2022 NASCAR THREAD

I expect John Hunter will move to the 19.

 

Truck Series to race Wilkesboro during the all star weekend.

 

Jumpin gee-willickers I *MUST* get a ticket for that weekend. Even if the racing blows, I want to be able to see NASCAR at North Wilkesboro in person at least once.

 

Same here.

 

Trucks also going back to the Milwaukee mile.

 

North Carolina TW meetup May 20-21.

 

I'll be there, I don't give a shit if I have to buy tickets from a scalper.

 

And the Spring Martinsville date goes back to Sunday daytime. Thank goodness. That was the most miserable in-person race I've ever experienced. 3 layers of clothing + hot hands packets stuffed everywhere I could fit them. Rain, wind, sleet & snow. I re-upped my tickets & camping before the weather hit and had regretted the decision.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcLF4j0rJWu/

 

Not to mention, that was the worst Martinsville race in history.

 

AGREED 100%.

Outside of the race itself, everything else was fantastic. The facility was clean, bootleg souvenir tents were aplenty, vintage race cars were on display, and we managed to have lunch with Mike Helton, Brad K, and the president of Martinsville Speedway. They threw more hotdogs at me than I care to count, and I ate every one . I texted Chase Briscoe and set up a meet & greet on pit road for my kid. He got an autographed crew hat and a solid childhood memory.

 

Got my retro Awesome Bill shirt in the mail today.

 

This has been a big news week this week. Perhaps that helped keep down some of the social media backlash over Bubba's win.

 

Whooooo. Martinsville dogs. When I worked for ISC/Americrown I supervised all of the concession stands along turns 3 & 4 (spring 2015). I got stuck in one stand helping a group of college kids make dogs. I think we sold over 4000 from that stand alone. There were so many cautions that the line outside the stand never had less than 50 people. After the race, while I was making my rounds and doing closing inventories with the different groups, someone stole my backpack. It had my prescription Oakleys, my car keys, and a few other things. After everything was said and done (and replaced), I ended up losing money on that trip.

 

Ah man, I was there! Sitting in turn 1/2. My first trip to the paperclip.

 

Some buddies have been working on this for a few months. Here is the final product. Pretty neat history on a lost North Georgia speedway:

https://youtu.be/geVHYI7E2Yo

 

I don't think people have a problem with Bubba winning when he does it legitimately. It is Bubba and the media that makes it about his ethnicity and less about his performance. It is hard to say that anyone driving in NASCAR has had to "struggle". They are all very fortunate to have the opportunity. It's like hearing a multimillionaire athlete tell you about how they are unable to get ahead when in fact they themselves are the example of the very thing they claim is biased. Anyway, Bubba showed up. Booty made the right calls, pit crew stepped up and Bubba performed. Deserving win. Happy for him.

 

I would love to think that too, until I looked at social media afterwards (although still better than I expected). I believe he got booed at MIS during driver intros last year. Then again, most of the Toyota guys get booed. This year the rain started just after Joey Logano got introduced so they never got the chance to boo him or Kyle Busch.

 

I am not disagreeing but I think if we want everyone to be treated equal as we should. Perhaps we should start not caring what race they are and just treat everyone the same. He is a dude, that drives a car like any other dude. Would we care if someone won that had a sunburn or a tan. Who gives a shit. If we don't want it to be an issue then why make his ethnicity a point. Has nothing to do with anything. Shame on our media for making it a point to make it about one of his parents being African American. He is just a dude.

 

Yep. There was a reaction video I saw that said he hopes we can start just referring to him as just a driver now that he has 2 wins and one that no one can dispute and say was gifted by NASCAR.

 

I don't want to get too in the weeds here WRT 2020 and everything happening nationally in such a short span of time. I appreciate how we've managed to keep this thread on track this year.

I fully blame NASCAR execs and the media for drumming up that whole noose story and publicizing it as they did to position themselves as a relevant brand. Don't forget, the Kyle Larson fiasco was still fresh on the minds of those of us more intently attuned to NASCAR. The whole Talladega non-story was NASCAR's attempt to seem proactive, save face, and bury the Larson story. With everything going on, Bubba, a young guy still forging his identity, was caught up in the zeitgeist and gave one interview to CNN. Don't forget how it was all presented to him:

"Wallace began by recounting how he found out about the noose itself. In his telling, he received a call from NASCAR president Steve Phelps, who asked to meet with him in person about a serious matter. When he eventually did meet with the driver, Phelps broke down in tears while informing Wallace about the noose that had been found--Wallace also mentioned Phelps saying something about a "hate crime."

After the investigation (which NASCAR requested), Bubba said on social media: "It's been an emotional few days. First off, I want to say how relieved I am that the investigation revealed that this wasn't what we feared it was. I want to thank my team, NASCAR and the FBI for acting swiftly and treating this as a real threat," Wallace wrote. "I think we'll gladly take a little embarrassment over what the alternatives could have been. Make no mistake, though some will try, this should not detract from the show of unity we had on Monday, and the progress we've made as a sport to be a more welcoming environment for all."
Source: https://www.cbssports.com/nascar/ne...se-in-his-garage-reacts-to-fbi-investigation/

That last bit sounds like a PR line written for print. It puts NASCAR in a good light. They used Bubba as a pawn for a nothing-burger of a story for their own personal & economic gain (much like the slave owners of yore). It was opportunistic posturing on NASCAR's part to save face in light of current events when a very bad thing happened and it was very easy to take a position as the good guys in the moment. Like I said, I don't blame Bubba one bit.