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Lost amid the Talladega chaos was the story of JR Motorsports newest driver, Steve Arpin.  On Friday, Arpin went out and promptly put his Chevy in the second row during qualifying.  Not bad for a kid who’d never driven an NNS car before.  Once the race got started, the young Canadian ran as high as second, but was caught up in the last lap “big one” and finished 26th.  He will again pilot the #7 Chevy for Dale Jr. on Friday night in the BUBBA Burger 250 at Richmond, a race that will put his skills to the test.

A racer from a young age, Arpin excelled in go carts and dirt late models.  In 2008, he also won Rookie of the Year in the USAC Silver Crown Series driving for Carl Edwards.  For 2009, Arpin moved into stock car racing, where he competed full time in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for owners Eddie Sharp and Bill Venturini.  In 21 starts, he had four top five and eleven top ten finishes in route to finishing seventh in the final points standings.

A successful rookie campaign afforded Arpin the chance to again run for the full ARCA season with Venturini Motorsports.  Through five races this season, Arpin already has two wins, Salem and Texas, and is second in the points standings.

Arpin’s success this season and last attracted the attention of JR Motorsports, and after Kelly Bires was released earlier in the year, JRM brought Arpin aboard.  JRM is looking for a driver to fill open slots in both its #7 and #88 cars for later in the season, and if all goes well, Arpin might get more races.

While he proved at Talladega that he isn’t afraid to get up on the wheel and drive, his real test will be this weekend at Richmond.  Anymore, doing well at ‘Dega is more about luck (see Johnny Borneman) and having a good car than it is about real driving skill.  Richmond will test even the best drivers’ abilities.

Different at both ends, success at Richmond is determined by how well a team and their driver can get their car handling.  In this week’s Chevrolet pre-race notes, Jeff Burton said:

“Richmond is one of the places where handling means everything. The key factors in running well is getting through the center of the corners and throttling up without losing rear grip. It sounds simple to do, but the one that wins did it the best.”

Besides having a good handling car, a driver must avoid the carnage that comes with short track racing at Richmond, and get to the finish. 

If Arpin is able to communicate what he needs to crew chief Tony Eury Jr., and make it to the finish on Friday night, we just might be witnessing a star in the making.  A solid top 20 finish would go a long way in getting him more races in 2010.

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This week, we go from the high banks of Talladega to a Saturday night short track shootout in Richmond.  The Nationwide cars will kick the racing weekend off on Friday night at RIR, while the Truck Series heads west to Kansas for a rare Sunday race.  While we wait for the weekend to arrive, here’s a big batch of reader questions and our answers for you.  If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here.  So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us.  On to the questions…

1. From Don:

How do the teams get cars to tracks in such short times? Does the transporter go back to Charlotte each week or is there more than one transporter and they alternate weeks?  The transporter has to be completely restocked each week and some times Charlotte is not on the way.

Most Cup Series teams have two drivers per truck. This allows them to make it back to Charlotte in a timely manner after a race (for races close by this isn’t a problem). In the case of West Coast races organizations will often send extra trucks from Charlotte to run equipment to their teams out West because driving to Charlotte and back just isn’t feasible. Smaller teams will often just turnover the equipment they already have. – Journo

2. From ATS:

Every weekend when I watch the beginning of the race I see the #00 and David Reutimann come to the front and run in the top-5 or top-10. Only to have a failure of MWR equipment ruin his day. Do you think we could see David move teams at the end of 2010?

I don’t see David Reutimann going anywhere. I believe his contract is up this year or next, but I think he’s pretty happy where he’s at. Remember he and Waltrip go back a long ways. And anyway, where would he go? There aren’t too many seats available. – Journo

3. From Marcus:

What happens to Penske Racing’s #12 car now? Will Justin Allgaier drive it or what happens? Just let me know if you get any inside information.

It could be used for Hornish or it could go away. I haven’t heard anything specific, but I don’t think Allgaier will be in it next year (full-time at least). It’s possible he could run a few races, but they won’t be moving him full-time to the Cup Series in 2011. We’ll let you know if we hear anything. – Journo

4. From West Coast Kenny:

T.C. and Journo, It seems like Robbie Gordon causes a yellow during every race. Is it possible he does that just to get TV time for his sponsors?

I’m going to say probably not, but anything is possible. – Journo

5. From Woogeroo:

What is the deal with some races being impound races and some of them are not? It seems to me like Detroit’s love affair with half the autos fasteners being metric and the other in inches… with no rhyme or reason. I can understand Daytona with all it’s goings ons… but what’s the deal with the rest of them?

It is my understanding that only the Talladega races and the Daytona race in July are true impound races.  I don’t know for certain what NASCAR’s reasons are for impounding cars at these tracks, but I would imagine it’s because there are so many extra little rules.  Impounding the cars allows NASCAR to have more control over what the teams can and can’t do. – T.C.

6. From Cinde:

Kurt to drive the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. Is Pennzoil that much better of a sponsor? Do they provide more sponsor money than Miller Lite? Or just pay the driver more? In your opinion why would Kurt go to Pennzoil? Or, perhaps did he really not have a choice at this time? Finally, do the CC and crew generally stay with the driver, or will that be a change as well? Thanks! Love your weekly writings!

It doesn’t have to do with Shell/Pennzoil being a better sponsor. And Miller is still with the organization. I’m not privy to their negotiations, but I would imagine Shell wanted Kurt Busch and Miller was OK with shifting their focus to Brad K. Wam, bam, Penske had a deal. In my experience drivers, for the most part, don’t really care who’s on the car, as long as they’re able to race. I’m sure Kurt Busch is just as happy hawking oil as he was beer. As far as switching crews, we haven’t heard anything about that and given the success the two teams are having in their current configurations, I don’t see Roger Penske making any major changes. – Journo

7. From Allen:

I’ve noticed during pit stops the lug nuts sometimes fall under the tires, has a lug nut ever been shot back and hit someone when the driver stomps on the throttle to leave?

It certainly has.  The gas man and catch can man are usually the guys in the direct line of fire, but others have been hit.  Trust me, it isn’t pleasant. – T.C.

8. From Doug:

You told us that you and Journo are Batman and Robin. Allow me to be just a little bit skeptical, if that’s OK. My question: do regulars in the press box and on pit row know who you are, are you both really in deep cover?

As far as we know our identities are unknown. If someone does know who we are, we haven’t heard about it. – Journo

9. From djones:

Regarding the recent penalties at MWR, are the drivers aware of suspect parts on the car, or other infractions? I’d like to believe they are innocent. Thanks.

I would say in most cases the driver probably doesn’t know.  There is really no reason they need to know, plus keeping them in the dark gives the sport’s stars that oh-so-convenient “plausible deniability.” – T.C.

10. From Kim:

Sitting here in Talladega! If the race is an “impound” race and the cars would have been impounded after qualifying, what happens when qualifying is cancelled, as it was today? Are the cars deemed impounded at the moment qualifying is cancelled?

Actually, cars are impounded before qualifying, so the rainout doesn’t really matter.  Teams were allowed to make any final adjustments to their cars on Friday evening, and then they were sealed until the race.  The cars did go through an inspection on Sunday morning before the race, but teams were not allowed to do their usual race day work. - T.C.

11. From Amy:

While watching Talladega I am noticing that during the draft some of the cars have their hoodflaps popping open…I have never noticed that before- it that a product of the bump draft or the spoiler? Does it hurt anything?

It’s just a product of the aerodynamics and how the air travels over the cars.  If I remember correctly, the flaps are coming up because they are in a low pressure area.  And I don’t believe the car’s performance is hurt by it. – T.C.

12. From Michael:

A few years ago it seemed Jon Wood was on a path to a great future. Then, poof, he was gone. Any news?

Jon’s last start in any of the top NASCAR series was at the Phoenix truck race in November of 2008.  He has not reappeared, I believe, because of his performance and because of his own personal issues (which I will not get into here).  Wood made 17 truck starts in 2008, and only managed a best finish of 10th.  Once the Wood Brothers team ran out of money to keep their truck program going, Jon was out of a ride.  I would be surprised if he returned to competition down the road.  It’s a shame too, because he could have been a very solid driver. – T.C.

13. From Kim:

Another question came up while sitting at Talladega: that hat hit the track close to where I was sitting. Why call a caution during practice for a bird, but not call a debris caution for a hat on the track? I’ve seen debris cautions called for a lot less!

Birds and other animals on track can (and have) actually cause significant damage to race cars.  A hat on the other hand, especially like the one that ended up on the track at Talladega, is much less of a hazard.  Didn’t the hat end up getting hit and destroyed anyway? – T.C.

14. From Dave:

I’m a little surprised you guys haven’t written about Roush’s situation in Nationwide since Colin Braun got ousted. I’m thinking as far as the 6 and 16 go, it looks pretty ugly. Does Roush go back to Erik Darnell at this point, Kenseth for the rest of the season, or does Roush stop running those cars when they’re unsponsored? Colin will run only, what, 10 more races? So I’m just assuming Stenhouse, who’s been equally as disappointing, won’t make it the full season anymore. Just seeing if you’ve heard anything… I don’t mean to sound happy about the situation, but I just don’t think the plan was ever a good one– two rookies in those cars full time. Thanks!

The situation at Roush has more to do with Jack’s frustration with Colin and the situations he puts himself in and the mistakes he continues to make than it does issues with young drivers or even unsponsored teams. Running these teams full time is exactly what Jack needed to do. He needs to see what these guys can do and see if they’re worth keeping (you can’t keep running part time schedules with young drivers and hope to accomplish anything). After three seasons with Colin, I think Jack has seen all he needs to see. With Ricky though, I don’t think he’ll get pulled unless there is some serious trouble down the road. Remember prior to this season Ricky had just one full ARCA season and a couple of Nationwide Series starts. – Journo

15. From David:

2 questions, what is the problem with racing someone hard(Jimmie Johnson – Jeff Gordon) also heard Hamlin complain. Do they think competition should move over for them because of who they are? Also how about a road course in the chase.

I don’t think actually racing each other close is the problem with some of these guys.  What bothers them is when that close racing turns into contact and wrecks.  Jeff Gordon has been mad the last few weeks because he’s been wrecked while racing hard with someone, not because of the actual racing itself.  You have to remember too, some of these guys just need something to complain about.  If it isn’t the wing, it’s Toyota has more power, or it’s people racing “too” hard, etc. etc.  For your second question, I’m all for adding another road course race.  In fact, I wrote a post about it last season.  See it here. – T.C.

16. From Rick:

I heard ricky rudd is helping the #23 team in the Nationwide series is that true or is he helping anyone?

I haven’t heard anything about that, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Does anyone know anything about this? – Journo

And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close.  Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.  And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!

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Well we saw two races today that ended with some close finishes. Congrats to Kevin Harvick for winning the Sprint Cup race and Brad Kesolowski for winning the Nationwide race.

Kevin Harvick #29 Shell/PennZoil Chevrolet
“We were really tight on gas there toward the end of the race and was able to save enough gas for all the green-white-checkereds and we wound up in a position exactly where we wanted to be, right up against the car in front of us coming to the trivial and he made the one move to the right and I went left and it just worked out really good.

“We knew we needed to be the second car pushing coming to the start-finish line because you can make that one swipe pass there coming to the finish line. It was just a matter of timing. Our day worked out really well for us. We planned on riding around in the back to miss the wrecks and racing with about 50 to go. All of that worked out and we were able to work our way there and have the move that we planned on trying to be in position to make at the end of the race.

“I think the package NASCAR brought here worked out great. It is very forgiving. You can let out of the gas. You just don’t want to be the very last car in the pack. While you are in the middle of the pack, you can do what you need to do and push and shove. It is more fun when they let us race the way we want to race.”

DESCRIBE THE RACING

“I think it was very typical Talladega. I think there was a lot of pushing and shoving, two and three-wide. The spoiler made it so you could pull back up on somebody if you made a mistake. You just didn’t want to be the very last car. It was very interesting day and it played out perfect for us.’’

HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO MAKE YOUR WINNING MOVE?

“He made the move to the outside and I jerked left, so I was going the opposite way that he was going. It’s kind of like that old theory, if you’re the car leading the race, you don’t want to be the one that makes that call. He made the move to the right and I just went left.’’

WERE YOU WAITING ON HIM TO MAKE A MOVE?

“I was waiting on him to make a move.’’

DID YOU HAVE THAT IN YOUR MIND THE WHOLE TIME?

“I was really waiting for him to make a move, but I knew I couldn’t make it more than halfway through the trivial and he made the move going about halfway through the trivial and I made mine the other way. It worked out perfect. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.’’

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

“I think it’s great karma with everything that has happened this week with the sponsor and everything. I think it’s kind of funny in itself. I think, all in all, it was really good for our team, good for all the cars that have been running well all year and we’ve been really close to winning races, but the karma thing is the best part.

YOU MADE THE CHOICE TO TAKE A CHANCE ON THAT LAST LAP, WALK US THROUGH THAT LAST LAP “Yeah, I tell you what. Everything just played out just right for us. We had a plan to ride in the back….wait till 50 laps to go and then push forward after that. This Impala was great. I have to thank Jimmie John’s, Reese’s, SKF, Coke-Cola, Champion, Sherwin-Williams, Shell-Pennzoil, Team Realtree and everybody who helps us on this car and the fans that come out to support us every week and get to see finishes like that so………and Sprint for everything they do for this series and we broke that drought. “

ALL THE WINS ARE SPECIAL BUT WHEN YOU HAVE THE CONTROVERSY AND THE STRUGGLES THAT YOU GUYS HAVE HAD TO GET BACK TO VICTORY LANE, HOW SPECIAL IS THIS? “Well, I think the best part of it is that our sponsor is leaving….and the best part of it is that they can leave while we are winning so that is the best part of the whole thing.”

DID THEY HAVE TO CUT THE WINDOW NET TO GET YOU OUT OF THERE? “Yes they had to cut the window net off with a knife, so that was a first but winning here at Talladega……that was a first too.”

Kurt Busch – #2 Miller Lite Dodge
“We had a really good Miller Lite Dodge. It was a very competitive car, a top-10 type car. You just hope to find yourself in good position at the end. I messed up coming off pit road (speeding on exit during green flag stop on lap 146). We were speeding, 60.55 (mph) in the last segment. So, I was off by a half-mile-an-hour on exit. We needed a yellow. We got down to the bitter end before we got in position for the lucky dog and got the yellow to get back on the same lead lap. There were a bunch of wrecks at the end. We were able to escape enough of them. We had enough fuel and we came home eighth. We didn’t lose any points today.

“To escape a bad situation like what we had today (damage to the right side near the door in a 10-car mishap on lap 83), we could have gotten hit four feet further back on the car and been put nose first into the outside fence. We didn’t’ get wrecked there. We didn’t do ourselves any favors by speeding on pit road, but we finished eighth. These are the type of days you have to bounce back. I hope we didn’t use up too much luck.”

JAMIE McMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS CHEVROLET – Finished 2nd:

“We had a another really good car. We rode around towards the rear at the beginning of the race and I really thought there would be a wreck with the way the spoiler is and the way the cars suck up. Not intentional, just guys getting into each other a little too hard, but everybody drove a really clean race. We were just able to put ourselves in a good position in the end. You’re coming to the checkered flag like that, you only get to go one way and I really thought he would go to the outside, so I guarded that more. When he went to the inside, it really pulled my car around and you just don’t have the momentum he has.’’

TALK ABOUT THE RACING

“It was actually a lot of fun out there. We had such a good rules package with the wing here, you didn’t know how this was going to work. They did a really good job of picking the blade and the right (spoiler) and made the cars racy.’’

ARE YOU FRUSTRATED OR HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MOOD NOW?

“I’m just glad that I finished. We’ve had cars close to that fast all year and haven’t been able to finish. You want to win, but there’s nothing you can do. I did all that I could.’’

ANYTHING ELSE YOU COULD HAVE DONE AT THE END?

“No. You make your move there. You hope you go the way he does.

DID HARVICK PASS YOU BY GOING BELOW THE YELLOW LINE?

“I was racing the car. I was more concerned with trying to side draft him then I was where we were on the race track. I don’t know. I didn’t see it.

YOUR MOVE AND HIS MOVE

“You really only get one direction to go and I thought that I was low enough that he couldn’t get underneath me so I was more guarding the outside and when swerved his car to the left, it pulled my car around. As soon as I realized he got underneath me, I was more concerned with side drafting to the start/finish line. I wish they could have crashed on the last lap when I got the white flag this time. I was thinking, surely they’ll do it again. It’s a good day for our Bass Pro Shops Chevy. I’ve got Johnny Morris here from Bass Pro Shops and his son and they’re taking me turkey hunting in Missouri tomorrow. This will be a great race to talk about tomorrow.’’

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET – Finished 22nd:

WHO WAS AT FAULT TO THE ACCIDENT OUT THERE?

“Which one (laughs)?”

THE BIG ONE THAT YOU WERE IN

“Well, I got collected. I don’t know what happened. I’m just excited that we finished on the lead lap, to be honest with you. I think it’s been a while since we finished on the lead lap. We got a huge push down the back straightaway. I don’t know who it was; maybe the No. 39 (Ryan Newman) or somebody gave me a big shove. And I was coming 10 mph faster than anybody and the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) is testing my patience, I can tell you that. It takes a lot to make me mad and I am pissed right now. You know, when a car is going that much faster, I don’t know what it is with me and him right now, but whatever. But the guys did a great job of fixing it. I don’t know what happened in the wreck. I just know the No. 31 (Jeff Burton) came across after getting turned and came down in front of me and we got collected, so we just did everything we could to finish at that point and we finished on the lead lap.

“I will say this; that was one heck of a race. I thought all day the racing was amazing. Yeah, there were times it got a little wild. We all knew it was going to go wild at the end but I don’t think you could have asked for a better race. I applaud that rear spoiler!”

ON THE BIG CRASHES AT TALLADEGA

“Yeah, that’s kind of how it goes here. I mean it doesn’t matter until two or three (laps) to go. And that’s what I was so excited about is I kind of got shuffled back there and I got a shove from somebody. I’ve still got to find out who it was. I know it was a black car; that’s all I could tell. But I got a huge hit. And the momentum and I was just gone. We were going to drive by some cars and the No. 48 decided to change three lanes and keep me from going by him. And that’s just not cool when you’ve got cars going that much faster than you. So maybe he just didn’t know it but we’ll just take what we can get out of here and go onto the next one.”

DOES IT GET A LITTLE OLD KNOWING THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN AT THE END OF THE RACE?

“Well it’s now a lot of fun from a driver’s standpoint to know that. You’re just kind of holding on tight. Even when we didn’t have any wrecks for the majority of the race, you just know that in those green-white-checkereds and closing laps that you’ve got to start pushing and shoving and getting so aggressive it’s the only way you can make a pass and win the race, that you just know it’s going to happen. You just hope that you don’t get caught up in it. But we’ve been caught up in it I don’t know how many times now; a lot lately.”

DID THE SPOILER CHANGE THE RACE HANDLING MUCH?

“I think that the driver attitudes, how we approach the race and just trying to mix it up but use our heads and you can credit the spoiler or whatever you want to credit, but it was great. There were a lot of strategies going on out there. There were guys who wanted to get up there and do the two-car draft thing and try to take the lead. We wanted to lead a lap or two so we got some bonus points but didn’t feel like it was worth the risk to get the most laps led. So there were times when I could stay up front there. When I could, I stayed there. When I got shuffled out of line, I just went in the back and rode. There were a lot of different strategies that played out. It’s a totally different restrictor plate race these days. It’s something we all have to embrace and get used to because this two-car draft thing is what’s going to win these races these days.”

DIDN’T THINK YOU LIKED BUMP-DRAFTING

“I think it’s the dumbest thing you can do. For 90 percent of the races, it just makes no sense to me to sit there and just pound on a guy’s bumper. They dropped the green and they were doing it. I don’t think that’s smart. That doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t know how you expect to get to the end of the race or what you’re really accomplishing by doing that. I’ve always expected it toward the end of the race. And there is no getting around it. It is what it is.”

AFTER TALKING WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON, HOW DISAPPOINTING IS IT TO HAPPEN AGAIN THIS QUICKLY?

“Yeah, it’s disappointing. I don’t think it was a very smart move. These cars sometimes get such a shove and sometimes you get so much momentum it’s just more of a coincidence that it was him. But I mean, you turn the wheel left like that when a car is coming and somebody’s going to have a problem. I did everything I could to keep from wrecking him. I did. I saw what he was doing and I know I couldn’t go underneath the yellow line to pass him so I did everything I could to check up but somebody was still pushing me and turned me and I actually got into him. But he’s been testing my patience and it’s about reached its boiling point.”

DID YOU THINK YOU WERE OKAY AT THAT POINT AFTER YOU GOT SHUFFLED BACK AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE THING WITH JEFF BURTON

“I didn’t know what kind of right front damage I had after I hit him. But I thought the car felt like it was still fine and a lot can happen here in two or three or four laps. So I didn’t think we were out of it by any means at that point. And I knew green-white-checkers would be coming into play as well. And then I saw a car out of the corner of my eye get sideways and then go across my hood and then the No. 31 (Jeff Burton) came across there and I couldn’t miss him.”

ONLY 13 PEOPLE DID NOT LEAD A LAP TODAY. THERE WERE MORE LEAD CHANGES AND MORE LEADERS THAN ANY OTHER NASCAR RACE IN HISTORY. WAS IT CRAZY OUT THERE?

“It was a lot of fun for the majority of the race. It was crazy at the end like it always is. But the thing I think we’re all trying to embrace here is that we’re competitors and we all want to win the race and want to get ourselves to the end of the race. We can’t forget the dedication of these fans to travel as far as they travel to go out there and pitch tents in the infield when tornados are coming and just sit there and ride single file to get to the end of the race. And that’s what I think was cool about today. There was a very short period of time that that happened. Most guys when they got single file said ah, let’s take a shot at it. And this two-car thing allows you to do that.

“But I think it’s driver attitude and I think our attitudes are just going out there and putting on a good show and keeping it entertaining and then go racing. Let’s be honest. This race only needs to be 10 laps (laughter). So you’ve got to figure out how to entertain yourself and the fans and try not to wreck for the rest of the race.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – Finished 31st:

WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?

“There were two or three cars off the pace and there was a big group of us going by them. And the No. 33 (Clint Bowyer) and maybe the No. 6 (David Ragan) were on the inside and then the No. 16 (Greg Biffle) was kind of in the middle and we were all going around them. And as I trying to fish my way through the center of those three cars, unfortunately the No. 16 I just slightly touched and it knocked me a little sideways and then I lost control of the car.”

DO ALL SMARTS GO OUT THE WINDOW WITH 20 OR 25 LAPS TO GO?

“Yeah, without a doubt. So there will be something exciting coming up for the finish. It’s just part of it. I was trying to squeeze through those guys and the hole closed.”

WITH ALL THAT’S GOING ON, DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHO LEADS THE RACE AT ANY GIVEN TIME IN THE RACE?

“No, I mean we’re just putting on a good show and having fun. The package allows you to pass for the lead a lot. I’ve put the responsibility for all the racing we saw and the lead changes due to the fact that NASCAR created a certain package. So from there, we saw the lead changes.”

IS IT JUST GETTING OLD THAT THESE BIG WRECKS HAPPEN AT THE END OF THESE RACES?

“You know it’s going to happen. We all do. I’ve been fortunate to miss a lot of them. I just hope to miss the fall when the points are really on the line.”

Kevin Harvick Wins at Talledaga is a post from: Awesome Race Fans

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Following Talladega and comments by NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston on his blog, there has been a lot of discussion of the coverage of NASCAR races; more importantly how that coverage is shaping the audience’s perception of what they’re seeing.

All I can say is, it’s about time. Earlier this year I took up the topic of NASCAR and perception. No matter your feelings on the state of the sport, it’s undeniable that the color of coverage shapes what people feel.

Dustin Long interviewed Brian France on the issue of TV coverage. He touched on this issue. He said:

“We fully expect a lot of criticism for any number of reasons, judgment calls that are made, officiating calls that are made and some strategy or policy decisions that are made. We’ve always had that. That’s OK. What I’m saying is in opinions that are under the guise of criticism or being critical that just go on and on and on without much thought that’s different from some policy or rule violation that we didn’t handle correctly, somebody is more than fair to criticize us. It’s just there’s an unprecedented level that occurs when you espouse your opinion about how to do one thing or another.”

If you’re truly being honest with yourself, unless you’re out gathering news, where you get your news or in this case your racing coverage, is going to shape how you feel about it. For instance if you watch the local TV station that is big into covering local crime, chances are you’re going to believe crime is higher in your city. Likewise watching Fox News over MSNBC is likely going to shape how you see issues.

How many times in the last two seasons have you heard about ratings declines, or sagging attendance? The fact is attendance is down in the NFL and ratings are down 6% for MLB on ESPN (we’re no worse off than any other sporting event). If you hear something enough (like this race is boring) though you’ll start to believe it, it’s human nature. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

I personally found the coverage a little much. I doubt the brass at ESPN was thrilled with it. They’re only driving away the audience for programming ESPN’s already paid for.

The NASCAR writer for the Oakland Press wrote a blog post giving kudos to ESPN for standing up to NASCAR. What are they standing up to NASCAR about? At the end of the day they’re only hurting themselves. ESPN is spending $270 million a year or $2.16 billion (from Sports Business Resource Guide) over the life of their contract for the rights to broadcast NASCAR races. Now you tell me, is it in ESPN’s best interest to say, “hey this product we’re broadcasting is really boring?” I don’t think so.

A couple of weeks ago Dustin Long did a wide-ranging interview about the state of the sport with Larry McReynolds, Kyle Petty and Jimmy Spencer. One of their big criticisms was the negativity that comes out of the sport’s media. While I think this was a pot calling the kettle black moment (they went on to criticize the sport pretty heavily) they made a good point.

Larry McReynolds said:

Darrell has put a great analogy. He goes, if you go to a restaurant and you’ve been going to that restaurant for years and you love that restaurant but you constantly read in the paper, it’s a bad restaurant, it’s a bad restaurant. Eventually, you’re going to say, I’m not going to that restaurant. Even if they rehire a complete new chef, staff, you’re still going to be hesitant about going back to that restaurant.

From time to time I like to watch old races and I’ll be honest with you, it really doesn’t look all that different. There aren’t constant battles for the lead, races do sometimes get spread out, and sometimes one car just dominates. The one big difference is you don’t hear Eli Gold or Ken Squier or Bob Jenkins criticizing the product. If you don’t believe me, track down a race from 10 or 15 years ago.

I don’t mean to suggest that NASCAR fans are more susceptible to this. But I do believe that this negativity runs rampant around here; more so than in other sports. When was the last time you were watching an NFL game and heard Joe Buck say how boring it was?

I think just like in every other sport, announcers need to walk a fine line. Criticize the league or sanctioning body for controversial decisions, fine; don’t drive fans off though by criticizing the product.

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It seems this season that no matter what NASCAR does in terms of competition, they get it wrong.  Today’s race at Talladega was yet another example.

During the pre-race drivers meeting, NASCAR informed the drivers that they would not tolerate overly aggressive driving and bump drafting in the corners.  Violators would be penalized.

The drivers took them seriously, and what proceeded was a 500 mile, 36 car parade with a little three wide racing mixed in.  Jamie McMurray triumphed in the end after all hell broke loose with two late race crashes, one in which Ryan Newman ended up on his lid down the backstretch.

The frustration following the race was evident from both the drivers and the fans.

I think we can all agree that telling the drivers they couldn’t be aggressive during the race was the wrong thing to do.  They couldn’t afford to push the envelope and risk a penalty, so they avoided contact all together, and the racing suffered.  After the decision was made following the first Talladega race this year, in which Carl Edwards ended up in the fence at the finish, to make the openings in the restrictor plates smaller, everyone involved knew the fields were going to end up being even tighter.  In order to counter a rise in the chance for the “big one” NASCAR warned the drivers.  And we all witnessed the result.

The problem with this situation, is that NASCAR is really damned no matter what they do.  They can’t have cars flying into the catchfence but they must strike a balance and still maintain a good show for the fans.  And therein lies the million dollar question.  How does the sport make the superspeedway races entertaining, yet still safe for the fans and drivers?

We heard this week that changes are coming to the COT for the 2011 season, and that NASCAR is seeking input from some of the teams and drivers.  Hopefully, some improvements to the current car will allow the racing to be better at all tracks, including Daytona and Talladega.

You do have to hand it to NASCAR though, at least they are trying to be proactive.