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Seven thoughts about NASCAR |
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Written by Bob Ellis
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Friday, 07 December 2007 |
So I'm going to do this in point form:
1) If TSN (Total Sports Network) is Canada's leader in NASCAR coverage, and has the exclusive NASCAR broadcasting rights, then why the heck did they not televise the NASCAR Awards Banquet? Better yet, how come they didn't broadcast the first ever Canadian NASCAR Banquet held in Toronto (where TSN's studios are located)?
2) Did you know that the top 49 point finishers in NEXTEL Cup all made at least $1 000 000?
3) Add to that the fact that the top 42 point finishers all cleared $2 million?
4) Hey did you know that the space shuttle Atlantis will carry 3 NASCAR flags with it on their next mission (launch is Thursday Dec. 6) and one of those flags will go to the winner of the 2008 Daytona 500? Man that is out of this world! (couldn't resist the pun, sorry) The other two will be on display at NASA and at Daytona.
5) Want to know the real reason why Sears has pulled its sponsorship of the NASCAR Truck Series through their Craftsman tool line? Because it is called the NCTS (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) and it is being confused with the NCTS (NASCAR Canadian Tire Series) and Canadian Tire makes its own tools (guaranteed for life too) called Mastercraft. O.K. this isn't really the reason, I actually don't know what the real reason is besides what I can find at NASCAR.com - which isn't really much. I just thought I would stir up the pot a bit on this one.
6) You don't believe Jimmie Johnson is Champion material? Then check out Jimmie's stats since the Chase was introduced:
Year,Races,Wins,T-5s,T-10s
2004,36,8,20,23
2005,36,4,13,22
2006,36,5,13,24
2007,36,10,20,24
Totals,144,27,66,93
Now here is the kicker: Jimmie's wins, top-5s and top-10s are the most among all drivers from 2004-2007. That makes him the most consistent driver, (even better than Jeff Gordon), in the last 4 years. So there! I got this info from Duane Cross at NASCAR.com and his chart is a lot nicer than mine.
7) The abuse of the Owner's Points and Past Champion's Provisional's continue to make NASCAR look second rate with Penske taking all of the Owner's point from the #2 Miller Dodge driven by Kurt Busch and giving them to the #77 car driven by rookie Sam Hornish. Why is Penske doing this? Because he can.
By giving the #2's Owner's Points to the 77 car that guarantee's Hornish's start in the first 5 races of the season and it is assumed that after those first 5 races Sam will be solidly in the Top 35 and his guarantee of a starting spot will continue. But wait, how does this affect Kurt? It doesn't really, because he has 6 past Champion Provisionals that he can use to guarantee his starting spot in any race that he fails to qualify for based on speed. It is also assumed that Kurt will also be solidly in the Top 35 after the first 5 races too.
I don't blame Penske for this, I blame NASCAR. Penske is operating within the confines of the rules made by NASCAR and any good businessman/team owner would do the same - I know I would. It is NASCAR's fault that things like this continue to happen and until they get rid of that stupid Top 35 rule it will continue to happen. So much for the parity that NASCAR says it strives for.
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