Rockingham - Top Row Seat
Dateline: 02/22/98Persistence Pays Off
Ray Evernham and the "Rainbow Warriors" turned in another incredible performance this weekend. Jeff Gordon's crew took an ill-handling racecar and kept working on it until it was a winner. Gordon kept plugging along while the crew made changes on every pit stop.
At one point they put a spring rubber in and then on the very next stop they took it back out. They tried everything to get the car to handle. When it came down to the end the crew found the magic setup and Gordon drove it home.
I have said it before and he just keeps proving it over and over again. Ray Evernham is without a doubt the best crew chief in the sport today. He is a huge part of the reason that Gordon has now won 28 of the last 100 NASCAR Winston Cup races.
Ford, Chevy And Pontiac (Again)
For a while it looked like the Chevy teams were outclassed by NASCAR's latest rule changes. Fords dominated the race for most of the day. However, when the checkered flag flew there were Monte Carlos in four of the top ten spots including the important one. This has been the story of the last few years. The Chevy teams complain that the Fords have an advantage and then the Hendrick Motorsports team wins anyway.
Evernham, Gordon and Terry Labonte have single handedly kept the Monte Carlo from getting any concessions from NASCAR.
Las Vegas, Here We Come
Next week the Winston Cup tour makes it's way west to Las Vegas for the inaugural Las Vegas 400 Winston Cup race at the mile and a half tri-oval (sounds like every other new race track.) The race can be seen live on ABC at 3pm Eastern.
I understand that the track has sent out notices to its ticket holders that coolers are not permitted. That includes any beverage container. So let me get this straight. 100,000 people are going to go sit in the desert for 4 hours in the middle of the afternoon and they are not allowed to even bring in a bottle of water? If this truly is the case then I hope the greedy bastards fold under the lawsuits that come when people start passing out.
Welcome to Las Vegas, the city that exists solely to get every nickel it can from YOU.
Agree? Disagree? Want to throw hot spark plugs at me? I'm available in the chat room every Wednesday night at 8pm Eastern to answer questions and defend my opinion.
