Super sub, Sonoma and Super Late Models

Instead of a mid-day nap between fishing excursions, I'm trying to flesh out a few things, beginning with the No. 20 Rockwell Automation team's win in the AT&T 250 Saturday night at Milwaukee.

Who won, anyway? Should we say it was Aric Almirola, whom NASCAR credited with the win, or should it be Denny Hamlin, who did the driving that earned the win?

Clearly, without Hamlin behind the wheel, it's 50-50 at best that we'd see Almirola pick up his 1st career Busch Series win. But was supplanting Almirola in the seat and putting Hamlin in the car on lap 59 the right thing to do?

Almirola's refusal to speak with reporters after the race speaks volumes about his feelings on the matter, and I'm inclined to take his side here. Sports is full of unwritten rules, and there's got to be one for an occasion like this. Once the green flag flies, the integrity of the race team must be maintained. Short of injury or illness, the man who is turning the wheel when the green comes out ought to be the same one doing so when the checkered falls.

Sure, they ask how many and not how, but a 1st win ought to be something special for a young driver. Almirola was robbed of that feeling and was understandably miffed. Teen-aged evelopmental driver Joey Logano signed with Joe Gibbs Racing because he felt the place operated like one big "family," but the decision they made part way through the race Saturday smelled a whole lot more like "corporate America" to me.

Hamlin and the entire JGR team just took "Busch-whacking" to an entirely new -- and distasteful -- level.

*****

I love road course racing, but NASCAR needs to make a decision -- either take them off the schedule entirely or add another 6 or 8 to make that form of racing a significant portion of the slate.

They'll likely go with the former, considering most stock car drivers are raised to run on ovals and oval-track racing is where NASCAR makes its name. It's a perfectly acceptable solution.

And while I think road course races showcase driving talent like no other tracks do, separating the Jeff Gordons, Tony Stewarts and even Robby Gordons from the Brian Vickers and Ryan Newmans of the world, it's time to say good-bye.

*****

Only 20 cars showed up for the PASS North Series race at Scotia Speedworld on Saturday, roughly a half-dozen fewer than average for a PASS race in Canada, especially a 200-lap event.

That tells me that maybe Super Late Model/Pro Stock racing isn't as wonderful as we're all being told.

Then again, Wiscasset Raceway's new owner, Doug White, has made bringing back the Pro Stock division priority No. 1 at the facility.

That tells me that maybe there are a bunch of teams out there with Pro Stocks just hankering for a place to race them every week in central Maine.

I'm not sure which side will ultimately "win" out, but I'm sure of a couple of things. The American-Canadian Tour and Late Model racing will succeed no matter who is or is not racing a Super Late Model or Pro Stock. It's too inexpensive, by racing's standards, not to generate a ton of interest. Of course, I'm equally certain that for whatever reasons, fans don't accept extra-distance Late Model races as the same way they do extra-distance Super Late Model races. Maybe it's driver recognition, maybe it's that they know one car is badder and faster than the other.

And, unfortunately, if fans aren't buying into it, it doesn't matter how much the media covers it, how great the racing is or how many cars enter races. For proof of that, one only needs to look up "Indy Racing League" in the encyclopedia. Those aren't fans dressed as empty seats, they're just plain old empty seats.