There are times when everything just comes together. Sunday was one of those times, as ESPN began their portion of the season with the best broadcast of the year. They had a track that lent itself to a majestic visual display, cameras located in positions that presented the action in a most appealing and thrilling fashion, and a result that kept you watching to the final lap. In short, the Brickyard 400 was as good as it gets.
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[/media-credit]Talent is good, but daddy’s money is pretty good, too. It gave Paul Menard a leg up in getting his racing career underway, but that did not come with any measure of respect from the fans. After Sunday’s victory, his first in Sprint Cup, on that particular track, the lad has finally arrived. Ham and eggers don’t win at Indianapolis, and now he sits in one of the wildcard positions for the Chase. Right at this moment, life is pretty darn good for Paul Menard.
Good finish to the event, thanks to a late charge by Jeff Gordon who picked his way through the field to wind up second. It was good to see both Regan Smith and Jamie McMurray right behind to provide each with a strong result. Dale Earnhardt Jr is now 10th in the standings, with a 19-point cushion over Denny Hamlin, who with a win looks very strong to wind up claiming that other wildcard spot.
Did anyone hear Rusty Wallace on Sunday? Me neither. 15 minutes away, and a day before, he was part of that horrid Nationwide broadcast from Lucas Oil Raceway. The venue and the announcers, along with camera location, can and do make a difference. As much as I like ole D.W. and the team of Petty and Dallenbach, I liked what I heard from Allen Bestwick, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett. Now I’m trying to think of when the last time was I had anything good to say about the ESPN coverage. I think the answer is…never.
From Indianapolis the boys venture east to Pocono, a track that is a rounded corner triangle that I always believed was configured in a way that should provide more entertaining racing on television than it has. Maybe the good folks at ESPN have finally discovered how to present the action in a fashion that will remind us of what we saw this past weekend. It is a venue that has had nothing but A-list winners for more than a decade. It is a list that includes such names as Gordon, Biffle, Hamlin, Stewart, Edwards, and Johnson.
While Edwards, Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, and the Busch brothers look comfortable to make the Chase, there are others still digging to make sure they are there at the end. There are no shortage of story lines to follow, so there are plenty of reasons for hard core fans to be watching. The secret now is to present something on television that causes even the more pedestrian among us to stop and give it a look. Enjoy the week.
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