Top Row Seat - NASCAR In Hollywood
Dateline: 05/04/98NASCAR Off Track
The NASCAR family had the hype machine in full gear for their prime-time Saturday night special on ESPN entitled "NASCAR Night In Hollywood." Unfortunately, the show simply was not all that entertaining.
I thoroughly enjoy the Winston Cup Awards Banquet each year because it is all about the racing and the people involved in the sport that I love. This show was about... well... I'm not actually sure what they were trying to accomplish.
Based on conversations with fellow race fans and the e-mail I've received from you I am pretty sure that I am not alone in my dislike for this phoney program. I hope that NASCAR has heard the same message I have and doesn't try to do this again next year.
NASCAR needs to stick to the business of racing cars.
Ups And Downs On The Track
The biggest winner of the weekend (other than Mark Martin who won the race and Jeremy Mayfield who took over the points lead) has got to be Darrell Waltrip. I was ready for Ole' DW to hang up his chrome helmet and admit that he couldn't hang with the big boys any more. But since he sold his own team and went to drive for Dale Earnhardt he has once again proven that with the right equipment he can run up front with the best of them. Go DW!
It's hard to say that Bill Elliot has had good luck over the last two races but he is really very fortunate. Despite getting caught up in someone else's mess twice in as many weeks and getting airlifted out to the hospital after both incidents, Bill is extremely lucky that he is not seriously injured after hitting the wall in excess of 180mph and catching on fire... twice. This is a fine testament to the safety of NASCAR Winston Cup racing.
The biggest mistake of the week goes to Ward Burton. For the second week in a row Ward Burton caused a major mishap on the track. At Talladega Ward got down on the apron which upset his car and caused the wreck which involved nearly half the field. This week in California, Ward slid up after being three wide and pinched off Jimmy Spencer and Steve Grissom. As Ward came up the track Spencer and Grissom ran out of racing room and caused a seven car pile up. Ward drove on to a solid finish.
Both honest mistakes, but both very costly.
Want to strap me to Ernie Irvan's front bumper? I'm available in the chat room every Wednesday night at 8pm Eastern to answer questions and defend my opinion.
