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Joe Miegoc
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Almost a wrap
LONG POND – Friday here at Pocono Raceway is just about done, for me anyway.
Tony Stewart was the unexpected winner, to himself and me, of the pole, edging out an even more surprised Juan Pablo Montoya, who figured his qualifying lap was good for around 15th. Stewart has a good history at Pocono, just not a good qualifying record throughout his career, but he and his Toyota were on their game Friday.
A lot of talk today has centered around the fines NASCAR is handing down discretely to drivers for bad mouthing the sport or its officials or I guess basically for saying anything not rosy and pleasant. To a certain extent I have no problem with the fining itself, but why do it behind closed doors? Ever other sport announces fines for the public to know about. What makes NASCAR above that?
Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman both admitted Friday that they were fined during the past week, but didn’t get into too much detail. I also heard that we (the media) and the drivers should be working together and not writing about things like empty seats and sagging ratings. Really? Isn’t a reporter’s job to tell the facts and not choose which ones to share or omit?
I’ve covered NASCAR since 2002 and really didn’t follow it too much before that, but I’ve heard stories about how accessible drivers, from the best of the best to the field fillers, were back in the day and how some would stand and sign autographs for hours and hours. Do some still do that now? Probably, but I’ll tell you one thing that’s a fact. You walk through the garage on Sunday morning before a race at Pocono and the only time you’ll see a driver is coming out of the driver’s meeting. They sign some autographs on their way back to their hauler or motorhome or wherever they’re going without breaking stride. You can almost see a vapor trail. Take a second, look someone in the eye, ask them a question. Acknowledge them!
Want to fix NASCAR? Worry more about how to engage the viewers and fans and not how the drivers and media should be “working together.” That should the be the least of the worries.
OK, rant over. Actually looking forward to Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 125. The trucks usually put on a good show and with just 50 laps and three Cup regulars (Kasey Kahne, Elliot Sadler and Hamlin) in the field it figures to be a shootout.