On Type Delay: The Pocono 500

Countdown to Green would be a great name for a television program sponsored by General Electric or the Corn Growers Association, and hosted by Al Gore, but instead it is the name of the pre-race show on TNT. No "Digger" cartoon here, and the show is refreshingly mature. Probably boring for the kids though, but do kids watch pre-race shows anyway?

Bad luck at the start of the race for Denny Hamlin. His car just stopped, and stalls in the first turn of the race. As the cars come around to start the second lap, the caution comes out. Nobody pits this time, but after the restart, the race goes a couple of more laps, and Hamlin comes out and brings out another caution as his car stalls again. This time the leaders pit, and most take two tires. Tony Stewart takes four tires, and restarts in eighteenth, but the four tires gives him a better ability to gain more positions. While these would have been single file restarts, because there is nobody a lap or more down, now we get to see the double file restarts, and we have already seen the new rule in action twice.

Tony Stewart had to start at the back of the field after going to a back up car. He wrecked his primary during the first practice on Saturday, and had to forfeit the pole. But in 27 laps, he has made it to the top fifteen, and in 39 laps, has made it into the top ten.

There is some real action for the lead on lap 37 as Greg Biffle catches up to the leader, Jimmie Johnson. As Biffle and Johnson battle, Carl Edwards catches up with them, and lap 38 features some very interesting three way racing, as Edwards takes the lead. Who says Pocono is boring? Who says the Sprint Cup car can't make passes at speed, under green? Well, Monte Dutton has said that, as have many fans, but now it looks like something is being done by the teams to correct both problems.

Greg Biffle is exciting enough to watch by himself. He has been sliding sideways at every turn, but his car is fast. That is just the way Da Biff rolls, but his talent in that skill has been overshadowed by Kyle Busch, who takes that style a step further. Another thing interesting about this lead change is that Edwards and Biffle were able to race each other without bouncing off of each other, which, recently, had seemed to have been a habit whenever those two get together.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 44, and cycle through until lap 49. Edwards retains the lead after the cycle. Edwards gains some distance on second place Greg Biffle, but that may be because we have come into the "save the car and see what we need" portion of the race.

So, not much happens during this stretch of the race, and we have green flag pit stops again, beginning on lap 76. Edwards has some trouble with the refueling, and they do not get all the fuel in his fuel cell. Still, after the pit stops cycle through, Edwards retains the lead. Stewart stays out while the other cars are pitting, and leads a lap before he pits. As the pit cycle ends, Stewart is still running in tenth.

Still not much happening at this point in the race. Ryan Newman's car has developed some intermittant ignition trouble, that may or not be a spark plug wire. His team will have to wait until the scheduled pit stop to check it out. Edwards gives up the lead on lap 102 for fuel and tires, and the other cars begin pit stops one or two laps later. Just as Jimmie Johnson, who has just passed the commitment line is caught entering the pits just as the caution comes out for debris in turn two. The pit road is closed, but Johnson pits anyway, and will have to restart at the back of the field. If things go as usual for the #48 team, this means another victory for Jimmie Johnson.

Before we can set the running order after the restart, we get a caution on lap 115 after Dale Earnhardt,Jr helps David Stremme find the wall. The top four cars stay out, while most of the other leaders pit. Ryan Newman gets caught speeding on pit road, and has to restart in the back of the field. Restart on lap 118 with Edwards first, Kenseth second, Martin third, and Stewart fourth.

This is where we like the new double file "shootout style" restarts. The fastest cars are up front racing the fastest cars. Stewart passes Martin on the restart, being on the outside of the second row. Kenseth, from the outside of the first row, passes Edwards and leads lap 119. Edwards moves back into the lead on lap 121, and Stewart moves into second a few laps later.

Johnson is really moving up through the field. He is back in the top ten after only three green flag laps. As green flag pit stops begin around lap 135 he is running in eighth. Edwards, Stewart, and Johnson all pit on lap 138, and Edwards gets out ahead of Stewart, while Kenseth leads a lap. After the stops cycle through, Edwards is more than a second ahead of Stewart, Kenseth is third, Biffle fourth, and Martin fifth. Kurt Busch, who has been running in or near the top five all day, has a water pump go out and has to go into the garage for repairs. When he finally returns to the track, after the water pump was replaced, he is scored seventeen laps down. Meanwhile, Newman's problems have been solved, and he is moving up toward the top ten.

With 43 laps to go, there is a caution for debris. Edwards was three seconds ahead of Stewart when the caution flew, but it was Edwards who reported the debris, so there is nothing imaginary about this one to tighten the field. This stop is barely within the fuel window, so we may see yet another fuel mileage race at Pocono, no surprise there. The restart here is sure to be exciting. Tony Stewart gets off of pit road first, and now we are getting some rain. Carl Edwards comes off second. The rain is a light rain, so the caution will continue. Jeff Gordon stayed out, hoping for rain. It wasn't supposed to rain at Long Pond today, so hopefully this will just be a short shower. Incidently, we just had a very short rain shower in Colorado Springs, as well.

If the race restarts, it will be Jeff Gordon first, Tony Stewart second, and Carl Edwards third. If the rain wins, it will be a victory for Gordon similar to his Pocono victory in 2007, and Smoke will once again finish second.

The rain stops and the track is dry. Stewart assumes the lead as Gordon pits. This will be good! And, yes it will be a fuel mileage race. Unless there is another caution, of course.

Stewart first, Edwards second. Kenseth third, and Biffle fourth at the restart with 35 laps to go. Stewart leads the lap. Biffle looses positions, and Kasey Kahne comes into the picture. If you hate commercials, and are a Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, or Kasey Kahne fan, now is the time to really dispise them. The adreneline builds during the commercials, but so does the anxiety.

26 laps to go, and it's Stewart, Edwards, Kahne, Jimmie Johnson fourth, and in fuel conservation mode, and Clint Bowyer is fifth, also in fuel mileage mode. Kenseth, Biffle, Newman, Reutimann, and Martin Truex, Jr fill out the top ten. Kenseth is definitely short on fuel, Edwards could be four laps short, Reutimann has plenty of fuel, Newman has more fuel than Stewart, and just might make it, but Darien Grubb, Stewart's crew chief is hoping that his driver barely has enough fuel to make it. He is also hoping for a caution to be sure.

Crap, more commercials. Rev' Jim is wishing he had stocked up on Depends.

Quote of the race so far: "Michael (Waltrip)'s pit crew is fast. They had to dodge his car twice."

What we like about the TNT coverage is that they cover the cars further back. With fifteen laps to go, Biffle, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, and Clint Bowyer pit for fuel and tires. Kenseth, Earnhardt, Jr, and more cars pit with thirteen laps to go.

On lap 191, Stewart goes to fuel conservation mode. Edwards is still second, Johnson is third, Reutimann is fourth, and Newman is fifth, as Kahne pitted for fuel during the commercial. We are coming up on the white flag lap and it's all or nothing for Stewart, while Johnson is gaining on him, having passed Edwards. Tony is in turn two, and Johnson and Edwards are barreling down on him, but Johnson is out of fuel. Around turn three, and Stewart floors it. He wins! Tony Stewart is the first owner driver to win a points race since Ricky Rudd did it at Martinsville in 1997, or 98, or somewhere around there. Heck, Smoke even saved enough fuel to perform a good victory celebration.

Another one for the record books: Smoke is the first driver ever to win a race at Pocono from the forty-third starting position. Previously, the starting position furthest back from which a victory was won at Pocono was twenty-ninth. Carl Edwards did that last year.

Carl Edwards was second, Reutimann is third, Jeff Gordon fourth, and Ryan Newman is fifth. Remember, Newman was running on seven cylinders early in the race. He pitted six times during green flag runs while his team figured out what was wrong with the engine, and changed a spark plug. His fifth place finish is a comeback story, and a tribute to a very good team. Other notable finishes were Marcos Ambrose, finishing sixth, and Sam Hornish, Jr finishing in tenth place.

We have written here before about how one of the great things about being a NASCAR fan is that when your driver wins a race, it feels like a major victory in any other sport. For us, today feels like we just won the Super Bowl. Now if you escuse me, I have to strip naked, paint a red number "14" on my chest, and go running down Colorado Avenue whooping and hollering.

Pass the salt, please

I was in denial at the end of the 2008 NASCAR season. I was among the many who couldn't believe that Tony Stewart would give up a successful career with Joe Gibbs Racing for anything other than retirement. When that concept finally sank in, I found myself among the many who thought it would take a long time for Stewart-Haas Racing to build to a level at which it could be competitive among the strong teams that run in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

I am happy to admit how wrong I was. Stewart's #14 team came out of the box strong, with three eighth-place finishes in the first four races. In the last six points races, Stewart has finished in the top five five times. He is currently second in the points standings, 29 points out of the lead.

Stewart's team mate Ryan Newman got off on a rocky start to the season, but has shown steady improvement over the last seven races, with three top fives in the last three points races.

It has become pretty much a given that SHR will see at least one victory in the near future, as both drivers from that team come closer to winning with each race. So we had to eat crow and develop a liking for consuming the proverbial dirty bird. There will be no complaints about it from this writer, anyway.

To date, Stewart-Haas Racing's finest hour was Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup All Star Challenge. Ryan Newman's car developed serious suspension problems in the second segment, and it was only an act of generosity on segment leader Jimmie Johnson's part that kept him from going two laps down. Thanks to the "Lucky Dawg" free pass, Newman was able to start the third segment on the lead lap.His car had been repaired, and he was able to hold his own during that segment. Two laps into the final "Shootout" ten lap segment, Busch, Newman, and Gordon entered turn three, battling for the lead. Newman moved to the outside of Busch, and Gordon to the inside, putting the three cars side by side. The racing area seems to compress coming out of turn four, and where there were three cars, there was only room for two. Somebody would have to lift off of the accelerator, but who would do that when one million dollars was at stake? The answer was, nobody.

Kyle Busch, seeing Gordon drifting up the track, faces a choice--he could give Gordon room, which would mean drifting up into Newman, who is not in a position to give any more room since he is already against the wall. Running into Newman would likely be worse than running into Gordon, because running into Newman would likely result in both of them wrecking and giving Gordon the lead. Making contact with Gordon would be the better choice, because there would be more room to move.

Of course, this complicated thought process is not what goes through a driver's mind while such a situation is developing at 185 mph. Natural talent, experience, and skill combine to create an instinctive reaction that occurs faster than the speed of thought. If anything crossed the mind of any of the three drivers, it was "Somebody has to let up, and I'm going to be the one to make them do it."

Three gunfighters at the shootout, and all three of them go for their guns at the same instant. As Gordon moves up, Busch moves down, and the two make contact. The rebound knocks Busch into Newman, and both slap the outside wall, while Gordon spins through the infield. It almost looks as though Gordon is going to save it, but his car travels back up the track and nose-first into the wall, bringing out the caution.

After the clean up, the survivors line up according to the position they were in at the last completed lap. So, it is Kenseth first, Newman second, Kyle Busch third, and Tony Stewart fourth. But Newman recieved enough damage to his car from hitting the wall that he has to drop out of the race, while Kenseth and Busch battle for the lead. Stewart follows them warily as the laps count down. The chess game of playing the inner groove against the outer groove continues, until Kenseth finally gets the upper hand and clears Kyle Busch. Stewart makes his move, and gets past Busch while hugging the bottom, with five laps to go. It's another chess match, and Stewart gains on Kenseth, still taking the bottom. The lead changes twice during the lap, and Kenseth retains the lead out of turn four, but Stewart has the faster car, so Kenseth takes the line Stewart is using. Another lap counts down. To turn three again, and Kenseth can't hold his car on the bottom and keep his speed up at the same time. Stewart slips below him and takes the lead.

The final two laps seem to take forever, but Stewart leads them both and wins. Victory is sweet. It's only a non points race, but it feels like Smoke just won the championship. This is his first victory as an owner/driver. It is also the first All Star victory by an owner/driver since Geoffrey Bodine won in 1994. And, if I am not mistaken, it is the first victory ever for the Haas organization at the Cup level.

We should have known that Tony Stewart can do anything that people tell him he can't do. We should have seen that he is a good organization builder, and he knows how to get the right people and put them in the right place. But we had our lapse of faith and were proven wrong.

I am glad that I have the opportunity to admit I was wrong, and now I am happy to eat my words. Pass the salt, please.

Live on Type Delay: The Southern 500

NASCAR tried to upstage itself by announcing, just an hour before the race at Darlington, that Jeremy Mayfield and two of his crew members have been suspended indefinitely from participation in NASCAR due to a violation of NASCAR's substance abuse policy. We are currently researching this story, and it will follow in another post. But first, more important things--the race.

How can anyone not like the racing we see at Darlington? The unique layout of NASCAR's first superspeedway offers a tough challenge for the drivers, and great racing for the spectators. The Lady in Black is not Lady Luck, and even if she likes you, she will hurt you. Yes, she's a sadistic beyatch.

It's scary going into those first two turns from the green flag, because the cars are still two wide, and there is only room for one lane coming out of turn two. But the cars make it around the first lap safely, and the leaders are pole sitter Matt Kenseth, who took off like a rocket, Jeff Gordon, "Suddenly Sam" Hornish, Jr, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano. But, on lap three, Scott Speed, substituting for Joe Nemecheck in the 87 car, gets into Max Papis in turn one and brings out the caution.

Restart on lap seven, and it's a little safer now because the cars are in single file. Robby Gordon has a tire going down on lap 9, but can't make it into the pits and has to go around the track again, slowly. Still no caution.

Lap 17, and Jeff Gordon passes on the inside of Kenseth, at the end of the backstretch, and takes the lead. Caution during the commercial, of course, on lap 21 when Michael Waltrip spins himself. Several of the leaders pit, but Jimmie Johnson, who started way back in position 43 after going to a back up car stays out and takes the lead. David "Cinderella" Gilliland also stays out and is in second. Nope, Gilliland is having trouble and takes his car to the garage. Ryan Newman is the first car out of the pits and will restart second. Restart on lap 24, and Ryan Newman takes the lead.

Shouldn't that be "Cinderello" Gilliland, or maybe "Cinderell" or "Cinderlou?"

Trouble in turn two again, as many cars racing for position further back in the field become too many cars in the same spot, on lap 30. Brian Vickers barely avoids disaster when he gets bumped by Casey Mears. Mears doesn't escape as there is an accordian effect behind him and he collects Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger. David Stremme manages to get by without a scratch. Mears to the garage, Hamlin and Allmendinger stay out.

Carl Edwards needed something very badly for his car, and makes two pit stops while pit road is closed. His car must be bad, as in not good, but he is willing to take the penalty of starting at the back of the longest line.

Restart on lap 37. Newman brings the field to the green flag, followed by Johnson, Kahne, Biffle, and Kenseth Jeff Gordon finds his way to the top five, passing Kenseth for fifth on lap 40, then moves into fourth after passing Greg Biffle on lap 46.

We see a great battle for the lead on lap 47, as Johnson threatens Newman's position and brings Kahne along with him. But Newman holds the lead. Brian Vickers is moving up, but then seems to have a tire going down, and starts falling back again.

Kasey Kahne takes the lead on lap 71. Johnson has to pit on lap 75--while the race is still under green--because he stayed out during the caution on lap 30, and needs fuel.

Scary visual on lap 77 as Michael Waltrip's car literally detonates. Flames everywhere, but the fire is under the car, and Waltrip gets his car safely to his pit and exits the car--safely. Since everyone is safe we can say how cool it was to see a car blow up in a night race. Wow.

The clean up takes a while, and the pits aren't open until lap 82. Restart will be on lap 85 with Kasey Kahne in the lead and Martin Truex, Jr second. Tony Stewart has made his way up from his eighteenth position starting spot, and is in sixth, racing his team mate Ryan Newman for fifth. Johnson restarted on the end of the lead lap, which was in front of the leaders, and falls a lap down as Kahne passes him.

Martin Truex, Jr has been trying several times for the lead and finally passes Kahne on lap 116. Jeff Gordon, meanwhile, has reported a vibration and pits, going a lap down. Tony Stewart has moved into third. then gets passed by Biffle on lap 117. On lap 118, Sam Hornish, Jr spins, but doesn't hit anything. The caution comes out anyway, and Johnson gets the free pass.

All the lead lap cars pit, and Bobby Labonte stays out to lead a lap. Biffle is the first off of pit road, and Tony Stewart gains two spots in the pits and comes off second. Truex, Kenseth, and Kahne follow them. Restart on lap 124. Biffle gets a good start and takes off like a rocket. By lap 138, Biffle has increased his lead margin to 6.2 seconds.

Kasey Kahne passes Stewart for second on lap 142, but he is still wa-a-a-ay behind Biffle. I think we should forget about the lead for now, as, by lap 150, Biffle leads the field by eight seconds. Wow again. And, as similar as his style is to Kyle Busch's, he's doing it without hitting the walls.

Lap 160, and that lead is gone, because the caution comes out after David Ragan turns Denny Hamlin around while passing him. Again Biffle takes the lead from the pits, but Tony Stewart's team gains him another spot, and he exits in second. Restart on lap 165 with Da Biff in the lead, Stewart second, Kahne third, Truex fourth, and Jamie McMurray fifth. Mark Martin had to come back to pit road for a missing lug nut. Elliott Sadler got the free pass and is back on the lead lap.

All through this race we have been seeing some good side by side racing throughout the pack, but haven't been able to keep up with it. Ryan Newman has raced his way back into the top five by lap 167. Further back, David Ragan and Denny Hamlin are still causing problems for each other. Temper, temper.

Harvick has made his way up to eleventh, and Brad Keselowski is running twelth.

David Ragan spins as he bumps Jimmie Johnson, and brings out the caution on lap 185. Brian Vickers, who, on lap 118 was almost two laps down, gets the free pass and is now on the lead lap.
All the lead lap cars pit, and the first thirteen off of pit road only took two tires. At the restart, on lap 190, the top five are Biffle, Truex, McMurray, Kyle Busch, and David Reutimann. They make it six laps before Ragan wrecks again. This time a cut tire put him into the wall. David Stremme gets the free pass, then gets held a lap for speeding on pit road.

At the restart on lap 201, it's Biffle, Truex, McMurray, Kyle Busch, and Reutimann. These restarts are getting scary, as there are two lines of cars going all the way around the track for a lap or two, and, as mentioned before, the Lady in Black does not have room for two lines of cars in her turns.

On lap 205, Kasey Kahne and David Stremme make contact, and Kahne has to pit with a cut tire. On 208, Logano is trying to break into the top five, racing Reutimann for that spot. On lap 213, Jeff Gordon beats Bobby Labonte in the race to be the first car one lap down. Just in time, too, because the caution comes out on lap 214, after Kurt Busch hits the wall and spins. More tire strategy shuffles the top ten. At the restart on lap 220, the order is Martin Truex, Jr, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Elliott Sadler, and Tony Stewart.

On lap 222, AJ Allmendinger and Clint Bowyer hit each other, and Bowyer spins to the inside wall, then to the outside, smashing up his car pretty well. It kind of has that AMC Gremlin look to it.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr, who has stayed on the lead lap through the race so far, has to start at the tail end of the lead lap because of a tire rolling out of the pit box violation.

Green flag on lap 226, and it's Truex, Kyle Busch, McMurray, Stewart, and Sadler in the top five. Then there is a bottleneck in turn 2 on lap 228, as Reutimann gets into the wall and loses something off of his car. He slows quickly, and the field somehow misses him as he tries to get to pit road. He can't get there, but there is no caution.

Greg Biffle races his way back into the top five on lap 238, passing Sadler for the fifth position. His car still looks like the best car in the field. The next caution is for debris on lap 249.The field again gets shuffled due to tire strategy. Biffle retakes the lead off of pit road, followed by Logano, Newman, Kenseth, and Martin. Restart on lap 253.

On lap 257, weird. See lap 228. This time Reutimann makes pit road safely. No caution.

Last year's winner will not win this year. Kyle Busch cuts a tire on lap 273 and hits the wall in turn 1. The race stays green, but Kyle has to take his car to the garage, as he has no brakes. But we get a caution on lap 275, when Jamie McMurray cuts a tire and hits the wall.

Joey Logano is the first car out of the pits, and will lead the race to the restart. On lap 281, it's Logano, Newman, Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Martin Truex, Jr. On lap 283, Greg Biffle clips Carl Edwards in the rear, Edwards gets into the wall, can't make it to the pits, and the caution once again comes out. Edwards then incurs a one lap penalty for making a u-turn into the pits.

Joey Logano held on to the lead, and the front five on lap 287 are Logano, Newman, Stewart, Gordon, and Truex. After the restart, Biffle is moving up to sixth. Hornish makes contact with Martin on lap 290, and spins the entire way down the front stretch. But he saves it, and there is no caution. On lap 291, Biffle passes Truex, and Da Biff is fifth.

But not for long. On lap 295, Da Biff spins and hits the wall in turn four, bringing out the caution. I think it was psycic energy from Carl Edwards that caused it. Caution, and everyone but Kenseth and Truex pits. As the green flag waves at the end of lap 300, its Truex, Kenseth, Stewart, Harvick, and Jeff Gordon in the top five.

Stewart passes Kenseth for second, on lap 302, and Logano is racing Martin for sixth. He takes that position on lap 304. Nice pass. Student passes mentor. And here comes Jimmie Johnson. Again, we wonder, how does that guy have such a terrible time early in the race, and still be among the leaders toward the end of the race? Amazing. It must be magic.

Logano gets by Harvick on lap 309 and is back in the top five. Harvick falls back to eighth, Mark Martin moves up to sixth, and Johnson to seventh. On lap 316, Jeff Gordon has moved up to third. On lap 317, Hornish hits the wall, ending a good day, but the caution has yet to fly. Then, we get a caution for debris on lap 319.

More two-tire stops. Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr all stay out. Green flag after lap 325. The top five are Martin, Johnson, Newman, Keselowski, and Hamlin. Tony Stewart has the first car out that took tires, and is in eighth.

On lap 327, Stewart has moved into fifth, and into third by lap 333. Jimmie Johnson is challenging Mark Martin for the lead, but can not close the deal. Caution on lap 342 when Dale Earnhardt, Jr spins. Restart on lap 250, with Martin first, Johnson second, Stewart third, Newman fourth, and Jeff Gordon is fifth. There is some fuel concern among the Martin and Johnson teams, but there may have been enough laps under caution to keep their mileage up enough to finish the race.

Mark makes a clean break on the restart and pulls ahead. Johnson gets up to his bumper a few times, then falls back. Both of the top two drivers are pulling ahead of Stewart, who is in third. The restart was single file, as it was with less than twenty laps to go, and there have been no position changes in the top ten. The laps count down, and once again we begin to feel excited for the old man of the current NASCAR Cup field. White flag, and Martin is still in the lead by a full two seconds. Halfway through the final lap, the leader realizes that he has nothing to sweat, even if he does run out of fuel.

Mark Martin holds off Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart to win the race, his second this year, and his first at Darlington. Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon fill out the top five. The old Cheez cutter--his sponsor for this race was Cheez-it--still has it in him. How 'bout that?

There are lots of noteable finishes to this race. The fact that Johnson made it all the way up to a second place, after starting fourty-third and having a terrible time in the first part of the race is like old news--it happens all the time. Stewart-Haas finished third and fourth, which is still pretty good after the low expectations we had for this team, before the season began. It was Stewart's best Cup finish at Darlington. Brad Keselowski showed that his Talladega win may not have been a fluke, by finishing seventh, and Joey Logano got a top ten finish at Darlington, after leading laps, by finishing ninth.

There was not a dull moment in today's race, something that makes us continue to wonder--why two dull races at California every year and only one great one at Darlington? Maybe we are blessed in a way, because if there were more races like this one, we would be spoiled, and all the other races would seem dull. Strange logic? Maybe, but the Darlington International Speedway is a strange place. And, by the way, it is a full moon, after all.

2008 regular season had its share of excitement and disappointment

NASCAR's regular season for 2008 ended with a great shootout between two of the best drivers in the sport. The entire season had its share of similar exciting moments, as well as some huge disappointments.

Dodge started out on a high note, with the Penske and Gillett-Evernham teams making a strong showing at the Daytona 500, resulting in a victory by Penske's #12 team and Ryan Newman. After that they sort of disappeared from the radar screen. Kasey Kahne and the GEM # 9 Dodge team had some brilliant moments, and it looked like Kahne could be a championship contender, but a late season string of bad luck over just a few short weeks virtually put that team out of the running.

Dario Franchitti seemed as though he was on the way to Rookie of The Year status, but an accident in which he broke his ankle, at Talladega, sidelined him for several weeks, and, though he had some promising runs when he returned, was unable to hold onto a sponsorship. Ganassi folded that team, financially unable to keep that team intact. Later in the season, Franchitti announced that he would be returning to the IRL.

Just prior to that, Reed Sorenson announced that he would be leaving Chip Ganassi racing to drive for Gillett-Evernham next season. This put another rookie contender, Patrick Carpentier, in a position where he may not have a ride next year. However, Gillett-Evernham has stated that if they can get full sponsorships for three of their cars next season, they will run four, which would include the popular Canadian. Gillett owns the Montreal Expos Major League Baseball team, and it is expected that he will be able to find sponsorship.

Silly Season has been the big story all season long. It began shortly after the third race of the season, at Las Vegas, when rumors sprang up that Tony Stewart's contract with Joe Gibbs Racing would be renegotiated, and that Stewart had received an offer from Haas/CNC Racing of half ownership of the team in return for leaving JGR and driving for them. These rumors turned out to be true, much to our consternation, but, in the end, we can't fault Smoke for taking what was to him the deal of a lifetime.

There were other rumors. Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr, Casey Mears, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, and Mark Martin, among others, were all up for contract renewal. Which of these would stay with their teams, and which would go to other teams? Nobody was willing to talk until they saw what Stewart did. As it turned out, Harvick, Labonte, and Truex decided to stay with their respective teams. Mears would be going to RCR, and Martin to Hendrick, where he will return to full-time Cup racing as driver of the #5 car. And Newman, after expressing unhappiness with the performance of his Penske team after Daytona, will join Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

The biggest disappointment of the season could be the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. After much anticipation of the race at the most venerable of all American racing venues, the tires that Goodyear provided for the race did not hold up to the racing surface. It became obvious that the tires were designed for a car with much more downforce than the Sprint Cup car has, and, instead of grinding in to the asphalt, as is expected of the rubber compound, the worn rubber simply powdered and blew away.

Although the #24 team of Jeff Gordon has had some great moments this season, and the team is in the Chase for the Championship, the performance of that team has been somewhat lackluster, especially in view of their success last season. Poor pit stops, run ins with team mate Jimmie Johnson on the track, and completely missed set ups have plagued the team, and we have not seen Gordon, who is arguably the most gifted and talented active driver in the series, show much of his full potential. We don't think he is out of his prime, but if he could turn things around, we would be better convinced that it isn't time for him to retire. Before any Gordon fans get angry at that statement, consider that I often wish my favorite driver, Tony Stewart, would retire so I can pick a new one. However, as long as he is racing, no matter what make of car he is racing or team he is with, we will stick with him. We expect Jeff Gordon fans to feel the same.

The performance of the new car in its first full season in NASCAR has been good at some tracks, but not so good at others, most notably the intermediate tracks. This could also be attributed to the lack of compatibility between the tire and the car. The car seems racy when the contenders are running side by side back in the pack, but it cannot complete a pass on another car that is running in clean air. We hope that NASCAR, who has left it to the teams to figure out how to race the car, will give a little more leeway to the teams in creating different aerodynamic configurations for the car, though that won't solve all the problems. Goodyear definitely needs to come up with a new tire design.

Aside from silly season, the failure of the Dodge teams, and the disappointment in the racing at some tracks, the biggest story of the regular season was most likely the crash between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr while Junior was leading the first race of the year at Richmond. Busch tried to pass Junior on the bottom of the track, went into a turn too hot and slid up into Junior's car, spinning Junior and costing him the race. This permanently traumatized millions of race fans, and they will probably never get over it without professional help, even after Junior got revenge in the final race of the regular season. That just goes to show how emotionally involving racing is to the fan. That is what NASCAR racing does to all of us, no matter who our favorite driver might be.

All in all, there have been good races and bad races, moments of brilliance and stupidity, times of celebration and bitter disappointment. NASCAR has made a lot of changes since we first began watching it in the early 1960's, but in the end, it is still NASCAR racing, and is still the only motorports racing series that offers to the fan all that NASCAR has.

Trust is the key to happiness in racing

Those of you who are still regular readers of this blog have stuck with me while I've been going through emotional ups and downs over my favorite driver's impending "doom."

I hope that my readers understand that, in reality, I am not that emotionally unstable over Tony Stewart's move at the end of this season, when he leaves Joe Gibbs Racing and moves on to his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing. My purpose is to entertain, and broadcasting my feelings in the way it has been done on this blog is mainly to provide what we hope is entertainment.

In reality, though we still have some misgivings, we are looking forward to seeing how Smoke handles this new challenge. We don't expect immediate success, but we trust Stewart's competitive instincts, and his strong desire to be a winner, so we have to believe that he will turn his new team into a winning operation.

As you may have read in Sunday's "Live on Type Delay," we read comments on Trent Cherry's blog that discussed the possibility that Hendrick Motorsports would lease Haas CNC and Stewart-Haas racing with equipment not equal to that which HMS uses themselves. That is the thinking of football fans, not racing fans.

Racing is about trust. Every week, every driver's well being is dependent on the competition being good enough so as not to mess up his own chances to finish the race well. That would include the equipment the competition is using. Each team knows that there is less of a chance of being taken out by another car due to equipment malfunction or failure if the equipment is as good as their own. Any team leasing equipment to another team may not be able to control the other team's driving abilities, or the attitude of the team itself, but at least they can ensure that it would not be the equipment that causes a bad accident involving their own drivers.

Something else to consider is enterprise. HMS, for example, receives income from Haas in exchange for the equipment Haas CNC uses. If they are dissatisfied with the equipment they could always go to someone else, or, being owned by Haas Automation, they could easily build their own equipment. Haas does, after all, sell test equipment and high tech suspension components to most of the other teams in NASCAR. Is there anyone who would accuse them of selling substandard equipment? They could make Scott Riggs unbeatable with so much power, but, in order to sell equipment to the other teams, they have to be trusted.

So, we are looking forward to next season already, with eager anticipation that Smoke will succeed. Ryan Newman seems to believe Stewart-Haas will succeed as well, as the announcement that he will be joining Smoke next season has been made official. And all that is because of trust.

Live on Type Delay: The new Roadmaster

First some apologies. I said that Jimmie Johnson was in the lead when he ran out of fuel during the final laps of the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen. That was not a live on type delay report, and I was trying to write from memory,. which isn't that good these days. Jeff Burton was in the lead, and never gave it up until he, too, ran out of fuel.

Now on to today's race. There is nothing like seeing those cars going in to turn one from the start three wide and beatin' and bangin' on each other. When things settle down after the first lap, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, who likes Watkins Glen much better than Sonoma, takes the lead. Jimmie Johnson is second, Jeff Gordon third, and pole sitter Kyle Busch is fourth. There is a commercial already.

No MRN or PRN today, but Kyle Petty says that they make up the action because nobody can see what they are talking about. He is only saying that because he is a TV guy, but that makes me nervous anyway. I fear I may not be able to write anything that you don't see on television. Screw it, MRN is on, but it will be interrupted for the radio station's special promotion, a fund raiser for the ASPCA. Worthy cause, so I won't complain.

By lap ten, Tony Stewart, who has been moving up agressively from the start, has moved into fourth position. Dale Jr is checking out, doing very well, and Jeff Gordon has fallen back to fifth. Now Carl Edwards has made it into the top five, and Kevin Harvick is in sixth, while Gordon falls all the way back to seventh. Now Jeff Burton is trying to pass Jeff Gordon. This is disturbing, actually, that Gordon is starting the race so poorly. There is plenty of time to get that car fixed, but Jeff Gordon falling back at Watkins Glen is just plain wrong.

PJ Jones and Patrick Carpentier perform some synchronized spinning, similar to what we saw with Busch and Burton yesterday, and there is no caution as they race on. Allmendinger makes the first green flag pit stop of the day on lap 17. On lap 19, more spinning by Reed Sorenson.

Lap 23 and more cars, including the three JGR cars make their pit stops. Jr and Johnson are still leading, not having pitted yet. We are keeping our eye on yesterday's winner, Marcos Ambrose, who started in p-43, and has moved up as far as 13th before he pits. Johnson pits on lap 27. This reminds us somewhat of the different pit strategies used at last week's race at Pocono. Jr still has yet to pit. Then he pits on lap 29.

Jeff Gordon is staying out, but only because he hasn't heard the team's orders to pit. something is wrong with the radio, and NASCAR helps out by black flagging him so he has to pit. That was done as a favor by NASCAR. Here we go, techsplanation time, and it doesn't surprise us at all that ESPN is back to their old tricks. Does anyone really care about where the radio plugs in?

After the pit stops cycle through, Kyle Busch is in the lead, Johnson is second, Stewart third, Edwards fourth, and Harvick fifth. Earnhardt, Jr came out of it in seventh, but soon moves up into sixth. Jeff Gordon has fallen back to 23rd. Marcos Ambrose has settled into 20th place. There still have been no cautions, though 12 cars have been involved in spins and general leaving of the track. There is a battle going on for third, but the lapped car of Robby Gordon, in 39th place, is preventeng Carl Edwards from getting close to Stewart. Gordon wants to stay close to the leaders in hopes of a caution that will give him a free pass.

Lap 42, and Johnson has a tire issue. This pit stop will be too early to get Johnson to the end of the scheduled race on fuel, but it could work out for him if the race is stopped because of rain, which could happen.

It doesn't look good for the #48 team, as all the tires that came off look good, and it could mean that there is something else wrong with the suspension, which could be serious. This does put Tony Stewart in a distant second place.

Marcos Ambrose has now moved up to fifteenth. I would like to see Energizer sponsor Ambrose's car, and put Marcos in the place of "Jacko," the wild and crazy Aussie who used to stomp through the commercials holding a giant battery over his head, shouting, "Hoy!" Do Tasmanians shout "Hoy!"? Marcos would make a good "Jacko."

Finally, a caution on lap 49. This will still be early for fuel mileage, so some cars will stay out. Maybe. There could be a massive psych-out here. Several cars do take to the pits, including Ambrose, Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon, David Ragan, Hamlin, and Kasey Kahne. Gordon is getting more adjustments, and stays in the pits longer in hopes of a better car late in the race. Most of the cars that pitted stop for four tires and fuel. Johnson exits the pit road first, and Jr is second out of the pits.. Busch, Stewart, Edwards, and Harvick stayed out. Montoya also stayed out, and moves into fourth place.

Tony Stewart is now racing Kyle Busch for the lead, and this should be some good racing. I think Stewart can outdrive Busch in the turns, we shall see. This is good.

Carl Edwards takes his pit stop with thirty seven laps to go. He should be good to the end of the race, if it goes as scheduled. Stewart and Busch have yet to pit. While Edwards was in the pits, Stewart took the lead in turn eight, I think, but then Busch takes the lead back in turn one of the next lap. That race is not over yet.

Now with 34 laps to go, Stewart, Busch, Harvick, and the rest of the cars that didn't pit earlier stop. Hamlin stops again for fuel only, to get him to the end of the race, as does Marcos Ambrose, from 17th place. Robby Gordon is on the lead lap now, by virtue of the leaders pitting.

Montoya is now the leader, but he takes his pit stop. Jimmie Johnson is now in the lead, and Earnhardt Jr is second, then takes the lead as Johnson pits. Nobody wants to run out of fuel now.

If Stewart could race Busch so well while his car was tight, he should be great if his team made the right adjustments. during that last pit stop.

Robby Gordon went back to a lap down after he pitted. Jr is still in the lead, and still hasn't pitted. Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart, who have pitted are running second and third. Jr stayed out too long, and you know there will be words between him and Tony Eury Jr, as the caution comes out for the second time. Jr will be stuck having to pit by himself, and will likely have to restart at the back of the field with twenty six laps to go. The 88 was the only lead lap car to pit. That is not good. There are twenty five laps to go in the race.

Busch is now in first, Stewart is in second. Restart on lap 66. Ryan Newmnan is third, Martin Truex is fourth, and Marcos Ambrose is fifth. Busch and Stewart are still racing hard. Ambrose is racing Truex hard. And here come Hamlin and Montoya.

I have the TV on mute and the radio on, but back in the pack, Earnhardt Jr is making some amazing moves, the kind of which only he is capable, to work his way back to the front. He is now in 28th place, I believe.

Truex, Ambrose, and Montoya are getting crazy as well, battling for fourth place. Lots of exciting stuff going on here. PJ Jones moves off of the track and gets rear ended by the fence, but still no caution. Now, on TV we see that it was Jeff Gordon who did the moving. Way to go Jeff! We love to see that.

I will have to say, at this point, ESPN's coverage is somewhat better than it was last year. It seems to me as though they are still stretching some story lines for drama value, which was one of the worst things they did last year, but that is not as bad as it was last year, where the story lines were stretched so far they took away from the race.

Fourteen laps to go, and everyone seems to be behaving themselves, so far. There should be some action coming up soon, though.

Ouch! Newman loses it in turn one and spins off the track with 13 laps to go. His car stalls, and comes back onto the track with the driver's side facing the oncoming traffic. Caution. That had to be a scary moment for Newman. Hornish has to push Newman back to the pits, as the car will not restart.

In the pits, they still can't get Newman's car fired up. This is sad, because Newman was doing so well, especially for Watkins Glen, and this will probably kill his chances to make it into the top twelve. Hornish's act of teammanship and generosity moves the 77 out of the top 35 in points.

Ten laps to go, with Busch first, Stewart second, Ambrose third, Montoya fourth and Truex fifth. Newnman has left the pits and stalled on the bgackstretch, so the restart is waved off. This should be one heck of a shootout to the end of the race. I can now turn off MRN and let the ESPN guys cover the rest of the race. I think. They have time for a commercial with nine laps to go. This is going to be an interesting restart. Something of interest, Ambrose moved up all the way from last to third without a mark on his car.

Montoya makes a move on Ambrose going into turn one, but doesn't make it stick. Busch and Stewart are again racing hard and pulling away from Ambrose and Montoya. MRN is still on here, just in case.

There is a big wreck coming off of turn eleven. Blaney, McDowell, Nemecheck, Kvapil, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Hornish, Sorenson, PJ Jones, David Gilliland, and Max Papis are all involved. The race is red flagged. On TV, the barrel barrier at the beginning of the pit lane is devastated. Heck the wall is crumbled there. Reports say that the #77 car spun into that backwards. That is a hard hit.

MRN is reporting that it started with Gilliland and Mcdowell getting together coming out of turn eleven. The chain reaction was the result of being stuck back in the pack with less then ten laps to go, because everybody back there was racing for position all the way around the track. Something had to give, where the traffic was so thick.

ESPN has now confirmed that MRN wasn't lying. This time. Sorenson may have gotten away with only a little damage, but most of those other cars are out. Once again, Watkins Glen takes on the characteristics of a short track race.

Bobbly Labonte, who walked away from the wreck is being transferred to a local hospital for further evaluation. Our prayers are with him. Hopefully, he hasn't suffered injuries that would cause him to miss a race.

Poor Max Papis. He is so enthusiastic about racing in NASCAR. Unlike many European drivers, his heroes are Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Jeff Gordon, and other NASCAR drivers, rather than Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. He really wants to race NASCAR. It is his dream. Much like Scott Speed and Marcos Ambrose, he has already had his chance at Formula 1 and has made NASCAR his big league of choice. Even after the wreck which, in his words, has left him heartbroken for his team, he remains enthusiastic about continuing his duties as road test driver for Hendrick Motorsports.

They are wondering if Stewart will settle for second, or push the issue against his team mate to win, possibly risking a wreck and falling out of the top twelve. I say race him hard, Smoke. Think "What Would Kyle Do?"

That would be dumb. Would I give up driving for a championship caliber team if someone gave me half ownership of a second rate team to drive for them? Certainly, in a heartbeat. We can't blame Smoke for taking that deal, but it is still dumb.

I was getting excited about Stewart Haas, and getting over my misgivings, until I read Trent Cherry's blog, in which he speculated that Newman would be joining Stewart-Haas next year, and his readers, who think that will be a move for the worse, asked if Hendrick would actually provide equipment that would allow Stewart - Haas to have better race results than HMS. Reading that, I immediately regressed to depressive pessimism. So stay dumb, Smoke, and you could win this race. (For those who don't know, Trent Cherry is a pit crew member for the #12 team, who blogs on That's Racin' dot com.) Oh well, I would rather be depressively pessimistic and be pleasently surprised later than be manically optimistic and be bitterly disappointed later.

Thanks, Ryan Newman fans. I really was growing way too optimistic.

Gosh I'm hard on my favorite driver, but we are still under red flag conditions, and I am rambling like the guys on TV and radio are.

They have fired up the cars and will restart the race soon.

Interesting. Sam Hornish Jr's #77 car hit those barrels that hard, and they are getting him back out to finish the race.

Getting excited now. Will Smoke get Busch on the restart? In turn one? Or will he just play it safe and hang out for second place? Will he get an opportunity in the next five laps and take advantage of it? Or will he settle for second?

Busch floors it at the green and pulls ahead. Through the esses, Tony is catching him. The racing is going for fifth place, though. Harvick is trying to catch Truex. This is excellent racing. Allmendinger holds off Johnson for eighth position. This could be Allmendinger's best finish in his career. Will he be in that car next year, or will it be Scott Speed? Allmendinger is fighting well for that job right now.

2 laps to go and Johnson takes eighth, but holds off a charging Edwards for ninth. Ambrose is threatening Stewart for second, and Kyle takes the white flag, pulling away. Kyle Busch sweeps the road courses, Ambrose holds off Montoya for third, and Stewart gets second. Great race for the Tasmanian Devil. Hoy!

At the beginning of the season we had no inkling that Kyle Busch would be a road course ace. He has won at Mexico City, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen, giving him more road course wins in one season than any driver in NASCAR's history. Wow.

Rev' Jim's Q&A with Rev' Jim

After all the discussion about the tires and NASCAR producing such a sad show last Sunday, we feel somewhat uninspired this week. We have had our say about the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard event that was more of a test session than a race, and we hope that NASCAR has learned its lesson.

We have spent at least fourteen hours this week looking for something good to write about, and have come up with nothing. So, for something a little different, we will borrow a tool from Tony Stewart.com and Joe Gibbs Racing.com in which we run a Q & A session where we write our own questions to ourselves and answer them.

Why are you always wrong?

Hey! I'm not always wrong!

This is an opinion blog, and to opinion there is no right or wrong. See, I'm wrong again. I was wrong about Tony Stewart staying with JGR until 2010, but I genuinely thought that would be the case based on what was said and written by JGR and Stewart prior to the announcement of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Sometimes I hope I'm wrong. For instance, I have been somewhat cynical about Smoke's chances of quickly building a winning team out of Haas-CNC, but the enthusiasm and determination Smoke has, and the effect of having a driver of Tony Stewart's stature on moral in the organization, may prove me wrong. I certainly hope so.

Otherwise, 94% of what you see on this blog is opinion and satire, and there really is no right or wrong in opinion.

Are you looking forward to ESPN's Sprint Cup broadcasts?

No. ESPN has spent a lot of money to bring us a broadcast that covers much more than what is going on in the race. From their perspective, they are bringing us a new cutting edge in race coverage, and their producers feed the booth bunnies story lines, cut to technical explanations, rerun segments of the prerace show, and provide the viewer with everything they may want to know about Sprint Cup racing.

In my opinion, they often broadcast too much more than what is going on in the race, and we, and ESPN, lose track of the race itself. Even as I write this, during Sprint Cup qualifying, the ESPN producers have skipped the qualifying runs of several cars in order to bring us entertainment. We can expect more of this type of broadcasting Sunday, while Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are racing each other hard for the lead, and ESPN decides to go to a techsplanation of how the cars get tire donuts on the side panels.

Who do you want to win Sunday?

Tony Stewart. We think he might have a chance. He has the third highest rating of all current drivers at Pocono, and he seems very excited and happy about his prospects of winning.

If not Stewart, I would like to see Dale Jr or Kyle Busch win. Neither has a good record at Pocono, but Jr has been improving each race there, and for Kyle, it's just something he hasn't done yet this year, so he might as well get it over with.

Okay, who do you think will win Sunday?

The 24 and 48 teams have been coming along strong these last few races. We have thought since early in the season that those two teams would overcome the difficulties they were having, and that, when they did, it would be as hard to catch them as it was last year.

Jeff Gordon seems to be very happy with his car. He is a four time winner at the "roaval" and he has a lot of confidence in his knowledge of the track. He should be the winner Sunday, but his team mate, Jimmie Johnson is on a hot streak, and when that team is on a roll it is very difficult to stop.

It should be an interesting race between those two.

What changes, if any, would you like to see at Pocono?

I actually like Pocono. It presents a different challenge to the drivers than any other track, and to the crew chiefs and pit crews as well. You have to give something to get something, and figure out in which one of the three unique turns you have to be perfect. You can't be perfect in all three turns, so it is going to take hard work on the driver's part to get around the track competitively.

One change I would like to see, however is that the promoter make it a shorter race. 400 or 500 miles just seems too long, and encourages too much tire and fuel strategy. A 300 or 350 mile race would be interesting, and it would be different. It wouldn't be so much about fuel mileage then, and we would see more pure racing on a track that was actually meant for pure racing.

Do you often talk to yourself?

Yes.

Do you have any more questions for yourself?

No. Thank you.

Dealing with it, and TickCo joins Rev'Jim's RantsnRaves

First of all, in no way was the fear expressed on this blog meant to imply that Tony Stewart was washed up. The intent of my posts on the subject of Stewart joining Stewart Haas racing next year was to express how it will feel as Smoke works to get his new team to the top, not a prediction that he would perform poorly.

It will be difficult for those of us who are Tony Stewart fans to accept that he will be driving as a back marker for a while, but that doesn't mean the team won't get better. He has already had some meetings with his new team to try to figure out why they haven't been able to be more successful with all the resources they have available to them (it isn't for lack of money, Haas Automation has thrown all kinds of financial support at the team, and has recently built a $40,000,000 wind tunnel that is supposed to be able to simulate different track conditions and features).

Stewart is a winner, and though we will have to fret as he tries to qualify the #14 car as a go or go home team, or will scream in frustration as he just can't seem to get his car to work the way he wants, those times will pass. He will turn that team into a winner. Eventually.

Now for a little plug. I have agreed to feature a Sports ticket broker, TickCo Premium Seating, on this blog, for reasons that may come to light in the near future. If you are looking for NASCAR tickets, or tickets for any sporting event, please follow the appropriate link listed below:

Nascar tickets

TickCo Premium Seating

Sports

TickCo also buys tickets, if you find yourself with tickets you can't use. Good deal.

You're correct if you think this is strictly commercial. I'm still trying to figure out this blogging thing, and going strictly commercial once in a while doesn't hurt.

Observations on NASCAR and my other passion

The Sprint Cup is taking a week off. There is still something to get excited about this weekend, and that would be the Truck Series race at Kentucky this weekend. Randy Moss Motorsports will be making its debut in the series with the #81 Chevrolet, driven by last year's Truck Series Rookie of the Year, Willie Allen.

Moss is playing it smart, having purchased an established team that has had some success in the series. Morgan-Dollar, the team in which Randy Moss bought controlling interest, has proven itself competitive with the likes of Kevin Harvick Incorporated, Roush-Fenway Racing, and Bill Davis Racing. Moss plans to eventially move the team to the Cup level, but he acknowledges that it will be a hard road. Still, citing his passion for the sport, and for winning, he is optimistic, and confident that he will reach his goals with his new team. We wish him success in his endeavors.

Yesterday, Ryan Newman reportedly announced that he and Penske South Racing will be parting ways after the end of the current season. We expect him to be joining Tony Stewart next year in the newly-formed Stewart-Haas Motorsports organization, which would make it the Team from Indiana. However, there are rumors that he may be the driver for RCR's fourth car next year. Since we were left embarrassed by our insistance that Smoke would not be leaving JGR before 2010,. we have decided to believe any and all rumors we hear or read about. However, we will offer our opinion that Casey Mears would probably be a better fit in the RCR car. Mediocre record aside, Mears is a driving talent looking for the right surroundings. RCR did just that for Jeff Burton, and it stands to reason they could do it for Mears.

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup series being off for the week, we can explore our other passion, and that would be music. For me, amazing musical feats in concert are every bit as exciting of the sound of the engines fireing up after the command to "start your engines."

We understand that not many NASCAR fans are fans of what we call "Jam Music," but there are similarities that should be explored. At a NASCAR event, the crowd is generally happy, friendly,. helpful, excited about what they are seeing and hearing on the track, and drinks a lot of beer. At the Grateful Dead events we attended, and at other concerts we have attended since then, the crowd is generally happy, friendly, helpful, excited about what they are seeing and hearing on the stage, and drinks a lot of beer.

To me, hearing a band go off in different directions during a jam, then pulling it back together for a reprise of a song they began earlier is just as exciting as watching Dale Earnhardt, Jr threading the needle to advance through traffic, Kyle Busch beating a block and going hard into a turn and making it stick, or Tony Stewart outsmarting Jeff Gordon on exiting a turn.

Some of the music we listen to is an acquired taste. You won't hear much of it on the radio, as it isn't music that is meant for radio. But NASCAR is an acquired taste as well. But the truth is, a Redneck can be a Deadhead and live a balanced, well-ordered life.

To celebrate and share my passion for Jam Music, I have started a social network called "Eclectic Jammys" That is a pun, but "Jammy" is meant as a title for a person who loves to listen to Jam Music. It doesn't have to be a Deadhead--a Jammy could be a fan of Phish, Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, or countless other bands that are ignored by radio but fill theatres, arenas, ampitheatres, and stadiums with their amazing musical acrobatics.

"Eclectic Jammys" features a built in music player on every profile page that allows loading from either your computer or from another site. It also features forums, blogs, photo and video uploaders that every member can use. It is a MySpace lite, for a specific group of people. Those who join the group will be able to share and enjoy their favorite music. There will be conversations about our favorite bands and memories of our favorite concerts.

I have just begun building the site, but it can't be a social network without people, so, if you think you may be a Jammy, or are interested or curious about Jam Music, please visit and join us at Eclectic Jammys

Chicago and Crisis Management

One thing that could help us to handle our grief over the loss of our favorite driver's will to win would be a good race. We may just get to see one Saturday night in the first night race at Chicagoland Speedway.

In the past, the races at Chicagoland have not been all that exciting, but that has been par for the course at most of the intermediate class speedways. But things change. Some races that we have expected to be somewhat boring have been exciting this year. The Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's earlier this year is a good example of that.

We can reasonably expect Saturday night's race to be different from other races from Chicagoland we have seen. Because it is the first night race at that venue, we can expect the track surface to be cooler than it would be on Sunday afternoon, thus providing more traction. More traction usually means faster cars.

Faster cars could mean a better race, but not necessarily. Chicagoland is unknown to the new Sprint Cup car, and to the tire combination Goodyear has been providing this year. These unknowns were disasterous earlier this year at Atlanta and Texas Motor Speedway, where the teams didn't get a chance to test, and there was very little racing at those tracks.

On the other hand, the Sprint Cup teams have been learning how they can better adjust the car, and that may make a difference Saturday. We are more than halfway through the season, and, hopefully, Chicagoland will not mean unpleasant surprises for the teams, as they may be better prepared by experience.

If the race Saturday night turns into a follow the leader event, we can probably expect Kyle Busch to win yet another one, as he seems to be the only driver who is willing to go for broke to get to the front. If the teams have their cars ready to race, however, there are two drivers who are poised to present a challenge to the likely winner.

David Ragan has come a long way from the time his driving style was described as being like "a dart without feathers." He has shown himself to be a quick learner, and has been able to put what he has learned to good use with his talent. His performance has been outstanding this year, and there have been several races where he looked like he could have won had it not been for pit strategy, pit performance, or the bad luck of being caught up in someone else's accident. We could see him get his first career Sprint Cup win Saturday night.

We have been impressed, as well, by Brian Vickers. This is another driver who has shown that he can overcome a lot of adversity to get a good finish. He has long established himself as a fast driver who can really get on the wheel of a fast car, and his talent may be rewarded Saturday night. If he does win the second Life Lock 400 of the season, it will be his second career Sprint Cup win, and his first since Talladega in 2006.

We can't rule out Smoke. This is traditionally Tony Stewart's time of the year, we know he likes night races, and he has always performed well at Chicagoland. The pressure of having to inform his friends and his team that he would be leaving them next year is off, and his attitude seems positive. Even though we are still in the anger stage of coping with grief, and are still puzzled about him getting out of a car that could have won--it wasn't long ago that "flu-like" symptoms wouldn't stop him even if it meant soiling his driver's suit--he is still Smoke, and we hope he still has a competitive edge. Personally, we are hoping to see him in Victory Lane.

Speaking of Smoke, could it be he has already made a choice for his Stewart-Haas team beginning next year? During an interview during Nationwide Series qualifying, Stewart used some words describing crew chief Dave Rogers that raised a few flags, such as "leadership," and "team builder."

Now these are words that have been used to describe Rogers all season long, but in context of what Stewart was saying, and the way he said it, Rogers would be a great choice for Stewart in building his new team. Would Gibbs release him? We would speculate that he would, because we know that JGR will not be running four cars next year after all, as the #20 will be driven by an unnamed driver who will share the ride with a developing Joey Logano. This would not leave room for Rogers to move up to Cup within the Gibbs organization, and no organization has ever stopped a crew chief from moving to Cup even if it meant he was going to another organization. We can also safely speculate that Rogers would jump at the chance to be a crew chief for a Cup team.

Of course, my record for believing rumors that turn out to be true is very bad, and my speculation has even been worse, but I don't think the idea of Dave Rogers going to Stewart-Haas is all that far-fetched.

So I have moved through the denial stage, passed the guilt stage, and seem to be getting through the anger phase. This would be the bargaining stage, thinking that it would be a good thing if Smoke can get a good crew chief right away. I hope my readers continue to follow me as I deal with this crisis, and can find my progress interesting and entertaining, if not informative.

Optimism

This was to be a special "Live on Type Delay" installment featuring the Tony Stewart-Joe Custer press conference announcing the establishment of Stewart-Haas Racing, but technical difficulties on the feed made the part of the press conference we got to see very short.
The main points managed to get from the conference are as follows:

• Tony Stewart recieves 50% equity in the organization for signing with Haas. This is unprecidented in NASCAR, and Stewart admits that's what caught his attention. The deal is potentially worth up to $66.5 million, which makes him the highest paid driver in NASCAR. That isn't even close to what the stars of the NFL, the NBA, and MLB get paid, but it is very high for a NASCAR driver.


• Joe Custer, the general manager of Haas CNC, believes that Stewart's presence alone will turn the chronic back marker into a winning team. You have to give some credit for that kind of faith and optimism.


• Tony Stewart believes that "it isn't the equipment that makes a winning team, it is the people. If you put the right people in the right place, you will have a winning team." We wonder where and how Stewart is going to get the right people to put in the right places.


• Tony also declared that he believes "we can win at Daytona in February."

The bottom line is that the new Stewart-Haas team is going into business with an abundance of optimism and enthusiasm. Maybe they know something we don't. Perhaps Haas Engineering, the multi-million dollar corporation that owns Stewart-Haas is willing to pour unlimited funds into the team to make sure they get what they need.
Since Stewart is my favorite driver, I wish I could share that optimism and enthusiasm. I want to believe that Stewart is that much better a driver than Scott Riggs that he can make a difference in the team's performance. I do think he is better than Riggs, but only by about five or six positions. I say this because I have seen Riggs race Greg Biffle wheel to wheel in both the CTS and what was then the NASCAR Busch Series, at various races I attended at PPIR. I have to say, based on the performance I saw there and then, that Riggs is probably a better driver than Biffle, and Biffle is definitely one of the best. Therefore,I have reached the conclusion that the only reason Scott Riggs has not been a championship contender in the Sprint Cup is that he is not with a team that can win.
I really do want to see Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing succeed, and succeed quickly, but I remain skeptical and fear that Stewart may be entering the realm of Kyle Petty. I certainly hope I am proven wrong.

It will be Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009

I'm going to have to add anger management counseling to my weekly reginmen. I've always seen Tony Stewart as an honest man, and that steadfast image was shot down when it was confirmed that he will leave Joe Gibbs Racing after this year to be co-owner and driver of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Back in 2004, Stewart announced that he would retire from NASCAR after what is now his current contract. He lied. He said he had other things he wanted to do in his life that didn't involve NASCAR, and now it seems that he has given up on his dreams and will stay with NASCAR until he is an old man. He will probably die a bachelor, as we know that NASCAR and a wife can not exist simultaneously in Stewart's life.

The only satisfaction that we can find in this news is that, although Marty Smith took the credit for breaking the news, it was actually Lee Spencer who did so, so we won't have to apologize to Smith or David Newton or Tom Bowles.

I'm not worried about my credibility, because at Rev' Jim's RantsnRaves, we have always made sure that the reader knows that what is written here is strictly opinion and observation, and is not meant to be factual news. However, it would have been nice if Stewart had stuck to his word, and maybe we would have had some credibility here with which to work. But that would have changed the tone of this blog, and I don't know if that can be done.

Anyway, we can't expect any wins from Stewart-Haas next year, unless maybe they stay out on a gamble and it rains while their car in the lead. It isn't that Stewart or Newman aren't that good as drivers, they are, but without equipment, they will be back-markers, and until the time that is needed to build a winning team has passed, that is the only kind of equipment they will get. But that is only my opinion, and we all know now what my opinion is worth.

First of all, Stewart will need a crew chief with whom he can communicate. This is not to say Bootie Barker isn't a good crew chief, because he has proven himself on several occasions to be one of the best. But how would he get along with Stewart. As long as he was with Gibbs, Stewart had Greg "Zippy" Zippadelli to keep him focused, and to try to keep his temper in check. Since Barker has quite a temper himself, we could only imagine the following radio chatter between Smoke and Bootie:

Smoke: $%&*!
Bootie: $%#! @#$% &*#@ !!!
Smoke: I'm gonna get him
Bootie: Get the #$%@&*@&%#, we can't win now anyway. Make sure they can never drive that car again!
Smoke: $%&*@#*%$#@*&%@!!!!!

And so on. Perhaps sometime around 2011, Stewart-Haas could start negotiations with Hendrick for Chad Knaus. Perhaps they will dangle ownership of the other half of the team, and it could be Stewart-Knaus Racing. Wouldn't that be a dream team?

But we digress into the world of fantasy while in the denial stage of grief. Stewart may actually have to retire before he wins another race in NASCAR.