A FEW WORDS...our weekly opinion column...

Tired of the "tires"..

Seems to me, the average Nascar fan has to be disgusted with the tire junk at Indy...after all, we have been constantly reminded about how slow and cautiously the "car of tomorrow" was launched into race trim. We had one season where they appeared for a handful of races..teams and owners complaining about the high cost of running two types of cars, a legitimate complaint too...so what happens? The teams spend MILLIONS to get this car to start working...start to figure it out and Goodyear rears it's ugly head. How unacceptable is millions of dollars of research simply set back by junk tires? How about this, only 12, TWELVE! consecutive caution free laps at one of the premier races of the year...that's not even funny. Sure Nacsar officials get on tv and talk about safety and their concerns..truth is it is still a joke and completely unacceptable..reminded me of going to Wall stadium and watching heat races for the night...So , what will happen? How about NOTHING...the fact the Goodyear rep even showed face and spun his explanation into, "we thought this would sort of happen" is an example of just how sad the tire situation has become. Earlier this year Tony Stewart railed against Goodyear and their poor efforts, someone must have pulled Tony aside this time, I bet if his car exploded like Matt Kenseth's, Tony would have lashed out as equally as before...If the teams had to switch, if the teams had to be ready, if the teams spent MILLIONS to get these cars race ready, why has Goodyear been given a pass to make all of that worthless?


Take 2: Any surprise Toyota is dominating? Not for me, we all knew they would easily outspend the competition, i.e Chevy, Ford and Dodge. The fact they were able to move their priority rides from Michael Waltrip to Joe Gibbs was the key. One can now see it just wasn't "new" brand jinx that MWR was experiencing, Joe Gibbs Racing just knows how to get it done. Think about this...Back when JGR had Bobby Labonte win in a Pontiac and Tony Stewart win in a Pontiac too, they switched to Chevy before the Championship ads could even get printed..maybe a GM to GM switch wasn't as radical as GM to Toyota, but remember, its still a switch.. and yet, they won and keep winning...so what to expect..how about Honda in 2011...don't be shocked, and don't be surprised if Ford or Dodge cuts back..The uproar over Toyota and it's un-American arrival has somewhat dwindled, know why? Because everyone loves a winner..even if you boo him...