It’s Not How You Start, But How You Finish

NASCAR’s seemingly interminable season has started. Until Nov. 21, from Fontana, Calif. to Homestead, Fla., another 35 Sprint Cup races will be run, the greatest suspense being whether we’re in for a fifth consecutive installment of “The Jimmie Johnson Show.”

The Daytona 500 featured a surprise element – potholes – which prompted two red flags to halt racing. In this race, “pothole position” trumped pole position.

My NASCAR baptism came in 1997 at the Talladega Superspeedway, a sprawling 2.65-mile track where, like Daytona, cars ride two, three and even four-wide, bumper to bumper, at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour. Most memorable was a multi-car pileup on a restart midway through the race. I recall Ricky Craven’s car going airborne, flying over several cars on turn one.

From the first green flag, the spectacle of colors, the thunder and rumble of engines, even the smell of racing fuel, captivated my senses, transforming me into a fan. My zeal has waned somewhat in years since, but I’ve always marveled at the real-life truths demonstrated during each race.

Sunday, Johnson started third but mechanical and tire problems dropped him to 35th. Jeff Gordon started 21st, led some laps, but crashed on the last lap and finished 26th. Meanwhile, Jamie McMurray started 13th and made a late charge to win “The Great American Race” for the first time. The moral of the story: It’s not how you start, but how you finish.

It’s the same in everyday life. Anyone can begin well, in marriage, a job, or a hobby. But how will you finish?

That’s one reason the apostle Paul declared, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). If you don’t finish well, how you perform during early or intermediate stages matters little.

Not Manning Up, Yet . . . No Panic-a About Danika

…Because the Indianapolis Colts’ lost to the Saints in the Super Bowl, the sporting world will have to wait at least another year before Peyton Manning has his face chiseled atop Mount Rushmore alongside Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.

Funny how an errant, ill-timed “pick-six” pass can instantaneously reduce a fellow from the status of gridiron god to that of gridiron goat cheese.

Frankly, I’m rooting for Peyton to return soon to the Super Bowl, and depart victorious. He seems like one of the sport’s really good guys. For now, the city of New Orleans has some happy news to rally around. Good for them.

…After surviving the spin cycle during last weekend’s ARCA race at Daytona, Danica Patrick will make her debut in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series on Saturday. No word yet on whether she will wear a traditional racing suit or a flame-retardant bikini.

For the moment, Danica’s probably best-known for being featured in last year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition (a feat neither Jimmy Johnson nor Jeff Gordon has yet to match), along with mildly suggestive TV commercials. To date, her on-track success has amounted to winning one Indy Car race in Japan with deft fuel economy. Whether she’s capable of muscling stock cars over ovals for several hundred miles remains to be seen.

The reason she’s in NASCAR now can be summed up in one word: marketing. Once the fastest-growing spectator sport in America, NASCAR has stagnated in recent years and motor racing’s royalty are desperate to recapture the spotlight, even if it means using a woman more suited to “The Bachelorette” than a super-charged Chevrolet.

Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher – all of whom took their turns at competing in the Indianapolis 500 – never got an invite from NASCAR. They must’ve flunked the bikini test!