There was a full moon Saturday night, could you tell? How many cautions were there in that Cup race in Darlington? Seventeen, I believe … and I felt every single one of them, even watching it on the DVR on Sunday.
Is anyone other than me just sick to death of that Ask.com family? Or how about Joey Logano and the Home Depot commercial? C’mon folks, we’re one-third of the way through the season — time to come up with some new spots for us to zip through.
That was border line torture to watch, that Cup race, even at a track like Darlington where I would expect to enjoy the racing. I think NASCAR really, really, needs to look at running Cup races shorter. Maybe it’s the sad result of too much MTV, but my attention span can wander … wait, what was I typing about? Oh, right. Cup races are too long.
Speaking of beating a dead horse (Ed: that was one of the roughest segues ever), I hate to keep harping on things like car count and officiating at Evergreen Speedway. I really don’t want to sound negative, because just like you, I want racing on Short Track Saturday Nights (Ed: clever, very clever) to continue and get stronger.
I don’t consider myself a “journalist” or a “sportswriter,” but a couple of guys who are those things taught me once that the best way to cover an event, like a game or race, is to keep asking: “What’s the most important thing that has happened so far?” Once you’ve figured that out, you’ve got an anchoring point to start writing.
Ideally the most important thing would be something on the track — a first-time winner, clinching a title, a daring pass, etc. Unfortunately, right now the thin car counts in the upper divisions and some pretty unfortunate officiating miscues rise to the top when I think about Evergreen Speedway (which is probably more often than is healthy).
I’m looking forward to the day when that most important thing is found back on the track. Aren’t you?
F1 cars break spectacular: Did you see the video of the opening-corner wreck in the Spanish Grand Prix? Those multi-multi-million dollar Formula One cars just explode when hit — kind of like a piece of delicate crystal dropped onto the sidewalk. Quite a clean-up effort, too, as the pieces and parts scatter everywhere.
Time of championship, May 10: Can we just give the Formula One championship to Jenson Button and Brawn GP? Even though Ferrari, BMW Sauber and McLaren will come up with stop-gap design changes that may get them back to competitive form, the gap appears to be insurmountable at this point. Button has endured some long, frustrating seasons in F1, so I suppose he should get to enjoy this championship.
Growing the shrub: I secretly think Kyle Busch is like a “hate vampire,” the more he gets booed the stronger he becomes. Something to keep in mind next time next time you want to yell at that sarcastic bow. Try cheering him instead … it may be like sunlight or garlic.
Mark Martin, freak of nature: As someone fast approaching 50, I’m of two minds on Mark Martin. First, it’s nice to see the old gentleman mixing it up at the top level. Second, it makes me realize that I need to drop 20 pounds. The only trace of his age that I saw from Martin on Saturday night was he had to read the side of his car to list his sponsors in Victory Lane. Of course, after that caution-filled marathon, that maybe would’ve been true of Joey Logano, too.
Pretty good weekend for me, all in all. I was right about defending Evergreen Speedway and NASCAR state champion Naima Lang winning the Super Late Model feature, and rumor has it Gary Lewis did indeed win the iRacing.com ASA Northwest Late Model Tour race in Spokane.
Just to recap, on the national side I need to correctly guess Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle winners in NHRA, and on the local side I’m looking to get Super Figure 8, Mini-Stock and Stinger 8 division winners at Evergreen Speedway.
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