Streak To The Finish...Just The Bare Facts at Dover II

First off, congratulations to Jeff Burton on his win at the Monster Mile. It was 175 races since his last victory in Phoenix, which is what you call a long drought. It sure was a great final 20 laps of that race to see him and Kenseth go for the win; unfortunately Kenseth ran out of gas and had to pit. That has been some of the best side by side racing this year. This just goes to show that two drivers that have the utmost respect for one another can make a race exciting. Despite Kenseth running out of gas, he still drives up next to Burton, puts down the window net and shakes his hand, now that is sportsmanship. Do you think other drivers were taking notes? Not too bad of a birthday present for Richard Childress who turned 61 this weekend. On the flip side to that, the other RCR Chaser, Kevin Harvick had an engine go south causing him to finish 32nd in the race and drop to 5th in the standings.

It was great to see a race where the majority of the drivers up front where non-chasers. How about that Reed Sorenson hanging up in the Top 10 most of the day. The Biff coming on strong and driving like the old days. The Blue Deuce showing it can tame the Monster. How about that #22 of Dave Blaney finishing 12th, it may not of been a Top 10 but this team is really pulling it together down the stretch. The Top 20 finishers only had 6 of the Chasers. What does that tell you about the so called Non-Chasers? Plain and simple, they are not afraid to go up there and race for the win and of course their sponsors.

Here are some thoughts from me on todays race and broadcast:

1. What is a Mulligan? The definition is, in a game, happens when a player gets a second chance to perform a certain move or action. This word is used commonly in golf. What the heck does NBC want to use a word that is associated with golf in NASCAR? I guess golf has its fair share of "drives." Hmmm, I wonder if Kasey Kahne will take up golf during the off-season.

2. Does Bill Weber have a problem counting the number of cautions? I mean, he mistakenly called the 2nd caution the first caution. I wonder if he thinks 1 + 1 = 3.

3. You have to love having the Hulkster as the Grand Marshal. Too bad he didn't rip his shirt while saying "Gentlemen Start Your Engines."

4. How about Kasey Kahne after his wreck with Tony Stewart sitting up on top of that stand all by himself. You can tell he was disappointed but do you think he was looking for those women that are in those Allstate commercials?

5. Speaking of those commercials, there sure are a lot of them for insurance companies. For example, Allstate and State Farm put on a majority of commercials during the race. Too bad they are not a primary sponsor of a car, with all the money that these companies make; you would think they could afford to put their name on the hood of a Nextel Cup car.

6. Is Law and Order really all that and a bag of chips? Yes, the race was on TNT and that is the channel the show is on, but that guy doing those commercials has one of the eeriest voices but is it really him or is he lip synching? Maybe we should ask Milli Vanilli for their opinion.

7. What is it with the elephant in the DLP commercials? Please someone fill me in on this one.

8. As far as broadcasting goes, NBC did a much better job covering the race. They didn't break away during the last 22 laps of the race. Great to see Benny back in the booth keeping the peace and queuing the duck. The coverage of the field was due to in part that most of the upfront drivers were not "Chasers" but they did keep everyone up-to-date where the Chasers were in the field.

9. What happened to the Cingular poll questions during the race? Maybe that was the good luck charm that Burton needed in the race and here I thought the jinx was every time the announcers said how many races it has been since Burton won.

10. Okay Coca-Cola, you need to update your commercial and website to show that Elliott Sadler does not drive for M&M’s anymore.

11. The dramatic pause during the national anthem, you have to love how a singer is told to wait until the jets are almost there for the fly by. Did they ever think that the weather may have held up those jets? Probably not.

12. Kudo’s for Harvicks interview after his engine blew up being very calm. Thank goodness it was Allen Bestwick giving him the interview vice Dillner.

13. Bravo to NBC doing the split screen of Jeff Burton’s wife during those last 20 laps of the race. Do you think she was more excited about the win then Jeff?

All in all, the Monster mile sure did mix up the standings amongst the Chasers and also gave some great media coverage to the Non-Chasers. My driver, Dale Jarrett, finished 15th at Dover. You can check out my personal site for Dale Jarrett at http://www.dalejarrett4ever.com

Next up is Kansas. Do you think any of the Chasers will be clicking their heels three times?

Streak To The Finish...Just The Bare Facts At NHIS II

Now how impressive was Harvick at the Sylvania 300? Damn Impressive. He is showing that the momentum is definitely on his side and that he is hungry for that Championship. That one move he made to be the cream in between the two oreo cookies of Denny Hamlin and teammate Jeff Burton was a little on the aggressive side and with what is on the line with the Chase, he may of opted to wait and try to pass during the next few laps. I am sure Jeff Burton would of cut him some slack since he did know Harvick had a very fast car. Overall, it was an exciting race to watch, here are some of the bare facts from the race:

1. How about Dave Blaney finishing 9th and getting back to back Top 10's.

2. Tony starting in the back of the field, not afraid to race against the Chasers and finishing up 2nd.

3. Poor Jimmie Johnson, he should choose his words more wisely. Just remember Jimmie, you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

4. Another Hendrick team member has a horrendous finish in Kyle Busch. Appears that Kyle got a bit too anxious with Jeff Green. Perhaps he should listen to his older brother's advice.

5. Sure do miss having Benny in the announcers booth. He keeps the peace and plus I miss him saying "Que the duck."

6. How about Brian Vickers making Jeff Gordon work for the pass. That was just priceless. Just goes to show he is not afraid to go up against the chasers.

7. What happened to the coverage of the rest of the field? I know the focus is on the Chasers but geesh, at least talk about some of the others. Yes, Stewart was mentioned and so were a select few, of course the ones involved in wrecks, go figure.

8. Close call for Travis Kvapil and Tony Raines at the end of the race after clipping Truex Jr. On a positive note, they did cross the finish line.

9. Do you think Bill Weber will ever get a clue that people just don't like his announcing. Bring back Allen Bestwick to the booth.

10. Hey Michael Waltrip, you might want to give some consideration to faster cars because with you starting your own team next year, you just might need some help from others. Treat others as you would treat yourself.

Next up is the Monster Mile and the Dover 400 set for September 24th at 12:30pm EST on TNT...We Know Drama, but of course this is NASCAR.

Where was the love in Richmond???

Well it sure wasn't coming from the NBC/TNT broadcasting booth. Does anyone else realize there are 32 other drivers out there trying to win a race. Yes, it is the last race before the Chase starts and it sure was an exciting race. It was a no-brainer to figure out who was the only one that had a chance to break into the Top 10, Kasey Kahne. The big drama was who was going to either stay or go and that fell on 5 drivers. Unfortunately the one to fall was Tony Stewart. It was a shock to everyone that he didn't make it. Let's not forget, he wrecked his primary car which was designed just for this track. All in all the race did have its excitement.

Here a few examples of NO LOVE:

1. Dave Blaney finishes 4th, only his 2nd career Top 5 finish---no mention of it or post race interview.

2. Kenny Schraeder posting a 7th place finish---no coverage of his great finish.

3. Bill Weber not knowing what track he is at when he says.."And Harvick sweeps Bristol" Hey Bill, we are at Richmond.

4. Jeff Green getting parked---Looks like you have to be a high profile driver to get away with things like that.

5. Too many commericals---How about more racing and less breaks.

Okay, I am finished with my venting. Don't get me wrong, the Chase does add the excitement but it would be nice to see other drivers recognized for their accomplishments.

Next up...the 1st race in the Chase for the Championship. Should be interesting to see how the drivers not in the chase react to the ones that are.

Where is the Love? Trial and Tribulations of California

Well it sure was not there in California this weekend for both the Busch and Cup races. Did anyone happen to see how many empty seats there were for the Busch race? Reports say there were 40,000 fans but I seriously doubt it. The Cup race did have its lack of fan support at the track. One would think that with both of these races under the lights for the first time in California that the crowds would be higher in numbers. When compared to other night time races at the other tracks, looks like California is not keeping up with the numbers. Could it be the lack of fan support out in California? Perhaps it was because it was the holiday weekend, but that never seemed to be a problem when the race was in Darlington. Oh, that is right; NASCAR moved that race to California to bring in more revenue. Doesn’t look like California is holding up its end of the bargain. Perhaps NASCAR might show some chivalry and give the race back to “The Lady In Black.”

How about that Busch and Cup race, sure was exciting, NOT! Did anyone else notice that when the broadcast came on for the Busch race, the cars were getting ready to roll off of pit road? What happened to the National Anthem? The prerace show? Are NBC and NASCAR hurting that much for money that they have to start cutting the programming for the Busch race despite all the Nextel cup drivers that were entered? 7pm EST to start a race is great if you on the west coast but us poor east coast people have to suffer the anguish of this late start, coupled with the lack of excitement in the Busch race, I for one ended up falling asleep on the couch. Did I also mention that the first regular Busch series driver finished in 10th place (Jay Sauter) and then next in line was 14th place Burney Lamar? Seems like another night devoted to the Busch Whackers which brings me back to the lack of attendance for this race, with all that talent on the track one would think more people would be there to see them perform. We all know Bristol is the King of the Hill when it comes to night races and their Busch race brings in close to 100,000 fans for a half a mile track, maybe California might consider some sort of partnership with the marketing guys at Bristol. California has a seating capacity of 92,100 where Darlington has only 60,000 but after seeing the availability of seats at California for the two night races, NASCAR should look at bringing back the race to Darlington for the Labor day weekend.

Next up on the list of complaints is the NBC broadcasting team. What was going on between Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach during the Cup race? The absence of Benny Parsons, the mediator, was apparent due to the arguing amongst the two during the race; Benny seems to be the one that keeps peace in the booth. I say bring back Alan Bestwick. Take him off of pit row, put him in the booth and stick Bill Weber somewhere doing interviews with NBC/TNT and NASCAR executives. If it seems as though Bill is getting picked in, you are right. Sunday’s night race was a great example of the ignorance that they have for the sport. Up till the last 30 laps of the race, it was pretty uneventful as it is with all the California races and then we had the pit strategies from the various teams. All the focus for the entire race was on the drivers who are in contention for the Chase. If you do the math, that was about 14 cars, and they were the main focus of the broadcast team. How many times did we hear, oh he is in, nope he is out or he is on the bubble, nope he is in and the last one, the drivers in green are in and the drivers in yellow are on the bubble. How about the other 29 cars out there? Looks like the sponsors of those cars are not paying enough to be shown on TV. Even one of the Chase contenders, Mark Martin, driver of the AAA Ford, was rarely talked about during the race. Maybe AAA did not give Mike Helton his promotional discount or the left Brian France waiting too long for a tow. Was there any attention paid to Cling Bowyer who finished 3rd and Dale Jarrett finishing 10th? No. Here are two drivers that are not in the fight for the Chase with big time sponsors and do not get shown or talked about on TV. All Bill Weber said after showing the results from the race was And Dale Jarrett finishes in 10th. You would think that a veteran driver like Dale Jarrett and a rookie driver in Clint Bowyer would get some kind of recognition and how they finished in the Top 10. I did not find out until I read it on UPS Racing. It just shows that NBC/NASCAR have the blinders on when it comes to the other drivers in the field that are not in the Chase. Has the sport changed? Will the fans continue to pay the outrageous prices for tickets? Can NASCAR find a happy median for their broadcasting teams? How many more changes are in store for NASCAR in the 2007 and beyond seasons? One can only hope that one day someone will wake up in the front office of NASCAR, walk into the board room meeting and say; Hey, why not make this the sport for the fans.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.