February 7, 2010
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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Hurrah! We are back under green for another season of NASCAR racing!!! For me it couldn’t have come on a better weekend, as I sit here snow bound, somewhere around two-feet of snow blanketing the ground outside of my house in Northern Virginia.
I wonder if this is what it was like 31 years ago.
The headlines from the President’s Day storm in 1979 read “Sneak Storm Cripples City” and dumped a foot of snow or more across the Northeastern and Midwest US.
Coincidentally, NASCAR had signed a new contract with CBS to cover the Daytona 500 live from flag to flag for the very first time. At the finish of that first race, you had the added bonus of a fist fight between Bobby and Donny Allison and Cale Yarborough, where, as Cale claims, “Bobby went about to putting his face into my fist.”
The end result was that millions of snow-bound people with nothing better to do found the race on TV --watched the coverage AND the fight -- and became NASCAR fans.
Ironically, it is many of these same fans who are now complaining that the sport is “vanilla” and are swearing they won’t watch anymore because it isn’t as good as the “good old days”.
So maybe we don’t have people putting their faces into other's fists, but I don’t see where this isn’t still an exciting sport.
Is every inning in a baseball game riveting? Is every play of every quarter of a football game a nail biter? Does every pass of the puck in hockey leave you sitting on the edge of your seat?
Why should NASCAR be any different? When HAS NASCAR been any different? Even back in the day, not every lap was exciting.
Especially when your leader was three laps ahead of the second place guy.
I think a little research will prove that NASCAR has always had its vanilla moments. It’s just that until that Daytona 500, we didn’t have a chance to see them live as they happened, which means we didn’t usually get to see them at all.
Getting back to the difference between being snowed in 31 years ago and in 2010: thankfully, you don’t have just CBS to provide your race coverage. Now you have the internet and satellite radio can fill in the holes where your local affiliate can’t -– or won’t.
Sadly for me, my Fox affiliate (WTTG in Washington DC) decided NOT to show qualifying, instead favoring more snow coverage (we had been having snow for 24 hours at that point -- wouldn’t a little sunshine from Florida have been a nice diversion?). They didn’t even move it to another channel so those of us who WANTED to see it could watch it and take a break from all the snow. As a result, I had to wander the internet to find someplace that was streaming the video live. (I had my Sirius, but I wanted to SEE the cars on the track, not just hear them. See the fun in Florida as the snow fell outside my window. Is that so much to ask?) Thank heavens for friends overseas who rely on the internet for their NASCAR fix -– they were able to hook me up with the link they use, which allowed me to see what WTTG wouldn’t
The Fox affiliate was still showing snow coverage last night as the Bud Shootout got underway. Thankfully, this time they had pre-planned and moved the race to their sister station.
While, to me, watching a race is always exciting (who can think that running two and three wide at 175-200 mph isn’t exciting?), there is nothing like being there in person. And trust me, as I watched the snow, I wished I was there in person. There is nothing like being there to watch the cars take the track and fly past you at almost 200 mph. It also gives you a sense of something that the TV really doesn’t give you –- the fact the track can sometimes be a harder competitor than the other cars.
Saturday was media ride-along day at Daytona, and I heard feedback from several folks who commented along the lines that they had no idea “how bumpy the track is!” MRN turn announcer and Sirius Morning Drive co-host Mike Bagley noted “I have a whole new respect for these drivers!” and Jeff Gluck, reporter for SBnation.com said via Twitter “Unbelievably bumpy. I am stunnnnnned at how bumpy Daytona is. Holy crap! We only got up to 140 mph -- but it was like when you're in a boat and you jump the waves, or have turbulence in an airplane.
CRAZY! My mind can't even imagine a lap going three-wide at 200 w/42 other cars around. For real. They can't just ride, that's some serious driving. Sounds silly, but I thought they just held wheel semi-steady thru turn.” Sirius’ NASCAR Radio’s Claire B. Lang noted “It was really insane.”
So as you watch the guys go three and four wide around the track during practice, the Duels, or the 500 next week, or even the Truck and Nationwide races, keep in mind, this sport is anything but vanilla.
As with every other professional sport, you have times where you are on the edge of your seat, and times when you get up and raid the kitchen because it is more exciting than dozing off on the couch or in your favorite chair.
But when watching a race, remember that like the track, it can appear smooth or bland, but in reality it has the bumps it needs to add that thrill that can make you wonder just how the end of the race will turn out. And that makes it worth my time to take the exciting and the boring, and enjoy the whole of the event.
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