NASCAR running thread

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

True, but my point was about NASCAR's rule that if the Daytona 500 polesitter crashes and has to go to a back-up before the qualifying races, he has to start in the back of the 500, whereas any other driver in that same qualifying race could start up front in the 500, even if also in a back-up car. That doesn't make sense. I can't recall the last time the rule had to be used, if ever. I remember Schrader having to give up the pole in 1990 but he wrecked in his qualifying race.

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

Dammit, Dale.
You knew what would happen to you 10 years ago.
You knew things were in place to carry on without you. Like you say three days before your death, you had it all.
You knew there was no reason to talk about Labonte's record start streak at Talladega, because you wouldn't make it that far.
You knew you had to mend fences that weekend because you wouldn't have another chance. That's why you talked to Kyle Petty for the first time since Adam died.
You knew you wanted one last kiss from your wife because you wouldn't get another chance.
You knew you would be behind your son. The last image you wanted him to see of you was the twinkle in your eyes. That's why you wore the clear goggles on a bright, sunny day.
You knew you had to die in order for necessary safety changes to take place. No one else's death would do that. Not Jeff Gordon. Not your son. Only you.
But did you know the pain your death would cause others? Did you know how many fans, both those who loved you and hated you, would miss you?
Did you know the drivers and crew members would lose their greatest voice?
Did you know a raw 25-year-old rookie would be thrust into an impossible situation?
Did you know your good friend, the one many questioned when you gave him a ride, would never truly be able to celebrate his first win?
Did you know your good friend Schrader would forever be haunted by what he saw when he went to check on you?
Did you know your best friend -- by default, since Bonnett was killed seven years earlier of the same injury you suffered -- would have to go on without his driver who was far more than just a driver?
Did you know Bill Simpson would take an unfair amount of blame because you insisted on having your Simpson belts installed in a way that would compromise their integrity?
Did you know NASCAR would mess things up with crap like the Lucky Dog and the Chase, among many other things?
Did you know your son, whom you finally bonded with in the previous couple of years, would be an emotional wreck while having to live up to impossible standards?
Did you know your team would eventually fall apart and your son would leave?
Most of all, Dale, did you know it didn't have to be this way? You were the only driver that truly had NASCAR's ear. If you hadn't been such an Ironhead, you could have seen the light. People like Downing and Melvin had plenty of information about safety. You remember Hutchens from your own team, right? He knew a lot about safety, if only you had listened.
What if you had an open mind about the HANS, instead of calling it a damn noose? Surely you knew that since the HANS device came out J.D. McDuffie, Clifford Allison, Rodney Orr, John Nemechek, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr. and Tony Roper all died of the same type of injury that killed you. And who was the one other guy? That's right, Neil. You do realize it wasn't the Hoosier tires that killed him, right?
Did you know people would be writing crap 10 years later about your "legacy" being improved safety? Did you realize that could have been your legacy BEFORE your death? The way some make it sound, you are some kind of safety martyr. But you weren't. When it came to safety, you were a damn fool.
Most of all Dale, I have to ask you this. You knew you would die on Feb. 18, 2001. But what if you had been wrong? What if Dale Jr. had been killed instead of you, because he listened to you when it came to safety devices? Would you have been able to live with yourself?
Dammit, Dale.

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

Good stuff!

RIP 3

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

Anybody else think Sunday race will go like this.

Junior will get a few opportune debris cautions, as he overcomes all odds to claim a dramatic win on the 10th anniversary of his father's death.
DW and Larry Mac will weep at the pure emotion of it and say you can't write a better ending than that. It will be the story of the year.

I'd bet the house on it because NASCAR desperately needs a big story right now and there's nothing bigger they could conjure up.

After all, Junior did win the Nationwide race in the Wrangler 3 at Daytona last year and the first race at Daytona since his father's death 10 years ago.

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

I'm pulling for the Wood Brothers car. Nearly as big a win within NASCAR as Junior's would be, just wouldn't resonate outwardly.

Oh, and this.

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

Did you know people would be writing crap 10 years later about your "legacy" being improved safety? Did you realize that could have been your legacy BEFORE your death? The way some make it sound, you are some kind of safety martyr. But you weren't. When it came to safety, you were a damn fool.

---

And if anyone in the media center this weekend would have had the courage to write that, they'd be crucified unmercifully by the fans, the garage area and probably their brethren.

He's Saint Dale of the Holy Church of NASCAR! How dare you mess with our myths!

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

As a Tennessean, Pearson fan of old and Ford man to the marrow, I'd like nothing better than to see Trevor Bayne to win in the 21.

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

Huh?

You don't think 90+% of the fans know the "tie a gasoline rag around their ankles" story? They all know he was, indeed, a damn fool about safety. They just see it as part of the package.

Some are still upset he felt that way. Some are resigned that it was an inevitable part of his personality in full. Some, who may have never heard of Aristotle, would explain it in a way that could be paraphrased as "the hero must always have a tragic flaw."

There are plenty of Earnhardt myths. There's no blind spot about him being wrong about safety.

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

The Nationwide Busch (I'm an old-skool fan) race today was entertaining.

That said, I thought it was odd that it was on ESPN2, and not promoted very heavily. I never would have seen it, had the guy at my Honda dealer's customer service area not changed to it from the St Johns' game. Also, never did find out what the name of the race was (according to the flag stand, it was something like the Drive CPOD 300 or something), nor did the ESPN folks refer to "Nationwide" very often (the on-screen GFX all said "NNS"...)

But, again, it was a fun race to watch, IMO.

 

Re: 2011 NASCAR running thread

Almost all Nationwide races are on ESPN2. Have been. Drive4COPD 300. And Nationwide doesn't fit in graphics as well, and most announcers don't plug the league name that much. Not like DW is going to spend all day talking about the Sprint Cup Series today.