The View from Here: The Business of NASCAR

To paraphrase Garrison Keillor, it was a quiet week in NASCARville.

Not many rumblings about the COT (CoRN, etc.) from those in the trenches. No loud racing sounds on Sunday past, although Saturday was somewhat interesting.

A reminder that Mike and I predicted a victory by Toyota within the first seven races — we never said which series, though. Putting Toyotas in three of the first four places on Saturday does demonstrate that Toyota is a reality, regardless of the series. Still, I must admit that Mike and I were really speaking of the Nextel Cup series with our prediction.

More resurfacing (Darlington after the May race preceded by Bristol’s resurfacing now) suggests that the COT might still require some “tweaking” through most of the season given the continuing “unknowns.”

It was interesting, though, when several drivers spoke out after Bristol and Martinsville, stating that they (all the drivers) needed to “quit griping, get over it, and start racing.” The COT is here and it is here to stay! Unlike the NBA players complaining about their new basketball, all the complaining in the world won’t change the direction that NASCAR has taken in terms of the COT.

Whether the fans embrace the COT remains to be seen but I doubt that even a loud noise from the grandstands will make much difference. The key is the previously mentioned “tweaking” that teams and NASCAR engineers do to make the racing more interesting.

That’s it for now — keep the comments coming and let’s go racing Texas style.

Jon