Travesty at TMS
by M.L. Morgan
The 1998 Winston Cup Season has been, so far, memorable because it’s been impossible to remember all the rules changes Nascar has implemented after only 7 races. King William II, bless his little heart, has become a master in his guise as the champion of parity. I’m sure there are at least 12 race fans on the planet who agree these incessant rules changes have accomplished anything but antagonizing both the race teams and the fans. I am not one of that 12.
We just endured another spectacle at Texas Motor Speedway, sponsored by King William II’s ostensible arch rival, Bruton Smith. I say ‘ostensible’ because there are some amazing similarities in their styles. But that’s another column - I don’t want to get side-tracked.
Let’s get back to TMS. There were 16 wrecks in qualifying and practice. A few mystics, as well as a lot of drivers, suggested the track surface was just as miserable as it was in 1997. I can’t quote all the drivers because this is a family-oriented forum. But I respect the opinions of the drivers much more than I respect the protestations of Eddie Gossage, Bruton’s lead lackey at TMS. Gossage recently denied there were any problems with water seepage at the track - they were allegedly repaired. Now I wonder why Winston Cup qualifying had to be postponed for seepage. Maybe I just don’t understand all I know about this “alleged” situation.
After the smoke had almost cleared about the water seepage, the Cup drivers were complaining about the sink-hole in-between turns 3 and 4 . Gossage said it was merely a ‘dip’ in the track but the drivers described it as a crater. During the Busch Race on Saturday several incidents proved otherwise.
Before this race weekend there was a lot of speculation these races would be postponed until the track could be improved. Not in this lifetime. Too many tickets sold. King William II will wink at the TMS inadequacies in order to get his cut off the top, and of course Bruton Smith needs the money to build more luxury suites. But I don’t.
TMS is a beautiful facility but the race track is really bad. It seems as if Bruton built a coliseum and at the last moment decided to add a race track in the middle of it. Sources have reported this exchange of words to me. Gossage: B.S. why didn’t you tell me we were supposed to build a race track ? B.S. : Don’t worry about it, son - it’s not a big deal - we’ve got nearly 500 bucks left in the budget to build the track. Gossage: thank’s, B.S., I was starting to get worried.
I think their 500 bucks was misspent The only solution I know is to change the rules again. Maybe that’s the only way, as much as I hate to suggest it.
Maybe we should have special rules for each track. At Texas we could have a floating rule to alter the pontoon adjustments and out-rigger rules to accommodate the water on the track. Only Bruton would cause us to consider a rule such as that. If you are listening, B.S., that’s not a compliment. Trust me.
Stay tuned.
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