Very few things were learnt in the 250-lap snoozer round California Speedway.
We learnt that Jimmie Johnson is good. We knew that.
We learnt that Fontana races are like watching paint dry. We knew that.
We learnt that caution lights are pretty flimsy, and prone to falling off. OK, we didn't know that.
But one good thing did come out of it all; I found a new respect for NASCAR's tiny guys. And I mean really tiny.
I support the underdog in just about every sport. In F1, it's Force India. In NASCAR, my main guy is Dave Blaney, no matter how many years of my life endless screaming at the TV over recent weeks has cost me.
They are both underdogs, small-time guys (sorry Dave) for small-time teams, but they are huge compared to the tiny guys.
They include the No. 09 Miccosukee car that saw action at Bristol and is entered again for Saturday night's Richmond race; the Furniture Row team; and my new favourites, the No. 08 Dodge team that got into the race at Fontana, their 11th attempt of the season.
That stat says it all. Motorsport is probably the toughest sport to be the underdog, at the highest levels you're fighting it out with huge teams with huge wallets and enough technical boffins to get us back to the moon. Pitch that against a part-time with a small sponsor and you can guess who is going to come out worst.
Faced with these huge odds, it would be all too easy for the little teams to cut their losses, especially after a stretch of not making races like the No. 08 had. The venerable old No. 4 Morgan-McClure team packed it in after a horrid season in 2007 and a lack of decent sponsorship, and with the current economic climate, more teams from different series will probably follow them out the door.
All of this makes it even more incredible that these tiny teams continue to do the rounds of the Sprint Cup, not every race (the No. 08 team isn't entered at Richmond; to be fair, they probably deserve a week off) but they are still there. And while the Gibbs', the Hendrick's and the Roush's of NASCAR win, week in, week out, just making a race is like winning it for these guys. And I don't think we celebrate them enough.
This weekend at Richmond when the quali results come out, by all means look for your favourite driver, look for the guys around The Chase, but then look for the tiny guys fighting just to make it in. Give them a little love.
5 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
L.J. Burgess 10 months ago
Long live Derrike Cope, long live Mike Bliss...
Edit Comment Cancel
Patti Rodisch 10 months ago
GREAT JOB!! I always root for the guys at the end of quals..i know they all can't get in, but i want to see one of them win a race.. you know dominate like a JJ does. It would be a huge boost for those smaller teams that are struggling to just get by. it was what nascar was built around smaller organizations , family organizations running week in and week out.. really enjoyed this one..
Edit Comment Cancel
James Roth 10 months ago
When will someone tell Robbie Gordon he needs to go back to open-wheeled racing. He's the most worthless NASCAR driver since John Andretti. (Unless he's putting the 24, 48, and 5 in the wall)
Edit Comment Cancel
S M Napier 10 months ago
Great read, always remember the underbird.
Edit Comment Cancel
Mary Jo Buchanan 10 months ago
James, good read and go underdogs for sure. We need to get more chatter going about the other drivers on the track, other than the chasers and the big "names". Keep writing aboutthis James.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.