Confessions Of A NASCAR Writer: Three Opinions That May Surprise You

Before I got on the NASCAR beat full-time, I covered only about seven or 10 races per season and watched the rest faithfully from home.

Thanks to that experience, I often viewed the sport and the races like a fan would – and I’ve tried to keep that perspective for the last five years when I’ve attended the majority of the season’s events.

In that sense, I’d like to think I typically agree with race fans on the various happenings in the sport. Whatever the subject, it seems we’re often on the same page when I chat with NASCAR fans on Twitter or in person at races.

But we don’t see eye-to-eye on everything.

So at the risk of offending some of you who usually agree with me, here are three NASCAR confessions that might put me in the minority:

1) I actually like the “If the race ended now...” point standings.

I know what you’re going to say: The “points as they run” graphic often displayed by the TV broadcasters is irrelevant because points aren’t awarded until the end of the race.

Some people call it stupid and seem to detest the very idea such information would even be mentioned. But guess what? I like it.

Look, I know the “If the race ended now” point standings will change throughout the course of a race – sometimes dramatically. Yet I still find myself wondering what impact a bad pit stop or a wreck may have on the championship.

Take Dover, for example. Tony Stewart was struggling throughout most of the day, and I was interested to see what kind of effect his performance would have on the point standings.

Of course there was a chance he could rally and salvage a good finish, but I wanted to know what would happen if he didn’t.

To me, it’s valuable information – particularly as we get closer to the end of the season. Knowing how many points ahead or behind certain drivers are might even affect the strategy of some teams.

The rest of the world can continue to hate the “If the race ended now...” concept, but I like it.

2) I wish the pre-race invocation was open to all religions.

This is an extremely touchy and personal subject, but something I’ve felt for awhile now. NASCAR is constantly promoting diversity and talking about reaching new groups of fans from every walk of life – but it remains focused on only one religion.

The pre-race invocation before the vast majority of races mentions the name of Jesus Christ. So right away, you’re being somewhat exclusionary to any non-Christian fan.

I’m fine with having a pre-race prayer – it’s a dangerous sport and those who keep the faith certainly take comfort in the encouraging words – but would it be possible to have a prayer that just addresses God instead getting into a specific religion?

In full disclosure, I was raised Jewish. So every time I hear Jesus mentioned in the pre-race prayer, I think to myself, “Well, I guess that doesn’t apply to me.” I wonder how other fans who are Jewish or Muslim or observers of other religions feel when they tune into a race and hear a prayer that doesn’t include them.

3) I miss the accidental crashes during races.

The general consensus in the NASCAR world is the racing is better than ever and the most competitive it’s ever been. You hear it repeated over and over again, from NASCAR officials to drivers to even some fans and media.

While it certainly seems the competition has never been closer, is the racing really better than it was five or 10 or 15 years ago?

This season, the excitement at races has often come from either fuel-mileage strategy or intentional crashes/retaliation. Take away those two elements, and there’s a gap in the quality of racing.

What’s missing? Accidents. Many of the cautions these days (when there are any) are either due to debris or a single-car spin. Multi-car wrecks have seemed rare for the past couple years.

So why aren’t there as many multi-car wrecks? Because those usually occur when drivers are racing side-by-side – on the edge – and somebody makes a mistake.

The new model Cup car (some still call it the COT for lack of a better term) is harder to drive but easier to save. We constantly see spectacular saves that would have been wrecks in the old car.

Let me make myself clear: I’m not wishing for anyone to be injured or anything along those lines. But if there are crashes, that means more drama and reasons to watch.

For example: At New Hampshire, Jimmie Johnson accidentally got into Kyle Busch and both drivers were suddenly sideways; but they both saved it and kept going. What if that had been a crash? Can you imagine how different the Chase and the storylines would have been heading into Dover?

The purists who profess to just love the racing and not the crashes will hate this, but I’d gladly trade some long, green-flag runs for some more accidents.