As long as we are NASCAR bashing, er, critiquing…
Who stayed up and watched the Xfinity (er, Busch, er, Sportsman) “race” last evening?
It was follow the leader for most of the “race” followed by an expensive wreck-fest at the end. Nine cars left on the lead lap. Congratulations to Austin Dillon for his excellent guesses and luck, he came home as the first finisher.
But let’s see–their engines are limited, rather like the go carts at your local public track. I know why (to keep them out of the stands), but nonetheless the engine builders hands are tied, unlike, say, the Modifieds at Showtime. Press the pedal, hear a sickening moan, unlike Josh Todd’s beautiful ride. Is that racing?
Annnnnnd they cannot pass below the yellow line. Again, I know why (same as above), but it is rather like driving down any public highway with a double line, is it not? You are simply not going to pass the guy in front of you by getting under him. Is that racing?
But worst of all, they cannot even go as fast as the car will eventually go. That is, they cannot push the car in front of them for any length of time. Presumably, this is to prevent “the big one”, of which they nonetheless had two or three…
Think about that. They have to lift “just because”. So, per the rules, they have to simply follow the car in front of them.
Between the plate and the aero, one cannot pull out to pass, they drop back like a stone. And you have to get off the gas constantly per the rules. Is that even racing?
Seems to me that the actual “win” is determined by who pushes the longest without getting penalized.
And it appeared that last night, after a “race” of mostly having their hands tied per all of the above, that was precisely what was happening, particularly with Logano, until the inevitable happened, and there were virtually no cars left to do any pushing. So the few that remained simply followed Austin around for the last few laps. Was that racing…?
Share your thoughts and/or “fixes” if you like.
