Fan columnist: Sometimes life interferes with NASCAR lifestyle
Have you ever had to miss a race? It is an unavoidable inconvenience. Some inconsiderate cousin or friend plans a graduation party or baby shower during the race. Take Memorial Day weekend, for example. That is prime wedding time. I think I’ve only seen the Coca-Cola 600 live on television once. Don’t they have the race dates written in their calendar like I do?
Unfortunately, that’s life. You have to miss a race every once in a while. I have Direct TV DVR; I’ll record the race and then watch it later that night or the next day. One thing I cannot find out though is – who won the race. Do not tell me, do not hint. Let me watch it. Knowing who won the race makes watching the race a lot less fun.
But avoiding knowing who won is difficult.
A person can’t watch sports highlights since they occasionally scroll the race winner at the bottom of the screen. I have accidentally read Saturday night’s winner Sunday morning without even thinking about it, with full intention of starting the recorded race right after my next cup of coffee. I can’t log on to the Internet; our personalized homepage is almost completely devoted to NASCAR news and updates.
While camping in Bristol, Tenn., during race weekend, my wife and I made good friends with Nate and Heather from Apopka, Fla. The wives hit it off by sharing a favorite driver, Tony Stewart. So we may be out of town, and my wife’s phone fires up with the ring tone of, “Gentlemen start your engines” and it’s a text from Heather right around race end time that says, “Yeah!” Hmm … wonder who won today?
Even when my wife tells a little white lie, “No, I didn’t see the winner,” I can tell when she has. She’s up more frequently from the couch, doesn’t have me pause the DVR or decides it’s just time to finish up this book she’s been reading.
Last weekend we were visiting my brother Warren and his wife, Ann, at their house in Indianapolis. I’m glad we DVR’d the Charlotte race to watch when we got back Sunday. Even though he has 21 career wins, including two this year, I’m still surprised every time Jeff Burton wins. It might be because they always show his wife at the end of the race with a very worried look about her.
Meanwhile, hearts go out to the Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans. After a wreck at Talladega and a cut tire at Lowe’s, his 2008 championship hopes are gone. Goodyear might want to get after NASCAR to clean up the track better going forward; their reputation relies on it.
Jimmie Johnson should have a grandfather clock tattooed on his forearm. He finished fourth this spring after coming off three straight wins at Martinsville Speedway. Since the fall of 2002, Johnson has never finished worse than ninth at Martinsville. Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin have run well at this track of late, too.
Race fans like short tracks. Expect the bumping and banging to increase, and expect the announcers to have bad antacid puns for the Tums Quick Pack 500. It doesn’t matter though. I won’t be recording the race this weekend – I’ll be watching.
