This week Tony Stewart said that it appears NASCAR officials throw late race caution flags in order to influence the outcome of races. “They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it.” Immediately translated by the media; “NASCAR fixes races.”
Not at all what he said.
Apples and oranges.
I don’t necessarily disagree with Tony. It seems to me that NASCAR tends to throw caution flags for “phantom” debris at times. Most of the TV coverage is pretty good about showing the debris, WHEN they find it. I’ve also seen debris visually large enough to be seen on TV that has just laid on the track for several laps before a caution is thrown. These cautions can and do affect the outcome of a race.
But to say that NASCAR fixes races is just outright ignorant. That would require the other 42 drivers to lie down. I just don’t see that happening, ever.
What it does show is NASCAR’s inconsistency in enforcement of their policies. Something they continue to be criticized on by both drivers and fans.
Seems that the NASCAR sanctioning body is in violation of Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) of the NASCAR rule book.
Surfing around on the net this weekend I found out some interesting news about the classic rock group Triumph and I was surprised by the reaction I had to the news.
Triumph was a hard rock power trio that came out of Toronto, Canada in the mid 70’s. I’m not going to re-write their entire biography here. If you’ve heard their name, you probably know the group, their music and probably their story. If not, check out their website here. You can find out more about the group and even sample some of their music. You can get look and listen at the bottom of this post from a YouTube clip I found. You can also check out a few midi file versions of some of their songs that I have transcribed below as well.
Now, for me, Triumph’s music was a big part of my life growing up. They have scored several cuts for the soundtrack of my life. I’m still a fan to this day.
I was first turned on to them in the summer of 1981 and purchased all of their albums, (you know, those big round black things with grooves on them), they had released upto then and since. I was really disappointed when they broke up in 1988. Through the following years, I had come to accept that they were gone and never going to reunite.
Anyways… A while back I had heard that Triumph was going to be inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. Wow, I thought. What a cool honor for them after all this time. I was even more surprsed to see and hear that all three original members were on hand to receive the honor.
Over this past weekend, I came across interviews with Gil and Rik on the website Classic Rock Revisited that have been conducted since the group’s induction. It seems that the original members are at least communicating again and, although the possibility of a reunion is still not on the horizon, the fact that a reconciliation may be in process and that they may be working together sets just as well for me as if they anounced a full scale reunion tour.
Thinking about putting my thoughts and feelings about this news on Triumph, I swore I wouldn’t go cliche and use any of their song lyrics here. BUT… it does seem that these lines from their song Time Goes By from the album Thunder Seven do seem more than fitting…
don’t look back in anger,
don’t look ahead in fear
you just keep takin’ her as she comes
until she comes in clear
