For The Fans Also, It's Time To Stop Complaining About NASCAR

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

Hello from the road. Literally. Thanks to a wireless internet card I am able to do my weekly column from my lap in a rented van as my sister and I haul a load of familial possessions from my folk�s current home in Florida to their new home in Virginia.

As we headed north from Jupiter, we drove I-95 through Daytona, and past the Daytona International Speedway, where I will be reporting semi-live again (as I did in February) from the much hotter Coke Zero 400 in just two weeks. It is hard to believe we have almost made it to the half way mark in the season. It seems hard to believe that we are four months into the racing year�and with the way things have been going recently, it is still pretty much anyone�s guess as to who the guy with the big trophy -- will be at the end of the year. (Speaking of that�.I wonder what the trophy will look like this year? Will it be the same as it has been the last five years, or something new? But I digress).

I have commented on this before, but road tripping this weekend gives me yet another reason to comment on my appreciation for the hauler drivers. This is the second time I have made this trip north along I-95 from Florida to the Carolinas, and it really doesn�t get any more interesting the more you do it. Traffic in Georgia is terrible, there aren�t too many unique things to see (with the exception of South of the Border), and you deal with a lot of drivers who aren�t nearly as good as you are, or as concerned about your safety�or theirs for that matter. The teams are out west this weekend, with the Truck and Nationwide guys and girls having already done with their racing in Milwaukee, and the Cup guys as far away from home as they can get, in Sonoma, CA. The mileage the hauler drivers put on to make trips like these is nothing compared to your average long-haul driver who does this for a living, however if you think of the schedule and obligations the NASCAR hauler drivers have, I have the utmost respect for them.

Last week they were in Michigan. Then they headed back to North Carolina, where they off loaded last weeks cars and gear, on-loaded this weeks cars and gear, and headed west to California with virtually no turn-around time. For long hauls like this week, they use two drivers and travel straight through, rotating in shifts per Department of Transportation rules. Once they made it to Sonoma, they off-loaded the cars, got the equipment set up, and went about their usual weekend duties. Tonight, after the race, they will load up and make the drive straight back to North Carolina, where they will again switch out cars, and head off to New Hampshire�and then in two weeks, back to Florida for the Daytona race.

Let�s just say, our 900 miles or so seems like a lot to us, but it is one day�s work out of 34 round trips the hauler drivers make every season. My thumbs up to all of them.

One more small side note that I wanted to comment on this week.

It is amazing how many people have been complaining this year. I�m not talking about the drivers so much (although they are complaining too) but the fans. Each week, regardless of who wins, there is a vocal group who are not happy with the outcome of the previous weekend�s race.

This past week, after months of hearing questions about �When is Junior going to win�, I have now been hearing �Junior shouldn�t have won last weekend�. It seems regardless of the outcome, fans find a way to complain about how he reached the checkered flag. Seriously, when was the last time we had a race finish and relatively everyone was happy about the outcome. Not just about the driver who won�that will never happen�but about the way the finish came about.

We have had accusations of �phantom cautions� and �bad penalties� and �illegal moves� almost every weekend this year. They aren�t always from the same people, but without a doubt they come. It has gotten to the point the guys on the radio talk shows joke that they don�t have to do any prep work for the week because they know folks will just call in and complain and get the weeks topic started on their own. And they don�t just complain, they get nasty.

I have heard claims that drivers who win fuel mileage races really don�t deserve the win because it was all luck, and not skill. (Don�t you need skill to stay in front even when playing at fuel mileage? Seems a LOT of races have been won in the last few years on hoping you don�t run out of gas before you run out of race.)