"Good Job 19…..Good Job"

Brett Griffin (aka Spotterman) doesn’t really like it when fans can listen to scanner chatter during races via Trackpss and such because he thinks that not everything said should be for the general public. That may or may not be correct, but having total access is something that sets Nascar apart from most other sports. So after the health issues Elliott Sadler was having last week, there was of course a more heightened sense of awareness and curiosity for listening to the 19 scanner at Martinsville.

Nascar.com’s Raygan Swan had a nice ‘fluffer’ piece about Sadler’s effort yesterday but she really didn’t do it justice. For one, she made this comment after Sadler had summarized how he felt during the race and that he had taken Tylenol to help with his pain:

“What? No Goody's on hand? Nice sponsor plug, Sadler. Even in pain you're thinking of your backers.”

Raygan, you are taking to Elliott Sadler, not Richard Petty. Sadler is a member of ‘Team Tylenol’, how can you forget about ‘Rabbit release gels’ or this spot from last season?

Team Tylenol presents “The Pain of Bristol” with Elliott Sadler
"Wherin you’re a’ Bristow
Theyuh’s jus’ no breyuhk, no reyuhst
Sow yew jus’ reyuhlly on tawp o’d wheeyuhl th’ whowuhl’ tiime an’
Th’ g-fowuhses awe definadlty pullin’ a lodda loawuhd own yer showuhlduhs
So yew hayuhve a lodda ayches an’ payuhns when tha’ rayuhs is ovuh’wit.
Annc’r: Rapid Release Gels from Team Tyelnol! Think Fast!
Annc’r Tag (very fast read): Use only as directed!"

Look for a spring Martinsville ’08 version on your TeVee in the near future. My only question is, did Sadler check the expiration date of those Tylenol’s?

Once again, I have gone a bit of topic.

While listening to the scanner, all day there was a sense of ‘team’ and unity. I made the comment to a friend that “I don’t know what kind of ‘happy pills’ the 19 team took today, but everyone sounds so upbeat”. I haven’t heard this type of optimism, resolve and positive attitude since the 2004 season. It was refreshing to say the least.

Maybe it was having a substitute driver (one that had won the CTS race the day before) waiting with fire suit on and ready to jump in the car at any time and if that driver did well, what would be the result of the speculation. Just what would have been the talk today, had Setzer garnered a top 15 finish? But the simple fact is, that we will never know because Sadler was able to overcome adversity both on and off the track and bring home one of his best finishes in his career at a track that should be considered not one of his strong suits.

But it just didn’t end with the driver. Brett Griffin (aka spotterman), while he may think he didn’t have the best spotting effort, he was key in keeping the 19 relatively clean. But maybe more importantly, he was a ‘rock’of encouragement. For those playing the ‘Elliott Sadler drinking game’, the consumption opportunities came more from the plethora of ‘attababys’ and not from ‘this caw not likin this set of tars’. Crew Chief Rodney Childers sounded upbeat as well, and while the car wasn’t the best or where the driver wanted it, there were improvements made throughout the race.

After the race on the cool down lap, there was a ‘mystery voice’ comment made over the scanner that pretty much summed up this race weekend. “Good job 19………good job”. Chances are that mystery voice was Mark McArdle. If you remember back in January when GEM was going through some key personnel changes when Ray Evernham was scaling back his race weekend duties, Mark McArdle took over all the ‘competition responsibilities’. Some closer to GEM than I am feel that if GEM is to truly turn their ship around, McArdle may play a key role in it.

While I am not afraid to voice my opinions of “my driver’s” off track antics and PR decisions, I’ll be happy to eat some crow when he steps up to the plate like he did yesterday. After all, crow is not so bad, as long as you cook it right!!!!!

Good job 19……..good job