What makes a race exciting or boring?

The answer to that question is different for different fans. For instance, to many NASCAR fans, watching a Formula 1 car run by itself for an hour and twenty minutes is boring, but F1 fans liken it to watching jet fighters performing precision maneuvers, and think that cars going in circles turning left is boring. Some "Old School" NASCAR fans enjoy seeing the lead cars lap the field several times, while those that have adapted to the changes in NASCAR, or those who are relatively new to the sport, prefer to see more side by side racing and lead changes.
There are those of us who enjoy the thrill of stock cars racing on a road course, such as Infineon (Sears Point) or Watkins Glen, while others will not even watch a race on a road course.

Many fans get bored if there is not a good crash during the race, and you can see the excitement when there is a crash and their favorite driver is involved. Even those of us who are not fans of crashes get involved in that excitement, so that could be one definite answer to the question of what makes a race exciting.
It should be noted here that those of us who have a favorite driver who happens to be the type who is always where the action is are likely to see our driver involved in a crash, whether it is that driver's fault or not.

NASCAR has attempted to present races that have plenty of side by side action by introducing the restrictor-plate to races at Daytona and Talladega. The restrictor-plates pack the field closer together, and increase the opportunities for crashes. At venues where the restrictor-plate is not used, track officials will sometimes call for a caution for "phantom debris" to bring the field closer together. However, that practice has been criticised heavily by both fans and drivers, and doesn't occur as often as it once did.

Because of the characteristics of the new Sprint Cup car, once known as the CoT, a car in the lead will often be hard to catch, as it is able to run faster in "clean" air than it does in traffic, where the turbulence of the air has a direct effect on the aerodynamic performance of the car. But that is not to say there isn't excitement in the field trying to catch the leader. Most of the great racing happens back in the field, as drivers vie for position in the top ten or fifteen places. It is more exciting for some of us to watch our drivers make their way up through the field than it is watching the lead driver running by himself. Unfortunately, television doesn't always show us the best racing on the track. That is why it is often preferable to mute the television and listen to the play by play of the race on MRN or PRN, whichever racing network happens to be broadcasting the particular race.

The upcoming Memorial Day weekend is the biggest day in racing of the year. On Sunday, we will see three of the biggest annual events in racing history, the F1 Gran Prix of Monaco, the Indianapolis 500, and the World 600, aka the Coca-Cola 600. If there isn't enough excitement for the fan in at least one of those races, there will be a live broadcast Friday evening of a World of Outlaws Sprint car event from Charlotte, on Speed at 7:00 PM EDT. There will also be the always exciting prospect of a Truck Series race from the short track at Mansfield, Ohio on Saturday, at noon-thirty, also on Speed. And, if you are the type who may prefer restrictor-plate races, there is the Nationwide Series race from Lowe's Motor Speedway Saturday night, at 7 PM on ESPN 2.

This weekend there is something for everyone, no matter what kind of racing one enjoys. I will be enjoying all of it, boring or not. Here's wishing a happy race weekend to all!

Interesting stuff elsewhere

I have been neglegent in promoting the bloggers who have joined the Blog Catalog Group NASCAR Bloggers Full Throttle. Since I have more time to do so now, I would like to direct the readers' attention to Trouble In Turn 2 Mike, the blog's author has a series of several posts giving a rundown and review of each Cup team's season in '07. This is good reading, for Mike manages to stay mostly unbiased, informative, and entertaining in his writing. Please take the time to visit his site, and enjoy!

2007 Revvin' Awards

I have nothing to add to what needs to be done to "save" NASCAR or to any of the "Greatest Moments" that have been hashed and rehashed in numerous articles and blogs. Rather, I will expound on those categories that have been overlooked:
Tragedy most narrowly averted:
There was no competition in this category. The run-away winner is from the Ford 300, the final Busch Series race for the season and forever:

Cockiest comment:
There were three to select from, in my opinion, in this category.
Tony Stewart gets the second runner up for the comment, "Here, Zippy, see if you can fix it now!" as he rolled his wrecked car into the pits. He later admitted that the wreck that took him out of the running for fourth place in the Championship points was his own fault, but when Smoke is smokin' mad, his sarcasm is stellar.
Jimmie Johnson's comment that he would vote for himself for driver of the year made runner up for the cockiest comments award. It's not that he was having an "I'm the Greatest" moment, because he admitted that the other drivers must have done something, but "To be honest, I know my world. I'm not all that up and up on what other drivers have done and wins and things like that. But we had an awesome year.”
That's pretty cocky, coming from a participant in a sport where most drivers acknowledge the accomplishments of their competition.
But my favorite cocky comment came from Kyle Busch, during the Yellow Transportation 300 Busch Series race at Kansas Speedway. He was very pleased with his car, and was running in second place to Matt Kenseth in the closing laps of the race. As the cars lined up for the final restart, The Schrub read the words on the back of Matt's car, "I race 4 free fries," which refer to the Arby's promotion where if Matt won, his sponsor Arby's would give away free fries on the following Monday.
Kyle keyed his radio and asked his crew chief, "Do I want free fries or a radio call-in show on Monday?"
Okay, so it wasn't nearly as cocky as we have heard from the Schrub on other occasions, but it won the award for its entertainment value.
Gustafsen, answered, "If you win the race, I will buy you all the fries you want."
After an exciting final nine laps, Kyle beat Matt by .085 seconds
The "I think I hurt my foot" Award goes to Brad Keselowski for this horrifying crash at the Camping World 300, at Fontana on September 1rst:

The crash not only propelled Keselowski high into the air, but showing that he had real cajones by making the next week's race after the crash, propelled his career, making him Dale Earnhadt, Jr's choice for the full-time driver for his #88 JMS Nationwide Series team.
The Rudest Fan Forums Award:
This was very close to a tie between the Topix NASCAR Forums and the That's Racin'.com Auto Racing Forums. Both abound in trolls and pot stirrers, who like to take over a thread with ignorant and irrelevent statements and character bashing of other forum members, but Topix has improved in its moderation, while the Auto Racing Forums have degenerated so far that even the respected NASCAR journalist David Poole, who participates actively in that forum, has fallen to troll baiting and bashing. By shear numbers, Auto Racing Forums wins this award, because it is a troll forum for and by trolls. You will notice that while the link to Topix is still on my sidebar, the That's Racin' forum link has been removed.
Finally, we have the Best Kept Secret Award, which is another uncontested catagory. Hands down, the Best Kept Secret is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. This is real racing, with all the beatin' and bangin' you could ever wish to see in a race. The CTS races are short enough that all the drivers know that they have to go for the win from the green flag, and long enough that there is pit strategy involved. I figure it must be a secret, because all we hear about is that the Cup Series isn't like the "old days," and the Nationwide Series isn't what the fans want it to be, which is ARCA. If the fans really wanted to see "Old School" racing in a series that includes both seasoned veterans who are exclusive to the series, and young rookie up and comers, the stands would be full of fans for the CTS races, and the forums less full of complaints.
I would be remiss if I didn't present Special Awards to the kindness and perserverance of my regular readers--who have put up with all my inconsistancies, mood swings, and bad information this year--and to the members of the Blog Catalog group, NASCAR Bloggers Full Throttle. Thank you all for your kindness and support.

My Second Favorite Driver?

I had never really given much thought to the question, "Who is your second favorite driver," but it was asked of me when I signed up for Dale Earnhardt Jr's interactive fan site "Infield Parking." This is a site that is sort of like "MySpace" for NASCAR fans. It has a well categorized Forums section, and is a good place to keep track of your Internet buddies. Please check it out, if you feel like you may enjoy that kind of thing.
So, how to choose my "Second favorite driver?" I have about twelve drivers I could call my second favorite. It first seemed to me that Junior himself would be the best choice, but my meddling inner voice, or one of my meddling inner voices, reminded me that, if I am a Bandwagon rider, I ride with one leg dragging. So I decided to pick someone else. Martin Truex, Jr would have been a good pick. He packs a load of talent, and I like his demeanor, but I rarely get excited about him. Heck, I can't even remember who sponsors him. I started thinking about the drivers I love to not love, because, in a perverse way, The Gordon could actually be considered one of my favorite second favorite drivers. But, since the favorite and second favorite driver picked are automatically added to your "friends" list, I couldn't see having The Gordon's picture on my "parking space" page.
After nearly an hour discussing this subject, and arguing about it with my inner voices, I finally decided to think in linear terms. So using the mundane list called "alphabetical order," I finally decided to pick Clint Bowyer. Welcome to my official list of favorite drivers, Clint.
Anybody who is interested in visiting my Infield Parking Space, may do so here. I am in the process of accepting anybody who asks to my "Friends" list, so don't be shy.

How 'Bout That Schrub?

Most race fans have a favorite driver to root for in their sport. It is like having a favorite team in the stick and ball sports--unless you have a favorite, you are just watching the players go through the motions.
The beauty of racing is that if our favorite doesn't win, there is always a chance that someone else we like will. We all have our favorites in NASCAR, but that doesn't always mean that we don't have a list of other drivers we like to see win, or, at least, get a top five finish. I have such a list that is relatively long.
But, though we may respect fifty drivers for their skills and abilities, we have to have someone we want to see lose. We want that driver to lose by less than a car length, hopefully being beaten by a driver we like, or to see him spin out on the last turn of the last lap. That always makes racing exciting. The driver we want to see lose has to be one of extraordinary talent--it's no fun watching a driver who is often a back marker lose.
Jeff "The Gordon" Gordon is on the top of my personal list of Drivers Whom I Like To See Get Beat, and he has been for a long time. When he is at the top of his game, he is the one driver, most of all, that somebody has to beat. The reasons are pretty obvious--he is arguably one of the best drivers ever, and he isn't Tony Stewart (my favorite driver, for those who don't know or haven't figured it out). Gordon made that list when he was racing the late Dale Earnhardt, who was my favorite up to the time of his death in 2001. The two always competed hard against each other, and one often wrecked the other to get a win in a close race. Since The Intimidator was my favorite, The Gordon became my "bad guy."
But Kyle "Schrub" Busch is about to take away The Gordon's spot on my list. The kid is absolutely amazing. While complaining that he couldn't get the new NASCAR Retrocar to turn for him, he raced his way to victory in the first race that was run in the new design cars, at Bristol, and got a top ten in the next Retrocar race at Martinsville. The way he drives is reckless by any standard, but, somehow he has learned to drive recklessly and avoid wrecks, in a way that is almost mystical. This not only takes talent, but extremely fast reflexes. He is like an unguided missile going around the track, that somehow misses all the obstacles and defenses that are put up to prevent him from reaching his goal. Few are as determined to win a race, especially in a car that isn't handling well. Unlike his teammate Jimmie "Lucky (D)uck" Johnson, who though highly skilled probably wouldn't see much success with a crew chief other than Chad Knaus, Schrub seems to have the skill to drive himself to success no matter who his crew chief is. He just powers the car through any circumstance, and somehow manages to come out ahead. And, he is always learning--the more he wins, the better he gets. Though I have nothing against him--in fact, I admire the sportsmanship he showed at Atlanta, as well as his driving skill--he is rapidly rising to the top of the Drivers Whom I Like To See Get Beat list. In fact, if The Gordon doesn't race him hard and gives him a win like he did Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville, he will be replaced.