An idea that was too cliche

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 | 8:55 a.m.

Tony Stewart was a sitting duck. Leading the race on the last lap of the Daytona 500 was not the greatest position to be in. Ryan Newman, like a cat waiting by the mouse hole, pounced on his prey when he saw the opportunity.

Obviously, the top story from the Daytona 500 was Ryan Newman’s unexpected win and his trouncing of Tony Stewart’s Toyota. But in this week’s StockcarToon I concentrated on the crucial role Kurt Busch played in that win.

I combined the news of the rift between Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch with the news of Ryan Newman’s win to make a point about what happened on that final lap. Combining two different news events to make a comment about one event is one of my favorite techniques and one of the most effective in creating a good cartoon idea.

Above is the sketch that I chose to leave on the shelf this week. I decided that the idea was too cliché. Besides, it’s an image I’ve used before.