Of NASCAR and Head Trauma

You know, you'd think based on that subject line that I was going to discuss Jerry Nadeau. (Random Nadeau shoutout! Woohoo!)

Head Trauma

I woke up migrainey. Still came in to work. I don't know whether to blame too little Coca-Cola yesterday, too many brownies, the Reese's magic shell on my ice cream (it was brownies with ice cream and magic shell - AWESOME), the cleaning I did (laundry and taking out the trash), or the fact that for the first time since college I slept until 11 on Sunday.

NASCAR - Juan Pablo Montoya

Why working with a road racer is of the awesome - he has the ability to point out stuff I totally wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Like how Scott Pruett jerked the car to block Montoya, thereby becoming complicit in the wrecking. (Hey, the other great part - I got to educate the coworker on car position and when in NASCAR Montoya would have absolute ownership of the spot.)

It's neat to have people with opposite backgrounds, because we educate each other. He knows road racing and the technical side like whoa. I know more of the "understood" rules of NASCAR and the personalities of the drivers. With regards to the Busch race, having him handy was really eye-opening because Pruett and Montoya both come from a different background than NASCAR. Their racing expectations and attitudes are different from the other guys. I can see where Montoya made a mistake that he'll have to learn from (had he pulled the same move with Tony Stewart, the reaction from the crowd would have been different, as would the reaction from the media). Also, he wasn't far enough up to really claim that position. He should have backed off. But as the coworker pointed out, Pruett ran smoothly through all turns, but he made the effort to pinch Montoya at that turn. Pruett went wider than he intended going in to the turn, left the door open and tried to correct before Montoya was in there fully and had claim on the position. The problem was, were they racing as NASCAR competitors, or were they racing as open wheel racers? In that moment, what was their mindset? (Because I honestly feel it's harder to adjust the mindset when competing against someone from another form of racing when you have experience in both. They're different styles. Different cars. The techniques used are different, as evidenced by the fact that Boris Said pretty much schools everyone on how to run road courses.)

Anyway, I think Montoya and Pruett both were complicit and sadly, that taints Montoya's first win slightly. But it's better to get some controversy over and done with early, because he is still learning. It's more than about learning to drive a different kind of car. There's also a different mindset. And I have no doubt that it's better to learn about what you do when you make mistakes in the Busch Series than to learn off the nose of Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon. Their lessons will end up with you in the wall. Which, you know, entertaining as all get out, but not conducive to a good points day. *g*

Coming later, pictures that make me happy (as I'm cleaning off my computer).

Of NASCAR

Because the rest of this post will be me trying to take the high road and be amused, I'll start with a cute picture.

( Vickers and Reichert - Totally my favorite driver and crew chief )

And yes, the clamoring for a Red Bull commercial featuring Reichert getting sprayed with Red Bull by Vickers is already in demand. How could it not be? They are that awesome.

I still plan on shaving Vickers, though.

***

For those who haven't heard, the state of Washington has a problem with NASCAR. More precisely, some outspoken lawmakers and a few moronic citizens who managed to make good news have a problem with NASCAR.

Basically, the legislators bring it down to class. Did you know that NASCAR fans are white trash, rednecks (well, I'll give them that, but we say it with love while they say it with derision), stupid, prone to crime, and will bring down the property value because they'll have junky cars in their yard? Oh, and my favorite part...all NASCAR fans are Southern, which makes all of the previous statements even MORE true. (That one from a resident, not a legislator.)

On the plus side, what I love about people is when they get ticked off at legislators for representing them poorly. See that article above (who rightly point out concerns about public funds paying for a private company - I have problems with that in ANY situation). See this article from a portion of Washington state that wants the track.

All in all, the funniest part of the whole deal is that they erroneously called Richard Petty a drunkard (making the statement he'd been arrested for DUI - let it be known that Petty doesn't drink as his mama forbid it, but he did get in major legal trouble for bump drafting on a highway) as a means of insulting the sport. Yet do we have issues with athletes and drugs? Not really. Do we have issues with drunk driving? Very rarely. Do our athletes commit crimes of violence? Pretty much no.

To top it all off, insulting the sport's fans is a direct insult to the drivers. And Washington state has two drivers who are fine men: Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne.

In the end (and to conclude, because I've avoided getting angry so far and want to keep it that way, LOL), I'm firing off a letter to the legislator who made the property value statement. He did a disservice to his constituents and is perpetuating a form of white on white prejudice based purely on class, when I guarantee you the guy couldn't pick a redneck out of a crowd. (Note to Washington legislators - the necks are not actually physically red! *gasp*)