Bad Weekend for the Haters.
By: Drew Hierwarter
This was a bad weekend for the NASCAR haters. We all know who they are, they fill up the blogs, populate the forums, and generally complain about anything and everything NASCAR anywhere they can find an audience.
They complain that there isn’t enough passing in NASCAR races anymore, that the races are mere parades. The Cup race at
They complain that the races are becoming too predicable. Both the Cup race and the Nationwide race on Sunday were decided in the last few yards of the last lap with no one having a clear advantage in either event. In the Cup race, Kevin Harvick’s winning margin was a mere .012 of a second! The last time Kevin Harvick won a points paying Cup race was the 2007
They complain that Jimmie Johnson wins too much. Johnson finished 31st and only led five times for a total of nine laps all day.
They complain that the drivers are too bland. Well, two of the blandest, (and supposedly closest friends) Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson seem to be having an open feud, each giving no quarter to the other on the track, and both complaining about the driving of the other in the media.
And yes, even though it’s not the way it should be and I don’t agree with this attitude, some even complain that there aren’t enough crashes. Not only did the Cup race require three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish due to crashes, but the Nationwide race ended with one of the wildest, scariest, fieriest crashes in recent memory.
Yea, it was a pretty bad weekend for the haters. But for the rest of us, those who appreciate good hard racing, high speeds, close competition, and surprise endings, the two races at
Don’t y’all just hate it!
April 26th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
As theater, Talladega was wonderful. As a sport, Talladega was a joke. Lets see now, your idea of good hard racing is to ride around until 50 to go (that is a quote from the winner). Your idea of high speeds and close competition are satisfied through the use of a restrictor plate that makes everyone run the same speed. Your idea of surprise endings requires three attempts at “giving the fans their moneys worth”. Here’s an idea, next time, they run ten 50 lap events instead of one big event. That way, the fans can see 10 times the action without all the unnecessary boring stuff. Or maybe they could just have green white checker races. Imagine what that would look like.
April 27th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Ah, I knew there would be at least one negative Nellie out there!
Well JR,
My idea of riding around is cruising at about 50 mph with the top down and no particular place to go. Driving around Talladega at 190mph within inches of 42 other cars may be Kevin Harvick’s idea of riding around, but it sure ain’t mine.
My idea of high speed is, indeed, anything above 100 mph!
My idea of close competition is that .012 second margin of victory.
I don’t know where you got the quote; “giving the fans their moneys worth”, but it wasn’t in my story so I can’t take credit for saying it.
And your idea of running ten 50 lap events is excellent! That’s exactly what happens on short tracks all over the country and is why I’ve always liked local tracks better than the big shows.
So JR, I can only recommend that you stop watching the NASCAR Sprint Cup races, especially those at Talladega, since you don’t seem to enjoy them very much and get out to your local track next Saturday night. I bet you’ll have a great time!
Thanks for your comments.
April 28th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Ya know it was one of those races that you were on the edge of your seat the whole race. Grilling out and spending time with the family hollering at the drivers on the TV… That was a great race and sorry that I missed the Nationwide series – oh but wait - I DVR’ed it… Looking forward to watching that one tonight!