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Hot 20 over the past 10 – Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett were great drivers but it is Kyle Petty who is a great announcer

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Ron Thornton

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In recent weeks I have run across articles by some scribes offering up alternative vocations for Kyle Petty, other than his present announcing gig. I ask those folks one simple question, “Are you nuts?” Where are those same brains when it comes to Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett, who will soon be blessing us with their verbal skills later this month?

As I have mentioned before, Kyle, along with his TNT partners, provide us the best NASCAR announcing crew in the business. I tune in just to hear what they say, and some days the race actually is almost as entertaining as their commentary. You will never hear anyone say that about Rusty and Brad Daugherty…ever. Dale is not bad, but his commentary will not keep you watching if the race is not a spectacle on its own. Monday Night Football was not always great, but Howard, Dandy Don, and Frank kept us tuned in even for the duds. So does TNT. ESPN will not. Trust me.

As for Petty’s comments regarding Danica Patrick, what is there to argue? She is a 31-year old great looking marketing machine, but she is presently not a great driver, or even a good one. What separates her from the rest are her gender and her looks, not with just a single IndyCar win in 115 tries to her credit. Can she be great, or at least be given credit for being a driver who can race? Sure. I think Kyle could be wrong about that, but he is not wrong about her present status.

Among our hot 20 you will not find Danica, but to be honest you will not find the defending Cup champion, either. Brad Keselowski might be 13th in the standings, but there is no sign of hope for a resurgence, or a win, or much of anything. He is 23rd over the past ten events, averaging 23 points per race.

I am sure Petty would still consider the slumping Keselowski a racer, even if his publicity photos do not quite measure up to Patrick’s. Clint Bowyer takes over the point as we head to Daytona on Saturday, with Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Carl Edwards part of the lead pack. Clint and Carl have yet to win there. No time like the present.

 

Name Points POS. LW Rank W T5 T10
  Clint Bowyer  361 1 3 (3) 0 4 7
  Kevin Harvick  352 2 2 (4) 2 4 8
  Jimmie Johnson  341 3 4 (1) 1 4 6
  Carl Edwards  338 4 1 (2) 0 2 5
  Martin Truex, Jr.  327 5 5 (8) 1 4 6
  Matt Kenseth  324 6 6 (5) 3 3 6
  Kurt Busch  312 7 9 (14) 0 2 5
  Jeff Gordon  306 8 12 (12) 0 3 4
  Tony Stewart  299 9 7 (17) 1 3 4
  Joey Logano  297 10 13 (10) 0 3 6
  Ryan Newman  279 11 8 (18) 0 1 3
  Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  278 12 17 (6) 0 1 4
  Jeff Burton  276 13 14 (21) 0 1 2
  Juan Pablo Montoya  274 14 15 (23) 0 2 3
  Aric Almirola  271 15 11 (16) 0 0 4
  Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.  271 16 19 (20) 0 0 0
  Paul Menard  253 17 16 (15) 0 0 1
  Greg Biffle  250 18 10 (9) 1 2 3
  Kyle Busch  249 19 18 (7) 1 3 5
  Jamie McMurray  247 20 22 (19) 0 1 2
  Kasey Kahne  246 21 20 (11) 0 2 3
  Brad Keselowski  230 23 23 (13) 0 1 2

Comments

3 responses to “Hot 20 over the past 10 – Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett were great drivers but it is Kyle Petty who is a great announcer”

  1. jj Avatar
    jj

    Dude, I said nothing about anybody except TNT announcers, Larry Mac and referred to the best. (Fox)
    Didn’t mention ESPN. I would not insult a person, just for the sake of it.

    Insightful? Neither Mumbles or Mutters have an original thought. Maybe they impress you. So be it. You must surely be laughing about their inept try to present the facts, which they don’t know many of. Their only creditibility is having Larry Mac clear up all their bad stuff.
    Watch Daytona, as I will, and see what I mean.

    Reply
  2. jj Avatar
    jj

    Calling Tweedle-dumb and Tweedle-Dee the best is like calling the best thing that can happen to you today is breaking your ankle. The only thing to do with Mumbles and Mutters is to “Mute” and think in your mind how THE best announcers, that did the first 13 races of the year, would be calling the race properly. T-D and T-D don’t have original thoughts. Neither can describe why a car is doing what it is doing. Then Larry Mac bails them out with his expertise.
    All Mumbles can do is play foot-in-mouth, when he should have been still. He had nothing to gain except ruin his, otherwise dismal announcing ability. I guess when a person has nothing to say, he has to use the “smartmouth” card.
    Yes, there are alternative vocations for T-D and T-D. Since neither had much of a racing career, (one winless in Cup)they probably, at this date, qualify to unload the trucks for the real drivers, or work for the announcers who are the best, by running and getting them snacks.
    You are going to print a disclaimer, and say that this was originally to be your April 1st, (April Fools Day) column, aren’t you.
    Nice try, but you won’t convince many. (I can hardly wait for old Mutters to start his next sentence with three eh’s and two slurs.)

    Reply
    1. Ron Thornton Avatar
      Ron Thornton

      Totally disagree. As Rusty demonstrates, being a great driver does not make one an announcer…period. The lad is worse than awful. Insightful and entertaining is what I believe the TNT crew offers. A ratings killer is what ESPN offers. It is interesting how we view Kyle and Wally so differently.

      Reply

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