THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL: Wow, how about three major races being affected by rain on the same day? The Cup race in Martinsville, the open wheel race in St. Petersburg, and the drag race in Charlotte were all affected in one way or another by rain on Sunday. They all had to run or finish running on Monday.

FOUR WIDE, BABY! - A few years ago, John Force and his family had a reality show called Driving Force. Watching that got me a little interested in watching drag racing…not to the extent that I planned my weekends around it, but if I happened to be channel surfing and came across it, I’d stop and watch. And that’s about the extent of my interest these days. But when I heard that they were going to race four wide at Charlotte last weekend, I had to make sure I watched. I set the DVR for the Saturday qualifying and the race on Sunday. Saturday during Funny Car qualifying,  two cars lost their bodies in the same race. That was quite a site, and thankfully, no one was hurt (one guy even made it to the finals). The rain on Sunday forced the postponement of the Funny Car and Top Fuel finals, so I didn’t get to see that until I got home. The above mentioned John Force won the race, with his daughter Ashley finishing second. I have to say the four-wide format is a lot more interesting than two wide. I was surprised that the grandstands were only about half full; I would have thought the uniqueness of the format would have drawn a full house. Ah well, Bruton Smith says he’s going to build another one in Las Vegas. Maybe it’ll catch on.

ECONOMICS 101: It’s no secret that NASCAR races are no longer selling out. Bristol had tickets available on race day I hear. I think NASCAR needs to hire an economist. And the first thing that economist will tell them is that when there’s too much supply and not enough demand, you’ve got a problem. What NASCAR needs to do is remove about six races from the season. They go to some tracks twice that they shouldn’t even go to once. Fewer races should meet the current demand, and give the sport time to grow back into a longer season schedule.

PROMOTION 101: Bruton Smith’s four-wide drag strip is an example of a promoter thinking outside the box. NASCAR needs to do the same thing to garner more interest in their product. Here are some ideas stolen taken from Saturday night races:

1. Double points – have two or three double-points races during the season. That would give some drivers a chance to make up some ground. Having those at places like Talladega and Bristol would make it even more interesting.
2. Heat races – we already have “heat races” to determine the starting lineup at the Daytona 500. Why not do it at a few other tracks? Have four heat races with the top five in each race moving to a semi-final.  Then the top five in each semi move on to the final.
3. 50 lap points races – Remove the pit crews from the equation, and put the whole thing in the drivers’ hands. Take the top 10 or 20 from qualifying or heat races, and let them go.

NASCAR needs to realize soon they need to do something to get their product back in the minds of sports fans.

MARTINSVILLE: And finally, how about that finish at Martinsville? I DVR’d the race, and unfortunately, wasn’t able to avoid finding out who won. So rather than sit through three hours of the race, I watched it on 2x Fast Forward. I could still see who was leading and only slowed it down to see what caused the cautions. But I did watch the last 30 laps in real time. Knowing who the winner was, it was interesting to see how that last pit stop played out. Not sure if it was luck or skill that won the race, but congrats to Hamilin for making it exciting.

WEEK OFF: Since NASCAR had a spring break last week, I decided to take one as well (at least from this blog).

OLD TIMERS: I tuned in to see the last 20 or so laps of the old timer’s race at Bristol on Saturday. The concept of the race is interesting, but the reality of it is that some drivers are too old to be in it. Think about it: their reflexes are not what they used to be, but they’re still going 120 mph around the track… in late model cars. Despite what the announcers said about “how safe” the cars are, both drivers that were involved in that late-race wreck were knocked out, and it’s a wonder neither of them were killed. Put them in Legends cars at Charlotte and let them have at it, or put them in retired Cup cars with smaller engines so they can have the benefit of truly safer cars, or make them take a reflex test before they can drive in it.

SPOILER ISSUES: No, this isn’t about NASCAR going back to spoilers in the Cup series. This about ESPN interviewing the winner of the Grand National race during the red flag period of the old timers’ race. I had just started watching the race on my DVR and saw the promo for the old timers’ race, so I decided to stop watching it and watch the old timers’ race. Then ESPN interviews the winner of the Grand National race, and that left me with no reason to watch it. Thanks ESPN. I guess you don’t understand that a lot of folks have better things to do on a Saturday than sit in front of a TV watching a race. I watch races on my own time, not yours.

THE FEUD: Everyone’s been talking about Brad and Carl’s feud. Most of the talk seems to be centered around how Brad deserved what he got because he has a “reputation” for wrecking people. You’re kidding, right? He deserved a cheap shot by a driver who only came back on the track to wreck him? <sarcasm> NASCAR put Edwards on double secret probation for three races, so I’m sure that got his attention and he’ll never do it again </sarcasm>. Maybe Keselowski has wrecked a lot of people; I don’t know. But it reminds me of when Ernie Irvin came on the scene and got the same kind of reputation. He finally saw the error of his ways and apologized to everyone at a drivers’ meeting. Or when Kyle Busch moved to NASCAR, he wrecked everything but the pace car. Or even someone named Carl Edwards, who also wrecked his share of people when he started. The point is, racing contact is one thing, but intentionally assaulting someone is something completely different.

BRISTOL: I’ll have to say I liked the Cup race more than I thought I would, even with Johnson’s win.  There were enough lead changes to keep the race interesting, and no one was able to get the lead and run away with it. That’s all I ask as a fan.

THE 800 POUND GORILLA: You can’t really comment on Sunday’s race without talking about the boneheaded move that Carl Edwards made when he intentionally wrecked a competitor. Edwards basically caused the first wreck by moving down on Keselowski, and then had the gall to blame it on Keselowski. So to get back at him, Edwards, well over 150 laps down, turned right into Keselowski, who was running in the top ten at the time, and caused Keselowski to crash, hitting the top of the car on the outside wall. It’s amazing that Keselowski wasn’t seriously injured or killed. At the very least, NASCAR needs to give Edwards the weekend of Bristol off so he can think about what he did.

LAPS-DOWN DRIVERS: That brings up another point: should a driver who can no longer make up any laps be allowed to stay on the track? Edwards premeditated attack on Keselowski would not have been possible if NASCAR had a rule that prevented drivers back on the track if there’s no way they can make up any laps on their next competitor.

AN EXCITING FINISH (NOT): Edwards also robbed the fans of an exciting finish in the making. It was evident that Montoya was going to challenge Kurt Busch for the win, but Edwards idiocy quashed that.

HEY, JACK, HERE’S THE BILL FOR MY CAR: Penske and the 7 or so teams who wrecked after the first green/white/checkers should send Jack Roush and Carl Edwards the bill for the repair of their cars.

EXCITEMENT: The Atlanta race was definitely better than the Las Vegas race. While a leader would get out ahead by a couple of seconds, he couldn’t stay there.  The cars behind would gradually reel him in, and pretty soon there was a challenge for the lead.

BRISTOL: Bristol is up next, and I’m probably in the minority on this when I say that I’m not really looking forward to it. I’m not sure why people think the Bristol races are so great. NASCAR is starting way too many cars for that size track. Maybe there’ll be a dozen start-and-parkers who’ll pull off after a couple of laps.

GRAND NATIONAL OOPS: I completely forgot about the Grand National race on Saturday until after it had already started. When I did tune in, it was just in time to see Danica crash out. So I was spared the endless Danica updates the rest of the race.

BIFFLE KUDOS: Good on you, Greg Biffle, for buying a short track to keep it running. I wish that were an option for the Fairgrounds Speedway here in Nashville, but short-sited elitist leaders are trying to get rid of racing as fast as they’re running off the music tourism industry.

ANOTHER SNOOZER: Two snoozers in a row for NASCAR. Too bad that yellow light didn’t malfunction more often.

CROWD CONTROL: Those stands sure did look pretty full during the Cup race. But then I looked closer and it seems that in the first 10 or 15 rows of one section, the seats were painted random colors to appear as if someone was sitting in it. I guess that’s one way to do it.

THAT’S IT: Normally I’d try to come up with several more of these little RacinDeals, but there’s just nothing worth my time. Maybe Atlanta next week will give us one of those close finishes again.