Happy Hour: The great debate
By Jay Hart, Yahoo! Sports Jun 30, 3:09 am EDT
This week’s mailbag is dedicated to the idea that no matter what you say, people will disagree with you … even if they actually agree.
Hi Jay, I just voted in the Yahoo! poll on whether Joey Logano deserved to win on Sunday. I was disheartened to see that the results showed that 51 percent of the voters disagreed with me. And then I read your article where you stated pretty much the same thing.
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Shame on you Jay!
Joey Logano and his crew did what was necessary to keep him on the track with the rain approaching. It’s not like this was a big secret to the other drivers. Every team knew that the rain was coming and did their best to be in Joey’s position at the end.
Come on people! Give the young man and his crew what is due them. … A congratulations for being in the front of the other cars when the race ended.
Sam Nichols
Pewaukee, Wisc.
On the Joey Logano article – I think you are way off base. Logano as well as Reutimann’s wins are bogus. Rain shortened races need to be a thing of the past. Any time it is feasible (i.e. not interfering with travel to the next race site) the race should be completed the following day. Otherwise we will continue to see second rate drivers winning races based on capricious factors like the elements.
Donald Graham
Zephyrhills, Fla.
See what I mean?
To clarify things, I believe Joey Logano’s win at New Hampshire is legitimate. Did he catch a break to get it? Absolutely, but as Sam points out Logano and his crew made a gutsy call to put them in a position to win and it paid off.
As for completing the race next day, you mean to tell me that you’d stick around another 16 hours or so to see 27 laps of racing, because that’s all that was left Sunday? There are plenty of things to complain about NASCAR; calling a race official after the halfway point isn’t one of them.
After congratulating Joey Logano, Tony Stewart said this about the 19-year-old’s victory: “Man, you take ‘em any way you can get ‘em. That’s as much as a strategy as shocks and springs and everything else.”
Everybody knew that the rain was coming just like everybody knew that Joey would get his first win sooner or later. If the rain came 10 laps earlier, the fans would be calling Ryan Newman lucky for winning the race on low a low tank of gas, but if the rain came 10 laps later, the Jeff Gordon haters would be out in full force calling Jeff Gordon’s latest win lucky or accuse NASCAR of giving Jeff the win. This proves to show that nobody is satisfied.
When we finish the spring Dover race, FOX haters are partying while the TNT haters are preparing for six weeks of hell. When TNT finishes, those haters are holding the party while ESPN/ABC haters are out in full force to the point that they will likely start blaming the network for Jimmie Johnson’s chase success.
Jessy Scholl
Mandan, N.D.
Out of this season’s 17 races, how many “cheap” wins, i.e., rain shortened or green/white/checkers have there been? I know of at least four. This new “politically correct” NASCAR is one of the reasons longtime fans are leaving the fold. Regardless of how remarkable Logano’s progress has been, he should have finished well out of the top 10 today. A legitimate Chase contender should have earned the win, and the 10 extra points.
Tim Ferrall
Riverside, Calif.
Political correctness has nothing to do with it, Tim. First off, NASCAR came up with the green/white/checkered finishes to appease fans who wanted to see a finish under green, not yellow. And if rain-shortened races were an issue, then fans would have left a long time ago. According to Buz McKim, who is the go-to guy when it comes to all things historical when it comes to NASCAR, “the first rain-shortened Cup race was held on April 15, 1951 at Hillsboro, N.C. The scheduled 150 miler was cut short on Lap 95. Fonty Flock won. However, the first Cup race ever shortened for any reason was due to darkness, ironically at Hillsboro on October 29, 1950. Lee Petty took the win.”
Good morning Jay!!! I’m tired of these races ending due to rain. Let’s use yesterday as an example. I woke up and was watching Speed Channel yesterday morning and they were talking about the chance of rain being very high around the time the end of the race is starting. Why doesn’t NASCAR bump the start time of the race up 30 minutes or 1 hour? Do they not pay attention to the weather until after the race starts?
Brian Cook
Wilder, Ky.
I hear ya, Brian, but there are several problems with this. First off, say you’re a fan who planned on watching the race at 2 p.m. ET, only when you turn on your TV you find they’re already 100 laps into the race. You’re probably not going to be too happy. And while there was rain in Sunday’s forecast, the red flag that stopped action for more than 15 minutes wasn’t. Had that not come out, the race most likely would have run to its completion before the rain came.
Are we not proving here that you absolutely cannot please all the people all the time.
It’s happening. Keselowski sixth, Junior 13th at New Hampshire. Sooner or later businessman Rick Hendrick is going to have to overrule friend Rick Hendrick and put Keselowski into a Hendrick car for a full-time ride in 2010.
Rick Hendrick has been patient, but it seems that no matter what equipment, no matter who the crew chief, Junior simply can’t put himself into position for a win. And 13th doesn’t exactly add up to spot in the Chase, with time winding down.
Rick Hendrick didn’t get to where he is by embracing futility. Hendrick Motorsports is arguably the hottest property in Cup racing this side of Stewart-Haas, which runs Hendrick equipment. Only one of the Hendrick cars is underperforming, and it just happens to be driven by a popular driver. But in these uncertain economic times, when push comes to shove, it just may be Dale Earnhardt Junior who gets shoved out the door.
It won’t be an easy decision for Hendrick, but it’ll be pragmatic.
Will he make the tough decision when the time comes? Or will Junior finally realize what’s at stake and turn his performance around? The clock is ticking, and it ain’t in Junior’s favor.
Mark D. Knight
New Salisbury, Ind.
If businessman Hendrick has his way, Junior won’t be going anywhere … ever, or at least not as long as he’s among the top-10 most marketable athletes in America.
That line on Jr. that he is alive is uncalled for. If you don’t like Jr. keep it to your self. But guess we can [sic] take you off just like TV. And don’t go to races anymore. NASCAR went to the garbage with writers like you.
Bonnie McCoy
Spokane, Wash.
So, let me get this straight. I say that Junior is still alive for a berth in the Chase and you, as an obvious Junior fan, have a problem with that? Remind me if we ever meet up Bonnie never to compliment you on your hair.
Of all the experts on NASCAR today I compliment Yahoo’s three editors (Jay, Ricky and Jenna). You three are the best out there. There is no ego from the three of you and most of the time you are right on the money! I would make one suggestion, why not have the three of you on at the same time when questions are being asked. Together you three should consider creating a short 15 minute TV race show.
David Kennedy
DeRuyter, N.Y.
Compliments like that are totally uncalled for! If you like us so much, then keep it to yourself!
Rather than giving too many points to winning, I think a better solution would be to give winners of two races automatic berths into the championship. You would have the top points (12 or whatever) plus all winners of two or more races. That might help somewhat. Putting too much emphasis on winning is a mistake. Consistency is still more important. Do you think more of a person who has a lot of money in the bank due to hard work over his or her career or someone who got lucky once in a lottery? Some of the wins this year have been more due to being in the right place at the right time than actual performance.
Rich
Scottsdale, Ariz.
I’d love to argue with you here, Rich, but you make too much freaking sense.
Hey Jay, You know which pro athletes I really feel sorry for? Tom Brady, Sidney Crosby, Kobe Bryant, Alexander Ovechkin, Tiger Woods. Those dummies actually think you have to excel at the game you play to be considered great. They are so stupid that they think victories are needed to earn accolades. Meanwhile in NASCAR …
Kevin Dosenberger
Regina, Saskatchewan
