If you're the CEO of a company that wants to be a part of auto racing and reach a lot of loyal fans give them a call. Winning the pole is supposed to be a decided advantage in Winston Cup, but Rusty Wallace isn't capitalizing on it. He's averaging about a 13th place finish in races where he wins the pole. Rusty has four top five finishes to date this season, and only one of them came the same weekend he won the pole. Speaking of Rusty, that slew of poles he has won had some folks in the garage area grumbling there had to be something illegal under the hood of the 2 and the 12 cars.
Parity is one thing, but that was over the line.
Add to that, the unusual string of engine failures the 2 and the 12 endured last year and to an extent this year, was probably the result of trying to perfect those new tricks. It was a tough decision for Punch who dreams of being the anchor in the booth for Winston Cup racing, and who has forged many close friendships in the garage area during his 20 years of race broadcasting. The real loser here isn't Punch. With his talent as a broadcaster and class as a human being he'll do fine next year broadcasting IRL and truck races and college football games. The countdown to the network shift is on.