By Peter M. De Lorenzo
Detroit. Okay, I get the fact that NASCAR, after being stung by years of relentless criticism over its season-long championship campaigns in the past, some of which droned on from early spring until the closing bell in a tedious march with the same driver in the series lead, decided to shake things up with the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The resulting ten race "Chase" was different, at least at first, but too often provided little drama after the first couple of races. So this year, the marketing geniuses in Daytona Beach decided that they would silence their critics for good by having a series of "knock-out" rounds spread out over the first nine races, resulting in four drivers being left standing and eligible for the championship in the finale at Homestead.
But something strange - and stupid - has happened during this season's onward march to Homestead, and that is that normally sane and somewhat dignified drivers are losing their shit on national television on an almost weekly basis, and it is getting just ridiculous, with the mainstream "stick and ball" sports media now referring to NASCAR using not endearing comparisons to the UFC and the NHL. (As for the incident between Jeff and Brad and the melee afterward, I thought Gordon moved down on Keselowski to cut off his progress, and he got a flat left rear for that maneuver. But Gordon knows this may be his last best run for a championship, so the normally cool Gordon flat-out lost his cool.)
In short, it's a mess. The convoluted new Sprint Cup Championship Chase has now injected an air of desperation into the proceedings every week, with the star drivers from big-buck teams acting like it's a Saturday night feature race from NASCAR's formative years, where fisticuffs between drivers and/or the local track promoters were a common occurrence. (I know, because I spent a few days with NASCAR legend Buck Baker in the early days of his NASCAR driving school at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and even ferreting through the bullshit of some of his stories, the reality of NASCAR's early days was a volatile combination of racin' and honky tonkin', as ol' Buck said, and not necessarily in that order. Suffice to say, even back in '86 Buck thought NASCAR had become way too soft.)
Well, there's no doubt that NASCAR has become a marketing juggernaut that has swallowed every other form of racing whole in the U.S. And it has marketed itself as a "clean" family-first sport that somehow rises above the other major sports in terms of their off-the-field shenanigans. And to the drivers and teams - and their families - that participate in the sport centered out of the Charlotte area, and depend on it for their essential livelihoods, it has afforded them a lifestyle that was only dreamed about in the past.
And that's all well and good, because as I've said repeatedly on this site, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the talented people involved in the NASCAR trenches, because they're some of the best and brightest in racing today - any type of racing in fact - and they deserve the recognition.
But what's going on now is beyond ridiculous, because almost overnight NASCAR has become a punchline for stupidity, and network chuckle heads across the country, especially on the national morning shows, are dining on the "joke" of NASCAR and not hesitating for one second to heap derision on the sport.
Is this really what NASCAR wanted? Is this what the powers that be in Daytona Beach, led by Brian "I like to phone it in" France, envisioned this new gimmick in the Chase for the Sprint Cup would come to? I certainly hope not, or let's just say I can't imagine anyone in his or her right mind in the NASCAR power structure would even remotely even daydream about it.
Look, do emotions run high in racing? You bet they do. Am I advocating group hugs and kumbaya sing-alongs in the pit lane after races? Oh hell no. But NASCAR has long outlived its honky tonkin' days, and what's going on now on a regular basis is setting the sport back at least a couple of decades, and not in a good way either.
The powers that be in NASCAR hate criticism as much as Vladimir Putin. They don't like people - like me - who don't buy into the program that they offer, dismissing alternative voices as road kill the NASCAR machine can and will roll over.
But the NASCAR brain trust is looking like complete fools at this very moment, and their precious series is on the verge of becoming a national joke, and the only ones they have to blame are themselves.
Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD
(Photo by Dave Friedman, courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
Indianapolis, Indiana, May 31, 1965. Jim Clark (No. 82 Team Lotus-Ford) gets superb pit work from the famed Wood Brothers crew on the way to his dominant win in the Indianapolis 500. Clark led 190 of the 200 laps to become the first non-American winner since 1916. Clark also won the F1 World Driving Championship that year, the only driver in history to accomplish that feat. Parnelli Jones (No. 98 J.C. Agajanian Hurst Lotus-Ford) finished second, and Mario Andretti (No. 12 Al Dean/Dean Van Lines Hawk-Ford) Watch a video here.
Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD