July 30th, 2010 
Journo TC played the ‘NASCAR homer’ in his post yesterday, so I figured I’d balance out the week and criticize NASCAR today.
The Truck Series is making their Pocono debut this weekend and you can count me among those not excited. In fact I’m a little irritated the sanctioning body added this event to the schedule (though I’m excited for Darlington).
For a long time around here I’ve been making the argument that the Truck Series needs a purpose – desperately. It lies somewhere in between the Friday night show and the senior tour. It’s fun to watch, but in the grander scheme of the sport it doesn’t really have much value.
Personally I’d like to see the sport take up something resembling the role it had when it debuted back in 1995: tough trucks with tough drivers and rough racing on short tracks in areas that don’t normally get big time NASCAR racing. I digress.
Pocono is just not the right place for the series. How many have you have watched an ARCA race at Pocono? It’s a miserable experience. You spend a good portion of the race under caution because half the field has wrecked; when they finally do race, it’s follow the leader.
Guess what you can expect from the Trucks on Saturday? The same thing. With Denny Hamlin, and Kasey Kahne in the field, I think it’s probably a good bet that it’s not going to be a great race for the series regulars. On top of that, it’s Pocono.
Sure they’re changing the qualifying procedure, but really do many of you watch Truck Series qualifying? Do you care?
I don’t mean to be down on this, really. The Poconos are beautiful and there really is a great fan base up there. It’s just that the track doesn’t generally provide for much excitement.
Perhaps this thing will be successful. I hope for the sake of the series it is. But given the less than spectacular history of Pocono, and a field that includes two Cup Series regulars (and Pocono vets), I’m putting my money on it being a boring race, with a Cup driver winning.
Series Director Wayne Auton is very excited for this. I guess that’s a good thing – at least somebody is.
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Indy, Pocono and WG are 3 weeks of agony, watching these 3400# top heavy bricks trying to “race”. These cars (or in this case trucks) are not suited for these similar venues. Bad move Wayne.
I hear you Journo (especially about the Truck series racing at Darlington – Nascar got that one right at least!). Keep the Trucks off of tracks bigger than 1.5 miles, with the exception of one race a year at Daytona & Dega. Limit the races on the cookie cutter 1.5 milers, and go to the tracks that don’t have Cup races like Kentucky & Nashville (although technically Nashville is 1.33 miles). More short tracks (not just for the Trucks, but for the Cup teams too)!!! I can’t preach this enough. Pocono looks like a beautiful track, but the racing definitely isn’t. If the Cup cars are going to go there twice a year, at least make ‘em 400 mile races. But the trucks just don’t need to be there. At least it’s only a 50 lap shootout though.
Add me to the excitement list its bigger than you think
though perhaps for different reasons. I’m sentimental about my childhood home track same way NASCAR Indy people are about theirs. For me Trucks at Pocono is new, is different w/qual, is a novelty, probably not enough to keep them there permanently (I expect Chase Mattioli will graduate from Trucks) but the bottom line, even if its a tedious race, FUN!!! I’m the one who keeps harping that this thing we call NASCAR should be primarily for FUN!!!
Don’t forget that Elliott Sadler is in the field too. So that’s 3 Cup drivers in 3 great trucks. I live close enough to Pocono where as race weekend gets closer, I debate whether I should go there or not. For the past 2 years, the answer has always been no, especially when I can see such good short track racing close by.
It may not be the most exciting event on the schedule, but I know a number of people who are going up Saturday just to see the trucks run. I think it should be a good time, and for 25 bucks, what the heck? Plus, everyone knocks pocono, but it really isn’t a bad track. The powers that be kinda screwed it up with the gear rule, but still…. not a bad place to spend an afternoon.
I agree this series should be used for “evangelism” in markets that don’t get cup.
Or if NASCAR insists on running trucks in the same markets as cup, then let truck be the “crash-fest/wwf smackdown” event and then lets see some world class driving in cup.
This way the fan can decide if they want to see some world class driving or if they want to see a bunch of crashing and temper tantrums.
You are absolutely dead on. I think the trucks have some very good racing, well worth watching. Getting it back to its roots would be FANTASTIC.
Could you imagine the trucks running the BullRing (.375-mile high bank oval) in Vegas on a weekday night??? Televised on FOX, not Speed? It would energize a lot of fans like myself that are going through a general disinterest in NASCAR on the whole.
I’m to the point where I don’t turn on my TV for the race if its at a boring track. California Indy Pocono etc. Why waste a good Sunday watching single file parade laps?
I agree! I live not too far from what used to be Nazareth, and the trucks put on an awful show there! NASCAR needs to give the trucks their own identity; we certainly don’t need to race at a place like Pocono where more Cup drivers can invade and ruin the racing. Look what the Cup guys have done to the Nationwide Series. The trucks are more fun to watch when they’re on short tracks, although the Daytona race is fun to watch…
There is a perfect venue for the truck and Nationwide series, that ISC made sure to put an end to, at Pikes Peak International Raceway, near Colorado Springs! The racing from both of those series on the flat one mile was exceptional! I know the drivers loved the track and although the crowds weren’t very large (about 25,000 max) the racing was as good as it gets! Trucks at Pocono might be a bad move, as they will most likely get strung out too far to have any racing!
JLD1948
on Jul 30th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Trucks at Pocono might be a bad move, as they will most likely get strung out too far to have any racing!
——————————————–
Never Fear……PDCF is here….
No “spread out problem” is too large for the trusty “Phantom Debris” Caution Flag” …… not saying it really exists …. but if it did……
Not expecting much from the trucks at the triangle. Nascar rejects the idea of cup races on dirt due to limited seating. I think the trucks and maybe Nationwide on dirt would stimulate fan interest .
Gary watch out NASCAR might have a secret fine for fans now…..
They might come to your house and take all your die casts or something.
Honestly, there should be NO races at Poco-snore – let alone WHY are there 2 race dates there??? WTF NASCAR!
I watched the truck qualifying with the new test format, ans may possibly peek in on the truck race. But as far as I am concerned: there is NO racing this weekend…..other than NHRA!
Darn Journo, I was hoping you would chime in on the horrible proposal being bandied about to move the always-excellent, Nationwide race from ORP to the boring confines of IMS.
That said, I miss the days of running the trucks mostly on bullrings.
Grover,
You dont know how correct you are. I was told not to talk about it, because it is supposed to a secret, but today I got a~~~~~zvzvzvzvzvzvzvzvzvzzzzzzzz
this message is hereby terminated under the authority of the NASCAR PRIVACY ACT. See NASCAR rule book for details.
And the emmy for absolute worst camera coverage of all time goes to ESPN for not having any camera angles of Elliot Sadler gettting his engine knocked out…. and I mean theat literally… he got his engine knocked out.. I have never seen that before… and I still havent.
If Elliot is going to bother to wreck like that…. the least they can do is catch it on camera….. ESPN FAIL
That was an exciting race.
I agree that the trucks do not need to be at Pocono. I also agree that the trucks need to have their own venue. Gateway (St. Louis) is losing both trucks and Nationwide (after getting a second Nationwide date this year) and Memphis has already lost there dates.
Those are two tracks that brought fans to the stands that now will no longer be attending races.
Consolidating races all to the same tracks is only going to hurt the sport. They need to continue the previous history of allowing trucks and Nationwide to be at seperate more affordable tracks.
Just my “two cents”….
Hate to say it Journo, but I think you were a little off. I cant blame you for thinking that way, but the truck race at Pocono was a lot more exciting than you had expected. Those boys went after it, side by side racing throughout the pack, different leaders and lead changes, the whole 9. Hell, that race couldve even been longer.
Lesson to be learned here – wait till it actually happens before you criticize it.
-R.B.
RB – Really? Everything I thought would happen did. It was follow the Cup leader. Not my idea of an exciting race.