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9-04-04
Well, Saturday night
was…um, interesting. Let’s look at it from several angles.
From the fan in the stands
point of view, it was a huge night of entertainment with more
plot twists than a Friday episode of General Hospital. There
was a lot on the line and emotions ran at full speed, it was
high drama and it left folks sitting on the edge of their
seats. Actually, they were rarely seated. I saw fans on
their feet screaming and cheering and booing and yelling.
Their favorite drivers were literally locked in mortal combat
and the season hung in the balance. You could not have
written a script with that much action in it, it was
unbelievable.
For the racers, well it
was a little different. Obviously for some it was good but
even those who profited aren’t thrilled with how it all went
down. Racers want to move ahead on their own merit not as a
result of a competitors stumble. I’m sure Brandon Butler is
happy to have the points lead, but he’d have been happier to
get it in a different way. Let me take a moment to give Danny
Fair a nod. As the second race was about to begin Danny sat
quietly in his car just staring ahead. I had just interviewed
Brandon and there were still a few moments before the race was
to begin so I ran over to Danny’s car and stuck the mic in.
It would have been a perfect time for Danny to push it away,
he did not. As his season looked to be crumbling around him
he took a moment, made a brief comment and then went racing;
very classy.
For the track and the
officials, trust me, they never look forward to nights like
this. No one likes to disqualify or suspend competitors. It
is part of the process, but one that no one relishes. A
perfect night for the officials is one when their role is in
the background and hardly noticed by the fans or the
competitors. But, there are times when their role moves to
the forefront, and so it did on Saturday night. You can
debate gaskets and tires and illegal cars all you want, but
they had a call to make, they made it and it’s done.
So where does that leave
us?
In the exact same place we
were before this past Saturday. Drivers and teams will go
home and lick their wounds and work on their races cars. For
some the season may be over but for others they will put
things back together and go racing on the 18th.
This is not to say that the events of this past Saturday were
inconsequential, they were huge; but here is the crux of the
situation. There is a race track, there are guys who want to
race and there are people who want to come and watch. I’ll see
you on the 18th.
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