Green - White - Checkers

Stop #12: Charlotte

By Ryan Frisco

Photo Cred www.skirtsandscuffs.com

Fresh off last week's record breaking win for Jimmie Johnson in the All Star Race, NASCAR spends another week in Charlotte for the famed Coca Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race of the year.  600 miles!!  The race begins during the daytime, and goes well into the night.  Drivers face tougher physical conditions inside the car than any other track, and crews have their hands full trying to make the necessary adjustments to the car to make it run under the lights just as well as it did under the sun.  So much goes into winning this race, and walking away with the Coca Cola 600 title is always well worth it.

Photo Cred www.foxsports.com

There's been a bit of controversy the past week as a result of a FOX Sports inaccuracy.  The lineup for the final segment of the All Star Race was set by the average finishing position of each driver in the four previous segments.  NASCAR lined the drivers up in the correct order.  Jimmie Johnson was to lineup fourth before the final pit stop.  Nothing wrong with that based on the first four segments' performances.

FOX Sports decided to show what the final lineup would be, and they got it completely wrong.  They showed Johnson starting outside of the Top 10.  When viewers at home saw the inconsistency, they assumed Johnson had cheated and that it was a conspiracy theory by NASCAR to put him in position to break the record for All Star Race wins, which he did.  Naturally, they took to the Twitter World to express their thoughts, putting NASCAR in a tough spot directly following the race.

Sports fans are an interesting breed, and there will never be an end to the multitude of conspiracy theories about how the most minute details in every sporting event play out.  If nothing else, it makes for good media articles.

So, let's get going to Charlotte!  Race is Sunday night.  Starting around six in the afternoon, going deep into the moonlight.  Fans and drivers have complained that the action isn't as exciting since they repaved the track some years back, but I think it's still just as enjoyable to watch.  Plenty of action going on all over the track.

Photo Cred www.zimbio.com

The big story tonight is going to be Jimmie Johnson.  He has shown pure dominance at Charlotte Motor Speedway his entire career.  He's always the heavy favorite to win this race. Am I choosing him?  No, of course not!  If you've read any of my previous articles, you know I can't go with the heavy favorite to win any race.  I'm always willing to go with the underdog.  So, for the Coca Cola 600 tonight, I am choosing none other than Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to break out of his slump and grab the victory.  He needs it, NASCAR needs it.  What, I can root for the Cinderella story, can't I?