iNSIDE SCOOP: Random Thoughts, December 2014

Now that the roar has died away and we have stopped frantically preparing for the next race, we can afford to take a stroll around some items of interest to NASCAR fans.

Item No. 1: As this is written, there are 82 days, 23 hours to the Daytona 500 (that’s Feb. 22, by the way).

Item No. 2: There’s going to be a lot of news pouring out over that time, mostly having to do with the lack of testing, a few sponsor deals and the anticipated (read: modest to zero) chances that the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format will be changed in any meaningful way.

Item No. 3: If you had told me Kyle Larson was going to be the Sunoco Rookie of the Year at this time last season, I’d have snorted. Now I wonder what I was snorting that had me thinking anyone else could win it. The kid can flat-out drive, and he beat a well-funded racer with a lot of history on his side in Austin Dillon.

Item No. 4: Yes, had the season been run using the old point system, Jeff Gordon would be at least a five-time champion.  He would have beaten Joey Logano by 37 points. Brad Keselowski, Dale Jr., Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Larson, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards would have been on stage in Vegas at the awards banquet. Who’s missing? Denny Hamlin, for one.

Item No. 5: Who talked the most on TV this year? Do you even have to ask? It’s…Jeff Gordon! Ol’ SuperG yakked for a total of 1 hour, 33 seconds in 47 interviews. Champ Kevin Harvick was the most prolific, gabbing 54 times on TV, but for just 53 minutes, 12 seconds. Dale Earnhardt Jr.? He had 50 chances to talk and did so for 56 minutes, 32 seconds. 

Item No. 6: Kasey Kahne did 25 interviews and talked for a total of 24 minutes, 13 seconds. About what, I have no idea. He’s not a big rambler, you see.

Item No. 7: Cole Whitt is not replacing David Ragan at Front Row Motorsports. I repeat, no matter what you might have heard, he’s not driving No. 34 next season. Ragan is. Whitt might be at FRM, but it won’t be in the No. 34.

Item No. 8: A.J. Foyt, your 1972 Daytona 500 winner, is still recovering from triple by-pass surgery in Houston. I would wager that the ice-cream cooler he keeps in his Indy garage is not in Houston with him.

Item No. 9: Part of me misses the pomp and circumstances surrounding the old NASCAR Awards Banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC. Part of me does not miss changing into my tuxedo while riding the PATH train to Grand Central Station.

Item No. 10: Congratulations to Kevin Harvick, Rodney Childers and Stewart-Haas Racing for a banner year in the series. Guess what? In 11 weeks or so, they’ll try to defend their championship. Sheesh.