Top Row Seat - Bristol
Dateline: 08/25/98Last week Mark Martin fell just short of doing what he felt he had to honor his late father. This week in Bristol Mark was not to be denied as he was strong all day leading the most laps, including the final 181 laps, on the way to his fifth win of the season.
Not since Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 has there been such a popular victory. Many of the fans present knew about Mark's recent tragedy and there were very few in the stands who did not cheer when Mark crossed the finish line. It's personal stories like this and race fans' respect for the people involved that separates our sport from the "stick and (juiced) ball" sports.
Frustrating Struggle
In the chat room last week I had a discussion with a race fan who was asking about the Tabasco team. I had told this race fan that I believed that Darrell Waltrip still had some talent (as evidenced when he was running the #1 car) but that the team and the motors were weak.
My statements were supported during the first Winston Cup practice of the weekend when DW turned his first practice laps on Friday morning. Darrell was told that he ran a 15.94 and a 16-flat (which was 2-3 tenths off of the leaders) and was asked what changes they should make to improve the car. DW's response was "The car is great. The motor is soft." and later on in the session he ran a 15.92 and reported back to his team "That's all this thing will do."
It's a shame that "Ole' DW" can't get himself a decent ride. When he was in the #1 car he was performing much better and much more consistently than the up-and-coming Steve Park. Sure, Park is still a rookie. But Steve Park was handpicked by Dale Earnhardt to drive his car. For the almost-washed-up-perennial-champions-provisional Darrell Waltrip to run consistently up front and nearly win a race in just a handful of starts still indicates that the driver can still get the job done.
Will someone please put DW in the competitive ride that he deserves?
