[Bob Tanner]

I lifted the following from Matt McLaughlin's column in http://www.racingstalkers.com/index.html:

Homestead - This is the race that NASCAR officials hope will one day rival the Superbowl for public fascination. To be kind, they have a long way to go. A very, very, very, very, very, long way. Despite relentless hype worthy of PT Barnum the finale of the Chase rated barely a blip on the radar screen of the American public and the TV ratings showed it. Brian France blamed NBC’s lame duck status for the poor ratings but then again he blamed a spilled soda pop for his death-defying charge down public roadways in Florida. This race will probably best be recalled, if it is indeed recalled at all, for Ryan Newman wrecking NASCAR newcomer (and NASCAR’s best hope of breaking into the Hispanic market) Juan Pablo Montoya and Montoya having to scramble out of a race car engulfed in flames. Newman later took responsibility for the wreck. I think. He might have said he spilled a soda pop in his lap while trying to pass Montoya. Or perhaps blamed it on Taco Bell’s scallions. Or Michael Richard’s racist tirade. Anyway, there was a race mainly because most people wanted to have the whole sorry state of affairs that was the 2006 season over with so they could retire to more pleasurable pursuits. And it wasn’t a bad little race either if only NBC’s breathless hyping of a title “on the line” hadn’t caused the network to ignore the actual on track action like it was Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Greg Biffle won the Homestead season finale for the third straight year. Jimmie Johnson won the title. The season ended. And if the points were awarded now all 43 drivers would be tied with zero points a piece. Goodbye and good riddance to the 2006 Phone Company Cup season, the worst I can recall since 1998.

Comments?

[Quality88]

Bravo... "Claps".

[BringBackWilkesboro]

Ive got one. Mr. France can make all the rule changes, points changes, whatever he wants but Ford Championship Weekend will never rival the superbowl because what draws money and what draws fans are two totally different things. And plus, Homestead is not really the best place to hold Nascar's Superbowl. The majority of the fans are still the ones from Alabam, the Carolinas and that area. Talldega and Charlotte may help a little.