Slowly but surely we're getting our sports back. You get a little UFC, some PBR, a few golf matches, and Nascar. I'm very excited for the return of sports and decided I would talk a little about the return of Nascar since that's what I watched. Hopefully, the NBA, NHL, and MLB can figure out their plans and we can get even more sports back in the near future. First though a few thoughts on the Darlington race from Sunday, and what Nascar brought to the table.
Nascar did an excellent job on Sunday protecting everyone from each other. I think the drivers and crew guys were far enough apart to show they are trying to do the right thing while also being able to do their jobs. There was a camera view of the spotters in the stands and it looked like they were very close but some people at the track dispelled that and said they were properly distanced. Fox did a good job with the interviews and only had one reporter on site and he had a boom mic to keep his distance from the person being interviewed. I think a few things were a little over the top. After the race Kevin Harvick stood alone in victory lane with the trophy with a mask on, he's by nobody, the mask was unnecessary. I realize it's all about the look but let's also not take things too far. There were plenty of people on social media being sure to point out the 1 or 2 instances of poor distancing but those people are blowhards and need a life.
The race itself was OK. This race package, which we're going to be stuck with for another year thanks to Covid, is very frustrating on the tracks that usually have good racing. Darlington is a great track but when clean air is king it's a frustrating track. I thought there was plenty of passing in the pack but passes for the lead were minimal and that makes for boring racing. If the goal is get off pit road first, hold someone off for 2 laps and then you get a 2 second gap because of the air, is crappy. Now a few guys blew their shots, Jimmie Johnson wrecked himself trying to pass a lapped car, but even that incident looked like rust. All in the all I enjoyed the race, but I like when the lead changes and 1st place isn't out for a cruise.
One of the things that might have fixed the no lead changes was longer runs, usually at Darlington you get at least 1 long run, but yesterday there were all 30 lap runs and right as the tires were about to get old someone would spin. That probably had more to do with the layoff than anything. These guys had no data for the track and were out of practice. That's something I'm looking forward to on Wednesday, with more data maybe we'll get better racing.
Nascar put on a decent show, but it could've been better and with a chance to get the world watching I think they put up a dud for the most part. Just like last years championship race, when the lights were the brightest the show didn't deliver. With a different racing package or a different track things might of been better, but to get new fans and be the only game in town you have to entertain and yesterday wasn't entertaining. Like I said hopefully the next race is better if some teams can alter the set up a little more, and hopefully Nascar gets rid of the glued on banners to the walls since that caused a caution yesterday.
If you're new to Nascar and are watching to pass the time, enjoy the races, pick a driver to love and one to hate, it's easier to watch if you got someone to root against. We get a lot of races in the next 2 weeks so you should have plenty to watch and gamble on.
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