November 9, 2007

By Brian Watkins

Brian Watkins

So here we sit and it’s more or less a two car contest for the NNCS championship. No matter which driver wins, Hendrick Motor Sports has come out on top. The question of which Hendrick driver will be the champion however most likely won’t be decided (hopefully) until Homestead. And which of those two drivers do I hope wins? As much as I know I’ll be eating some crow for saying it, and many readers from earlier in the season will be quick to point out my hypocrisy, I am rooting for, dare I say it, the DuPont Chevrolet. Saying I’m rooting for DuPont is much less humbling than actually saying the words “I’m cheering for Jeff Gordon”, but the message is the same.

Let me caveat the above announcement by saying two things. First, I am choosing Jeff Gordon as my preference between the 24 and 48. He would not be my choice out of the entire NASCAR field. If I had my druthers, Dale Jarrett would have a commanding 400 point lead at this late point in the season. But reality is what reality is and at this point it’s a two horse race and of those two horses, my choice has a rainbow painted behind.

I have no particular reason for not wanting Mr. Johnson to repeat this season. He’s obviously a good driver with a good crew chief. Maybe it’s because I prefer Menard’s and Home Depot to Lowe’s. Maybe the number 48 has a negative impact on my subconscious. What ever the reason, when it comes to the top spot, I’d prefer Jeff over Jimmie.

This, I think, says something about how much my opinion has changed over the course of the season. And no, to those of you who sent me hate mail early in the season, your blind adoration of the man and your unedited distain for me for disliking him had no influence what so ever on my warming to the #24. It was his attitude and performance that did that.

Will "What Happens in Loudon, Stay in Loudon?"

Another day, another $340 million in cash changes hands and the fate of another NASCAR venue comes into question. Interviews with Bruton Smith, Chairman and CEO of new track owners Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SEI) give the impression that the company has no intentions of changing or moving race dates. While it’s nice to hear, it’s highly unlikely. Why do I think it’s unlikely? Rumors. Unlike most other sports and entertainment organizations where rumors are often just that; hear say, guesses and what nots- NASCAR teams and related organizations however have gleened the practice of crafting press releases into rumors.

The latest rumor? That one of the two Loudon race dates will be moved to another SEI owned track, namely Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith has contended that they haven’t had time to develop a plan.

While that sounds nice to those who want to see the races remain at Loudon, I find it hard to believe that anyone would spend more than $300 million dollars and not have a long term plan. I’m guessing that the as yet developed plan he was really referring to is the plan on how to let us now when to start buying tickets for a second Vegas race

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.