It was easily the worst weekend of racing I've seen in all my years covering it at New Hampshire International Speedway.Mercifully, some of the races were cut short.
Aside from the championship "drama" unfolding as Matt Kobyluck tried to pull off a miracle to unseat rookie Joey Logano atop the standings, the Busch East Series race was uninspiring. Just OK, certainly by that series' standards at NHIS.
The Modified Tour ran 31 of the first 37 laps of its New Hampshire 100 under caution after more than a few wrecks. Good finish, but I never thought the guys behind Todd Szegedy had enough to seriously get by him in the late going. Once Bobby Santos III pulled out of line to make his bid in the closing laps, it became more evident.
Nobody actually saw the Silver Crown race -- even for a lack of trying. The entire 30-lap distance was run in virtual darkness. It was made even worse for us media types: the press box windows are tinted to help with afternoon glare. The only way to 'see' anything (and I use the term loosely) was to step outside, where the wind was howling and it felt like I was standing atop Mt. Washington in December.
The Truck and Cup races looked identical. Read: Pole sitter thoroughly dominates and the only significant passes happen on pit road.
The highlight of the weekend was listening to Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart banter playfully with the media in the post-race press conference. These guys are the faces of NASCAR today, or at least they should be, for their polar opposition and for their career accomplishments. With all respect to the driver of the No. 88 AMP/Mountain Dew Chevys for Hendrick Motorsports next year, he's not even close.
Quick hits:
* NASCAR has finally done it. They've finally killed off stock car 'racing' with the Car of Tomorrow. The Sylvania 300 looked like a Formula 1 race -- qualify up front, stay up front, pass with pit strategy.
How long before fans write Nextel Cup off like they've done with F1?
* Where on earth have Elliott Sadler and Greg Biffle gone, anyway?
* Kurt Busch says in the same breath that the team can't afford bad days like the one they had Sunday (lost a cylinder, finished 25th) then says they didn't take a hit. So, like, which is it?
* I don't care what pants Dale Jr. is going to where in the future, any more than I care what he drinks for beer.
* With AMP, Red Bull and Monster as sponsors now, something tells me there are a few teams that will excel at night racing. Maybe the beer-sponsored teams will have to push for more noontime starts...
* Still can't figure out what the Silver Crown cars were doing at NHIS. Nothing against that series, mind you, but in the summer the track couldn't fit 4 divisions in, cutting the Mods short that day, too. How were we going to add another one with less daylight to work with?
Worst case scenario played out with the weather this time around, too. Doubt we'll see that again -- but you never really know, do you?
* J.J. Yeley finished in the top-10 on Sunday.
2 comments:
..And another thing..(sorry i cant resist)..What the heck is up with the logo for the Sylvannia 300? NHIS is a FLAT track! They have the car on the logo on a banking bigger than Bristol!
My only complaint is that after you pay top dollar for a row 40plus seat you have to spend 30 minutes during the race to make a Men's room pit stop. Only solution was to take 2 cans of beer, one to drink while waiting in the line, 2nd to have for the hike back up the stands! There should be a way to put some urinals at the top of the grandstand - gravity would send it down to ground level. Next year I am seriously thinking a catheter might be the way to go!
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