[From Daytona Beach…staring at the surf, the babes…]
NASCAR Quiz: [Sorry, I left my sports books back home and
I’m struggling for a quiz down here in Daytona.] 1) How many
miles is it around Daytona and what other track is bigger? 2)
What is the degree of banking on turns 1-4? 3) What is the
highest qualifying speed ever at Daytona? 4) In less than 20
words describe why NASCAR has chosen to use restrictor plates
at two superspeedways. 5) Name the four who won 3 or more
Winston / Nextel Cup races in 2003. Answers below.
The Daytona 500
I can’t help talking about it since I attended Sunday’s spectacle.
I didn’t have the best seat, in the middle of the superstretch
(across from the main grandstands and the start / finish line) but
that ended up being where the spectacular accident occurred with
Michael Waltrip flipping over. It’s truly amazing how safe the
cars are since the death of Dale Earnhardt three years ago.
Waltrip could easily have been killed were it not for all the
improvements, but it was still a scary few minutes for all of us
until we saw he was O.K. And trust me, while a spinout every
now and then adds for a little excitement, any true NASCAR fan
doesn’t want to see anyone hurt, despite what some outsiders
may think. I had a pit in my stomach watching that one.
Of course the day was all about President Bush, err, Dale
Earnhardt Jr. I’m a “Junior” fan like over the half the crowd, it
seems. He dominates the sales merchandise, that’s for sure. But
let me just give you some random, haphazard impressions of my
two days at the track.
I went to the Busch race on Saturday. For those of you not
familiar with this series, it’s just as exciting as the Big Boys race,
only about 7 -10 mph slower. Many of the top drivers such as
Junior race in this one, too, but it’s also a proving ground for
younger drivers looking to move up. Kind of like a glorified
AAA, top minor league for the NASCAR set. Unfortunately,
after 14 great laps the rains came. What a freakin’ bummer. But
where I was sitting proved to be a super spot because before the
race four F-16s screamed directly above us, only 100 feet or so
away. Holy cow, what a rush.
I was sitting for both races with two groups of firemen, one set
from Providence and another from Baltimore. Just super guys.
We met because one fellow had his arm in a sling and after I first
sat down I did what any good American would do, offered to get
him a beer, thinking of his handicap and all. He declined but
when I returned with my tall-boy (only $4.50…not a bad deal for
a big sporting event), he was most appreciative. It’s then he told
me of his rotator cuff surgery, job-related, along with the time he
fell through the floor of a burning building, breaking both ankles.
That set off all the boys, talking about their various escapes.
[Both groups worked in bad neighborhoods.] I also learned that
today’s firemen are trained to just hose the building down from
outside and not risk injury by going in, unless they know people
are inside, of course. The old-timers can’t stand this. “I thought
our job was to save property?” they told me. Now, they feel,
many are just getting into the profession for a nice paycheck.
Interesting.
I only bring all this up because I know some of you who haven’t
attended NASCAR races before have a certain image of the
crowd. I’m here to tell you, they are the best, and it’s not even
close. Jets fans, Yankees fans, any Philly area fans, suck
compared to the good old boys, and girls, of this sport. You have
to picture there were 180,000 fans, at least, on Sunday and I
didn’t see one bad incident. True, many get hammered but we’re
all just having a good time and you don’t even hear any cussing.
It’s as family friendly as you’ll get.
The problems have to do with logistics. It’s a long day. Sunday,
for example, I left my hotel at 8:00 AM and got home at 7:30 PM
because of the traffic situation, but the time goes by pretty
quickly…and these are the easiest people in the world to talk to.
Some other random notes:
Tickets ain’t cheap. I paid $75 for Saturday’s Busch race (I did
not go to the restart on Monday…had to do this column, after all,
and also wanted to hit the beach). The 500 on Sunday was $145
and that for a so-so seat. Picture a middle-class family of four
and what this does to their budget.
The total purse is in the neighborhood of $16 million, with the
winner receiving a minimum of $1,391,730…but you have to
imagine how much money this sport costs to field an effective
team, try over $10 million. I heard Darrell Waltrip on Imus the
other day and he said one reason Joe Gibbs may have left
NASCAR to return to football is money. Seriously.
Scott Wimmer, the rookie who finished third, caused quite a stir
before the race because he was recently arrested for DUI in
North Carolina. NASCAR is a straight-laced, highly religious
bunch and does all it can to burnish that family image, so you
had fellow drivers like Kyle Petty upset that Wimmer was
allowed to race with the charges pending.
Ben Affleck was grand marshal. I always wondered how they
come up with some of these. But you should have heard the
crowd reaction when it was announced Whoopi Goldberg was
there. No one was mean about it (surprising yours truly,
frankly), everyone just went “What the heck is she here for?”
For starters, she’s not even a fan of the sport.
The New Jersey Nets Rodney Rogers, a huge NASCAR fan, was
in attendance. I have to tell you, and I’m just stating facts here,
he was probably one of only 100 or so African-Americans.
NASCAR is trying to build up a base, but it’s not working. Time
to finally write Rodney and tell him I want to be part of his race
team when he quits basketball. [Mr. Rogers being a fellow Wake
Forest alum. I realize I’m repeating this bit but I’m hoping it
gets back to him.]
Michael McDonald sang the national anthem on Saturday; kind
of neat since he had just been dissed by Mary J. Blige at the
Grammys.
Watched Air Force One land, the landing strip being right behind
my seat. That’s an awesome sight. Once he entered the track,
the president was on the other side from us, however. I’ll
comment on security in my next “Week in Review,” but it wasn’t
nearly as tight as you were led to believe. Not good.
The reason why everyone likes “Junior” is because he truly is the
humble guy he is portrayed to be. What you love about him
most are the stories about how he treats his friends from back
home. He really is just one of the boys, as are a lot of the
drivers, another reason to love the sport. [Though there are a few
renegades, which adds a little spice. Some of them really do hate
each other, such as the running feud between Tony Stewart and
John Andretti.]
Stuff
–So Red Sox Nation gets screwed again with the amazing deal
that sends Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees. It’s also incredible to
think that the Texas Rangers will have ended up spending $140
million on A-Rod for 3 last-place finishes as they pick up $67
million of the $179 million left on his contract. Pity my beloved
Mets, too, because once again the Yankees manage to pull off a
move that will dominate baseball conversation this year in the
world’s greatest media market (that is along with the steroid
discussions). And picture A-Rod and Derek Jeter in the same
town. Lots of “Page Six” talk, that’s for sure
–NASCAR driver Jimmy Spencer on Toyota’s entry into the
Craftsman Truck Series.
“Those sons of bitches bombed Pearl Harbor, don’t forget.”
[U.S. News & World Report]
–Steroids update: In case you missed it, the 4 indicted in the
BALCO case pleaded innocent and attorneys for the men said it
was outrageous no sports stars have been charged. Yup, as I
wrote during the World Series this will dominate the sport of
baseball this year, and the Summer Olympics as well. Aside
from Barry Bonds, other baseball stars who testified include
Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield. Track’s Marion Jones also
did, as well as the NFL’s Bill Romanowski, a dirtball of the year
and one of the worst people on the planet.
Victor Conte, the lead figure in the scandal, reportedly withdrew
more than $480,000 from his personal and business accounts
over the past year, payments made to him by the athletes. To be
continued.
–The Boston Celtics have an interesting case on their hands; that
of Vin Baker who violated his alcohol rehab aftercare program
and missed a 10th straight game, thus triggering a clause in his
contract allowing the Celtics to bag him. By requesting waivers
as a step towards outright releasing him, the Celts save $36
million over the next 2 ½ years. Of course the players
association is all up in arms and Baker’s agent says he’s ready to
come back. You can’t even call this a tragedy. Baker has been
given more than ample opportunity to set his life straight. Get
outta town…and I hope Boston sticks to its guns on this one.
Actually, I’d love something like this to go all the way to the
Supreme Court.
–I missed a dramatic moment in golf this weekend with John
Daly’s amazing triumph, his first in 9 years (speaking of
problems with alcohol, as well as a slew of messy marriages).
Great for the sport if he can keep his life straight. In the same
tournament, Vijay Singh had his streak of 12 top tens stopped
when he missed the cut. He was just two shy of the all-time
mark. And, golf fans, you obviously have to take note of Phil
Mickelson’s continued resurgence and even Jesper Parnevik has
been right there in every event. Plus, how about another top ten
for 50-year-old Jay Haas? Awesome. I think he has already
made enough money this year to make the top 125 for 2005. I’ll
have to figure out later how many other over 50 types have
accomplished this.
–29% of LSU’s football players graduate.
–This story didn’t get much publicity, but it’s more than a bit
embarrassing that the U.S. men’s soccer team failed to qualify
for the Olympics.
–Congratulations to my Wake Forest Demon Deacons (home of
Jay Haas) for their crucial victory over Cincinnati on Sunday.
Oh, “that Chris Paul is one special player.” [I had to include that
for you hoops junkies out there, because even I am sick of
hearing that phrase. Alright already, Paul is obviously going to
be an NBA star before it’s all through. Now think of something
original to say about him, Dick Vitale et al.] Just call him
‘great,’ though he’s still a freshman and will act like one at
times.
–And congratulations to the most underrated team in the country
right now, North Carolina State, for proving that Duke can be
beaten. In the week leading up to the game, however, State’s
Scooter Sherrill basically called Duke’s J.J. Redick a fag for the
way he shot the ball, an incredibly stupid remark, but as we
always said at Wake, if you can’t go to college, go to State.
[And I just lost my NC State readers…oh well, I’ll go trolling
elsewhere.]
–Italy only has one national sport, soccer, but it elevates stars
such as skier Alberto Tomba to mythic proportions. So it should
come as no surprise that the nation is in mourning this week for
cyclist Marco Pantini, who was found dead in his hotel room
over the weekend. Pantini is the last to win the Tour de France
before Lance Armstrong’s current streak and his charismatic
style won him legions of fans. Sad story. No word on cause of
death as I write this but he did have all sorts of medicines and
tranquilizers in his room.
–In the latest Sagarin computer rankings (last week), here are the
4 worst Division I men’s basketball programs out of 326 teams.
323. Army
324. Navy
325. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
326. North Carolina A&T
Army and Navy should be embarrassed. But we’ll forgive them.
They’re making rather significant contributions elsewhere, I
think you’d agree.
–Lots of stories in Florida of course over Miami football recruit
Willie Williams, the felon who was just released on bond after an
assault charge. He really is a fascinating case, though, as his
high school teachers all spoke highly of him at his bail hearing.
Williams scored 1070 on his SATs and has a 3.1 GPA, but he’s
been hit with 10 theft-related charges in the past 5 years (he’s
19), including one where he stole $3,800 of stereo equipment
from an electronics store. Believe it or not, I’m tempted to give
him a chance, but he should start at the JUCO level to see if he
can straighten his life out first before being allowed to step up to
the big time.
–And St. John’s basketball team continues to remain in the
headlines for all the wrong reasons. President Rev. Donald J.
Harrington caught a lot of flack following the Pittsburgh incident
where six players met up with a prostitute long after curfew by
saying the “culture” of the basketball team was to blame.
Student groups at St. John’s said this was a racist statement, as
all six players are black.
Bull. Harrington replied, “Obviously, I’m not speaking about
ethnic or religion or whatever. But for something like this to
happen, there has to be a sense to somebody that this is
acceptable.”
One student, Lindsey Altino, said, “I think he needs to apologize
because that is not the culture of basketball if he is referring to
African-Americans playing it.”
Wrong, Ms. Altino. It IS the freakin’ culture of basketball, you
moron. It’s an attitude that has permeated all levels. Just check
out the jerks at the NBA All-Star game to get a better
understanding of how it started.
[As an aside to New York area followers of the situation, I don’t
go for the apologists for St. John’s Elijah Ingram. He made a
conscious decision to hang with his boys that night and he is
paying the price like the rest of them, though I do hope he turns it
around at another school.]
–Speaking of racists, New York Knicks General Manager Isiah
Thomas just traded two white players, Keith Van Horn and
Michael Doleac.………………………JUST KIDDING! In
getting Tim Thomas and Nazr (sic) Mohammed in return the
Knicks made themselves better.
–So this guy Walter John Bonin Jr. was just arrested on seven
federal charges of extortion for sending threatening e-mails to
Country star George Strait’s manager and fan club president.
Bonin said he would “go Rambo” if Strait didn’t record any of
his tunes and now faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.
Bonin denies the charges. This could be one of our “Idiot of the
Year” candidates.
Top 3 songs for the week of 2/20/71: #1 “One Bad Apple” (The
Osmonds) #2 “Knock Three Times” (Dawn) #3 “Rose Garden”
(Lynn Anderson)
NASCAR Quiz Answers: 1) Daytona is 2.5 miles around;
Talladega (Alabama) is 2.66. 2) The degree of banking at
Daytona is 31. 3) The highest qualifying speed ever at Daytona
is 210.364 by Bill Elliott back in 1987. This year it was around
189. Which leads to answer #4… 4) Restrictor plates were
introduced in 1988, following Elliott’s high-speed example,
‘because NASCAR was afraid that cars going that fast would flip
into the grandstands.’ Elliott went 212 at Talladega in ’87 as
well, so these two tracks require the plates which thus cut down
on speeds. The policy is criticized, but it certainly levels out the
field some, though many drivers say there is a conspiracy with
the D.E.I. team of Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip since they have been
dominating the superspeedways the past few years. 5) Winners
of 3 or more races in ’03: Ryan Newman, 8; Kurt Busch, 4;
Jimmie Johnson, 3; Jeff Gordon, 3.
[And that, friends, wraps up NASCAR quizzes perhaps until the
fall. You can all breath a sigh of relief. Nothing but baseball
coming up for a while.]
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. Space…the final frontier.
