Saturday's burnout competition should be the last one

I have a new name for the burnout competition at Lowe's Motor Speedway: One and Done.

It was like a pyrotechnic demonstration before a basketball game, with smoke and sparks and cheering fans Saturday. But this was better because it was outside.

It still wasn’t good, though. Greg Biffle won the contest and with it $10,000 for the Greg Biffle Foundation, which does a lot of work supporting animal shelters.

The charity is worthy but was the victory?

Biffle won because he followed the rules. I didn’t even know it had rules. I thought there was rule, singular, and it was whoever made the most smoke come out of his car and looked the coolest as it did.

According to my scoring, Kevin Harvick finished third. He drove to the grandstands and spun his tires, the smoke pouring out and covering fans.

Kyle Busch finished second. He didn’t do anything impressive in the car, but he did good work out of the car. When he finished, he climbed on the hood, waved to the crowd and took his signature bow. The boos were louder than the engine. Nice.

Jimmie Johnson is my winner. Johnson’s car – each driver drove a Richard Petty Driving Experience model - shook and shimmied as he knocked down orange cones and spun his tires so hard there suddenly was a sound like an engine blowing and then silence. But Johnson didn’t blow his engine. He blew out his two back tires.

That’s commitment right there.

"Yeah, he definitely put on a show for fans," Biffle said. "We had to follow the rules a little bit and he knocked some cones down and some other things."

Enjoy it because even though the attempt was noble, adding something new to a pre-race show is always noble, it was not very interesting. Jimmie can’t do it by himself. And we are unlikely to see it again.

Comments

[Butch Camp]

I think the burnouts are if not the dumbest for sure one of the dumbest things I've seen.You go out & abuse your motor & tires so the fans can say wow he really smoked the tires, & laugh if you scatter a $10,000 or more motor & or ruin two expensive tires.When I was a lot younger I had a car owner who was more like my dad, than anything else, if I had pulled anything like that, I would have to replace the tires out of my pocket, & if the motor blew I would be responsible for rebuilding it at my cost.You don't see guy's like Mark Martin,Terry Labonte or any of the old school drivers doing it. Granted they don't get the chance too often though.Still it's all show that I can do with out.I think it's silly & abusing the car for nothing.

[Larry]

My take is that the fans seemed to enjoy the burnout competition. Last time I checked, the burnout competition was staged for the benefit of the drivers and fans and not for the amusement of the writers, who are only there as paid observers / writers. If the fans decide it is entertaining and worthwhile (or not) they will voice their feelings without the help of t he "paid" sports editorials.

[blockhead]

This garbage is what NASCAR and so-called racing have come to. Am I the only one left who remembers when racing was simple: the fastest cars (they were all different, and if one make won got the upper hand, engineers for the competition came up with something faster), the fastest drivers and fastest pit crews won. Been a lifelong fan. Still love racing. Now it's Formula One, American LeMans, etc. Bye, bye NASCAR. Go chase your big bucks and TV contracts without me.

[Butch Camp]

Blockhead I'm with you, they could also do away with the "lucky dog pass",& past champion provisional,& the top 35 rule. If you can't go fast enough to qualify, load your stuff go home & come back & try again next week.Then racing will be racing again.

[scott]

nascar is only trying to fill time. Because of traffic problems and drunks, most fans arrive the morning of the race and the prromoters have to fill time with stupid stuff like car jumps and burnout competitions. When you pay a car payment to see a race you expect entertainment past the actual race. Forget the old school stuff. This new generation of punks like kyle bush league has helped ruin the sport. And A HOLES like Bruton Smith who will never have enough Money and power will someday run off the good ole' boys who spent their last dollar and skipped summer vacation to attend a race. How easy it is to forget who "brung you" to the dance.