Sitting in the Charlotte airport Friday night on my way home from Thanksgiving in Florida, I had time to ponder all that I was thankful for, at least as it pertains to the 2007 NASCAR season. As we flew north from Fort Lauderdale to the Queen City, we flew past Daytona International Speedway, the place where every season begins, and where each year, fans look ahead to the promise of the racing to come over the next nine months. There are hopes and dreams each year in February, and in November, there is a chance to take a look back and wonder, “What happened?”
So, what am I thankful for in my NASCAR world?
First and foremost, the fact that we had no fatalities, and only one injury that sidelined a driver for any amount of time. Ricky Rudd’s dislocated shoulder and broken collarbone are reminders that while the cars are increasingly safe, they are not perfect. The fact that we had multiple fiery roll-over crashes, from Clint Bowyer’s season starting finish on his roof and in flames at Daytona to Brad Keselowski’s ride along the wall in flames at California; from Michael Waltrip’s slow exit from his flame-engulfed Camry in California to Juan Pablo Montoya’s hasty retreat from his burning Dodge in Richmond. Racing will never be ranked among the safest of sports; however, it can be called safer than when it began, and even from where it was six years ago.
Next, I am thankful for the fact that even though the race for the chase ended up seeming like a blow out, the right man won. Fan of Jimmie Johnson or not, he won the most races this year, and was the most consistent driver in the Chase. It is hard to argue with an average finishing spot of 5.0 and a total of ten wins, including the last two races of the “regular” season, and four of the last five races of the season.
Jeff Gordon fans are still crying foul, saying under the old system their guy would have had his fifth championship. That said, the chase is not a new idea anymore, and Jeff knew the plan going into the season. He also knew that he needed to win in the Chase to win the championship. Back-to-back wins in Talladega and Charlotte were good, but two could not trump Johnsons four. Add to the wins the fact that the 48 team lost 100 points and their crew chief for six races, and you have to admit that team just has that perfect mix of talent and ability.
I am also thankful that Dale Junior has found his wings and will be starting out the new season under a new banner. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a child that is expected to live up to his father’s accomplishments, and Junior is not the first son to be held up to his father’s achievements. Whether you are a mechanic or architect; a stock broker or stock car racer: filling the shoes of the man who raised you can be a daunting task, especially if that expectation is impossible to fulfill. Junior leaving the “nest” of DEI to make his own mark in an already successful team is expected to show just how good a driver he can be.
It is actually a good move for both driver and former company. Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated seems to have lost its way over the last few years. When Michael Waltrip complained that his equipment wasn’t as good as it should have been over the last few years of his tenure in the 15 car, most people just claimed he wasn’t a good enough driver to properly use what he had. When that same issue cropped up with Junior after Michael’s departure, people started thinking: Maybe it is the team and not the driver.
Richie Gilmore’s promotion out of the engine shop seemed to have done more harm than good as those engines that he had helped make so powerful, started failing. There were reports of discord in the company, and then there were Teresa’s comments about her stepson in the Wall Street Journal almost exactly a year ago. Suddenly, the wheels seemed to be falling off the DEI wagon, and what had been happening behind closed doors became a gaping, public wound.
Junior announced he was leaving, and heading over to work for a man who had acted as a friend and mentor for much of his life. The folks at DEI seemed to realize that if they didn’t try to fix what was broken, they wouldn’t have much left of what Dale had once dreamed of as his legacy. While the divorce between Junior and Teresa was not pretty, it was probably the best thing to happen to both parties involved.
DEI’s eyes were opened, really opened, to what had happened to their organization, and they have begun the process of rebuilding. Junior has moved to a team where he is out of the shadow of his father, and can show what he is capable of doing without the added strain of dealing with people who see him as a “public personality”. For that, I am thankful to see the second chances for both parties involved.
I am thankful that Andy Hillenberg has enough love for the history of NASCAR that he found a way to buy Rockingham and bring racing back to one of NASCAR’s favorite tracks. Hillenberg, who paid $4.4 million for the track in October, promised when he bought it that he would bring racing back to the “Rock”, and he is, signing deals with both the ARCA and USAR Hooters pro Cup series for 2008. As a way to pay homage to the speedway's past, Hillenberg is naming the May 4th ARCA race the Carolina 500 and the November 1st Pro Cup race the American 200. Rockingham hosted NASCAR Cup races of the same names back in the Winston Cup days, and the only way Andy could have tipped his hat more to the history of the Rock would be to convince NASCAR to run one of their premiere series there again. Maybe if they can sell out both races, NASCAR might re-visit the Rock. A fan can hope, right?
I don’t know if I am thankful or just plain glad that the Car of Tomorrow is actually a decent race car. There were so many concerns that the car, which is much boxier and less asethetically pleasing, was going to be a dud on the track. Sure, it isn’t the twisted sister car, but it isn’t a terrible machine either. Safety is adding a few inches to the car, and the hope is that after the teams build a good supply of the cars, they will start saving money by not having to make as many versions of the car as were needed with the old car. A full year on the track, a chance to figure out some “tricks” at the tracks, and the car might actually be a good race car as well as a safe one.
I don’t care what the car looks like….it hasn’t been a “stock” car in 20 years. So long as the racing is good, the teams competitive, and the drivers are safe, I’ll root for it.
Finally, I’m thankful that it seems my entire family has been hooked by the NASCAR bug. My dad and sister have been fans since I became one, with my sister rooting for Junior and my dad cheering on Dale Jarrett. My mom has seemingly been indifferent to the sport, allegedly only paying attention because my dad watches the races and he and I spend at least 20 minutes every Sunday talking about the race on the phone after the fact. However, on Friday as she, my sister, and I sat in the local diner after doing our small version of Black Friday shopping, she suddenly started talking NASCAR. She talked about Junior and the HMS teams, and she knew what she was talking about. It seems mom has finally given in to the racing bug. I know I won’t be dragging her to a race any time soon…her only in-person experience with the sport is when I took her and my dad to Daytona qualifying almost three years ago…but she has officially been bitten by the bug, and I think she kind of likes it.
I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday, and are finding ways to spend their first Sunday of the off season doing something fun with family and friends. Most of all, I hope everyone has something to be thankful for, and took the time to appreciate that fact.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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