After four rounds the NASCAR has thrown up a few interesting story lines.
- JJ wins in California... and Las Vegas! Sounds exciting doesn't it?
Actually I thought the first "real" race of the season, California, was pretty good. It did get a little strung out in places, and the momentum of the race was lost with the short rain delay in the middle but there was a lot of good 2 or 3 wide racing throughout. The drivers seemed able to find lines that worked for their cars at various stages through a run, and at such a wide race track they have a lot of room to
manoeuvre.
JJ's second win of 2010, in Vegas, was not as exciting but has started his 5th Championship run of to a flying start. Las Vegas is not a favourite track of mine, despite being the track I went to see my one and one NASCAR race in person, the then Busch Series race 13 years ago, the year of the first Cup race their. This years Cup race was not great, only really lifted by the Gordon vs. Johnson duel.
After the past few years of seemingly predictable headlines (JJ wins again again, 88 does... well... not a lot, ticket sales going down, COT whinge whinge etc) anything that creates a buzz around NASCAR has got to be a good thing.
So far Danica has shown herself to be good with the media, and apparently a good learner in the car. The results weren't great, as was inevitable for such a fairy tale story but the potential is there. The main question I have is this; with the Nationwide COT coming next year why teach Danica to drive an out of date car? I could understand putting her in the car for this years "new car races" and then moving her up to do more races next year but surely this is the long-winded way. I hope she does well, and think she will, once she gets over the rookie mistake period and once she spends the time to gather the experience needed to race with the big boys.
- RPM, Childress, EGR doing well.
A couple of years ago Roush with Edwards dominated a large part of the year, with Kyle Busch near him. JJ and Hendrick have now won 4 Championships. What NASCAR needs in Cup are stories, preferably with other drivers and teams doing well creating those stories. What they also need are Ford back in the game. With Kasey Kahne and AJ driving RPMs new Fords, Childress with Harvick currently top of the standings, McMurray and JPM staying near the front for EGR and Dodge winning in Atlanta with Kurt Busch 2010 so far has some different names battling at the front! So far the competition is looking good and varied, but NASCAR badly needs these guys to stay at the front and start or keep winning races as the year progresses.
The past few races have shown that while they are not perfect, Goodyear are now producing much better tires for the COT. They are also producing quicker lap times all over the place. These big numbers may help write headlines, but to me increased speeds do not always help the racing. The quicker cars go round a track, the more of a one line track it can become, making it hard to overtake. To me NASCAR need to be careful not to let speeds increase too much at the 1.5 mile tracks as lower speeds with more 2 wide racing is better than faster 1 groove races.
- Paybacks a Bitch - or - Edwards vs. Keselowski
Payback, retaliation, getting even, "take care of it now", call it what you will, Edwards is guilty of it, and is admitting it! Keselowski may have deserved some kind of "back at ya" but not even Edwards would have wanted to put him on his roof. The driver of the 12 car is generally thought to be aggressive and physical but as far as Edwards goes am I the only one who actually thinks that he pulled down on Keselowski at 'Dega and earlier in the Atlanta race?
If I was NASCAR what would I do?
The governing body spent a lot of time in the build up to this season saying they want the drivers to be more aggressive, giving them the chance to bump draft at the plate races, letting them express themselves on and off track, "old school" if you will! It doesn't get more "old school" than having a grudge, and letting the other driver know about it, on-track! NASCAR parked Edwards straight away and to me that's enough. If you want the action, if you want the headlines, if you want the fans talking about NASCAR for all the right reasons then this is the sort of racing you want. NASCAR needs a driver the fans hate and love to hate. It used to be the 3 car, more recently it was the 18 but the last couple of years NASCAR has been missing the bad guy. Let Keselowski be the bad guy. Bad guys can do very well out of being the bad guy. Let the fans boo you; let the drivers hate you... if you can deliver the results on the track!
Edwards deserved to be parked. NASCAR can not let that sort of incident go without punishment and parking a driver for the remainder of the race, to me, is a given. Does it require any more? Driving the wrong way up the pit lane was stupid and may net him an additional penalty, but if Edwards had just succeeded in putting the 12 in the wall, or if he had just moved him out of the way and not put the 12 on its roof would the reaction have been so extreme? NASCAR, have the guts to let the drivers breath, let them get annoyed, let them get physical as you promised. Maybe dock him any points he gained for that race, so he gets nothing from the weekend? Edwards may have taken it too far, maybe he should have put the bumper on him and moved him as opposed to, quite frankly, stuffing him in the wall, but NASCAR needs to be careful not to be too strict thereby taking the edge off the "Old School" feel they are trying to go back to. If it had happened at Bristol, we would call it racing!
It was Hamlin vs. Keselowski, now its Edwards vs. Keselowski, next it could be The World vs. Keselowski. My money's on Keselowski, if he plays it right!!
The pity of this situation is that the Atlanta race leads into the years first off weekend. I hope the week off and the impending NASCAR decision, while dealing with it doesn't take the momentum out of this story, especially going into a run of three short tracks!
It was painfully obvious after the past two weeks that not all Cup race are going to sell out this year. The financial situation in the world is not going to help sporting events like NASCAR races, as when money is tight people stay in and watch TV, as opposed to going to the events in person. I also think this was going to happen anyway. NASCAR attendance and TV figures grew throughout the 1990's to a very high height, and the tracks were re-developed to accommodate the large numbers of people. It couldn't last forever. The question was, once NASCARs increase evened out, and then dipped, how far would it fall, and the financial issues in the world has not helped.
This huge rise in the 1990's is also making NASCARs life much harder when it comes to delivering a show. Some fans consider a race dull and boring if it is not full of wrecks, and is not won after at least one G-W-C by more than an inch. NASCAR race on different styles of tracks and have different lengths of races. Some lend themselves to gas mileage races, some 2 by 2 - inches apart racing, some bump and grind action, some tactical handling tracks using different grooves to make the cars work, on some tracks the cars run restrictor plates, on some the drivers even turn right. NASCAR is varied and so are the races.
To me the racing so far this year has been good. The two wide restarts, shuffling the pack so the leader is always in front, and the green-white-chequered finishes are spicing up the action, leading to some good racing. This good racing can only help the attendance and viewing figures!
Roll on Bristol!!
To be fair the Australian GP is generally one of the better races, but this years was good!! Did I just say that?? Let me try that again... the GP was good!! See, I said it again... and I meant it.
FoxSports are currently running a poll - Question, "Was Denny Hamlin too aggressive in Martinsville?" At the time of writing, with more than 7000 votes cast, over 60% said "Yes", with an even split of the rest voting for "No" or "Thats Racing".
What do NASCAR fans want? I feel sorry for NASCAR. They let the drivers "Have at it boys", an attempt to reintroduce drama back into the Cup races, and now it is happening the fans think the driving is too aggressive. It wasn't just Hamlin at the end, the whole race was a bit physical, its Martinsville, what do you expect. Would you want it any other way?? 
The end of the race was great. Proper, hard, bump 'n' run, short track, "honest to god," edge of your seat NASCAR racing. The G-W-C rule and the 2 wide restarts did just what the racing Doctor ordered yet again, creating excitement.
