NASCAR Tracks with Character

Richmond... Darlington... Dover...

After the occasionally monotonous run of 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks, Richmond, Darlington, and Dover are a breath of fresh air. Each track is individual and produces different styles of racing. A short track like no other, a historic venue with uneven turns and a narrow slick track, and a concrete high banked bullring. 


Richmond produced a race dominated by one man, Kyle Busch. After 'Dega's last lap, last several hundred metres overtaking move, Kyle made the D-shaped short track look easy! There was still some good racing through the field though and another G-W-C with the 24 again coming up short... again...

Darlington is one hell of a place. Over the years it has been totally revamped, they swapped the front and back straights around and even resurfaced the track, but it is still "The Track Too Tough To Tame!!" To be fair Denny Hamlin did a good job trying... and once again the 24 came up short... again...

If I could go to one Cup race I reckon Darlington would be high up on my list (with Bristol) of races to see. The history, the narrow track, the odd turns, the slick surface, the sun going down, all add up to a race set deep in old-school NASCAR country, in which the drivers sit up and work the wheel, earning their pay cheques in every turn. The Southern 500 is a race where the drivers race the track for the first 400 and then each other at the end... It's a shame Darlington only has one race!

Up next is the Monster Mile. The last few Dover races have been some of the best that that season had to offer so it should be a good one!!
 
Stories of the moment... McMurray and Montoya more on the pace than off... Harvick leading the points standings, great to see RCR back up top... Stewart not even close, Ryan not quite there but not too far off... Stewart loses Old Spice sponsorship, probably to a driver who shaves?!?... JJ has 3 off weeks, shame the chase hasn't started yet... Earnhardt Jnr finally has run of great finishes, just kidding... spoiler mandated by NASCAR produces non-stop good racing...drivers complain that hitting the wall at Darlington could move the rear spoiler, "Doctor it hurts if I do this, well don't do it then"... All Star Race coming up should be good!!


 On a different note, F1... Good to see Schumacher now has a car he can work with, feel sorry for Hamilton but that's racing, surprise surprise the teams have decided to ban the F-duct from next year, watched the latest Grand Prix on Sky+ at 6 times speed... and was still bored! F1 back to normal then...