| |
The Buzz |
What it means |
 |
David Poole of the
Charlotte Observer says without NASCAR's intervention, Dale Jarrett would not be leading the current Winston Cup standings by 14 points. He might still be the points leader had it not been for what happened near the end of Saturday night's Pontiac 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Or he might not.
|
The problem is we'll never know and, more importantly, we'll never be able to go back and fix what NASCAR has changed. When Dave Blaney hit the Turn 3 wall on Lap 393 of Saturday's race, people who've been paying attention over the past couple of years knew what was coming. Sure enough, after the caution flag flew the field was slowed to a stop in Turn 3.
|
| |
Monte Dutton of the Gaston Gazette says Tony Stewart's victory in the Pontiac Excitement 400 Saturday night was an example of racing the way it used to be.
|
When Stewart raced side-by-side, lap after lap, it occurred to me that such racing used to be quite a bit more common than it is now. There used to be a lot of tracks where such racing occurred, and now it seems confined to just a select few.
|
| |
Bob Lipper of the Richmond Times-Dispatch says Jack Roush is celebrating his 14th year on the Winston Cup circuit, only there hasn't been anything to celebrate. His cars piled up 48 wins and 280 top-five finishes over the previous 13 seasons. [Jeff] Burton, Martin and Matt Kenseth combined for six victories in 2000.
|
But the combine can't get out of third gear. Burton is an all-but-cooked 25th in the standings. Rookie Kurt Busch and Martin are 20th and 21st. Kenseth is 11th with no top-five efforts to his credit. The Roush quartet, in fact, has almost twice as many DNFs (seven) as top-5s (four). Life in the fast lane, this is not.
|
| |
Jeff Zillgitt of the USA Today says Americans like stock car racing for many reasons. The most rudimentary is NASCAR drivers' blue-collar reputation. We can relate. They're just a bunch of guys working on their cars; cars that not all that long ago resembled what you or I could drive right off the auto dealer's lot.
|
For some, that means installing a faster engine or putting on better tires or changing your oil every 3,000 miles in your garage without the aid of Jiffy Lube. For others that means something as basic as changing the battery. But it is that simple connection that binds NASCAR and millions of its devotees across this land.
|
