Just Shut up and Drive!!!

Ten years of racing at the Texas Motor Speedway, and I have been to every race and heard every driver complaint. Today I see this article from the Dallas Morning News concerning two Chase driver's complaints of a 'bump' in Turns 1 and 2.

Lets see here, 10 years ago, it was the transitions from corners to straights. FIXED: (has Darlington 'fixed' their transitions in the past 20 years?)

or the water seepage in turn 2. FIXED: (did Richmond, Pocono ever fix their similar problem, or did they just hope for no week long rains before race weekend, causing higher water tables)

How many years did drivers and teams have to deal with the seemingly endless 'Humpy bumps' at Lowes, the 'curb' at Martinsville or the 'dip' in turn 4 at Daytona? The problem is that some tracks seem to get a 'free pass', because 'that is they way they have always been.

TMS president Eddie Gossage says that the speedway has "surveyed the area and that it has not changed since 2004". So what is all the fuss?

It seems that some drivers may never be happy with a track unless it is a smooth as silk, and has the grip of Jerry Rice.

Actually, what these two drivers don't realize (mainly because they were not driving the first few years of the track's opening) is that there was a huge problem with a 'bump' in turn four. It took a few years to get that fixed, but the fact remains that TMS did indeed take action and 'do the right thing' at much expense to the track, when needed.

Why such 'traditional' tracks get a free pass on such things is beyond me, yet facilities that spend millions each year upgrading, and fixing issues with their state of the art tracks, still have complaints.

I still have my Tshirt from the second ever Cup race at TMS, it simply said 'just shut-up and drive'!!!! It maybe time to break it out once again this weekend.

So Wednesday morning it is off to the track for another weekend of racing and maybe even a few more 'driver complaints'. See ya next week!