2007 NASCAR SEASON COMES TO A NO-FRILLS END

My husband said it best yesterday when describing next week 2007 season finale for Nascar; “It’s like the Dallas Cowboys going to the Superbowl by themselves and having their offensive team playing against their defensive team.” Now would you buy a ticket to see that? I sure wouldn’t. Next week in Homestead, Florida you will have teammate against teammate going for the Nextel cup with Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson. After last nights race it is more than certain that Jimmy Johnson is going to win the title, that is if he can finish 18 or better next week and chances are he will. As a fan of Nascar I feel at this point why even watch the race next week because there will be no excitement to the season’s end. Sure I could watch and only hope that Jimmy will have some kind of mechanical failure and get a DNF but chances of that are slim to none.

Most the drivers I am sure are more than ready for this season to end so they can get a break and prepare for next season in hopes that they can break the monopoly that Hendricks has on wins and the COT. I sure hope they can as well, this season has proven to be a real bore with Hendricks stinking up the wins this year. I am also in hopes for next year that every time I turn the race on I don’t have to hear about what a powerhouses Jimmy and Jeff are. Lets face it we need competition and excitement with the races something that was very much lacking with this season. This year watching the races I felt like I was watching the Jimmy and Jeff Nextel cup races. The announcers were always focusing on them to the point you even knew what type of underwear they were wearing sicken to say the least. One can only hope that next season we will get a variety as far as winning goes, thus making the chase one you would want to watch.

Another thing that was a real bore this year was the constant focus on Juan Montoya, there was no doubt he was going to win rookie of the year with the way Nascar carried on about him as if he was the only rookie out there. I felt bad for the other rookies because they didn’t have a hope to win that title. Next season we have more formula drivers coming over to Nextel, how much you want to bet that Dario Franchitti will be rookie of the year next season. I have always been a firm believer when it comes to driving in the cup series that a driver needs to pay their dues and work their up to being in the Nextel series. To me it is just maddening how some owners are grabbing up formula drivers and plopping them into the big league stock cars without having them start out in ARCA or the Busch series first so they can learn how to handle the stock cars. Having these formula drivers coming over and right into the Nextel series to me is a real danger to the other drivers. I also think about all of those drivers that have started out on dirt tracks and have worked their way up and paid their dues that are being over looked by these owners for formula drivers, to me that is a crying shame. The Nextel series is suppose to be the best of the best when it comes to stock car racing but instead has become whom from formula driving can we bring over now. I have never driven a stock car or a formula car but I do know there is a BIG difference between the cars and you can’t tell me these formula drivers are pros driving stock cars, to me having them come over and not proving themselves first takes away from the whole prestige of being in the Nextel series.

So let us all hope that next season will bring some excitement, some hope that there is more to 2008 then Jimmy or Jeff. I want to see a variety of different winners not just Hendrick drivers. To me and I am sure a lot of other fans out there it would be nice to see the excitement brought back to Nascar instead of having “who is going to win this weekend, Jimmy or Jeff?” Let us all hope that next year we don’t have to hear about how wonderful the formula drivers coming over are, because to me they haven’t proved themselves and have no business being in the Nextel series. Let us all hope for that matter that Nascar officials put an end to them coming over to the Nextel series without proving themselves first in other series and end the danger to the other drivers. Lets just hope 2008 will bring Nascar back to the way it was, good ole real racing.