| If Tony Soprano ran Nascar |
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This may seem a bit far fetched, but I was thinking this past weekend while at the track in Charlotte, excuse me, I mean at "Lowe's Motor Speedway". Can you believe NBC refused to call the track by it's name because Lowe's didn't buy commercial time? What is this sport coming to? Anyhow, growing up in a big italian family, Sicilian at that, I got to thinking......
If Tony Soprano, from the HBO series "The Sopranos" was to take over Mike Helton's job, I think things would be better. Mike has that hard nosed look, and has brilliant answers such as, "We aren't going to react simply for the sake of reacting" and "We are looking into it" and my favorite "We made our decision and we are sticking to it". A great line from "The Godfather" is "Hey it's nothing personal, It's business" This is how things would get done with Tony in charge. Instead of being instantly defensive when asked questions like "Why are we racing the day after Thanksgiving?" and "Why aren't we doing more on safety?" ,Tony would say, "Hey, it's nothing personal, It's business". He would admit that the decisions made are strictly based on making money and if it means sending his own mother to NH in the snow to cover the race, then let it be done. Mike Helton wants to make you think it isn't about the money, it isn't about massaging these big TV deals, but it is all about that. Just admit it and move on. Trust me, people would have more respect for the truth instead of hearing things that sound like a politician backing out of his latest scandal. Trust me Mike, when you push the big corporate sponsors over the edge by not mentioning their names unless they buy TV time, having a race sponsor (Nascar presented by Sprint PCS) versus a track sponsor (Protection One 400), someone is going to pull out and spend their money elsewhere and the bottom will fall out. Do you think it is a coincidence that this has been the toughest year to get and keep sponsors and the first year of your new TV deal? Why would a sponsor pay millions to be on a car when he has to pay even more to get mentioned? Now, if Vince McMahon from the WWF ran Nascar, life would be good. I am not a big WWF fan but you have to respect the empire Vince has built. Can you imagine the pre-race interview with Tony Stewart? "Well let me tell you something brother.. Last week at Racemania, Jeff Gordon thought he could push me around on the track, I got news for you, Tony Stewart is going to lay the Smack down and come out victorious. He'll wish his momma never bought him that quarter midget when I am done with him" Oh wait, Tony did say that... or pretty close. How about if we ran Nascar like Survivor? Every week the driver who won gets immunity and then we vote off one driver. I would have to vote Jeff Burton off first. I think Jeff is a great driver and a great guy, but I am so sick of seeing Kim Burton crying on TV as Jeff tries to win. She gets more air-time than Liz Allison and Liz works for the network. Maybe if Jeff has trouble getting a sponsor next year , Cover Girl make-up will step up and sponsor him with their new "No-run Mascara". Kim could star in the commercials. Anyhow, I was at the track all weekend and had an awesome time, I met great people from all over the country and it really is a family community. Thanks to Robert Hall and his wife, they're from Bristol, for keeping the conversation going and making the rain delay enjoyable on saturday. Thanks to our neighbors at the campsite for keeping us laughing and having fun. Tony, Barbara, Randy, Nell, Joshua, and Joseph, you guys are great people and I look forward to meeting up again at some more races. Oh yeah, there was some racing going on, wasn't there? First off, I got to Charlotte friday afternoon and heard the news of Blaise Alexander. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Mike Helton, even though this wasn't Nascar, I think it is time to react. What are you worried about?.. People blaming Nascar if a driver dies even after you mandate new safety measures? People are blaming you now.. move on... REACT already!!! The Busch race got off late but had some great action. I can't believe Matt Kenseth lost it in the closing laps. Every one around swore that Biffle sent him spinning, but after reviewing the replay and of course hearing Matt say he just blew it, my apoligies go to Greg Biffle. My comments on the Cup race will be limited to 2 things both of which occurred after the race. 1) When giving the finishing order the Track announcer on the house PA, listed Marlin in the #40 Coors Light Dodge, Tony Stewart in the Pontiac, Ward Burton in the Cat Dodge, .... They did not mention Home Depot.. Why? Because the track is sponsored by Lowe's?? Aren't these the same people who hooked up tow trucks to the NBC trailers and threatened to cut the power and cables to the trucks and force NBC out if they didn't call the track "The Lowe's Motor Speedway"?? Sounds hippocritical to me. Very poor taste if you ask me. and 2) Tony Stewart, you ran great, had a great car, gained points, why did you have to ruin your post-race interview by saying "We were best in class, but Nascar has given so much down force to the Dodges, there is no way we could ever beat them." Tony, YOU didn't even mention Home Depot. If the dodges were so great, why didn't Ward catch you? Now if the top 5 were dodges or if Buckshot won, I would cry foul, but, Marlin just had a great car and a great team effort, don't take it away from him. And, if you think the Dodge's have an advantage... Switch. 10 other teams did. In closing, let me say that all the controversy is great for the sport, it helps keep people fired up and into it, but SAFETY is not something that can be overlooked anymore. And, if we continue to snub sponsors, they will find other ways to advertise and we will have 35 car fields and the races will be tape delayed because the networks won't find it quite so lucrative to be paying billions of dollars for the rights and selling 4 spots during the show. Fox, NBC, take a look at how ESPN did it all these years and TNN. If you chase away the money, you chase away the sport. |