Beating Around The Busch (Nationwide) 10/17/2014 |
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, and of course, a cordial "Good morning"
to our assigned reader, whose duty it is to make certain we speak no ill of the
good ship NASCAR or her brave Captain... or naked emperor, as the case may be. We
do hope your stay with us is a pleasant one.
Something
is askew with the title I chose for this perhaps less than epic endeavor. All
those clever little things one could do with "Busch"... things such
as "Buschwhackers" for instance... lose all
meaning when the word Nationwide is substituted. Ah, but that is about to
become a self-solving problem as that well-advertised insurance company departs
from its sponsorship of NASCAR's second tier series for greener pastures on the
hood of the #88 Hendrick Motorsports car of Dale Earnhardt Jr. When the 2015
season debuts at Daytona, the new sponsor of number two... oh yes, definitely
intended... will be XFinity, or is it X-Finity? Either way, it is sure to be shortened by gleefully
evil-thinking scribes such as this one to simply the X-Series, and sadly, it
just might be.
Having
finished Monday's column early, when race time came on Friday evening, this
scribe "kinda, sorta" watched it. That translates to also watching
reruns of American Pickers, while scrutinizing the Live Leaderboard for any
signs of action at Charlotte, then switching to the race to check it out. As
I've become accustomed to doing, I also had my Twitter feed open and was
passing the spare time (commercials) conversing with friends there, most of
whom were also watching the race to some degree. (Rate that, Nielsen!)
As the
laps wound down, young Ryan Blaney, stepping "up" from the Truck
series, assumed the lead and looked impressive for several laps, until passed
for the lead by his own teammate, Brad Keselowski. Folks... I love Brad
Keselowski, and I would like nothing more than to see him win every Cup race
from here to Homestead, but for Heaven's sake Brad, it's no sort of
accomplishment whatsoever for a driver of your caliber and talent to go out and
beat a bunch of kiddies simply because you have nothing better to do. The same
goes for Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and any of several other "Buschwhackers" that regularly drop down from their
thrones on high to mess with the minds and purses of the regulars on the Nationwide circuit.
I
expressed a similar opinion on Twitter, as best one can in 140 characters or
less, and BOOM! A lynch mob formed just over my right shoulder. There was some
discussion that followed, as folks allowed as how without the Cup gang taking
all the glory, there would be no sponsors for the Nationwide
series and no one would come to see the races.
The
first and most obvious point to be made here is that no one comes to see the Nationwide races now. Did you all see the size of that small
family gathering in Charlotte's huge main stretch grandstand on Friday night? It
could not have been compared to members of the Vienna Boys' Choir, though perhaps
the members of Diamond Rio would have been very close. In short, it would have
been close to impossible to have less spectators there.
Perhaps if they kept the gates locked?
**Note to Bruton Smith: The
multi-colored paint scheme on the grandstand seats in an attempt to make them
resemble folks wearing different colored clothing is fooling no one. Even the
dumbest fans can tell the difference between wooden seats and human beings. The
latter group has faces.
Now
then, another argument stated that it would cost the Nationwide
series sponsors if the boys from Cup stopped coming. Hello?!? That series already lost its SERIES sponsor, which could
only be replaced by one paying far less than was Nationwide, for the same
privileges. That sort of says that maybe it's not worth nearly as much as
NASCAR would like to think it is. The Cup series, on which all of NASCAR
depends, cannot attract enough sponsorship to go around, and ALL teams are
forced to sign with multiple sponsors merely to keep abreast of the ever rising
cost of NASCAR "trying out" this, that and the other part,
configuration or other changes to suit someone in an ivory tower somewhere...
someone in a suit.
We can
argue the Cup series another day, but for today, let's stick with the Bush
League, (Proper spelling) currently known as the Nationwide series. Someone
else trotted out the very argument I made for many years on this same subject;
it's good for the young up and comers to get to race against the big dogs. It
gives them experience. That one has credence, and at a point in time not far
removed, it was completely true and is a line this scribe has espoused many
times over. However, something has changed, and that something is huge.
Back in
"my" day, which in racing terms need not be all
that long ago... (Let's say 20 years, which to me is not long at all,
though I realize to some reading here today it is your life span. You too will
age and you'll see things from my perspective soon enough.) the
names of the Cup drivers found in the Busch series were names such as
Earnhardt, Waltrip, Gant, Martin and a
sprinkling of others. Has anyone ever wondered what those men were driving in
that series? Please allow me to enlighten you on that; Dale Earnhardt was
not... and never did... drive a Richard Childress owned or prepared car in the
Busch series. He drove a car owned and prepared in his own shop, which later
became Dale Earnhardt Inc., or DEI, a name more familiar to most. No, that
company was not built around or to service the Junior
edition of that name; it came into being as a means for Dale Senior to compete
in the Busch series... at his own expense.
The
exact same thing holds true for Darrell Waltrip. He too drove his own equipment
in the second tier series. Harry Gant drove almost exclusively for Ed Whitaker
(R.I.P Ed, who passed away just last week), a Busch series owner with no
connection to the Cup series. Ditto Mark Martin, who drove in that series for
Bill and Gail Davis. You remember them... Mark was replaced in their #1 Busch
ride by a kid named Gordon, later to be "stolen" from their tender
loving care by Rick Hendrick... and the rest, as they say, is history.
**Note: Mark Martin stayed active
in racing for so long that years after the time period mentioned here, he did
drive a car prepared by Jack Roush in the Busch/Nationwide series, but he is
the exception that proves the rule, not anecdotal proof that I'm wrong and
you're right.
The
point here is that back then, the cars were all fairly equal and no one in that
series had huge financial backing. Today, when the Cup drivers come calling,
they carry behind them the overweight wallets of Hendrick, Roush, Penske, Gibbs
and Childress, and as such, Nationwide races become nothing more than testing
facilities for those major Cup teams. When that became the norm, my argument in
favor of Cup drivers raping the second tier series did a 180º turn and I am now
planted firmly in opposition. It is in no way fair to expect a youngster in his
kindergarten stage of racing to have to face Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch or any
of the others and hope for any sort of equal footing.
They are
not learning from the masters at this point; they are simply being embarrassed
by them... oh and by the way, having their purse money stolen in the bargain.
That to me is reminiscent of the school bully stealing the lunch money of a
small child and laughing about it to boot. I find it quite sad that the only
adult in the room is NASCAR and that entity turns a blind eye to what's
happening, while uttering that time-worn excuse, "That's the way we've
always done it." I say, then it's time you changed the way you do it,
because this way isn't working anymore. We used to run streetcars on rails, but
we don't anymore... for much the same reason. Times have changed and
"things" become outmoded. Perhaps NASCAR itself has become outmoded?
Oh well,
how about a Classic Country Closeout gentle readers? By
now, you might have noticed that most of my choices tend to be by the gentlemen
of Country, not the ladies. That is not by accident, as too many of our gals
tend to offer a whiney, nasal quality and call it an accent. Though that is
true of many, it doesn't hold true for all. Patsy Cline, for instance, had one
of the clearest, bell-toned voices every to be recorded. Ditto for the Singing
Rage, Miss Patti Page. But back still farther in the annals of Country, there
was a time when other than the Carter girls, who sang only with family, there
was Kitty Wells... and then there was... well, Kitty Wells. Patsy Montana was
out there doing "B" Western movies, but never made it big on vinyl or
radio. Then, a new gal came to town, and I'd found a Country gal I still listen
to with awe and admiration. I've been meaning to do a few of her songs for you
for some time. Heaven knows, I have mentioned her again and again, so today, I give you Miss Jean Shepard, Mama's favorite Country
Lady.
So many,
many songs over the years, but let's go back to some of the really old ones;
Here is Jean doing one of her earliest hits, "Beautiful Lies."
Next
another of Mama's favorites, this one in a much lighter vein. Here is Jean singing, "Two
Whoops and a Holler."
Wasn't
that fun girls? That song gained tremendous popularity with young women back in the 50s. It
bordered on risqué for the times, and we all loved that. Now here's Jean with
one of her happier songs, and of course, another of Mama's favorites...
"You're Calling Me Sweetheart Again."
Then,
there was the other side of Jean. The overwhelming majority of her songs seemed
tinged with sadness, but some of her later ones carried a theme of revenge.
That probably reflects more on the song writers of the day than on the singer
herself, but she surely did do a great job on things like this next one,
"Many Happy Hangovers To You."
One
quick last one, because I mentioned it last week but played "I Love You Because" by Jim Reeves instead, so here is Jean's
version of the song.
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay