Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 | 8:52 p.m.
People seem to think that I have a crystal ball. “Who’s going to win the election?” is the common question I get from readers of my editorial cartoons. I just shrug my shoulders and stop myself from offering an opinion because anything can happen in the remaining time before Election Day. Eighteen days is a long time in politics.
I feel the same way about the Sprint Cup championship. Sure, Jimmie Johnson is ahead, but with five races to go, there are a million scenarios that can play out and send the points standings into the wall. Offering predictions in NASCAR is like thinking you can predict the exact time an earthquake will hit.
Just look at what has happened so far in the Chase. Kyle Busch, who many of my friends thought was invincible, has been crushed by a string of mechanical demons. Carl Edwards has also seen his efforts severely hampered on the racetrack. And now comes Jeff Burton, who has climbed to second in the points to challenge Jimmie Johnson after driving under the radar for most of the season.
So I’ll stay out of the prediction business, especially since the NASCAR circus is performing at Martinsville this weekend. Next to Talladega, this track has the potential to mess with the aspirations of any Chase contender, and leave him distracted, frustrated and looking for revenge.
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This was another week full of great headlines. For this week’s StockcarToon, I concentrated on the rift between Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick. At the top of this blog post is one of the cartoon ideas I chose not to use. You can see this week’s cartoon here.
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As I drove to the Sun building this morning I thought about how the direction of the StockcarToons has changed since I first started drawing them. Initially, many of the cartoons lampooned the decisions of NASCAR and the people who run the sport. But with the influx of young drivers into the sport, the focus of my art began to change. During this time, I’ve noticed that my cartoons have become more about the drivers’ actions and behavior and less about the governing body. As a cartoonist, you have to follow the headlines, and the antics of these younger drivers have provided many of the prominent headlines over the past several seasons.
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