NASCAR Fan Quits

The 2007 season is over, and I won’t be back for 2008, thanks to NASCAR’s brain-dead decision to run the Clone of Tomorrow. I have followed the sport since 1963, but no more.
CoT/clone/kit/IROC — all of the above. It has the aero of a brick. That hideous wing looks like a punk tuner car, and that splitter looks like a snowplow. I was going to say, what was NASCAR thinking, but, obviously, they weren’t thinking at all. Oh, it has enough headroom for Mikey Waltrip or an NBA player, but is that any reason to ruin the sport — so Mikey can be more comfortable?
I’m sick of these announcers trying to make people like this turkey. Also, I’m sick of the gag order by NASCAR not to badmouth the clone. NASCAR has a new SS — and I don’t mean “super sport,” but the SS of World War II.
Am I the only one who feels this way? Has NASCAR put a gag order on everyone? I’ve seen several letters protesting the clone. I guess next year they will be ex-fans, too.

More On Indy Racing

Paul Taylor’s letter “IRL Has Gone Wrong” was an interesting take on racing as we know it today. I think most race fans will agree with him 100 percent.
I recently reread Andy Granatelli’s book, “They Call Me Mister 500,” for the first time in probably 30 years. What a contrast to Indy racing today.
There’s no innovation, nothing new and the same “cookie-cutter cars and engines,” which has resulted in little passing and, other than speeds, not really much excitement. This approach almost spelled the end of midget racing back in the 1940s, when fans became tired of follow-the-leader races. Remember the old saying, “It takes an Offy to beat an Offy,” which we heard a lot back then?
Wouldn’t it be great to again have an innovator like Andy Granatelli or maybe an exciting engine like the Novi? I will never forget seeing Duke Nalon out-accelerating the field in 1949 and leading by many car-lengths at the end of the first lap. Guess we’ll never see anything like that again. Today, we have been conditioned to accept the aforementioned “follow-the-leader” affairs with cars that look alike — same engine, etc. Wonder if earlier-day mechanics would have accepted the fact that they weren’t allowed to work on the engine?
This is a big reason I haven’t attended a 500 since 1999 — after seeing every race for 50 years.

Take This, NASCAR

I saw some comments about NASCAR, and I think they are right on target.
1. Everything about running the races has become a gimmick or tricked up.
2. The Car of Tomorrow is a generic, ugly boondoggle — a big, costly mistake.
3. A lot of people don’t like The Chase.
4. Leaving its roots is running off its most loyal fans.

Season-Ending Thoughts

OK, now that Bourdais has trounced the rest of Champ Car, he can take over for that other F-1 also-run French-Canadian whiner who has defected to the taxi cabs.
After Fernando Alonso’s completely mercenary actions at McLaren, I would never want to see him successful again. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton has exhibited class and gentlemanly behavior that has not become the norm in F1. I would like to see him win the championship he fought so gallantly for this year.
Finally, after the embarrassment that your correspondent/political hack brough upon NSSN during the F-1 post-race interviews, it is my hope that there is a replacement by next year. It is hard to imagine that F-1 competitors will give him the respect he didn’t show them in their venue. Kudos to Robert Kubica, who set this hack straight.

No Mopar Magic

I would like to know what the manager of the NASCAR Nextel Cup racing cars of Dodge does on Monday mornings. I’m sure his boss would like to know as well as the stockholders.
When you only have two cars in the top 13 at Homestead, there must be a real problem. When the No. 17 Ford would pull the No. 2 Dodge on the restart and go away and hide, there must be a lack of horsepower, et al. You know the No. 2 driver will mash the button and has won a championship with Ford.
The stockholders should ask: Is it the car, engine or crew? I don’t think the owners are short of cash as they have won with other cars. And one more point: Mr. Penske should be able to get a plate race at least once with a Dodge. Daytona will be here soon, and they had better get their act together. Heck, go back to the slant-six.
Fifty years a Dodge fan.