Convincing motor racing fans from around the world the value of NASCAR is rather hard. Most of the time motorsport fans make comments on how boring it is watching them go round and round for hours in a circle. Its understandable if you are used to road racing like Touring Car (German, World, BTCC etc), where the racing is almost exclusively on road courses. There are a few exceptions to the ovals on the NASCAR schedule. One occurred on Sunday in Sonoma California.
At first it was not a bad race, save for Jeff Gordon punting people off the track left and right. One driver vowed revenge at the next race, a driver known for not having outbursts, Martin Truex Jr. There were quite a few lead changes and not much race stoppage due the normal “debris” excuse.
Unfortunately NASCAR endeavoured to do their best to ruin a good day of racing. In doing so they either look like a bunch of inconsistent rule enforcers or at worst the fix is in for Jimmy Johnson. Only the most cynical would think that latter but after Sunday you can’t blame them for broaching the subject.
The day was dominated by Marcos Ambrose, an Aussie driver of V8 Supercar fan and fortune, he outclassed the entire field. The only one close was the bore by the name of Jimmy Johnson. A champion in the mode of personality-free, great but dull to watch, F1 great Michael Schumacher.
There was a wreck near the end. During the yellow flag period, Ambrose's car stalled on an uphill section of the track. NASCAR refused to allow him to go back to the front before the restart. They cited some obscure rule that probably few drivers knew about and it was obvious no one told Ambrose about. As a result NASCAR, due to its pedantic nature, gave the win to Jimmy Johnson. What was pathetic to see was JJ's crew chief, who is also a Speed contributor, rushing off to a NASCAR official to whine.
Why would any road-race fan from across the world want to watch NASCAR again after this pathetic display of rules merchant idiocy? We want to see a fair race won, by the best driver, no some lame stitch-up by a team that knows the rules better than anyone else.
NASCAR used to be about ability, these days it seems to be more about who knows the rules best. If NASCAR wants to attract motor racing fans from throughout the world, which it clearly does, it has to clean up its act.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
NASCAR misfire...
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7 comments:
Yo, Mr. Chrysler. Ambrose screwed the pooch, plain and simple. I am admittedly only a casual fan of NASCAR, but it was plain to me that he messed up. In my world of fairness, even if one is going slow during a caution, if you stall, run out of gas, hit the wall, fall asleep at the wheel or anything else inexcusable that causes you to lose track position, tough luck. He blew it. Just one man's opinion.
You were wrong on 3 counts.....1, it is not an obscure rule, the rule is known by all, even the fans.....2, Jimmy Johnson had the dominant car, led the most laps, and very well may have passed Ambrose anyway....3, Ambrose didn't stall, he shut the motor off to save fuel that he didn't need to save as it turns out....don't get me wrong, I'm no JJ fan, and Ambrose was my driver for the race....cost me 35 bucks in the office pool....but right is right....he made a bonehead mistake and paid the price....
Sorry if your Aussie pal screwed up but even in road racing, you can't stop to save gas or whatever and expect to get back in the front of the line. It isn't some obscure rule. Hell, he even admitted on TV that he screwed up. guaranteed he won't do that again.
Simple answer: Don't shut your engine off: (1) at the end of the race; (2) when you are in the lead; (3) you aren't running out of gas; (4) and you're going up hill.
Well, I'll try it again, since my first comment got scratched....This article is wrong on three points....1, it was not an "obscure" rule...even the fans know it...2, Jimmy Johnson was the dominant car, and led the most laps....he most likely would have passed Ambrose anyway, on the restart....and 3, Ambrose didn't stall, he shut the engine off to save fuel, going uphill of all things, proven later to be his decision, not his crew chief, and couldn't restart the engine....it was a bonehead mistake that he will never commit again....count on it....
I've got to admit that some NASCAR races are just roundy roundy, although at high speeds. I really enjoy watching the 'boys wrestle those 3400 lb. "stockers" around a road course. The rule about maintaining pace car pace during a yellow flag isn't even close to obscure. Poor Marcos suffered his 2nd brain... Fa*t close to the end of a road course race (Watkins glen last year) to loose him the race. It wasn't any fix, just a really poor move by Ambrose. He'll win one some day, but his late race focus isn't there yet.
The worst thing about NASCAR are all the yellow flags. No matter how far ahead someone gets, the flags let everyone catch up. YAWN!
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