Reactions

First I want to apologize for that Gawd-awful cheesy analogy of last week. It was late, I was trying to wrap things up. It sucked I know, but my heart was in the right place. :D

Woo-Nelly!

Well, driving to work this morning the morning shows were a buzz about Sunday’s race and with good reason. This was the first time NASCAR had to Red Flag (Stop) a race due to Bad Behavior.

First of all, the track was tough. Because it is so flat, Louden is a tough track to pass at to begin with (though they did improve matters greatly by resurfacing a couple years ago). Add to that having been washed by the rains, the track was “Green” meaning there wasn’t already a layer of rubber laid down for tires to "grip" or “stick” too, if you will. When car started a run, the tires are “cold”, meaning not only are their surfaces not as soft and “sticky”, if you will. They are also under-inflated. As the heat builds up in the tires, the air expands to the tire's proper air pressure. So at the beginning of runs, tires do not grip as well and cars going into turns could either slide to the outside of the track or spin out.

The craziness started in Lap 2 when Scott Rigs in the #10 got crazy loose and slid up into Elfboy, the #97 of Kurt Busch, putting him into the Wall and taking him out if the race. Now, this isn’t the first time these two have had run ins, back at Indy Kurt got into Scott. Once he limped the car into the garage where the #97 team began cutting off the front end, Kurt flew out of his car (swear I’ve never seen anyone exiting a car so fast) and as he stripped off his helmet and HANS device, started towards pit road. About half way there he seemed to realize that maybe he was acting precipitously. And by the time he climbed up on the #10 team’s pit box, he simply asked is Rigg’s tag had been payback for Indy. That, with some grumbling comments about Scott driving ability or lack thereof, seems to have settled it.

Later on, Kyle Busch in the #5 ended up doing the same thing Scott Riggs did to Kasey Khane in the #9. Khane went back into the wall, twisting his chassis so much that only 3 wheels were on the ground. At first Khane pulled away from the tow-trucks, making the crowd think his was going to pull it into the garage. Nope, he pulled down to the bottom of the track so that he could back into Kyle Busch as the cars went by.

What finally brought out the red began as yet another fight over “real estate” (the same place on the track) gone wrong. First Joe Nemechek (01) and Mike Bliss touched in turn 3, both spinning out into the walls. Then as the caution came out, Robby Gordon and Mike Waltrip got into it, putting Robby Gordon into the wall. Problem for the fans is that the because they were all looking at the only footage that one camera seems to have caught is after the fact as Robby’s #7 slamming into the wall right in front of it. Both driver are claiming the other was at fault, but we have no way to judge the matter. #7 was trashed, but like Khane, Robby declined to offer of the “wrecker”, the tow truck, to try to back into Michael Waltrip as he went by, almost wrecking Tony Stewart *again* (He took Tony out of this race last year while trying to retaliate against Greg Biffle). But that wasn’t enough. He got out of the car, strode like a matador into traffic and hucked his helmet at #15 as it went by. And to top is all off, he called Mikey a “little shit” in his post race interview.

Ouch.

But then Mikey started to flip Gordon off after the helmet bounced off his driver’s side door...but quickly changed it into a wave after Truex’s penalty last week.

Completely forgotten in all the ruckus poor Mike Bliss had to limp his car into the garage all by his lonesome. :D

That’s when NASCAR made all the drivers go to their “Naughty Spot” (Pit Road) and gave them a time out.

Kasey, Mikey and Robby all got called into the NASCAR Trailer after the race and penalties will come down tomorrow.

First thought is; Where is the 5 second delay NASCAR promised after Dale Jr.’s slip o’ the lip last year?

Second Robby Gordon can drive anything with a wheel. He is an incredible talent. He also can be a hot headed trouble maker, and he just conveniently gave NASCAR three reasons to make an example out of him. What sad is that this year Robby is running his own team, scraping together three major sponsors to cover his races this year rather than the traditional one principal sponsor most teams enjoy. So he is the one guy of the three who can least afford it but sadly, by his determined retaliatory actions, most deserving.

Third I understand where these guys are coming from. NASCAR refuses to do anything to stop the incidents that cause the resentment retaliating drivers are acting on in the first place. Not only do they not come down on “rough driving”, but they refuse to demand or allow Goodyear to make better tires or raise the spoiler back up to allow more downforce/better control of the car to lessen the number of accidents. Both Rigg’s and Busch slides up the track were accidents. NASCAR doesn’t seem to care about preventing wrecks and incidents, only about collecting the fine afterwards.

Fourth Do we want drivers to be drivers now? It used to be this sort of thing happened a lot more frequently. Drivers retaliated on and off the track. Fist fights between the haulers were common place. Sometimes when you have guys spending every weekend living in 4 to 5 hours of road rage, you need to let a bit of that aggression bleed off so that it can come down to manageable levels. Modern media means the drivers are under closer scrutiny than ever before, but do we want them to be automotons? Given the levels of violence in today's society, do we just want to let tempers run unfettered? How would NASCAR (if it ever had the inclination) strike a balance between the two?

What is sad a that like the Patriots/Panthers Superbowl, all this silliness obscures what was some really great racing. At the final lap, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman were racing each other hard and clean, pulling off some great moves. Behind them, Matt Kennseth and Greg Biffle fought it out, while a car behind them Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace fighting hard and fair for 6th place. It was some honest to Gawd great racing.

Mark continued his drive for consistency in his championship run, coming in 7th. He’s doing great, but he needs to really find a new gear if he wants to take home that trophy at Homestead. (A forward gear. *chuckle*)

Elliott’s day, oh, so disappointing. :( After spending much the race running in the top five, Elliott started to slip back. I’m not sure what happened there, he doesn’t have his race report up yet. But all of the sudden late in the race Elliott had damage. Something about which neither NASCAR felt the need to throw a caution for nor the announcers felt to explain until 20 –30 laps later. Elliott had spun out going into a corner, bounced off one car on the outside, then bounced off Dale Jr. coming up on the inside, straightening out #38 to just continue on…and improving the handling on the #8 as a bonus.

Mad craziness.

Yesterday also marked the return Tony Eury Jr. to the #8 pit box and the change was quite noticeable. Dale remained in the top five for most of the race, even leading a lap and finally finishing 5th. No one can deny results, but after some of Tony Jr.’s comments on NACAR Online about how the 8 Team’s bad year was in fact due to Dale’s “lack of commitment”, I still think he’s a spoiled punk and a shitty team player. All this after it was his childishness in refusing to share notes with Pete Rondeau that buried the #8 the first half of the year. He’s the king of “IT’S NOT MY FAULT!” and pointing fingers in the press, something Dale Jr. learned not to do last year. Even if Dale has spread himself a little too thin this year between his obligations as a driver and as the owner of two teams, you don't say that kind of crap to the reporters, you say it to his face. Way to build team spirit Tony. Maybe Dale should give the muzzle Tony Sr. gave him for Christmas to his cousin. I really do wonder how different he would be there was ever a chance of him being actually being fired. As it is, he is set for life so why bother changing his childish behavior?

Still, as I said, you cannot deny results. The guy can build race cars. They did a great job getting the #8 up top the front and keeping him there and I’m sure the next year will find Dale Jr. making a strong run for the Championship.

And congrats to Ryan Newman on his first win of the year in some good hard racing against Tony Stewart. I have to wonder if Stewart hadn’t clipped Dale as Dale was getting on pit road, damaging Stewarts’ front end to the point where it rubbed down the tire, would Ryan have had enough? Tony had led most of the race because his car could run most anywhere on the track, high or low, but at the end he couldn’t get it to run low anymore, ergo making it very hard to pass Newman.

Still, a win is a win. Tony put up a great fight and it was a great race to watch.

What An Asshole!

I have tried to stay out of the political games of Hurricane Katrina, but this just went too far.

Last week President Bush signed an executive order allowing government contractors to pay their workers less than the prevailing wage for the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast, hobbling the area’s economic recovery by stymieing the pay of the many families living there. For many moths, possibly years, construction is going to be the biggest game going in town and a majority of the remaining population is going to be involved in one way or another. If you do not pay these people a living wage, how are they supposed to not only support their families, but have enough income to attract businesses to return?

I refer to a letter from the Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinios

“Letters to the Editor of the Chicago Sun Times
Reconstruction ruling benefits Bush pals
September 19, 2005

As the death toll across the Gulf Coast rises, one of the largest reconstruction efforts in American history begins. An estimated 400,000 jobs have been lost, and 1 million Americans have been displaced from their homes. Workers who have found the courage to return to their devastated communities suffered another blow last week when President Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act.

Davis-Bacon ensures that workers who perform similar jobs for government contractors are paid the local prevailing wage. In New Orleans, where a quarter of the residents lived in poverty before Hurricane Katrina, that wage was $8.49 an hour for service workers and slightly above $10 an hour for most construction workers: not an excessive wage by any stretch. In fact, if the minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would be $8.88 today.

The lower wages resulting from Bush's action will increase contractors' profits but harm workers who need to rebuild their financial security. Any savings gained by paying substandard wages will not be reinvested to fund the reconstruction efforts or given back to the taxpayers. Instead, it will go to the cronies of the Bush administration who have already received no-bid contracts in the aftermath of the hurricane.

While residents of the Gulf Coast are returning home looking for work, the same cast of characters who were rewarded with contracts in Iraq -- Halliburton, Fluor and Bechtel -- are busy setting up shop. Under the Bush administration, disaster has been consistently (and rapidly) followed by profiteering.

For many, Katrina exposed what life is like for the 37 million Americans who live in poverty and gives new meaning to the president's ''ownership society.'' If you owned a car, had a full tank of gas and enough money for a hotel room, you were able to escape the hurricane. Those without the means to escape were left behind, trying to survive the storm and its aftermath.

Hurricane Katrina forced the country to confront poverty, but it also has made us think about the role that government should play in providing economic opportunity, protecting our communities and keeping our country strong. We can promote an ownership society in which you're on your own. Or we can demand government that promotes a shared community in which we care for each other and are stronger for doing so.

We saw the results of a ''sink or swim'' approach to government in the aftermath of Katrina. Katrina evacuees who are willing and able to work should be hired to help lead reconstruction efforts in the Gulf region. At a bare minimum, those workers should be given the same wage protections that have been in place for the last 75 years.

Our government, which failed to adequately prepare for and respond to the hurricane, should now give them a helping hand in rebuilding their homes and their lives. Bush's suspension of Davis-Bacon is just another example of his ''take from the poor, give to the rich'' philosophy, which apparently applies even in times of grave crisis.”

President Bush just fucked the South. When are they going to open their eyes?