A Voice For The Fans ~ Daytona, Angry Fans, And "Smoke" Is Rising!
2/22/2014
PattyKay Lilley
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, though I'm not quite sure yet to what. It's finally
here you know, that long and eagerly awaited time known as SpeedWeeks, though
this year we can drop that final "s", as it's just one week... but it
is in Daytona Beach and it will culminate in the Daytona 500... if anyone has cars left to run that hallowed race. The
qualifying race for the Daytona 500, which in reality only sets the front row
and leaves the rest of the field to slug it out in the twin Demolition Derbies
on Thursday evening, has established a free pass for pole-sitter Austin Dillon
and his kinda, sorta teammate once removed, Martin Truex Jr. Those Dual Duels
or Twin 150s will have been run as well by the time this makes print, so humor
me as I make a light-hearted prediction, not about winners or losers but how
the races will be run.
One of
the Dual Duels will be a wreck-filled mess, eliminating several cars from
competition, which of course is why they are run, but not to the purpose of
building a multi-million-dollar mountain of twisted
sheet metal. The other race will be quite calm and sedate by comparison. The
only thing I can't tell you is which will be which. Oh, and that mountain? It's
already some four stories high and we've only had one day of practice.
*Note to
Joie Chitwood* $400,000,000 (That's $400 Million,
race fans) in what are rumored to be mainly taxpayer-funded repairs and
improvements on the Speedway are a year underway and the first day out in
practice, we have yet another car *through* the fence? Daytona may be "Rising",
but apparently only in ticket prices. "Fans 'R 1st at Daytona" should
never mean first to be hit by an errant car or car part. It's only by the grace
of God (And possibly the mistakes of Brian) that no fans were in the immediate
area of the impact. In years past, that space would have been standing room
only. Official word says that though the chain-link fence lost a large portion
of itself in an effort to restrain Parker Kligerman's
flying Camry, all cables remained intact and strong. Ground-level scuttlebutt
says one cable did give way and had to be replaced. We, the fans will never
know... but we care.
So what
else are the fans talking about and in what tone of voice? This journalist has
reached the conclusion that happy fans don't talk anymore. Once upon a time, if
you were in the company of a bunch of race fans, all you heard were great
stories about racing, who beat whom, why someone else didn't finish the race,
and on and on into the night... and you didn't have to be in a bar or tavern to
hear them. Any street corner where two or more gathered was good enough. Today,
the only voices we hear are those raised in protest of whatever is the
"hate" word of the day.
A few
days ago, I overheard a gentleman, known to me to be a longtime fan of NASCAR
racing, delineating a long list of drivers, car owners and car makes that he
did not like or condone. When moving to another topic, he began the sentence
with, "I am not a negative person." No, my keyboard did not entirely
escape the adult beverage in my mouth, but it's recovered nicely, thank you.
Mike
Helton, if you're reading, and I know you care so you do read if it's passed
along to you, the fans, by the thousands and probably by the millions, are strongly
questioning the decision to change the Daytona qualifying rules so that a blown
engine before the Dual Duels now will send the driver to the rear of the field
not only in his assigned Duel, but again in the Daytona 500. Following the
Duels, everyone gets to change engines anyway, so how can losing a single
engine result in punishment in two races? In all honesty Sir, I can't answer
those that ask, because I don't understand it either. Without meaning to sound
presumptive, you might want to take a second look at that for next year. It
seems to us, the fans, to be a change to no purpose.
FOX
Sports Network... We don't believe that you are listening to the fans any more
than that man in the big office in Daytona Beach. Two things loom large in the
minds of the lowly race fans out here. The first and decidedly most important
is that MOST of America does not have access to FoxSports2. No, I know of
exactly no one that has any intention of replacing an existing cable provider
in order to remedy that situation. Maybe you could put your fight programming
on FS2 and leave FS1 clear for all things racing? And
maybe... Hell will freeze and Satan will take up figure skating. The
other thing is a smaller annoyance to my mind, but the fans are really put off
by the new graphic found on the right side... which is the wrong side... of our
TV screens this year. We in America are taught to read from left to right,
which makes it only natural to place such a graphic on the left side of the
screen. Most fans say they would far prefer to return to the incessant crawl at
the top of the screen. This fan doesn't really care about that, as while seated
10 feet from a 42" screen, I still can't read either one. I've found
having the Live Leaderboard from nascar.com on my laptop screen is far easier
to read and much faster to follow... but please, put that graphic on the right
side, which is the left side!
Now, my
gentle readers, by the very nature of you being here and reading this, it is
safe to assume you are all race fans... with the possible exception of a couple
of family members I impose upon each week to read, because they will be
truthful and tell me when one is a real stinker, lest I repeat the mistake
again sometime. When is the last time YOU had a conversation about racing that
was not negative? The past two weeks, these pages and these fingers have
brought forth a couple of very sad columns commemorating two very special men
in my life, and best friends of each other, Dale Earnhardt and Neil Bonnett.
Yes, those columns were extremely sad and heart-wrenching, but there was
nothing negative about them.
In the
column that ran between the two, the story was told of tire wars in NASCAR, and
those between Goodyear and Hoosier in particular. In that article, there was no
blame assigned and no fingers pointed at either side; only the genuine hope
that we never have to see that occur another time. You see, it is possible to
speak of racing... past or present... without the all too prevalent condemnation
that prevails today in too many places, from too many tongues and keyboards.
Granted, the words and actions that come out of Daytona Beach (Yes, I'm looking
at you Brian France), make that impossible to accomplish in all situations, but
gentle readers, let's try. Let's try to concentrate more on the race and less
on the racers we think we "hate", though in all honesty, have never
even met.
Nearing
the close of this week's Voice For The Fans, let's
share just one more story. For those that don't know yet, and as a reminder to
those that do, Mama PKL is doing a regular radio appearance now on Blog Talk
Radio from racinnation.net with Robyn Vandenberg, aka That Sports Chick.
(Monday nights @ 8:00 et) My assignment is to
"Put someone in the corner" each week for doing something that Mama
finds worthy of punishment.
A couple
of weeks ago, it was simply impossible to ignore the scathing words of
"King" Richard Petty regarding what he sees as an extreme lack of
talent exhibited by Danica Patrick. This writer likes Danica Patrick, but that
does not mean that I dislike Richard Petty. We've never met. But I do and will
continue to dislike his long-standing low opinion of women anywhere but in the
kitchen.
Therefore... I pointed my own bony finger in
the face of the King and told him to take a seat in the corner. OMG! Katie, bar
the door! Stop the world, I want to get off! The sun will no longer rise in the East! Someone
has insulted the King! How could you? How DARE you, a mere mortal, speak out
against royalty in racing? That nonsense actually caused a "friend"
to call me everything but a child of God and storm away with steam escaping
from both ears. I guess he wasn't that much of a friend after all.
Last
night, someone with far more "clout" than an old lady in Georgia got
in front of a microphone and said far more in two minutes than I could write
here all day... as far as exposure and the ultimate ability to say
"Gotcha!"
During
the earlier PRN Fast Talk Show held at Outback Steakhouse in Daytona with Doug
Rice and Mark Garrow hosting, Tony Stewart made it
very clear how he feels about the negative remarks Richard Petty made recently
about Danica Patrick.
"I told her she should challenge Richard to a heads up
race," said Stewart. "I think that would pretty much settle it once
and for all; maybe get him to shut up a little bit too. He drove in an era when
he had cars that were superior to what everybody else was running a lot. I
think he forgets that... that NASCAR has changed a lot since he was a driver
and how hard it really is now."
Stewart
continued, "I will supply the cars, I
don't care. If he wants to race her, I'll make sure they have exactly the same
set-up in the car and give him a chance. He can drive one of my 14 cars; I
don't care."
It was
then suggested that when Danica wins her first race she should ask Petty to
autograph the checkered flag. Stewart, however, had other thoughts. "If I were her I'd take it over and cram it up
his (bleep)...If it were me; that's just me."
Um... Yep! What he said! I'm with
Smoke and Smoke is definitely Rising! Welcome back!
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you.
~ PattyKay