Pace Lap? - Random thoughts and other junk

I guess this will suffice for my editorial. Things are going crazy lately and they also involve me moving BACK to Lincoln! Not to say I mind though and yes, everything's all right.

I appreciated the nice comments about my piece on Mike. Fortunately Mike's doing better.

What continues to impress me is that when times are down, the community steps up and takes charge for the greater good. Guys like Dr. Ed Raines are an example. The safety crew was all over the incident as they are each week. Eagle is fortunate to have them around.

Unfortunately, I'm a little angry about safety. So, I'll just sum them up in random bites:

-Why has every instance of a throttle sticking at Eagle seem to happen in turn 1 going into the pits? It never sticks in turns 2, 3, or 4. I'm not saying it was stuck throttles or anything like that contributing to Mike Cacak's accident, but that seems to be the going excuse when someone comes into the pits hot. And, I am glad that people haven't come down on the driver of the modfied that hit Mike. I'd hate to be in his shoes. Remember that this accident was just that - an ACCIDENT.

-On the other hand, I think some of the attitudes (myself included) in the pits regarding safety have become a bit lax. People run around too much, they stand in places that say "no standing" and need to have common sense and a pit awareness. That's why I've always been against spectators in the pits.

-On the third hand - track owners need to enforce the rules and crack hard on the FIRST instance, not the one where someone gets hurt. Flooring it, whipping donuts out of anger, standing where you shouldn't and such should be dealt with immediately, not when someone gets hurt.

Earlier in the year I was defending the "bouncy boxing" match between RJ Macku and Rick Bradley. Now I still think it's a fun and interesting idea if the incident stayed on the track...but given that Macku hit a car driving in the pits, well I'm going to change my tune a little. I admit I was wrong for part of it and say that the incident in the pits should've been dealt with as a separate incident, with a penalty that can't be "fought" out of.OK, enough of that.

Other random thoughts:

-Is anyone else getting scared at the number of tracks closing/switching hands/etc. in mid season?

-Can we see a good ASCS race on a track bigger than 1/3 mile?

-Is a $5000 to win Hornet race just going to create another class that starts to outprice itself?

Here's one for you...Ever seen one of those "East Coast" 358 modifieds? You may want to get used to them, that's all I can say.