Posted by Lewis Franck
NEW YORK -- The NASCAR Chase to the Sprint Cup rolled into the Hard Rock Cafe near Times Square Wednesday afternoon, and it was not your usual media frenzy.
If you've watched a Sprint Cup driver interview on television usually you'd notice a small forest of microphones, digital voice recorders, tape recorders and the odd lens shade growing out of the bottom and sides of the TV screen.
In NASCAR they call these "one-on-ones." I prefer the British term "scrum," which translates pretty closely to a scrimmage.
On the media tour in Charlotte, almost 200 journalists, broadcasters, and photographers jockey for a position to place their recording devices near the driver.
With 12 drivers showing up in New York on Wednesday -- and about half the number of usual suspects with media credentials -- it was a rather pleasant way to ask the usual questions, and I'm sure you'll read about them elsewhere.
What I thought was cool was the juxtaposition of now-ancient photographs of legendary rock & roll idols against monitors showing race highlights.
I could have asked the drivers if they recognized Janis Joplin in a particularly flattering photograph. But, it probably would have not gone down well with my colleagues in the press who had "serious" questions about the Chase.
Do you think that their answers changed much since Richmond's rain-delayed race? I didn't want to go there.
Instead, when the throng thinned out a bit, I went a little off the radar. Like asking "what would you be doing if you weren't here today?"
Jimmie Johnson, looking very casual, said he'd be on the golf course. Jeff Burton would be building a go-kart for his 7-year-old son. Denny Hamlin said he didn't mind taking a bullet for the team (NASCAR) answering questions here in New York, because he'd likely be doing the same thing in another city anyway. Clint Bowyer said "I need to get on the lawn mower, the fields at the home are bad. I haven't been home for months."
Tony Stewart swore he didn't shave -- maybe it was the light -- but his five o'clock shadow wasn't so visible.
Quite a few drivers were feeling sympathy for Lewis Hamilton, the British phenom, who had a Formula One win in Belgium stripped away Sunday for what most saw as an unjustified reason. Kyle Busch hadn't seen it, but said it sounded intriguing when I told him how it went down.
The serious business over, on my way out I waved a little salute to a photograph of George Harrison reading a book. Not your typical NASCAR media day.
