Author: Ed Coombs

When Carl Edwards first visited Watkins Glen International in 2005, it was for a test session for the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series cars that he ran for Jack Roush Racing. This writer recalls it fondly because I’ll never forget how wide-eyed and excited he was before he went out on the track. It was a rough day for him and he ended up going around the track with road racing specialist, Boris Said, in a rental car.

At Sonoma this year Edwards won the pole and finished in fourth place so a lot has happened since that infamous test. Heading into Watkins Glen Edwards said, “They did a really good job with the repave, all the curving and everything – there are no problem spots. It has yet to be seen how the tire will fall off and how the cars will run together, but the speeds are fast and we didn’t have any trouble. I think we’ll just try to go out here and qualify well and see how the race goes. You guys have seen tons of races here – these things can go any possible way. We really don’t know what to expect yet.”

When asked about how far he has come on road courses Edwards was quick to discuss that first test session here. “So, a little perspective for you guys,” Edwards started. “My first time here, I didn’t even make it a full lap. I backed the 99 (Cup car) car right into the wall coming down the front straightaway.” He then laughed and said, “That was embarrassing. It was really embarrassing later while they were fixing my car I was talking to Casey Mears and shooting the breeze and he said, ‘You see that idiot out in that red and white car back it in the first lap that didn’t have a number on it?’ I was like, ‘Casey, that was me.’

I also crashed the 60 XFINITY car and Brad Parrott was my crew chief and he wouldn’t unload the backup car. He said we’re going to sit for a little while. He’s like, ‘At the current rate we’re going to be going home in about 30 minutes if we unload it.’ I was terrible here and Boris Said helped me a ton. Jack Roush used to have a program when Boris… he would call him to go for a day with young guys like myself who didn’t have any road racing experience. I talked to Glen Rein today and I told him, ‘Hey, here’s what Boris told me,’ and I kind of go through the list of things you have to do. So, yeah, from then to now to be fast here, to be at the top of the chart for a while in practice and have a shot at winning these races is a big accomplishment for me.”

“I also crashed the 60 XFINITY car and Brad Parrott was my crew chief and he wouldn’t unload the backup car. He said we’re going to sit for a little while. He’s like, ‘At the current rate we’re going to be going home in about 30 minutes if we unload it.’ I was terrible here and Boris Said helped me a ton. Jack Roush used to have a program when Boris… he would call him to go for a day with young guys like myself who didn’t have any road racing experience. I talked to Glen Rein today and I told him, ‘Hey, here’s what Boris told me,’ and I kind of go through the list of things you have to do. So, yeah, from then to now to be fast here, to be at the top of the chart for a while in practice and have a shot at winning these races is a big accomplishment for me.”

On Saturday Edwards went out and won the pole at Watkins Glen International, his first at the infamous road course. When asked if he thought he could win the pole he said, “I wasn’t sure. You know the track is a little strange. It started out really slippery the first run — but, just really proud of my guys and everybody on this Stanley Toyota team. You’ve got to work a little bit in race trim but we’re starting up front and we’ve got a great pit crew and hopefully we can put that Stanley in victory lane.”

Edwards was asked if he was now a road course ringer and he said laughing, “Like I told you, my road course career started pretty rough. There was the backing it into the fence here, there was the brush fire that we started at VIR (Virginia International Raceway), I mean there was a lot of stuff that’s led up to this. But, I’m really proud of doing well at these places just because it really has been a long learning process. So, now I need to put it together and get a win here. Been close here, we’ve run really well and this will be a good start to it. But, yeah if we had one more road course I’m sure, like this year, I think people would say, ‘Oh Carl.’ But, by next year they’ll forget and it will be all over again.”

Today Edwards ran into some trouble on pit road and on lap 58 getting caught up in a wreck in Turn 5 with Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and Alex Kennedy sending him to the back of the pack but in the remaining 30 laps he picked up multiple spots to finish 15th at Watkins Glen. Not the finish that Edwards wanted, but not bad, all things considered.

It was a very busy day at Watkins Glen International as two of the touring series hit the track for practice, qualifying and even a late day race with the K&N East series. There were announcements by teams about sponsorships, rumors swirling about a single car team adding a team next year and press conferences by many drivers. However, today was all about Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It’s been a long time since the large media center at Watkins Glen was full, but full it was when Earnhardt took to the stage at noon sharp today to discuss his progress since stepping out of his No 88 race car a few weeks ago due to side effects of a concussion that was incurred at Michigan in June.

Earnhardt said, “It is great to be back and seeing everybody. I’m super nervous coming back. I miss my team and my teammates. Amy (Reimann, his fiancé) is gone on a trip for the weekend, so I was at the house by myself and was just looking for some things to do. Figured coming to the track wasn’t a bad idea. Get to hang out with my guys a little bit. It just felt so weird not being there, so here we are.”

He appeared somewhat nervous on the podium but certainly has retained his sense of humor, at one point talking about his sister Kelly’s children and hanging out with them adding to his stress levels.

He immediately went into describing the situation with his concussion, the process of healing and the fact that he just wants to get better and get back in the race car. He said, “Our intentions are to get cleared and get back to racing. We are just taking it one evaluation at a time. Those are typically every two to three to four weeks.”

Earnhardt discussed how his doctor has been working with him and the process he is going through in a detailed manner.

“The process isn’t as fast as you would like it to be,” he said. “I talk to my doctor every other day, sometimes for an hour or two about the psychological side of it because it can become very frustrating and obviously being a race car driver, we don’t have a lot of patience, to begin with. This is a challenge.” He continued,  “But we’ve got some great doctors, and I really believe and trust what they are telling me. I am confident and positive that they tell me without question that we are going to get back to normal. I just have to do what they tell me.”

He then described what he is doing on a daily basis, “There are a lot of activities every day. There is about two to three hours’ worth of physical and mental therapy that I do each day. Not a lot of fun. But they really stress your symptoms, and that is what they want. They want you to do things that really push your mind and bring out the symptoms. So, in the last evaluation, we really ramped up the therapy to make it a little more strenuous. We will continue to work. I will work every day and listen to my doctors and hopefully continue to see progress.”

The inevitable questions surrounding his future began and he responded by not even saying the word, retirement. “My doctor thinks that to get through the therapy and to get through the symptoms you don’t need to be adding stress to your life,” he said about discussing his future. “The stress will slow down the process. So, going into those kinds of conversations aren’t even necessary at this particular point.” He also made a point to say, “Whenever it happens; it happens. It is frustrating that we’ve had to miss this many races.”

He continued by saying that there’s really no timeline to his symptoms stopping, he just takes it day by day.

He was then asked about the support system he has and his fans. “It’s been awesome,” he said. “All the NASCAR fans are supportive of all the drivers when they find themselves in situations that are challenging. It’s been no different. That’s helped me a lot and gave me a lot of motivation to get back and get back in the car. Even hearing from not only the fans but also the other drivers and my peers is such a positive motivation. The more of that I see, the better. I think it helps me keep going and keep working hard and take my therapy seriously.”

He then mentioned how his doctor encouraged a visit to the track saying, “For whatever reason, my doctor wants to push me into situations that drive the symptoms and that’s basically going somewhere that I’m not familiar with, or being in busy places. Going out to eat or going to lunch or coming here, my doctor calls that ‘exposure’. This is probably the worst situation (he and the assembled media laughed) as far as making my symptoms go haywire, but that’s what he wants. He wants me to do anything whether it’s going places and pushing myself to get into areas that give me anxiety and drive the symptoms. All the rehab drives the symptoms. They want me to push the symptoms so my body gets used to them and they become suppressed and then it’s no longer an issue.”

He concluded the conference by saying how amazed he has been at the progress that has taken place over the years.

“I’m so thankful that there is knowledge and there is rehabilitation that is specific to what I have going on,” he said. “There is just not this umbrella of treatment that they sort of give to everybody. They have specific ways to help and heal specific types of concussions and certain symptoms. That is why I think I enjoy talking to my doctor so often and going to see him so often is because you have so many questions.

“Every day you get a new concern or a new question and you really can’t wait to get in the room and be able to talk to him about it. For them to have the knowledge they have today versus where we were 10 or 20 years ago is something I am very thankful for and I feel very fortunate when I got to see my doctor he will put me in front of four or five different specialists that handle a lot of different things as far as my rehabilitation and medication and so forth. There is so much to grab on to.

“There is so much to learn and so much positive things to take back from the evaluations when you are able to get in front of all those people and hear all the specific things that are happening to you and what you need to do and why it’s happening and how you can help it.  We didn’t know all that stuff before and there is still a lot to be learned.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it very clear that he wants to be better, wants to race and really came up here to see his team because he misses them. He made note that the press conference was a necessary evil but that he also missed us as well. When he left the stage he spoke with numerous members of the touring media, thanking them for their support. It was an unusual display of emotion for Earnhardt that was welcomed by everyone in the room.

Long time readers of my columns know that I am not a fan of restrictor-plate racing. It’s not for the reasons that most think of after this week’s chaos at the end of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway last Monday morning (that’s another story, for another day). It’s not because of Austin Dillon’s horrific crash that saw his No. 3 car launched into the catch fence just past the finish line at the conclusion of the race.  It’s for reasons I will discuss below.

I have been involved in auto racing, at many levels, for over 30 years and one thing is certain, auto racing is a very dangerous sport. I accept that it’s potentially dangerous for participants, crews, officials, members of the media and fans.  In fact, every time I enter a race track I sign a waiver absolving the track, sanctioning body and anyone else from liability for any injuries I might receive while there. Let’s face it, folks, there’s a reason why I, and everyone else, who enters the garage/pits/ fences has to sign these. It’s dangerous.

Why don’t I like restrictor-plate racing? It’s not racing when it’s almost impossible to pass the car in front of you. There’s little or no braking in the corners for the cars to turn better. The drivers simply mash the gas and go, all at the same speed! It’s a rolling traffic jam, bumper to bumper at 190 miles per hour. While it sounds exciting how long is it until almost the entire field is in a straight line, just knocking down the laps until the final laps?  How many championship caliber drivers hang out for 120 laps running in the 34th -38th position, until it’s ‘go time’? Once that happens there’s yellow flags flying and a green, white, checkered flag finish.  But perhaps the thing that really turned me off to restrictor-plate racing was when they televised the unedited in-car feeds during the Daytona 500 and I recall looking in and realizing that it wasn’t racing at all. They were riding around.

Lastly, I don’t like restrictor plate racing because of the millions of dollars in damage to race cars that happens at these races. When 16-17 Sprint Cup cars are involved in a wreck there’s a lot of dollars there, not just in the equipment but the man hours needed to prepare and repair them. As a businessman, I can’t help but ask myself, ‘Is it worth it?’

As far as safety is concerned, NASCAR has really stepped up their programs since Dale Earnhardt was killed in 2001. However, Earnhardt was the last of four drivers killed in on track incidents in 2000 and 2001. Cup driver Kenny Irwin died at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July of 2000 during a practice session just as Adam Petty, son of Kyle and grandson of Richard had done just 11 weeks before. Only about 60 days later Tony Roper was killed in an accident during a race at Texas Motor Speedway during a truck race. Many of us forget these facts as we get caught up in the racing going on right in front of us. There’s always the danger factor that must be considered and I think we were just reminded of it early Monday morning.

Austin Dillon wasn’t injured seriously in the wreck and discussed it during a teleconference on Tuesday this week.

“I just remember getting launched up,” Dillon said, “and then the first violent part of the wreck was when we turned upside down. It just happened so quick, and I knew at that point I had already… it was going to be big. I tensed up and kind of just really gripped the wheel hard. When we hit the catch fence first, I didn’t realize kind of where I was.  I knew the whole time where I was, but I didn’t know where I was on the track, if I was getting hit by a car or what it was because it happened so fast, obviously. As we came down, I was just kind of talking to myself the whole time, like you’re almost through it, you’re almost through it, hold on, hold on, and then I thought it was over, and then when Brad came through and hit us at the end, it was pretty hard, that last lick.”

Dillon then described what viewers on television and spectators at the track saw; crew members rushing from pit road to his aid. He continued saying “Shortly thereafter, I mean, it felt like no time that there was guys at my car. As soon as they got to the car I felt pretty comfortable there, there was people around that we were going to be okay. The biggest fear as a driver is probably fire would be the next thing you worry about, so the oil kind of running around the car at that point, I just wanted to get out. I told them I was okay, and worked my way out of the car and got away from it.”

After the race, there were numerous drivers that expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation regarding the danger to not only the drivers but the fans.

Dillon said, “For me I have to make my own opinion, first of all, of it, and I have a lot of respect for everybody at NASCAR and the drivers. Going through something like that, there’s other drivers that have gone through wrecks similar. This is probably one of the most violent ones, obviously, and I feel like my opinion was I’m here today talking to you guys, and right now my groin is a little sore, my tailbone is a little sore, but other than that, my head and my neck, which is the most important part to me, I have no headache, I have… my traps are like a little sore just from tightening up before the wreck, you know, making sure I was tight when I hit the car so I wasn’t too relaxed when I hit the fence.”

Dillon expressed his satisfaction with what NASCAR has done with safety and I tend to agree with him.

“I think it’s pretty impressive,” Dillon said “to see how far we’ve come after learning from other wrecks, the black box that NASCAR takes and looks at to see the impacts and how far we’ve come to change the different chassis bars in the car to strengthen the roof. The roof looked like the cage itself held up well. The catch fence did its job. It kicked things back into the track where we needed to.”

So, as we head to the Kentucky Speedway let’s be thankful there were no serious injuries and that we can have discussions about the racing, which over the years has changed significantly. I don’t offer any solutions about how we can change things at the super speedways and frankly, haven’t heard any reasonable ones from anyone, other than stopping the races at those tracks, and we all need to accept the fact that we will be racing at Daytona and Talladega for many, many years to come.

Watkins Glen International currently leads the voting in USA Today’s favorite NASCAR track as I write this. Since I follow them on Facebook I get almost daily updates on the progress and in one case there was a photo of fans in the grandstands that included a group of almost 30 friends cheering on the exciting racing at the Glen. “It’s exciting for us to be in the running for the USA Today’s 10 Best ‘Favorite NASCAR Track’ award,” said Watkins Glen International president Michael Printup in a press release. “We encourage our fans to vote each day and spread the word to get The Glen to No. 1.”

It’s no surprise to me because I’ve been attending NASCAR races since the mid-80s. One of the first NASCAR races I ever went to was at Watkins Glen International in 1986 when NASCAR’s Winston Cup touring series returned to Watkins Glen after a more than 20-year absence. Tim Richmond won the race and the celebration was a wild one! As a fan, I was hooked on the place. The fans were wild and the racing great, although you could not see the entire track.

As I continued to return to the track on an annual basis, the more interested I became in the history of Watkins Glen International. Its storied history included Formula 1 racing, sports cars and NASCAR. But more importantly, to me, was the fact that before the current facility was built they actually raced in the streets in and around Watkins Glen! My late father-in-law would tell me stories about how he and his friends would drive to Watkins Glen and rent spaces in people’s yards or porches as a place to sleep and watch the races.

Before I started to cover NASCAR races Watkins Glen as a member of the media, I found it was a great place to introduce a child to racing. Unlike most race tracks, the Glen offered the ability for fans to move around the race track for different views of the racing, especially during practice sessions. For someone with a four-year-old rambunctious little boy, this option was perfect as I walked him around the course until he had no choice but to sit down and watch. When he finally did sit all he wanted to see was his favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt. As Dale made it into turn 10 he spun right out in front of us, into the gravel. At that time, the crowds cheered any mishap for Earnhardt, even in practice. But my son took it in stride.

Over the years, I’ve watched the facility make improvements to seating, bathroom and other amenities, the racing service and most recently media facilities. The continued improvements have allowed the track to be one of the few facilities in recent years to add seating and more importantly sell those seats for the sole NASCAR weekend on the track’s schedule.

I had an opportunity to speak with Christopher Banker, Watkins Glen International’s Public Relations Manager that was named earlier this year. He and I discussed their upcoming opening race weekend, Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen sports car races held June 25-28 and the many other things happening at the track. We also talked about how the 25-year-old happened upon his position at one of the United States premier race facilities. Banker told me that he was from southern New Jersey and that he initially worked in operations at his other race track position, “before moving to the public relations side of things.”  He was previously the Manager of Communications at the New Jersey Motorsports Park prior to coming to Watkins Glen International. Banker graduated from York College in 2012 with a degree in communications which would be why he was more attracted to public relations as opposed to operations.

With the sports car race coming up at Watkins Glen and actor Patrick Dempsey getting a podium finish not too long ago, I expect a great turnout for the races in a couple of weeks. During this past  Sunday’s MRN radio broadcast of the race from Michigan, Printup and the radio crew discussed Watkins Glen and the great racing there. What I took away from the conversation was that the reason why the races have become so exciting over the last few years is because, unlike the 80s and 90s, today’s drivers are much better at the road courses than their predecessors. The last few years saw incredible door to door finishes and although Marcos Ambrose won’t be returning to Watkins Glen this year I would expect that Kyle and Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, last year’s winner A.J. Allmendinger and a host of others will put on a whale of a show. Printup also noted that ticket sales are above what they were last season, by about 3,000, which is impressive when ticket sales have declined at many tracks.

I’m excited to get out there and see how things look in just a few short weeks!

As we head into this holiday weekend let’s not forget the tremendous sacrifice that many before us have endured for us all to enjoy our lives the way we do. Thank you to all servicemen and women, their families and loved ones for your current and past service, this American appreciates you!

As far as NASCAR racing is concerned Memorial Day weekend is one of the “big ones” in Sprint Cup circles as the longest race of the year begins that Sunday evening, shortly after the Indianapolis 500 ends. It also concludes the Ten Days of Speed in Charlotte, North Carolina with the All-Star and Camping World Truck Series races being run the week before Charlotte welcomes home all of the teams, drivers and support staff for a 10-day celebration. Most race shops host fan appreciation days plus there’s the Coca-Cola 600 Festival that runs for multiple days in downtown Charlotte where the streets are closed off and there’s tons of fun to be had. But it seems that may all be more exciting than the racing going on at the Charlotte Motor Speedway just a few miles away in Concord.

The All-Star race on Saturday saw passing for the lead be extremely difficult and that was evident when Brad Keselowski, the driver with the best average finish in the previous three segments, knew he had to win the race off pit road in order to win the race.

Keselowski, who was trying to beat the pole winner Denny Hamlin off pit road, said, “I knew when I was coming out of the pit stall and the 11 (Denny Hamlin) was pulling out with me, I either beat him to that line or lose the race. The penalty was I was three-tenths of a mile an hour over the speed limit, but I told my crew chief, I’d rather go down swinging than take a strike and wonder what might have been. I swung, we missed.”

Hamlin went on to lead all 10 of the final segment’s laps for his and Joe Gibbs Racing’s first All-Star race victory. However, Hamlin readily admitted he needed to block a hard charging Kevin Harvick who finished second. “It was more defense than anything, but it turned into offense for me,” Hamlin said. “He (Harvick) kept getting closer and closer, and eventually he gets to that right rear quarter panel, and your race is done. Initially, I was looking in my mirror, and I knew it was going to be a defensive move to take his line. But I was just going to have to do something

“It was more defense than anything, but it turned into offense for me,” Hamlin said. “He (Harvick) kept getting closer and closer, and eventually he gets to that right rear quarter panel, and your race is done. Initially, I was looking in my mirror, and I knew it was going to be a defensive move to take his line. But I was just going to have to do something different because I was starting to lose time. My lap times were dropping off, and I just had to do something different to try to salvage a win, and that was obviously the key move for us.”

While many complained about the ability to catch and pass cars Harvick said there is much more to it than that, especially with people feeling like only the first and second place cars at the restart had a chance at the win.  “It just depended on how everything shook out when they took off, who spun the tires, who didn’t spin the tires.  Denny sped them up quite a bit, then slowed them down, then took off way early. Once the cars start going back and forth, it’s really easy to get the tires spinning.  On the outside lane, spun the tires a little bit.  I was in a pretty good spot.  He just made a pretty good move down there.  I committed to the center of the corner.  He made a good move to slide up in the middle of the corner and got my car really tight. My strategy was to keep moving up the racetrack.  But as it all worked out, I just got too far behind with a mistake right there.”

“It just depended on how everything shook out when they took off,” Harvick explained, “who spun the tires, who didn’t spin the tires. Denny sped them up quite a bit, then slowed them down, then took off way early. Once the cars start going back and forth, it’s really easy to get the tires spinning.  On the outside lane, spun the tires a little bit, I was in a pretty good spot. He just made a pretty good move down there. I committed to the center of the corner. He made a good move to slide up in the middle of the corner and got my car really tight. My strategy was to keep moving up the racetrack.  But as it all worked out, I just got too far behind with a mistake right there.”

Harvick pointed out, “I didn’t move much until we got our car handling right. So, you know, the car I felt was really good starting the third run, all the way through the third run, fourth, all the way through the end. Even at the beginning, the first two runs, the car wasn’t exactly where it needed to be.  I couldn’t make a lot of ground other than the restarts. You got to have your car right. The restarts are really tough because everybody’s got so much throttle, you’re so close to sliding the nose. If you move up too far, the back will come out from underneath you because everybody’s got so much throttle on the car, so it makes it tough to pass until you get to 10, 12 laps into the run.”

I’m not sure I understand Mr. Harvick; if you want to pass the leader you need to get your car right? So that must mean that the leader can be passed but they’re not. So, in order for us to see more exciting races they need to get it right! But NASCAR fans are a fickle bunch, they don’t like seeing the same guys win week after week (right Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson?). It must be they and their teams have their cars, “right” most of the time.

It troubles me that fans and media alike expect four hours of on the edge of your seat entertainment. LISTEN, it’ll never happen. Yet, you can still enjoy it. Just hope your favorite driver and his crew, get it right!

As an aside, congratulations to NASCAR’s newest Hall of Fame members and if you haven’t yet, read the story on ESPN about Kurt Busch’s ex-girlfriend and the charity she was involved with. It adds a bit of a twist to things. Lastly, thank and or remember a veteran this weekend.

A couple of weeks ago Dale Earnhardt would have turned 65 years old and there were many tributes in the media to the Intimidator. There were many more, in various forms, all over social media. But one thing I noted via Twitter was that Kevin Harvick had given Dale Earnhardt Jr. a diecast car of one of his father’s first race cars. What was even neater was the fact that you could see in the photo that the car was autographed.

During his weekly press conference, it was the first thing that Earnhardt was asked about at Talladega.

“He texted me and said he had a… he texted me a picture of it and said he was going to give it to me,” Earnhardt explained. I don’t know how he got it or when he got it or how long he has had it.  But he wanted me to have it and I told him he should probably keep it if he had any connection to it. But he insisted on me having it. I thought it was pretty neat. I don’t really know if I have too many autographs of Dad’s, so when I got to really thinking about it, I don’t know that I have any. I thought that was pretty cool. He (Harvick) is just a real good guy. We have a real good friendship, just a pretty good respect for each other. I thought that was a cool thing.”

Earnhardt went into Talladega with five Sprint Cup victories there but had not had one since 2004! But the fan favorite is always considered a factor there.

“I feel like I’m supposed to get up there and lead,” he said. “I feel like it’s a real disappointment for a lot of people when we don’t finish well and if we are not up in the battle trying at the end. If we are not in that group crossing the finish line that is up front, I feel that disappointment from all the supporters of our team; more so here and at Daytona than other racetracks for sure.”

So when he qualified fourth, under the reinstituted quasi single-car qualifying rule, much was expected of Earnhardt for Sunday’s big race. Earnhardt was up front almost all day, missed the big wrecks and lead a race-high 67 laps to get his sixth victory at the largest track that NASCAR’s touring series races at and the crowd loved it, just as one would expect.

When Earnhardt got out in victory lane he was clearly emotionally charged up and readily admitted it, in tears, saying, “Just real emotional, man. Everything is just so good for me now. My personal life. My racing. The team I am with. I don’t know why. I don’t feel like I deserve it. I just feel overcome with a lot of emotion. It has been a long time since I won here. I’ve run so good here, and not to win here in so many races has bothered me. I want to thank Nationwide and my team, my guys; Greg (Ives crew chief), Kevin (Meendering, engineer), all the guys from last year, Steve Letarte; I’m sure they are happy. All those guys that have moved on. It is a great day for a lot of people that have been a part of this and helped us get here. We just have a really good group of guys. I’m blessed, man. I’m blessed. We just have a really good group of guys.”

Earnhardt continued to express appreciation to his team. “What a great group of guys I get to work with every weekend,” he said. “I feel really blessed to have everything that I’ve got. I’m just real fortunate to be in the position I’m in, surrounded by so many good people. We have so much support. I want to thank all the fans. I hope they enjoyed the race today. It sounds like they did.”

The reaction from fans was one of adoration. Social media was full of comments supporting Earnhardt for expressing emotions in victory lane. Frankly, for those that follow me, I expressed my support because it’s rare for any driver to do so anymore, let alone an Earnhardt. It is not something I can recall in my 18 years of covering the sport.

Earnhardt explained himself in the media center afterward saying, “I felt like we had a lot of supporters here because of dad’s success. He won so many races here. I think about all the races he won here and at Daytona. I love when we go to Victory Lane because I feel like I add to his legacy there. All I ever want to do is make him proud. I feel like when we win at those tracks where he was successful, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

He then spoke specifically about his father, “I don’t really get to think about him that much. His birthday came and went. Today, it made me think about his birthday, how much I miss him, how much he meant to me and so many more people that I can’t even fathom. The number of folks that he had a relationship with in this sport, a connection with, all his fans out there, really enjoyed seeing him compete here.”

He mentioned his family as well saying, “I miss my family. Can’t wait to get home. I love racing here and winning here. It’s some of the hardest racing that we do on a mental scale. It’s very difficult. You’re about 80, 94 laps in, you’re just getting halfway, and you feel like you’ve been racing for 10 hours, you’re only halfway. You think to yourself, ‘How much is left in the tank mentally?’ to get to the rest of the race, and the hard stuff hasn’t even really started yet.”

So what does a guy like me think when this is all going down in Talladega? I think about all those fans that give guys a hard time for being emotional in this sport. Now that the sport’s most popular driver has exposed himself to everyone as a human being with feelings, will people lay off the bashing? I would hope so because it was actually a great thing to witness. Not only because it’s rare, but because it was necessary. We never saw him mourn for his father and I believe we finally saw him realize what he’s missing; his dad.

Last fall, in September of 2014 Fox Sports NASCAR broadcaster Steve Byrnes was diagnosed with a recurrence of his head and neck cancer which had progressed to a stage 4 cancer. He immediately took a leave of absence from broadcasting but through social media fans and friends alike were given updates from Byrnes throughout his battle with the disease.

As his battle progressed more and more of NASCAR’s stars and the media contingent that covers the sport expressed their concern and support for the affable broadcaster. Headed into the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway it was decided that the race would be named in honor of Byrnes who had been in intensive care due to blood clots and other complications. The entire NASCAR community showed its support for Byrnes all weekend long.

Although he was too ill to attend the race activities at Bristol Motor Speedway, his wife of 22 years, Karen, and their son, Bryson, was able to attend. Byrnes was clearly  following the events of the weekend, even tweeting a congratulatory message to Joey Logano after he dominated the XFINITY Series race on Saturday.

Sunday’s Sprint Cup race was one of endurance as there were numerous stoppages due to rains in the area but eventually the race got back underway. It was one for the ages as multiple incidents took out many drivers that had the potential to win. Brad Keselowski’s loose race car collected his teammate Logano less than 25 laps into the race. During the clean up, out came the red flag due to rain. Matt Kenseth won the race 10 hours after the advertised start that included an extra 11 laps to complete. NASCAR clearly went the extra distance to finish the race under green, including a short period in the waning laps of the scheduled 500 lap event. There were two laps left and NASCAR seemed hell-bent on getting it all in. I applaud them for their efforts.

At the conclusion of the race Byrnes tweeted to his followers, “I went the distance,”  a fitting response to a long, at times ugly, race at the high-banked half-mile track.

One driver that I followed all night long was Jimmie Johnson. Johnson started 28^th and worked his way up front with teammate Jeff Gordon throughout the race. He survived two wrecks, including one with Kurt Busch who led 98 laps during the race.

Afterward, in the media center, Johnson said, “Chad (Knaus the 48 crew chief) called for two (tires) late in the race. That picked us up a few more spots, and then I think the last two restarts I was in the outside lane, and that helped me out quite a bit. Wild night, but glad to get it in.”

Johnson was asked how the racing surface changes over the years were now compared to in the past and how difficult it seemed to pass there. He responded, “I think it’s potentially heading towards the old Bristol. Just thinking it through a bit, when we had to race the bottom, everybody gets so mad at one another and punts each other out of the way. We’re getting pretty pissed off at one another riding around the top and there’s a lot more contact.”

“Now when you get into somebody there’s really nowhere for them to go,” Johnson continued, “but I think as we continue to race here and continue to run around the top, we’re going to see it turn into the ‑‑ it’ll never be the old Bristol but something very similar. Frustration is so high. I mean it doesn’t matter if you’re catching a guy that’s four laps down with crash damage. You can’t pass them if they run the top. It’s just so tough. So it was whacky. But I think there’s more potential yet.”

About NASCAR getting the entire race in, Johnson echoed the other drivers, supporting their efforts to do so. Johnson said of the delays and the calls NASCAR made early not to start at the scheduled 1 p.m. time, “I feel like it was a little easier today because there was a big band of rain. I went back and ate and took a nap. I just kind of got ready for the long night. The one thing that does make a difference here is how fast the track can dry, and I think it caught people off guard. I think Tony (Stewart) might have been a little tardy getting to his race car to get started. But it was nice, though, having that big band so that we could prepare from a driver’s standpoint. Now, for the crew guys, I think it was far worse for them to sit there and wait it out all day.”

Sadly, just a couple days after the race, social media informed us of the passing of Steve Byrnes. At the time, I was in a hospital room in Melbourne, Florida with my stepfather who had suffered a brain aneurysm the previous Thursday afternoon. He had beaten all odds by surviving initially and at one point was responding to commands, but he was gravely ill. The loss of Byrnes, who I had met a few times, hit me hard. It hit me hard because I thought of both Byrnes and my stepfather with their battles while the cars on the track were doing the same. It seemed appropriate at the time.

My stepfather’s favorite driver was Jimmie Johnson and his Herculean effort on Sunday was one of a champion. I thought of my stepfather a lot as Johnson made it through the field and how he would tell anybody that would listen (always with a hint of pride because he had an insider, me) that he liked Johnson because, “my stepson (me) told me years ago that Jeff Gordon said, ‘Jimmie Johnson is one to watch, he is special,’ and Gordon wasn’t wrong.”

I had a flight to catch back home in about an hour and I knew I was saying goodbye to my stepdad. The loss of Byrnes compounded my sense of loss. By late that evening, a few hours after I stepped into the cold upstate New York air, I received word that my stepdad had passed. The day truly put things into perspective for me. Live life to the fullest; enjoy your time here, with those you love. We get just a sliver of time. Godspeed Steve Byrnes and George Greiner, you’ll both be missed.