Some of this, some of that, and the other

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

Andretti gets international recognition he deserves

As almost every race fan knows, Mario Andretti is the only driver to win a Formula One world championship, the Indianapolis 500, and the Daytona 500. For this feat, and for his outstanding career in motor sport, Andretti was awarded the FIA Gold Medal in Monaco,at the FIA awards gala Friday night.
Although the award is relatively new, it still carries the prestige of international recognition.

Andretti...is the fourth recipient of the award since it was launched in 2004 and he joins a prestigious list alongside Sir Stirling Moss and Michael Schumacher.

"I was full of pride when I learned I would be the recipient of the FIA Academy gold medal," said the American, who won at virtually every level of racing during a career that stretched five decades, including taking the Champ Car National Championship four times.

Thank you Mario, for being such a great racer, and giving us a racing hero as we were growing up.

Also, at the banquet, the FIA awarded the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a medal for the best promoter of 2007. Unfortunately, IMS will not be hosting a F-1 race in 2008, as negotiations between Tony George and F-1 cheir Bernie "Mr Snooty" Ecclestone broke off earlier this year. Ecclestone decided that "Formula One doesn't need America," and there will be no more United States Gran Prix. When the award for IMS was announced, Ecclestone was seen headed for the Men's room to change his Depends. Sorry, I just couldn't resist that.

2007 Revvin' Awards Part II

I just came across another category and award I just had to add. Best Save Award: There was plenty of great racing this year, with many good saves, especially as the relative newcomers started getting the hang of the car. But, my award in this category goes to a save that was not on the track, but in the booth, as Michael Waltrip comments during the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega on October 6, 2007. Listen carefully:

If the video doesn't appear, please click here.

2007 Revvin' Awards

I have nothing to add to what needs to be done to "save" NASCAR or to any of the "Greatest Moments" that have been hashed and rehashed in numerous articles and blogs. Rather, I will expound on those categories that have been overlooked:
Tragedy most narrowly averted:
There was no competition in this category. The run-away winner is from the Ford 300, the final Busch Series race for the season and forever:

Cockiest comment:
There were three to select from, in my opinion, in this category.
Tony Stewart gets the second runner up for the comment, "Here, Zippy, see if you can fix it now!" as he rolled his wrecked car into the pits. He later admitted that the wreck that took him out of the running for fourth place in the Championship points was his own fault, but when Smoke is smokin' mad, his sarcasm is stellar.
Jimmie Johnson's comment that he would vote for himself for driver of the year made runner up for the cockiest comments award. It's not that he was having an "I'm the Greatest" moment, because he admitted that the other drivers must have done something, but "To be honest, I know my world. I'm not all that up and up on what other drivers have done and wins and things like that. But we had an awesome year.”
That's pretty cocky, coming from a participant in a sport where most drivers acknowledge the accomplishments of their competition.
But my favorite cocky comment came from Kyle Busch, during the Yellow Transportation 300 Busch Series race at Kansas Speedway. He was very pleased with his car, and was running in second place to Matt Kenseth in the closing laps of the race. As the cars lined up for the final restart, The Schrub read the words on the back of Matt's car, "I race 4 free fries," which refer to the Arby's promotion where if Matt won, his sponsor Arby's would give away free fries on the following Monday.
Kyle keyed his radio and asked his crew chief, "Do I want free fries or a radio call-in show on Monday?"
Okay, so it wasn't nearly as cocky as we have heard from the Schrub on other occasions, but it won the award for its entertainment value.
Gustafsen, answered, "If you win the race, I will buy you all the fries you want."
After an exciting final nine laps, Kyle beat Matt by .085 seconds
The "I think I hurt my foot" Award goes to Brad Keselowski for this horrifying crash at the Camping World 300, at Fontana on September 1rst:

The crash not only propelled Keselowski high into the air, but showing that he had real cajones by making the next week's race after the crash, propelled his career, making him Dale Earnhadt, Jr's choice for the full-time driver for his #88 JMS Nationwide Series team.
The Rudest Fan Forums Award:
This was very close to a tie between the Topix NASCAR Forums and the That's Racin'.com Auto Racing Forums. Both abound in trolls and pot stirrers, who like to take over a thread with ignorant and irrelevent statements and character bashing of other forum members, but Topix has improved in its moderation, while the Auto Racing Forums have degenerated so far that even the respected NASCAR journalist David Poole, who participates actively in that forum, has fallen to troll baiting and bashing. By shear numbers, Auto Racing Forums wins this award, because it is a troll forum for and by trolls. You will notice that while the link to Topix is still on my sidebar, the That's Racin' forum link has been removed.
Finally, we have the Best Kept Secret Award, which is another uncontested catagory. Hands down, the Best Kept Secret is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. This is real racing, with all the beatin' and bangin' you could ever wish to see in a race. The CTS races are short enough that all the drivers know that they have to go for the win from the green flag, and long enough that there is pit strategy involved. I figure it must be a secret, because all we hear about is that the Cup Series isn't like the "old days," and the Nationwide Series isn't what the fans want it to be, which is ARCA. If the fans really wanted to see "Old School" racing in a series that includes both seasoned veterans who are exclusive to the series, and young rookie up and comers, the stands would be full of fans for the CTS races, and the forums less full of complaints.
I would be remiss if I didn't present Special Awards to the kindness and perserverance of my regular readers--who have put up with all my inconsistancies, mood swings, and bad information this year--and to the members of the Blog Catalog group, NASCAR Bloggers Full Throttle. Thank you all for your kindness and support.