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March 31, 2006

Photo of the Day - Black and White Flower

Posted by silverdsl at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

Red Sox Reliever Julian Tavarez Suspended 10 Days for Brawl

Another Boston Red Sox/Tampa Bay Devil Rays game, another brawl. Even in spring training these two teams can't seem to keep their hands off of each other. During Monday's game Red Sox reliever Julian Tavarez punched Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright in the face after a play at home plate which has resulted in a ten-game suspension which will begin on opening day this Monday. What I can't figure out is why Tavarez punched Gathright in the first place as when the play unfolded Tavarez ended up standing on Gathright's arm. So if anyone should have been angry enough to throw a few punches it seems like it should have been Gathright. Red Sox manager Terry Francona expressed surprise saying,

""I'm a little surprised. I know they didn't have video so I'm not sure what they're going on. ... It seems like a lot."

I'm not sure exactly what he's surprised about unless he figured that Tavarez would get away scot-free if there wasn't much or any video. Tavarez has already been suspended four other times including twice for his role in two different brawls and once for applying a foreign substance to a ball while pitching, i.e. doctoring a ball, i.e. cheating. And Francona is wondering why Major League Baseball came down hard on Tavarez for getting into trouble again?

Posted by silverdsl at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)

Anna Benson Files for Divorce

Just a few weeks after promising her husband in a FHM interview that he could do her in the ass fifty times if he won the Cy Young, Anna Benson has filed for divorce from Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kris Benson, citing that the marriage is "irretrievably broken." According to The Daily News Anna caught her husband cheating on her with one of her friends. So the question is since Anna swore when Kris played for the New York Mets that she would sleep with all of his teammates if he cheated on her, do the significant others of the Orioles players have something to worry about? And how long will it be before Anna is on The Howard Stern Show telling Stern all the gory details of why she filed for divorce?

Until now I didn't realize (or didn't remember) that they have two young children. I really feel sorry for those kids. I don't know how old they are but if they are school age at all they might hear it from the other kids that their parent's sex life has been splashed all over the media. And now a divorce to deal with too. Definitely not easy at any age but even harder since the media will sure to be all over this hoping that Anna will let loose with some juicy comments as she has in the past.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2006

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/30)

For the past two days Michael Waltrip has been in Richmond, Virginia testing a Busch car. But not his usual #99 Aaron's Dream Machine. Instead of the #99 Michael has been behind the wheel of a Ford, presumably the #66 fielded by Brewco Motorsports since Michael will be racing that car at Richmond International Raceway for the Circuit City 250 on May 5. Much like practice I sometimes find it hard to draw too many conclusions from testing because I never know what any individual team might be working on. So I'm not sure if the fact that Michael was 40th out of 42 cars in the morning session yesterday, 30th out of 31 cars in the night session, 15th out of 17 cars this morning and 13th out of 16 cars this afternoon really means that the car won't be as fast as many of the other cars on the track under actual race conditions. It does appear that Michael picked up some speed by this afternoon's session so hopefully that is a good sign but I'm not sure this test session bodes well for Richmond.

I have to admit in some ways while I always want Michael to do well, and preferrably win, in every single race he's in, I won't be as upset if he doesn't have a great race when he's in the #66 than when he's racing for himself in the Dream Machine. I guess it's because I feel like the results for the #99 are more important because Michael will be fielding that team next season and needs to finish high enough in the owner points to lock the team in for the first few races of 2007 whereas I'm guessing that being in the #66 for a number of races is likely just for this season.

David Reutimann also took part in these two days of testing in a Dodge. Since no car numbers were listed it's impossible to know for sure but I'm guessing that he was likely testing the #99 for Michael. If so, I wonder if he will be the driver of the #99 when Micheal is racing the #66? Since Michael Waltrip Racing often plays things close to the vest about the Busch team(s) we might not know for sure who the driver of the #99 will be until the week of the race.

Michael will be racing on Sunday in the Cup race at Martinsville. Last season in this race Jeff Green went after him and he ended up retaliating which drew Michael a rare warning from Nascar. But he hopes he fares better this season and Green stays far away from him. Michael said about racing at Martinsville,

“I ran third at Martinsville one day and I have had several times where I really felt like I had a top-five or top-10 car, but I haven’t produced any results there lately. Last year in the first race, I got wrecked early. I felt like I had a fast car that day, so I’m optimistic.”

The problem is that Michael is optimistic based on last season when he was in a DEI car set up by Tony Eury, Jr. and this season he's in a brand-new, never been raced car build by Bill Davis Racing and set up by Derrick Finley, who might be a decent crew chief but definitely isn't Tony, Jr. Let's face it the cars that Michael has been racing lately have been dreadful. I'd like to think that they will have made some improvements between last week and this week but enough to be fast and produce a top five or top ten? I don't think so. But I'm hoping for a solid top twenty at least to put this team in the right direction and help keep them in the top 35 in owner points.

A lot of people have been wondering why Michael doesn't get rid of Finley and replace him with Larry Carter who has much more impressive credentials as a crew chief. As it turns out Carter is working with the team.

“Larry Carter has started working with Derrick Finley and the guys at Bill Davis Racing. One of the best drivers over the years at Martinsville has been Rusty Wallace and Derrick has sucked up some information from Larry, which was kind of our vision that we could bring together smart people from lots of different places in order to produce the fastest cars possible.”

I'm guessing that putting Carter on top of the pit box isn't as easy as some seem to think it is. He is slated to be the crew chief for the #55 in 2007 so it seems like a natural that he would start this season since he's already working with the team. But I can't help but wonder if Michael needs to use personnel from BDR, including as his crew chief, as per the confusing agreement that makes the #55 a Waltrip-Jasper car.... no wait, a BDR.... no wait, a Waltrip-Jasper-BDR car. Or, and this is more wild speculation than anything else, whether Carter had some sort of non-compete clause in his contract when he was at Penske Racing that depending on the circumstances of how he left Penske might still be in effect. That's common some industries and sometimes keeps TV personalities off the air for a certain amount of time after they leave one job for another job in the same market. Or maybe Carter just wants a break from crew chiefing this season. In any event that he's working with the #55 now in some capacity even if it's not on the pit box is a good thing.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

George Mitchell to Lead MLB Investigation Into Alleged Steroid Use by Bonds, Others

Today Bud Selig announced that former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell will head a Major League Baseball investigation into the allegations of steroid use by Barry Bonds and other players as detailed in the book, "Game of Shadows." That MLB has decided to conduct an investigation is a good thing but what took them so long? Selig said,

"Nothing is more important to me than the integrity of the game of baseball."

and

"The unique circumstances surrounding BALCO and the evidence revealed in a recently published book have convinced me that Major League Baseball must undertake this investigation."

Um, did he just hear about BALCO when the book was published? Allegations that BALCO provided steriods to Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi have been around for years. Yes, the evidence was based mostly on leaked grand jury testimony published in the San Francisco Chronicle but guess what? That's exactly what some of the evidence in the book is! If the integrity of the game was so important to Selig it seems to me he might have launched an investigation when BALCO first became an issue or when Jose Canseco's book was published, when Congress held hearings on the steroids issue or even earlier when the FBI went to MLB with information that players might be using steroids.

What's really disappointing is that the focus of the investigation is not the overall issue of the use of performance enhancers it's BALCO, Barry Bonds and to a lesser degree Giambi and Sheffield. Most of the details regarding BALCO and which players were implicated in that mess are well-known to all. I have to wonder if MLB is reluctant to conduct a wider investigation because they are afraid of what they might find out. It's bad enough that some big names have already been connected to the use of performance enhancers but it would be even worse for MLB if they uncovered evidence that even more prominent players used performance enhancers and personally I think there are likely other well-known players who have used.

I'm wondering how long the investigation is going to take. I doubt this is something that can be wrapped up in a couple of months. So it's possible that it will get dragged out for months, maybe even until the end of the season and by that time Bonds might be on the verge of retiring. Of course MLB is in a bit of a sticky situation as it relates to any celebrations if Bonds passes Hank Aaron as all-time homerun leader but for now they are planning on celebrating the accomplishment. If the investigation hasn't concluded by then they can say that they don't have definitive proof that Bonds was a steroid user until the final report from the investigation and use that as an excuse for proceeding. But some of MLB's sponsors have no such qualms about not celebrating the accomplishment - Bank of America and Home Depot have both indicated that they will not be part of any celebration.

I'd also like to know what exactly will happen once MLB's investigation concludes and the final report is released? Will Bonds, Giambi, Sheffield and others face penalties? And if so what will they be? MLB may have a hard time penalizing players for past use of performance enhancers so they may face nothing more than being branded as steriod-users publically... oh, wait that's already happened. Could they be suspended or expelled from baseball? Would MLB be willing to send that harsh of a message? I'm kind of doubting it, particularly since Bonds will be retiring sooner rather than later.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)

Officially Licensed Nascar Meats?

Leave it to Nascar to have an officially liscenced everything, including hot dogs and lunch meats. Yes, available now in your local grocery store is officially licensed Nascar meat. I'm guessing that this is meant to appeal to those fans who like to camp out or stay in R.V.s at races since the meats are the easy to prepare kind such as hot dogs, sausage, bacon and lunch meats.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2006

Photo of the Day - Epcot

Epcot, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, January, 2004.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

Randy Johnson Has Secret Daughter

Unfortunately that Randy Johnson has a daughter that no one ever knew about and is suing her mother in a dispute over child support money is news because these days many people are more interested in gossip about celebrities personal lives than they are about the celebrities professional lives. So this story has been splashed all over the tabloids in New York because those media outlets know that it will sell papers. Since there are always two, and often more, sides to every story it's hard to know who is right or wrong as it relates to the child support issue. But what does strike me is that Johnson hasn't seen or communicated with his daughter since just after her mother gave birth to her. I'd say that perhaps the mother didn't let her daughter see her father but it appears that there have been some unsuccessful attempts by the daughter to communicate with Johnson. So that's the most unfortunate part. No matter what issues exist between the mother and Johnson ideally he should have some sort of relationship with his daughter that goes beyond money.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

Mark Martin Adds Seven More Truck Races to His Schedule

From Jayski's:

Martin adds seven more truck races to schedule: Mark Martin and Roush Racing have decided to add an additional seven races to Martin's 2006 Truck Series schedule. Martin, who boasts two victories in the first three races of the season, will now run a total of 14 races in the Scotts Miracle-Gro Ford F-150 this season. Martin was originally scheduled to run only seven events in the truck, but will now add races at both Martinsville events, Dover, Bristol, Loudon, Talladega and Phoenix, bringing his total to 14. Roush newcomer David Ragan will also increase his schedule, adding events in the #50 Ford F-150. Ragan will drive the # 6 Scotts Ford in the other 11 races of 2006, when Martin is not competing. Roush will enter Ragan in additional events to allow him more seat time and experience. Ragan made his first start of 2006 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, and will compete in the #50 again at Martinsville Speedway on April 1.(Roush Racing PR)(3-28-2006)

I'm not thrilled about this. I happen to like Mark Martin and think that he is an exceptional driver. However, based on his results in the early going I'm not sure this is a good thing. Granted this is a great thing for Martin who clearly loves truck racing, for the team and for Martin's many fans. But given that Martin has dominated or nearly dominated the first three races this season I'm not sure that him running even more races this season, and joining the truck series full time in 2007, is a good thing for the other teams or for the health of the series.

The big thing about the truck races has always been how exciting the racing is. But how exciting is it when Mark Martin is battling Todd Bodine for the win every single week? Of course things may (hopefully) change as the season continues. Martin might not have a strong truck every week and there will likely be times when he experiences mechanical problems or gets caught up in a wreck. But Roush Racing seems to be on their game more often than not so I'm not anticipating too many non-competitive trucks or too many times when parts are going to fall off. So fans can probably look forward to seeing that Scotts truck up front on a regular basis. And if the same couple of trucks keep racing each other for the win, are fans going to keep tuning in?

Let me be clear - if it appeared that there were a tremendous amount of trucks that were going to be as competitive this season as the #6 I'd say there's no problem. If there's a lot of trucks racing each other hard for the win it makes for exciting racing. But in the early going the only truck that seems to be able to keep pace with Martin is that of Todd Bodine. That doesn't mean that there aren't other teams who haven't had great runs but contend for the win? There haven't been many because Martin, and to a lesser extent Bodine, have been that good. So at least in the first three races, the rest of the field is racing for third place on back since Bodine and Martin have had positions one and two sewed up. Is that really compelling racing for the fans?

Some would say that the truck teams need to do a better job of fielding competitive teams. Well, seems like that might be a tall order for teams that aren't affiliated with Toyota. Dodge teams no longer receive manufacturer support other than those of Bobby Hamilton Racing. And half the field (literally) don't have outside primary sponsors thus limiting their financial resources to improve their teams. Of course Martin's team has no such worries.

Of course many of the arguments against Martin running in the truck series are the same that can be applied to why Cup drivers shouldn't be Buschwacking. It occurs to me - there is even less money and media attention paid to the truck series than the Busch Series. Where is the outrage about Martin stealing points and winnings away from regular truck teams? The money is certainly very much needed by the teams. At least in the Busch series there are a variety of teams contending for wins but at least so far in the Truck Series that's not been the case.

The season is still young so anything can and will happen. But I have to wonder about what happens in 2007 if Martin continues to dominate this season the way he has so far. Let's say there are two seasons in a row where Martin races circles around the other teams, and the second season he's full-time. Granted, I think it's a lot harder to make the commitment for a full season and race well in every single race but I'm doubtful that Roush is suddenly going to start giving Martin inferior equipment. And then what happens if other Cup drivers want in on the fun of the Cup series and suddenly not only is Buschwacking a problem but Truckwacking as well? Of course Nascar will likely have no complaints because more Cup drivers mean more tickets sold and more attention to the series which is a good thing but it may make it harder for teams that are already struggling. I think a lot of it goes back to addressing some of the issues facing both the Busch and Truck series .

Posted by silverdsl at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2006

Photo of the Day - Tino Martinez

Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, June, 2005. Tino Martinez during batting practice.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

Jeff Gordon Fined $10,000; Placed on Probation

Just after Sunday's race at Bristol Jeff Gordon shoved Matt Kenseth on pit road before they were separated by team members and Nascar officials as Kenseth was coming to apologize for spinning Gordon during the closing laps of the race. Of course drivers lashing out at each other physically is a big no-no in Nascar these days so today Gordon was fined $10,000 and placed on probation until the next race in Bristol in August. Predictably the anti-Gordon/anti-Hendrick crowd is screaming bloody murder about how unfair it is that Gordon didn't lose any points let alone be parked a race. But given that it was Gordon's first penalty for a behavior related issue, it is consistant with the way that Nascar has handled other similar first offenses.

One of the criticisms of Gordon has always been that he is too smooth, always concerned with appearances and saying the right thing. Gordon acknowledged that and said,

"For many, many years I've been so reserved from controversy. For years, I was so concern with, 'What is this person going to think? What is that person going to think?' I was more caught up in that than being true to myself. What you see today is a truer Jeff Gordon and who I really am.''

So the Jeff Gordon who shoved Kenseth is the "real" Gordon? I think it's a shame that Gordon has felt compelled to keep his emotions and his true self bottled up all this time but I think it is likely that there are many other drivers who do exactly the same thing. There is pressue from the teams, sponsors and fans to be a certain way, to not offend, to always say and do the right things. It means that many drivers can't express themselves, can't be individuals, can't let a lot of their personality shine through lest someone take offense. That is unfortunate.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

Robby Gordon Didn't Get Screwed

Many fans feel that the penalties assessed to Robby Gordon during Sunday's race at Bristol are grossly unfair. But let's review the sequence of events. In the first instance Robby was going to pit but at the last minute he decided not to. In doing that he apparently made a committment cone violation. Penalty one. Upon being told that he had to come in to serve a penalty, Robby, who didn't believe that he had violated anything, began expressing his displeasure using various colorful language and going so far as to rip Nascar. I've heard that the word "idiots" was used but I can't say for sure. Penalty two, as Nascar decides that they are going to hold him on pit road until he cools down.

Then later in the race Robby comes in to repair damage to his radiator that occured in an incident with Denny Hamilin and as per Robby's post-race report,

"Forced to make a lengthy and unexpected pit stop to mend the damage and cap the radiator, Gordon raced back to the high banks attempting to catch up to the field but was assessed his second commitment line penalty."

Penalty three. I include the quote from Robby's own site because some fans have indicated that the third penalty was for another committment cone violation and they feel that is Nascar just teaching Robby a lesson since he never made another committment cone violation. That would be true. Robby's third penalty was for a committment line violation as he got back on the track if I'm understand the post-race report correctly.

Two out of the three penalties are clear rules violations. While I do think that Nascar is harder on some drivers than others I don't think they make up things like committment cone violations out of thin air. If anything is unfair in that regard it's that the other week Tony Stewart appeared to make a committment cone violation and was never penalized for it because Nascar said that the cone was place in the wrong place at the entrance to pit road. That seems iffy. But I don't think they pull violations of that nature out of thin air. Could Nascar have choosen to ignore one or both the penalties? Maybe they would have been softer on Robby in regards to the third penalty. But by then he had already cursed them out over his radio, thus spoiling any goodwill he might have had.

The penalty for what he said over his radio to Nascar is more debatable. Many fans feel that the drivers and team members shouldn't ever be penalized for what they say over their radios. I don't agree. The first amendment doesn't apply to Nascar for one. In addition, Nascar has certain rules and guidelines that the teams are aware of as it relates to what they say and it should be known by one and all that calling Nascar officials names is a sure way to draw a penalty. I can't curse up a storm in my place of work and expect to get away with it. Make no mistake Robby is at work when he's in the race car and when he's at the track he has to play by Nascar's rules no matter how much he or the fans might not like it. And Robby is not the only one to be penalized for lashing out at Nascar. Steve Hmiel had his hard card pulled and was sent home from the track once for disrespecting Nascar officials after his son was assessed a penalty during a truck race. And Kurt Busch was penalized just like Robby was last season after he had some choice comments for Nascar over his radio.

Many fans and the teams themselves feel that what is said over the radios are private communications between the drivers and their teams and thus shouldn't be subject to any penalities. Well, the reality is that it's hard to say that those are private conversations when 100,000+ people with scanners at the track can listen in plus all the thousands of people at home if that driver is featured on Trackpass or In-Demand. Fact is that anyone can and usually is listening at any time and the drivers and team members can't say anything they want. Correction. They can say anything they want but they have to expect they may face the consequences of that. Everyone is solely responsible for their own words. Robby wasn't force to call Nascar "idiots" if that is what he said - he made that choice and he has to deal with the consequences just like anyone else would have to deal with the consequences if they walked into their bosses's office and called him or her an idiot.

Every single driver is going to make mistakes or lose control of their emotions but Robby needs to cut down on the behaviors that are leading to him getting penalized. He can't let his emotions get the best of him, get frustrated and not be careful about entering or exiting pit road. Even if Nascar is looking at Robby more closely than other drivers he simply has to live with it and learn to modify his behavior so that he won't be penalized. Because if he doesn't he may not end up with the kind of season that he is capable of.

ETA: I was giving this some more thought this evening and it occured to me that in baseball players and managers can get thrown out for arguing balls and strikes or other calls. So how is Robby being penalized for ripping Nascar too much different?

Posted by silverdsl at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Bristol

1. Kurt Busch - a very unpopular winner to the point where he was booed in Victory Lane but there's no doubt that Busch has Bristol figured out. This is his fifth win in nine races and his first win of the season in his new ride, as Rusty Wallace's replacement in the #2. Wallace also was a master at Bristol and it wasn't surprising that Busch had an outstanding car on Sunday. There are many who would like Busch and his younger brother to go away but I think there will be many more times we will be seeing them in Victory Lane over the next few years.

2. Kevin Harvick - best finish of the season for Harvick so far. But will it be enough to keep him at RCR? I'm thinking not.

3. Matt Kenseth - bumped out of the way for the win by Busch, involved in a big incident with Jeff Gordon. Not a quiet day by any means for Kenseth. In the midst of all the controversy no one noticed that Kenseth took over the points lead from Jimmie Johnson. Yes, it's early but I have a feeling that the #17 team isn't going to fade all that much as the season goes on.

4. Carl Edwards - a much needed top five for Edwards.

5. Bobby Labonte - the expectations were so high for LaBonte and the #43 team after all the off-season changes at Petty Enterprises and finally they've gotten a finish that matches those expectations. Just in time too as LaBonte was able to vault himself into the magic top 35 in owner points which will guarantee him a spot for the race at Martinsville.

6. Mark Martin- say, has anyone noticed that Martin is putting together a very strong start to the season? There's been a lot of talk about Kenseth, Edwards and Biffle's early issues but not a lot of talk about Martin. But it looks like even though he's only racing in Cup this season as a favor to Jack Roush he's not letting up one bit.

7. Greg Biffle- nice comeback from a cut tire and a speeding penalty.

8. Kyle Busch - it was a Busch brothers sweep at Bristol as Kyle won the Busch (the beer) race the day before.

9. Ryan Newman - Newman battled back to finish in the top ten from several problems including a tight race car and getting spun by Reed Sorenson.

10. Kasey Kahne - in five races so far this season Kahne's worst finish was 11th at Daytona. There were many who doubted whether Kahne would ever live up to his promise after he struggled so much last season but it occurs to me that these fine finishes are coming on all different kinds of tracks. Kahne will surely have some poor races too but it could be shaping up to be a career season for him.

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - I'm surprised. I really thought Junior was going to contend for the win but apparently the car wasn't all that great. Good enough to get him a top fifteen but not good enough to get him up front at the end.

12. Tony Stewart - Tony's car faded as the race went on which meant he could "only" finish 12th. There has been a lot of talk about other drivers who used the bump-and-run but very little discussion about Tony who used it at least twice. Once was when he turned Martin Truex, Jr. and he apparently also turned Brent Sherman. Both of those cars likely were getting in his way and if there's one thing that Tony has historically not had patience for it's cars that hold him up.

13. Elliott Sadler - Elliott was involved in a wreck but he and his team rallied to finish 13th. Elliott finished 4th at Daytona but otherwise the season hasn't been steller for this team. Not a disaster by any means but they're going to have to race better for sure if they want to be in the Chase for the Championship.

14. Denny Hamlin

15. Jeff Green - hard to believe but as far as I could tell Green didn't cause any incidents at Bristol. I say that because he often seems to target someone to go after at these tracks. Hopefully he stays away from Michael Waltrip next week at Martinsville.

16. Jeremy Mayfield - spun once but still finished 16th. Yes, this is his best finish of the season so far. Mayfield is just hanging on to a spot in the top 35. I am astonished that the results have been so poor for the #19 this season because they've been in the Chase the past two seasons. Or maybe I shouldn't be. Most of Mayfield's team is now with his teammate Kahne and vice versa. Kahne had a poor season last year. So maybe part of the problem is that some changes may need to be made to his team but I'd say it's a bit early in the season for that.

17. Sterling Marlin - apparently spun out because he had to avoid his former car, the #40 now driven by David Stremme, who was coming down on him which resulted in Michael Waltrip getting into the back of him. Another driver who just squeaked into the top 35. Marlin is in 35th and I have my doubts as to whether he's going to be able to stay there. Not because Marlin is a bad driver but because I'm not sure this team will be able to give him consistantly good cars at every race.

18. Kyle Petty - some feel that Kyle is in for a big season also after all the changes at Petty Enterprises but I'm not entirely convinced, as much as I'd like to see that happen.

19. Scott Wimmer - a pretty solid finish for this team. Every team wants to win but that goal is more realistic for some teams than for others. But if they could shoot for the top 20 each week maybe they'll end up surprising a few people by occassionally finishing even better.

20. Dale Jarrett - I would love to know why Nascar didn't black flag Jarrett when a piece of his back bumper was hanging off. It eventually flew into the stands where it luckily landed at a fan's feet instead of on a fan. Yes, it was only fiberglass but it still seems to me that there is a risk of injury when it goes flying into the stands. There is also a debate about whether Jarrett should have pulled over and led Kenseth and Busch go by when they were battling for the lead at the end of the race. Jarrett was fighting to stay on the lead lap so I don't think he should have just pulled over. But on the other hand I think Jarrett shouldn't have been a factor in the outcome of the race either.

21. Jeff Gordon - Gordon would have finished much better had he not been spun by Kenseth. So many people over the last year have doubted whether Gordon is still as committed to racing as he was in his younger years. But how angry he was after the race and how he shoved Kenseth indicates to me that the passion to race and the competitive fire is still very much there for Gordon as much as it ever was.

22. Reed Sorenson - a very tough day for most of the rookies. Sorenson was involved to some degree in three or four incidents. He's probably lucky to have finished 22nd.

23. Dave Blaney - considering the problems that BDR has not a bad finish but I think the entire season will be a struggle for Blaney.

24. Ken Schrader - he had a good car to start the race but a cut tire put him laps down.

25. Casey Mears - the car wasn't a great one to begin with but being caught up in two wrecks made for an even worse day for Mears, especially since one of the wrecks involved his teammate, Reed Sorenson.

26. Robby Gordon - where to begin? Robby missed the committment cone entering pit road and then didn't take well to Nascar giving him a penalty. In fact Robby was so heated on the radio that he earned himself a further penalty. Many people think it's ridiculous for the drivers to be penalized for things that they say over the radio but Robby's free speech rights don't apply in Nascar. But that wasn't the last of the penalties for Robby. After making repairs after being involved in a wreck, he once again was penalized. Drivers are always going to make mistakes and will occasionally be penalized but three in one race? Robby might be on his way to finishing in the top 15-20 in points which would be incredible for a single-car team but he can't get in his own way. This is the second race in a row that a penalty cost him a better finish. Unfortunately I don't think this will be the last time that Robby loses control of his emotions.

27. Terry Labonte - I'm not sure anyone has noticed but this team is 30th in points, which is good for a new team, and would be even higher if they didn't have 25 points taken away for an illegal carburator at Daytona. I believe Tony Raines takes over next week in this car and I'll be interested to see if they can hang on to a spot in the top 35. With support from Joe Gibbs Racing they may just do it.

28. Joe Nemechek - was involved in a wreck that damaged the nose of the car and ruined what could have been a decent race for him.

29. Clint Bowyer - another rookie involved in a wreck, though I think he was mostly an innocent victim.

30. Jimmie Johnson - definitely not the way that Chad Knaus wanted things to go in his first race back after being suspended. But the problems that the #48 experienced really didn't have much to do with Knaus. There's nothing he could do about a tire getting cut down during the first few laps of the race, nor does he have control over his driver brushing the wall which resulted in severe damage to the car.

31. Kevin Lepage

32. Michael Waltrip - I've discussed the problems for the #55 at length in a prior entry. They have a lot of work ahead of them to get to where they need to be but I'm hopeful that they will turn things around sooner rather than later.

33. J.J. Yeley - another rookie, another wreck. But for Yeley it was just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

34. Jeff Burton - involved in the same wreck as Yeley. In fact I think it was Burton that got into Yeley.

35. Jamie McMurray - the car wasn't very competitive to begin with, then McMurray was involved in a wreck. I'm a little surprised that the car wasn't better prior to getting wrecked because this is Kurt Busch's old team and he won four races at Bristol with this team.

36. David Stremme - I wonder how long Ganassi is going to be willing to stick with Stremme? He's been involved in a few incidents with other drivers and I think that he could have used another year in Busch before bringing him up to Cup.

37. Brian Vickers - involved in a wreck that damaged the radiator on the car and sent him behind the wall for lengthy repairs.

38. Martin Truex Jr. - another driver that let his temper get the best of him and it was costly.

39. Stanton Barrett

40. Travis Kvapil - poor Travis. He was running fairly well and it seemed like he was well on his way to a top 15-20 finish, something that this team desperately needs. Then he got caught in a wreck. This team is in very big trouble unless they can manage to put together a big string of very solid finishes.

41. Scott Riggs - Riggs was in the top 35 in points but the finish in Bristol knocked him out. This is another team that can't afford any more poor races but at least they are slightly higher in the points than the #32 team.

42. Brent Sherman - spun four or five times. Looked completely overmatched at this track. I'm sure the car isn't very good but I don't know if Sherman is ready for Cup racing on a full-time basis. Another team outside the top 35 in points and I'm doubtful that they will get back in.

43. Hermie Sadler

Posted by silverdsl at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2006

Photo of the Day - Peacock in Tree

Bronx Zoo, Bronx, New York, 2002. I'm sure I've mentioned a time or two but I'm really anxious to go back to the Bronx Zoo.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

Just One of Those Days...

...when try as I might I just didn't have much to say. :(

Posted by silverdsl at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2006

Photo of the Day - Jellyfish

The Living Seas, Epcot, Walt Disney World, January, 2004.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

Temper, Temper

Almost always the racing at Bristol features drivers losing their patience with each other, getting angry and losing control of their emotions. Today was no exception. There were many cautions, several of which were caused by drivers moving each other out of the way forcefully which sometimes led to further clashes. Yes, the emotions were definitely running hot at Bristol!

One of the biggest incidents started when Jeff Gordon appeared to lose patience with the lapped car of Martin Truex, Jr. and turned him. While only Jeff knows for sure what his intentions were it looked pretty deliberate. While I think that Jeff was in the wrong if he deliberately spun Martin, what happened next wasn't okay either. Instead of keeping his emotions in check, Martin decided that he was going to seek revenge. So he tried to push Jeff up into the wall and as he was messing around with Jeff, got in Tony Stewart's way. Tony isn't known for having the most patience himself and he moved Martin, not just turning him but sending him into the wall which ended his day early. Martin simply has to race a smarter race. He can't go looking for revenge. Even if Tony hadn't spun him, that situation was going to somehow end badly. Martin was already laps down but he can't afford to throw races away even more given that he is off to a mediocre start to the season.

Afterwards, Truex said,

"I guess the 24 ... he's got no respect for nobody. He thinks he owns the track, he thinks everybody should get out of his way and I ain't going to do it. I was doing what I had to do. I was trying to get my lap back and my car was pretty fast. He just dumped me."

Cry me a river! While I think Jeff was in the wrong for dumping Martin, virtually every other driver out there is going to eventually lose patience with a lapped car that they feel is getting in their way. Martin was doing what he had to do, I think Jeff felt like he was doing what he had to do. Especially considering that Martin is a rookie. He's got to have respect for the veteran drivers that he is racing against and earn respect from them. He is extremely talented behind the wheel, but so is everyone at that level. This season could be very long for Martin if he can't keep himself under control, especially when he's racing around other veterans.

After he wrecked out of the race, Kevin "Bono" Manion, Martin's crew chief ripped into him over the radio. While I think Bono was completely dead-on in everything that he said, I don't think that was the appropriate time and way to get his message across. Given the fact that anyone at the track with their scanner tuned to the #1's frequency, anyone listening via Trackpass and that it would likely be played on TV during the broadcast, which it was, I think Bono should have saved his comments to say to Martin privately when they were in the hauler. How much of what he said was really going to sink in just after Martin got spun for the second time?

That little rant may also be costly for Bono since he said "shit" and it was played live on TV. In the past when radio communications have been played over the air and there have been curses a penalty has been handed down. So I would expect to see Bono fined. Fox should use a delay but even when they are fired up the drivers and team members need to be aware that anything they say over the radio might also be broadcast on TV or radio as well.

Things didn't settle down much. As the laps were counting down Matt Kenseth was leading with his former teammate at Roush Racing, Kurt Busch hot on his trail. With four laps to go Kurt caught up to Matt and bumped him out of the way. Most fans can't stand Kurt so naturally they think that he was racing dirty. While I would much prefer to see Kurt pass Matt cleanly, I think that quite a few drivers in his shoes with that few laps left in the race would have done the same thing. In fact some have. If a driver can see victory lane in sight that close to the end of the race most of them are going to do anything they can to win, even if it means racing more aggressively than they might at another point in the race. So I didn't really have too much of a problem with what Kurt did, especially since it didn't result in Matt getting turned.

But Matt made some noise after that but it wasn't because he charged back and beat Kurt. It was because he tangled with Jeff Gordon. I don't think that TV showed us how the entire incident unfolded so it's hard to say for sure who got into who first but the end result was that Jeff got turned and instead of finishing in the top five he ended up finishing 21st. After the race Jeff was livid. When Matt approached on pit road in a seemingly apologetic way, Jeff shoved him hard before they were separated by others.

While I understand why Jeff was so angry, he absolutely can't under any circumstances be lashing out against another driver in a physical way. I understand that in the past drivers used to get into physical fights with each other when they took exception to something that happened during a race. But that was then and this is now. The sport has evolved and what was acceptable in the past is really not acceptable now. No matter how angry he is Jeff can't be shoving other drivers. That is a loss of control that will surely bring some sort of response from Nascar. Some feel that he should be parked for a race but I don't think that will happen since it seems that punches need to be thrown before a driver gets parked. But I would guess that there will surely be a fine and maybe even a deducation of points. No matter the punishement I won't really be able to argue with it - Jeff has to face the consequences of his actions. To me there really isn't any justification for shoving another driver no matter what happens on the track.

Kevin Harvick finished second, his best finish in what has been a bit of a tough season so far. But instead of focusing on his fine finish, Kevin opted to continue his feud with Kurt by saying,

"Good day for us, but I hate to see Kurt Busch win. He's a big whiner. But what do I know?"

First of all there's a solution if he hates to see Kurt win - he and his team need to do everything they can to ensure that they have the best car on the track so they end up in Victory Lane. But beyond that Kurt hasn't been doing any whining lately. In fact since last weekend he's pretty much taken the high road as it relates to Kevin. It's Kevin who seems to be unable to things go. I really like Kevin tremendously but I'm finding his comments about Kurt to be tiresome. Kurt is an easy target and Kevin may be doing it to deflect some of the attention he's getting in regards to his future at RCR but I wish he would just let it drop.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

Disasterous Day for the #55 Team

Ugh. I almost don't even know what to say about this race for Michael Waltrip and the #55 team. I have no doubt that every single person affiliated with the team from top to bottom, from Michael to Derrick Finley, the crew chief to every member of the crew to Bill Davis, are giving 100% effort to do the best job they possibly can at the shop and at the track. I also have no doubt that the desire to do better is there. But thus far the pieces simply aren't falling into place. It's very disheartening to listen to this team over the radio via Trackpass so I can only imagine how difficult it is for Michael and the rest of the team to actually be dealing with it. After today's 32nd place finish, Michael is just hanging on to 33rd place in the points standings and I think the team is lucky to be in 33rd in the points.

Today's race featured awful communication, something which has plagued this team all season, a mechanical problem on the car and Michael mishearing his spotter so badly that he ran into a wreck. Literally. Once again I find myself asking who is in charge on race day? Is it Michael? Is it the crew chief? I believe that it should be the crew chief with input from Michael so that Michael can focus primarily on racing. However, it seems that the crew chief is either unsure of himself, doesn't always know what to do to on any given pit stop or is afraid of somehow offending Michael. Finley rarely seems to make a definitive decision and I think that it puts extra pressure on Michael and is forcing him into a role that he shouldn't be in. I didn't like what I heard when the mechanical problem struck and I felt as if the poor commuication and lack of a team leader kept this team from addressing the problem as calmly and clear-headed as they might if the communication was better.

When Michael ran into the wreck, it was just painful to see. Apparently Bristol is a track where it can be hard to hear because it's so small and there is so much noise. So unfortunately Michael thought that his spotter said that the wreck was in turn four when in reality it was in turn one so he ran right into it when he should have easily been able to avoid it with the proper guidance. That caused damage to the car and made them lose even more laps than they had when they had the mechanical problem. To me that was just a further indication of how bad the communication is with this team. Sometimes things are going to be misheard or comments not said clearly but a team who is functioning smoothly as a unit, who are familiar with each other, comfortable with each other and communicate well probably have less of these kinds of problems. The spotter would know that Michael might need more guidance at a track like Bristol where it's so loud and Michael might understand his spotter better even if he was focused on racing. I really felt bad for Michael in that spot because I imagine that he might have felt embarassed for mishearing and running into the wreck like he did. I'm sure he was angry with his spotter as well for not giving him more help. Every single driver from rookie to experienced veteran is going to make mistakes from time to time but it's still not a good feeling.

The problem is that now that the guaranteed spots in the races are going to be set by this year's owners points starting next week in Martinsville, this team absolutely can't afford any more poor finishes. They are still in the top 35 for now but not by much. The battle to get into and stay in the top 35 in owner points is going to be an extremely competitive one and the #55 team absolutely must improve or they could drop out of the top 35 and run the risk of missing races. Which could be a very real possibility considering how poor the cars have been so far because it means that there has to be some concern over whether they will be able to qualify on time if they need to. I believe that this team is capable of running better than they are since even the #22 team had some good runs last season and Michael is certainly talented behind the wheel. But those good finishes must come now.

However, as precarious of a position as this team is in right now they can't panic. If they let the stress and pressure get to them I think that will only make matters worse. They need to figure out what the problems are and address them. And it is absolutely essential that the communication be a thousand times better! Michael, Finley and the spotter must get themselves on the same page. No matter how new they are to working together, no matter if they are different personalities, no matter if Finely and the spotter are afraid of offending Michael. It somehow must be done.

I hope that somehow, someway this team gets it together for next week's race in Martinsville. They are still a new team so it was to be expected that they would stuggle, especially since BDR hasn't exactly been lighting Nascar on fire as of late. But they shouldn't be having this many problems. I really want to see them have a strong race with a good finish next week to give Michael and the entire team some confidence. I fear that Michael will start to get down on himself if this continues any longer and that would make things even worse. Michael can race up front against the best of the best drivers. There is no doubt of that. But he's got to have a competitive car and a supportive team who believes in him as much as I, and the rest of his fans believe in him. If only we could will him into Victory Lane, he would already have been there this season! In any event I hope that I will be writing a much more positive and happier entry about Michael after Martinsville!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:56 PM | Comments (0)

IRL Driver Paul Dana Killed in Practice Crash

Racing is a dangerous sport. Despite all the safety devices that the drivers have and all the precautions that they take there is always the risk that something will go wrong and a driver will be hurt or killed. I think that we see so many drivers walking away unscratched from some really violent and horrible looking crashes that we assume that all drivers will walk away. Well, today a driver didn't walk away. During practice this morning for this afternoon's season opening IRL race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Ed Carpenter spun and somehow rookie Paul Dana crashed into him at almost 200 MPH. Dana was pronounced dead after being taken to a nearby hospital.

Dana drove for Rahal Letterman Racing, and was one of three teams being fielded in the race by Bobby Rahal and David Leterman. As a result of Dana's accident Rahal Letterman Racing pulled their other two cars from the race, those driven by Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice. What boggles my mind is that the race went on as planned. I understand that those in racing feel that the show must go on and that's an appropriate tribute to Dana by continuing on with the race. But I still find it unsettling. A man lost his life at the track and hours later there are cars racing over that very spot. Feels a little ghoulish to me.

In any event my deepest sympathies to Paul Dana's friends, family and fans. May he rest in peace.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)

Rat's - Hamilton, New Jersey

Last night we went out to celebrate my Mother's 60th birthday which was a couple of weeks ago. Since it was a milestone birthday we wanted to go to someplace extra-special so we decided to head down to Rat's, a Franch influenced restaurant on the grounds of the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. The original plan was to spend some time before dinner looking at all the wonderful sculptures but it was raining so instead we opted to relax in the lounge in Rat's having drinks and enjoying the fine decor.

Once we sat down to dinner we were immediately impressed by the service and as it turned out we were in store for one of the better meals that we've every had. Everything from start to finish was absolutely delicious! The menu which changes periodically was unusual and had everything from game to vegetarian selections. I opted to start with Smoked salmon and goat cheese parcels with truffled beet salad which was like heaven for me because if there's two foods that I adore it's smoked salmon and goat cheese. I never would have thought that those two would go together but in this case they most certainly did! I would have been perfectly happy having a second serving of that and making it a full meal!

What was nice was that there was no rush between when the appetizers were brought out and when the main dishes were served. I'm sure that some would take issue with that and feel that the pace was too slow but it gave us a chance to digest the appetizers, have some of the yummy bread baked in their bakery and enjoy some wine. For the main course I got seared scallops with Anson Mills polenta, endive braised in balsamic and arugula salad with raisin caper sauce. Probably the best scallops I've ever had! The raisin caper sauce was so delicious as was the polenta. I wasn't able to finish it all but it was outstanding!

There was barely room for dessert but we had to have something since everything else had been so good. So we had a plate of artisanal cheeses. We were abe to choose five different cheeses from a long list. I wasn't able to eat too much of it but I absolutely loved the Saint Andre triple cream brie - very yummy!

Afterwards it wasn't raining too much and the sculptures are lit up at night so we took a short walk around. Even at night the sculptures are impressive. We all agreed that we would have to make a return trip to Rat's sooner rather than later and hopefully on a day when it's not raining.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2006

Kevin Harvick Rips Kurt Busch

I'm a big fan of Kevin Harvick. I love the way he races, how fan-friendly he is and how he isn't afraid to speak his mind. However, at times I think Kevin can go too far and today was one of those occasions. During a press conference from Bristol Kevin said,

"I think I would have whooped Kurt Busch before now. Obviously, he forgot about getting punched in his nose last time from Jimmy Spencer."

and

"I probably shouldn't have said that. I'll still tell you what I think. I'd still like to whip his ass. Before the year's over, he'll make a fool out of Roger Penske. It's hard not to pick on a guy when his ears are pinned back."

I guess Kurt is an easy target because he's strongly disliked by most fans and some in the garage area. But why does that make it okay to talk about kicking his ass at a press conference?

Basically what Kevin is doing is throwing fuel on the fire in relation to the dispute between him and Kurt. A dispute which I think is extremely overblown? What driver doesn't get upset at another driver at one time or another during a race due to an incident on the track. I understand that Kurt really flipped his lid in a perhaps inappropriate way since he cursed Kevin out over his radio after they tangled. But maybe an emotional reaction from Kurt should be expected given his history. But I'm not so sure that Kevin wouldn't have freaked out himself if he had been running up front and gotten his day ruined by a lapped car which is exactly what he did to Kurt, though it was accidental as another car got into him and pushed him into Kurt.

I think that Kevin is entitled to dislike Kurt. Plenty of people do, including some of their fellow drivers. But ripping into someone publically doesn't seem right to me. Kevin's comments come off as being very high school-ish. "Just you wait until after school, I'm gonna beat your ass!" Then to compound matters by bringing up Kurt getting his ears pinned back? Come on! That makes Kevin sound like the school bully picking on another kid. I understand that Kevin doesn't like Kurt and that he's angry about Kurt cursing him out. But two wrongs don't make a right.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)

Bonds to Sue Writers of Book For Using Illegally Obtained Documents

I don't know whether this is a case of Barry Bonds' "people" being afraid to tell him what he needs to hear or Bonds getting really bad advice but he is suing the writers of "Game of Shadows." Not because the book's descriptions of Bonds' use of steroids and other performance enhancers is false but because the book was based on what Bonds' lawyers say is illegally obtained grand jury transcripts. Apparently Bonds has no clue that even in the unlikely chance he wins, he will lose. That's because if this case were to come anywhere near a courtroom Bonds would likely have to testify in court about his use of performance enhancers and that could put him in a lot more hot water than he's already in.

At the heart of the matter is that Bonds' lawyer claims that the authors broke the law when they received the grand jury testimony and then used it for profit. However, federal law only prohibits grand jury testimony from being leaked not the testimony from being used in a publication. Since the federal government has never charged anyone for leaking the Balco testimony it doesn't seem likely to me that Bonds' lawyers are going to be able to prove that the authors of the book got the testimony illegally.

But what's most humorous to me is that Bonds' lawyer isn't asking for the book to be pulled, he wants a judge to rule that all proceeds should go to charity. I don't know if that's an attempt to make Bonds look good by trying to show his committment to charity but I think it makes him look even worse than ever because it's another indication that he's not contesting what's in the book. If it was all false and it upset him that much he would ask the judge to have the book taken off the shelves.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2006

This Shouldn't Be Swept Under the Rug

Today Nascar announced a number of penalties to Cup teams as a result of various infractions from this weekend in Atlanta. Scott Riggs's crew chief, Rodney Childers was fined $10,000 for an improperly attached weight and Larry Hyder was fined $1,000 for an unapproved side window on Ken Schrader's car. But what really caught my eye is that Thomas Harris, who is a crew member for the #66 car driven by Jeff Green was fined $5,000 and suspended indefinitely for "unauthorized duplication of a Nascar annual credential." Let's be clear about what he did - he forged a copy of his annual credential and if that was a hard card that is no small matter. I'm quite sure that Nascar will release very few or no further details about this incident but I have to wonder - was this just an isolated incident where he was trying to help a friend get access to the garage area or did he have a side business in which he forged and sold Nascar credentials?

Some are probably wondering what the big deal is. But it is. First, Harris could potentially face criminal charges. But beyond that there is a very real issue here. More than likely Harris was just providing one or more credentials to friends, family or fans who just wanted to be a part of the action in the garage area. However, aside from the fact that access to the garage area is tightly controlled for a reason so that the teams can go about their business without being swarmed by fans, there is also a security concern here. I hope that nothing ever happens but unfortunately these days some people get overly obsessed or hold grudges against people that cause them to do unhealthy things both for themselves and for those around them. It's essential that not just anyone be able to have an annual credential that would allow them to get close to the drivers and crew members at every event but especially if it were a hard card that would allow someone access to the motorcoach lot where the drivers and there families live on race weekends. I'm sure some might think I'm overreacting but these days you can never be too careful.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

Poem of the Day - 'Tis the Set of the Sail -- or -- One Ship Sails East

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

But to every mind there openeth,
A way, and way, and away,
A high soul climbs the highway,
And the low soul gropes the low,
And in between on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.

But to every man there openeth,
A high way and a low,
And every mind decideth,
The way his soul shall go.

One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
'Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park in the #59 Truck at Martinsville

From Steve's official site:

I am proud to announce that I will be back behind the wheel of the #59
Harris Trucking machine for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck event at Martinsville Speedway on April 1st. I want to thank all of the fans for their continued support and I look forward to seeing you all trackside. Thank you.

No word on whether this is now his full-time ride or not. No word on a sponsor which this team is in need of. Really not much information given at all. Maybe there will be a press release from Harris Trucking with further information at some point. In any event, I hope Steve has as good of a truck at Martinsville as he did at Atlanta! Of course if they are using a Dodge truck that makes it unlikely that they can use a Roush/Yates engine so I'm not sure how that might change the competitiveness of the truck but time will tell on that. I feel like I should have more to say about this but I figured Steve would be behind the wheel of this truck regardless of whether this was going to be a full-time ride or not, unless something else turned up for him, because the team is in need of a driver to keep going and there's likely no one of Steve's talent level who is still available. Not to mention they gave Mike Wallace a two-race tryout in this truck. Hopefully we find out soon if Steve will be in this truck for the rest of the season and if not which team he will be with.

Regardless, it is awesome that he will be racing at Martinsville and I hope the race is a great one for him!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

On Buschwacking and in Memory of MaryAnne

The funeral for MaryAnne Walsh, aka Fallrivergal on Steve Park Central and elsewhere is today. MaryAnne was a huge fan of racing and Steve Park and loved to discuss both. One of the last times we exchanged emails just before she passed away we touched upon Buschwacking - Cup drivers making Busch starts. So it seems fitting that in tribute to MaryAnne who was so passionate about discussing everything that interested her I will do this entry.

Many fans believe that Buschwacking will be the death of the Busch series because the sheer amount of Cup drivers who also race in Busch is going to push out all the small, Busch-only teams who can't compete with the Cup drivers who are often in cars backed by their Cup teams. So far this season a full-time Cup driver has won every Busch race and Busch-only drivers seem to have a hard time finishing within the top ten. That means that Cup drivers are taking both owner and driver points away from Busch teams and drivers but perhaps more importantly they are also taking money away from Busch drivers and teams who dearly need it. Not only money in the form of winnings but also in the form of sponsorship dollars. And the less money a Busch-only team has the harder it will be for them to field a competitive team. I strongly feel that Nascar needs to look at reducing the amount of points and winnings that a full-time Cup driver is eligible to receive when they race Busch unless they are racing the full-season. Surely there must be some system where full-time Busch drivers can be rewarded for their efforts. But I think the problem goes deeper than simply Cup drivers making starts in Busch and taking money and points away from Busch-only drivers.

The costs for fielding a competitive team on any level in Nascar is soaring. Exact figures are a closely guarded secret but I believe the last numbers I heard was that In Cup it costs approximately $12-15 million, in Busch around $8-10 million and then much less in the truck series. What I think Nascar needs to do is look into ways of reducing the costs across the board for teams as well as help the teams find and keep primary sponsors. Nascar feels that it's not their problem to get into some of these issues but it's going to be their problem down the road if there aren't very many teams that can afford to field competitive cars and trucks... or field them at all.

Many fans feel that Nascar should just prohibit all Cup drivers from making any starts what-so-ever in the Busch series. Well, I ask - how exactly is Nascar going to fill the field for the races then? Don't say that leaves room for a bunch of Busch-only teams to make the show. Where are those teams? Lately they haven't even been attempting to qualify for races. In Daytona 49 cars entered for 43 positions. In California 46 cars. In Las Vegas 46 cars. In Atlanta 48 entries. In Bristol 44. For the races out West it's harder for the teams to be able to travel all that distance especially if they're not guaranteed a spot. But in Atlanta and Bristol which is much closer to the majority of team's home base the teams aren't exactly showing up in full-force to compete for a spot in the race. If you take out all the Buschwackers who probably average 15-20 of all entries each week, who is going to take those spots if the races are already having trouble drawing entries? Don't say that teams are going to pop up to fill those spots - maybe some will on a part-time basis but they will still be faced with an $8-10 million pricetag for putting together a competitive team and that isn't something that can be done overnight. Sure, a bunch of teams may be able to pull something together for less but those teams will still have to be competitive enough to make the race and race well. That takes resources which takes money.

Some will say if all the Buschwackers are gone then their primary sponsors will move over to the Busch-only teams, thus making it possible for them to run full seasons competitively. But I don't think it will be so easy. The name of the game is visibility and the sponsors want to be associated with the drivers and teams that they feel will give them the most exposure whether that is through results on the track or because their driver is an excellent spokesperson. The reality is that with a few exceptions, the majority of exposure goes to Cup drivers. Nascar can help in this regard by working with the teams and drivers to promote some of the Busch-only and truck series drivers more so that more fans are familiar with who they are and will then be more likely to be more interested in them. But until the day that there is as strong of a following for Busch-only and truck series drivers, except for the most elite teams in those series, as well as for the races themselves, the majority of sponsors with any kind of money are likely going to opt to get the most out of their money by aligning themselves with Cup drivers. It's very simple - more tickets are sold and the audience and interest overall is greater when there are Cup drivers in the Busch race. The Cup drivers go away, a big chuck of the audience goes away as well and so do the sponsors.

Just take a look at the truck series where I think the problem in regards to sponsors is actually worse and I wonder about the long-term health of that series as well. A quick glance shows that fifteen out of 35 trucks in the race at Atlanta didn't have outside primary sponsors. A few carried manufacurer decals so there may be some money coming in there but many were sponsored by companies affiliated with their teams such as Brendan Gaughan's #77 sponsored by The Orleans, which is one of the casinos his family is involved with. It's not just small teams that have sponsorship issues either. Besides Brendan there are teams like the #17 of David Reuitimann who are looking for full-time sponsors. This despite the #17 being fielded by Darrell Waltrip Motorsports and being a Toyota entry meaning that it is likely going to be a strong truck all season that will likely contend for a few wins. Yet these teams can't find sponsors. Why? It's simple. It goes back to exposure. As much as the audience for truck races has grown those races are still only shown on the Speed Channel and have a relatively small audience when compared to that of the other series. That Speed decided to start showing truck qualifying might help but that top teams are still without sponsors is a red flag that there is a problem that Nascar needs to look at. The reality is that companies and organizations can get more exposure sponsoring a Busch or Cup team and the biggest sponsors likely aren't going to look to get involved with the truck series. On the Cup level a sponsor can actually get more exposure at times by being on a car that doesn't race well or doesn't even make the race because of how many people are in the stands or on TV watching than they sometimes can by being on a Busch car or on a truck.

And what happens when more Cup drivers start truckwacking? That day is coming. Perhaps not to the degree of Buschwacking because Cup drivers probably can't use the truck races as tests for the Cup races as they do with the Busch races. But Mark Martin is already making a bunch of truck starts this season and having a grand time doing it. Every Cup driver who races in Cup talks about how much fun they have so I would expect that eventually there will be other Cup drivers who will want to get in on the fun. Michael Waltrip is likely going to race a truck race or two later in the season and my guess is that others might follow his lead. If Cup drivers making truck starts begins to happen on a regular basis who do you think the sponsors are going to want to get involved with - Tony Stewart or Rick Crawford?

So for me a lot of what Buschwacking comes down to is money. Many of the Cup drivers and teams have it but the Busch and truck teams need it. That's where much of the problem lies. It's not with Cup drivers like Michael or Kevin Harvick who are pouring their own money into fielding their own teams. It's not with Cup drivers like Harvick or Clint Bowyer who are making the committment, which takes a lot of time and effort, to run the full Busch series schedule. It's not even with the Cup drivers who are making a handful of starts either because they want to use it as a test session, they have sponsor obligations or they love racing. The problem is with the rising costs of fielding competitive teams and how Nascar is going to help teams both survive and be able to afford to race each other compeititively. Limiting how many points and money Cup drivers can receive for making part-time Busch starts will help but I believe far more needs to be done.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

Photo of the Day - Central Park

Central Park, Manhattan, New York, from Top of the Roc. November, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

"Game of Shadows" Alleges That Gary Sheffield Injected Himself with Steroids, HGH

Game of Shadows is due to hit bookshelves tomorrow and not only are there bombshell allegations about Barry Bonds but some about New York Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield. The book alleges that Sheffield injected himself with Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone in 2002. In addition, even after Sheffield and Bonds were no longer on speaking terms Sheffield tried to maintain a relationship with Bonds trainer Gary Anderson who apparently had a calendar that showed Sheffield's schedule of when he used the steroids and HGH.

Some Yankee fans are trying to brush this off as no big deal. But the fact of the matter is that any time a player is linked to the use of performance enhancers it's a big deal. In addition, Sheffield claimed many moons ago that he never used steroids. As it turns out that was a lie. First because he admitted to a grand jury that he "unknowingly" used steroids that were in The Cream and The Clear provided to him by Balco via Bonds but also if the allegations in the book are true, via injecting himself. If Sheffield was injecting himself I think it's almost impossible for him to claim that he didn't know what he was injecting himself with meaning that his claims that the only steroids he used were the ones he used unknowingly might be total fiction.

There are also fans who think that if Sheffield used performance enhancers before he became a Yankee then it doesn't matter. It still matters. Especially when one considers that Major League Baseball has no drug test that detects HGH. So Sheffield and any other player can use as much HGH as they want and no one will ever know. So that Sheffield mght have used HGH in the past opens him up to speculation that he is still using HGH in the present. Which opens up his accomplishments with the Yankees to being tainted in some fan's eyes in the same way that some don't view Giambi or anything that he's done in the same way since it was revealed that he used performance enhancers.

Sheffield will likely deny everything. That's all he's done in relation to Balco and the issue of performance enhancers is try to portray himself as an innocent victim who was duped by others. Sheffield has never struck me as stupid so I've always been skeptical of his claims. Even more so now if it turns out that he really did knowingly inject himself with performance enhancers.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

Soriano Finally Agrees to Play the Outfield

Alfonso Soriano finally came to his senses. He's agreed to play the outfield today for the Washington Nationals game against the St. Louis Cardinals. I think this is the wisest course of action for him and I'm glad that he finally realized that unless he was prepared to let things get even uglier than they already are that he really didn't have any choice. At the very least playing in these games is a way for him to showcase himself to teams that might be interested in trading for him. Though he won't be playing his preferred position it's an opportunity for him to show that he can be a productive hitter. I would expect that sooner or later the Nationals will trade him elsewhere even if Soriano ends up being able to play the outfield well.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:31 PM | Comments (0)

Aerosmith Forced to Cancel Tour; Steve Tyler to Undergo Surgery

Areosmith was in the midst of a well-recieved tour and were rumored to be teaming up with Motley Crue for a tour later this year but they have now cancelled their entire tour and there is no word as to when the band can get back to performing again. The reason is that lead singer Steven Tyler will have to undergo surgery. While the Associated Press article and preliminary information from the band is vague as to the nature of the surgery or the recovery time, some sources are reporting that Tyler has to undergo throat surgery of some kind and that it will be two to three months before he can sing again. Of course any kind of health issue is bad news but it must be particularly difficult for a man who has made his living off of his voice in such spectacular fashion to not only have to face throat surgery (assuming that is in fact the kind of surgery he is undergoing) and then the prospect of being unable to sing for months.

What's interesting is that although the official fan club website has an article about the tour being cancelled and the forum there is full of countless threads discussing Tyler's surgery and the tour being cancelled, there is not a single mention of this, which is pretty major news, on the band's official site.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:50 AM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2006

Photo of the Day - Under the Viaduct

Paulinskill Viaduct, Hainsburg, New Jersey. 2004

Posted by silverdsl at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/21)

So what did think of his 20th place finish yesterday in Atlanta? Like most of his fans he was pretty happy with it.

“I’m proud of the effort and proud of the team. I was barely able to hang onto it all day long. But thankfully I was able to hang onto it and turn our run into a 20th place finish. If we can do that more (finish in top-20), I’ll be happy. The main thing is the team never gave up, nobody quit and everyone just worked real hard to get the best finish we could.”

Michael sure didn't sound proud of the effort of his team or that he thought that they hadn't quit during the race when he was so frustrated with the car and his team's inability to make it any better. But drivers will say things during races in the heat of the moment when their emotions get the best of them that they don't necessarily mean. In reality this was an outstanding finish for Michael and the team considering how dreadful the car was for the majority of the race. It was a battle to get the car to the point where Michael could do anything with it but eventually Derrick Finley and the rest of the crew found the right changes that needed to be made. I'm sure that they put so much effort into making these cars as best as they possibly can be and that they want good finishes just as much as Michael does so it's unfortunate that a lot of the results haven't reflected that hard work.

This weekend Michael will race in both the Cup and Busch races at Bristol Motor Speedway. Of racing at Bristol Michael said,

“Bristol is a handling track and I feel like our NAPA car has handled pretty good everywhere we have gone this year. We have some aero problems that we are trying to get worked out. That’s common for a new team, with new cars and bodies. But when you get to Bristol, it really is all about setup and driver. I have always liked racing there, and I have a setup that has been good to me in the past. I feel real confident that we can be a top-20 car all weekend and if we avoid trouble, then you have a shot to win.”

It is true that Michael has commented at times this season that his cars have handled well which is extremely important. So I hope that he is right that they can be a top-twenty car this weekend at least in the Cup series. I would like to have more confidence but the recent races make me think that it's going to be a while longer before they are able to consistantly run in the top-twenty or better. I would so like to be wrong about that but the cars seem to be so off every single race so far. I would also dearly like Michael to be right about possibly having a shot to win but again, I think they aren't that close to being a team to contend for wins yet. Prove me wrong Michael and the #55 team!!

Otherwise, in the April 8 Busch race in Texas the #99 will feature a special paint scheme that commemorates the University of Texas football team's national championship. The Texas Longhorns were undefeated in 2005 and Michael said of having them on his car,

“It doesn’t get any better than driving the Longhorns National Championship Dream Machine in their home state of Texas. I know Texans are proud of their football teams, and it is an honor for me to pay tribute to one of their best.”

I don't know how this came about, though I seem to remember that Aaron's has a lot of stores in Texas so perhaps this is a local marketing promotion to appeal to potential consumers in Texas. They will certainly be going all out as they are going to be producing limited edition die-casts that can be purchased at Aaron's stores in Texas and a show car in the Longhorns paint scheme will be making appearances at any number of stores. It's a sharp looking car too which should stand out on the track.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Atlanta

This was fun when I did it last time for the Las Vegas race so I figured I'd give it a whirl for Atlanta as well. Sometimes I have things I want to say about different drivers that don't merit an entire separate entry and this seems like a good way of doing things. Since I was at work and was only able to listen to this race quietly via XM as opposed to watching on TV I know that I likely missed some things so I won't have something to say about every single driver but I'll see if I can come up with something to say about as many as possible.

1. Kasey Kahne - Whoo-hoo! I'm still happy for Kasey that he won this race and is off to such an awesome start to the season. I know some Michael Waltrip fans still dislike Kasey for when he wrecked Michael at Watkins Glen last season and I was less than thrilled with that incident myself. But overall I think Kasey is a good driver with a bright future if he can put all the pieces together. It seems like that's happening for him so far this season and I hope he can keep it up. There's no doubt that a big reason for Kasey's popularity is because of how attractive he is but if he ends up being the full package with great looks, a pleasant personality and gets good results on the track I think he will be a superstar one day.

2. Mark Martin

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Junior made a pretty big mistake in Las Vegas when he sped off of pit road because it cost him a solid finish at a track he's had trouble at. So I figured that he would try to make up for it this week by racing as hard as he could to finish as well as possible. And that's exactly what he did. Despite a flat tire which put him back in 32nd place with 115 laps to go, Junior still finished 3rd. That speaks both to his determination but also to how good his car was.

4. Jeff Gordon - It's incredible to me how high the expectations are for Gordon. Some still talk as if his season is a failure so far. Meanwhile he finished 4th yesterday and is 6th in the points! Sure he hasn't won yet this season but I think he's doing pretty well especially considering he's probably still adjusting to having a new crew chief.

5. Tony Stewart - Had issues with his car but overcame them to finish extremely well.

6. Jimmie Johnson - This was Jimmie's last race without his regular crew chief Chad Knaus. Much has been made about how the #48 team hasn't skipped a beat while Darian Grubb has served as interim crew chief and whether Knaus coming back is going to upset their momentum. Nonsense. While Knaus hasn't been allowed to be at the track with the team he has been just as involved during the week at the shop as he ever was. Their current success has a lot to do with Grubb making good choices from on top of the pit box but it's also about Knaus continuing to set-up the cars in a way that allows Jimmie to race up front every week. I doubt that will change any time in the near future.

7. Paul Menard - Last season Michael Waltrip finished 7th in the #15 car at this race which is exactly where Paul finished in the #15 car. I don't know if Paul was in the same car that Michael raced at Atlanta last season or whether that car went to the #8 team when Tony Eury, Jr. went back as crew chief but I wasn't surprised that DEI gave Paul a good car for this race. Teams that only race part-time are usually at a disadvantage but DEI should have enough resources left from when the #15 was a full-time team to ensure that this isn't the last time that Paul gets a top ten this season even though he won't be racing in many Cup races. There are a lot of fans who think that his father bought the ride for him because the family owns Menard's. But I think that's rubbish. Paul has shown he can race in the Busch series and I don't think a 7th place finish yesterday is a fluke. His father's money can't make him into a talented race car driver which is what he is.

8. Kyle Petty - Outstanding finish for Kyle. This team has struggled so much for so long that any top ten has to feel like a win for them. Expectations are high for Petty Enterprises this season, perhaps too high considering how long it's been since they've fielded competitive cars but I think Kyle will have some more good runs this season.

9. Dale Jarrett

10. Reed Sorenson - I have to give Reed a lot of credit for getting a top ten considering that early in the race he hit one of Robby Gordon's crew members on pit road. I think that would be something that would be difficult for any driver to deal with let alone a young rookie. But somehow Reed was able to overcome an incidetnt that was probably pretty scary and unsettling. It shows that he's got a strength of will that should serve him well in Cup.

11. Scott Riggs - This team has had a lot of bad luck to start the season with missing the race in Daytona being the worst of it. So an 11th place finish had to feel like a win to this team. Especially since it moved them up six positions in the standings to 33rd. If Scott can continue to race well enough to stay in the top 35 in points, which I think he can, then this team won't have to worry about missing any more races. It's a shame that Travis Kvapil and the #32 team haven't been able to turn things around in the same way.

12. Kyle Busch - A tire going down led to Kyle coming to a deadstop on the track at one point but he overcame that early incident to finish 12th.

13. Matt Kenseth - Also had tire problems.

14. Roush was so anxious to sign Jamie. It's not that 14th is a poor finish but so far I'm not seeing anything to indicate that Jamie is going to have a spectacular season.

15. J.J. Yeley

16. Greg Biffle - Sometimes lady luck is on a driver's side and sometimes it isn't. For Greg he's had terrible luck. He was dominating the race in California and his engine went. Yesterday he led 128 laps only to run out of gas and finish 16th. Obviously he's got great cars and can race up front as well as he ever could but he needs better luck to help him seal the deal and win.

17. Joe Nemechek

18. Ryan Newman - I can't help but notice that neither Penske Racing team is having a particularly good season so far. That the Dodges overall other than that of the #9 team seem to be struggling might have a lot to do with it but I figured that both Ryan and Kurt Busch would be more of a factor.

19. Martin Truex Jr - Another unspectacular run for the #1. It was mentioned on the Sadler message board that there was a pit road run-in between Elliott and Martin so perhaps that effected the car but if Martin doesn't pick it up he may not remain in 15th in the points.

20. Michael Waltrip - A 20th place finish isn't normally much to get excited about but as I mentioned yesterday this car was so awful for the vast majority of the race that it's incredible that Michael was able to finish this well.

21. Casey Mears

22. Terry Labonte - For this team finishing 22nd has to be considered a pretty good day.

23. Brian Vickers

24. Ken Schrader

25. Jeff Burton - At one point Burton's car looked strong as he was running in the top five. He won the Busch race on Saturday so many probably thought he had a strong chance to win yesterday. But a bad vibration led to him having to make an unscheduled stop in the pits and he was never able to rebound.

26. Jeff Green - Tire problems for Jeff as well.

27. Clint Bowyer - Still more tire problems.

28. Robby Gordon - Talk about a disappointment! I won't repeat what I said yesterday but this finish in no way reflects how well Robby raced for the majority of this race.

29. Elliott Sadler - According to his post-race report handling problems doomed Elliott to a 29th place finish. There was no mention of the run-in with Martin Truex, Jr. that was mentioned on his message board but I would guess if that actually happened that might have contributed to his handling problems if there was any contact made.

30. Scott Wimmer

31. Denny Hamlin - He had a strong car early on but I have no clue what happened to result in such a poor finish.

32. Dave Blaney - It wasn't just Michael Waltrip who seemed to have gotten a lousy car from Bill Davis Racing. Dave also seemed to have an extremely non-competitive car yesterday which was likely made worse by a collision on pit road with Carl Edwards. I think that Dave also seems to have such bad cars is what is most disheartening to me in relation to Michael's chances for improving how his season has gone thus far. If all of BDR's Cup cars are bad across the board I'm not sure how likely it is that Waltrip-Jasper will be provided with cars that are any better as the season progresses.

33. David Stremme - If there's one young driver who I suspect might not finish out the season in their ride it's David. The subpar results so far this season likely aren't entirely his fault as the #40 team didn't exactly light Nascar on fire last season either. But with a major sponsor I suspect the pressure on him to succeed is tremendous and I'm not sure how much patience they will have with him.

34. Sterling Marlin - I have a feeling things could get ugly for this team. Sterling had a tire lock up which is what led to such a poor finish which was exactly what this team didn't need since they are 39th in points at the moment. Unfortunately the #14 doesn't have full sponsorship for the entire season so if they are experiencing problems and having trouble getting good results in races where they do have some sponsorship dollars to spend I have a bad feeling about the races in which they won't have too much financial resources to pour into the team.

35. Kevin Lepage - Kevin has qualified for every race so far which is a pretty big accomplishment in my opinion for such a small team. On top of that he's 37th in points which sounds horrible until one considers that it's just two spots out of being locked into a guaranteed spot for future races once the 2006 owner points are used. In addition, he's higher in the points than three larger teams. I doubt he'll be able to make it into the show for every race or get into and remain in the top 35 for the entire season but I think he could make things interesting.

36. Brent Sherman

37. Kurt Busch - Kurt led this race at one point and it seemed like he was going to fare better than he had in prior races this season. Then on a restart the lapped car of Kevin Harvick got into him and pushed him up into the wall which completely ruined his day. Much is being made of how Kurt freaked out over the radio and cursed Kevin out as if it's another sign of what a terrible person Kurt is. I ask how many drivers would react differently? The expectations for Kurt in the #2 car are high and he's had a subpar season so far. He thinks he's on his way to a strong finish only to see that ruined by a lapped car and at the time he wigged out he had no way of knowing that Kevin was pushed up into him by another car. I think it's completely understandable that Kurt was angry.

38. Bill Lester - I feel bad for Bill because he probably knew going in that he wasn't going to have a good car to be kind. That's unfortunate considering that this was his first Cup start. He is going to try to race more Cup races this season and I'm pretty doubtful that the results will be any better. Not because of Bill but because the BDR cars are that bad so far this season.

39. Kevin Harvick - Let's see, yet another poorly handling car for Kevin put him a lap down then he was involved in incidents with Kurt Busch and David Stremme. That made for a horrible race for Kevin and I'm not so sure his season is going to get much better if there's truth to the rumors that he's on his way out at RCR.

40. Carl Edwards - Carl's incident with Dave Blaney on pit road spelled disaster for him. Carl really needs a strong finish asap otherwise his changes at having the season that many expected he would in 2006 are slim. Sophmore slump or bad luck? Only time will tell.

41. Jeremy Mayfield - More tire issues.

42. Hermie Sadler

43 Bobby Labonte - Bobby led 13 laps and looked to have one of the strongest cars on the track which was a wonderful sight considering how bad the Petty cars have been for a while now. Then his engine blew. Had to be extremely disappointing but it is a sign that there may be some good finishes in store for this team in the future.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

Alfonso Soriano Still Refuses to Play the Outfield; May be Put on Disqualified List

I used to really like Alfonso Soriano but by the end of his time in pinstripes it seemed as if he was getting a bit self-centered. On top of that he seemed very unwilling to improve his shaky second-base skills or listen to much advice and input on his approach at the plate from veteran teammates or from the coaching staff. So I wasn't tremendously disappointed when the New York Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers for Alex Rodriguez. The current mess that the Washington Nationals find themselves in as it relates to Soriano makes me hope that he never comes back to the Yankees. After returning to Nationals Spring Training from the World Baseball Classic Soriano was asked to play the outfield in a game last night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Soriano refused and the team informed him that if he refuses a second time he will likely be put on the Disqualified List and won't be paid any part of the $11 million he's owed by the team this season until the impass is settled. Soriano has asked for a trade to a team that won't make him play the outfield but the Nationals haven't gotten any trade proposals that they are happy with.

As I've said before while I understand it's not easy for a player to learn a new position, I don't have that much sympathy for Soriano. In the past he's said that he won't move to the outfield... except for the Yankees. It seems to me that if he is willing to move for the Yankees then he should be willing to at least try to learn the outfield for other teams. If he can do it for one team, he should be willing to do it for others. Also, now is the time to try. It's spring training and the games don't count. Soriano could learn the outfield in a no-pressure situation. If he's really terrible the Nationals could decide to abandon the experiment. But no one knows until they try and at this point Soriano isn't even willing to try.

Soriano feels that the Nationals shouldn't have traded for him unless they knew for sure that he was willing to change positions. And that does have some merit. However, the Nationals weren't allowed to speak with Soriano until the trade was pretty much final. So they were put in a position where they had to take a gamble because they felt that he could improve the team. Unfortunately for the Nationals that gamble didn't pay off because they discovered that Soriano is deadset against even considering moving to the outfield. But how could the team know that not only would Soriano refuse to change positions but also that the trade proposals that they would receive for him would be unsatisfactory? They probably figured if things didn't work out with Soriano there would be any number of teams falling all over themselves to get him. But apparently not so, at least not for now.

I think that Soriano may end up sitting out for a little while but in the end I don't see how the Nationals have any choice but to trade him. He's useless to them on the disqualified list and they could eventually find a trade proposal that will bring back some talent that will be useful to them.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

Pit Road Problems in Atlanta?

Virtually every track has a different configuration for its pits and pit road itself. Some pit roads are narrow, some are wide and there are all sorts of ways that the pits and pit road is placed as compared to the track. Then there's the pit road entry and exit for drivers to navigate. All of this can make some pits more desirable than others and makes qualifying well not only important because of where one starts the race but also because it can give some teams a benefit on pit road. Kasey Kahne specifically mentioned good pit selection since he had won the pole for the race in Atlanta as being something that helped him win the race.

Yesterday I noticed that there seemed to be quite a few incidents on pit road. I don't recall hearing too much in the past about pit road in Atlanta being one of the harder ones so it struck me as surprising that there were so many problems. Of course pit road is always a challenging place to navigate so drivers and crew members must use care but normally there are are most one or maybe two relatively minor incidents per race and maybe a near-miss where a driver isn't given proper guidance from his spotter and crew chief when exiting or entering his pit. However, yesterday it seems as if there were constant incidents. Robby Gordon's catch-can man got hit by Reed Sorenson. Carl Edwards and Dave Blaney collided, spinning Blaney around and damaging the front of Edwards' car so badly that he finished 40th. It was mentioned on Elliott Sadler's message board that he and Martin Truex, Jr. got into each other on pit road. There was a near-miss between Matt Kenseth and Michael WaltripJamie McMurray's rear tire changer, though I don't know how that happened. Perhaps it simply is an illustration of how dangerous pit road actually is. Perhaps there are this many incidents in every race but it's so common that TV never mentions most of them unless there is major carnage. But it seemed like there was a lot more problems on pit road than I can remember at this track in the past.

ETA: On SPC someone said that the pit road at Atlanta is narrow which is why there were so many problems. It's strange that I don't remember there being so many issues in the pits last season in either race at Atlanta but I'm guessing there might have been just as many if pit road is that narrow.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)

C.C. DeVille and The Surreal Life 6

Hard to believe that there's already been six seasons of The Surreal Life! I can still remember watching the first and best season with Vince Neil, Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis and others. Even the second season with Erik Estrada was pretty good. I lost interest by the third season when the show moved to VH1, though I took a casual interest in some of the antics of the B-List "celebrities" who were featured. Much to my delight though I found out that C.C. DeVille, lead guitarist of the 80's hair band Poison, would be one of the cast members on season 6. I knew I had to watch! Poison has been one of my favorite bands since I was young and I've always loved C.C.'s craziness. He may not be the best guitarist but he's got a ton of personality and showmanship. Poison would not be the band that they are without him. Unfortunately though C.C. has long battled drug and alcohol addiction which has led to him leaving the band (he has since rejoined) and going through rehab more than once. Just last year C.C. found himself in trouble with the law and it was clear that he was struggling with his demons once more. So I wondered how C.C. was going to be able to participate on this show.

Much to my surprise C.C. is the most likeable cast member so far. He's still the same crazy guy that he always was but as of the taping of the show C.C. was fresh out of another stint in rehab. Not only did he sound very together but he looked the best I've ever seen him look. Apparently C.C. has traded drug and alcohol binges for running five miles a day and it shows - he looks much younger than he is. In addition, C.C. was friendly and outgoing to all, a little off-the wall and loud as he's always been but not annoying or out-of-control as I feared he might be. C.C. could very well be The Surreal Life's next Vince Neil. Vince had also long struggled with drug and alcohol addiction as well as anger management problems. But he was clean while he was on the show and was one of the most popular and most well-liked cast members from his season.

Of course I've only seen one episode but so C.C. could get on my nerves as the season progresses but I'm guessing that in comparision to some of his other castmates that probably won't happen. Sherman Helmsley from The Jeffersons, Andrea Howell who is a Playboy playmate and Steve Harwell from Smashmouth seem okay, though pretty bland. But actress Tawny Kaiten, transgender star Alexis Arquette and The Brady Bunch's Florence Henderson didn't come off very well right from the start. The biggest problem with Tawny as I think the rest of the cast is going to find out is that she seems like she is very controlling and not very well-balanced. Alexis seems like a nice-enough person but also seems to have the need to be at the center of attention. Sure to cause some problems. And Florence Henderson who is now a hypno-therapist is judgmental and irritating.

But one thing that I liked about C.C. is that where his castmates were shocked into silence when Alexis walked in, C.C. immediately greeted her warmly. Granted C.C. knew her previously from doing shows together but I still think it said something that he didn't hesitate to reach out to her. Which pretty much broke the ice and awkwardness for everyone else. C.C. also knows Tawny from when Poison and Whitesnake toured together years ago since Tawny was married to Whitesnake's lead singer David Coverdale. I guess it's too early to know for sure but I suspect that C.C. might be one of the castmembers who acts as a peacemaker which is funny since he was the source of a lot of trouble in Poison. I guess that's what being sober can do for you.

I enjoyed watching the show but I don't think I would watch without C.C.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2006

Photo of the Day - Cape May

Cape May, New Jersey, September, 2005. I'm very much looking forward to my next visit to Cape May now that it's warmer out.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

20th Place Isn't So Bad When the Car is So Crappy

Wow. Just wow. I am unbelievably impressed with Michael Waltrip after today's race. I've long believed in his abilities as a driver and that he is underrated as a driver but today was just incredible. Not because he contended for the win or finished in the top ten. But because he took a piece of shit car that was so bad thoughout the majority of the race that Michael said it was one of the worst cars that he had ever driven and a constant threat to wreck and raced to a 20th place finish. The crew definitely made some improvements to the car on the last pit stop but finishing 20th was all driver. That was Michael racing his ass off, on a tear, determined to finish as best as he could. That was simply amazing considering for most of the race he couldn't pass anyone and only gained positions when other drivers experienced problems. I was certain he would struggle to even finish 30th. Instead Michael finished 20th! Is that a terrific finish? No. But considering how bad the car was and how it seemed at times like neither Michael nor his crew chief knew what to do about it, a 20th place finish is almost like they got a top ten.

At one point towards the end when they weren't going to make too many changes Michael commented over the radio how they should make some changes or would they be satisfied finishing 30th? Obviously the answer was a big "NO!" for both the team and for Michael. There are some who doubt Michael's abilities behind the wheel or if he is as focused as other drivers. But there is no way that a driver who isn't dedicated, determined, focused and talented could take such a crappy car to a semi-respectable finish like Michael did. I guess it must seem odd to some that I'm raving about Michael's finish today when I'm sometimes down when Steve Park doesn't finish so well in some races. Well, anyone who has been listening to Michael's radio in person or via Trackpass would understand exactly why this is so exciting even though it's only a 20th place finish. Yes, the cars have been that bad. To the point where Michael can't do any racing, can't pass and is on the verge of wrecking at any moment. But somehow, maybe through sheer strength of will, he got the most he possibly could out of that car today. He made a 30th place car into a 20th place car and I have no doubt if there was more race left he would have gained even more positions. The best thing about this 20th place finish is that he gains two positions in the points standings to 29th which gives him a little breathing room in terms of being in the top 35 in owner points.

Now that I've gushed like a fangirl over Michael (just imagine how excited I'm going to be when he gets a top fifteen or better!), let me mention a few other highlights from today's race. First of all - Robby Gordon. If there's someone else who was incredibly impressive it was Robby. For much of the race he was racing up front. While he never really contended for the lead he clearly had one of the strongest cars on the track. Even after getting caught a lap down due to the timing of a pit stop and an injury to a pit crew member, Robby perservered, got back on the lead lap and made his way back up front. But a pit stop while racing in the top five because they didn't think they had enough gas to make it to the end ruined Robby's day. Not because of the pit stop itself but because Robby sped leaving pit road and had to serve a penalty. That resulted in a 28th place finish which in no way reflects how well Robby raced today. Obviously the engine he got from DEI for this race was a stout one and Robby showed that he will likely be a factor this season. That's outstanding to see because he owns his own team and has no teammate. Very impressive.

Perhaps even more impressive is that pole-winner Kasey Kahne won today's race. That's impressive to me because in spite of a win last season Kasey's season overall in 2005 was pretty disappointing. But the changes to Kasey's crew, including crew chief Tommy Baldwin, Jr. being replaced by team director Kenny Francis has seemed to bring out the best in Kasey so far this season. Kasey has also said that he's changed his approach and it shows. Sometimes it seemed as if Kasey would get himself into trouble on the track or struggle to overcome problems. But so far Kasey has raced smart and it's paid off. I really hope this is a sign that Kasey is coming into his own and that he is going to start to live up to expectations. I suspect this might not be the last time we see Kasey in Victory Lane this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:59 PM | Comments (0)

More Kevin Harvick Rumors

It really appears that the stage is being set for Kevin Harvick's departure from Richard Childress Racing. The latest rumor is that Kevin's price tag is too high for General Motors to meet which means that it might be unlikely for RCR to be able to re-sign him. I think that some fans will probably rip Kevin and say that his recent results don't merit him asking for a huge amount of money. However, it appears the issue isn't money paid to Kevin directly but instead that Toyota is poised to support Kevin in Cup, presumably in the form of a Cup ride, plus on the Busch and Truck levels, in terms of fielding cars/trucks via Kevin Harvick, Inc. That of course would require a financial investment that I can see GM be unwilling to commit to. However, it makes perfect sense for Toyota because not only would they get a marquee driver but also some solid Busch and truck teams to add to their stable.

One thing I've been wondering about if KHI moves to Toyota in the truck series is if that means that Toyota will drop their support of one of the existing Toyota truck teams. I suppose there's no limit to how many teams they would have on their roster as long as the financial resources are there but it seems as if they are committing themselves to quite a few teams on all three levels next season which may not be so easy considering they are first entering Busch and Cup racing.

Things could still change and Kevin could end up surprising everyone by either staying with RCR or going to a non-Toyota team but I would guess that where there's smoke there's at least a little fire in the case of these rumors.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2006

Photo of the Day - Nevada Mists

Mists over the mountains near Hoover Dam, Nevada. January, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

Al Leiter Retires

Today Al Leiter pitched his last game as a major league baseball player. He successfully faced one batter in the New York Yankees win over the Cleveland Indians, getting Eduardo Perez to ground out and then left the game. Afterwards he confirmed his retirement after nineteen years in MLB. Over the course of his career Leiter had a record of 162-132, pitched a no-hitter, was an all-star twice and was a member of two World Series winning teams, the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays and the 1997 Florida Marlins. Leiter said,

"It feels good to be able to go out on your own term. I love the game very much, but when you were a certain type of player for a few years, being a front-end starter, that's the way I still think I can pitch. But the body tells you no.It feels right. Family, kids, I'm constantly being asked when I'm coming home."

I think Leiter made the right choice. Other players try to keep it going much too long and end up being remembered for their inability to produce at the plate or pitch well at the end rather than all their accomplishments previously in their careers. I've always been a big fan of Leiter not only for the way that he's pitched but because he's an intelligent man who has always done a lot for charity. I am very happy that he came back to the Yankees last season and that he ended up retiring as a Yankee. Leiter would make an excellent addition to the YES broadcast team so I hope that we will end up seeing him as part of YES broadcasts of Yankees games this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

Sad News

Yesterday I found out that one of my readers here passed away unexpectedly. MaryAnne Walsh, otherwise known as Fallrivergal on SPC was a devoted Steve Park and racing fan. But more than that she was a very intelligent and kind woman who was one of the first people that I remember interacting with on one of the Steve Park boards back when there was still multiple forums for Steve. She was a friend to all and will definitely be missed by her many online friends. I had just emailed with her recently about some things I had written in my blog about Steve and she had told me that she was looking forward to having more spirited discussions with me about Steve and racing. That will never happen but each race Steve will now have another guardian angel looking down on him from above.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)

Travis Kvapil and the #32 Team Fail to Qualify For Atlanta

I think this team is just about done in terms of their chances of having a decent season now that they've failed to qualify for a second Cup race this season. Normally I wouldn't write off a team this early in the season, especially an established team with a former truck series Champion at the wheel but I don't think even Tony Stewart could get better results than Travis Kvapil. It's not like Kvapil barely missed qualifying for the race in Atlanta - he qualified 49th out of 52 cars attempting to make the race and was outqualified by two part-time teams, Hermie Sadler's #00 and Bill Lester's #23. Not only that but Michael Waltrip who has had incredibly putrid cars himself was able to qualify 24th for this race. The #55 team is clearly putting everything they've got into making some good qualifying runs even if the car stuggles during actual race conditions and it's really a shame for Travis that his team has not been able to do the same for him.

It's not like this team isn't working hard. In the off-season they added new personnel to the shop and Travis was there working with the team to do everything they possibly could to make the cars as good as possible since they knew what they were up against without having a guaranteed spot for the first few races. Before Daytona they had the car in the wind tunnel which seemed to pay off as they were able to qualify with no problem for the Daytona 500. But it's been downhill since. I think the odds are just stacked against this team. They haven't had much success since 2003 the last time they had a win with Ricky Craven behind the wheel and each year they've seemed to get worse. This season once they dug a hole for themselves by missing the race in California it only made their challenges even greater to overcome.

The worst part about all of this is that I suspect that this could spell the end for this team in Cup and possibly for Travis's Cup career. Tide has got to be very unhappy with the results the past few years. Sometimes not getting great results is okay if the team otherwise finds a way to get exposure for the sponsor but except when they are failing to quallify for a race this team and Travis goes unmentioned not only on race broadcasts but with the media in general. Through the years Tide has certainly been associated with winning in Cup - nine wins with with Darrell Waltrip, nine wins with Ricky Rudd and two wins with Craven. So once their contract with PPI expires at the end of this season they may look to explore their options with other teams that might give them a greater chance of returning to Victory Lane or at the very least offer them more visibility. Unless they opt to leave the sport all together which would be a shame. But if Tide leaves PPI it may be hard for Cal Wells to find another primary sponsor willing to sign on with the #32 given how badly they've run of late. And I don't see how PPI could keep the car on the track without a primary sponsor if things are this bad with sponsorship.

As for Travis, for him it may be the biggest shame of all that the #32 car is so dreadful. He is a former truck series champion who won five truck races and finished no lower than 9th in the points in any of the four years that he was in the truck series. Clearly he knows how to race. But being associated with a car that is so awful may hurt the way that some view him. It's pretty obvious that the problem is the car given that neither Craven nor Bobby Hamilton, Jr. could get much better results than Travis in recent years. Both Bobby Hamiltons - Jr. and Sr. - absolutely slammed Cal Wells and PPI after Hamilton, Jr. was released.

However, there are a lot of people who don't look beyond the stats when evaluating the drivers. They simply see that Travis hasn't gotten good results in the #32 and didn't fare well in the #77 either and some teams might not be willing to give him another chance in a Cup car because they might feel that he can't handle Cup racing. This is what Travis talked about prior to Daytona and I feel bad for him that his worst fears could come true if this team can't turn things around. Travis's only saving grace is that he has raced for Toyota and won two truck races for them. So they are aware of his abilities as a driver and that could help get him into a Toyota Cup or Busch ride. If worst comes to worst Travis could go back to the truck series where there will certainly be more than one team interested in his services. But as good as the racing is in the trucks that would be a shame because I think Travis is capable of racing in Cup.

Perhaps this team will be able to make a miraculous turn around. But I'm pretty doubtful. They've just had so many struggles the past few years so I think there's a good chance they will miss more races.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)

Put a Cork in it Gary!

I am so sick of Gary Sheffield whining about having to prove himself because the New York Yankees haven't yet picked up his option for 2007. I'm sure someone is going to say that it's all the media's fault for asking Sheffield the questions and making a big deal of what he says but Sheffield isn't forced to say what he does. Last month he started complaining about his option as well as other related issues and he's still yapping. In this case he said,

"I'm still not comfortable. The thing is, I'm not allowed to be comfortable. And that's the reality of my situation. I always have to play with my back against the wall. Just one more year of that, and then I don't have to do it no more."

and

"It's always my situation. It's always, I've got to be somewhere for one or two years, they re-evaluate you from here and there and then go from there."

Um, Gary I've got news for you - it's always that way because that's the way teams operate particularly as players age. When it comes to picking up options and extending contracts they want to ensure that players are going to remain productive and also weigh their options in terms of whether keeping a player around for the following season or even longer is their best course of action. None of this is anything different than what is done with any other player yet Sheffield acts like he's being personally insulted.

I don't know what else the Yankees can do. They treat Sheffield with kid gloves and go out of their way to reassure him. Brian Cashman told Sheffield that the Yankees would likely pick up his option, even though he couldn't commit that they would definitely do that this early. Joe Torre is always complimentary of Sheffield and he enjoys a huge amount of fan support even when he mouths off. But nothing is ever good enough. Sheffield still feels as if he's not "comfortable," that he needs to prove himself or that he's being disrespected. Give me a break!

Sheffield is an outstanding player who is very productive for the Yankees. He gives 110% almost all the time even when he's battling injuries. He's been a huge offensive force for the Yankees and he likely will be in 2006 as well in spite of some poor numbers thus far in Spring Training. But I find his constant whining to be irritating.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

Great Run for Steve Park in Atlanta But the Luck Of the Irish Only Lasted So Long

Friday was St. Patrick's Day and since they don't have a primary sponsor at the moment the #59 truck that Steve Park was racing in Atlanta sported a leprechaun. For much of the race it seemed as if the luck of the Irish was on Steve's side as he was able to race the #59, powered by a terrific Roush/Yates engine, through the field and into the top ten where he stayed for quite a bit of the race. However, after the last pit stop Steve's truck lost something, perhaps caused by a bad set of tires, and Steve lost quite a few positions. But the worst was yet to come. After a late caution forced yet another green/white/checkered finish, Aric Amirola spun setting off a huge wreck which collected many of the trucks behind him including Steve. Argh! It took Nascar forever to sort out the exact finishing order since trucks were strewn all over the track but Steve ended up with a 25th place finish which in no way represents how well he was racing the majority of the race.

It was really awesome to see Steve have a truck that allowed him to race as well as he did on Friday! Finally a truck that let him race his way up front like he's capable of doing! That Steve spent so much time in the top ten is a considerable accomplishment for a team so small with limited resources, no manufacturer support, no primary sponsor at the moment and apparently not a full pit crew as members of other crews including Michael Waltrip's NAPA team helped pit the truck. So to be able to race comfortably in the top ten like Steve did has to be almost like contending for the lead for this team, especially in light of how much they struggled last season. Other than the fact that they've got an outstanding driver behind the wheel in Steve who has always raced well at Atlanta the difference for this team is surely the Roush/Yates engine. I'm not sure that they will be able to use RY engines in every race since they won't be fielding a Ford in every race but the results were certainly positive on Friday until the end.

What wasn't so good was that it's been three truck races thus far and three times that the #59 team has gone home with a wrecked truck. I feel bad for this team because it's difficult enough for even large teams to manage when their cars and trucks end up getting wrecked all the time but I would think it's ten times harder for a small team. Larger teams have many more people involved with fabrication and with the building of the trucks but the #59 team likely doesn't have as many personnel working on the trucks. Of course Steve was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and I believe that's what happened to Mike Wallace as well. Which makes things even more frustrating because there is nothing that the team or driver can do - sometimes they get swept up in a mess made by other drivers and there's no way to prevent it, though had the #59 not had a bad set of tires there in the end Steve likely would have been safely up in the top ten when the wreck happened.

We baseball fans are a very superstitious lot so I have to admit that I was nervous for Steve during this race since the #59 sported so much green which is traditionally a color which many drivers like to avoid because they think it brings bad luck. Of course there are some drivers such as Bobby LaBonte and now J.J. Yeley in the #11 Cup car as well as Mark Martin in the #6 truck who race in green without giving it much thought. But given how terrible Steve's luck often is in that if there's going to be a problem or trouble on the track somehow it ends up befalling Steve though no fault of his own, as superstitious as I am I couldn't shake the feeling that a green truck was courting trouble. I know a lot of people probably think that's ridiculous but I'm hoping that if Steve races more races for the #59 or whatever team he ends up in a full-time ride with there will be a minimum amount of green.

It really was excellent to see Steve racing up front. So many times last season the #62 wouldn't go or had some sort of issue that prevented Steve from racing well. Based on what he's telling people it's likely hat he will be in a truck for Martinsville and I have no idea what team that will be for but I'm hoping that it will be as good of a truck as what he had this weekend!

Todd Bodine ended up winning this race after a yet another battle with Mark Martin. Three races and three times it's come down to Martin and Bodine. The first two races have seen Martin prevail but on Friday it was Bodine's turn. I really hope that's not going to be the story of the season where almost every race features the same two trucks up front. Sure it's great for the fans of those drivers and proves a point to those who think that Bodine is worthless as a driver (he's not!). But while these races have features some pretty good racing for the most part it takes something away from the excitement of the race when fans know in the opening laps who is likely to win.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2006

Bobby Hamilton Has Cancer

I was just really excited about Michael Waltrip's news and the fact that someone very kind got Jason Giambi to autograph a baseball for me at spring training but hearing the news about Bobby Hamilton sure puts a damper on things. There are a lot of people who don't care for Bobby but I've always liked him. There's something about his toughness, determination and the way he speaks his mind that has always appealed to me. Well, he's going to really need that toughness because he has been diagnosed with neck cancer. Starting on Monday he will undergo treatment, including chemotherapy to fight the cancer. As a result Bobby has decided that he will step out of his #18 truck because of the possible side effects from the chemo. Taking his place for the rest of the season will be his son, Bobby, Jr., though Bobby, Sr. hopes to be able to return to racing by November. Bobby is only 48 and now he is facing the fight of his life, much more challenging than anything he might encounter on the track. I hope his cancer is treated successfully and that he can return to full health and then to racing as soon as possible.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

Bill Elliott to Race for Michael Waltrip Racing For Five Races

Speculation has run rampant for a few weeks now about who Michael Waltrip was going to put in the second Cup car that Michael Waltrip Racing would have on the track for five races this season in preparation for next season when they would be fielding two cars full-time for Toyota. Myself and many others had been thinking that it would be David Reutimann and others engaging in a lot of wishful thinking were hoping that it would be Steve Park. I said to someone this morning that MWR often plays their cards very close to the vest and can be somewhat stealth at times so maybe the driver that they selected would turn out to be a surprise. Turns out I was wrong about Reuitimann but right about it being a surprise!

Today Michael announced at a press conference this afternoon from the track in Atlanta that Bill Elliott will drive the #00 Chevy with Burger King as the sponsor for five races. Those races are Chicagoland Speedway on July 9, New Hampshire International Speedway on July 16, Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 6, California Speedway on Sept. 3 and at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 9, which gives them time to get things sorted out with the #55 before adding another car into the mix. It has been rumored for some time that Burger King would be the sponsor of this car but no one had any clue that Elliott would be at the wheel or that the car make would be a Chevy, not a Dodge. And the engines? From Hendrick Motorsports! While he's at it, can Michael take a few of those Hendrick engines and stick 'em in the #55? Please?!

Not being aligned with a specific manufacturer this season has really benefited Michael because it's allowed him to race cars from virtually all of them. In the Busch series his #99 is a Dodge but the #66 that he will be racing in some races is a Ford. The #55 in Cup is technically a Dodge but they don't have any manufacturer support from Dodge which allowed Michael to be able to field Chevys for Bill. Michael said,

"I'm Switzerland. I can drive anything I want, and we think Chevrolet has the car to beat."

Michael certainly had a lot of success in a Chevy the past few years so I can see why he would want to run the #00 as a Chevy.

What I'm kind of excited about is that they will be using Hendrick Engines. That organization really is on their game along with Roush, fielding some of the best cars in the garage. While I'm not sure if the engines they provide to outside teams are as good as the ones they use internally, it's likely that they will still be very stout. What will be interesting is seeing how the #55 will compare with the #00 in those races. If Michael still has to use Bill Davis Racing engines and they haven't found any horsepower, the #00 may give the #55 a run for their money, though it usually is difficult for a part-time team to have really good results.

Some are wondering why Michael choose Bill instead of a driver who he could possibly also use in the second car next season. Well, the first reason that comes to mind is that Elliott was available! He still has an association with Evernham Motorsports but they don't have any plans right now to put him in a car. Bill said,

"I am kind of still on loan from Ray. "But we really have no plan put together for anything yet this year, and sometimes the door opens."

Duh! Someone just pointed out over on Michael's site that as a former Cup Champion Bill is eligible for the champion's provisional so they won't need to worry about racing their way in on time. Very smart Michael, very smart! Aside from that as a veteran Bill will be able to give the team a lot of good feedback. Of course it would be even better if they would be able to run Toyotas as they will be doing in '07 but so far I've not heard anything about when or if the teams that will be aligned with Toyota next season can even do testing let alone run a Toyota in an actual race.

As I mentioned yesterday I'm pretty happy that Burger King is going to sponsor this car and likely sponsor Michael's second car in '07. Burger King is yet another major sponsor that Michael has convinced to become a part of MWR and that's outstanding! It really says something about Michael that he is able to attract so many major sponsors at a time when teams have so much trouble finding and keeping sponsors. Of course part of that is how well Michael represents his sponsors and how much visibility he gets them but I think it also speaks to how savvy Michael, and those that work with him at MWR, are when it comes to the business side of things.

I'm excited for Michael - it's got to be a good feeling to have things moving along as they continue to work towards next season. The results for the #55 haven't been great thus far but hopefully things will turn around there soon. They've already got the weekend off to a good start - hopefully even better things are in store for Michael soon!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)

Andy Pettitte Considers Retiring After This Season

Andy Pettitte hasn't had it that easy since he left the New York Yankees for the Houston Astros. While Pettitte has pitched well at times injuries have kept him from pitching like he did when he was with the Yankees when he was solid and dependable. Really that's the natural progression of things for a lot of players - as they age they are more at risk for injury and an erosion of their skills. For most players the competitive fire and love of playing baseball causes them to attempt to prolong their careers for as long as possible even when they are faced with injury issues that they have to battle through. Not Andy Pettitte.

Although the regular season hasn't even started yet Pettitte is talking about possibly retiring at the end of the 2006 season if he has any more injury problems. While I understand that it is probably difficult to have to deal with health issues and that the past two years have probably been a little disappointing since he might not have pitched as well as he would have liked at all times, it seems unusual for a player to be talking about retirement at age 33. It's been said that Pettitte's wife Laura was a big reason why he opted to sign with the Astros instead of re-signing wth the Yankees and one has to wonder if she is also playing any role in why he's talking about retirement so early. That thought certainly occured to Joe Torre. Pettitte should be commended for wanting to spend more time with his family if that's weighing on his mind at all but it seems to me that barring a serious injury he could still have a few more good years ahead of him as a pitcher.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2006

Photo of the Day - Setting Sun...

Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2004.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

Exclusive Fan Zone on Steve-Park.com

Fans spend a lot of money to support their favorite drivers. They join fan clubs, buy merchandise, go to races which sometimes involves a great expense for travel and tickets, they buy tickets to appearances and events, they support their driver's sponsors, etc... It often adds up to a lot of money. A new trend is for drivers to offer members only sections on their websites with exclusive content that fans pay extra for. Often there's a lot of cool features in the members only sections that aren't available anywhere else. Usually the cost is anywhere from about $25 to $50 and sometimes it also includes a membership in that driver's fan club.

Then there's the new fan zone on Steve Park's official site. It's going to have some great features such as twice monthly chats with Steve, a fan forum and photos that Steve will take himself with his cell phone. But the cost? $9.99 a month for fan club members, $13.99 for non-members. For me that would come out to almost $140 a year with the monthly fee and the fan club renewal. I adore Steve and would love access to those features in that section but I have to think long and hard about whether that is the best use of my money when I have a considerable amount of monthly bills plus other expenses. $10 a month for this and $10 a month for that adds up when I am trying to make my pay check go as far as possible which is hard when one works for a non-profit and has considerable commuting costs to get to their job.

I guess it really seems like a lot of money when I look at what other driver do with members only sections of their sites. Jeff Gordon is a three-time Cup champion and it's only $3.50 a month or $35 a year to join the Jeff Gordon Network where fans recieve the usual benefits of a fan club plus an online magazine, exclusive content such a videos, the opportunity to buy exclusive merchandise, a fan forum and opportunities to go to meet & greet events at races where Gordon will be present. On Michael Waltrip's site it's $25 a year to join which includes membership in the fan club, exclusive content, access to press releases prior to their public release, videos, weekly audio from Michael, a fan forum on which Michael and Buffy occasionally post, chat rooms, and eventually chats with Michael and Buffy. With the Bobby Hamilton fan club there are different membership levels and $150 gets you a lunch with Bobby himself plus 20 laps around a track with a professional driver in a truck and a tour of the Bobby Hamilton Racing Shop. Two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart's Smoke VIP costs $60 which gets you access to exclusive features on his site plus an autographed photo. I suppose on Steve's site there were will much more interaction with Steve if everything goes well but $120 a year still seems like a lot - $50 seems about right.

I assume that if they are going to charge that much per month that they are going to be committed to updating that section of the site a lot more often than the rest of Steve's site has been for the past year or more. Even when Steve was racing every week his site had tumbleweeds blowing through it and a lack of current content. When people are paying that much money for access to that section of the site they are going to expect quite a bit for their money and then some. I also assume that it's a definite that Steve will have a full-time ride soon because as much as I love Steve I don't see how they can justify charging $10 a month if he's not racing full-time - there simply wouldn't be much to talk about or update the section with.

I guess I'll see how things evolve but at the moment it leaves a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. There's a few other things that I'd like to say on this subject but the odds are that whatever I say will be twisted around and might even be used as evidence that I'm not a "true," "real" or "good" fan. Then again, maybe I'm not a "true" fan or the best SParkie possible if I choose not to pay $120 a year to access the fanzone on Steve's site. And maybe that's okay with me.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/16)

The other day I was hoping that some photos or stories might turn up from the roast on Tuesday night in honor of Darrell Waltrip where it was announced that his wife Stevie and his brother, Michael were going to let him drive the Aaron's Dream Machine during a Busch race in Martinsville in July. My wish came true as the Fox Sports site has a number of photos including a humorous shot of Michael wearing a coonskin hat during his remarks. You guess is as good as mine about what Michael is saying and why he needed to wear a coonskin cap to do it but that's Michael - always doing the unexpected and I'm sure he whatever he said got a lot of laughs!

There's also a photo in there of D.W. and Michael hugging. There's a big age difference between Michael and D.W. and Michael is the youngest of all the Waltrips. So there was a time when Michael and D.W. were not close at all. In fact way back when D.W. refused to help Michael get started in racing. But thankfully that all changed and now the two are as close as brothers should be. The look that D.W. has on his face as he's hugging Michael certainly shows how he feels about his brother now.

Otherwise, Jayski's and XM are reporting that the Michael Waltrip Racing announcement about the second Cup car that will be on the track for six races this season is going to be tomorrow in Atlanta. Jayski also has the rumor, first reported by Lee Spencer of The Sporting News a while back that Burger King will be the sponsor of that second car not only this season but next as well. I don't know how accurate that is, especially if the primary source of that bit of news is Spencer since what she reports doesn't always turn out to be factual. But I would be pretty excited if Burger King did sign on as a primary sponsor with MWR. I have to be honest and say that I don't care for the food at Burger King, though I'm sure I might be able to learn to like it so I can support one of Michael's sponsors, but Burger King is a major company. That would be outstanding if Michael lured yet another big-time sponsor over to MWR!

Of course the speculation continues as to who the driver will be. Steve Park fans hope it will be Steve and since he was sponsored for a time by Burger King back in his Busch days they are hoping that means he will be a natural to get back into a Burger King sponsored car. I still tend to think that it will be David Reuitimann in the car but we will find out for sure tomorrow.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)

Reed Sorenson's Photo Diary

I guess Nascar and photography is a bit of a theme today. Fujifilm is going to be sponsoring Reed Sorenson's #41 at Atlanta this weekend so on the Fuji website they have a photo diary featuring Sorenson which will apparently be updated each day this week with photos and brief diary-like entires about some of the things that Sorenson does through the race on Sunday. I think it's a great idea and it's interesting to see some shots of Sorenson on the plane flying to Atlanta and other photos that fans normally don't get to see.

However, what would have been even better, at least to me, is if Sorenson was taking the photos himself. I guess they didn't want to do that because the photo quality might not be as professional and part of the point of this is to show off one of Fuji's digital camera and then Sorenson wouldn't be in the photos himself. But drivers always have people taking their photos constantly during each race weekend or at appearances. I've long wondered if the tables were turned and the drivers were given cameras what they might take photos of. In a way that would be seeing things through the driver's eyes and I think that would be fascinating to see things from their perspective.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)

Another Reality Show for Tommy Lee

Going to college on a reality show worked out pretty well for Tommy Lee so it appears that now he's going to try forming a new band via a reality show as well. Last year Rock Star found a lead singer to replace Michael Hutchence in INXS, now the show will find a lead singer for a supergroup called Supernova featuring Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted, formerly of Metallica and Gilby Clarke, formerly of Guns -n- Roses. That should be an interesting show to watch. Say what you will about them as people but any group featuring Newsted and Lee isn't short on talent and Clarke is no slouch either. I just wonder what this means for Motley Crue since it sounds like Supernova will record an album and presumably tour in support of it.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)

Faces of Racing

I'm always coming across things related to sports photography and photography in general on sportsshooter.com. Today was no exception as the work of Scott Robinson was featured on the front page of the site. Robinson has a book coming out this summer, Faces of Racing which is essentially portraits of... yes, you guessed it - the faces of racing, specifically those involved with Nascar. Robinson also has a website, facesofracing.com and the photos on it are exceptional. Robinson has a mix of both candid and posed shots all of which allow the personalities of the people he's photographing to shine through. Of course it grabbed my attention that there are several of Michael Waltrip and it turns out that Robinson is a native of Owensboro, Kentucky, which is also the hometown of Michael, Jeremy Mayfield and the Green brothers. I don't know whether the photos on the site are the same ones that will be in the book but I will definitely have to get this book when it comes out.

It's the kind of project that really appeals to me. I love taking candid shots of people and things and nothing would be better to me than being able to do that in the Nascar garage area on a regular basis. For many people going to a race is all about the racing and getting as close as possible to the drivers. Those things are part of it for me as well but it's also about taking pictures. I've been lucky enough to twice be in the garage area and there was such a rich canvas of things and people to photograph. What I really like about Robinson's work is that he's not just taking photos of the drivers, he's got images that show emotion, personality and the human side of everyone in the garage area. Not only that but Robinson doesn't just focus on the superstars - at least on his website he's got photos of everyone from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to Mike Helton to various crew cheifs and crew members.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

Another Day, Another Injury

The news out of Spring Training for the New York Yankees continues not to be so great. Now Aaron Small is expected to start the season on the disabled list after straining his hamstring running. Right now the injury is being downplayed but hamsting injuries always concern me because they can be hard to heal completely and a pitcher's legs are almost as important as their arm. Small said,

"I just tweaked it a little. It will set me back a little bit, but I've never done it before, so I don't know how long it will be. They said these things need time to heal, since they have a way of lingering."

Of course losing Small isn't like losing Mike Mussina or Mariano Rivera but given how well he pitched after he joined the team last season, it was expected that Small would be a solid member of the Yankees pitching staff this season. Carl Pavano is also going to start the season on the DL and Jaret Wright is (not surprisingly) pitching extremely poorly. Of course spring training isn't always a good indication of what will happen during the regular season and Small might still be ready for Opening Day and Pavano shortly after but I have to admit that anytime I hear about issues with the Yankees pitchers it makes me nervous. Of course part of the problem for the Yankees as it has been for some time is age - the more older players a team has the more likely it is that they will have injury issues. Hopefully Small's hamstring will get better quickly and he won't have to miss too much time. It's never a good thing for a pitcher to start the season behind everyone else - sometimes they will push themselves to get ready and catch up with everyone else and that can cause problems as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2006

D.W. Will Finally Get to Drive the Dream Machine

For years Aaron's commericals have featured Darrell Waltrip begging his brother Michael to let him drive the #99 Aaron's Dream Machine in the Busch series. That ad champaign has produced many humorous commericals and has always been a big hit with fans. Now comes word that D.W. will finally get the opportunity to drive the Dream Machine. At a roast last night benefiting the Boy's and Girl's Club of Tennessee, D.W.'s wife, Stevie, surprised him by handing him one of Michael's race helmets and granting him permission to race at Martinsville in July. D.W. said,

“I can’t believe it. The Aaron’s ad campaign has been a lot of fun for me over the years, but I seriously thought I would never get to race that car. I really appreciate Michael and Aaron’s and, of course, my wonderful and supportive wife Stevie, for giving me this opportunity. Like they say, Dreams Come True at Aaron’s!”

I have to laugh about D.W.'s "shock" about getting the chance to race the Dream Machine. Back in January at one of the fan fests in Daytona Michael let the cat out of the bag by saying that D.W. would be in the #99 at some point in 2006 if Stevie would let him do it. So it seems as if this was in the works for a while and it would seem that if Michael was talking about it at a fan fest and those comments were later played on XM, that perhaps there's a chance that D.W. might have known a little something about it before last night. But either way it will be very cool to see D.W. in a Busch race. He's raced in a couple of truck races in recent years but it's been eleven years since he made a Busch start. I'm very much looking forward to watching!

D.W. had some pretty poor seasons in Cup at the end of his career, there's no denying that. But there are some who refuse to acknowledge D.W.'s accomplishments prior to that. In 29 years in racing Cup he won 84 races; he has 13 Busch wins and 3 IROC wins. But more than that D.W. is a three-time Cup series Champion. It's hard enough to win one Championship, three is a sign of a truly great race car driver. Is D.W. likely going to win the Busch race at Martinsville? Probably not. But he is deserving of some respect as a former Champion and I don't think he will embarass himself as some seem to think he will. There's no doubt that this is a bit of a publicity stunt for Aaron's and plays into their ad campaign but I doubt that the passion to race dies easily even years after a driver stops racing regularly.

The only question is what the new Aaron's TV commericals are going to be like now that D.W. can't beg Michael anymore to let him drive the Dream Machine?

And how I hope that some stories and photos from the roast circulate around the 'net!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

Photo of the Day - Bear

Bronx Zoo, New York. 2002.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/14)

Or in this case what's not in the news for Michael Waltrip and that's the announcement that was expected to come last week in Las Vegas about a driver and a sponsor for a second Michael Waltrip Racing Cup car to run six races this season. That announcement never happened and I can only speculate as to why that is but my guess is that perhaps with all the problems that with how much the #55 team seems to be struggling (and the #99 team has their own issues as well) that it was decided that it might be best to focus on improving the performance of that team before adding another team into the mix. Of course there could be other reasons as well, from issues with the sponsor to not being able to seal the deal with the driver they wanted. But I was surprised to hear that MWR was planning to put another Cup car on the track so soon given that they have so much on their plate right now in terms of establishing the #55 team. I think it's a good idea later in the season to have a second Cup car on the track for a variety of reasons, especially since it will help prepare them for when they are fielding two Cup cars on a full-time basis in 2007 but I'm not sure the timing is the greatest right now.

In the past Michael has driven some pretty bad cars. But apparently the car he had in Las Vegas was among the worst ever. He said,

“That was about as bad a car as I have ever felt. We eventually got it loose, but never got it to turn. Even when it was pushing, it would slide sideways into the corner, push in the middle and slide sideways off.”

Last night on Inside Nextel Cup Michael said that they put in a 911 to try and figure out what to do to improve so both Michael and his team are working to address their problems. Yeah, I would say that it is a bit of an emergency to fix things asap since it won't be long before the guaranteed spots for the races are determined by the 2006 points and they are in danger of being out of the top 35 in points. I never expected that would be an issue for them. I knew they might struggle but I thought they'd be a better team than they've been so far. I am still confident that they will turn things around though.

So is Michael. Last year's race in Atlanta was where Michael's season righted itself after a poor start so Michael is hopeful that history will repeat itself this year as well.

"Last year the NAPA car struggled through the first three races and then went to Atlanta and finished seventh. We have once again come out of the box slow, but we feel like everything we learned last year will transfer to this year and we’ll have a good run."

Unfortunately the one key ingredient that the NAPA team is missing this year is Tony Eury, Jr. who gave Michael some of the best cars he's ever driven in 2005. Of course I'm not sure that even Tony, Jr. could do much if the BDR engines are down on horsepower or the cars themselves that they are providing aren't all that good. But it's times like this that I miss Tony, Jr. who worked so incredibly well with Michael. But regardless of who is on top of the pit box calling the shots, I think that Michael and the #55 team are going to work extremely hard this week to ensure that they go to Atlanta with the best truck that they possibly can.

Of course Michael wants to get the best results possible for every Busch and Cup race no matter what but even more so in Atlanta since three of his sponsors, NAPA Auto Parts, Aaron's and Coca-Cola, are based there. Michael is an extremely busy man every race weekend with appearances, hospitality events and giving interviews to the media on top of all his usual responsibilities with his race teams. But this weekend is likely to be even more jam-packed for him with events in association with his sponsors since that is their home track. In addition, it's important for him to be able to race well with both cars since I'm sure there will be many representatives of both NAPA and Aaron's on hand and those are both of his primary sponsors. So the pressure is definitely on for Michael and his teams this weekend but I have no doubt that he is up to the challenge and will do what he does best - keep his sponsors happy and give 100% towards racing his ass off to get the best finish possible.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)

No Positive Drug Tests So Far in World Baseball Classic

One of the most interesting subplots to the World Baseball Classic to me is that the testing policy for performance enhancers that the players are subject to is much tougher than that of Major League Baseball. So the question in my mind was whether any players would get caught for illegal substances. But thus far there have been no positive tests which is a good thing. The International Baseball Federation tested 90 player prior to the start of the WBC and has conducted two daily tests, which are presumably random, per team each day. Of course the lack of a positive test doesn't mean that a player is clean for sure - there are designer steroids that the tests might not pick up on or a player might suspend their use of some performance enhancers prior to the start of the WBC and resume afterwards. And it doesn't sound like every single player has been or will be tested. But I do think that it's a encouraging sign that indicates that it's more likely that these players are clean than not.

Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon are two players who are often accused of using performance enhancers but it seems to me that neither player would be participating if they had anything to worry about. While players who test positive at the WBC wouldn't be subject to any punishments by MLB, the backlash by fans and the media would be immense and very damaging. Clemens would especially have a lot to lose since he is a virtual lock for the baseball Hall of Fame. So perhaps this will quell some of the speculation about both men... nah, there are some fans who are so convinced that certain players use performance enhancers in spite of a lack of evidence that they do that even a public negative test that tests for a wide variety of performance enhancers still wouldn't be good enough.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)

Bill Lester to Make Cup Debut in Atlanta

Nascar has exactly one African-American driver in its three highest series and that's Bill Lester who is the full-time driver of the #22 truck for Bill Davis Racing. Every driver's dream is to ultimately be able to race in the Cup series and that's exactly what Lester is going to get the opportunity to do when he attempts to qualify for the Golden Corral 500 in Atlanta. In doing so he will be the first African-American driver to attempt to qualify for a race since Willy T. Ribbs in 1986. Lester's accomplishments as an African-American in the sport dwarf what he's done on the track. Lester is the first African-American to race in the Busch series, something he did in 1999; the first to start a Truck series race, which he did in 2000;, the first to win a pole for a modern-era NASCAR race, which he achived in 2003; and the first to win $1 million in the sport.

But Lester is no slouch behind the wheel for those who are thinking that he is simply getting a chance because of Nascar's Drive for Diversity program. He is an accomplished racer prior to coming to Nascar and made improvements in the truck series last season where he was able to get two poles, two top fives and two top tens. An elite driver? Maybe not but Lester works as hard as any other driver on the track and with a degree in engineering he is an asset to his team and not just as a driver. Unfortunately though, given how iffy the BDR cars have been so far this season I'm not sure how likely it is that Lester will be able to qualify the #23 for this race. That wouldn't be due to any failure on his part - MIke Skinner was unable to qualify the #23 for Daytona - but hopefully BDR will be able to give Lester a strong enough car to make the show.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)

Johnny Damon Sidelined from WBC With Sore Shoulder

Yesterday I was complaining that there hadn't been much news of note regarding the New York Yankees this spring training. I guess I really should be careful what I wish for because this morning brings the news that Johnny Damon has a sore shoulder that prevented him from playing in the past two games for the United States in the World Baseball Classic. Damon tired to downplay the problem by saying,

[It's]... just a problem for the short-term. Long-term, I’m good, but we’re playing it safe. Obviously, I would love to be in there and do what I can, but we’ve got to wait, which kind of stinks. It's just spring training tired. As much as I want to push, I know Cash and George (Steinbrenner) don't."

That doesn't sound like a major injury but there is a lot on the line for Damon heading into this season as he will be looking to prove he is worth the Yankees big investment in him this off-season. So if there's any way that he can play through an injury I'm sure he will. But Yankee fans shouldn't panic yet. It's possible that this is indeed only some minor soreness that will clear up after Damon rests for a few days. But it is definitely better to be safe rather than sorry so it would probably be a wise idea for Damon to return to Tampa instead of remaining with the U.S. team if they advance further in the WBC. Of course there are going to be plenty of fans, not to mention George Steinbrenner, who will blame Damon's sore shoulder on his participation in the WBC but I suspect he might have developed a sore shoulder regardless. Players get injuries all the time but they especially experience soreness and various aches and pains.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2006

Photo of the Day - Valley of Fire

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, January, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Las Vegas

I've got a little time on my hands so I figured I might comment on some things from yesterday's race by going through the field, driver by driver in the order that they finished. Let's hope I can come up with something to say about everyone!

*Jimmie Johnson - race winner! Obviously Jimmie had an awesome day at Las Vegas, pulling out the win on the last lap which was probably the most (only) exciting moment of the entire race. What's impressive is that apparently Jimmie is off to the best start in Nascar history with his two wins and one second place finish. This in spite of a controvery over cheating and Chad Knaus being suspended by Nascar. It shows just how strong this team is that they are continuing to race as well as they have been despite not having their regular crew chief at the track with them. But I think it's a little early to start engraving Jimmie's name on a Championship trophy - a lot can change by the end of the season no matter how good this team looks now.

*Matt Kenseth - Matt looked like he was on his way to a sure win until the late caution that set up the green/white/checkers. Since the engine on the #17 was starting to go south a little he wasn't able to hold off Jimmie on the restart. But Matt can't be too upset. He's still second in the points and it looks like his team is much stronger than it was last season. I've never really been a Kenseth fan. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why - maybe it's because he doesn't really share much of himself in interviews or anywhere else so it's hard to relate to him. I also get the sense that despite his reputation as a clean racer he's sneakier and dirtier as a racer than he's thought to be.

*Kyle Busch - the man everyone loves to hate. Kyle definitely needs to think a little more carefully about what he does on the track no question. But I think that in the lastest incident with Tony Stewart he might be getting a raw deal. Racers need to race each other and though TV might not have shown everything that went on, it didn't seem as if Kyle did anything out of line any more than any other driver does when they are racing a competitor hard to get Tony so upset. Yet Tony kept going off on Kyle over his radio to the point where his team had to repeatedly try to calm him down so that he would stay focused. It seems to me that Tony and everyone else needs to remember that Kyle is just 20 - he is still learning how to race in Cup. He is an easy target and is likely going to get pushed around some more because there aren't many who are going to have too much sympathy towards him so other drivers can get away with racing him in a way that they might not be able to with others.

*Kasey Kahne - It's nice to see Kasey off to such a great start this season. He's third in the points and has two top fives in three races. Again, it's too early to draw too many conclusions about the way his season is going to go but I think that's a very positive sign that indicates that he might finally be starting to live up to some of the lofty expectations that some have for him. If he ever manages to put it all together on the track I think he could turn into a superstar. But the jury is still out as to whether Kasey has it in him to be that kind of driver.

*Jeff Gordon - Jeff finished this race in fifth and is ninth in the points yet some are still talking about his team struggling? Yes, I understand that the expectations for an elite team are greater than that of other teams but this is a team with a new crew chief. There are plenty of other teams who would be thrilled right now to be in the position of the #24 team. Last season they started off very strong and took a huge nose dive - I'd rather see them start off "slow" and pick it up as the season goes along then have things play out like they did last season, though an 11th place finish in the points isn't so terrible considering the way the season went. I expect to see Jeff in Victory Lane at least once this season - he is too good of a driver to have two "off" seasons in a row.

*Mark Martin - Another Roush car with a strong showing in Las Vegas but that was expected. It will be very interesting to see how things go for Mark in what is expected to be his final season in Cup. Of course that's what we thought last season too.

*Jeff Burton - Before the start of the season I never imagined that Jeff would be racing better than his teammate Kevin Harvick but thus far that seems to be exactly what's happening. I'm a fan of Jeff's so I can't say I'm too disappointed about that but I'm also a big fan of Kevin so I'm not too happy that he hasn't fared quite as well as his teammate. Some felt that Jeff going to RCR was a mistake but if he is able to continue to race this well throughout the rest of the season joining RCR will pay big dividends for Jeff.

*Greg Biffle - the good news for Greg is that he got the great finish that he sorely needed to raise him 13 positions in the points standings. The bad news is that was only to 25th. This team still has work to do to get themselves out of the hole they found themselves in after two races due to bad luck but I'm pretty sure before too long they will at least be knocking on the door of the top ten in points. Some believe that Greg's 2005 season was just a fluke but he's had success on every level he's raced in.

*Casey Mears - still going strong this season, still in the top five in points. Some are extremely surprised that Casey has raced so well thus far and have their doubts about how long he can keep it up. I'm not sure that he's going to be able to stay this high in the points but I do think that he's getting better cars then he's ever had previously from Ganassi since he's now their veteran driver. In addition, he's got a couple of years of Cup racing under his belt. I think Casey will win his first Cup race this season and that will be a sweet sight! I'm just not sure that he will have enough to keep up with the elite teams and make it into the Chase for the Championship.

*Denny Hamlin - In the early going it looks like the rookie of the year battle might be between him and Clint Bowyer. I think that long-term he has a very bright future in Cup ahead of him. I have to admit I'm surprised by how good Denny has been since last season. He really seized the chance that was given to him big time.

*Kevin Harvick - I guess I shouldn't be disappointed with an 11th place finish but so far I've been less than impressed with the results from the #29 team. Kevin is 16th in points which isn't terrible and things can very quickly change this early in the season. But so far I don't feel like the #29 is the strongest team at RCR, in fact so far they are the worst of the three Cup teams. Not terrible, mind you but not great either. Things can change very quickly this early on but I wonder how Kevin feels about being outraced by his rookie teammate so far? I can't help but wonder if Kevin and RCR know that they will be parting ways after this season and the cars he is getting is a reflection of that? Only time will tell.

*Robby Gordon - outstanding finish for Robby! Using DEI engines really seems to be paying off for Robby but I think that it's more than that. Last season was a terrible struggle for Robby but right from the start I was impressed with Robby's approach towards his team so I think that he has always had a lot of the pieces for success in place but missing the early races due to the engine problems put them into a hole they couldn't get out of. This likely won't be a Chase team but I expect Robby to be in the top 20 in points by the end of the season.

*Joe Nemechek - good finish for Joe considering he spun during the race. It seems as if Joe often finds trouble on the track but he's not a bad driver by any means.

*Elliott Sadler - 8th in the points indicates that things are going right for the #38 team but I'm not convinced this team is going to be able to stay in the hunt for the Chase. Elliott is clearly a talented driver but this team seems to have problems with consistency and I'm not sure how well it's going to work out long-term with Tommy Baldwin as Elliott's crew chief. I don't think Elliott was a factor at all yesterday, though 14th isn't a terrible finish.

*Clint Bowyer - currently 7th in the points, which is an outstanding start for a rookie. I don't think that many people would have predicted that Bowyer would race this well in his first few races as a regular Cup driver. I certainly didn't think he'd be the highest RCR driver in the points, let alone racing as well as any veteran on the track. I have my doubts if he can stay in the top ten in points but it would be pretty cool to have a rookie in the Chase.

*Kurt Busch - never a factor in this race. I'm surprised because I thought that Kurt would be making more noise in the #2. He's had some good runs but things haven't worked out so well for him so far and he's just 22nd in the points. I figured that he would get off to a strong start because he would be anxious to make a splash and prove himself worthy as Rusty's replacement. That may still happen but thus far things have not gone as well as this team probably expected.

*J.J. Yeley - he's also been very impressive this season and likely has a bright future ahead of him in Cup. But I suspect he still has some rough edges when it comes to Cup racing and I'm not sure he will do as well as Hamlin this season.

*Jeff Green - I don't like Green and I have nothing good to say about him though he seemingly stayed out of trouble in this race.

*Dale Jarrett - 13th in the points isn't bad by any means but just like with his teammate Elliott Sadler, I'm not sure how well Dale is going to do this season. Slugger Labbe is his new crew chief and while I think they may work out better than Elliott and Tommy Baldwin, Jr. it seems as if Slugger gets restless very easily.

*Martin Truex Jr. - Some are talking about Martin's season thus far as a disappointment but he is 15th in the points which is good for a rookie. I think that the expectations for Martin need to be kept reasonable. Yes, he has won the Busch series Championship the past two years and he is a very talented driver but DEI has issues that may prevent Martin from racing as well as he might like. Tony Eury, Jr. has talked about the DEI engines being short on horsepower and the organization overall being behind some of their competitors. He said that Junior is such a good driver that he is able to make up for some of the failings of the cars but since he has limited experience in Cup I think that is going to be much harder for Martin. If DEI makes improvements as the season goes on, Martin might have an easier time of it but he may not have as much immediate success as some think he will have, even though I believe he is capable of it.

*Tony Stewart - strong all day but hitting the wall caused a tire to go flat and his race was ruined. Yet another instance where Tony's temper might have gotten the best of him as his anger at Kyle Busch might have distracted him. Much was made last season about that temper of his being tamed and I was skeptical. I'm even more skeptical now that Tony seems to keep having these outbursts. This is such a strong team and Tony is such an oustanding driver that it might not effect him at all but he needs to be sure to keep himself under control.

*Brian Vickers - Brian was in this race? Seriously I don't remember him being mentioned even once.

*Jamie McMurray - Jamie has one top ten thus far this season but so far he hasn't done too much. I have to admit that I'm not as high on Jamie's abilities behind the wheel as some are so I'm not convinced that he's going to work out at Roush as well as some think he will.

*Jeremy Mayfield - I'm thinking that Mayfield won't be back in the Chase this season. That's about all I can say about him. Not really a fan.

*Carl Edwards - what's going on here? Edwards should be higher in the points but has been bit by some bad luck. However, he wasn't involved in any incidents during this race and still struggled. Early bad luck or sophmore slump? Only time will tell.

*Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Junior was on his way to a solid top fifteen finish which would have been like a victory for this team at this track. Instead during a late pit stop Junior sped off of pit road and was penalized. An extremely costly mistake as he could finish no better than 27th. Every driver makes mistakes but at a track where it is important that they finish well given their past struggles there, this was a big mistake by Junior. And considering DEI still has some issues to overcome Junior and his team are going to need to minimize the amount of mistakes they make. Junior is 11th in points but I think DEI will need to do more work on some of the organization's problems before they can make a run at the Championship even if they make the Chase this season.

*Scott Riggs - for a while Riggs was racing well, something which he dearly needed to do since this team missed a race. But things fell apart and he finished 28th. Scott's not far out of the top 35 in points and he is likely getting excellent equipment from Evernham but it seems like this team is having a lot of trouble. I have to wonder what will happen with Scott if they continue to struggle? Will Evernham stick with him?

*Kyle Petty and Bobby LaBonte - finished 29th and 30th. There was a lot of hype about how improved Petty Enterprises was going to be in 2006 and I just haven't seen it yet. They have suffered from some bad luck but Kyle is only 33rd in points and Bobby is 36th. That's not very good and things could get ugly when the guaranteed spots are determined on the basis of 2006 owner points.

*Dave Blaney - that both BDR teams finished so poorly in this race and haven't run well at all this season doesn't bode well to me. Everyone is focusing on how badly Michael's team is doing but the #22 is barely racing any better.

*Scott Wimmer - well, he made it through the race in one piece and didn't finish last. But I think Scott is going to have a very difficult time in this ride.

*David Stremme - I don't have a good feeling about Stremme. I think that Stremme has the personality, looks and savvy to survive in Cup but I'm not sure that his actual racing ability is developed enough to race on this level, particularly if the car he's racing isn't great. The results for Stremme haven't been stellar thus far but it is early in the season. But I suspect the results might not be pretty for him this season.

*Brent Sherman - he passed the #55 on the last lap to pick up a position but that's about the only positive thing that can be said for the way this race went for Brent. Unfortunately he might be an outstanding driver but he will never get a chance to show it in the #49. He said prior to this season starting that he hoped to surprise some people particularly in terms of the rookie of the year race but I have my doubts about whether he'll be able to do it.

*Michael Waltrip - I've already talked in detail about how dreadful this race was for Michael. Tonight on Inside Nextel Cup he said they put in a 911 call to figure out what to do to improve. Unfortunately I don't think there are any easy fixes.

*Sterling Marlin - Sterling was doing okay in this race until his engine went. I suspect this won't be the last time this team has mechanical problems. There are sponsorship issues with this team and a lack of funding may handcuff this team.

*Kevin Lepage - Yes, Kevin LePage did make this race. Who knew? Given how hard it is for small teams to make these races it would be nice if they were mentioned once in a while on the TV broadcast to give them some visibility.

*Kenny Wallace - Debris flying off Kenny's car is what led to the caution that set up the green/white/checkers. If not for that I doubt anyone would have noticed that Kenny was in this race. This team won't do much of anything this season. Kenny voluntarily got in this car so he knew what he was in for but the results aren't going to be pretty.

*Travis Kvapil - a team in major trouble. Michael thinks his team is in bad shape but the #32 team proves that there's always a team in worse trouble. Travis qualified on time for the Daytona 500 but it's been downhill since. A wreck took him out of the race at Daytona, Travis failed to qualify for the race in California, they made the race this past weekend but the car caught on fire prior to the race and while they were able to estinguish it without major damage, another mechanical problem meant that Travis finished the race many laps down. While it's possible for the #32 team to salvage the season I think it's going to be almost impossible. Not because Travis isn't a good driver - he is. But because this team is short on resources. They are apparently forming a partnership with Front Row Racing to share information but that team is weak and low on resources themselves. Travis should also be looking over his shoulder since the former driver of the #32, Ricky Craven has been working with the team at testing. Ricky has remained friendly with Cal Wells so one could say that Ricky is just doing his former team a favor and helping them out as a sort of consultant but since Ricky made comments just a few months ago that implied he would happily get back in the #32 as long as they showed some signs of improvement, Travis should tread with care, particularly since PPI is likely fighting to keep their sponsor not to mention fighting for their very survival.

*Reed Sorenson - a blown tire sent him into the wall. I think Reed is an immensely talented driver but I'm unsure about how well he's going to do in his first season in Cup. I wish they would have had him stay in the Busch season for another year before bringing him up to Cup.

*Ken Schrader - a blown engine ended his day early. I would really love to see Ken have some good runs in the #21.

*Chad Chaffin - Yep, Chad was in this race too. How many people knew that until they looked at the full run down of the race results?

*Ryan Newman - Bad, bad day for the Alltel team. The car seemed to have issues to begin with but a blown tire took them out of the race completely. But this team should rebound quickly from their problems this week and be better in Atlanta.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)

Quiet Spring Training for the Yankees So Far

Is anything significant going to happen at Spring Training for the New York Yankees? Seriously, I would really love to do a blog entry about some exciting piece of news out of Tampa but so far things have been slow, slow, slow for the most part. I could talk about individual pitcher's performances but anyone who comes by this space looking for items on the Yankees has likely read all about that elsewhere. I guess it's because some of the players are at the World Baseball Classic but I really haven't felt like there's much to talk about for the Yankees yet. Of course I should be careful what I wish for lest I wake up one morning to news of a major injury hitting a key player.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2006

Photo of the Day - Strange Flower

Posted by silverdsl at 10:30 PM | Comments (2)

Disappointment in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is one of my favorite places but not this weekend. First yesterday's Busch race wasn't exactly a stellar one for either Michael Waltrip or Steve Park but the worst was yet to come. Today's Cup race was awful for Michael and the #55 team. From the very start of the race the car was terrible and unlike at the race in California this time the problem couldn't be fixed by replacing the spark plugs. No specific mechanical issue here. Rather the car overall was terrible and there wasn't much hope of making it better. Michael was quickly a lap down and by the end of the race one lap turned into four laps down. Michael finished 35th and that was only because other cars experienced problems that caused them to drop out of the race. I can't recall another race ever where there wasn't some sort of mechanical issue or they hadn't been involved in a wreck where the car was so bad that Michael seemed to be unable to race at all with it. I guess things could have been worst - after all Michael didn't wreck and he did finish the race but there weren't many other positives for the #55 team.

I feel terrible for Michael that he had to deal with such a lousy car today. Of course he wasn't the only one who knew their race was over virtually from lap one but that doesn't make things any easier. It's got to be incredibly frustrating to have high hopes at the start of the race then have those hopes dashed so quickly and all for reasons out of his control. There is no way to race his way through the field when the car is incapable of being raced. There is nothing that Michael can do if the car isn't competitive and there isn't much of anything that his crew can do to fix it enough to salvage a good finish when it's that bad. It's painful for me to watch on TV but it must be agonizing to be in the car knowing that he's just running around the track counting down the laps, hoping that enough cars drop out that they can finish in the top 35 and not drop too far down in the points. I believe in Michael 110% as a driver and as a person and I will support him always but oh, is it hard to watch him have to deal with so many struggles thus far this season. The good news is that it's still very early so there's plenty of time for things to turn around but the amount of problems is really disheartening.

I expected that the #55 team would have some challenges to deal with this season. After all, they are getting cars from Bill Davis Racing which has no manufacturer support and the results for BDR last season in Cup were far from wonderful. In addition, any new team is going to experience some growing pains while everyone gets used to working together. But I figured that a big time primary sponsor like NAPA would give BDR/Waltrip-Jasper the financial means to put some money towards making some improvements to the cars over last season. In addition, I also figured that the partnership between Michael and Doug Bawel to get the #77's points would help take some of the pressure off because they wouldn't have to worry about qualifying on time for the first few races, thus allowing them to focus on making the race set-ups the best they could possibly be. But so far things have not gone well and the #55 team is putting themselves into a hole that might be hard to climb out of.

The worst thing is that it seems as if there might not be an easy fix to someof the big issues that are facing the #55 team right now. Until Toyota comes into Cup in 2007 the #55 team isn't going to have manufacturer support. That's not going to change. Given how much of BDR's financial resources are probably now tied up in the event that BDR doesn't win their appeal of the Dodge lawsuit, I don't have much hope that they are going to be able to spend too much more money than they already are to make improvements to the cars. The good news is that there are some things that the #55 team can work on - the crew seems to be capable of excellent pits stops so they can continue to work hard in the pits. That can end up making a huge difference because with their help Michael can end up gaining positions after pit stops. Another area that they have apparently worked on is communication. It seemed like that was a big problem in California but this week that seemed much improved. Michael's spotter this week seemed very good and the communication between Michael and his crew chief, while perhaps not perfect, seemed smoother. I also think they can make some improvements in terms of the setups of the cars to make the most of what they've got. Maybe they won't be able to always give Michael a car that can race up front but there's no way that he should be given a car as bad as it was today.

Next week all three series will race in Atlanta. Michael finished 7th in the Cup race there last year. While he won't have the benefit of a DEI car, I'm hoping that he will at least have a semi-decent car that will allow him to get a top twenty. I'd love to see him finish even better but I'm not sure the #55 is going to turn into a top ten team in a week when they have some big issues to overcome. Last season quite a few of Michael's fans couldn't wait for him to leave DEI because of how poorly they felt he was treated there and how they thought he was given lesser cars than what Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was given. Well, I'd be thrilled if Michael was in those "lesser" cars right now because there's a good chance that his finishes would be a lot better than they've been so far.

It may end up being an extremely trying season for Michael, his team and all of his fans if things don't turn around soon but all of his many fans will still be behind him, supporting him. That's the thing about being a fan - you support your favorite drivers no matter what.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park Returns to the Busch Series But...

...things don't really go as well as I'm sure he would have liked. It was awesome to see Steve Park back racing in the Busch Series and I'm really happy that he wasn't involved in any of the incidents during yesterday's race. However, I would guess that finishing 30th, three laps down is probably a pretty big disappointment for Steve and the #31 team. Before anyone starts accusing me of being too negative consider this - last year Dave Blaney qualified the #31 33rd for this race and finished 19th. Clearly, this team is capable of getting what has to be considered a decent finish for a part-time team at this track. Also, Steve qualified 28th for this race and was unable to make any gains from where he qualified to where he ultimately finished the race. Beyond that Michael Waltrip somehow managed to finish 25th despite being penalized for rough driving and being in what he complained during practice about being a poor car. I can only guess but perhaps Steve and the #31 team were dealing with some sort of mechanical issue which kept them from doing as much during this race as they would have liked. Because otherwise Steve was pretty much just running around logging laps and that doesn't seem like too much to get excited about, even though I was happy just that he was at the track racing.

Perhaps I set my expectations too high because I said that I would be happy with any finish for Steve in the top 20 so 30th place doesn't feel like something to celebrate to me. Of course there's an adjustment period for any team that is new to working together so aside from any potential mechanical problems, so that might have played into things as well. Unfortunately the problem for this team is that they are a small one without a lot of resources that is run out of the back of team owner Ted Marsh's house. In fact, they apparently don't have a full crew, at least for this race, as Michael Waltrip's NAPA Cup crew was pitting the #31 for Steve. In addition, as a part-time team they will be racing in only nine more races, unless more are added down the road, so that doesn't give them a lot of races to gel or work on issues.

Speaking of working on issues, it's apparent that Michael still has issues to sort through with his #99 Busch team as he also struggled to make much progress in this race. I think Michael was able to make his way up to 22nd at one point but ultimately he finished 25th, two laps down which isn't too great. In addition, Michael was penalized for aggressive driving after he got into the #38 of A.J. Foyt. I know there are some who would say that Michael would never intentionally take out another driver or not lift when he could have because that's not the kind of driver that he is. And yes, the vast majority of the time Michael is not aggressive behind the wheel but every single driver has their breaking point where their frustration gets the best of them and they do think that they might not normally. Michael was about to go another lap down and some reports from those at the track are that Foyt who was more laps down than Michael was blocking. While I really don't like it when drivers deliberately go after each other with thier cars, I can totally understand why Michael might have sent Foyt for a ride. So, I can't really take issue with Nascar giving Michael an aggressive driving penalty. Only Michael knows what he was thinking in that spot and whether what happened was deliberate but from the outside looking in, it didn't look good. But getting sent to the back of the longest line probably ended up working out better in that spot than losing another lap so it really didn't end up being too costly of a penalty.

What I do take issue with is that Nascar didn't give Jamie McMurray a penalty for getting into John Andretti. If Michael getting into Foyt looked bad then McMurray getting into Andretti looked ten times worse, especially since it ended in Andretti going sailing into the wall, then back up the track where Tim Sauter slammed into him. That was scary looking but luckily neither Andretti or Sauter were injured. I just can't understand why Nascar did nothing to McMurray. Again, only McMurray knows whether what he did was deliberate or an accident but Andretti was a lapped car in that spot and it's not a stretch to think that McMurray might have thought that Andretti was holding him and and got frustrated. Of course I have no idea what McMurray might have said over his radio as compared to Michael and that sometimes does play into things or what else might have led to Nascar not opting to penalize McMurray but it sure didn't look like Nascar was handing out penalities in a very consistent or fair way yesterday.

Kasey Kahne ended up holding off Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick to win this race. Kasey's had a hard time living up to the high expectations that everyone has for him so it was nice to see him get to Victory Lane even if it was only in a Busch race. Though I think that Kasey sometimes lets his emotions get to him which is costly at times for himself and others, I do like him so I would like to see him be successful. Only problem with Kasey winning this race is that once again a Buschwacker wins a Busch race as opposed to a full-time regular Busch driver. Even worse is that the entire top ten is made up of Buschwackers. While some of those drivers are planning on racing the full Busch series schedule this season, it's a problem that the full-time Busch teams couldn't crack the top ten in this race. How are those teams supposed to survive if they can't compete against the Buschwackers?

Which of course is exactly why I'm so concerned about what's going to happen with Steve in the #31. It's really hard to for the full-time Busch teams to compete against the Buschwackers, even more difficult for the part-time teams. I would have liked to have seen a semi-decent finish to build a foundation for future races. But what I'm really interested in is what led to Michael's Cup crew pitting the #31. At Daytona the #55 crew was also pitting the #99 so it seems as if Michael is shifting around his pit crews. I had also thought that the #31 car had at least a partial crew of their own but perhaps that's not the case which will make things even harder for them, especially if they plan on racing at any tracks that don't coincide with Cup races because they might not be able to borrow the #55 crew. Of course this is going to led to more rumors about Steve joining with Michael Waltrip Racing in the future but it's likely that Michael was just helping out his friend which also helps him out since it gets the #55 team some extra practice.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2006

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/9)

Anyone wondering what Michael Waltrip did between the race in California and the Busch race in Mexico? Michael was lucky enough to have been able to spend some time relaxing in Aspen, Colorado with his family and some "racing" friends. Apparently Michael didn't do any skiiing - I wonder if he's a good skiier or not? I'd guess maybe he is since with all the running and working out he does he's in good shape and pretty athletic. On the other hand it would be pretty dangerous to put me on ski's and send me down a mountain - it's pretty doubtful about whether I'd even be able to handle a bunny hill!

This weekend Michael will race in both the Busch and Cup races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Everyone in the garage area loves going to Las Vegas because there's so much fun to be had on the strip and elsewhere. Apparently Michael likes going to Las Vegas as well.

Waltrip said he enjoys the great restaurants, superb golf and working out at the Bellagio. However, don’t expect to see the NAPA driver gambling away his life earnings. “I will occasionally play a little blackjack, but not very often,” said Waltrip.

I don't golf but I full agree that one of the best things about Las Vegas are the awesome restaurants. I love the Bellagio as well and I hope that one day I'll get to stay there. It's a bit pricey but it sure would be fun to splurge sometimes. If the Review-Journal can be believed apparently Michael also enjoys going out in Las Vegas as he was supposedly spotted along with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (who has been spotted in a different nightclub every night this week), Elliott Sadler and Jeff Gordon at the nightclub Pure in Caesars Palace on Tuesday. That makes me laugh because there are many fans who are convinced that Michael and Junior dislike each other and that Junior and Jeff can't stand each other either. Well, just because the fans think that their driver should dislike another driver doesn't mean that they actually do. I wonder what drinks Michael and the other drivers are partial to - I guess Dale Jr. has to stick with Bud if he's drinking beer, maybe that's the only adult beverage he can drink period.

Otherwise, Michael says about racing in Cup at Las Vegas,

“I enjoy that track. We ran third there a couple years ago and I always look forward to going to Vegas. I am optimistic that we can go to Las Vegas and put ourselves in a position to run near the front, finish on the lead lap and get a good finish while we learn each other and build our team.”

I feel good about that happening because once they got the plug wire issue fixed at California it seemed like the #55 was halfway decent. So since this is a similar track it seems to me that Michael might be able to finish well. I'd be pretty happy with a top fifteen - I definitely think that's within reach. Of course I'd be thrilled if Michael finished even better, he's certainly capable of racing up front at that track but in spite of Michael saying that they've improved the car since the Las Vegas test in January I'm not sure just how much they were able to improve on it. But a top fifteen should be very much possible which would be better than this race last season when he finished 21st. In California it seemed as if there were some communication problems so hopefully they will have worked on that and there won't be any issues in that area this weekend.

But what's most important is finishing well enough so that they continue to be in the top 35 in owner points. They only have a guaranteed spot because of Michael's partnership with Doug Bawel for a few more races. After that the guaranteed spots will be based on this year's owner points so it's essential that they stay in that top 35. I would hate to have Michael be in a position where he needs to worry about missing races.

The other item is that there will be a press conference tomorrow during which Michael will be announcing a driver and sponsor for a Cup car that will be on the track for six races this season as a way to help them prepare for next season when they will have two full-time teams. It's been rumored that the sponsor will be Burger King and most seem to think that David Reutimann will be the driver. I'd say that Reutimann is a safe bet though many are hoping that Steve Park will get a ride with Michael Waltrip Racing. I'd love to see that happen but I suspect that's not in the cards. (Standard disclaimer applies - I have all the faith in the world in Steve's abilities behind the wheel and that he can race up front with the best of them. I just happen to think that MWR and Toyota are going to go in a different direction here. Pretty sad isn't it that I have to say that lest I be accused of not believing in Steve or being a bad fan...)

Posted by silverdsl at 05:04 PM | Comments (2)

March 08, 2006

David Wells Goes Off on Bud Selig... Again

I know most New York Yankee fans loved David Wells when he was in pinstripes and are still fond of him now. While I appreciate everything that he did while I was a Yankee his shtick eventually grew tiresome to me. I'm guessing that it's also starting to wear on the Boston Red Sox. For the second time in less than a year, David Wells has lashed out at baseball Commissioner Bud Selig with some of his harshest comments yet. Wells' latest outburst was prompted by Bud Selig ordering the Yankees to remove a sign at Legend Field that apologized for some players not being at Spring Training because they are playing in the World Baseball Classic. I can't figure out why this upsets Wells so much but here's some of what he said:

"Bud Selig needs to resign. That's what he needs to do," Wells said. "He needs to resign and bring someone in who's capable of communicating with the players association and the owners, as well as the players, because there's so much hatred against Bud right now. It's a joke. Nobody likes him."

But Boomer didnt' stop there.

He also said,

This is just something where Bud is bored. He has no clue. He's clueless," Wells said. "If you say something derogatory toward Bud, he wants an apology. My question is, why is he even wasting his time on something like that? What's the purpose? Does he have to let people know that he's there? Tell him to come talk to me. I've had issues with him the last few years. He said, 'Oh, we need to talk.' He said, 'I'll take you to dinner when I come to Boston.' Has he done it? [Heck] no. He's a piece of [expletive]. And you can quote me on that."

Last season Wells called Selig an idiot and was forced to meet with some MLB higher-ups, Selig not included, after which Wells apologized and the Red Sox both apologized and distanced themselves from his comments. I wonder what's going to happen this time? If a meeting with MLB didn't get Wells to learn his lesson about keeping his mouth shut perhaps MLB is going to look at what stronger penalities they might be able to enforce against him.

I fully support Wells' right to speak his mind and be critical of Selig. There is certainly a lot to be critical of. But calling someone a piece of shit publically? To me that crosses the line no matter how bad of a job Selig is doing as Comissioner and how hated he is. As I've said previously Selig is the Commissioner of baseball regardless of how many people wish it weren't so and he is still deserving of respect enough not to be called names to the media by a player. There are quite a few ways that Wells could get his point across without insulting Selig. But by engaging in name-calling the majority of people are going to miss whatever message Wells was trying to convey and simply focus on the harsh tone of his comments and the insults.

The Red Sox are probably looking for a muzzle for Wells right about now.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:33 PM | Comments (0)

New Book Exposes Barry Bond's Use of Performance Enhancers

I had written briefly about this yesterday but my blog ate the entry so this gives me the opportunity to write about it in more detail. Two reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, who covered the Balco case for the newspaper, have spent the past two years doing a significant amount of investigative work which has culminated in a book due at the end of this month, "Game of Shadows." The book contains details about Barry Bonds's use of a variety of performance enhancers starting in 1998. Normally I'd take great pains to say alleged use but the book is so well-sourced and includes so much evidence and statements from witnesses that I think even the most die-hard Bonds fan is going to have a hard time denying that the reality is that Bonds has likely been using steroids, human growth hormones and other substances for years. Some say what's the big deal? After all, everyone knew that it was almost certain that Bonds used steroids and other performance enhancers. But until now there was never this kind of definitive proof that can't be ignored no matter how much Major League Baseball wishes that they could.

The details in this book go beyond Bonds acknowledging during grand jury testimony in the Balco case of "unknowingly" using steroids in the form of The Clear and The Cream. In this book Bonds is depicted as being an expert on performance enhancers who not only ingested substances by mouth and smeared The Cream on his body but also injected himself with steroids, including Winstrol, the same steroid that Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for. Apparently not only was Bonds injecting himself but he was also taking as many as 20 pills at one time. Insane. It's mind-boggling that Bonds apparently researched steroids and spoke to medical professionals who advised him against using but he did it anyway - there's no telling what kind of damage he might have done to his body.

What's amazing to me is that Bonds was a great player prior to 1998 when the book says he started using because he was jealous over the attention being paid to Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa during their homerun chase that year. Bonds didn't have to take performance enhancers to hit homeruns, knock in runs or help his team win. But it wasn't enough to just be very good, Bonds apparently felt that he had to be the best and to do that he needed some extra help.

The question is how is Major League Baseball going to react? For now they are choosing to say nothing as are the San Francisco Giants and Bonds himself. But I don't think that will be possible for long. The fact of the matter is that this isn't unsubstantiated allegations and vague rumors. If the sourcing and evidence is as good as initial reports indicate that it is then it's very damning and I don't see how MLB could continue to keep their heads in the sand in terms of dealing with the issue of performance enhancers and Bonds. While I'm not sure they could suspend Bonds for taking past use of performance enhancers, I think that MLB will have to address this with Bonds and make it clear that they have no tolerance for players who use or have used in the past. Pretending that this book doesn't exist or that it's not credible will make MLB look foolish and they already have an iffy record when it comes to the issue of performance enhancers.

The problem is of course if they go after Bonds there may be other players that MLB will have to go after as well. After all, Jason Giambi admitted to using steroids in his leaked grand jury testimony. And there's the question of Bonds' record for the most homeruns in a season - will they take it away from him, put an notation that he achieved that while using performance enhancers? He's surely not the only player to break a record or reach a goal while using steroids. It opens up a huge can of worms that MLB is surely not anxious to deal with.

I'm also wondering whether Bonds will face prejury charges. He was granted immunity from prosecution in regards to everything but prejury when he testified in front of the Balco grand jury. If the evidence in this book proves that he was lying when he said that he unknowingly ingested steroids then he may find himself in trouble with the law. But will it actually happen? I guess it depends on exactly what is contained in the book and whether prosecutors want to go through the trouble of charging him.

What might be most interesting is what Bonds' reaction to all of this is going to be. Thus far, he's dismissed the book. That might be easy to do when it's just excerpts printed in Sports Illustrated but I doubt it's going to be that easy once the book itself is published. It's going to be very hard for Bonds to continue to deny that he knowingly used performance enhancers in the face of so much evidence. Maybe he'll threaten to sue for libel but I have a feeling he won't get too far much like nothing came of the threatened lawsuits against Jose Canseco by Palmeiro and other players named as steroid users in his book. Athletes and other celebrities are used to finding ways to make problems go away but I don't think Bonds is going to be able to make this book disappear.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2006

Photo of the Day - Ogunquit Sunrise

Ogunquit, Maine, 2004.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)

New Crustacean Found In South Pacific

I continue to be amazed by what previously unknown places, things and creatures are found. The latest is a lobster-like crustacean covered in silky, blonde fur that was so unique that scientists created a new genus and family for it. A team of American divers found it in the South Pacific 900 miles south of Easter Island. It's a pretty wild looking creature and it almost doesn't look real. It seems more like someone's arts and crafts project than something that would be found in the ocean. I'm guessing that the divers were probably pretty surprised to come across it!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park on XM *Updated 3/8*

I missed most of the interview so I can't repeat too much from the interview with Steve Park on XM but Claire B. Lang had a few interesting comments after the interview itself.

*The part of the interview that I did hear was Steve talking about how his #31 Busch team was going to have to make their focus setting the car up for qualifying since they have to qualify for races on time. He said that would put them at a disadvantage during the races since they would start with a qualifying set-up and then would have to make changes as needed during the race itself. That is a challenge that they are going to have to work to overcome that other teams that are locked into races won't have to worry about. But it is going to be important to have a car that can qualify well. There isn't much to worry about this weekend in Las Vegas because there are only 45 cars entered which means only two will have to go home - Steve will surely make the race with no problem. But at future races when there are more cars entered there will be a lot of competition for just a small amount of spots. I feel confident in Steve's ability to get the car in on time but Dave Blaney did miss one race in the #31 last season and he's a solid driver as well.

*Apparently the deal with the #59 is for just the one race in Atlanta, at least for now as the #59 team has no idea who they want to put in the truck after Atlanta. Claire B. said that Steve intends on using the opportunity as a way to prove himself. Unfortunately while I have every confidence in Steve's abilities behind the wheel, the #59 truck wasn't very good last season. Robert Pressley qualified 20th and finished 20th in this race last season which really isn't very impressive. I know that Steve will get the most out of the truck that he's given and I'm hopeful that he'll be given a truck capable of racing up front but I'm not sure what kind of a truck this team is going to be able to provide him with.

*Some have wondered why this team was switching to a Ford for this race. Well, turns out that's because they have no manfacturer support and plan to use Dodges on some tracks, Fords on others. I can't say that fills me with confidence because it's hard enough for this team as it is since they are more limited in terms of resources than some other teams but not having manufacturer support makes it even harder to be successful. I would love to see Steve have an awesome finish in Atlanta but realistically? I'll be happy if he finishes in the top 20.

*I didn't hear this part of the interview but as Steve mentioned yesterday on his site he talked about how he's working on a long-term deal for a truck ride for the rest of this season and beyond. I hope it's not with the #59 team. Perhaps if he were to bring a primary sponsor with him the team might have the financial resources to improve but as it stands now this team is not where I'd like to see Steve end up long-term. He's had to struggle with enough iffy equipment previously and that had to have been incredibly frustrating. I'd hate to see him have to deal with that again just to have a ride. So if he is able to finalize a full-time ride I hope that it's with a solid team that will give him the chance to race up front. As I've said in the past I'd love to see Steve in a Toyota but I'm not sure how realistic that is at the moment. But I'd be happy for him with any team that's going to give him the chance to win races - I'm just not sure that's the #59.

I also hope that this deal really does come through for him. Steve's been talking about being close to a deal for a full-time ride since at least last December. I hate it for him that the previous deal he thought he had fell apart because it had to have been a horrible feeling to have missed Daytona and especially California where he won last season. Unfortunately things change very quickly in this sport and as Steve found out things that seem like sure things can go in a completely different direction in the course of a day. Hopefully if he's talking length of contract that means that they are further along than they were with the other deal but I'm going to reserve my excitement until it becomes official.

*On another note, someone on one of the forums that I frequent noted that it seems as if Steve is in a lose-lose situation when it comes to the #59 and other similar rides. He needs to take the ride to "prove himself" and make sure he doesn't get forgotten about but if he takes an inferior ride that could hurt him if the results are poor even if that's not any fault of his own but rather because the truck isn't very good. So I hope that everything works out the way that Steve wants it to in Atlanta and that the deal he's working on doesn't hinge on his results in that race. Unless of course he's looking to sign with the #59 long-term because they would be aware of the limitations of their own truck and might just be happy if they were able to bring the truck home in one piece after the race.

*Finally, I've said on more than one occasion that I've not thought it's likely that Steve would find himself a full-time truck ride this season. That's not just my personal opinion. Steve himself said in an interview with Claire B. Lang just a few weeks ago that if he had to guess that he thought that if he were in the truck series in 2006 that it wouldn't be full time after the deal he had been working on fell apart. Given that was Steve's own opinion as well as having in mind the realities of the difficulties for drivers in finding competitive rides I'm not ashamed to have had that opinion. I will be more than happy to be wrong if it means that Steve finds himself a great new ride!

ETA... (3/8) I've now heard this interview. This morning someone who talked to Steve last week has said that he told her that he has a sponsor in place and is working on a deal to finish out the rest of the season in the truck starting in Martinsville, with at least one more year to follow in the same truck. I assume Steve was trying to play his cards close to the vest on XM and not let the cat out of the bag before things were definite because he definitely gave the impression during the interview that his services were still available. He spoke about how important it was to race well at Atlanta to impress teams and sponsors so he could put something together for the rest of the season, next year and the year after. He also said that he wants to be in a truck that will give him the chance to race up front and win and that he thinks the #59 is the truck he can do that in. Um, Steve you do know what this truck did last season don't you? Not much of anything. I hope he's been given lots of assurances and evidence that this is a much improved program, particularly if he's talking with them about a long term deal. But hopefully, whatever team he's negotiating with on the two-year deal is one that really will give him the opportunity to get back to Victory Lane!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

Harvick to the #88?

Looks like the driver who is going to show up in the silly season rumor mill most this season is going to be Kevin Harvick. Of course there's been speculation about him joining with Red Bull Racing or one of the other Toyota teams for quite some time. Now comes this rumor from Jayski's:

AND The Ltn Hour ( Let's Talk Nascar ) Radio Show reported on this weeks show that Robert Yates Racing is also looking at Kevin Harvick to take over the #88 UPS Ford in 2007 as current driver Dale Jarrett's contract ends at the end of 2006. Jarrett has said he would like to driver at least thru 2007. UPS is signed thru 2007.(LTN Radio Show)(3-7-2006)

I have no clue how reliable a source Let's Talk Nascar is but I'm guessing that until something is officially announced about what team Kevin is going to be racing with in 2007, Kevin's name is going to be mentioned as going to just about every organization in Nascar. I'm not sure about Kevin going over to Robert Yates Racing - while Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett have had some success recently, it seems that they have some trouble sealing the deal. Sadler's team has certainly fell off after early success the past couple of years. But I'd hate to see Jarrett not be re-signed at the end of this season. He's still a very capable driver who can win races if he's given the equipment to race up front with. It's just like countless other drivers - there are some drivers who are better than others but I think that drivers who are racing at this level are incredibly talented. Jarrett may be older than Kevin but I doubt that his ability to drive a race car has dropped off by much, if at all.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)

Project Runway Renewed for a Third Season

I don't watch much TV that's not sports or news related so I'm pretty happy to hear that one of the few shows that I enjoy watching regularly, Project Runway has been renewed. Project Runway will appear on Bravo for a third season and casting for the new season will start at the end of this month. Open calls will take place in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Designers who wish to participate will have to come to the audition with three items of clothing of their own design plus a portfolio so it there will need to be some more advance time and effort put in on the part of those who wish to participate than might be required for most reality shows.

I'm disappointed that the last episode of the second season of Project Runway is tomorrow night. While I don't care for the way that the producers obviously manipulated challenge results to ensure that Santino stayed around for dramatic purposes, overall the show is fun to watch. I'm already looking forward to season three!

Posted by silverdsl at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2006

Photo of the Day - Grounds for Sculpture

Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey. 2002. I'll hopefully be making a visit to the Grounds for Sculpture in a couple of weeks and I'm hoping to take a few photos even though the main point of the visit will be to eat at the French restaurant there.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

Cinderella, Poison to Tour Together?

Word is that 80's hair bands Poison and Cinderella will tour together this summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of their first albums "Night Songs" and "Look What the Cat Dragged In." Hard to believe those albums were released 20 years ago. I can vividly remember when I bought LWTCDI, as an innocent (really, I swear!) 12-year old. I was on vacation with my parents down in Cape May on the Jersey shore. I had heard a couple of Poison songs and decided I wanted the whole album. I had brought my Walkman on vacation with me so when I saw the tape in a music store I picked it up. And so began my life-long love of Poison. I probably wore that tape out completely as well as subsequent Poison tapes I listened to them so often. Cinderella was another favorite and NS was another that got heavy play in my bedroom.

I've seen Poison live in concert four times over the years. Twice when they were at the peak of their popularity in the late 80's/early 90's and two more times recently. I saw Cinderella in a small club on Long Island when they could no longer sellout arenas anymore. But they still gave it their all and put on an outstanding show even though the crowd was much smaller than what they had played in front of previously.

Ah, memories. I might have to check this tour out this summer.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

Kirby Puckett Dies at Age 44

It was shocking enough that Minnessota Twins great and Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett had a stroke this weekend but now comes word that he's passed away as a result. Puckett was only 44. R.I.P. Kirby.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

As Expected Charlotte Gets Nascar Hall of Fame

As rumored last week Charlotte will be the site of the Nascar Hall of Fame. Like there was really any other logical place for it to be other than perhaps Daytona? The physical hall itself is an ambitious project which will include exhibit space, a Great Hall, a Hall of Honor, interactive entertainment areas, restaurants, retail space and a media center. Designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, it's expected that the hall will open in the spring of 2010. The price tag for the Hall? $107.5 million. Of course one might wonder who exactly is going to foot the bill - aside from the State of North Carolina and the private sector, that would be anyone who stays in a hotel or motel in North Carolina since there is now a new 2% hotel/motel tax, the revenue from which will go towards this project.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)

Official: Steve Park to the #59 in Atlanta

From Steve Park's website:

Dear Fans,

I am really excited to drive for Jim Harris and the #59 Ford in Atlanta. I am thrilled to get behind the wheel in Atlanta, which is the fastest track on the schedule. I am still working with my sponsors in reaching a full-time deal for the remainder of this season and beyond.

So Steve will be behind the wheel of the #59 truck in Atlanta. Yay, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Steve that he's going to be in a truck again this season. But it's not like this truck did much of anything last season. Three tops tens and three top fifteens isn't much to write home about. Of course the team might be improved over last season - Mike Wallace got wrecked in the first two races this season in this truck so it's impossible to know what it's fully capable of. Apparently it will be a Ford at Atlanta so it could very well have a decent engine under the hood. But you'll have to excuse me for not being feeling much like dancing a jig about this bit of news - Steve is too good of a driver to still be waiting on a full-time ride and based on what he posted on his site that's apparently what he's still doing either with this ride or another team.

Unless the truck has suddenly become amazing between last year and this I'm kind of hoping that he's not looking to sign a long-term deal with this team. Steve has always talked about wanting to be in a competitive ride that will give him a chance to run up front and win. The last thing I want to see him have to deal with is being in a truck that is just logging laps on the track. That's not to say that is what this truck is - again, they may be a vastly different team than they were last season. But this isn't among the elite teams in the garage area and it's a far cry from the potential deals with Bill Davis Racing or Wyler Racing that Steve had talked about as being possiblities for him previously. It would be great if Steve found himself a full-time ride but it's the delicate balance that I talk about so often in this space that is particularly important for older drivers between taking a ride just to have a ride and be on the track and not racing as often as one might like because the ride might not allow them to truly show their talents behind the wheel which could end up being costly to the way that people perceive them.

It's just really hard to know if a full-time ride is really going to happen for Steve this season. There isn't much out there... other than this ride apparently. Steve's been talking about being close to securing a full-time ride since October or November of last year and it's not happened yet. In December he said on his site that he hoped to announce something before the holidays. In January at Daytona testing he said that he was close to something and that he would be racing at Daytona for sure, something which he was apparently telling any number of people around the garage area as well. When that deal fell through he said that he was still looking at getting something together for Daytona. When that didn't happen he said that it was still possible to hop in a truck for the rest of the season starting in California or Atlanta. Well, he was right that he'd be in a truck in Atlanta but I'm not too sure about the rest of the season part. That's not because Steve isn't working hard on putting a deal together, simply that it appears that there isn't a team (and maybe a sponsor) thus far willing to committ to him for a full season for sure. Many of the teams aren't in great shape in terms of sponsors - the #59 appears to have as it's sponsor Harris Trucking, which is likely the owner's company rather than an outside sponsor. Maybe this will turn into a full-time ride for Steve with a great primary sponsor and everything will be wonderful... but I'm thinking that I'm going to save my celebrating for when the announcement is made that Steve is in a ride full time and more importantly when he's actually running up front.

Of course there's the usual accusations that imply that those of us who think about some of these issues are somehow lesser fans, that we don't have faith in Steve. Well, that's just not true. I have faith in Steve's abilities behind the wheel 110% and I believe as I always have that when Steve is given competitive equipment he can race his way up front and win. What I don't have faith in is the current environment that Nascar is operating in 2006 and whether there is a team and sponsor that is going to be willing to give Steve the kind of equipment that he deserves to race in. It's just like Michael Waltrip being at BDR - facts are facts about what Michael and the #55 team are going to face this season. I'd love for Michael to be up front in every race but the reality is that they are going to have their share of struggles to deal with. That doesn't mean that I have any less faith in MIchael or his abilities - there probably isn't another fan who believes as strongly in Michael's abilities behind the wheel as I do. But there is only so much that a driver can do with what they're given and there seems to be far more talented drivers out there than there are competitive race cars/trucks. I could go into a whole analysis yet again but why repeat myself? Anyone can just search the archives of this site to read about some of my ramblings on how the current trends in Nascar effect the various drivers, Steve included. But the fact of the matter is that I refuse to turn a blind eye, fall into line like a "good" fan and pretend that Steve is likely to be racing the best truck on the track at Atlanta or that he's going to have it easy now or in the future when it comes to securing an elite ride.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)

Kevin Harvick to Leave RCR?

Nascar.com has an article about Kevin Harvick and his future at Richard Childress Racing that seems to be a whole lot of nothing and old news... or is it? The basis for the article is the approach of the April deadline that Kevin and Richard Childress imposed on themselves to decide whether Kevin will remain with RCR next season and beyond. An anonymous source claims that there is concern by RCR that Kevin's focus isn't what it should be in terms of Cup racing because of how involved he is with his Busch and Truck teams. This article smells like someone at RCR trying to set the stage for a parting of the ways by trying to make it seem as if Kevin would be at fault because of "focus" issues. I also love the way it's thrown in how Kevin opted out of the post-race media session on Sunday even though he finished third. I kind of doubt that there were security issues - more like Kevin didn't want to have to talk about the penalty against him that was later reversed out of fear that he might say something that he would later regret. I just don't see what Kevin not speaking to the media has anything to do with him potentially leaving RCR. It's almost as if the writer is searching for ways to show that Kevin is difficult.

Personally I think Kevin is going to leave RCR. The writing has been on the wall for a while. As the top dog at RCR Kevin should be getting better equipment than he's gotten and he should be much more of a factor for the Chase for the Championship. He's a proven winner on every level in Nascar, including five wins in the Cup series. Kevin should have won more races by now and since he is a fierce competitor I suspect that is probably frustrating to him. For the past couple of years it seems like every other race there's some sort of issue - not enough horsepower, something breaks on the car, the car isn't set-up right, etc... So I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin is looking around at other organizations and thinking that the grass might be greener on the other side.

One of the deadliest things for a driver who is still on the rise is being in inferior equipment. Because there are many who seem to be unable to look beyond the numbers and see that perhaps there were mitigating factors that led to a subpar finish in the points. It's not just the driver behind the wheel - it's the cars they are given, their crew chief, the team they are working with, whether they have the support from their owner and organization, whether they are given the resources necessary to suceed, etc... So much goes into it. But there is only so much a driver can do with a car that isn't competitive or falls apart midway through the race. Kevin is still at a point in his career where while he may not be among the elite drivers in Nascar is is probably only just one step down from that group. So this is probably the ideal time for him to make a change while he is still considered a driver with a lot of wins in his future.

Joining with Toyota seems like a natural for Kevin. Though part of me would like to see him remain at RCR, I think that being a Toyota driver could pay huge dividends for Kevin. As a driver he would likely benefit from some very strong equipment, potentially better than what he's been getting from RCR. As a team owner his already extremely solid Busch and Truck teams could get even better. If there's a focus problem for Kevin related to him being distracted by the teams he owns perhaps it's because he sees them having so much sucess and is wondering why the same can't be true for his Cup team? Obviously he knows a thing or two about putting together a good team that can get to Victory Lane. It may be difficult for him to not be able to have enough control or input into the decision making in regards to changes that he thinks or knows are necessary to make the #29 team better.

It makes sense that Kevin and RC set an April deadline to figure out if they have a future together. Three months into the season is still fairly early but it's probably enough time for Kevin to figure out if the team and organization is going in a better direction than they have recently and RC will likely also know what he wants to do. If they decide to part ways there's plenty of time for Kevin to find a new ride and for RC to find a new driver. I'd guess that Kevin won't have any problems finding a new ride whether he goes with Toyota or not. And if worst comes to worst he can always field his own car. The #29 in spite of RCR's struggles will still be considered a good ride so it's likely that RC will have a good selection of drivers to choose from when it comes to replacing Kevin. It will be interesting to see where this goes and whether they actually make a formal announcement of what their decision is in April or whether they will try to keep it quiet for a while.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park to the #59?

From Jayski's via the rumor mill:

Park to the #59? hearing Steve Park will drive the #59 Harris Trucking Truck at Atlanta and it could be a Ford...not a Dodge.(3-6-2006)

Bleech. I'm sure right now there are a ton of Steve Park fans dancing for joy that Steve might be back in the truck series. Probably lots of people hoping that this will be a full-time ride and envisioning lots of trips to victory lane for Steve in this ride. Too bad this team had trouble finding it's way to a top ten finish last season let alone victory lane. I suppose they could have huge plans for the future for this ride but it sure doesn't seem like the competitive kind of ride that Steve said was the only kind he would consider. I guess time will tell as to whether this is true (likely) and for how many races (hopefully not many). More to follow.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2006

Photo of the Day - Old House

Kennebunk, Maine, 2004.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Mexico is Unkind to Michael Waltrip; Finishes 40th in Mexico City

So far this season isn't off to a very good start for Michael Waltrip in either Cup or Busch. Daytona featured getting swept up as a innocent victim in a major wreck coming to the checkered flag in the Busch race which stole a top ten or top fifteen from him and a speeding penalty in the Cup race which meant that Michael could finish no better than 18th. The Busch race in California featured tire problems and miscommunication and the Cup race was a disaster from lap one highlighted by a sparkplug problem and even worse communication problems for the team than the day before. I had been hopeful headed into this weekend that things would get better since it was an off-weekend for the Cup series that Michael could just focus on the Busch race. Since it was a road course and Michael is a strong road course racer I figured it was an opportunity to get a top fifteen or better and get things going in the right direction. Unfortunately it was not to be.

The problems started early for the #99 team. Based on the footage shown during qualifying Michael's car was a handful all day on Friday and he found himself off the track on more than one occasion. Things got a little better during qualifying as Michael kept the car on the track and qualifyed 30th. During the race I thought the problems were a thing of the past for Michael as he worked his way up to the top ten via a combination of good racing and good pit strategy that gained him track position. However, on lap 35 the car got away from him, he went around and ended up in the tire barrier. The damage was terminal and Michael's day was over prematurely. I was extremely disappointed for Michael about how his day went and I'm sure he was even more upset. The trip to Mexico is a long one and I'm sure it's expensive too for the teams. So to end up with nothing to show for it but a 40th place finish, DNF and a wrecked race car probably made for an extremely unpleasant plane ride home.

Denny Hamlin ended up winning the race and it was the first Busch win of his career. I always enjoy seeing a first-time winner and I suspect before too long we'll be seeing Hamlin win his first Cup race as well. Since the season started Hamlin won the Bud Shootout and now this race in Mexico. Some believe that plate racing is easy and that any driver can win on a plate track as long as they have a strong car. I don't entirely agree with that as I believe that a driver still needs to know what to do with the car and how to race a smart race on tracks where "The Big One" is always lurking right around the corner. But there's no doubt that road course racing is a much tougher challenge. Not every driver can race well on road courses and that Hamlin won his first Busch race on a road course tells me that he is a very skilled racer.

Once again Kyle Busch found himself in trouble on the track with fans and a fellow competitor angry with him. While battling Michel Jourdain for the lead, Busch pushed the issue on one of the tightest parts of the track. He got into Jourdain which sent them both around, wrecking Journdain completely. Initially it appeared as if Busch was going to survive that incident with no major problems other than being in need of some new tires but a penalty for speeding on pit road meant that he had to serve a penalty and all hopes of winning the race were dashed. Of course Jourdain was angry with Busch and the Mexican fans booed Busch loudly for ruining the day of one of their heroes.

I find both Kyle and Kurt Busch puzzling. There is no doubt that both are extremely talented racers. Though many fans find it hard to believe I've seen both be very good with fans. But both Kyle and Kurt seem to be unable to keep themselves out of trouble on the track. Kyle is still young enough that he can learn how to race smarter but it seems to me that he's been around long enough where he should know better than to make some of the mistakes he can't seem to avoid. It's a shame because it will be hard for his true talent to shine through if he keeps ruining races for himself. To his credit Busch accepted blame after the race by saying,

"It was a real, real, real bad mistake on my part,'' he said. "I'll take a hundred percent of the blame, but he also should take a little bit of it as well.''

It's probably true that Jourdain was crowding Busch a little but at that point in the race Busch should have backed off. That's the problem - Busch seems to just react to things without fully thinking through what the end result might be. It's good to have some degree of aggression and be willing to take some risks but Busch pushes things too far and too often.

Next week the Busch series will race in Las Vegas which will mark the return of Steve Park to the Busch Series in the #31 car.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2006

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/3)

This is a kind of humorous appearance that Michael Waltrip will be making April 1 in Martinsville, Virginia. It's at a professional wrestilng event. Yes, you read right. Apparently The United Wrestling Federation, owned by Hermie Sadler, has entered into a partnership with the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to promote their events. As part of that partnership both Michael and Jeff Hammond will appear at the Martinsville show. In what capacity I have no idea - it sure would be hysterical if Michael was somehow involved in a match! Hammond has actually wrestled in a professional wrestling match before but somehow I suspect Michael is more likely to just be appearing rather than joining in. Hee, hee, hee. I can dream though. I know it's all fake but in high school I was a big professional wrestling fan and used to watch all the time. Anyway, Michael has some sort of partnership going with Hermie in Cup in that Michael Waltrip Racing is working with Hermie's team to have Aaron's sponsor Hermie in a few Cup races. Michael agreeing to do this appearance probably comes out of that.

First practice for this weekend's Busch race wasn't too bad for Michael. When it was over he was 22nd out of 46 cars which is pretty good. Of course things can change quickly from practice to practice and then during the actual race but I'd love to see Michael finish strong this weekend. The first two race weekend have probably been a bit of a disappointment for him so I'm sure he'd like to have an incident-free race and at least a top 15 if not better. I have a feeling that Kevin Harvick might be the man to beat for this race and there are other strong road course racers who will be taking part but hopefully we'll be seeing the Aaron's Dream Machine up front too!

Otherwise, there's yet another online poll for Nascar fans to vote in. Yay. Fans get very wrapped up in these polls and it often gets ugly as different fan groups accuse each other of various misdeeds and sling insults. They also often aren't a very good indicator of what people really think as much as they are an indicator as to who has figured out the way to get the most votes in. Which is why they often aren't taken very seriously or used for much of anything other than as a way to get the fans involved (or in some cases to drive up hits on some websites). But Fox Sports has their Sexiest Driver poll going again this year. There are definitely drivers who I think are attractive and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. However, I'm uncomfortable with anything that plays into the stereotype that female fans are only interested in racing because they find some of the drivers "hot." Most female fans love the racing too but I think this poll reinforces some negative stereotypes about female race fans. Michael is facing off against Kevin this week. Though I've voted a few times to support Michael I feel very uncomfortable about it.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

"They Have Three Weeks to Fix It"

So said Alfonso Soriano before he left spring training for the Washington Nationals to join the Dominican Republic team in advance of playing in the World Baseball Classic. Three weeks is more or less when he will be back from the WBC and upon his return Soriano expects that there will be a magical solution to his problems. Unless the Nationals are able to trade Soriano or Jose Vidro (or Vidro is unable to play) I don't see this situation resolving itself anytime soon. Soriano said,

"They have three weeks to fix it."

Soriano seems to think that it's the National's responsiblity to figure out a solution. But based on the comments by Frank Robinson, the Nationals manager it sounds like the team isn't too willing to budge either. Robinson said,

"Hopefully [he will] come to us when he comes back -- or while he's there, maybe have his agent call us and say, 'OK, Alfonso said this is what he's going to do. That's what we're hoping for."

Sounds to me like they're hoping that Soriano will have a change of heart while he's gone and agree to play the outfield. Somehow I'm doubting that. So my question is, if Soriano isn't traded and Vidro is still at second for the Nationals, will Soriano refuse to play if his only option is to play the outfield?

Posted by silverdsl at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2006

Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz Allowed One Groupie a Year by Wife

Masha Lopatova claims that if she forbid her husband, NBA player Andrei Kirilenko, from having sex with other women completely it would be like the forbidden fruit and it would make hooking up with a groupie more alluring. So she is willling to allow him to have sex with one groupie a year. She says,

"What's forbidden is always desirable. And athletes, particularly men, are susceptible to all the things they are offered. It's the same way raising children - If I tell my child, 'No pizza, no pizza, no pizza,' what does he want more than anything? Pizza."

I'd like to think that there's a difference between resisting the urge to be unfaithful and resisting the urge to eat a piece of pizza.

Lopatova continues,

"If I know about it, it's not cheating."

Please. Cheating is cheating. Even if she knows about it he's still being unfaithful. What I'd like to know is why she's bothering to stop at one groupie? If she's okay with him cheating on her once a year, then why would she have a problem with him cheating on her more often? Kirilenko claims that he has no plans on taking advantage of his wife's offer but I have to wonder if the reality were hitting her square in the face that her husband was going to be with another woman if she might have a problem with it in the end.

It amazes me what some are willing to share publically.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:29 PM | Comments (0)

Headlines About Clay Aiken These Days Not About His Music

Apparently a few of the tabloids have been working themselves into a frenzy with various stories over the possiblity that Clay Aiken is gay. Aiken has denied being gay in the past but his sexual orientation has been a subject of debate, much to many of his fan's dismay, for a long time. Apparently the latest is that one man alleges he had a sexual encounter with Aiken and another man claims that while Aiken logged onto a gay website and engaged in a chat with him in an effort to solict sex. The second man has provided one of the tabloids with photos of Aiken, one of which he says is Aiken half-dressed, which he claims comes from a webcam that Aiken used during the chat. I have no clue if any of these allegations are true. I don't care whether Aiken likes men, women, both or neither. Aiken's sexual orientation is his business and I think it's very unfortunate that it's an issue for some.

However, I think that if it's true (and I'm not saying that it was so no hate mail please!) that Aiken was cruising websites and picking up random strangers for gay sex encounters he didn't use terribly good judgement if he wanted to stay in the closet. People talk and especially about those who are well-known so the news is going to travel if he's on those sites. But even worse would be using the webcam - what the heck was he thinking there if those images really are what it's alleged they are? I guess he didn't realize that someone could capture images off a webcam but it's pretty easy to do. Instant blackmail, or in this case, instant scandal. Which could have big ramifications for Aiken.

What's really incredible is that there is apparently a small group of fans who filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Comission against RCA and Sony/BMG claiming that they engaged in deceptive marketing and promotional campaigns and deliberately hid Aiken's real sexual orientation. Oh please! Since when are fans entitled to know every detail of someone's life, down to their sexual preference? If Aiken hid that he was gay, he was far from the first and he won't be the last. But most of all, many celebrities, maybe even the majority of them, have a public image which may differ from the way that they are privately. Fans feel like they "know" the celebrities they idolize because they see them so often on TV, hear them on the radio, and read about them in magazines, newspapers and online. Some fans get to meet their idols in person and spend time around them. But there is a difference between knowing the public persona and really knowing someone. If those Claymates are upset with Aiken's record companies for deceptive practices because they didn't promote the "real" Clay Aiken then they better start filing complaints against every other record company, movie studio, actor, actress, athlete, etc...

Yes, it's disappointing when someone you look up to isn't what you've always thought they were. I've definitely been disappointed in this way at times. But I've remained a fan of those people because I understand that my perception of the person who I think that they are might not really be who they are. Not to mention as I've mentioned countless times before in this space I expect that the people that I am a fan of are going to make mistakes or do things that I don't agree with. It can be disappointing at times but I accept that. But it seems that there are a lot of fans who have a hard time accepting when the real person isn't always like the fantasy version that they might have built up and put on a pedestal.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/2)

The biggest news for Michael Waltrip is that next week in Las Vegas, Michael Waltrip Racing, is going to announce a driver and sponsor for a Cup car which will be on the track for five races this season. Michael said,

We are even developing our own 2006 Dodge cars. The reason for this is three fold. First, to run a five-race 2006 schedule, which will be announced Friday afternoon of the Las Vegas race weekend next month. At that time, we will also announce a driver and sponsor combination. Secondly, to assist Toyota in understanding where the cars that are on track today are aerodynamically. And lastly, to help MWR’s employees to stay current with the competition. This group will be much better prepared to race in 2007 because of this plan.

I think that's a great plan - while Michael Waltrip Racing has fielded Cup cars before I believe they got a lot of the cars and engines in some way, shape or form from DEI in the recent past. This may be the first time they are building cars and engines from scratch, something they will be doing to some degree with Toyota's help in 2007. It's good to get a head start on '07 now and work on the cars and everything else in a situation where there won't be quite as much pressure to do well as there will be in '07 when the team is full-time. I'll reserve most of my other comments until after the announcement is made next Friday.

In the meantime, even though it's an early off-weekend for the Cup series, Michael will still be racing. He will head to Mexico with his #99 Aaron's Dream Machine to race in the Telcel-Motorola 200 presented by Banamex. I think Michael is underrated as a road course racer. He's never won but he does have eleven top ten finishes in 42 Cup races on road courses. He might not be Robby Gordon or Kevin Harvick who are considered road course experts but he can definitely hold his own on a road course when he has a competitive car. Last season Michael didn't make the trip to Mexico but I'm looking forward to seeing what he might be able to do this year! I have a good feeling about this race for him. I hope he gets to have some fun while he's in Mexico too!

Some fans continue to have concerns about the safety of the drivers and teams in Mexico. However, there were no incidents last year and as long as everyone uses common sense and is careful I doubt there will be any problems this year either. The fact is that the last thing that Nascar wants is for there to be any kind of incident that might bring negative media attention. So I doubt that they would race somewhere without ensuring that it is safe.

When Michael gets back from Mexico he will next be heading to Las Vegas, somewhere that I wish I was going too! I absolutely love Vegas and I can't wait until my next trip there! Next Thursday evening Michael will be making an appearance at the Sahara Hotel and Nascar Cafe. Other drivers who will be there then are Hermie Sadler and Carl Edwards. Michael is always popular at appearances but so is Edwards so I'm guessing that the wristbands, which must be picked up that morning, are going to be a hot item.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

Charlotte to Get Nascar Hall of Fame?

From Speed via Jayski's:

UPDATE 3: NASCAR will host a press conference Monday at 4:00pm/et at the Charlotte Convention Center to announce that Charlotte will be the home to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, multiple sources confirmed to SPEEDTV.com today. SPEED will break into its regular programming to cover the Hall of Fame announcement, whenever it takes place.(Speed Channel)(3-2-2006)

Did anyone really think it would go anywhere else? I'm sure Daytona was a strong candidate since Nascar's headquarters is there and the Daytona 500 is the biggest race of the season. But the Charlotte area is where the majority of teams are based and there is a constant inflow of Nascar fans whereas some of the other cities being considered, Daytona included, doesn't have quite the same year-round attraction to Nascar fans as Charlotte does. Of course it's not official-official yet but I would be very suprised if the Nascar Hall of Fame ended up elsewhere.

I guess it's just me but I'm not really even quite sure why where the Nascar Hall of Fame is going to go is getting so much hype anyway. The Baseball Hall of Fame is really cool and I'd love to go there someday. If it's done right the Nascar Hall of Fame could be just as good. However, I'm much more interested in who and what Nascar is going to put in it's Hall of Fame rather than where it's going to go.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:14 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2006

Ethical Problems for KTLA

KTLA's morning show broadcast from the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, California last week. Seems like a broadcast from a remote location just like any other that countless morning shows do every day right? Not this time. In this case three of the four anchors on the show were given free luxury rooms by the hotel to stay in the night before in exchange for the show being broadcast from the hotel. Although the producers of the show don't seem to understand why it's a problem this is a huge violation of journalistic ethics which dicate that reporters shouldn't take gifts in exchange for coverage. I don't know what the anchors on KTLA's show said about the hotel but their reviews of the hotel could very well have been influenced by having received the free rooms. That does a disservice to the viewers who think that they are hearing an unbiased review when that might not be the case.

What amazes me is that the producer of the show can't seem to grasp why this is a problem. Rich Goldner said,

"We're not trying to hide anything here, and the viewer knows that. We try to acknowledge whatever the service [provided] is, but the important thing to remember here is that we are always in control of the content."

They weren't trying to hide anything yet somehow they neglected to mention on-air that the rooms were free in exchange for the broadcast being done. They are in control of the content on their show but how are viewers supposed to know that they didn't make it more favorable because they got the free rooms? One also has to wonder if similar situations have happened before where the show has gotten free items in exchange for coverage?

Posted by silverdsl at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)

Alfonso Soriano Still Refuses to Consider the Outfield

I really can't imagine what Alfonso Soriano is thinking. Not only does he continue to refuse the Washington Nationals' request that he play the outfield so that Jose Vidro can play second base but he is being so stubborn that the matter may need to be resolved with involvement from the player's union and Major League Baseball with a ruling on whether a team is like an employer who can dictate what jobs their work force does. The issue is tabled for three weeks until Soriano gets back from playing in the World Baseball Classic but I think it could end up turning into something pretty ugly unless Soriano goes through a sudden change of heart.

In the end even if Soriano wins and isn't forced to move to the outfield I think he will lose because he's going to develop a reputation as a selfish and difficult player. Since he will be a free agent next season he needs to be doing everything he can this season to make a positive impression on possible employers. A bad reputation can be extremely difficult to shake. Teams want players who will talk about doing whatever their team asks of them, they don't want me-first players who put their own interests ahead of the team's. Of course if Soriano produces at the plate and puts up big numbers there will be any number of teams willing to put up with any headaches that would come along with having him on their team. But if he goes into any kind of a decline he may find himself with fewer suitors than he once might have had. Though Soriano has spoken many times about wanting to come back to the New York Yankees he is essentially ensuring that won't happen by refusing to play the outfield since the Yankees have a talented young second baseman, Robinson Cano, that they are likely to hold onto.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)