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Category: Flashman’s Take

Fleshman’s take on NASCAR

  • Expect two owners, three drivers in NASCAR’s class of 2013

    Expect two owners, three drivers in NASCAR’s class of 2013

    25 worthy nominees, only five of whom will be inducted as the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2013. Of them, I would think three would be rather easy decisions if I had the vote.

    Rick Hendrick’s teams have claimed nearly 200 Cup victories, has 10 Cup championships as an owner, and this does not include the four titles he has claimed in the other two series nor the 48 races won in Nationwide and Camping World events.

    Rusty Wallace ran second in his first ever Cup race, in Atlanta, back in 1980. He claimed the 1989 title, won 55 races, and was in the season’s Top Ten seventeen times. He is the winningest retired driver not yet in the Hall of Fame.

    If I were to select the team owner to gain admission in 2013 it would be Leonard Wood. Around since 1950, the Wood Brothers made the #21 as notorious as the #43 and the #3 in NASCAR lore. While brother Glen entered the Hall last year, Leonard was the innovator who introduced the modern pit stop. Today it would be unthinkable for a pit stop to take minutes, where drivers would even shut off a car before getting out for a smoke, but it used to happen. Wood was even in the pits for Jim Clark’s 1966 Indianapolis 500 victory.

    The other two spots in the Class of 2013 are not so easy to pick. All have contributed so much to the sport, and anyone who has studied much about the history of NASCAR knows most, if not all, of the names nominated. From the early days, back 50 years, legends such as Buck Baker, Red Byron, Tim Flock, Fred Lorenzen, Herb Thomas, Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly are contenders. You couldn’t go wrong with any of them. These are names that will forever be linked to NASCAR, both for what they did on the track and the stories they left from their exploits off it. I would expect at least one of the inductees will come from that list.

    Come to think of it, I would guess if Bill Elliott had retired and stayed retired, his name would be among them. Among his peers, those who raced in the 1970s and 80’s, there is Bobby Isaac and Benny Parsons. Two inductees into the International Motorsports Hall were recognized. Jerry Cook is a six-time NASCAR Modified champion with 342 wins to his credit. Jack Ingram ran only nine Cup races, though claimed a Top Ten in four of them, is a two-time champion of what is now the Nationwide series and a three-time late model king.

    Richard Childress began as a driver/owner, and in the forty years since he combined with his friend and driver Dale Earnhardt for six Cup championships. Along the way his teams have won 100 Cup races, and added 83 in the other top touring series. Cotton Owens won nine times as a driver and had 32 more as a car owner including the 1966 crown with David Pearson. Raymond Parks was the owner of Byron’s 1949 championship car.

    The association with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and the Winston Cup brought NASCAR into the modern era. Two executives, T. Wayne Robertson and Ralph Seagraves, are nominated. A pair of track owners made the cut. H. Clay Earles founded Martinsville Speedway in 1947, while Les Richter was president of Riverside International Raceway. He was also a former player with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, who picked up his rights by trading eleven players for him. Ray Fox was a legendary engine builder and owner, Anne Bledsoe France was the first NASCAR secretary working alongside her husband, Big Bill France. Wendell Scott was the first African-American to win a Cup race.

    My prediction is that Hendrick, Wallace, and Wood will be inducted, at least one of the old-time Cup drivers, and the fifth choice is anybody’s guess. Let the debate begin.

  • Time to Pass the Torch

    Time to Pass the Torch

    It started with a question. Are there any numbers that should be retired in NASCAR? Sport teams regularly retire numbers. The New York Yankees have retired several numbers including Mantle and others. Major League Baseball has its share of retired numbers. Those I remember include guys like Tony Perez and many others I don’t seem to remember. It’s just the way it is.

    On this day, the subject was the No. 3. Why does it always come to that? No subject can ever come to blows faster than the famous No. 3 that Dale Earnhardt drove. Never mind that Richard Petty won many more races (“he was a different era where they drove more races”) or that David Pearson had a better winning percentage. It’s a hot topic and always will be. Attending many races a year, long after Earnhardt’s death, many fans still come with attire with the famous Richard Childress Racing No. 3 logo. In the campgrounds around racetracks, the No. 3 flag is flown proudly and many still talk in almost religious tones about the black car and the man who drove it. Thus became the conversation.

    There are two camps. One camp is of the opinion that the No. 3 should be retired. It was Dale’s number and with his seven championships and all the excitement that he brought to racing. He was the common man. The anti-Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson who worked his way up the hard way and became a star. The other camp is of the opinion that Richard Childress, who fielded cars for Earnhardt should be allowed to us the number as he pleases, like letting his grandchildren use the number as will inevitably happen. Let’s look at the facts.

    The number three has long been a fixture. Back in 1972, I attended a race at Martinsville Speedway where Junior Johnson was introducing Chevrolet to the fans. For years, the circuit had been dominated by Ford and Chrysler cars, notably Plymouth and Dodge. The introduction of a Chevrolet into the NASCAR circuit was big news. Johnson’s No. 3 Chevy didn’t win that day, but all eyes were on that white car with the red 3 on the side. This was long before Earnhardt came on the scene. Later on, Childress used the number in his own cars. Never mind that Earnhardt used numbers 2 and 15 before. It was the 3 that everyone remembers. His death on that fateful day at Daytona may have something to do with it, but I have to wonder a bit.

    If any number should be retired, it might be the 43. Of course, it’s still being used because Richard Petty is still around and has a team. Maybe someday, and I don’t hope for this soon, that might be appropriate. NASCAR has never retired a number. You could make an argument for retiring the 21 because of the Wood Brothers. Another argument is that the 28 should be retired because Fearless Freddy drove the Holman-Moody car. Even the 71 should be retired because champion Bobby Isaac drove that orange Dodge. Truth is, numbers come and go. Yes, the 3 was an emotional number for many. For others the numbers mentioned above were special, but in the end they are just numbers just like Mantle’s, Perez’s and maybe even Michael Jordan’s famous number. Many drivers wore the No.3 as a badge. It’s time to give up on the numbers and appreciate racing today. No one will ever forget Dale Earnhardt and that number 3 car. No one will remember Charlie Glotzbach driving that same number or Cale Yarborough driving the No 21 (or many others including Neil Bonnett). Folks, it’s time to let go. NASCAR owns the numbers. One of Childress’ grandchildren will be driving that No. 3 soon. Be prepared. We will never forget Dale Earnhardt, but it’s time to pass the torch to the new generation

  • Fans Have Spoken – Excitement is the Key

    Fans Have Spoken – Excitement is the Key

    It has been a solid year for discussion of NASCAR. The season started with the Daytona 500 being delayed by rain. Then, once the green flag fell, all the talk was about Juan Pablo Montoya having an equipment failure, turning right into a jet dryer and the resulting fireball. Of course Matt Kenseth won the race, but true to his personality, no one remembers it. Then after a couple of races, the two top series in NASCAR headed to Bristol Motor Speedway to what appeared to be an empty track (it’s amazing what a large venue looks like half full).

    After the rain-shortened race in California, the boys headed to Martinsville. After the first half (and most of the second half) of the race made sleeping medications unneeded, an interesting thing happened. Jeff Gordon dominated that race, but Jimmie Johnson ran him down and took the lead. Gordon wasn’t done, however. Working hard, Gordon and Johnson battled with Gordon taking the lead. Then it happened. David Reutimann, trying to stay in the coveted top 35 in points, which insures a start in the next race, had problems. Running around the track at what many called 20 mph, Reutimann had problems. He couldn’t turn left due to tie rod problems and then the engine gave up the ghost. He stalled on the front stretch. Caution came out, a green-white-checker was in the cards, and the field was bunched up. On the first attempt at the infamous two lap shootout, Clint Bowyer tried to pass both Gordon and Johnson in the first and second turns (the story is fuzzy, but Bowyer says he got pushed by Ryan Newman and had to make the make the attempt to pass while others say that Johnson and Gordon, who did not pit, had old tires and couldn’t get a fast start) and what Gaston Gazette sportswriter Monte Dutton called “synchronized spinning” resulted. Gordon and Johnson finished lower than they deserved and Newman won after a fierce battle with A.J. Allmendinger (where did he come from?).

    The verdict was in. I penned a commentary last year saying Martinsville was the new Bristol and that prediction came true. While Bristol had good racing and lots of two-groove passing, the excitement factor was missing. Even though the same factor was missing for 250 laps at Martinsville, the end made everyone leave talking about the race and how great it was. Unfortunately, Reutimann immediately became the villain—the guy who changed the face of the race—it was obvious that Gordon and Johnson had the best cars—and the phone lines lit up on the NASCAR programs on SiriusXM radio. Never has a nice guy been so criticized and discussed. No one wanted to discuss California or Phoenix.

    What has been missing the last few years is the excitement factor. When the Bristol track was reconfigured, and when the Chase made drivers so concerned about point totals in their quest for a place in the Chase, we lost that urgency to actually take chances to win a race. Add to that a driver who just wanted to keep his team in the position to make the next race, and the excitement factor raised by 1,000 per cent. People responded.

    Those of us that consider us purists and like watching racing are in the minority. Since football has become the sport of choice in these United States, it should be obvious that good old fashioned racing is what has been missing from today’s NASCAR. That’s why I applaud Bruton Smith. He is willing, apparently, even though promised announcements have not been made, to change his track to add that excitement to Bristol. Smith heard the fans and realized that without the fans, there would be no races or NASCAR. That was refreshing. And as many media types or drivers cry about the changes that may come to Bristol, we always have Martinsville. It has pretty much been like it is for over 60 years and it works. That is what racing was like for six decades and the attempt to sterilize the sport should by now be clear to the powers that be is futile. Folks want excitement. And that’s all that matters.

  • Problems and Solutions – NASCAR’s Bad Start

    Problems and Solutions – NASCAR’s Bad Start

    Never let it be said that I don’t have an opinion. The events of the past week have been monumental for NASCAR. I think a lot of folks don’t realize that what has happened will change the way things are done inside the sanctioning body in Daytona Beach for a long time. Can you imagine that the day would come where a track owner would poll the fans to see what they wanted? Can you imagine the day when the sanctioning body would be embarrassed by its own hand-picked appellate officer? Lots of questions and more surprise and confusion.

    NASCAR, though they are a dictatorship, has always prided itself as being fair. It doesn’t always appear that way, but that is the intention. Early on, they appointed an appeals committee made up of respected industry insiders. Teams also had the right to appeal to a one-man judge who could overturn any penalties somewhat like the United States Supreme Court of Appeals, except in this case, it’s not seven judges, but only one. NASCAR has always appointed former industry officials for this office. I can remember it was once Bunky Knudson, the former Pontiac and Ford CEO, and since it didn’t seem to matter over the years, I didn’t pay much attention after that. It seems that no matter how fair CAO John Middleton was in his decision in the Hendrick Motorsports/Chad Knaus vs. NASCAR case, some things were not well thought out.

    Fans will immediately take sides because that is their nature, but NASCAR left some holes in their thinking. Why in the world would you name an executive from a manufacturer as your CAO? Further, why would you name an officer who had a personal relationship with some of the principals? Apparently Rick Hendrick spoke at Middlebrook’s retirement dinner. I’m not saying that this had anything to do with the decision, but it opens up a lot of questions in the minds of fans, other teams, and the media. What were they thinking? The fallout will be huge. Every penalty will be appealed to the CAO and the minute that someone, anyone, doesn’t get a “get out of jail free card” like the Hendrick team did, it will inevitably be because they weren’t John Middlebrook’s friend.

    The boys in Daytona Beach have a lot of thinking to do over the next few months. What did they do wrong? Why did a panel of many decide the penalty should stand while the appellate officer decided that the penalty should be reduced? Why was the fine allowed and the points penalties and suspensions be waived, given the reputation of the principals involved? Complicating all of this is the fact that we’ll never know. If one appeals to the US Supreme Court (in the example I used earlier), there is a paper trail that reveals the thinking of the court. In this case, I don’t imagine anything else will come to light as to the thinking of the CAO. Game over and maybe game on.

    This brings us to the whole Bristol Motor Speedway situation. The half full racetrack over the weekend, which I have commented on earlier, apparently struck a nerve with Speedway Motorsports owner Bruton Smith. After earlier statements that the low crowd, about half capacity regardless of what the “official” estimates were, was caused by bad weather (it rained in the morning, but cleared up for the race), the attendance at Saturday’s Nationwide race should have given the brain trust a clue. The near empty campgrounds should have been another clue. Smith has his underlings conduct a Twitter and email poll on what the fans wanted. The result was over 70% of fans not only didn’t like what they saw, but demanded that the track be put back in the configuration it was before the 2007 reconfiguration of the track. Always wanting to give the fans what they want, Smith declared last night that it would be done. How refreshing was that? But the media and some drivers protested. Smith was firm. “The fans are always right,” Smith said. We’ll see if it really happens, but I applaud Smith for listening to fans and not the competitors. Fans pay the bills, and over the weekend, not many were there. Yes, a crowd of 80,000 is pretty good, but in a place built for twice that, it had to hurt.

    So for a year that started with a rain out, a big Monday night prime time race that had great ratings, and finally a great facility that appears to be decline. Lots of problems everywhere.

    In my opinion, it’s a cop-out to blame everything on the economy as has been done for so long over these last four years. It’s time for the sanctioning body to take the bull by the horns. Bruton Smith reacted swiftly and decidedly, as he always does. It’s time for NASCAR to do the same I hope they do. I think they will, but all is not rosy.

  • Excuses Aside, It’s Not the Economy

    Excuses Aside, It’s Not the Economy

    It started on I-64 shortly after leaving Beckley, West Virginia. The trip to Bristol Motor speedway is only 180 miles, the second closest track (to Martinsville) from my home in rural West Virginia. Stopping at a restaurant in Princeton was all talk about the race coming up in two days. It was Friday and many were traveling to the race. Cars with plates as far away at New York were there, and on a quick trip to the restroom, I got my first feedback.

    “This is my last trip to Bristol. I’ve given up my season tickets,” said John from Pennsylvania. “They ruined the track. Used to be the survival of the fittest and now it’s more like the half-miles we see all the time. I may go back to the night race after this year, but they can have the spring race.”

    From Scott from Ohio, I heard, “this whole coliseum thing and all the hype is just so sad. When they changed the track, it took away Bristol. Sure there were wrecks and cautions, but it was exciting and it’s not exciting today.” Scott is also giving up his tickets. He plans to go to Charlotte instead. “At least it’s easier to get in and out of that track.”

    Finally, I talked to my campground neighbors. One of them, Barry from Georgia, was distraught about how boring both races were. “I love racing,” he said. “The problem with this race is that it’s only 250 miles and used to be lots of action. In the Busch race, it was follow the leader and in the big race, it was the same. The drivers love it, but I don’t. I’m going back to Atlanta. I heard so much about this place and started coming in 2006. I can only afford a couple of these a year and this is not a good value.”

    And so it goes. The most discussed topic on NASCAR radio today was “Old Bristol” vs. “New Bristol.” The reason was the lack of fannies in the seats at both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races. Last year, it was appalling, but this year was worse. No matter what the projections of attendance was, the place looked empty. I know there are 160,000 seats there, but it looked like only a few were there on Saturday and only a few more on Sunday. In fact, friends told me that they had their pick of seats both days. The concourses, once full of people, were sparse and traffic resembled a minor league baseball game. Why has Bristol fallen so far?

    Apparently, the track knew what was going to happen. Articles in local papers proclaimed that the economy was the culprit, according to those stories. Yes, the local economy, though bad, is no worse than anyplace else. According to those that know, many suites that corporate sponsors had taken for years were cancelled. Add to that the total dissatisfaction with product among the core fans and you get this reaction. The night race will always be fascinating, but the other races? Not so much. Locals stayed away, but many others did too.

    One of the basic principles of entertainment is you have to give the people what they want. You can’t run hundreds of commercials talking about how this is the toughest place to run and then watch two and three wide racing. You cannot let the NASCAR media people, many who depend on the sport for a living, to keep telling fans that this is racing as it was meant to me, and not a demolition derby like we had. Folks, the people paying the bills, liked it the way it was and no matter how much the people at Speedway Motorsports and the talking heads want to spin how wonderful Bristol was since 2009, the fans disagree and they are the ones who pay the bills. If they aren’t happy, nobody’s happy. Brad Keselowski’s proclamation that things change is a typical response from someone who hasn’t studied history. You might say if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. They fixed it and thousands of fans decided it wasn’t worth it. The track won’t change and the crowds will probably be the same as we saw this weekend. What could have been…

    So Bristol is over and we head to another track that no one cares about, seemingly even the people of Southern California. We’ll see three-wide racing and a lot of racing like we saw this weekend at Bristol. My heart aches. Once upon a time it was different. We had the bullrings and the speedways and for one moment, someone thought we had to make Bristol like the speedways. And it was a mistake. At least in these old eyes. But there is a silver lining to all of this. I wrote a column last year that said that Martinsville is the new Bristol. I stand by that. It’s a shame that we couldn’t have had two of those, but then again, it’s been the way things have been going for some time.

  • Junior Nation Got Excited, But in the End, It was the Nine That Mattered

    Junior Nation Got Excited, But in the End, It was the Nine That Mattered

    For just one moment, Junior Nation was in heaven. It lasted more or less 70 laps. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was everything his fans wanted him to be. He took off at the beginning and moved out to a large lead, but the first pit stop came and though Junior took off again, it wasn’t long until the stronger cars of Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Greg Biffle. Therein lays the problem. In today’s Sprint Cup, there is a definite pecking order, not only between brands and teams, but competitors.

    It’s unfortunate that it’s come down to this. Hendrick has Johnson and Gordon. Roush has Edwards and Kenseth, RCR has Kevin Harvick and well, Kevin Harvick, Gibbs has Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, and the Hendrick satellite team has Tony Stewart. That’s nine drivers that will win most of the races. That’s not to take anything away from Junior, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Paul Menard, Joey Logano, and Ryan Newman. It’s just the way it is. From time to time, those guys will win and others like Trevor Bayne will impress, but the truth of the matter is this race comes down to Johnson, Gordon, Edwards, Kenseth, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, and Stewart. Most of the races in 2011 were won by these guys. In 2012, Kenseth, Hamlin, and Stewart have won races despite the fact that others appeared to have better cars. On this Sunday, Stewart had no one to challenge him, which must really bother the Hendrick guys since they get their cars and engines from Rick Hendrick. Although Kenseth and Biffle and Junior tried, Tony just drove away.

    So here’s the dilemma. How long will fans stay with this sport when it’s so obvious that only nine drivers really have a chance, week after week, at the win? With NASCAR seemingly all aglow with good ratings and an uptick in attendance, it has become apparent that the only thing that will make it last is close racing and guys like Junior and drivers other than the big nine coming through with wins. Last year we had Regan Smith, Trevor Bayne, and David Ragan surprising. The year before, we had Jamie McMurray, but so far no indication that this will happen in 2012. Yes, NASCAR needs for Junior to become successful, and some of those outside of the fabled nine to win, but will it happen? That will be the key to sustaining the good ratings and popularity of the sport.

    And for those who want to go back to the 60’s and remember King Richard Petty’s dominance, please remember that he didn’t win every race, and in fact, lots of drivers won races from every manufacturer and every team. Bill Elliott won 11 races in 1985, but Darrell Waltrip won the championship. Cale Yarborough won six races in 1968 and Lee Roy Yarborough won as many in 1969, along with the great run of David Pearson after that. Dale Senior won lots of races, but the others won too. If every race comes down to the nine, I don’t know what will happen to attendance and ratings.

    It’s kind of like Dodge introducing a new car on Sunday with no drivers lined up to drive it. If one of the nine doesn’t, what difference does it make?