Marching Into Spring – Racing’s Greatest Time of The Year

The month of March ushers in what is arguably the greatest time of the year for sports fans. This week, in particular, heralds the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, while in classrooms, factories and offices across the country, productivity takes a back seat to bracketology. Spring Training is in full swing, as Major League Baseball prepares for Opening Day on March 31st and race fans are not left wanting either. This past weekend marked the start of the Formula One season, the IndyCar and Champ Car Series will soon be reunited and the grand American endurance race, the 12 Hours of Sebring, was run this past Sunday. For NASCAR, the action gets going a month earlier, with the Super Bowl of motorsports, the Daytona 500, being the kickoff event of the year.

With a few races on the stock car side of things under our belt, my favorite period of the racing calendar commences. The tracks the circuit visits at this time are as uniquely NASCAR as NASCAR is uniquely American.

Last weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway was the first short track race of the season; a throwback event to what some might consider the “Golden Era” of NASCAR. The furthest thing from a cookie-cutter this side of Talladega, there is still nothing like it, even after 60 years of NASCAR racing. The modern-day equivalent of a Roman Coliseum situated in the bowels of the Smoky Mountains, there is a reason the track boasts that the action in Thunder Valley is, “Racin’ The Way It Ought’a Be!” With its newly resurfaced concrete in place, it’s now a multi-groove track that provides drivers a second lane in which to execute a pass, rather than just drilling the car in front to get to the once-preferred low line.

There was a time when Bristol was the first short track event of a three-race short track stretch that included bygone — but not forgotten — North Wilkesboro Speedway and one of the original NASCAR tracks, Martinsville Speedway.

Although the Cup Series is off this weekend for Easter, it returns to Martinsville on March 30th for another short track go-round. Martinsville is a different monster in and of itself. The picturesque and well-manicured .526-mile track is flat and shaped like a paper clip, featuring asphalt straights and concrete corners.

The drivers spend more time on the brakes than they do on the gas here, accelerating in short bursts down the 800-foot straightaways before jumping on the binders to negotiate the 588-foot turns. Aerodynamics were usually considered an afterthought here, and with today’s common-template car, what’s the difference anyway, right? Bumpers are employed as much as brakes, and the margin of victory is typically measured in car lengths, not seconds. The track that is as well known for a grandfather clock trophy as it is for its neon pink hot dogs, Martinsville also produces some of the more memorable moments in a season chock-full of them.

Need proof? Where else can you see Tony Stewart flag someone down on the track to lean in the window and take a swing at them?

Also a welcomed addition in March is a reprieve from the points standings from the previous season dictating who races and who doesn’t. NASCAR’s antiquated top-35 system has become a point of contention for many, with faster qualifying cars having to go home due to established teams falling back on past successes to start the season. Beginning with Martinsville, cars that are currently in the top 35 in owner’s points are locked in, with the remainder of the field left to fight over the remaining seven positions, with a Past Champion’s Provisional available if needed. An imperfect system if there ever was one, it at least reflects the current standings and performance of teams from here on, rather than honoring results from a half-year ago.

Familiar names such as Jamie McMurray, Dave Blaney, reigning IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti and Kyle Petty all must find speed during qualifying or risk suffering the heartburn that accompanies not making the show — and the hot dogs they’ve been scarfing all weekend.

Being five races deep into the 2008 season is also a good time to reflect on what’s transpired thus far. While many have marveled at the speed shown by Kyle Busch in each event so far, one can only shake your head at the once-dominant Hendrick organization. Last season, the Hendrick teams made a mockery of the competition, winning nine of the first 12 events, with each of the four teams bagging a win. This year, however, defending series champion Jimmie Johnson has looked decidedly average, while Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have produced consistently strong runs, stymied only by accidents not of their making. Casey Mears has to be wondering what has gone so wrong so quick. He finds himself 33rd in points, with a best finish of 13th at Las Vegas. One more poor finish and he too will face the possibility of becoming a go- or go-homer.

Toyota has been the most impressive group, thanks in part to Joe Gibbs Racing, the new flagship team for the brand whose freshman campaign was nothing if not embarrassing. Toyota finally has an established, top-tier, championship-winning team that can not only utilize the manufacturer’s vast engineering resources, but has its own knowledge-base deep enough to spread amongst the other teams in the camp.

There is an old axiom; a rising tide floats all ships. Toyota’s theory of racing is ‘one for all and all for one.’ At this time last season, there were no Toyota’s in the top 20 in points. This season, there are four, with Red Bull’s Brian Vickers joining the Gibbs trio of Busch, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. Granted, three-fourths of that list are of the Joe Gibbs ilk, but if you also consider that none of the Michael Waltrip Racing cars have missed a race this season and all are within the top 35 in owners points, it is a stark contrast to last year’s weekly nightmare.

So with the 2008 season more than a month old, we’ve run the biggest race of the season, been on two western excursions, had one rainout and a endured one documented tire debacle. With all that has gone on in such a short span of time, I for one am actually glad to see these guys get a weekend off. As much as race fans would love to see the series compete each week, it should be noted that these participants are not robots; they are men with families, lives, interests and pursuits beyond loud, smelly, unfeeling machines.

Having said that, there is another old saying: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” This holds true as well, as I for one cannot wait for another weekend of short track action at the oldest surviving track on the NASCAR circuit.

Until then, Happy Easter everyone.

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