Revvin' and Rantin'

As you may have noticed, I have been unable to post anything lately, due to lack of internet access. T'herefore, we will try to take care of several different subjects, including some photos from the 2009 Good Times Auto Show in Old Colorado City, while we have the opportunity.

As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase qualifying season winds down to its final race, there is still plenty of drama. Of Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Juan Montoya, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch, two will not make the cut at Richmond Saturday night, so we know these nine drivers will be giving it their all. Carl Edwards could also be included in this group, but, no matter what happens with the other drivers, he can clinch his berth with a mid-pack finish or better.

We know that Kyle Busch will truly make it an all or nothing run for his team at Richmond, so we will have to say the driver with the toughest task in trying to make the Chase is Brian Vickers. He hasn't had a top five finish at Richmond in a Cup car,. and he almost needs to have bad luck happen to one or more of the other drivers who are currently in the top twelve in points. We would like to see him in the Chase, because we think he could bring some additional excitement to the championship season. At the same time we would hate to see any ot the drivers who are currently in the top twelve not make the cut, so we are, as usual, emotionally conflicted.

Tony Stewart's team's performance seems to have fallen off some since his victory at Watkins Glen. They may already be feeling the pressure of the Chase. We should remember that most of the members of Stewart's pit crew have never experienced being on a winning team prior to this year. They are still working out some kinks and some glitches, and hopefully they will get all of their bad stuff out of their system before the final ten races. We should also remember that we expected this to be a team building year for Stewart-Haas racing, and they have gone beyond all expectations. Most of us doubted that Stewart would make the Chase in his first year as a team owner, but those doubts have been dashed, as not only is Stewart in first place for the qualifying season, but his team mate Ryan Newman has a very good chance of making the Chase as well.

Jeff Gordon is boring. There, I said it. Certainly, he and his team have done well to stay in the top three in points throughout the season, but that is expected of the 24 team. We predicted that his fire would be back this season, but it seems to be smoldering. We also predicted that he would win the championship this year, which he still could very well do, but not while he is content with finishing in the top ten every race. Not when he is competing against the likes of Stewart and Johnson. He could step it up during the final ten races, and we hope he does. I have to say, however, that if he was not already locked into the Chase, I would rather see a more exciting driver in the final twelve.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr won't make the Chase, but we have seen some improvement since Lance McGrew came on board as his crew chief. It was fun watching him race with everything going good for him at Atlanta. Nobody rides the rim so close to the outside fence as well and skillfully as Earnhardt does, and it was fun to watch him do so at Atlanta. If he and his team continue to improve, we could see him back as a contender next year.

Atlanta showed us that these new cars can race wheel to wheel on an intermediate track, and they can race for the lead on the track, under green flag conditions. That was probably the best race we have seen on an intermediate track this year, as the Sprint Cup car is coming into its own. I have a feeling the performance of the car will continue to improve, and soon we will forget all about the aero cars. The only problem is parity. As predicted, the parity built into the CoT, CORN, or Sprint Cup Car (whichever one choses to call it), has resulted in separating the good drivers from the mediocre. There are no tweaks a crew chief could make to give Reed Sorenson or Elliott Sadler a chance to compete with a Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, or Jimmie Johnson.

Speaking of Reed Sorenson or Elliott Sadler, Richard Petty Motorsports will be merging with Yates Racing next year. As the tentative drivers' roster implies, the drivers for Petty-Yates will be Sadler, Kahne, Allmendinger, and Menard in Yates powered Fords, and Sorenson will be looking for a ride. This means that Kahne, who was a Ford man before he was a Dodge man, will be back in Ford, Sadler has an excellent lawyer, Allmendinger will get another chance to rise in the ranks with yet another manufacturer, and Menard's daddy is a great sponsor. We will think positively about Sorenson, who would be an excellent replacement for Brad Keselowski at JRM in the Nationwide Series, and we think that this would be an excellent opportunity for him to get that Nationwide Series Championship that so narrowly eluded him a few years ago.

Kahne, we might remember, was the subject of a lawsuit by Ford regarding his contract as a Ford driver, when he first went to Evernham as a Dodge driver. The merger also means that he will have driven for four different Cup Series teams without making a move from one team to another.

Sadler, we may remember, drove for Yates before he drove for Evernham. The number 44, driven by AJ Allmendinger, was once a Yates car number, and will be again. Ironic how things turn full circle, isn't it?

We can't close without remarking on the excellent finish at Bristol a few weeks ago. We got to see two excellent drivers race each other for the win, in a clean but intense battle. Mark Martin is a class act, and races the way he gets raced. If you race him clean, he will race you clean. So shame on those fans who would have rather seen a wreck at the end of the race than the exciting wheel to wheel racing it was.

One more thing. I will be keeping the double file restart poll up until the end of the season, so we can see every instance of the restart at every type of track. I do believe I have the poll set up so you can vote as many times as you like. I will think of an additional poll to put up in the meantime, possibly about the NASCAR wives. The criteria for this poll will include more than being eye candy, as in how involved the wife is in the driver's career. However, there will be a slot marked "other" so you can write in your favorite eye candy wife. Eva and Nicole will be included because of their near cat fight in the pits a couple of seasons ago.

Until I get a chance to get on line again, enjoy the races!

Sprint Cup Off-Weeks Can Be Fun (Corrected)

It's almost like being in the off-season without the angst. Instead of three months, over which withdrawal symptoms set in, it is, after all, only one week.

The activity on most of the NASCAR fans forums has died down a bit, without a Cup race about which to speculate. What talk there is, is about the Mayfield Saga, great soap opera material if there ever was any. It pits conspiracy theorists against rationalists, and leaves the rest of us wondering how it got to be this way. Monte Dutton wrote a very concise and clear assessment of the situation on NASCAR This Week, entitled "Stinking Contest." Dutton points out what the whole thing boils down to in very few words:

It seems like middle ground is impossible now. Either Mayfield is an addict in denial, or he's the target of a vast conspiracy. Either he's Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Basketball Diaries" or he's Cary Grant in "North by Northwest." Now it's in the lawyer's hands, and they're going to hurl words like haymakers.

Personally, I wonder if Mayfield had accepted NASCAR's terms first, then began his quest to clear his name later, it might have been easier on both him and NASCAR. But, if you know anything about Mayfield's history, that is not the way he rolls.

While we are on the NASCAR This Week page, let me draw your attention to the Guest Column, written by yours truly. While I don't think I really deserve to be on the same page as Monte Dutton, I can't help but to feel honored by being there. An opportunity for shameless self-promotion never escapes me, however.

Can you believe that Kyle Busch has done nothing to piss anybody off this week? Wait, the Nationwide race hasn't been run yet. It will be run at one of my favorite tracks, Gateway. This is a 1.25 mile track similar in shape to the beloved Darlington Raceway. Though Gateway is similar in shape, the banking is flatter, and turns one and two,at the narrow end are more like turn three and at Pocono than turns three and four at Darlington. It should make for an interesting race, with Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Reed Sorenson being the only Cup drivers in the mix. For those who can't wait for Kyle Busch to do something to send them off in a fit of rage, it is a must see.

The Truck Series is always fun. It is also easy to lose track of, since it doesn't run every week. Kentucky Motor Speedway is the venue, and the local fans are very loyal. This is probably the largest stand alone crowd the series will see on its schedule, and the drivers will certainly put on a good show.

Kevin Harvick has let it be known that he wants out of the final year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing. The common feeling among sports writers is that he is looking for a seat with Stewart Haas Racing. That is not too far-fetched, as Tony Stewart and the Harvicks (aka Kevlana) have a long and tightly knit friendship. With GM pulling support from Kevin Harvick Incorporated, an association with SHR would give KHI better resources through their own association with Hendrick Motor Sports.

However, Stewart himself, though saying that SHR could field a third team, has not definitively said that they would field one in 2010. Childress has said that he will hold Harvick to his contract, and that Harvick's sponsor, Shell Pennzoil, is staying with RCR. Though this sounds similar to what J.D. Gibbs said about Stewart leaving last year, we are going to stick our neck out and say that Harvick going to SHR in 2010 ain't gonna happen. If we are wrong, then we are two for two on "important" silly season stuff, and we prove that we never learn.

Maybe, this weekend has given us a chance to get our writing chops back, and we can come out of our slump. There is always something to write about concerning NASCAR, and,though we usually like to find something about which nobody else is writing, we are sure to find many fun topics.

But whether we find something new to write about or not, we are going to have fun this weekend, and we hope that all our friends have fun as well. Even if Kyle doesn't piss us off.

Diversion is necessary

A blog that had become important to us during the regular NASCAR season is no more. John Daly's The Daly Planet, which served as a fixture among our weekly internet stops, said good bye last Wednesday, Feb 4.

The Daly Planet was dedicated to covering the coverage, and was read by fans and by the media types--which made it not only an interesting and informative read, but a great discussion forum in the comments section.

John explains:

The Daly Planet is ending operations on Wednesday, February 4th. This was an online project originally created to watch the new NASCAR TV partners get through their first season back in 2007. There were certainly some memorable moments that year.

We decided to continue for year two and the story was tremendous growth through fan interaction and the cooperation of those same TV partners.

We can understand that. He produced the blog as long as he felt he could serve the purpose and original intent of the site. But, as I read on, something caught my attention and made me think about our own purpose and intent:

Priorities are rapidly changing in the world right now. This includes professional sports from top-to-bottom. NASCAR is deeply affected and talking about the pros and cons of TV broadcasts suddenly has much less meaning.

It seems to me that John was saying that diversions are not important in these difficult economic times.

I would argue to the contrary--it is in tough times that diversions and entertainment are needed the most. It is alright to worry, and there are certainly many things we should worry about, but, to prevent mass psychosis, a society needs to have something with which to take a break from the worries of daily life.

That has been true about civilization from the very beginning. The Greeks had their drama, public discourses, and athletic competition. The Romans had their orgies, gladiators, and lions(okay, not all diversions were a good thing) and also some public discourse. During the Great Depression, movie theaters thrived, because people needed to get away from the worries of daily life and be entertained. And the latest movie always made for good conversation.

Today, we have all different sorts of diversions, and we need them now more than ever. Sure, we can worry about what is going to happen to the workers who get a job repairing government buildings after the job is complete and the money runs out, but, one can only spend so much time worrying. We should be happy we have our blogs and forums, and other sites available for public discourse, and the sports and other entertainment we enjoy to relax a bit.

Rather than being an excuse to stop talking about the things that entertain us and keep us occupied in our non-worry time, the economic woes we are experiencing should be an excuse to continue our discourses on the sports and entertainment we love.

NASCAR racing always gives us something to talk or write about, so let's celebrate it. We can worry about what the government is going to do to us, but the government will do what it will do, no matter how much or how little we worry about it. We need the time to spend not worrying, so we might as well enjoy it.

Some of this, some of that, and the other

It's funny how, as the season winds down, we find less to get fired up about enough to think of a worthwhile post. It isn't that nothing is happening--there has been plenty of news.

NASCAR will implement their new drug testing policy beginning next year, in which all over the wall crew members, drivers, and NASCAR officials will be subject to mandatory random drug testing. Prior to the beginning of the season, all employees of all teams, and all employees of NASCAR will be tested. NASCAR has not, however, come up with a list of banned substances. They probably want to see how many people take over the counter cold remedies, drink Amp, or eat at Starbucks, all products that could result in a false positive. It should be up to the teams to police their own people, and we will stand by that assertation.

As it always seems to happen, just when a driver is getting good, he loses his ride. AJ Allmendinger has been showing steady improvement in adapting to NASCAR style racing, since he got back in the seat of the #84 Red Bull Racing car earlier this year. However, the big wigs in Austria who run the team seem to feel that Scott Speed fits the image they want, better. So, AJ is out of a ride for next year. Red Bull has yet to announce that Speed will be their man next year, but that is expected. Meanwhile, speculation has it that Allmendinger will fill the void left by Reed Sorenson when the driver of the Chip Ganassi Racing #41 car announced that he will be driving for Gillett-Evernham Motorsports next year. There may be more to this than meets the eye, as Red Bull waited until near the end of the season to announce that Allmendinger would be leaving the Red Bull Sprint Cup team. This made it more difficult for him to find options for next year, and we think, personally, that RBR may have been thinking of using Allmendinger in another series. However, Allmendinger has made it clear that he wants to stay in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He has a lot of talent, and has been learning the car well. It is very possible that he will have a ride next year. It should be remembered that the last time he was released from a team--in the now defunct Open Wheel World Championship Series--he went on to win five out of nine races.


Last week I received an award from Trixie's Trailer Park called the "You Make My Day" award. It's one of these things we bloggers do to show our appreciation for other bloggers. That is very much appreciated.

I will pass it on to some blogs I like to read whenever I go on line.

First I would like to return the favor to Trixie's Trailer Park. She is a lot of fun to read, her passion for NASCAR and Tony Stewart is very much appreciated, and she has some very interesting insights. Trixie, I know you are receiving this award twice, but you deserve it.

Muse and Amuse doesn't seem to get enough recognition. Cheyenne blogs on NASCAR, especially on items pertaining to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. She is, in her own words, very opinionated, and will argue the point to the death. She really has made my day on several occassions. I feel her Muse and Amuse blog is very underappreciated, and we will attempt to remedy that by presenting her with a "You Make My Day Award."

We can't forget Church of the Great Oval. Clance' (pronounced "Clan-see" like my cat) inspired me to start my own blog years ago. She always makes our day, and we are more than happy to present her this award.

The Chase heats up, and the writing about it cools down. Greg Biffle is showing what he can do when he and his team are of a mind to do it. We are all still wondering what is up with the #24 team, because we are certain that Jeff Gordon hasn't lost his talent. So we will sit back and enjoy the next Chase race at Kansas this weekend.

They built it, but what will make them come?

Tony Stewart would have made a great "Hancock." We could see Jeff Gordon playing "Spiderman," in a sequel featuring the former teenage superhero as a grown man. Greg Biffle could be interesting in the lead role of the next "Bourne" movie. Kasey Kahne could work on his British accent and be the next James Bond. Mark Martin would make a great "Popeye" Boyle in a "French Connection" revival. Carl Edwards would be a natural as Eddie Haskel in a feature length "Leave It To Beaver" reincarnation.

What the heck are we talking about? We're just trying to help ISC/NASCAR come up with ways to make Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, California, more appealing to the locals in that part of the state. If some of the stars of NASCAR became movie stars as well, they just might be able to draw the Hollywood crowd to the track.

There are true NASCAR fans in Southern California. to be sure, but the heat of Labor Day in that part of the country, coupled with the reputation of the races there being "boring," results in many of them foregoing the opportunity to see a live race. Part of that will be remedied next year, when the race moves to later in the Fall, and the temperatures will be more tolerable. But, so far in its ten year history, the track has not been conducive to the type of racing many NASCAR fans want to see.

In its current spot on the schedule, not only is it on a day that many consider too hot even for a race, but it seems anti-climatic after Bristol and before the regular season finale at Richmond. Between all that beatin' and bangin', a set-up, tire, and fuel strategy race just doesn't seem appropriate.

Fox Sports'Lee Spencer doesn't think the speedway deserves a slot in the Chase for the Championship, and she does make a point in her argument. But ISC/NASCAR is stubborn, and they will not give up a date for a track that was part of their plan to make NASCAR a mainstream sport. That organization does not always make wise decisions, but it is a multi-million dollar corporation, so they must be doing something right.

Being part of the Chase could help. It will still be anti-climatic, but it will also offer a challenge in the Championship format that does not currently exist. Just being part of the playoffs may draw more fans to the track.

But the purpose of building the track formerly known as California Speedway was to draw new fans to the sport, and if NASCAR wants to do that, they will have to think much further out of the box than they are currently. Being pro-active in Hollywood by producing movies featuring drivers and other personalities as stars may not be that far fetched.

Plugging Away Pt II

Just as I was thinking that I was getting the hang of blogging, I went and hit the "publish" button when I really wanted to hit "save" for that last post. According to some gag email, I remember, this can be the result of being targeted by the "C-nile" virus. You know, the one that causes you to hit send before you fin...

Now, you probably won't see me posting information about where Jimmie Johnson's next personal appearance will be, unless it involves something of interest to a wide variety of NASCAR fans. We don't make a secret of who our favorite driver is here, but, at the same time, we try to reach a wider audience than just the fans of one particular driver or another.

I happen to like Ron Fellows. He is best known to NASCAR fans as a road course "ringer," at the road courses of Watkins Glenn, Sears Point, Montreal, and Mexico City. He is also a well known, successful, and popular sports car racer in the American Lemans Series (ALMS) where he drives a Corvette in the GT 1 class for Corvette Racing.

Here is a little more information on Fellows from the Sunoco Canadian website:

Ron was recently voted most popular driver for an unprecedented fourth straight year by the fans of the American Lemans series. Among Ron’s many victories include three NASCAR Nationwide Series Wins, two NASCAR Craftsman Truck series wins, and nineteen career Sports Car Club of America Trans Am wins. With Corvette racing, Ron is a charter member, helping score Corvette’s first victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Lemans and 12 Hours of Sebring. In American Lemans Series competition with Corvette Racing, Ron has 26 wins and 3 Drivers Championships.

For 2008, in addition to his NASCAR and sports car racing duties, Ron is an ambassador to Corvette and a technical advisor to GM racing. In 2007, Corvette paid Ron a fitting tribute by introducing the limited edition Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Champion Corvette Z06, the first signed special edition model in Corvette’s history.

I recently received an email that alerted me to a series of podcasts presented by Sunoco, which we know as the "Official Fuel of NASCAR", titled "Sunoco High Octane Audio with Ron Fellows."
The first podcast was posted June 19, and a new episode will be posted every two weeks for a total of five podcasts.

I listened to the first podcast with some initial skepticism, thinking that it would be nothing more than a fancy advertisement for Sunoco gasoline, or possibly information of interest only to Canadian race fans. (Hi Bob)

So I was very much and very pleasantly suprised to hear a very interesting program featuring Fellows and guest, TSN's Vic Rauter. They discuss the various racing series in Canada that helped Fellows get through the ranks, the difference between racing a Corvette and racing a NASCAR machine on road courses, and the general appeal of NASCAR racing to a driver, as well as the impact of NASCAR in Canada.

It is a very entertaining and interesting show, and I would give it 4.5 out of 5 Rev' Jim "Amens." That is half an "Amen" better than what I have given to my favorite driver's radio program. Please check it out when you get a chance.

Plugging away

Now don't line up and yell "Dummie" at me because I already know I am. Here I was wondering why I haven't had the attention of race teams, sponsors, and organizations that so many other NASCAR bloggers seem to get.

Then it hit me. Those emails I have been discarding as Spam? Those are unsolicited, but welcome information from various teams and sponsors pr departments sent by people who read my blog. Those are the press releases I have been wanting all along.

Here I was thinking they want me to plug their product or driver, and I, of course refused to do so without some sort of monetary or other compensation. Finally I realized that comes AFTER I pay attention to the press releases.

Oh well, I'll catch on to this blogging thing sooner or later.

Kyle Busch: Revenge of the Nerds, NASCAR Style?

On Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain, last night, somebody mentioned, almost in passing, that Junior Nation's picking on Kyle Busch is nothing more than the Jocks vs the Nerds. Of course, we found that idea interesting, and decided to expound on it.

There are some "fans" who claim to be of Junior Nation who strike me as being the same kind of kids who used to give me wedgies and steal my lunch money in school. These aren't the race fans who like Dale Jr and are friends of mine--decent folk who enjoy watching races and appreciate Jr's humble and down-to-earth attitude. These aren't even the fans who will boo Kyle when he wins a race, then cheer as he performs his "smoke trick" and takes a bow. The ones being discussed here are the more vocal on the web, who talk about how ugly Kyle Busch is, call him "Pee Wee Herman," call Kyle Busch fans "pee wee lovers," throw beer cans that are more likely to hit people sitting in the front rows and get coolers banned from race tracks, the folks who use Kyle's own joke he made in his Rookie of the Year speech in 2006 against him in ridicule.

These people need someone to pick on, and Kyle Busch is a good target for them, because he really does look like a nerd. He even took accelerated classes in high school, so he could graduate early. His social life must have been a mess. He doesn't look like somebody who made straight C's and got a football scholarship to college, so he more than likely received his share of wedgies and had his lunch money stolen.

But he is getting his revenge. Kyle Busch is not the kind to go running home to mommy. Instead, he is winning races. He has made the jocks powerless to do anything, because anything they do or say to him gets his response of thumbing his nose at the bullies and winning another race. He eggs the bullies on, in other words, and yells "nyah nyah nyah you can't catch me!"

Makes you want to give him a wedgie and steal his lunch money doesn't it?

What is this "baseball" thing anyway?

In my most recent item, it was surmised that the reason there weren't more people in the stands was that there was a baseball game in town during the same time period.
Saturday, when Fox waited until the end of the first lap of the Subway Fresh 500 to cut from their coverage of a game that was, for all practical purposes, over, was when some points of wonder came to mind.
This is not to disparage baseball, which is still the "National Passtime" to millions of people, nor is it to suggest that the telecast of the game should have been cut short. For the people in the Northeastern part of the country--those to whom the game was important Fox should have continued coverage until the last out. For the rest of the country, they could have started the telecast of the race in time for the opening ceremonies. After all, they had already started the baseball coverage on their FX cable network.
So, we watched patiently for twenty minutes while men adjusted their hats and belts, and chewed gum. Which brings me to what I was wondering:
Why, when there is a race going on, especially one with the quality of Friday night's Nationwide series race, would anyone want to sit through three hours of watching guys adjust their hats, belts, and athletic cups, chew gum, and scratch their hineys?
Just wondering.
There is this, at least, in favor of baseball:



Now, that must have been an exciting moment!
(Photo from email circulation and unattributed)

Ramblin' and raving

Just a few thoughts about the past weekend in racing:

The IRL added a last minute rule Wednesday concerning the total weight of the car with the driver. According to the rule, as far as I understand it, weight will be added to cars with lighter drivers to make them more even in total weight with cars that have heavier drivers. Danica (my personal St Patrick) Patrick's temper flared at the news, and she claimed that the rule targeted her and her only, as she weighs in at no more than 100 lbs. This rule is only fair, concerning the cars of the IRL are so light in the first place, and a little weight can make a big difference in the top speed of the car. Danica finished her tirade by declaring that she will overcome the handicapping rule by winning anyway, and we have to believe that she can do that.
This is an issue brought up by Robby Gordon in 2006, when he claimed that women in the IRL had an unfair weight advantage, but we also have to wonder if the weight handicap might have been instituted to lure self-described "fat man" Tony Stewart to the series. Only time will tell if it will be refered to as the "Danica Patrick Rule," the "Robby Gordon Rule," or the "Tony Stewart Rule."
My take is that the rule has been in effect since last year, and was only publicized now to drum up interest in the series, something IRL stars such as Patrick and Tony Kanaan, and rock star Gene Simmons have been working on for a while.


Danica's apparent ability to levitate because of her light weight may have been instrumental in implementing the IRL's weight handicapping rule. Photo credit: SI.com

If the IRL really wants to drum up publicity, perhaps they should talk to Jack Roush, who has created the "Partsgate" scandel that has nearly overshadowed every bit of racing news from around the world. Hardly. The accusations, which started last Wednesday on ESPN, began on a mysterious note, with reports that a "propriety part" had been stolen from the Roush-Fenway Racing team by a "Toyota team." While much speculation was going on as to what part it was, and which "Toyota team" was responsible, Jack Roush himself first tried to get NASCAR involved. NASCAR refused, citing that it was between the teams, and therefore was not within their jurisdiction. So the Cat in the Hat threatened to take legal action against Toyota.
While most of us were scratching our heads, wondering what the hell this was all about anyway, Jeff Gordon had a good laugh. while MWR was found to be the "culprit." My thoughts were, the swaybar, which the part turned out to be, wasn't doing anybody any good anyway.
As it turned out, it was no more than an elaborate April Fool's prank, or so it seemed, when Roush-Fenway Racing's President Geoff Smith announced Sunday that Roush-Fenway would not press charges against Michael Waltrip Racing. He blamed the entire incident on Lee White:

Team president Geoff Smith said the issue would not have surfaced at all had Toyota general manager Lee White not insinuated that Roush's team of Carl Edwards intentionally cheated at Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, FIA president Max Mosely, was caught playing NAZI Slave Master with five prostitutes. Talk about one-upmanship!

I have raved about Trouble in Turn 2 before, and in my opinion, that blog's Mike Maruska is one of the best writers on the web. I'm not just saying that because he has featured me in an interview for his "Know your NASCAR Bloggers" series. I feel very honored that he chose me to be included in the very prestigious list of bloggers he has interviewed. But don't go there just to read the interview, for he has many interesting, well thought-out, and well written articles that are entertaining as well as informative. If you haven't read anything on Trouble in Turn 2 before, your first experience will be a good one, and you will probably want to stay there a while.

"It's about...."

I was at PPIR in 2003, when Scott Wimmer celebrated his most recent win, previous to his victory today at Nashville. He had come close to winning the championship the previous season, and had run well in races in the 2003 season up to that point, but had yet to close the deal. By the time he crossed the finish line, leading the rest of the field by more than half a lap, he had nearly 40,000 fans in the stands cheering him on. The consensus among the fans applauding and shouting for him was "it's about time he won!"
We can say the same thing about him after his win at Nashville, as he has gone five years without a victory. And we can feel as good about him winning as we did then. As an "underdog" among the Nationwide and Cup drivers in the Nationwide series, Wimmer doesn't have a full time ride anywhere in NASCAR's upper tier. He was not running for championship points except, for the owners points that would go to Richard Childress. He was only going for the win.
The race itself could have been better--the only excitement to be had was Kyle Busch's spin--due to his own driver error--which pretty much took the dominating car out of the running for the top spots. The other part of the excitement for the entire race was, would the car make it to the finish line with the fuel it had.
I know this has been mentioned on this blog, before, but the NASCAR Nationwide series needs to find an identity. The spacer plates that have been implemented in the series do not produce good racing, and the jury is still out on whether they make for safer racing or less expensive racing, as is their intent. This is not the way to uplift the series.
The Nationwide Series regulars can not get the recognition they deserve as long as the series is being run as the "Cup Lite." This doesn't mean that the Cup drivers shouldn't be allowed to drive in the series--if they can qualify, there should be nothing to keep them from racing. What it does mean is that something needs to be done in support of the regular series drivers and teams to help them become more competitive. It is an insult to these drivers and teams to think of the Nationwide series as the junior league, or the little league, as these drivers and teams do have the talent to compete with the Cup level drivers.
Perhaps the series would do better if more of its races were at venues where the Cup series doesn't race, or when at the same venue, on a completely diffeent weekend. Make the track promoters earn their pay by figuring out ways to get as many people to show up for a Nationwide stand-alone event as they do for a Cup event. Promote the drivers, such as Brad Keselowski, David Stremme, Mike Wallace, or Jason Leffler, as the talented wheel men they really are. Promote the cars as having the ability to show a different kind of racing than the Cup races present. Bring special events, such as concerts, or companion open wheel, or motorcycle races to the track on the same weekend, or even same day as the race.
And perhaps NASCAR and Nationwide could do something more to promote the series as well. Get rid of the restricter plates and make it racing the way it is supposed to be. Increase the value of the purse, even if it takes some of the budget away from series promotion. Race at Rockingham, and replace Cup races at venues where there are two Cup races when there should only be one. The main thing is to make the series stand on its own, with its own identity.
And the best way to do that would be to make it about racing.

Bristol: Random thoughts and such

Last August, Bristol Motor Speedway debuted its new configuration with a concrete surface and progressive banking. Then, we saw, for the first time at Bristol, three-wide racing. Since the speedway was first paved, in 1972, "racing" at the "world's fastest half mile" meant a single file of cars moving around the bottom of the track, and the only way to gain position was to move the car in front out of the way, by making contact with the rear bumper and either forcing it to move up the track or spinning it out and off the track.
Now, the chrome horn isn't necessary, and the drivers can race each other side by side, fender to fender, and door to door (if the cars had doors). This is a feature that, after last August's race, was met with mixed reaction by the fans. Most of those who declared the race "the most boring" they have ever seen at Bristol, may have been the same ones who had yet to accept the Sprint Cup car. Or they may just miss the bump and run tactics of days past. However, the new car is not as aero dependent as the old car was, and the old Bristol style would not be the same thing, even if there was still only one groove. For most of the fans, as well as the drivers, the new configuration continues to promise racing that is very exciting for Bristol. The Cup race is, as always sold out, and the fans will not be disappointed.
Sunday's race will be Dale Jarrett's last show in the Cup series. His NASCAR career is one of the best stories in racing, and he is every bit as much a part of NASCAR history as Dale Earnhardt or Darrell Waltrip. Always the sportsman, he usually reacted to being spun out not with anger and retaliation, but with a simple shrug of the shoulders and "that's just racin'."
He participated in the sport with a sense of honor that is all too rare these days. He will be missed.
This could possibly be the last Cup race for Kyle Petty. Though he hasn't announced any intention of stepping out of the series, judging by the fact that he seems to be getting slower instead of faster, and that he will be outside the top 35 provisionals, we may not get very many chances to see him in a Sprint Cup race. He will have to qualify his way into the line up from now on, and. though he may be able to do that, there is nothing to show that he will work his way back into the top thirty-five. The pressure of having to qualify for every race may be too much for him, and it seems likely that he will step aside and find another driver for the #45 car.
But of course, I could be wrong, and Kyle Petty is far from done.
With the cars lining up on the Food City 500, according to last year's owners' points, the chances that Hendrick Motorsports will get their first win of the season at Bristol are pretty good. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are lined up on the front row. While Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, has yet to get a handle on the new car at the intermediate tracks, the short tracks and the Sprint Cup car form a combination with which he has some expertise. However, the HMS team that has the most momentum is Dale Earnhardt, Jr's #88 team. These guys seem to know what they are doing better than the 48 or the 24 team, and Bristol, even with the new pavement and configuration, is Jr's kind of track.

Formula One racing begins it's new season tonight, with the Australian GP at Melbourne. The changes in the cars for this year may be as tumultuous for the regular favorites as the Sprint Cup cars have been to the NASCAR Cup regulars, if not even more. Starting this year, the cars will no longer be allowed to have traction control or engine braking. This is no big deal for polesitter Lewis Hamilton, who has not been in Formula One long enough to get used to those features. Robert Kubica, the young Polish driver who timed BMW/Sauber into the second place on the starting grid, has never driven a car with traction control or engine braking, and Heiki Kovalainen, Hamilton's team mate for McClaren Mercedes, has had less experience with the car than Hamilton.
We see a glimmer of hope that real racing may have returned to Formula One.

Back to NASCAR, Patrick Carpentier did not get a chance to qualify for the race at Bristol due to weather. This is somewhat sad, as we have begun to like the Canadian for his wit, his enthusiasm, and his determination. Last week, he went all out in a death-defying second qualifying lap at Atlanta to make the race. We would have hoped to see him do something similar at Bristol. Now we must wait two weeks for Martinsville, a track that can't get 1/20 as many fans to attend a Cup race as PPIR got to attend a Busch Series race. (I just had to get that in while I had the opportunity.)
Juan Paul Montoya seems to have maintained his enthusiasm for racing in NASCAR. It seems even greater now than it was last year, and his enthusiasm is reflected in the fact that he still sees each race as a new challenge. When asked, on Speed TV's Trackside if he would watch the Australian GP tonight, he said no. "The first lap and the standing start are exciting and that's about it."
We may remember that the main reason Montoya gave for leaving F-1 was that he wanted to get back to real racing.
But we have to wonder why the Speed TV program Trackside even bothers to have guests. Whenever a guest driver, such as JPM, Martin Truex, Jr, or Kasey Kahne, begins to tell a story or answer a question, co-host Darell Waltrip quickly jumps in to tell one of his own stories. We get to hear Waltrip's stories every week and in several online and print publications, and personally, I have heard enough of his stories. He should, in my opinion, either let the guests tell their stories, or the producers should stop wasting DW's time with guests.

Well, I can't think of anything witty to end this post with, so I will wish everybody a happy race weekend, Happy St Patrick's Day, and, to my Wiccan and Pagan friends, Happy Complaining About St Patrick's Day Day.
Meanwhile, "It's Bristol, Baby!"

It isn't going to catch on

The nomenclature being used on this blog for the Car Formerly Known as CoT, "Formula N" is not catching on as I hoped it would. Furthermore, it seems to be causing confusion. It seemed like a good idea at the time, because we didn't want to call it a "Sprint" car because that is what the cars in USAC and WoO are called. We couldn't call it the "new" car because it isn't really new anymore, and I just did not like "Car Of Right Now" because that just sounded CORNy.
But, to avoid further confusion, from now on, as long as the crews are still working to get a handle on it, it will be referred to here as the "Sprint Cup Car," where it is needed to differentiate from the "conventional" car being used in the Nationwide series, or just "the car," otherwise.
I gave it a try, to test my influence on other bloggers and discovered that there is none. That's okay, we enjoy writing about our passion for the sport here and will continue to do so, no matter who reads or doesn't read this blog. Thank-you.