Right Sides Only

Summer gets jump started this Sunday with automobile racing all over the globe. From Monaco, to Indy, to Charlotte, the crown jewels of motorsports venues will be under siege.

Formula-One, in Monaco, gets the green first, airing in the US early Sunday morning. Then the Indy 500 will be mid-day, and, with rain showers, will probably take us right up to the 50th Coca Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway.

Last week's All Star race at LMS, was 90 laps of snooze, and 10 laps of bruise. Those last ten laps were fantastic, as a handful of drivers woke up and drove like they really wanted that one million bucks for winning.

Double file restarts among lead-lap cars made that race even more exciting. Now, NASCAR's Series Director, John Darby, claims that NASCAR has been 'studying' the double file restart for over a year. And that it could be used as early as this season in the Cup series.

How will NASCAR screw this up? It would be the easiest thing they could do that might improve sinking TV ratings. So, you just know that they will screw it up. My bet is that not only will they not use it in regular Cup races...they will take it out of the All-Star race. I'm not kidding.

Non-Chase regular, Carl Long was busted for an oversized engine before the All-Star prelim race last week. He, his owner (wife), and crew chief were all suspended for 12 weeks, docked 200 points (he had 0 points when he was caught), and his crew chief was fined $200,000.
Just how big was that monster motor? 358.17 cubic inches. What's the legal limit? 358 cubic inches. Long makes a race about as often as leap year comes around. So, what's the deal, NASCAR?

This is the first step in NASCAR's zero tollerance policy. It started when they overreacted to Jeremy Mayfield's drug test. So now they're acting like there is no gray area, in engine displacements, or 'banned' substances. You're either legal, or you're not. Look for Jeremy to back NASCAR down, like a Clemson grad backs a cow up to a stump.

Bill Elliott makes his 800th start in the 600, driving the Motorcraft #21 Ford. RL Carriers hauls Matt Kenseth along in the #17 on Sunday. David Starr tried to make the race in the #06 with Extenze. Must not have worked, as he came up short.

Jeff Gordon had a facet block procedure performed on his sore back earlier this week. Gordon won his first Cup race in the Coke 600, in 1994, with pit strategy, by taking....wait for it....Right Sides Only!

Dale Earnhardt Jr will be melting in the #5 Klondike car in the NNS race on Saturday at LMS. Others in the NNS race will be #81, Kevin Hamlin, in the Go 'Canes (NHL) car, and Danny O'Quinn will be in the Sun Drop #01. Sun Drop is from a local NC bottler, and was one of Dale Sr's long time sponsors.

This is a huge weekend for racing, parties, cookouts, family, and friends. Sometime during the weekend, please take a moment to remember what Memorial Day is all about. Those who serve, those who served and returned, and those that served and didn't return. Thanks to all the brave men and women who have kept the Land of the Free, free for over 200 years.