Rather than weighing the various options presented and picking and choosing the best of the best, it seems that instead they used every single suggestion. But instead of creating a tasty blend of flavors, they ended up with a mishmash of a disaster that left drivers, crew chiefs, fans, and even sportscasters scratching their heads with confusion.
Mother Nature did not help by offering a steady dose of rain. Friday's practices and qualifying sessions were rained out, squeezing everything into a busy Saturday. Things looked good when Carl finally got his Arris Camry on the track, as he finished the only practice session at the top of the board with a speed of 192.027 miles per hour. Brad Keselowski notched the exact same time, but Carl won the tie breaker due to a higher position in the standings. (Nobody understands the importance of tie breakers better than a Carl Edwards fan!) For some reason, though, Darrell Waltrip overlooked Carl several times by proclaiming Keselowski to have the fastest practice time.
Carl did not participate in the Showdown because he was already qualified directly into the All-star main event, but some of the best racing of the day took place on Saturday morning. (Note to NASCAR: The Showdown had few gimmicks. There is a lesson to be learned there.)
The winning driver of each of three segments advanced to the All-Star event, and Roush showed surprising strength among the best of the rest. Trevor Bayne threaded his way through the leaders to win the first segment, and his teammate Greg Biffle drove away in the second segment. The third and final segment featured a door-slamming stretch drive, with Kyle Larson prevailing over Chase Elliott, reminiscent of Carl's duel with Kevin Harvick earlier this year in Phoenix.
Two additional drivers made it into the All-star race through the fan vote. Not surprisingly, young Chase Elliott topped the votes. If anybody has a chance of unseating Junior from his perch of favorite driver, Bill Elliott's son is it. And Danica Patrick was the runner up, giving her haters an opportunity to spew their usual venom. I am not sure why people insist on being so cruel, but it does seem to be popular to bully her.
Qualifying for the All-star main event was rained out, a big disappointment to many. The unique qualifying method features a mandatory four-tire pit stop with no speed limit on pit road during the second of three consecutive laps. The cars screaming onto pit lane and barely coming to a halt in their pit stalls is a once-a-year thrill to watch. Add to that the fact that Carl is particularly good at this, and his pit crew is the best in the business, so the chances were strong that he would claim the pole.
There was some confusion on how the starting grid would be set. Some thought that Carl would get the pole based on his chart-topping speed in practice. But the five individuals who advanced from the Showdown and fan vote did not get to participate in a practice session. Disregarding that those five drivers had significantly more practice time through their participation in the three-round Showdown, the powers that be instead used their discretion to disallow the earlier practice speeds and instead set the starting grid based on owners' points. Carl is sitting in 4th place in the standings, so he lined up on the outside of the second row.
Rain did delay the start of Saturday evening's race a bit, but except for a few weepers on the track the weather did not delay or shorten the main event. Carl started off strong in the first of three segments, quickly moving up to 2nd and even spending some time in the lead. As the first segment was drawing to a close, it seemed that there were a variety of strategies in play with some drivers pitting early and others not pitting at all.
The confusion kicked in with a vengeance near the end of that first segment. Matt Kenseth had failed to make his required four-tire stop until it was too late. Through one of those poorly-thought-out innovations to the rules, he went a lap down and several others drivers were unable to take the wave around, trapping them a lap down, too.
But the most fun to be had for a Carl Edwards fan took place during the break between the second and third segments. When the cars filed down pit road for their lug nut inspection, one of the officials indicated that there was one loose lug nut on Carl's left front tire. His short trip to his pit stall for a tightening of the guilty lug nut could not have taken more than a quarter of a second, but that was enough to move him away from the leaders back to 13th place.
In spite of his starting spot for the last 13 laps, he used his four fresh tires to move up to 4th place by the time the race had ended.
On Friday, Dusenberry Martin Racing held a press conference to announce that they would release a new simulation-style video game this fall. Carl was featured in the press conference as their explained that the Toyota driver who finished the best in the All-star race would be featured on the cover of the game. Carl's 4th place finish was good enough to earn him that honor. Not a million dollars, but a little something to distract from the confusion of the race. NASCAR needs to go back to the drawing board for their All-star rules, but this time they should not let the drivers participate.
No comments:
Post a Comment