NASCAR Ramblings, with a few Rants!

(I am stealing some of my own thoughts from a response I made to Phil's blog!)

The Chase system is doing exactly what was promised. All you have to do is look at the Busch series, and see what can happen without some sort of play off. However, NASCAR does not need to be playing and tweaking with the format.

Humpy and NASCAR need to stop looking at gimmicking up the Winston, er...the All-star. The wild card vote was too much of a gimmick, in my mind. Popularity does not make for a good driver choice for an All-star race.

How about that Denny Hamlin? We know he has beaten all of his expectations for this year. Is it too early to wonder if he will suffer a sophomore slump next year? And how about him buying a house next to his boss! Neighbor to neighbor and Boss to Employee....it could be interesting!

Will Kevin Harvick take off from one Busch race this season? He certainly could afford to do it, as he should clinch pretty darned soon! My bets are no, he will not take any time off, as he appears to enjoy racing for the sake of racing!

The folks who persist in believing Richard Childress is cheating up the tires needs to read Newton's column at NASCAR.com on the inspection process. Combine that with the case of how the wheels are mounted. Believing in the 'vast conspiracy' gives you immediate access to the 'Foil Helmet Club!'

David Gilliland may be the most maligned newcomer on the circuit right now. Poor guy steps into a car with a struggling team, following a charismatic driver like Sadler, and he gets constant comments on his challenges in the car. Most of the development drivers for Roush, who all seem to be struggling, get less commentary in an entire race than David gets in one hour. Give him time, he will get there. Luckily, he has one of the most patient sponsors in NASCAR.

Kyle Busch, while not ever one of my favorites, is showing some surprising maturity this year. He is handling himself better on the track, and also in front of the media! Good job, Kyle, (and Amy, too!)

Has Jimmie Johnson worked himself out of the Chase? If you look at the numbers, yes. But that is a team I would never, ever discount! I also think the 24 team will be one to watch!

BTW, Sirius has just started their All NASCAR channel, located at 128. So far, they are playing repeats during the day of Sirius Speedway, which airs live from 3 to 6 PM Eastern. If you are considering getting Sirius, you have to check out Dave, Marty and Suzie at the Speedway. It is very informative, while being a tad bit irreverant and very, very humorous! They do a great job!

Enough for now!

My take on the "new" Las Vegas track

We spent a wonderful weekend night sitting out at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway track watching the Craftsman Truck Race. We were delighted to see some great racing on a brand new track surface.

As I sit watching the race on my TiVo, I am shocked to see that within 25 laps in, the so-called 'talent' in the booth have declared the track to be boring, since the racing was strung out.

My seating was right under the media suite, and I must have been on a different planet. I saw drivers, who spent the testing day complaining they could not get to the high side, going two and three wide into the turns. I saw passing. I saw racing!

During the race, I was tuned into MRN. I heard them make the same observations, both on and off the air.

It took another 20 laps before the TV Talent caught on. Perhaps they were listening to MRN, and decided to use the superior observations of the radio team.

Now, if the track could just fix the traffic situation. Coming in and out was a nightmare. There were people still trying to get in at mid-race.