Track Trash – Bristolized

How ’bout dem RCR boys…… They sure kicked some b….ehinds today, thanks in part to the abrupt decline of the JGR Oyotas. And another great race from the most popular driver’s team. When will his teammates awake from their slumber?? An off week for Easter, then off to Martinsville, where our ole bud Blair will do Track Trash while I take my first vacation in more years than I can count.

The Union label: Lots of talk about a drivers union, and it all stems from TwoTonTony’s comments about the tires last weekend. Sure the tires were bad, and yes there needs to be better communication between the drivers and the NA$CAR hot dogs. But a drivers union won’t fix anything. Here’s my slant on things….. The drivers need to elect about 6 respected drivers to represent them, and there needs to be Quarterly meetings with NA$CAR to air their problems and suggestions. This would allow the drivers to vent, and allow NA$CAR to focus on ideas that would make the sport even better than it is today.

Da Points: All this talk about points swapping so that cars can be protected from the ‘top 35 rule’ is so much hog wash that it’s making me sick. The ‘top 35 rule’ is ridiculous in the first place, and it’s breeding point swapping shenanigans so teams can circumvent the rules. I’d like to see them move it to ‘top 20’ and let everyone else qualify themselves into the race. That sure would give the word ‘qualifying’ a whole new meaning. I haven’t quite figured out what to do if qualifying is rained out, but perhaps they could use the last Points status. Does anyone have any bright ideas?? If so, let us all know.

Robo: Then there’s the rumor that RoboGordo’s about ready to sell his team. Robo’s mum on the issue, but where there’s smoke, there may be some fire……

Swan song: Today we bid ado to DJ. He had a good racing career, and when he was at his peak, he was a force to be reckoned with. He ‘s a gentleman, and is well respected in the garage. But there were times that his temper boiled over and we saw what was lurking under that smile. All this rounded out his personality, and made him the likeable guy that kept UPS solidly in his corner. We’re looking forward to hearing from you in the booth, Dale.

Da Race: There was some fear that due to the resurfacing of the track, Bristol would lose its image as a ‘bump and grind’ track. Yes, there were several grooves on the track, and passing is much easier than in years past, but it’s still the bullpen we love to visit twice a year. The Spring race has always been dicey regarding the weather, and this year was no exception. With only 6,000 motel rooms in the area (all price gouging I might add), and the track holding 160,00 seats, one might wonder where they all stay at night. The short answer is: either a long way away, or amongst the thousands of campers within eyesight of the track. It’s a safe bet that there might be over 100,000 people camping in anything from tents and pop-ups, to $ 300,000 RV’s.

Da Kid: KidKyle again put on a show of his driving skills, starting 22nd and eventually running up front with the big boys. Had it not been for a bad power steering unit, he just might’ve had another W. But…….coulda, woulda, shoulda.

JGR: All three Gibbs cars were strong, and they all had visions of winning this race. But they all had problems of one fashion or another. The most striking one was the ‘drop like a rock’ that DennyHambone had on the last restart. Later in an interview, he indicated that the JGR cars are suffering because they can’t pick up the fuel on restarts when the fuel level is down. With an off weekend coming up, I doubt we’ll see them have this problem again.

RCR: Not a shabby day for the Childress cars. It’s not often you can get all of your cars in consecutive order with one winning the race…I think the last time that happened was with the Hendricks several years ago. And can you believe that this was Jburton’s first W at this track? It’s no wonder that his wife almost peed her pants…..

Miscue: The 88 team had yet another miscue on the last pit stop. Jr. wanted tires, and Tony Jr. said no…..then when it was too late to pit, he changed his mind and wanted to slap two new ones on it. This has happened several times this year alone, and Jr. has done an excellent job of defusing the incidents.

Kudos: To the RCR boys. To da Biff for hanging in there. To Jr. for again being the most significant part of the Hendrick team. To KaseOfKahne for a top 10….the announcers failed to mention that he was in the race today. Super Kudos to Aric Almirola for a heady performance in the 8 machine. He barely has any NA$CAR experience, but did a super job today.

Heaps of 3’s all over yer AT&T cell phone,
Racing Maniac #3, #88e