Good bye, Gopher -- hello MONSTER!!!
It's sentimental tear-jerker race coverage viewing it’s the last race on Fox, no more “Boogity-boogity-boogity, let’s go racin’ boys,” no more of little Digger’s antics, no more jokes about Dr. Dick Berggren being so old he called Roman chariot races, and no more Hollywood Hotel. Fans can at least ease the transition to the cold professionalism of ESPN’s team in late July knowing Larry MacReynolds plays a major role as cutaway car specialist and tech analyst for the upcoming six broadcasts on TNT, and they do have a cartoon figure, the racing “Buddy.” For all their gimmicks, blatant self-promotion, and side-shows, Mike Joy is as good or better than Dr. Jerry Punch as the play-by-play man, and Darrell Waltrip, continuing to live up to his old driver nickname of “Jaws” is surely one of the best color analysts in the business particularly now that John Madden will no longer be in the NFL booth. Love him, hate him, or just tolerate him, Ol’ DW knows his stuff and captures the most important part of a race, FUN. With all the rain delay time last weekend, race fans probably got a little too generous a serving of the Fox race crew, but they did what they could to fill in the dead time.
The Monster Mile at Dover is a race that pretty much broadcasts itself. All the viewer needs is some information to sort out the numbers on the sheet metal flying across the track in wreckage and keep track of the leader board. There is seldom a lull in the action in the Delaware madhouse. Some might describe it as a giant Bristol, twice as long, but it’s a track that provides for tons of excitement, close racing, and thoughtful strategy a great introduction to those who can’t understand why anyone would want to watch cars just driving around in circles.
Eyes will be on the #88 team to see if some new energy from a new crew boss can turnaround one of the most disappointing performances by a top driver in a long time. (Well, that’s the official media spin on it – we remind our readers Kevin Harvick’s situation is similar.
Dover is upgraded over last year with some substantial improvements over what was one of the worst pit areas on the circuit. There will now be 43 complete pill stalls and other improvements to improve entrance and exit. It’s never good to have a race decided because of some tangle, bump, or grind off the main action.
Forty nine drivers are entered to compete in Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400. Of the drivers who must qualify to make the field include Talladega winner, Brad Keselowski, who’ll be in the #25 Hendricks car this weekend. It will be Mike Skinner’s first race with Tommy Baldwin racing as that independent team attempts to find something to build on to become a competitive team. Derrike Cope, who scored one of his two Cup victories at Dover almost 20 years ago seeks to make the field so he can take the green flag and find a parking spot. Other mystery men include Max Papis, #13; David Starr, #06; and Tony Raines, #37. the 09 entry for James Finch can hardly be called an odd-ball team given their finish at Charlotte last week and stunning victory at Talladega. Clearly, there’s a pit crew there that can take on the best. J.J. Yeley was to have raced for a Mrs. Jeremy Mayfield entry in car #41 while suspended owner/driver attempts to come up with more convincing defense to his drug test failure. The last reason was something like his shaving cream and breathe mints combined to cause a false positive for a date rape drug or something??? The team withdrew its application to start. Dave Blaney in #66 is another candidate to try to make it and park it. Regan Smith will attempt to qualify the #78 ride for Furniture Row Racing – take a few laps, sell a few sofas, all in a day’s work. Finally, of the contenders racing to get in, Joe Nemechek, now racing for a team owned by his mom, has some sponsorship for this race. One has to wonder if this fellow would be better served taking his family resources to the Truck series where they could, quite possibly have the right stuff to win on a regular basis.
Among the big guys, surely Richard Childress and Jack Roush will try to get their drivers in better shape to use the long haul of the season to prepare them for that fateful night on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay in September when the field for the chase will be chosen. Will Joey Logano keep moving up as he has in recent weeks to where a top five is now in reach?
We know the focus will inevitably be on the workings of the #88 team, but Mike, DW and the rest of the broadcasters can’t let discussing the political upheaval in Junior Nation to distract from what’s going on with forty two other cars.
The real story is this is Dover, this is the Monster Mile, and some drivers are going to leave very angry while but a select few will improve their fortunes. The forecast calls for sunny weather around 80 degrees perfect for murder and mystery in broad daylight.
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