If we celebrated David Reutimann's win at Charlotte last month and Matt Kenseth's February Daytona 500 victory -- both races called off early because of rain -- then no one can begrudge rookie Joey Logano his maiden win Sunday at rain-soaked New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
However, we can question NASCAR's schedule. And we're entitled to bristle just a bit at Sunday's finish.
This is the second consecutive year -- and fourth time overall -- that weather dictated the outcome at New Hampshire instead of the racing. Qualifying has been rained out five times in the last eight seasons, including Friday.
The fine folks in New England deserve their slice of Sprint Cup action. But the rest of the country deserves a chance to see a legitimate race. And the drivers -- like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson, who actually ran up front at New Hampshire -- deserve a better fate.
Maybe racing at New Hampshire in June isn't the best idea.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only November has more average rainfall than June and July in Loudon, N.H. where the track is located.
Obviously you can't predict rain and you can't control the weather. But you can recognize a pattern.
And until NASCAR takes a serious look at fitting its venues with the proper weather, this is going to be an unfortunate side effect. It's too cold to race here in February and March, but April and May might provide better conditions.
Many fans will be unhappy with Sunday's outcome, if for no other reason, Logano wasn't a real factor all day. He was not better than Gordon or Busch or Stewart who battled for the lead throughout the afternoon.But give the rookie's championship crew chief, veteran Greg Zipadelli credit. His meteorology skills triumphed and his strategy worked despite Logano's best effort to derail a decent finish earlier in the day.
Logano spun his No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and brought out a caution on lap 182, only getting back on the lead lap thanks to NASCAR's "free pass" award seven laps later.
He inherited the race lead on lap 264 when Ryan Newman had to pit for gas. The race was called for rain, 10 laps later. He would have had to come in for gas had the race continued its schedule distance -- another 28 laps.
However, as a very gracious Gordon, who finished runner-up, told the television cameras during the initial rain delay, you take any win you can get.
A win is a win. And Logano, 19, a New England native, was in position to capitalize, making history as the youngest series winner to boot.
"This was the opportunity we had and we had nothing to lose,'' Logano said in his post-race interview. "This is a dream come true and the best race track that it could happen at."
There are no asterisks in NASCAR.
Latest NASCAR Images
Joey Logano smiles in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
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Joey Logano limps into the pits with flat and missing tires during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. Logano went on to win the rain-shortened race. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
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Ryan Newman's crew tries to get his engine running on pit row during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
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Bobby Labonte, front left, and Regan Smith, walk under umbrellas after the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was called due to rain in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. Joey Logano won the race. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
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Jeff Burton climbs out of his car after a crash during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Josh Gibney)
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Joey Logano (20) makes it past a crash during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. Logano went on to win the rain-shortened race. (AP Photo/Josh Gibney)
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Jimmie Johnson makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. Joey Logano won the rain-shortened race. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
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Joey Logano makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. Logano won the rain-shorted race. (AP Photo/Gil Talbot)
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Martin Truex Jr., left, Casey Mears, center, and Kevin Harvick (29) crash during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Gil Talbot)
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Cars crash in Turn 1 during the NASCAR Lenox Industrial Tools 301 auto race in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, June 28, 2009. Joey Logano won the rain-shortened race. (AP Photo/Mike Silverwood)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
6-28-2009 @ 9:45PM
crazyikon86 said...
the rain sucks. but they knew it was gonna rain. so they race every lap like its the last because it just might be.
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6-28-2009 @ 10:21PM
chrsdeanc said...
Nascar says they do everything possible to make the fans happy. BULLSHIT!Years ago the green flag dropped no later than 1:30,now they have raceday,prerace and countdown,shoving all this crap they mostly repeat during the race.If they saw the rain was coming around 5:30 than send the drivers to their cars and drop the flag at 2:00,simple? Nope cause Nascars only cares about the buck,sponcers,commercials,bring back the good ol days when it was Winston cup.Ever since Dale died,this sport has turned for the worst.START THE RACE EARLIER IF YOU KNOW RAIN IS COMING!!!If they started the race a half hour earlier we would gotten the whole race in!! DUH!!
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6-28-2009 @ 10:31PM
Sammy Edwards said...
well it is what it is wrascar enough said
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6-28-2009 @ 10:46PM
derek de pinho said...
amazing how whenever it drizzles and gordon is in apoition to win,officials stop the race.
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6-28-2009 @ 11:10PM
barleykatt1 said...
I agree with starting the race a half hour earlier.I really feel for the drivers up front. The raced their heart and souls out today. Especially Gordon. To me, that was not a win.
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6-28-2009 @ 11:15PM
royalemary said...
Another race fixed by nascar.I checked the weather radar and before they called the race there was no rain within 200 miles.Home Depot needed air time.Wait till the end of the season and Danica is diving for Waltrip racing,that's all we will ever hear about.That will end my interest in nascar.
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6-28-2009 @ 11:21PM
gwf13 said...
Why not start the race at 1..........i think its time the drivers said screw you NASCAR and formed their own league...lets make it about the fans..thats what started NASCAR..not enriching some one mans pockets
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6-28-2009 @ 11:23PM
Doug said...
It's about time NASCAR figures out how to race on RAIN tires.
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6-28-2009 @ 11:39PM
Scott said...
Can't say it enough, rain tires, rain tires, rain tires! NASCAR ran and finished a race in Canada, I'm sure they can do it again, that way, NASCAR can put a feather in their cap for coming up with the idea, the fans can see a race finish under a checkered flag, and it would be a blast watching which driver can deal with the rain.
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6-28-2009 @ 11:54PM
duckyanderson said...
NASCAR really does need tp watch the weather. We have been season ticket holders at Phoenix since 1988 and have seen the fall race rained out twice.....and this is Arizona. We live in Arizona and it almost always rains in the fall, but not too often in the spring. It almost always gets cold around Halloween and then warms up again through December. If the fall race got moved up a couple of weeks, it could help some tracks that maybe could move their schedules around. The last few years, almost half of the season beginning races had problems due to rain. The ecology is changing and maybe NASCAR should hire meteorologists to determine the race schedules (or maybe a psychic?)
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6-29-2009 @ 12:56AM
gregsachiko said...
Great Job Joey! You have one hell of a great attitude. Looks like Martin knows a good driver when he sees one. Hope to see you in the winners circle more often.
Greg
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6-29-2009 @ 2:25AM
nzcr14 said...
well, do not despear STEWARTS FANS AND SIMPATYZERS; THIS TIME IT WAS NOT HIM giving another win away but his tireman crew and the damn log nuts jam.
and gordon, johnson, newman,kurt bush, got some misfortunes too exspecially newman bad stalling luck.
CONGRATULATION TO A PROMITTENT ROOKIE LIKE J.LOG.
DID YOUR BEST but thank a lot your GREG ZINFANDEL
CREW CHIEF for helping you get there at the right time.
The double file restart although has had some positive things about has already started to show it's problems as i said 2 weeks ago it would.
you all heard jeff gordon telling kurt bush either
he pushes me enough to put me in to the wall or next time he pushes HE WILL NOT MAKE TO TURN 2. IN SIMPLE IT'S IF HE DOESN'T WRECK ME FIRST I WILL WRECK HIM SOON. I said there will be problems among the drivers and more problems will come.
lets see how much this double file restart it's really worth in the next 10 races.
works not yet for me...
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6-29-2009 @ 10:28AM
Laura said...
Just exactly what problems did Jeff, Jimmy, and Kurt have?? I was at the race and didn't see either one of them have any problems or downfalls!! Jeff had the fastest car there all day and deserved the win...he actually worked for it! Something your Joey didn't do...but got VERY lucky.
6-29-2009 @ 2:47AM
nzcr14 said...
oh yeah and than there it goes the RAIN PROBLEM AGAIN. We can waist our breath on these pages and so does others on other pages, but does the nazcar third reich listens? nope that hell with the fans.
they already paid. the money's are in nazcar accounts already.lets shorten up the race again.
WHO CARES IT'S NAZCAR MOTTO. stewart was bound FOR THE LEAD AGAIN, BUT LETS PUT ANOTHER ROOKIE IN VICTORY LANE JUST LIKE THEY DID FOR DAVID ROWDYMAN/RUDEMAN FEW WEEKS AGO.
works not for me, not for stewart, not fot JG, not for JJ, not for RYAN FATMAN 2 laps down anyhow but with a slim chance to regain the lead lap at least.
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, JEFF BOURBON CAN SUGARCOAT THE ALL RACE AT THE END, but who was he fooling?
maybe he should joined logano crew chief and party on plenty of ZINFANDEL WINE AND KENTUCKY BOURBON.
that may worked for everybody.
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6-29-2009 @ 3:17AM
porsha993 said...
nascar will never be real racing until they learn to race in the rain. Bunch of wussies.
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6-29-2009 @ 7:56AM
illsell4u said...
While I have little doubt Joey Logano will not eventually win a race he deserves to win, this gift from Nascar is certainly not a deserving win. It is a farce just as the previous "rain outs" have been this year. I have no problem with a driver winning a fuel mileage race that goes the distance it is supposed to go but for a driver to win a fuel mileage race that is called due to rain absolutely sucks. I would rather see them drive the last 28 laps under caution and actually finish the damn race.
Funny that while we as fans piss and moan about it, the drivers all were very gracious in how they handled it. Has Nascar become so much of a communist style dictatorship that they punish any driver that dares show any dissent from their rule of law? Are you actually expecting us to believe that NONE of the more colorful personalities in Nascar actually believes a 300 mile race should actually go 300 miles?
Under the old system where the driver that earns the most points during the entire year (IE THE BEST DRIVER FOR THE WHOLE YEAR) is the Champion, these blips were nothing. Fine, hand the 20th place driver a trophy and call him a winner, he is still a 20th place driver in points. But with these wins also goes 10 chase points. Now, someone that should have those points, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, is robbed once again.
Oh well, sour grapes for me. It is tough to see your favorite driver that had one of top three cars all day be forced to settle for second place. All because someone gambled on when it was going to rain rather than be good enough to drive it to the front and race you to the end of what was supposed to be a whole race.
mbl
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6-29-2009 @ 8:13AM
Bob said...
You know, in a way it's almost appropriate for NASCAR to act this way--this is the exact same attitude that killed the automakers that built the sport. "Yeah, we could make it better, but we don't want to, and you'll keep on buying it anyway." That's the arrogant business approach that brought down the largest automakers in the world, and it's costing NASCAR a lot of fan support and trust now.
There are plenty of racing series' out there that keep going in the rain--even MOTORCYCLES race in the rain, for crying out loud! Unless NASCAR officials choose to make this series about the fans once again, instead of their wallets, they can look forward to continued declining interest, just like GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
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6-29-2009 @ 9:12AM
illsell4u said...
Excellent observation and parallel, Bob. Numerous times I have said that the big three car companies do keep making cars they want to make rather than cars we want to buy. I was just not smart enough to equate it to Nascar doing the same thing to us as fans.
mbl
6-29-2009 @ 8:20AM
Bob said...
Oh yeah, I almost forgot--congrats to Joey for getting your first Cup "win", although taking one in this manner must feel like finally being allowed to go to the school dance...as long as you take your sister. I fully expect Logano to win plenty on his true merits over the next years, so this will be a non-issue soon enough. Anyway, congratulations for the mark in the record books, Joey.
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6-29-2009 @ 2:47PM
stupididiotiv said...
dont blame joey man. all he did was what zippy told him to do. blame nascar for not starting the race at 12 or 1. or not moving the race to another date. or not using rain tires. or not being so concerned about the almighty dollar that nothing else matters. when mark martin leaves the sport...so will i.