Fan columnist: NASCAT keeps race fan purring

By Calvin Rowland
Thursday, October 30, 2008
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The entire middle portion of the Pep Boys Auto 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway was dominated by Matt Kenseth. This led my wife, Tara, and our cat, Monomer, to take a little nap at this point in the race.
 
Let me tell you about our NASCAT. Monomer (it’s a chemistry term I picked up on somehow) is just shy of 20 pounds, has long khaki-colored hair and loves watching NASCAR. By watching NASCAR, I, of course, mean that he loves sleeping on one of us during the entire race. Affectionately known as “Big M,” both he and Tara often take midrace naps together until I see a close call like this weekend and yell, “Waltrip’s wrecking again!” At that point Tara and Monomer open their eyes for a moment to see a replay of Michael Waltrip’s car spraying tire confetti all over the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Then it’s back to snoozing.
 
Monomer’s hobbies include eating and sleeping and then repeating those steps. If you put a pedometer on this cat, the step count on any given day would only be in the teens. Shaped like a football with Tic Tacs for legs, this Fatcat McSwain actually grunts when he hops up on the couch to join us for the duration of a race.  Purring usually begins after he gets comfortable and is at the volume of a jet drier. It’s especially tough in the hot weather months because he lays on us and a large amount of heat is generated from his girth.
 
Everyone was awake for the ending at Atlanta; it’s had some good finishes. Watching Carl Edwards pass Denny Hamlin got me thinking about the scuffle Edwards had with Kevin Harvick. One possible reason Edwards was so angry at Harvick for calling him a pansy for racing in the back at Talladega might have been because it wasn’t Edward’s idea. Seems like a strategy he was coaxed into doing by his crew chief, Bob Osborne. That’s pure speculation, but it certainly makes sense considering the pass he tried on Jimmie Johnson at Kansas one week prior.
 
Next year the Atlanta track is not part of the Chase For The Sprint Cup; California is. It was ironic that the Atlanta surface was compared to Darlington Raceway’s, considering next year the track will have what should be Darlington’s Labor Day weekend. The first Southern 500 ran on Labor Day in 1950. One of the biggest mistakes NASCAR ever made was pulling the Labor Day race from Darlington in 2004. That generated much bad publicity and ill-will from fans. Even people who didn’t watch NASCAR heard about it. I know, because they asked me about it. I would comment on how I didn’t know they watched NASCAR. They said they don’t, really, but they just saw Darlington mentioned. Everyone can at some level sympathize with the unfortunate end of tradition, especially when it wasn’t even necessary.
 
The Auto Club Speedway event will be race number four in the Chase next year. Talk about laying an egg in the middle of the Chase. Millions across the country may find themselves taking a midrace nap at this time next year.

Comments

4 responses to "Fan columnist: NASCAT keeps race fan purring ". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Warren Rowland said:
    Oct 30, 2008 at 2:00 PM

    Bro,
    Love the articles. This one and the mustache one really cracked me up. It's about time someone writing about NASCAT...I mean NASCAR, take a totally different approach that is both refreshing and fun, especially since the big boys of NASCAR do not seem to want the sport to be any fun anymore. By the way, I totally remember that 1:00AM hiccup filled phone call back in my college days where you asked me what the word was you were looking for...and I said, "do you mean "monomer?" And you responded like that guy on that movie Half Baked, "Yeah, that's it....do you have any funyons?"

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  2. 2
    Georgia Ross said:
    Nov 7, 2008 at 1:04 PM

    The Big M feature is one of the best I have read all racing season. Isn't it amazing how we can learn so much from our pets? Sleeping through the boring laps is becoming so much more commonplace!! Next thing you know we will be covering up the empty seats in our family rooms and dens due to lack of attendance.

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  3. 3
    Barbie R. said:
    Nov 11, 2008 at 8:58 PM

    Why negative about Auto Club Speedway?? Excuse me dude!!! What millons across America, ohh you meant yourself, AS IF!!

    Bring on the Chase #4 2009 Auto Club Speedway, yeah I'll be there

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  4. 4
    mike stalling said:
    Nov 13, 2008 at 6:11 PM

    what negative about auto club speedway? well there isnt enough room here to talk about it. lousy racing, a lot of empy seats, watching those liberal hollywood idiots talk about great they are. and on top of that 500 miles on that boring race track. thank god im able to find something else to do on sunday besides waste my time wating the snoozecar cup series, oh excuse me the winston cup series sponsered by bankrupt sprint. just amazing dahling.

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2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings

Driver Standings after the AMP Energy 500

1 Jimmie Johnson 6248
2 Mark Martin -184
3 Jeff Gordon -192
4 Juan Pablo Montoya -239
5 Tony Stewart -279
6 Kurt Busch -312
7 Greg Biffle -340
8 Ryan Newman -402
9 Kasey Kahne -414
10 Carl Edwards -437
11 Denny Hamlin -448
12 Brian Vickers -556

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