Duel of Dreams

Thirty-seven days ago, legendary NASCAR crew chief Tommy Baldwin saw an opportunity and siezed it. Team owner Bill Davis had liquidated his interest in the team that bore his name, and left behind a Toyota racing chassis or two and a seasoned race team. Baldwin decided the time was right to have another go at fielding his own team. He had a sponsor, and his driver would be Scott Riggs, who was displaced by the Stewart-Haas deal.

Jeremy Mayfield had gone all of 2008 without a ride. He was left out of the unprecedented silly season action that took place throughout all of 2008 and the first month of 2009. With 23 days to go until the Daytona 500, Mayfield decided to take the bull by the horns and start his own team. He gathered what he could of the recently unemployed victims of cutbacks from other teams, squared his shoulders, and entered the fray.

AJ Allmendinger had a ride, then he didn't, then he did, and then things became unsure. Nobody in the garage area can argue that the former Champ car star isn't Cup material. Even the King, Richard Petty, has declared that Allmendinger "gets it."

Allmendinger's agreement to drive for Richard Petty Motorsports didn't even become official until February 2, when it was announced that he would drive the #44 car for RPM for at least eight races, with hopes that a full sponsorship would come with whatever successes the team can produce. Making the starting lineup for the Daytona 500 would be an important success, but AJ would have to race his way in.

The Daytona 500 is the only race on the Cup schedule that has preliminary qualifying races. The Gatorade Duels are two 150 mile races that place the drivers in their starting grid positions (outside the front row, which is determined by time trials) and give those who didn't qualify on time a chance to race their way into the race. After the top 35 cars in owners points,. and the four drivers who qualified on time filled the grid to 39 drivers, there were still fourteen drivers who had to race for the final four spots in the field. It would take not only skill to overcome the odds of missing the race, but also some luck and a lot of guts and determination.

In the first race of the Duels, Tony Stewart and Bill Elliott were the "Go or Go Homers" who had guaranteed themselves a spot in the Big Show on qualifying time. If one or both of them were to finish the race ahead of the other go or go homers, then one or two other drivers would be moved in on their times. Scott Riggs was not one of the drivers who would have made the race in that manner--he had no way to the Big Show other than racing his way in.

The #36 Tommy Baldwin team for which Riggs was driving had no regular team members. All of the pit crew and support team were working without pay. Joe Nemecheck was in a similar situation, racing in the #87 Toyota with his own team, and just as determined as Riggs to make the show.

Nemecheck did have a better chance of making the race if both Elliott and Stewart finished in the transfer positions, but Elliott fell back and out of the race for transmission failure, and the rest of the race was pretty much between Nemecheck and Riggs for that final transfer position. Nemecheck had a decent car, and though Riggs would progress as far toward the front as fifth place, at times, he almost always fell back, putting Nemecheck in the transfer position.

At one point during the race, Tony Stewart, who had no actual team mates with whom to partner in the first Duel, dropped back to team with Riggs, perhaps as a gesture of thanks for putting the car that is now Ryan Newman's #39 in the top 35 in owner points. Perhaps it was to make up for replacing him as a driver on the new Stewart-Haas team, or a combination of the two. At any rate, Stewart helped Riggs get back toward the front of the field, where he needed to be. With four laps to go, Riggs restarted in fifth, but fell back toward Nemecheck's car, which was showing improvement after adjustments. Nemecheck found himself poised to pass Riggs in the final laps, but Jamie McMurray, driving to the left of Nemecheck, got loose going into turn one and caused Nemecheck to falter and fall off the pace. Riggs finished in eighth place, giving him, and Tommy Baldwin, his team owner, a spot on Sunday's starting grid.

Tony Stewart's second place finish gave Ragan Smith, who would drive the Furniture Row car in the second Duel, a starting position on qualifying time for Sunday's race. Nemecheck was left hoping and praying that Smith or Travis Kvapil would finish in a transfer position in the second race.

The second Duel was even more dramatic for the go or go homers. Jeremy Mayfield had put his team together using the former BDR "sister" Toyota to the one that Riggs drove in the first Duel. Like Baldwin's team, the crew that had prepared his car and worked his pit were unpaid volunteers from among those who had been laid off from other teams. Mayfield's jack man, working in Kirk Shelmerdine's pit during the first duel, was involved in a pit road accident and had to be taken to the hospital.

Mike Wallace, by all accounts, is one of the hardest drivers to pass in a restrictor plate race, and Boris Said looked like he had one of the transfer spots sewn up, running towards the front for much of the second race. But Said had tire issues later in the race, and the transfer positions were opened to anyone. During pit stops under what would be the final caution of the race, Mayfield's Crew Chief, Tony Furr made the gutsy call of changing two tires rather than four. Mayfield restarted with eight laps to go in the top five, and fell back no further than ninth, giving him a spot on the Daytona 500 grid.

AJ Allmendinger didn't have a deal until February 2, when he signed with Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the #44 car, which, at the time of this writing, is sponsored for only eight races this season. It was very important for Allmendinger to make the Big Show, in hopes of being able to attract more sponsorship in these difficult economic times. But his team could not seem to get the car to handle well, and Allmendinger had troubles for most of the race. Toward the end of the race, his RPM team mates, Reed Sorenson and Elliott Sadler, dropped back in a magnanimous show of teamwork to pick up the #44 car in the draft and help him towards the front, past a hard driving Mike Wallace. A relieved Allmendinger finished tenth, just behind Mayfield, thus making the starting grid for Sunday's Daytona 500.

For Nemecheck, Said, and Wallace, it was unfortunate heartbreak to not make the show in which they have been mainstays in the past. But for Riggs, Mayfield, and Allmendinger, it was the kind of stuff of which dreams are made.

'09 should be a wild ride

Rev' Jim's RantsnRaves always tends to be late for the party at the beginning of each season, and we have yet to change that habit. However, rather than missing the pre-season picks party altogether this year, we decided that we will be fashionably late.

2009 will bring many surprises to those who expect the expected. With all the team mergers and partnerships, and with some of the driver changes, more drivers and teams are actually in a position to win races than before. And, because of the heightened level of competition, some drivers and teams who are expected to have a successful season, may not even make the Chase for the Championship.

This year, we may see as many as 23 different race winners over the entire season, so consistency will be more important than ever in making the Chase. Though the ban on testing at NASCAR sanctioned tracks will not improve the racing at the 1.5 mile venues, there will be no one team that dominates at the type of track that makes up the majority of venues on the schedule. This will hurt some teams that have been powerful on the intermediate class tracks, and will help others.

Scott Speed should take Rookie of The Year honors, hands down this year. He not only has a year and a half of ARCA experience, but made a respectable showing in the Truck Series last year with one win, four top fives and nine top tens in sixteen starts. He should be a quick study in the Sprint Cup Series, with more previous racing experience than some two or three year drivers in that series. We may even expect him to win a race or two during the regular season, and may even make the Chase for the Championship. He should also replace Kyle Busch as "The Most Hated Driver" in NASCAR.

Joey "Sliced Bread" Logano, on the other hand, will falter. He may get some top tens, and some top fives, but the Joe Gibbs Racing wonder boy has been moved up way too quickly, with little experience in NASCAR. That will lead to some anxiety, and some frustration. Logano may earn some respect from other drivers, but he will end the season knowing that he will still have a lot of work to do.

Other Surprises

Bobby Labonte, in the #96 Hall of Fame Racing entry under the Yates Racing banner, will be the comeback story of the year. Driving in substandard equipment for the past few years does not mean he is not a top-notch driver. The 2000 Winston Cup Champion will be the same kind of "Kick in the Behind" for Yates Racing that Jeff Burton was for Childress in 2006. He will get a win or two, and with Roush-Yates Ford power, he will be able to show the same consistency that awarded him his first Championship. Expect Labonte to make the Chase.

An early season surprise will be Tony Stewart. Many writers, including the one writing this post, expressed strong doubts of the wisdom of Stewart leaving Gibbs at this point in his career. We doubted that he could be successful, at least in the near future, as an owner-driver. Smoke took that as a challenge, and, as is usually the case when Stewart accepts a challenge, seems to be up to it. Assailing Daytona Speed Weeks with a brand new car and a brand new team, Smoke showed us all that his Stewart Haas Racing team is ready to run for the lead right out of the box. This should also mean a good season for his team mate, Ryan Newman. We gladly eat our earlier words of doom and gloom for NASCAR's newest owner-driver.

David Stremme is back. He was showing some remarkable improvement during the last full Sprint Cup season he ran in 2007. In spite of his reputation for crashing, he was involved in only four wrecks that year, and could not be faulted for three of those. He will be Penske Racing's Ace in the Hole this year, coming back to show that he is, indeed Championship material.

Who won't make the Chase?

Thirty-one drivers won't make the Chase for the Championship, but under this banner, here are a few who may be expected to make the cut-off, but probably won't.

If reigning three-time champion Jimmie Johnson's team follows the same path that has been successful, the #48 team will not even make the Chase. "Peaking at the right time" may be peaking too late for "Knaus and Kompany" and they will fail to make the Chase by just a few points.

As much as we love Matt Kenseth, it will be a stretch to expect him to make the Chase this year. In the era of heightened competition, he will have to be more aggressive than we are used to seeing him to make the cut to the final twelve. Though he did show some uncharacteristic aggression last year, he would have to sustain that level, something he may not have the heart to do.

Denny Hamlin's lack of self confidence will plague him this season, and he won't even be an also-ran when it comes down to race 26. It isn't that he isn't a great driver, because he is. Rather his penchant for folding under pressure will bite him this season.

Others we may expect to see in the Chase

Mark Martin, now driving the #5 car for Hendrick Motorsports, should be able to take advantage of this opportunity by winning at least one race, and perhaps even making the Chase. He has always been a skilled driver, and is one of the most dangerous to pass, in spite of his reputation for being a "clean" driver. He will win some races at intermediate tracks, most likely Charlotte (Lowe's) and Texas, and may even get a win at Richmond or Darlington. He will be one of the top contenders for the Championship this year.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr will make the Chase this year, by sheer will and determination on his own part, not on the part of his fans. He is a racer, and he will use his equipment to the maximum of its endurance. Hopefully, the Hendrick shop has figured out how to build a car that will stand up to his abuse, and he will have his best season yet.

Kyle Busch will once again be the top winner during the regular season. When he is on, he is unbeatable, and his ability to drive a car that doesn't feel or look right, will remain his signature, even as he matures. He will again be the points leader entering the Chase, but will once again fade towards the end of the season.

Carl Edwards will continue to show off his exceptional talent, as well as his driving skills. He will enter the Chase right behind Kyle Busch in the points standings.

It has to be Kevin Harvick's turn. Things are going well for him--with some very strong showings in '08, and a hard fought Bud Shootout victory--and he seems to be poised to be a multiple race winner this year. His team is known for its consistency, and, as noted earlier, consistency will be very important in 2009.

In spite of appearances, those of us who follow the drama of The House That Jack Built, know that Jamie McMurray is not the proverbial "red-headed step child." of the Roush-Fenway organization. That honor falls to Greg Biffle. If Da Biff can overcome the handicap of driving Roush's second rate equipment--something he did with authority toward the end of the '08 season--he will be in the Chase. This could very well be his final year with Roush, but there will be no problem for him in getting a ride for 2010, especially if he finishes the season in the top ten.

And your 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion

That would be no other than Jeff Gordon. He will not only make up for his unproductive season last year, but will be out to kick the proverbial donkey this year. We know he is not letting '08 get him down, and will use that as a learning experience. Remember, the greatest drivers never stop learning, and we will not see Gordon stagnate. During last Saturday's Bud Shootout, he seemed to have the COT--that has caused him problems up to now--under control. He not only expertly threaded his way through a mess of spinning and wrecking cars untouched--a feat that required pure instinct--but controlled what other drivers on the track did. He put at least three drivers into the wall, for example, and it was the other drivers' fault that they ended up there.

This is the Jeff Gordon of the old days, the one we haven't seen since 2001. If he can continue to drive like he did Saturday, for the entire season, he will be a Jeff Gordon to fear. The drive for five is definitely still alive.

In recap, our picks for the Chase drivers at the end of the season are, in no particular order:

Tony Stewart
Ryan Newman
Scott Speed
Kevin Harvick
Mark Martin
Dale Earnhardt, Jr
Bobby Labonte
Greg Biffle
Carl Edwards
Kyle Busch
David Stremme
Jeff Gordon*

*Projected Champion.

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.

The first sign of Spring

Winter is over. The sight of racing cars on the track at Daytona, the smells of fuel and tire smoke, the roar of powerful engines and excited crowd, and the announcement, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" are all sure signs that Spring has officially arrived.

What is it about cars turning left that gives us so much a thrill? It that's all you see when you watch a race, then you will probably never be a race fan. Go ahead and watch guys standing in a field and knocking each other down, for two hours, or bounce a ball on a wooden floor for an hour, or watch men stand in a ball park and scratch their private parts for three hours, if that is your thing. You'll never understand auto racing, because your idea of auto racing is as accurate as those desciptions of football, basketball, and baseball.

Race fans don't watch cars going in circles. We watch our favorite driver thread the needle to suddenly gain three or for positions. We watch our team beat another team out of the pits during green flag pit stops. We watch our driver miraculously wend his way through a mess of spinning and crashing cars without a scratch on his own car.

We like to see a team and driver gradually improve the handling of a car throughout the race, so that near the end of a race which began with the car running near the back, our driver has a chance to win. The feeling one has everytime his or her favorite driver wins a race is as exhilerating as when a football fan's favorite team wins the Super Bowl. The difference is that a race fan's Super Bowl can happen several times during a season, rather than just once at the end of a season.

Saturday night's Bud Shootout featured a good example of what we race fans like to watch. On the final lap, twelve drivers in their cars all moved up to try to take the lead and the win at the same time. And at the end, there was only one winner.

There is always something exciting to watch during a race. For instance, I was watching to see how my favorite driver's new team performed during their racing debut. They did much better than I thought they would, when I was believing it would take a long time for that team to show any promise of success. I was wrong, and I am happy for that. Tony Stewart finished third in a very hard fought battle, showing a lot of promise at the beginning of the season for a team that was formally a perpetual back marker.

Springtime is wonderful!

"Old School" Will Survive

While I was growing up, the Indianapolis 500 on TV was an annual event in our house. Names like Al Unser, Parnelli Jones, Jim Clarke, and Dan Gurney were part of my everyday language. I could read very well, and, by the time I was in the third grade, I had already graduated from Hardy Boys and Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, and was reading everything I could about the sport I loved and the heroes who drove those racing machines. Indianapolis and Formula 1 racing took most of my attention, although I also had an interest in drag racing, rally, sports car, and dirt track racing.

It was around the time I was ten that some of the sports programs on television began showing snippets and highlights of NASCAR races. And there were the NASCAR highlight newsreels at the Saturday Matinee at the local theater. The names of other racers--Lee and Richard Petty, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Buck Baker, Tiny Lunde, Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, and Fred Lorenzen found their way to my list of heroes.

I became a diehard NASCAR fan long before I ever saw a race.

I finally got to see some local short track racing at a local track when I was 17, and, after that, continued to go to the track whenever I could afford it. I loved the sights, sounds, and smells of racing, where thirty or so cars seemed packed together so tightly on the little quarter mile track. Still, the sense of speed was there, and the fact that every car on the track looked like a wreck by the end of the race was evidence that every driver fought hard for his position.

In 1979, while on temporary duty at Dover AFB, as the Air Force was deciding whether I should go back to Germany or back to Colorado on a humanitarian reassignment, I got to see my first Big League NASCAR race. I don't remember who won (in my mind, it was Bobby Allison, but he was my favorite at the time, and, rather than look it up and correct my memory, I choose to keep it as it is) though I do remember that there were only five cars on the lead lap at the finish. I also remember the thrill of seeing all the big name drivers race in person, and the extraordinary sense of speed that I felt as the cars raced around the track. I will always remember that.

The reason for the short autobiography is that as I grow older, I become more nostalgic. I really do miss the old days, but I accept that NASCAR had to change. If it hadn't, most NASCAR fans would be waiting for snippets and highlights on the network sports programs, rather than being able to watch the races in their entirety on television. There also would have been a much longer list of drivers and spectators killed at races than there is now. So I accept NASCAR as it is today, and enjoy every race with the excitement of a first timer at the track.

Watching the NASCAR Toyota All Star Showdown last night brought back plenty of memories and increased the sense of nostalgia. Here was some real beating and banging, hard core, old school racing bringing me back to my late teens. To me, this is real racing. Watching the race, I realized that "old school" racing is far from gone.

Here was the kind of racing that hundreds of thousands of race fans enjoy every Friday and Saturday night at their local tracks, all across America. Every driver is out for him- or herself, scrapping and scrabbling hard for every position. The purse doesn't really matter, nor does the trophy, the sponsor, or the team. The object is to win, plain and simple.

In these troubled economic times, when large corporations--including the "big" teams of the Sprint Cup--are being forced to cut back spending, the Saturday night circle burners persevere. With the same local sponsors they have always had, they are always ready to race. In the same two car garages they have always had, they build, tune, and repair their cars for the next race. Their budget is usually anything they can afford, beg, borrow, or steal.

Fewer race fans can travel to the big tracks these days, due to uncertain economic future and the threat to job security. But they still go to the local short tracks, and now, the attendance at these tracks will increase as race fans stay closer to home. The local short tracks will prosper during the current recession.

Old school racing isn't gone, and it seems now that it is here to stay. Those who complain that racing isn't what it used to be need only travel a few miles to see the kind of racing they claim to miss so much.

I feel certain that, no matter what the economic conditions happen to be, Old School racing will survive.

Can You Hear It?

The roar of the engines is getting louder as we gear up for another season of stock car racing. Thanks to a change in scheduling, The Toyota All Star Showdown begins the season tonight, with qualifying and the Toyota Open from Irwindale Speedway. The All Star Showdown features the best of NASCAR's weekly and touring series, including the Camping World East/West, and the new Whelen All American Series, formerly the Dodge Weekly Series. Here we will see the up and comers and the grizzled veterans of the stock car beat and bang in some of the most exciting short track racing there is. Watching the action tonight and tomorrow at 10 PM ET on Speed TV will certainly get us fired up for the 2009 racing season.

The true harbinger of the new season, for most of us, is the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona Grand Am race. This is one of the most grueling closed circuit races in the world, and there is never a lack of determination on the part of any driver or team to be in the lead. That means hard racing on the Daytona Road Course for the entire 24 hours. There will be carnage. The coverage begins Saturday, at 3 PM ET. on Fox, and continues at 4:30 PM ET on Speed TV.

David Donohue, the son of the Late and Great Mark Donohue, has taken the pole for the Rolex 24, setting a new track record while doing it. Other notables in the race include Danica Patrick, and Casey Mears, driving the Richard Childress Racing entry, and three time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, Jimmie Johnson.

With the Daytona 500 still weeks away, it is refreshing to interrupt our sado-masochistic obsession for football with some good old fashioned racing. I am looking forward to this weekend, when the roar of engines will once again fill my living room. Not only do we hear it, we feel it! Happy 2009 racing season, everyone!

Santa didn't forget

We almost let Christmas slip by without offering a wish list for some of our favorite drivers, teams, and NASCAR personalities. I'm not going to let that happen.

Silly season never really ended. Bobby Labonte was released from Petty Enterprises even after avowing his loyalty to that team. So of course, for Bobby Labonte: A full time Interstate Battery sponsorship and a full time ride for 2009.

For Tony Stewart: A four-leaf clover, or a lucky horseshoe, or both, wishing him the best of luck with his new team.

For Stewart/Haas Racing: A full time sponsorship from Interstate Batteries and Bobby Labonte for a third team.

For Scott Riggs: A ride where he will be appreciated. Perhaps the Team Formerly Known As Bill Davis Racing has an opening?

For Bill Davis: A happy retirement after going out on top.

For all Crew Chiefs: A free pass for "pushing the envelope." We won't see much of that anyway in '09, due to lack of open testing, but if it happens, give them a break.

For Mark Martin: A Championship. Why not? He certainly deserves one.

For Kyle Busch: Some love from the fans.

For Greg Biffle: Some love from his team.

For Brian France: A key so he can escape his ivory tower, for a temporary taste of reality.

For All NASCAR Fans: A Merry Christmas, and a great 2009!