NASCAR Blues! #2

Now onto the next set of blues I have been dealing with this weekend!! I am REALLY going through racing withdrawals since Ricky Craven is not racing this year; last year may have been his last racing year (is retirement looming??), I don't know. He's the only NASCAR driver to come from Maine (as you know my beloved, best place on earth, I want to live there again!) and has no "ride" this year. From what I can tell from NASCAR, sponsors and fans: 1) unless you are a "young gun" which is the under 33 years old group (I had to bump up the age since everyone still thinks of Earnhardt Jr. as young....) or 2) a seasoned racing champion or 3) a driver who is an absolute wreck/menance to the other drivers on the track BUT can speak very well in front of a camera, quick answers on his feet, great sense of humor or just plain is fan friendly because he's goofy and controverial...... OK, so Ricky Craven isn't any of those. He had every opportunity when he was a young gun to make it "big" and he did not. Whatever was his destiny, he was in several wrecks and was out of racing in the late 90's due to post concussion syndrome. He did "re-prove" himself with a struggling new team (Tide sponsor) and won two races. He knew the team was going nowhere, so opted out. He then joined Roush Racing Craftsman truck team last year and had one win after alot of changes on the team allowing the rookie to have the best equipment and they even gave him Ricky's crew chief mid-way through the season - unheard of!! Now that same crew chief is Mark Martin's Craftsman truck team crew chief and they won the Friday night Daytona truck race!! Why isn't Ricky in a ride? He is very methodical when speaking to reporters, taking his time to give thoughtful answers; he has only two wins and he was a Rookie of the year back in 1995 (dark ages ago). To counteract Ricky's sporatic career, we chose two young drivers to cheer for - Jamie McMurray, many years ago when he was a rookie, - then four years ago chose Carl Edwards in his rookie year in the truck series. Both are from Missouri, my DH's home state. Back to Craven, Maine's population is so small, it just doesn't have the huge fan base needed to get Ricky back in the lime light. Where are the big sponsors like MBNA (whose headquarters are in Maine), L.L. Bean, BIW??; where are the large paper mills, timber land holders, tourist boards, snow mobile & snow blower manufacturers???, ski resorts and nature conservation companies???? Think of the publicity it would be for Maine.... So much for my racing blues..... Now I watch those great Missouri drivers win races and watch my DH gloat about his home state! That's Racing!