Lots of my friends look at me a little funny when I tell them I can't do ____________(fill in any fun activity you can think of) with them today 'cause there's a NASCAR race happening at the same time. They know I love to ____________, and normally would give up a day's pay to do it. Well, maybe I better think of something else I'd be willing to forgo - a day's pay these days is not a whole bunch. I'm retired. How 'bout I'd give up a ride in the last space shuttle mission instead?
No, I'd probably ride the shuttle and miss Dale, Jr. doing something stupid like forgetting how to turn onto the pit road with only thirty laps to go, thereby costing himself a top five finish. Yeah, I'm certain I'd do the shuttle thing as long as NASA promised to have me back in time for the next race. Wouldn't want to miss two in a row. Lots going on this year. In fact, the races are getting to be a lot like a hockey game, only the pucks weigh 3450 pounds. Maybe I'd give up chocolate fudge for a week - yeah, that's it. I'd give up fudge.
Last week, Montoya, car 42, and Newman car 39, bumped into and ran over each other with more force than Eddie Shore applied to Ace Bailey in 1933. I wasn't there for that match, but I did watch last weeks race, and was happy to see both drivers managed to stay away from each other this week. But, rumor has it Newman punched Montoya during a "let's all get along" meeting with NASCAR officials earlier in the week. I gotta tell you, that takes some BIG ones. Right in front of God, the officials and all. I'm cracking up! To his credit, Montoya, fifty pounds lighter, is rumored to have said Newman punches "like a girl."
This week it was between Harvick, car 29 and Busch (Kyle), car 18. Both drivers were going about 175 miles an hour, clutching the steering wheel in much the way McSorley or Suter clutch their sticks. All of a sudden, for no good reason, they started swinging their cars at each other. Time and again the cars smashed together. First the 29 ran into the rear of the 18. Then the 18 came alongside the 29 and bashed into it's right side, sending it into Boyer's 33. Boyer crashed, but the 29 and 18 managed to continue for several hundred more feet till the 18 turned and "hooked" the 29 and sent it spinning out of control.
A couple of laps later, the race ended. But the fight continued with Harvick blocking Busch's way home. Harvick jumped out and ran back to Busch. I'm just guessing here, but maybe he wanted to thank him for the new bruises. Well, Busch is no gentleman. He ran into Harvick's unmanned car, causing it to smash into a wall, while Harvick was thanking him. Go figure. Both of them were invited into the NASCAR trailer a little later. That's right, the same trailer in which Newman (maybe) punched Montoya earlier this week.
Now, these little fracases have been going on for years with the good ol' boys, one of the most famous ones was at Daytona in 1979. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXbHQtZH8dE If ya ask me, it's part of the gig. Tell me, how would you feel after racing for 499 of 500 miles, adrenaline flowing, checkered flag in sight, and some yahoo puts a ding in the side of your ride. And, the ding was applied with enough force to cause you to spin around and flip end for end a couple of times while slowing from almost 200 MPH? I'm pretty sure I'd be REAL tempted to punch me out some lights. As long as the punchee has his helmet on, about the worst that can happen is the puncher breaks his hand. Which means he has to think about being a bad boy while sitting out the next couple of races because he can't grip the wheel.
See? Taking a poke at the other guy is a self-policing behavior. The officials should try to tone down deliberately crashing an opponent on the track, but what happens after the race is just a couple of good ol' boys havin' a little fun. Let um be. A good ol' Alabama boy myself, I enjoyed a scrap every now and again when I was in my twenties. The fisticuffs taught me more manners than my parents ever did.
For sure, it's good for the ratings. Will Harvick and Busch go at it next week? How about Montoya and Newman? Will Dale EVER quit shooting himself? Tune in next week, it's the greatest motor sport in the world!
NASCAR is an acquired taste. It takes time, experience and a whole LOT of knowledge on the part of the fan to really enjoy. The average neophyte viewer has no clue what's going on. He thinks it's all about a bunch of cars going 'round in circles til a checkered flag waves and some one is a million dollars richer. That's not the case at all. It's all about personalities. It's about family, a lot of the guys had fathers, and grandfathers before them, who drove the cars around the same tracks. Tradition, that's what it is, and a source of comfort in seeing something that was there in the past continue on in today's totally screwed up world. Tradition. Comfort. Family. Cars and Guys. That's NASCAR, and it's right up there with apple pie and ice cream.
It's not my cup of tea, but as a guy who watches bowling on TV with great enjoyment -- even though I haven't picked up a ball in years -- all I can say is, more power to you.
ReplyDeleteNASCAR does have real roots behind it, as deep as baseball's or any other sport. I saw the documentaries about how it got its start, and how the first drivers were old bootleggers who learned their skills driving fast cars on backroads trying to outrun the law and deliver their hooch. Fascinating.
'Morning, Boomer. My Dad claimed to have watched Junior Johnson scream past him in a 1940 Ford with a flathead V-8, raising a ton of red Alabama dirt that followed him down the road for ten minutes before settling back down to the roadbed. That was in the late 40's, before the revenuers caught Junior at his daddy's still and hauled him off to prison. All the backwoods boys already knew about him, long before his NASCAR racing debut in the early 50's. My dad started following the races when he heard Junior was running. My roots in the sport began at the same time.
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