Pocky's Paddock
A NASCAR BLOG BY Bob Pockrass
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IRL observations from a NASCAR writer
Jun
29
My bosses require me to spend a few race weekends away from the track so I can catch my breath and rejuvenate the writing juices.
So with the first New Hampshire race off my schedule, my boss told me to go have some fun.
To fulfill the wishes of my boss, I went and had some fun – I hopped in the car, drove about five hours and went to Richmond International Raceway for the IndyCar Series race.
That is where I found out that some drivers must take weekends off, too – 102 of the 300 laps under caution and just 12 of the 26 cars running at the finish! But it was still cool to see those cars whip around the track.
Whenever there was a pass, no matter where in the field, it would force you to hold your breath because if they touched wheels, they were going hard into the fence. Even though there were 102 laps under caution, the race still was just 2 hours, 4 minutes.
A couple of other observations from someone who spends most of his time in the NASCAR garage:
• This is Danica’s series. Around the haulers, Danica Patrick easily had the most fans. At the merchandise trailer, Patrick’s drew by far the most business (OK, so it was an Andretti Green Racing merchandise hauler, but it’s most likely they were there for Danica gear).
• For those who think that Reed Sorenson might be on his way out at Chip Ganassi Racing, his T-shirts were selling for the same $22 price as those of Target-sponsored IndyCar drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon.
• While the crowd (about 60,000 at $30-$35 apiece) was good for an IndyCar event, it doesn’t look like unification has given NASCAR much to worry about. I saw just as many NASCAR T-shirts on people as IndyCar shirts. One guy was decked out in a Kevin Harvick hat, a Juan Pablo Montoya T-shirt, Dale Jarrett shorts – and was carrying a Patrick merchandise bag.
So with the first New Hampshire race off my schedule, my boss told me to go have some fun.
To fulfill the wishes of my boss, I went and had some fun – I hopped in the car, drove about five hours and went to Richmond International Raceway for the IndyCar Series race.
That is where I found out that some drivers must take weekends off, too – 102 of the 300 laps under caution and just 12 of the 26 cars running at the finish! But it was still cool to see those cars whip around the track.
Whenever there was a pass, no matter where in the field, it would force you to hold your breath because if they touched wheels, they were going hard into the fence. Even though there were 102 laps under caution, the race still was just 2 hours, 4 minutes.
A couple of other observations from someone who spends most of his time in the NASCAR garage:
• This is Danica’s series. Around the haulers, Danica Patrick easily had the most fans. At the merchandise trailer, Patrick’s drew by far the most business (OK, so it was an Andretti Green Racing merchandise hauler, but it’s most likely they were there for Danica gear).
• For those who think that Reed Sorenson might be on his way out at Chip Ganassi Racing, his T-shirts were selling for the same $22 price as those of Target-sponsored IndyCar drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon.
• While the crowd (about 60,000 at $30-$35 apiece) was good for an IndyCar event, it doesn’t look like unification has given NASCAR much to worry about. I saw just as many NASCAR T-shirts on people as IndyCar shirts. One guy was decked out in a Kevin Harvick hat, a Juan Pablo Montoya T-shirt, Dale Jarrett shorts – and was carrying a Patrick merchandise bag.
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Comments
2 responses to "IRL observations from a NASCAR writer"
said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 1:04 PMDanica surely is the biggest draw in the IRL. Thay are placing a lot of pressure on her to carry the leagues banner. Everything she does, everything she says good or bad gets hammered in the blogs and media. I wonder how many drivers could all that continous pressure.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Jul 2, 2008 at 9:12 AMIt would be better for the IRL to have other engine manufactures come into the picture. It would bring in more fans that are loyal to their manufaturers.I heard they were talking about it and i support this.
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This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
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