This was truly a great race to watch even from the comfort of one’s living room. Johnny Benson is a class racer and deserves the series crown. THIS WAS GOOD.

The Nationwide race also had two competitors that would race for the championship. The two gentlemen, Edwards and Boyer are of course regular Sprint drivers which rules say are allowed to race in all the series, but I sometimes don’t appreciate the fact that regular drivers that have to go home because they got beat out by someone with superior equipment from a higher series. I know that most times the Nationwide drivers say they like the competition and it draws more crowds to the races. Homestead had 10 regular Sprint drivers that were in the race. Anyway this year Edwards did what he had to do in this race, as he won the Homestead race and lead the most laps and still fell just a little short in the points. Keselowski finished this year a distant third, and a few teams did not have the financing to compete, and to this end THIS WAS NOT GOOD.

And finally the Sprint race at Homestead. Cannot say I really watched it that close, We all knew what the outcome would be, and Edwards raced to the win for the second time in as many days only to finish second in points. So we ended the season with another boring conclusion to the year. I only hope that teams from this year will survive though our economic situation to be available to compete equally next year. Something has to happen to reduce some of the costs associated with racing for the teams and the fans, and I believe several of those things including more reasonable ticket, lodging, and associated prices. Will this mean that some large tracks need to reduce costs for a Sprint cup race to $50 for a good ticket, and local tracks will have to offer food discounts or lower prices for pit crew passes? Probably filling chairs at a reduced price for a race makes more sense than empty seats. Those of us in the local race circuits have learned to pinch pennies for years to keep competing competively on a weekly basis.

As I write this article I read about the large layoffs within several Sprint Cup race teams. The racing circuits are certainly feeling the same economic pressure as those of us in our business. AND THIS IS UGLY.

RACING TO THE CHECKERS

Jim