My daughter was home
for the Holidays and she received a diet book for Christmas. It’s not the kind for losing weight; it’s for
eating better, which she has spent the last couple of weeks trying to teach me to do. I have a NASCAR appetite.
Burgers, chicken and ribs sound great, but I am not much for fruit and vegetables.
She came up with a salad
recipe I passed on. It had shrimp, oranges, feta cheese, spinach, and some sort of seasoning. Now I happen to like shrimp,
feta cheese, spinach and even oranges, but the idea of putting them all together didn’t sound very good to me.
What does this have to
do with NASCAR? Well, it makes me think of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s newly designed cars for the 2008 year. For those
of you who have read me before, you can tell I have a bias toward Earnhardt, so I am not taking a cheap shot here. I just
think it’s ugly. Of course he didn’t have much to work with in the Car of Tomorrow because it’s ugly to
start with. But even this as a given, I thought he had a good opportunity to make it sharp.
Much like my daughter’s
salad recipe, I like the ingredients. You mix a little of Junior’s input, with his artistic flair, a dash of his
commitment to the past and what do you get... an ugly car?
I think it’s great
that Junior wants to be involved in the design of the appearance of his new team. I’ve always heard he has good
creativity and artistic talent. It’s my understanding that at least in the Mountain Dew paint scheme he wanted to capture
some of the history of the former sponsor which I also admire. Junior is committed to the history of NASCAR, its roots,
and old school, if you will. This is evidenced by his hosting of “Back in the Day”, a show that depicts some of
the old races, especially from the 1970s.
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Again, the ingredients
made a lot of sense to me, but the end product, not so much. I know many will think I just can’t get on with the
change. I really don’t think so. I have to admit the red Budweiser was quite a handsome ride. It has such a heritage
in NASCAR too, so it’s sad to see it step aside. But I’m all for getting Earnhardt in the best equipment
in the business.
I just wish that his
car had turned out better looking.
2006 StockCar Review.
