Race Weekend Central

Voices From The Cheap Seats: Daytona Just A Faster Version Of Rush Hour

As I stated last week, my apathy for the sport has grown to the point that it is getting hard to write about, even to complain. I mean, what’s the point? While most of my readers would generally agree with what I say, unfortunately NASCAR does not, all the while unwittingly trying to convince everyone that they do.

However, every year, when I convince myself that I will no longer subject myself to weekly deadlines, I always seem to find that little part of me that says, “I’ll give it one more chance.” Such is the case with this year’s Daytona 500.

In this year’s Daytona 500, even the wrecks were boring, says Jeff Meyer.
In this year’s Daytona 500, even the wrecks were boring, says Jeff Meyer.

In this year’s Daytona 500, even the wrecks were boring, says Jeff Meyer.

I gave it a chance. These are my findings…

While I have already unequivocally voiced my opinion about the new Chase format (gee, how many times have I typed that in the last few years?!) I, along with the rest of the nation, and by “nation” I mean the Junior variety, can breathe a sigh of relief and sleep peacefully at night knowing that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has basically clinched a spot in the Chase. No more suspense there!

As for the actual racing, I’m not really sure how I feel, but I’m leaning very heavily toward a great big BLAH!

Inside line going forward. What? Wait a minute! Here comes the outside line… no, no… the inside line is going again, perhaps I should get in that one… ah, here we go, we’re moving again. I guess I should just stay here, cruise around and see if something will happen on the last lap.

Sound familiar? Oh, that’s right… it’s the same as the daily commute for millions of us every damn day, albeit at a little slower pace. Even the drivers complained of feeling “stuck in traffic” and “in the wrong lane all the time.” We’ve all been there.

Even the wrecks were not all that memorable. Now, it’s not that I wish for spectacular crashes; I don’t. What I mean by that is no one made a mistake that pissed another driver off. The wrecks that did happen were purely aerodynamically instigated. No one was taking chances and made a mistake; no, everyone was just out there trying to hang on. Again, very very BLAH.

While not necessarily a bad race, there just was never anything there that warranted tuning in for other than, say the last 20 laps.

On another note, the way NASCAR arbitrarily used the “no tandem drafting” rule in Saturday’s Nationwide race was pure bullspit! And for that, I solely blame the announcers. The way they went on and on about Kyle Busch being on the bumper perhaps a bit too long (and he was), showing different angles and even suggesting that the outside lane better be more careful because NASCAR may not be able to see the separation had to raise eyebrows.

‘Cause guess what? Not 10 minutes later, BAM! Poor James Buescher gets penalized for doing much less than Kyle Busch did! What a crock! If you are going to make an example of someone, why not do it to the guy that is NOT running for a championship in that series?! Pathetic, I say, simply pathetic!

In other news…

Someone recently noticed that the team known as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing is once again simply Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. What happened to Teresa? Well, I guess she just faded away!

“I wish I could explain it but I can’t explain it,” Chip Ganassi said. “I don’t have a good answer for you. We had a relationship and I don’t know what happened. We can’t get her on the phone; it’s hard to try to communicate with somebody. She obviously has some other things on her plate, I guess, and that’s her prerogative.

“She was never active in the team. I think she wanted to keep the name out there to some extent, and I don’t know what Richard’s (Petty) relationship is there (to Richard Petty Motorsports), but it’s kinda the same thing. There’s no ill will, I just don’t have an answer, to tell you the truth. She just wasn’t there anymore.”

If only she had done that years ago!

Stay off the wall,

Jeff Meyer

Contact Jeff Meyer

 

About the author

Jeff is one of the longest-tenured staffers at Frontstretch, starting his second decade as the resident humorist and pain-in-the-butt that keeps NASCAR (and his fellow co-workers) honest. Writing Voices From The Cheap Seats, every Tuesday, his BSNews! Segments along with alter ego “Stu Padasso” have developed a large following. Jeff makes his home in Tennessee and is a Bristol groupie, camping out for the August night race every year since he can remember.

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