At least we didn’t have to sit around and watch the raindrops fall today, Isabel took care of that for us. With the onset of a hurricane, NASCAR decided (and you can bet it wasn’t a hard decision to make) that we should line up by points this weekend….and a cheer was heard from just about everybody starting in spots 38-43! Those hisses are coming from the #12 team and Ryan Newman. The only other time we got rained out of quals this year was at NHIS in July. As he did at that time, Matt Kenseth will lead us to green on Sunday for the MBNA America 400 at Dover International Speedway. Dale Earnhardt Jr (2nd) has his best starting spot since he lined up on the outside pole at Martinsville in April. Kevin Harvick (3rd) has his best starting spot since he had the pole at The Brickyard in August. STREAKIN….Ryan Newman has 6 Top-10 starts in a row. Jeff Gordon has 4 Top-10 starts in the last 5 races. Lining up by points left six teams disappointed, but at least they saved the expense of a trip and that pesty tire bill. Missing the field were: Larry Foyt, Scott Wimmer, Morgan Shepherd, Billy Bigley, Christian Fittipaldi (scheduled to be in the #44 this weekend), and Tim Sauter. I won’t say we didn’t see it coming. NASCAR decided yesterday to end the practice of racing back to the yellow….mostly because they told us they would if the driver’s couldn’t hash it out themselves. So, after proving repeatedly that drivers are not gentlemen (and maybe that shouldn’t be expected anyway), NASCAR has stepped in. We’ll get full details by tomorrow, but it’s gonna be interesting to see how they handle the latest pit problems. I’m sure we’ll here some complaints about the changes, but it probably had to come (and this coming from somebody who didn’t like it when they instituted the pit-road speed limit back at the start of the 1991 season). But, in retrospect, it’s maybe the safest thing NASCAR ever did for the over the wall gang. I was at Atlanta Motor Speedway that November day in 1990 when we lost Michael Rich (Bill Elliott’s rear tire changer), and I’ve never forgotten it. We’ve come a long way since then, and we’re gonna have to continue to evolve if we’re gonna keep this sport where it belongs. Good Luck, Brian France…..you’ve got major shoes to fill.( Stock Car Fans )(9-20-2003)
