Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Close But No Cigar and Looking Ahead to Upcoming Races and the Summer Months

Once again I have come home empty handed after the latest round of poker tournaments over the past couple weeks. Some heartbreak was involved including finishing second in a $500 winner-take-all tourney when I got unlucky during the last hand. I'm starting to feel like Jeff Gordon with all these recent second place finishes, haha! Suffered an enormous bad beat this past Sunday during the middle stages of a tournament, which I prefer not to go into detail about in this blog. Have no fear though, I'll be back on the horse and giving it another try again. Next month I'm putting up my own money and plan to enter one of the Borgata Summer Poker Open events in Atlantic City, most likely the Tuesday June 22nd $300 + $50 event.

The bad news is with all the poker playing I didn't get to see hardly any of the NASCAR All-Star race. Heard it was a good race, but since I don't have much to say about it I'll just move on. I did catch some of Indy 500 qualifying. I didn't mind the new and much easier to follow qualifying format; however, it seemed to lack the suspense that the old drawn out process had in the past. Maybe it was just the fact that Helio Castroneves set a blistering pace and backed it up twice. Maybe it's just my perception of it, considering I don't get Versus and had to watch and listen to the IMS feed on my computer. I miss ABC/ESPN's coverage of qualifying; for the most part I thought they have done a great job covering the Indy 500. Nevertheless, it should be a good race even though it might be another battle between Penske and Ganassi for the win. The favorite once again is Castroneves, but I'm going to predict one of his teammates Will Power or Ryan Briscoe will be drinking the milk in victory lane at the end of the day.

The good news about my early exit from the poker tournament on Sunday was that I arrived home in time to see the tail end of the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It looked like it was very well run. One of a few things that crossed my mind after reading a couple articles online is down the road who will and won't be "Hall of Fame" worthy? Sure there are at least a couple dozen drivers that no doubt will be inducted over the next few years, but what will happen a decade or so from now? In my opinion, since it is the NASCAR Hall of Fame the inductees should cover all of NASCAR's current and past series. Future inductees should include the late great Modified legend Richie Evans, Jack Ingram, Sam Ard, Hershel McGriff, multi-time Whelen All American Series champion Larry Phillips, and dirt racers Steve and Joe Kosiski just to name a few. What about guys like A.J. Foyt who had their share of stock car success in addition to their open wheel fame or anyone else who may make a successful crossover in the future? Will their overshadowing success in other forms of racing prohibit them from being a NASCAR Hall of Fame member? Will they continue inducting five a year or will they begin to back off at some point? If it eventually only becomes a couple a year this could all be a moot point.

The one sad thing I see is out of today's racers I don't see many current non-Cup drivers being future Hall of Famers. The Nationwide Series is so top-heavy with Cup drivers and there doesn't seem to be many dominating forces in the touring series anymore. There are a few current or fairly recent drivers that I wouldn't be surprised to see there when I become old and gray. Ron Hornaday Jr. since he pretty much has been the face of the Truck Series. Mike Stefanik who won championships in stock cars and modifieds in the same season two years in a row. Robert Huffman some may not remember brought Toyota it's initial success in NASCAR in the Dash Series. He's now a crew chief for the Revolution Racing team in the East Series, and if he remains with the team and they achieve continued success for years to come that's one more reason he should be considered. Phillip Morris could also be considered if he continues his championship winning ways in the Whelen All-American Series.

No matter what happens in the future, the NASCAR Hall of Fame looks like an immaculate facility. I plan to visit there sometime in 2011; a little bit after the initial hype similar to my interest in going to Bowman Gray Stadium following the Madhouse TV series.

Over the upcoming weeks there will be a few things to look forward to. The annual day before Memorial Day and perhaps one of the greatest days of the year in auto racing: the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne appear to be the men to beat in the 600 so I'll have to pick one of them to win again. However, the great part about the 600 is drivers have broken through with their first career win or first win in awhile before. I don't realistically see a first-time winner this year, but there are many drivers that are looking for their first win in quite awhile. Could Jeff Gordon return to the glory he had at Charlotte in the 1990's? The Roush drivers and guys like Burton, Martin and Earnhardt Jr. are looking for their first win of the year. This race is always worth staying up for!

The next race I will be going to is coming up quick. Current plan is to go to Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 12th for some local racing including a 100 lap Modified race, the first of a seven race 7 card stud poker series where the driver with the best five card poker hand wins a $2,500 cash bonus at the end of the year. A unique idea I must say. I'll be posting a blog update following the race and will post links for some video that I plan to capture again.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Hickory Recap and More NASCAR Analysis

I'm back from another great trip to North Carolina and saw some great races at Hickory Motor Speedway. I completely forgot that the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown was in Virginia on Thursday night. Maybe next year if the dates align again I could take a longer vacation and head down to the Richmond area for that race and head down to North Carolina the following day. Although all five divisions at Hickory seemed a little low in car count (biggest field I believe was 21 USAR Pro Cup cars), it definitely was worth going.

The winners of the Allison Legacy Series and Rolling Thunder Modifieds led every lap of the race, which is fine with me because if you have the fastest car why not try and lap the field. It seemed like in the ISCARS race that many of the teams suffered and dealt with mechanical problems, but there was a great side by side battle for the lead for much of the race. In the USAC Ford Focus Midgets and USAR Pro Cup Series races it goes to show you that even if a car runs away with the show it's not over until the checkered flag. It always amazes me that people will just leave the track in the middle of a race if there's not a battle for the lead. In my book, they're not real race fans. There were still battles for position all over the track and near the conclusion of both races the dominant leader's engine expired. I must add that it was awesome seeing a Food Country USA #75 in victory lane! Videos of the races can be found at http://www.youtube.com/ajcrdstr24. Recaps and race results can be found at all of the series official web sites.

I said in the previous paragraph that the race isn't over until the checkered flag and it could not be more true especially in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010. I have to admit that the Daytona 500 finish was one of the best I've seen in a long time and at first was a fan of the multiple green-white-checker rule. However, it seems like time and time again the same story evolves. Someone gets into trouble late in the race and whether it is a big wreck or just an innocent spin, NASCAR has thrown the caution. This is where I feel the end of these races have turned into something comparable to the end of a poker game. The stakes are high and the drivers and teams have used skill to get into the position they are currently at. Everyone is gunning for the current leader who in many cases this year has led the most laps and failed to win; basically making him a bit of a sitting duck during the late stages. So the teams start gambling whether it be through pit strategy or risking thousands or maybe even millions of dollars worth of parts by making a decisive maneuver for the win (Talladega for instance). This has happened in past years on occasion as well, but even more so this year. The multiple green-white-checkered finishes are where the luck factor comes into play, which isn't all that bad but for it to happen almost every race (once again Talladega for instance) has been getting sort of ridiculous.

What is the solution? Maybe it will just take time. Maybe these drivers just have to get used to it and prove they are the best drivers in America. After all it's worked well for years in the Truck Series and several short track divisions throughout the entire country. Maybe I'm not like most race fans, but I don't mind seeing the dominant car win more often than not, and a lot of times if that car, driver and/or team falters near the end of a race I feel their pain. For the time being, if I want to see the end of a poker game I'll go to Atlantic City.

Over the next month I won't be going to or watching many races anyway due to some poker tournaments I will be concentrating on, including playing for top prizes such as $500 cash, a trip to Atlantic City and a trip to Las Vegas. Just like every year, I look forward to tuning in to see the Indy 500 and Coca Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. In June, I'll probably go see a local race or two at Mahoning Valley Speedway, Sundance Vacations Speedway or maybe even consider traveling to Port Royal Speedway for the first time to see some dirt racing.

I'll be back later in the month to share my poker results, preview the summer and maybe have another comment or two regarding the world of NASCAR.