So the biggest weekend in the NASCAR year is in the books, and some observations are just *begging* to me made. Happy to oblige.
- Let’s chat about inter-stage caution laps again. Since NASCAR is still on the we-wanna-be-like-football kick, perhaps a valid comparison can actually be made to have them take note. NASCAR has broken its races up into stages, much like football games are broken up into quarters. Let’s assume this is a valid model. Imagine, if you will, a NFL game where the first quarter ends, and when the players are allowed to begin play in the second quarter, five minutes have already elapsed from the play clock. Fans would go berserk. But in NASCAR, something similar happens a couple times every race – when the drivers (the ‘players’) are again allowed to race (‘play’), the next segment (‘quarter’) is already partially elapsed. Nuts, right? But we accept this as the current normal. NASCAR, just say no to drugs, or at least to segment caution laps that count, lest your most loyal fans go berserk, or worse, leave. Like some already have.
- Parts is parts – except when they are NASCAR-mandated and NASCAR-supplied parts that appear to fail with race-changing consequences. Wheels, lug wrenches, and lug nuts all acted to doom some teams’ chances in The Big Race this weekend, with little recourse available to the affected teams. In a similar vein, Formula 1 dictates everything but has not crossed the line into requiring that teams obtain critical parts from Formula 1. Pay attention here, NASCAR – with control comes responsibility. You can’t have one without the other.
- This weekend saw yet more cars get turned around and become airborne. I think I am fairly humble, and would never propose that I know even a trivial percentage of what an aeronautical engineer knows, but Dear NASCAR have you tried the idea of putting a hinge on the rear spoiler so it folds flat when a car gets backwards? I can’t afford the wind tunnel time to test it myself, but you can.
- On another note, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have nothing to prove or be ashamed of, but they both seem to worry too much to stay up front in these things. Not the least bit similar, I know, but I hung up the keyboard when I was still at the top of my game. It’s an honorable way to exit, and even Klingons would approve, so I hope they consider it.
- Have seen Anthony Alfredo race in the northeast and now in a Xfinity-level ride, and have to send kudos over that way. That team continued in the face of significant odds to actually score a 7th place finish on Saturday night after having been written off by, well, most everybody. Folks who know me can attest that I find that the joy in racing lies in overcoming adversity. Those folks stuck it out to do so. Congrats.
In no particular order 