Turn 1 - This week's Take on Bristol Race

THIS WEEK'S TAKE - by Judy Kay -

OK, now I've heard it all. Rush Limbaugh chiming in on NASCAR. He puts his foot in his mouth more than Jimmy Spencer! But Jimmy has the excuse of being a NASCAR driver, not a "journalist", like Rush (and I use both of those words connected to both of those people very loosely!). You don't expect Jimmy to be as articulate and polished as someone who has had a broadcast career for years. Recently Rush Limbaugh (who truly is a "Big Fat Liar) said that "Sarah Palin... might as well be on the NASCAR circuit" by the way the "elitist" Democrats portray her as a "Hayseed Hick". What?!? Obviously he doesn't know much about the NASCAR fan base. There might not be much parity at the drivers' level, but there certainly is where the fans are concerned. Does he realize how many union members are NASCAR fans? And they are almost always Democrats. And the good old Southern boys, who make up a large portion of Rush's listening audience, vote as red as their necks. And some of the names that have served as Grand Marshall's of NASCAR races reads as the Who's Who of the Republican Party: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cindy McCain, heck, both George Bushes! But Limbaugh was obviously not thinking when he muttered those words, which isn't unusual. And then did his usual backtracking when asked about it. Just like RaceDay on Sunday, they spend the first fifteen minutes of the show explaining Jimmy Spencer's comments the week before. Talking about parity in sports, ever since the Chase began NASCAR has struggled trying to maintain it. But it's really not anything new to NASCAR, a dominant driver and team making each week a little boring, and frustrating, for the other drivers, and their fans. Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., and Jeff Gordon have each muscled their way to numerous championships, some years cruising to the trophy, and some years needing all the luck they could muster. Even Jeff Burton, although yet to win a Championship, had a string of winning years back in the later 90s that could have been termed "dominating". Jimmie's run has been a little different. Every year of the Chase has been a step up for the #48 team, and for three years they have been heads and shoulders above all the other Chase competitors. Hell, all the competitors. King of the NASCAR Mountain, with no end of his rule in sight. But just like Tiger Woods having surgery, or Tom Brady going down with injury, or a snot-nosed Whippersnapper like Kyle Busch controlling the "regular" Cup season, dynasties in every sport crumble at some point. A team or player comes along that is stronger, or younger, or wiser, and the planets and stars align for them and they have their year (or years) on top of that hill. But there is only one way down, and it's not near as fun as the way up. And three times as tough. It's Jimmie and Chad's time to shine, and they deserve every lap of it. And the going up is worth the coming down.
An update on the Jeff Gordon cut out, he's still in the Garage. Coming in 2nd last week should be attributed to his new point of view, because it certainly wasn't anything to do with his car setup. He and the whole 24 team got extremely lucky that they didn't run out of gas the way the 88 car did. At this point, I'll take it. And it was nice to see them take a chance. Getting a little antsy though, 2 more races, and neither one at Jeff's best track. He said he'd be grateful for a top 5 in the points this year, and I guess a season without a win has got to be his worst season yet at this level. Which just goes to show you how good of a racer he is. Now he needs to go out and prove it. All over again.