If you remember back in 2001 with the beginning of the new TV package there were two networks carrying all of the NASCAR Sprint Cup races – FOX and NBC. One of the benefits of just having two was the carry-over, meaning storylines and things to watch were carried over to the next week.
I likened it to a soap opera – "As the Wheel Turns." You could follow it week after week – who was cheatin’ who, who was mad at who and who was doing what. There was emotion and passion that fans tuned into follow week after week. As broadcasters, we could build on that from one race to the next.
I always felt the continuing storylines were a plus from not only a ratings standpoint, but also from a fan following. Now some 10 years later it seems like things have evolved to where what happened last week isn’t important. It seems the focus has shifted to trying to always find something new and different each week.
Last Sunday is a perfect example. We had a ton of things that happened at Texas Motor Speedway and we should have a ton of momentum going into Phoenix International Raceway this race. All I have heard for the last five years is that our sport needs someone to step up and beat Jimmie Johnson. Now coming out of Texas for the first time in four years we have a new points leader – Denny Hamlin.
But what have I heard all week? It’s not about Denny Hamlin being the new leader. All I have heard about is the pit crew swap between the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson and the No. 24 of Jeff Gordon. That was simply a smart business decision.
Folks also tend to forget that last Sunday the No. 24 was out of the race. Had he not been, that in-race swap would have never happened. I still have zero problem with it. The opportunity was there and Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, seized it.
It simply was a smart move.
Sure, it might play a huge role in these next two races, but c’mon, give Denny his due. He’s done something that no one has been able to do in the last five years. He’s gone to the front and taken the point lead away from the No. 48 in the Chase.
You have to admire what Denny, crew chief Mike Ford and the entire No. 11 team have done. They’ve stood up and basically said the championship no longer runs through Johnson's team. They’ve let everyone know the championship runs through Hamlin's team.
I think it’s huge that they’ve served notice that they aren’t intimidated by the No. 48 group.
For that matter, you might say it’s Hamlin's team doing the intimidation. As I told you earlier this week, I loved the fact Mike Ford picked his pit right next to the No. 48.
Sunday, you saw them come in together – the No. 11 gets serviced and leaves while the No. 48 was still sitting there. That has to be tearing No. 48 crew chief Chad Knaus up. I like Mike Ford and his camp rattling the Johnson team's cage.
That’s a great story to follow because it is so out of character. Normally, it’s the Joe Gibbs Racing group exuding a quiet confidence. Now it’s the No. 11 team in the face of the No. 48 team. So carry that story forward to Phoenix this weekend and Homestead in two weeks.
Stuff like that needs to be played up. We need to build on the rivalry that’s developing between these two teams. The No. 11’s “in your face” attitude is the stuff that championship chases and good television ratings are made out of.
When you get someone as laid back as crew chief Mike Ford going on television and saying “our team's better than theirs,” well man, that’s great stuff.
Take that a step further, when Denny announces his team is better and they are going to turn it up, that’s good stuff. It’s even better then when he backs it up, goes out last Sunday, not only winning the race, but takes over the points lead.
Who doesn’t love the unexpected? Who doesn’t love saying, “Where the heck did that come from?” or “I never saw that coming?” I love it when that happens.
Well, we had that moment Sunday with the two Jeffs – Gordon and Burton. Those guys get together on the track and then they have a fight. Well, OK, a so-called fight. I assure you no one was harmed in the filming of that fight.
I love the passion of our sport.
I guess, in reality, Sunday between Jeff G. and Jeff B., it was more frustration than passion. That’s two guys who on more than one occasion this year had cars that shoulda/coulda/woulda won races.
Jeff Gordon has had a bunch of chances to win some races this year, but for whatever reason hasn’t been able to close the deal. Jeff Burton is the same way. He’s had great cars on a number of occasions, but doesn’t have the trophies at the end of the day.
So Sunday, I think you simply saw frustration from the two Jeffs. Maybe not so much at each other, but just boiling over frustration at their 2010 seasons of what could have been. Let’s face it, there are only two races left and these guys are still winless. It has to be hard for them to swallow knowing the equipment and resources they have at their fingertips, but still no wins.
It’s good stuff though.
I mean, c’mon, a fight on TV? It doesn’t get any better than that. If that wasn’t enough, then throw in everyone’s favorite villain, Kyle Busch.
Last Saturday, he was pretty darn vocal about his frustration with NASCAR for the perceived allowance of Carl Edwards to jump the restart and win the Nationwide Series race. He ranted and raved to everyone that had a camera or a microphone last Saturday after the race.
I still maintain that had a lot to do with what happened to him on Sunday.
The attitude and the way he treated NASCAR on Saturday carried right over to Sunday. See, that’s what I am talking about – carry-over.
Up to this point in this story I have been talking about one week to the next. Here you have a clear example of carry-over from one day to the next.
So Sunday, Kyle gave a NASCAR official the “you’re No. 1” sign. Yes, the single digit wave. That bit of immaturity brought him a two-lap penalty, took him out of competition Sunday and then the cherry on top — landed him a fine from NASCAR.
On the heels of all that he ended up apologizing to NASCAR, the fans, his team, his sponsors, etc. — all this for his latest meltdown.
But the evolution I see that has happened today is you can’t have carry-over unless there are those willing to carry it over. Let’s go back to the two Jeffs for a second. Back in the day, I can assure you that if Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, me, Bill Elliott, whomever would have had that same situation, well you’d never catch us getting in the same ambulance together.
One of us would have been walking. Or if we did, when we came out of the ambulance, one of us would have had a black eye. That’s just the way it would have been.
But see, the bigger thing would be it simply wouldn’t have ended there. It would have been “I’m going to get even with that guy." With only two races left, you pretty much could set your watch that it was going to happen next week. So you would be anticipating what was going to happen next.
But what happened with the two Jeffs? By the time they got out of the Infield Care Center, it was all but diffused. Jeff G. says he was mad. Jeff B. says Jeff G. had every right to be mad and it was Jeff B’s fault. So basically for all intents and purposes, it was left in Texas.
That’s my point, you can’t leave that in Texas. Man, you have to carry that forward. What happened to the “payback” mentality? Think back to Infineon Raceway in June. How many people after that race said Jeff Gordon had paybacks coming his way? Some might venture to say that Sunday, Jeff Gordon got his payback.
Things like that need to be explained and talked about.
Who doesn’t like a good rivalry? Who doesn’t like hearing about these drivers getting mad and, more so, getting even? Now it’s become, "Well they’ve texted each other and it’s behind them both.” Huh? C’mon, you simply can’t sweep that under the rug and not report on it anymore because you don’t think it's important any longer.
There’s just so much passion and emotion right now. Why not talk about it?
Kyle has a meltdown, gets the boom lowered on him by NASCAR, then he starts apologizing and promises it won’t happen again. You have the No. 11 going from stating they are going to win the race to “we aren’t cocky – we are just real confident.”
They can’t let things like this die. We have to get out of this, “Oh, that was last week, so now we only want to talk about Phoenix” mentality. That’s part of the continuing story folks want to know about. You have to create anticipation for what’s going to happen this week. Who doesn’t like that?
Listen, you don’t have to make anything up. You don’t have to make up a fight – they had one. You don’t have to create a meltdown – Kyle had one. You don’t have to make up that Hamlin was aggressive – because he was. My point is you don’t have to make this stuff up because the guys on the track are handing it to you. All you have to do is cover it, talk about it and explain it.
We all need to build that anticipation by telling that story. We need to tie the passion and emotion we saw last week into how it might come into play today on the track. We have to build up the things we’ve never seen before, like Hamlin leading the points with two races to go. When has that happened in the last five years of the Chase? That’s an easy answer – never.
I just maintain we can’t shut off last week and only talk about this week. There’s too much passion and emotion in our sport for that to happen. There has to be carry-over. It simply creates excitement and keeps everyone tuned in to see what’s going to happen next.
