November 26, 2008
By Chuck Abrams
OK, I will try not to bore you to death with this. It’s just at this time of year, what is there left to say?
First of all, a report on Sunday’s edition of nascar.com says that Ray Evernham is about to retire. He has sold most of his interest in Gillette-Evernham Motorsports and is buying a dirt track in North Carolina.
Wow.
We all know Ray has not been as focused on racing as he was when he was winning titles with Jeff Gordon. Even Jeremy Mayfield called Ray out for spending more of his time on his Craftsman Truck Series racing -- with his driver Erin Crocker, than on his Cup team. Lawsuits ensued and Crocker eventually left GEM racing.
But all that dirty laundry aside, Ray brought about changes in NASCAR that are still felt to this day. Maybe he needs a break from the sport that brought him fame and fortune. Perhaps he can find happiness in track ownership.
The season: I would give the season a B-, saved only by seeing Kyle Busch dominate the season and Carl Edwards making a title surge that was too little, too late. And seeing Shrub not only dominate in the Sprint Cup Series but the guy was winning in Truck and Nationwide Series as well.
Overall, he had an absolutely incredible racing year. Oh and by the way, Jimmie Johnson won his third title in a row. And while that is quite an accomplishment but ya' know, it did not do that much for me. Maybe that says something about my interest in the sport or the fact that I thought Busch’s winning in all three series was far more stupendous.
Things that dropped the rating for the year for me were Tony Stewart sucking major wind. Was he distracted because of his new venture?
Perhaps.
But having Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Dale Jr., Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth not really be factors for most of the year really says something about how difficult of a transition the Car Of Tomorrow is.
You could look at that list and say the COT has leveled the playing field and I would agree with you if Brian Vickers and Montoya and Waltrip were winning races. But they are not. Last year Hendrick seemingly won all the races. This year it was Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson at the end.
Some teams seem to have it figured out, others do not. And when one team does have it down, they simply dominate. Especially when out in clean air – an aero issue that the new car was supposed to fix and obviously has not. Domination by any one team is not a level playing field to me. Nor is domination by 4 uber teams. Unless someone falls upon the silver bullet in the off season, look for more of the same in 2009.
Watching Jamie Mac, Allmendinger and Vickers run better this year was a treat. Seeing Jamie Mac run well in the late races actually helped keep my interest. Seeing Team Ganassi struggle as they did was not good. I had Montoya pegged for far better this year and while he ran better, he did not have the finishes to show for his hard work.
My biggest disappointment this year had to be the 88 team. I expected far more from them in the Hendrick stable. If they have another year like this in 2009, look for changes. And possibly big changes.
I was also disappointed at how many races had qualifying rained out which gave us a starting grid based on points.
My biggest thrill of the year was probably seeing David Ragan legitimately compete for the Chase. That and Dale Jr. getting one win.
What were your highs and lows? Let me know at chucka@turnleftracing.comInsider Racing News.
Thanks for reading.
You Can Read Other Articles By Chuck Abrams
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.
