Stretching from the cold of winter to the crisp chill of fall the NASCAR Winston Cup season is the longest in sports. It's a grueling journey that offers little rest for the weary.
But this past weekend was an off-weekend, the last one of the season. Off-weekends are s a time for competitors to relax and catch their breath before heading into the final make it or break it 20-week stretch that concludes in November.
It's also a time for us media types to veg-out ... um, I mean reflect. It's time to think about what has transpired thus far and contemplate what the future might still hold.
The following are some rambling random thoughts:
Gentleman's agreement, shemblemans agreement. If it's not a rule it's NOT a rule. The entire point of sports is to find a way to win. It's called strategy. What Robby Gordon did in Sonoma (passing his teammate Kevin Harvick heading to the yellow) will not endear him to the other competitors but it was legal. Tony Stewart once told me he didn't come to the race track to make friends and believe me, that philosophy holds true for every driver in the Winston Cup Series. There is not a single driver who would rather have a golf buddy than a Winston Cup victory.
The rekindled tension between Richard Childress Racing teammates Gordon and Harvick couldn't have come at a worse time. The schedule's next stop is Daytona, where success is predicated on having drafting help. Teammates are usually the first to partner up but don't expect these two to be sharing an umbrella at the beach over Independence Day weekend. It's a shame, too, because they were the only tandem that had anything for the DEI cars in February.
Without order there is chaos. The Sonoma incident is the second time this season that "racing to the yellow" has created controversy. At Texas, Jeff Gordon passed Matt Kenseth for the lead so that he could prevent other drivers from getting their lap back. At that point NASCAR treated the gentleman's agreement like a concrete rule and placed Gordon back in second on the restart -- the complete opposite of what happened in Sonoma.
Clearly this is an inconsistency. Judgement should never be a factor. Rules should be black and white and NASCAR should be compelled to rectify this situation by clarifying the law. Better yet, they should change the rule and adopt the one (most) driver's currently use -- it's safer and would eliminate the faulty honor system.
Why aren't people giving Kenseth more credit? He's led the point standings for the last 13 weeks but seemingly the spotlight is focused on the guys chasing him. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are both having great years but Kenseth could practically skip the next race and continue leading the points. Sure, he's quiet and doesn't have a rock 'n roll image but with a 174-point advantage he's definitely the guy to beat.
Dale Jarrett started the season with back to back top-10 finishes, including a win in Rockingham. But since then, the season has been rather forgettable. With 20 races to go Jarrett is nearly a thousand points behind the leader, buried at 29th in the standings. This is a very strange place for him to be considering he hasn't finished a season outside the top-10 since 1995.
What's wrong? Maybe it's the car. Or perhaps it's instability on the team. Some people even believe Robert Yates horsepower has slipped behind its competitors. It might be a combination of all of these things. But one thing's for sure; Jarrett -- the 1999 Winston Cup Champion -- didn't just forget how to drive.
| |  |
| | Newman |
Ryan Newman could possibly be the best qualifier ever. He has captured 11 Bud Poles in his first 60 career starts. To put that in perspective, take a look at some of these start/pole ratios; Tony Stewart 156/6, Johnny Benson 244/2, Jeff Burton 311/2, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 127/6, Matt Kenseth 128/1 and Sterling Marlin 584/11.
Newman has four poles this season. The modern era record is 14, accomplished by Cale Yarborough in 1980. Yarborough won a pole every 7.98 starts. Newman is on pace to win a pole every 5.45 starts.
Who could have guessed? Kurt Busch, who four years ago was working for the Las Vegas water department, has won seven races in the last 18 months. That's more than any driver in the series. It also matches the number of wins Jeff Gordon (four) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (three) have combined.
That's the setting heading into the final string of races. There have been some odd twists and turns already and you can rest assured there will be plenty more.
July, August and September are the hottest and perhaps the most exciting months of the year. Next up is Daytona. In a few weeks the series hits the Bricks at Indy. August wouldn't be complete without the Bristol Night race. Then shortly afterwards will be the final Labor Day weekend bash in Darlington.
Before you know it the series will be in Homestead and we'll all be wondering where the season went. But for now everyone is recharging their batteries during this unofficial halftime break and vegging out ... oh that's right, I mean reflecting.
Mike Massaro covers NASCAR for ESPN and ESPN.com.
Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
