Category: Flashman’s Take

There have been two races run in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint cup season. One, the Daytona 500, is a crapshoot. There is nothing that can be taken from that race that will apply anywhere but at the World Center of Racing and Talladega Super Speedway. Atlanta is a different animal, or was it? What I saw was drivers sawing the wheel and cars slipping around, with the wearing out of tires and cars going fast until the tires wore out and the guy who had the newest tires passing everyone. Unfortunately, it was the same five or six cars.

The drivers were almost giddy when asked about NASCAR’s latest “aerodynamic package.” Even those who finished poorly sang the praises of how their cars drove. A common refrain was, “I had a blast.” Too bad the fans didn’t, or did they?

For those longing for the good old days, they may have gotten for what they asked. Some cars were so superior that some cars, even some of the good ones, were lapped. Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin was one of them, two laps down at the end. In fact, there were only 12 cars who were on the lead lap when the race ended. Ten more were two laps down and the last running car was 18 laps down. Shades of 1978. In addition to Hamlin, others laps down included Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, and Trevor Bayne.

Of course, it can be argued that Atlanta Motor Speedway doesn’t tell us anything. The track is worn out and eats tires. Forty laps were all most anyone could get out of them. Complicating this whole mess is only 39 showed up to qualify. There were 40 places in the field. Maybe many of the lesser teams knew what was going to happen and just didn’t show up.

In the end, Jimmie Johnson won going away and fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second. Rookie Chase Elliott finished in the top 10. That was very close to a Hendrick sweep. Meanwhile, other teams were left scratching their heads, with the hope that heading west will give everyone a clearer picture. Atlanta was as confounding as Daytona in finding out what this new package will do to make racing better. The grade at Atlanta is a failing one, but there is hope California will give us insight. If not, it may be a long season.

It’s a big shock to me. I have been trying to word a column about Wood Brothers Racing which came from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour a couple of weeks ago, and then the news of the Charter system came down and everything said just went away.

The elated Woods were finally embarking on a long awaited full season with Ryan Blaney and a solid relationship with Team Penske, and then they found out that the Charter system, initiated by Rob Kaufffman, formerly the money behind Michael Waltrip Racing, was all in favor of Kauffman and not with the most historic team in the series. It bears watching.

Wood Brothers Racing goes back to the beginning of NASCAR. Financial matters have relegated the team to a part-time team over the last few years. Never forget that the Woods ran an abbreviated schedule for years, but had a full-time team over many seasons. When financing dried up, they did what they had to do—run less races. The Woods are not rich. Despite much success over the years, they aren’t Rick Hendrick or Jack Roush or Roger Penske. They raced to win, but they did it on a budget that allowed them to be successful.

The rules that the group that evolved the charter system looked at were only over the last few years. The criteria did not meet what the Woods had done. Funny, since we’ve discarded all history from the series from abandoning North Wilkesboro to closing Rockingham to taking a second date from Darlington, it should have been accepted. Trouble is that one thing goes unnoticed. Rob Kauffman came out golden. Probably since he was he instigator of the movement, it went his way.

Notice that Kauffman was a principal In Michael Waltrip Racing. It is a defunct team that had already announced that they were closing far before the season ended. They get two charters which they can sell to rumored Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. More money for Kauffman, unlike the Wood Brothers who worked for over 60 seasons and were very successful. The record of MWR is not even close to the Woods. Witness how Jeff Gordon was added to the Chase when that same MWR was found cheating at Richmond. Witness how Kyle Busch was allowed to compete for a championship which he won while missing 12 races. More recent events, like allowing Brian Vickers to compete in the Sprint Unlimited. Those rules were bent, but the Woods didn’t deserve a charter because the “rules were the rules?” Have mercy. I’m sure the Woods will make any race, but can you really wrap your head around how some of the teams deserved charter status?

Maybe that question should be asked of NASCAR and maybe even Rob Kauffman. It’s a sign of the times, unfortunately. The golden rule is now those that have the gold make the rules.

“If it comes down to Homestead and he is one of the four and maybe somebody else isn’t, they ain’t going to make it easy on him,” Kenseth crew chief Jason Ratcliff said. “Are they going to wreck him? No. I don’t think anybody would do that. It’s just uncalled for regardless of the situation.

“But it ain’t going to be no cakewalk, either.”

And so it has come to this. Back in the day (well, years ago), there was a great driver named Dale Earnhardt. There were others, of course. Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty readily come to mind as well as many others, but too many to name who lived by the rule of doing what had to be done to win a race. Many were at Bristol so long ago when Earnhardt punted Terry Labonte to win a race. He just rattled his cage, you know. He was cheered.

It’s certain the cries from the new breed of NASCAR fan will be loud and furious. Logano is not the most popular driver in the garage anyway. Most fans remember his father, Tom, taking up for him in various situations and it just didn’t set well with fans of the sport who appreciate manly men. It’s tough to be a manly man at 18 or 19, but that’s how Logano was judged when he took over the No. 20 ride from the ultimate manly man, Tony Stewart. And Tony didn’t have his father following him around.

Since then, Logano fell in love, got married, and has become a tough racer. He’s now 25 years old. He has won 10 races the last two years and he and his teammate, Brad Keselowski are continuously picked on by the so-called stars of the sport. Last season, Keselowski made moves that not only upset the usually docile Kenseth, but none other than Jeff Gordon. If Earnhardt or Yarborough had made the same moves, people would have cheered. These days, it’s not so much hard racing as it is knowing your pecking order. It was funny to hear Denny Hamlin, Kenseth’s teammate, say he would rather be respected by his peers than win a championship. I’m sure Cale and Richard and Ironhead would be appalled.

The Chase apparently has different rules. In the NFL, MLB, and the NBA, there are playoffs, but once you beat someone, you don’t have to play them again. In NASCAR, everybody plays, so if one of Kenseth’s teammates drops out, they can play enforcer to Logano. Back when people were leaving tickets to Bristol in their wills and finding a ticket to the Southern 500 was difficult, NASCAR was the hottest ticket in town. It’s not that way anymore, and today we saw one reason why.

Yes, the economy tanked, but with gasoline at 2.15 a gallon and ticket prices stabilizing, folks aren’t coming back. The campgrounds at Charlotte were nearly empty last week. It’s the product. Until that changes, things will not get better for the sport we all love.

I awoke this morning to a great shock when I learned that Buddy Baker had passed on so swiftly. It was only about six weeks ago when I heard Buddy had inoperable cancer and would be leaving his Sirius Satellite Radio program he co-hosted with Brad Gillie. It’s easy for me to say that personally the loss is devastating, but more so to NASCAR. Buddy was unique.

I first met Buddy Baker in the press box at North Carolina Speedway in October of 1996. Buddy was then part of the crew broadcasting the races on the TNT television network. Having been a fan since I was a kid, and listening to the stories he was telling, showed me a side of Buddy that I didn’t know since I had only seen him on television or on the race track. He was one of my favorites from the early 1960’s until he quit driving in 1992.

Somehow, I got the courage to approach him that weekend and shake his hand. It was quite a thrill since I was new to being a “citizen journalist” with the old Compuserve Network’s Motor Racing Forum. What I found was a surprisingly shy man who had tons of stories to tell. I ran into him again later at the same track, but this time he was at the Penske Racing hauler where I lamented that he was no longer doing television.

He commented, “I miss it, too,” and he chatted for a few minutes. Those two meetings were the first of many at tracks like Martinsville or Charlotte. The last time I saw him was during the 2013 Sprint Cup Media Tour at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I told him I enjoyed his shows with Gillie and Jim Noble and his eye lit up and you could tell he just happy that he could still be a part of the sport he loved.

Buddy may be gone, but the memories remain. Being the first driver to reach 200 mph in a NASCAR stocker, his 1980 Daytona 500 win and the first Busch Clash where “Old Leadfoot” smoked the field are seared in my brain. Over the last few years, other than a chance meeting at Martinsville a couple of years ago, I didn’t see him at a track, but someone’s conversation always turned to Buddy and one of his many stories. It’s sad that the younger generation will never know what it was like to see Buddy race. He was special.

I’m lobbying right now for Buddy to be put in his rightful place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. When I proposed that in 2013, he almost blushed saying it was just an honor to be included in the nominees. That’s not good enough for me. He belongs in the Hall.

Everyone is excited about Talladega. Well, everyone but me. Put me in the David Poole camp that basically believes that there is no racing going on there, only holding on and hoping for the best.

Even though short tracks (probably because we have so few of them) have come into favor recently, the majority of people I come in contact with love plate racing. When pressed for an answer why, they somehow tiptoe around the violence and talk about the competition and close racing, which by the way leads to the violence. I’m certain I am in the minority for that view.

As one who was there to see Bobby Allison’s car hit the frontstretch catch-fence and nearly go into the crowd, I understand the need for plate racing even if plates have been replaced by tapered spacers. It has still happened to Carl Edwards and others, but it is less likely. I tend to hold my breath for the worst to happen when I watch a race at what was once known as Alabama International Speedway. Oddly enough, I don’t feel that way at Daytona International Speedway. Maybe it’s the carnage I’ve witnessed at other races at Talladega; or maybe the excitement of a new season tempers my emotions has something to do with it. I always dread watching the races at Talladega, even though I don’t go there anymore.

Back in the 80’s, I once saw Bill Elliott come from nearly two laps down to win going away. I remember Dale Earnhardt winning early in his career, but for some reason, branded on my memory is Larry Smith dying in a crash that looked not so bad. I remember Allison hitting that catchfence and thinking he was going into the crowd. I remember Brad Keselowski punting Carl Edwards, sending him airborne and into the fence.

I’ll watch the race Sunday, but with fear of what might happen. On occasion, a surprise happens. David Ragan, James Hylton, and Jamie McMurray winning when all odds were against them, but holding one’s breath for almost three hours is not my cup of tea. Every time I heard Cale Yarborough say, “Thank the Lord for a good safe race,” as he did after almost every win, I thought of Talladega.

So, like William Caleb Yarborough, I’ll say, “Thanks in advance, Lord for a safe race.” I hope it works.