Boris Said, driver of the #09 Zaxby's Ford crosses the finish line ahead of Max Papis, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series Napa Auto Parts 200 on August 29 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo: Getty Images)
As I watch the start of the Nationwide Series race in Montreal, it occurs to me that Sprint Cup drivers win almost all the ovals and road racers (or Cup drivers) win the road courses. The changing face of NASCAR road racing just puts one more hammer in the coffin of non-Cup regulars, whom I've come to call Nationwide "specialists."
This isn't going to take the form of the "stream of consciousness blogs" I sometimes do watching Cup races I don't actually cover on-site. I'm not going to write any play-by-play (or, to be more correct, in racing, lap-by-lap). I'm just going to watch the race and write what occurs to me, which may or may not be about racing. Instead of it being about the race, I'm trying to make it about what I think while watching the race.
So far ESPN2 seems to be more interested in me learning about Canada than NASCAR. Then again, all these caution-flag laps create lots of time to talk about Canada.
I wonder who the world champion is in Surfing Down Rapids?
A Challenger sure makes a great pace car.
NASCAR recently told owners the Nationwide purses might be 20 percent smaller next year. Based on the crashes in this one, they should've told the drivers.
Ah, the weirdness of stock cars on road courses. Robby Gordon is leading under caution, and he's only pitted ... seven times so far. Or so Allen Bestwick tells me.
It's five o'clock, and there are still 27 laps to go. Looking at my channel guide, it appears as if the U.S. vs. Slovenia will have to wait. That's not live, right? Wasn't the game played yesterday or something? If so, that's probably a wise programming choice, given the length of this Montreal crashfest.
Meanwhile, I've engaged in a meaningful Facebook string over the difference in the words "O" (as in "O Canada") and "oh" (as in "oh, my"). Conclusion: They mostly mean the same thing.
Do you ever find yourself thinking you actually have something to do with what's going on, even though you're sitting in an easy chair nearly 1,000 miles away? Notice how as soon as I made reference to endless crashes ... they stopped occurring.
So much for the cozy ending. A crash erases Carl Edwards' lead. Then ... Edwards' track bar is broken. Someone else is going to win. And I bet the crashes resume in the final few laps.
I cannot believe Jacques Villeneuve is pitting. He'll apparently be seventh on the restart. If he wins, it's going to be exciting.
Hate to say I told you so ...
I really hate to hear TV announcers say of a crash, "Wow. Look at all that carnage," as Bestwick just did.
Carnage denotes bloodshed. It should not be used in reference to a NASCAR crash.
car·nage: widespread slaughter of people: widespread and indiscriminate slaughter or massacre, especially of human beings
Basically, it means "gory death," and announcers shouldn't use it at sporting events.
The ending isn't going to be elegant. Stock cars on road courses seldom are.
Yes, where Robby Gordon is concerned, something always happens. One of the reasons is that he always takes outrageous chances.
Ringers go 1-2-3 -- Boris Said, Max Papis and Villeneuve -- and, man, was the finish amazing.
Leaving one with that most damning of sportswriter quandaries: Is it "Said said" or "said Said"? Perhaps one should switch to, oh, "Said opined."