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It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to realize that suddenly something big is happening in NASCAR...finally!
Let's try not to flip this one, Carl....(Photo by: Sam VarnHagen/Ford Motor Co.
By Mike Mulhern
mikemulhern.net
RICHMOND, Va.
When the Wall Street Journal sends an ace reporter to cover a NASCAR race, and the Washington Post suddenly decides to send not one but two reporters to the asphalt rink, well, it's clear that the game's afoot, Watson!
Yes, after several weeks mired in funk, with sluggish TV ratings, weak crowds, boring racing, the sport of NASCAR appears to have suddenly reached a critical mass, in just the past seven days:
– with all that high drama at Talladega…the brilliant performance by unsung rookie Brad Keselowski…the controversial Talladega finish, with a car nearly in the stands and fans injured…Carl Edwards' surprising sprint on foot to the finish line, a la Hollywood…
-- and Edwards' totally unexpected TV PR whirlwind – including stints on Larry King and Ellen DeGeneres….
--- then the stunning death of renowned NASCAR journalist David Poole, accentuating his outspoken persona and sports criticisms….
-- and the looming denouement of the Chrysler-Washington-Obama debate, with that company's forced bankruptcy leading to great uncertainty and much Wall Street/Detroit debate about the company's future, not only on the streets of America but also on NASCAR tracks.
So now it's up to NASCAR, its owners, drivers and executives, to take this unexpected burst of momentum and do something positive with it.
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Good race in Richmond last
Good race in Richmond last night, too. That can't hurt any. The number one concern for NASCAR I have right now in the short term is the prospect of another fiasco at the Brickyard in July. Doesn't sound like the tire tests are very encouraging.
NASCAR may have gotten a
NASCAR may have gotten a surge of attention, but the kind of racing we saw at Talladega - where the lead changed over 40 times and teams and drivers other than the Big Three were fighting it out all day for the win - is what the sport needs to sustain this burst of attention.
The loansharking of Chrysler by Obama isn't a positive for anyone, though I suspect even he won't gut their NASCAR programs.
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