A Voice For The Fans ~ Tying Up Loose Ends
11/20/2013
PattyKay Lilley
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, to a place where your voice is actually heard by
those that matter, and a warm welcome as well to our assigned NASCAR reader du
jour, wherever you are this fine day. The 2013 season has wound to an end, and as
is always the case, there are mixed emotions about that, with some happy feelings
and some sad feelings all stirred into the same recipe for the dessert we call
winter.
Sunday saw
the final race of the tenth year of NASCAR Chasing. Chasing what? My guess
would be its tail, but then, that's just one scribe's opinion and it's not
really today's main topic. In the final race of the 2013 season, we saw a
fairly good race, thanks to the progressive banking on the track in Homestead.
Cars were able to run 3, 4 and even 5-wide... and did so frequently. Aided by
that, the Gen-6 cars put on a good show for the season finale, with lots of passing... except for the lead. Remember that guy that
Brian said was "boring", and instituted the Chase to "create"
more excitement? He was and is Matt Kenseth, and he led 144 of the 267 laps at
Homestead to a second place finish after starting on the pole and
"winning" both practices.
Not good
enough! Jimmie Johnson started 7th and finished safe and sound in 9th place without
leading a lap on the day, but that was more than enough to earn Jimmie his 6th
Cup Championship, all under the Chase format. We at Race Fans Forever offer our sincere congratulations to Jimmie
Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and everyone at
Hendrick Motorsports for earning Championship #6 for this team and #11 for HMS.
Rick, I remember well when a team called "All-Star Racing" bowed in
at the 1984 Daytona 500 with a Yankee lad named Geoff Bodine at the wheel. It
was owned by some car salesman. It's been a long and sometimes very bumpy ride,
with much joy and just as much sadness, but I'd say you've about reached the
top. Special congratulations to you, and prayers for continued success.
And then
it started... even as the celebration centered around
our newest Champion began, so too did the "hate" messages. Jimmie is
boring. (See Matt Kenseth) Jimmie is "Vanilla." Jimmie is nothing but
a corporate salesman. WHOA! There's an old saying that some folks wouldn't be
happy if hung with a new rope. You figure it out. Too many of our
"pseudo-fans" are simply impossible to please. Nothing will ever be
right in their eyes. No, I don't like the Chase format, but I live with it. I
don't find it particularly exciting that the same car and driver have won six
out of the ten years of that format, but dang it, what's he supposed to do,
park and wait for everyone else? Instead of whining and crying about it, I'd
suggest that some of those other teams might want to get to work on going
faster than the #48... if they can.
I've
never understood the logic behind hating a winner. Remember, I was an Earnhardt
fan for many years, and over those years, one of my favorite sayings became,
"I was Dale when Dale wasn't cool", with apologies to Barbara
Mandrel. (At least I didn't try to sing it.) When Dale was still alive and
racing, I felt the hate every time we went to a race and I was decked out in
black, as I always was. Funny how, after he died, everyone was suddenly an
Earnhardt fan. Jimmie, enjoy the hate and stay with us. It's not worth what you
have to do to earn the admiration of fools.
I
suppose I'd be remiss if I neglected to mention the recent wisdom of one
Donovan McNabb, an out-of-work football has-been, who for reasons not clear to me, felt it necessary to declare that Jimmie
Johnson is not an athlete. Mr. McNabb... no, scratch that... Donovan, put a
sock in it! You played a game. Now you're not good enough to play it anymore.
Jimmie Johnson and 42 other athletes put their lives on the line 38 weeks out
of the year Why? For my
entertainment. Others have said it much better than I can. Just go back
to school and learn something before opining another time on something you know
nothing about. Maybe your Mom could make you some soup from that foot in your
mouth. Might make it taste better...
On the
sad side of this season's end are the names of those not returning to the
series in 2014, or in one or two cases, returning in a much altered capacity,
not that of listed driver of any car or team. These include pretty much the end
of the "old guard", though I can proudly say I watched each of these gentleman get his start and followed his progression through
the years. The names are all familiar... Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Bobby
Labonte, Ken Schrader and recently added to the list,
Dave Blaney... or, as The Lady in Black would have
said, Munchkin, Jeff Bootin', Bounty Hunter, Ken
Shredder and Dave Blarney.
Gentle
readers, the aggregate resume those five take with them is impressive to the
point of staggering. Their numbers include a total of 3,516 races run in Cup
Series alone. Within that number are 86 wins, 588 top-five finishes, 1122
top-ten finishes, 113 poles positions and 119 years spent racing. Remember
too, that is only in the Cup Series. Each has raced in other series as well,
and some continue to do so. As hard as this is to realize, not counting a couple
of start and parkers, which I don't, that leaves Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart
as the "old men" of the Cup series going into 2014. The times are not
a'changing; they already have.
And so,
with the exception of the Banquet in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks, we've seen
the end of the 2013 racing season and the end of an era. Please, if you are the
type to hibernate for the winter's duration, enjoy safe and sane Holidays,
whichever ones you celebrate in your home and life. In answer to a question I
was asked several times over this past weekend, yes, this site will remain open
and functioning all through the off season, so please don't stop coming to read
our offerings and add your opinions.
Mr.
France, I am in receipt of your letter of 15, November, 2013 and will answer
soon on these pages.
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay
[email protected]