Blandness?

By M.L. Morgan

(May 16, 1998) -- Well, race fans, my good buddy Sparky doesn’t have a monopoly on receiving interesting letters. I got one this week describing the 1998 Winston Cup season as dull. It wasn’t one of the many e-mails I receive which are written in crayon so I assumed it was from an adult race fan. The gist of the note was how appalled she was with the blandness of the 1998 season. It gave me a good reason to take another look

We’re 10 races into the season. The Winston All-Star race is upon us and it means nothing except to the competitors who are risking career-ending injuries in this meaningless exhibition. It means a lot to Bruton $mith. But not to me. I live 3 hours away from this track but I’ll never contribute a dime to this spectacle. I’ve campaigned for years to make this exhibition a free race for the fans but I’m sure it will never happen. Nascar has begun a series of commercials on t.v. to “thank” the fans for their support. Spare me, please

Let’s get back to the blandness of the 1998 season. Maybe I’ve been sleeping since February but I can’t agree with this writer’s comments. Earnhardt won the Daytona 500. That was exciting to many of his fans. The media midgets immediately claimed it was orchestrated by Nascar. Give me a break. I’m sure these midgets need to justify their existence but this is the wrong platform. No race driver on the planet would intentionally let someone else win the Daytona 500. Since the recent demise of the Indy 500, the Daytona 500 is arguably the most prestigious race in the world. I don’t believe for an instant that 42 other teams would join forces to let any other driver win the race. That’s preposterous, but that’s what you can expect from these media midgets.

Since Daytona we’ve been deluged by reports the new Ford Taurus is getting preferential treatment from Nascar. What a bunch of crap ! The cars have never been more evenly balanced. When Jeremy Mayfield can be leading the point’s race despite never winning a race, a lot of the midget/pundits are crying “Foul”. I think it’s hysterical. These midgets need to go back to their ‘time-out’ chairs. Nascar rewards consistency.

Mark Martin has won 3 races this year. That wasn’t dull. He won them in dominating form. He’s a great driver and a really nice person. He probably won’t win the Championship but he’s just another example of why the 1998 season has been anything but dull.

I never thought I’d say this but Nascar is approaching parity. The cars are very evenly matched. The cars are distinguished only by what the various teams are able to tweak out of them. I remember well when Bill Elliott or Richard Petty had more than the other boys could handle. Old news. Elliott had the perfect balance in his team and Petty, of course, had the best factory sponsorship to go along with his unique abilities.

Now we have a bunch of teams which are very close. I don’t think that makes for dull racing. The fact that so many teams are so close just opens up the field for more competitive races.

The days are gone when we might be able to predict the race winner. That’s not dull. I think it brings back some of the excitement of Winston Cup Racing.

Have comments or questions? E-mail: M.L. Morgan

Home | Past Editorials | Racing Links | M.L.'s NASCAR Flags | Ask Uncle Mike