[NASCAR] Why Loudon?

Another race at Loudon has passed, and I am once again asking myself who the Bahre family holds incriminating photos of down in Daytona.

Maybe it was because I fell asleep several times during the race, but I didn't see a lot of passing. Should I have expected more? Maybe the cameras should have been more focused on the #8 car in the back of the field. That car got passed several times before it finally hit the wall. I guess the #8 car only makes for good TV when it is running for the lead.

Nevertheless, I see a lot of resources expended at that track and wonder if any of it helps. Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin lost their lives there primarily because the flat banking, tight turns, long straights, and poor sight lines are a bad mix with the heavy and powerful NASCAR Cup and Busch cars. The consequences of these two fatalities was a one-race use of restrictor plates. Jeff Burton won the race after leading every single lap. No one could pass him. Not long after that, NHIS got creative with a paint roller and moved the apron line in. All in all, the response was generally positive as this opened up a second groove lower in the turns and made racing resemble Martinsville. Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished around there. The Bahres repaved the track, and we're back to a single-groove, follow-the-leader race. I guess the only positive thing I can say about NHIS is that they finally installed SAFER barriers. Too bad Ricky Rudd, Ricky Craven, and Greg Biffle still tooks some hard licks yesterday.

And why does NASCAR continue to race there twice a year? Beats me. Texas Motor Speedway attracted 150,000+ fans each year, had their race broadcast on network TV, and only got one race until an anti-trust lawsuit resulted in a second TMS date. Loudon gets 90,000 fans for 2 races, and gets carried on TNT. NASCAR must want the chowderhead market really bad.