By MONTE DUTTON

It would be impossible for me not to grow distant from NASCAR. Many top drivers I’ve never met. I still scratch my head at not reading something from somewhere about what to me seems obvious.

I never heard of Shane van Gisbergen before. For once, I was not alone. How did this New Zealander win the first Cup race he ever ran? It was NASCAR’s first-ever street race. The Australia SuperCar Series, where he is the reigning champion, runs them regularly.

Why has it been so long (1973, I think), since a so-called “ringer” won on a road course? Because road racing is much easier now. Back in the 1980s and ‘90s, the acknowledged NASCAR master of heel-and-toe shifting was Ricky Rudd. In the early 1990s, something known as the Jerico transmission was allowed, which made it possible to shift gears without engaging a clutch. The current Cup models have sequential shifting, meaning each shift is up or down, not from one position to another.

Being both a veteran road racer and one with experience driving street courses, van Gisbergen had an advantage, but “ringers” often suffer from second-line pit crews. What’s more he shifts the old way. The same floorboard camera once used to illustrate Rudd’s artistry is now being used to demonstrate van Gisbergen’s style.

It suggests that, convenience aside, the old way is faster for the few who are still capable of doing it.

By the way, Marcos Ambrose was a fine road racer who also came from Australian SuperCars. I missed Ambrose the moment he left. Van Gisbergen seems like a nice fellow, but all I know about him I got from TV, and that’s not a reliable measure.

How I enjoy watching a televised sporting event in which announcers actually talk about the game in front of them. Increasingly, commentary dwells on matters outside the field of play, particularly at peripheral summer events such as NBA tryout games where someone might be watching to monitor the progress of a certain player from a certain school. It might even be someone like Furman’s Jalen Slawson, Clemson’s Hunter Tyson or South Carolina’s G.G. Jackson. Watch closely. No one’s going to tell you much.

The NBA announcers sound as if they are the ones in a tryout league.

No longer are there two ways to broadcast. Ironically, most yearn to be on TV but only broadcast as if on radio.

A radio announcer paints a picture because there isn’t one. A TV announcer offers necessary information to supplement what everyone can already see.

Two styles are prevalent. Either a telecaster acts as if he is paid by the word, or he and his affable sidekick crack jokes and seem oblivious to the event until someone in the command center points out that something significant has just occurred.

Sunday NFL games that begin at 1 p.m. on the East Coast start at 10 a.m. on the West. This, of course, has been true for my entire lifetime. No wonder less people go to church out there.

I’ve written a baseball novel, The Latter Days, that can be purchased inexpensively at MonteDutton.net, along with other books I’ve written over the years. Insofar as local sports are concerned, you can contribute to the coverage here by contributing either as a patron or by sending a check to DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325.