Random Thoughts

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April 30, 2007

Driver by Driver: Talladega I

1. Jeff Gordon - With this win Jeff passes Dale Earnhardt on the all time Cup wins list. Amazing! A lot of fans might not want to acknowledge it, but winning 77 Cup races is an outstanding achievement and speaks to Jeff's competitiveness and talent. Last season there was some talk that he lost something behind the wheel and that he wasn't as motivated to win, but there's no question that's not the case. In nine races so far this season Jeff has two wins, seven top fives and eight top tens, plus four poles.

2. Jimmie Johnson - Some fans, particularly Casey Mears fans, where upset with Jimmie because he wrecked the #25 as Casey was trying to get to pit road. Jimmie took responsiblity for the incident after the wreck, but it appears that there was some major miscommunication between all the Hendrick teams since Casey thought they were all pitting on that lap, but Jimmie and Jeff thought they were waiting another lap. I also think Jimmie was innocent of wrong-doing in the lap 131 wreck since it seemed like Tony Raines moved up, which caused Jimmie to move up and that's how he ended up getting into Ricky Rudd.

3. Kurt Busch - I don't know why but I had a feeling that Kurt was going to have a good race yesterday. It's actually his first top five of the season and it's good enough to move him into 10th in the points.

4. David Gilliland - This is David's best Cup finish of his career. Tony Stewart feels that David has no talent, but how does a driver with no talent race decently all day and then finish in the top five?

5. Jamie McMurray - Jamie's continuing to race well this season with two top fives in his last three races. I have to admit I had no clue who his sponsor(s) were for this race and I actually had to Google them to find out what products they had (TVs and "display enhancement" products). I guess the sponsors achieved their goal if it got me curious enough to look them up.

6. Kevin Harvick - I don't remember much being mentioned of Kevin during this race, but somehow he ended up finishing in the top ten, the second week in a row that he's finished in the top ten.

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Junior's won five times at this track but he only led two laps in this race so maybe that's why some of his fans were so upset with the outcome of this race because they might have felt that if the cautions had fallen differently Junior might have had a chance for a 6th win. Junior had a good car yesterday, but I think there were other teams with stronger cars so even if the cautions fell differently I'm not sure we would have seen Junior in Victory Lane.

8. David Stremme - Like Jamie McMurray, David has also finished in the top ten twice in the last three races. He continues to show that he's a much improved driver in 2007.

9. Ryan Newman - Ryan really needed this top ten after finishing 32nd and 38th in the last two races. I had forgotten how vibrant the Kodak paint scheme is. It's much easier to spot Ryan on the track when Kodak is on his car as opposed to his usual Alltel paint scheme.

10. Martin Truex Jr. - No surprise that DEI had two of their cars in the top ten at this track.

11. Scott Riggs - With another strong finish Scott is on the verge of racing his way into the top 35 in owner's points. All it's going to take is another good finish from him, and another poor finish from Casey Mears or even Ricky Rudd who has continued to sink in the owner's points.

12. Kasey Kahne - Hard to believe but this is Kasey's best finish of the season since Daytona.

13. Jeff Green

14. Matt Kenseth - Led a couple laps during this race but got shuffled back and was never able to get back up front.

15. Elliott Sadler - This is Elliott's best finish since the third race of the season in Las Vegas. I didn't realize this until I heard INC this evening, but according to Greg Biffle, Elliott played a hand in the late race wreck that contributed to the race finishing under caution.

16. Sterling Marlin - Sterling had a great car for this race and spent a lot of time in the top ten. However, he received damage in the lap 131 wreck and although he never lost a lap, the ensuing repairs on pit road caused him to lose a lot of track position he was never able to get back.

17. David Ragan - From the sounds of the post-race report on the Roush site, David struggled to find drafting help during this race in spite of having a strong car. That's no surprise considering he's a rookie who's gotten himself into trouble at times. David was actually in line for a better finish but he ran out of gas on the final lap and was barely able to finish the race. He was actually the top finishing rookie in this race.

18. Kyle Petty - Best finish of the season for Kyle.

19. J.J. Yeley - Had an overheating engine early in the race until his team pulled tape off the grill, and then had to deal with a tight condition for the rest of the race.

20. Bobby Labonte - I didn't realize this but at one time Bobby was three laps down due to a cut tire but they got three Lucky Dogs which enabled them to get back on the lead lap and finish 20th. A very different finish from Saturday's Busch race that Bobby won.

21. Denny Hamlin - Had just enough fuel to get to the end if the race were to stay green, unfortunately it didn't, and he had to pit for fuel when David Reutimann's engine blew, and he was unable to make up the spots he lost.

22. Tony Raines - Got into Jimmie Johnson and caused a wreck that took a number of cars out. I don't know if he got forced up into Jimmie, didn't know he was there or what, but he seemed to escape without major damage.

23. Jeremy Mayfield - Of the three races that Jeremy's been able to qualify for this is his best finish so far. This has to be considered a positive race for this team since they were able to race their way in, stay out of trouble and get a top 25 finish.

24. Regan Smith - In all three Cup races that Regan's raced this season he's finished just about the same - 25th, 26th, and his best yet 24th.

25. Reed Sorenson - Reed was another driver who was in line for a much better finish but was forced to stop for fuel during the extended caution to clean up after David Reutimann's blown engine.

26. Kenny Wallace

27. Boris Said

28. Tony Stewart - Of course there was no mention in Tony's post-race remarks when he slammed David Gilliland for his mistake, of Tony's own error where he sped on pit road which put him a lap down at one point. I guess it's fine for Tony to make mistakes but not others. Tony was in postition for a good finish until the last lap wreck so I can certainly understand his frustration, it's just the way he chooses to make his feelings known which doesn't sit well with me.

29. Greg Biffle - Greg was one of the cars involved in the last lap wreck. I'm not quite sure 100% what happened but according to what he said on INC, part of what led to that wreck was that he ran out of fuel and the car might have shut off at one point, then got going again which took some by surprise.

30. Johnny Sauter - Johnny was also involved in the last lap wreck.

31. Juan Montoya - Got heavy damage when he got into the wall towards the end of the race.

32. David Reutimann - Poor David. His luck has been so bad this season that he fully expected something to go wrong while he was racing in the top five, and it did. His engine blew with just a few laps left in the race, and that was a key moment not just for him but for many of his fellow competitors. It helped Jeff Gordon win the race, and the long caution to clean up the oil on the track from his engine created problems for some others who didn't have enough fuel to get to the end. But it really was a positive race for David because he showed that he can race up front when he has a good car.

33. Ricky Rudd - Overcame a battery issue, but then got wrecked on lap 130 when Tony Raines forced Jimmie Johnson into him.

34. Jeff Burton - An innocent victim of the lap 130 wreck.

35. Clint Bowyer - Got into the wall, then got a flat tire as a result, then spun as a result of that which led to Clint having to spend 40 laps behind the wall for repairs.

36. Ward Burton - Blown engine ruined his day.

37. Kyle Busch - Terrible weekend for Kyle. He was involved in two hard wrecks, the first of which in the Busch race was extremely scary because his car flipped and was on fire.

38. Joe Nemechek - Got wrecked.

39. Casey Mears - The bad luck continues for Casey. While attempting to enter pit road because he was under the impression that all the Hendrick cars were pitting on that lap, Casey got wrecked by his own teammate, Jimmie Johnson, who had no idea Casey was going to make a move for pit road. It was a case of extremely poor communication between the Hendrick teams and it was very costly for Casey since he had been racing up front for much of the time until that point. He's just hanging on to 35th in the owner's points.

40. Dale Jarrett - DJ had to use his last champion's provisional to make this race. The hope was that he could finish well enough to get into the top 35 in owner's points but an engine problem ended his day very early on. I think DJ's in big trouble when it comes to making the next few races since his car has been much slower than the rest of the field, almost embarassingly slow. And it may not be all car. DJ admitted recently he's not a very good qualifier so that likely plays a role in things as well.

41. Robby Gordon - Blown engine for Robby. I'm interested to see where things go for Robby because the early indications are that he might be in for a tough season.

42. Carl Edwards - A blown engine did him in early.

43. Paul Menard - Poor Paul. He was able to qualify for this race, but then didn't even get to race 40 laps before his engine blew.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)

Random Thoughts on Talladega

*There's no excuse for fans throwing beer cans or anything else on the track. Ever. I don't care how upset someone is about Jeff Gordon or another driver winning, that the race finished under caution, that they think Nascar is a corrupt bunch of idiots, or how many conspiracy theories they believe. Throwing beer cans puts other fans at risk of injury, and it's really disappointing to me how many condone this kind of behavior because in their minds it's an acceptable way to send a message to Nascar about how displeased they are with the sport. I have to agree that Nascar is getting a message alright, and it's that some fans are immature idiots. Why would Nascar listen to people who think it's appropriate to throw things? The worst part is that the fans who think this is the right way to act are going to ruin things for the majority of fans who know how to behave appropriately at the track. If this continues the tracks will be forced to restrict beer sales like they do at baseball stadiums, and put other restrictive measures in place that fans will dislike. Of course the people who will complain the loudest will likely be those whose actions are what led to those rules being put in place.

*After being declared the winner and being belted with debris from the track, Jeff did a brief burnout in front of the grandstands. Afterwards he said that he probably shouldn't have done that because it was like rubbing his win in the faces of the people who were upset. I think it's outrageous that a race winner has to apologize for celebrating a win. Jeff earned the right to do a burnout or anything else he wanted to do to celebrate, particularly since with this win he passed Dale Earnhardt on the all-time career wins list.

*I'm sick of Tony Stewart. Every week there's a new complaint about someone or something. Just days after causing a huge controversy with his accusations about Nascar and the way they throw cautions, which earned him a tongue-lashing from Nascar and his own organization, Tony was at it again. I definitely understand why Tony was upset since he had just got wrecked, and he thought it was avoidable. However, it amazes me that he thought it was appropriate to say that David Gilliland has "no talent" and "lucked into" his ride. Come on! Tony needs to learn some respect for his fellow competitiors. Maybe David could have been racing different, but he doesn't even have a year's worth of experience in Cup. Even with more experience he's going to make some mistakes as does every driver, Tony included. Tony may have some valid points, but it's completely lost when he chooses to express himself by insulting others or constantly complaining week after week. How can he be taken seriously when there's always something he's upset about? Other drivers like Kyle Petty or Jeff Burton find ways to be candid in their opinions without insulting anyone, Tony should learn to do the same. Maybe if Tony is miserable in Nascar and thinks his fellow competitors are so lacking in talent, he should find another series to race in.

*Some fans are upset with the timing of when Nascar threw the caution for David Reutimann's blown engine, believing that it was thrown only when Jeff took the lead because they wanted him to win. Rubbish. What they don't realize is that Nascar was also upset with how that situation played out. As I mentioned in a previous entry, David and his team were called to the Nascar hauler for a chat because Nascar was displeased with how long it took David to move down and off the track once his engine blew. So him staying in line the way he did might have contributed to why Nascar threw the caution when they did. It certainly contributed to the length of the caution since David trailed a lot of oil around the track that the track workers had to clean up before they could go green again. Of course even if that's known a lot of fans are still going to insist that Nascar is pro-Hendrick and is doing everything they can to help them succeed. Ridiculous. Hendrick is doing so well because right now they're probably the strongest organization in the garage.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2007

Photo of the Day - Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood. Oregon. September, 2006.

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

Mixed Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing

Let's start with the good news first. David Reutimann qualified 14th for today's Cup race at Talladega and raced his way into the top five where he was able to stay until the last ten laps of the race when his engine blew. It was awesome to see David race up front! I think this was the first time that a Toyota team has legitamitely been in a position to contend for a win, and not be in the top five because of having raced there as opposed to not pitting when the rest of the field has. It was equally wonderful to have the TV coverage of Michael Waltrip Racing finally be about something positive and be complimentary. David, Domino's and MWR got a lot of exposure during the broadcast today, and it was awesome to see! I loved hearing David's crew chief Frankie Kerr be interviewed.

But what was best of all to me was hearing David and his team discuss strategy during the last few laps and talk about possibly going for the win. That David was in position to contend for a win was outstanding, and it's something that he and his entire team should be proud of! On every level when David has a good car or truck he's shown that he can take it to the front, and it's clear that in Cup it's no different! I also loved hearing Michael come on David's radio and be so complimentary of David and his team. Although it has to be hard for Michael to not be racing, he did an excellent job as an owner today of trying to keep David's confidence up during the race, and express how happy he was with what they were doing. Though the engine blowing was surely a major disappointment for everyone, it still had to make them happy to see David race so well today. That had to give them hope for the future for all their teams. I have no doubt that if Michael had that extra 1/100th of a second's worth of speed that he needed to qualify in for that race he too would have been up front with David today.

Unfortunately when David's engine blew, quite a bit of oil leaked onto the track, and Nascar was less than thrilled with him because they felt he should have dropped down and gotten off the track a lot sooner. So they called David and his team to the hauler after the race for a chat. David said over his radio that the reason that he didn't get off the track sooner was because his car was filled with so much smoke that he couldn't see anything. A lot of fans were upset thinking that Nascar's deliberately giving David a hard time for some reason, and the team was upset as well. But I don't think this is a big deal. David's a rookie in Cup, and Nascar will probably just want to make sure he understands what they expect of him in that situation. The team will go in and explain why David didn't get off the track as quickly as Nascar would have liked. Everyone will make nice, the team will be annoyed for a little while about it, but it'll be fogotten about pretty quickly I think.

Unfortunately, the weekend was pretty bad for Dale Jarrett and Michael. Even though he qualified 20th for this race, Michael missed his eighth race in a row. It boggles my mind by how little Michael is missing race - just by the tiniest fraction of a second. For the third time this season David knocked Michael, his car owner, out of the field, and that has to hurt. But hopefully with a permanent crew chief, that'll help the #55 team get on track and start making races by a fraction of a second instead of missing them by that small of a margin. Then from there they can work on getting even better. At least the car had some speed this weekend since in the past they've been among the slowest on the track. That wasn't the case this week, they just came up a little short. Assuming everyone continues to have patience, and Michael isn't forced out of the car, I think they'll start making some races sometimes soon, especially since May is when they'll be using the new car that Toyota helped them build.

As for Dale Jarrett, I think he's in some trouble. DJ used his last Champion's provisional, which might have been okay if he had been able to race his way into the top 35 in owner's points today with a strong finish. However, DJ DNF'd due to an ignition problem. By his own recent admission DJ isn't a good qualifier, and that in combination with the fact that most weeks the #44 has been even slower than the #55, indicates to me that DJ might be missing some races sometime soon. I hope that's not the case but so far this season except for one race, it's seemed like the #44 have been the slowest on the track, something that's gone unnoticed because he's been making races thanks to the provisional. It's very unfortunate that DJ wasn't able to have a good race today because MWR, and likely Toyota, was hopeful that he'd be able to get into the top 35 and at least one Toyota team would be locked in that way. Unless things turn around fast, the chances of any Toyota team making it into the top 35 in owner's points and sticking there are growing less and less.

Still, in spite of the woes for Michael and DJ, there were definitely things for MWR to be happy about. As Ty Norris said over David's radio at one point - today was a "spectacular" day for the #00 team. I'm hopeful that we'll be seeing more of David, Michael and DJ race up front and contend for wins in the future!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

David Hyder and Michael Waltrip Racing "Part Ways"

It's hard to know exactly what to make of this, but David Hyder, who was the crew chief of the #55 until he was suspended due to the foreign substance found in the car at Daytona, has "parted ways" with Michael Waltrip Racing effective Friday according to Michael Waltrip. He offered no details, and I have my doubts about whether we'll ever hear what led to him leaving, whether it was voluntary, or whether he was fired. What I think is interesting is the timing because Michael and others from MWR had met with Nascar a couple of weeks ago in Texas to discuss the Daytona mess and whether they could start the process of getting Hyder and director of competition Bobby Kennedy unsuspended. From the sounds of it at that time Nascar shared some information with them regarding the substance, and I can't help but wonder if that led to Hyder leaving MWR.

ESPN2 reported that Nascar is going to help MWR investigate the Daytona mess further, but I'm hesitant to believe that considering ESPN2 has shown to be less than reliable regarding some of what they report in that it's either only part of the what actually happened or minor things are embellished to make for a more interesting story. However, if that's true, I wonder what prompted Nascar to get involved? They had said previously that their investigation was closed and they had no intention of helping MWR or do anything futher to get to the bottom of what happened, something I think is important. For better or for worse, I think the truth of what happened needs to come out, particularly since I think it would probably help fix some of the damage done to Michael's reputation if it was revealed that he had no knowledge of what was done to the #55 car.

Some fans feel that now that Hyder is no longer with MWR he'll tell his side of the story publically, but I doubt that. For one thing there's likely an agreement with MWR that prevents him from speaking in detail. But I also think no matter what Hyder says it wouldn't look good for him. He can say that he had no clue what was done to the car in which case he looks like a bad crew chief for not having any idea that a major illegial modification was made to a car he was responsible for. He can't admit to knowing that the foreign substance was in the car because then he'd be admitting to taking part in the biggest cheating scandal in Nascar in years. And he can't accuse Michael, Ty Norris, Bobby Kennedy, anyone else at MWR or wrong-doing, or anyone at another organization of sabatoge, without some sort of proof, which presumably he doesn't have otherwise it would have surfaced already.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:36 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Lobbies for Changes to Qualifying

Now that there's so many new teams, it's routine for 50 or more cars to show up at the track each week to try to qualify for races. Some well-funded teams with good drivers have been going home instead of racing, sometimes when they've been faster than cars who are locked into the field because they're in the top 35 in owner's points. It seems that the time might be right for some changes to the qualifying procedure and Michael Waltrip has some ideas. He said,

"They ought to draw for qualifying, like they do now. Then, the top 35 go out one through 35. Then you've got this drama built. Then you let the scrubs go out. Let's see who has got what. Seven of these guys are going to make it. It would be more fair if we were right there together.''

I like Michael's idea. I think it levels the playing field for those who aren't locked in if they're all qualifying under the same conditions as much as possible. It would likely also make things easier on those teams since they would know a lot faster once they started qualifying whether they were in or not.

What bothers me a little though, is how recently Michael has started referring to himself and the others who aren't in the top 35 as "scrubs." That's just his catch-all phrase for those who are go-or-go-homers but it implies that they're lessor drivers than those that are in the top 35, and that's far from true. I can't help but think that drivers who have won 54 Cup races, 5 Daytona 500s, a Cup Championship and a Busch Championship among them are a pretty talented bunch. They've just got the cards stacked against them due to being outside the top 35 and because of how competitive the Cup series is right now.

Michael also feels that there should be a qualifying session for go-or-go-home drivers the following day if the regularly scheduled qualifying session is rained out as is what happened at Texas recently. He said,

"Texas was a crisis. Our sponsors pay as much for us to compete as sponsors pay for cars in the top 35. It was more upsetting to Domino's and NAPA that qualifying got canceled on Friday and that's it, go home. They said, `Why couldn't we have qualified on Saturday?' They should come up with qualifying for the whole field. Say it rains on Friday. Set the top 35 by points and we're going to have a session for the other guys on Saturday. We're going to try to get qualifying in for these guys so they can go home knowing they had a chance.''

I'm not sure I like the second part of Michael's idea as much. I know it would benefit the sponsors for those teams because it would give them a chance to make the race. However, it doesn't seem fair to me that the field is set by owner's points for some teams and that others get to race their way in. If there's going to be a make-up qualifying session, seems to me that it should be for the full field.

Kyle Petty agrees that there should be some changes made to qualifying.

"On at least two occasions, he's been beat by the luck of the draw. He's been fast enough. Other guys have been beat by the luck of the draw, too, and other guys have got in by the luck of the draw.''

I think what bothers me is Kyle's point about how Michael's been fast some weekends, yet he's still gone home.Why should a team that's among the fastest 43 on the track have to go home? This sport is all about speed, and it should be the fastest 43 cars that get to race. If that were the case Michael would probably have raced three more times this season, yet his team has had to pack up and go home. I understand why the top 35 rule exists - the idea behind the rule was that sponsors wouldn't have to worry about a team they poured a huge amount of money into missing races. But the rule's now outdated because there's way more than 35 teams that are well-funded. It's time to re-evaluate the rule. My preference would be to see the field determined by the top 43 fastest with no provisionals, even if that meant that top teams missed races, but I know that'll never happen. So I'd like to see them go back to a system where there's some sort of limited provisional system so that teams could have some protection if there was a mechanical issue or they wrecked during qualifying, but otherwise it was the fastest 43 cars in the field. Michael would be racing a lot more if that were the case, and so would a few other drivers.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)

Rumors Continue to Swirl Around Michael Waltrip

As the problems continue to mount for Michael Waltrip and the #55 team, the rumors continue to swirl that Michael will be stepping out of the car in place of another driver or that NAPA is leaving for another team. Both of those rumors have been denied, but that's not stopping people from speculating as Michael continues to miss races.

The rumor that I find most disturbing is the one about Michael turning the #55 over to another driver. I think that would destroy him to have to stop racing. A lot of people are convinced that Michael doesn't care much for racing, and that all he's interested in is doing TV and getting his sponsors exposure. In reality, it hurts him to miss races because he's every bit as competitive as any other driver on the track. Michael loves racing, and it's all he's known for the majority of his life. One day he'll retire from racing, but I want to see it happen on his own terms, and not because others convince him he can no longer get good results on the track. But for now at least, it appears Michael's going to continue as driver of the #55. He was asked recently about whether he had considered putting another driver in the car, and he said that he

"...considered everything in the world that could make this team successful. But, other than considering it, it hasn't gotten all that far with me because I believe I have the right people in place in management. I feel that I've got the best shot of anybody I know around here of getting this car in the race. So I want to be that guy who gets in it and goes and tries to do that.''

I'm glad to hear that idea hasn't been considered very seriously. I can understand at the end of the season if Michael evaluates things and decides that it might be best for him to take a step back from racing full-time. But I don't agree with him making that move less than ten races into the season no matter how many problems they've had qualifying for races. All the Toyota teams have problems across the board, and I don't think a different driver is going to improve the performance of the #55.

Which is exactly what Michael said. Apparently there's no truth to the rumor that MWR plans on putting Bill Elliott behind the wheel of the #55.

"That's just people speculating. We haven't talked to Bill. We're not looking to put a Band-Aid on an arm that has been cut off. We're working to get the arm back on."

Which is exactly the approach they should have - thinking long-term. I wouldn't be happy if they put Bill behind the wheel because it would only be about his Champion's provisionals which would lock them in for six races. That's a short-term fix for only six races when they have to take steps to improve the performance over the long-term so that they have cars fast enough to qualify in for races on time. I also think the last thing that Michael needs is more negativity directed towards him which is exactly what would happen if he put Bill behind the wheel. Sure, NAPA would get exposure for those six races, but that might be overshadowed by the controversy of abusing the Champion's provisional.

Michael also said,

"No one has asked me to step aside. You look at the performance of all the Toyotas and we're not where we need to be right now."

I'm glad to hear that no one has asked him to get out of the car. In addition, Michael is completely right about Toyota's Cup program - it simply isn't very good right now. Michael's been taking a lot of the heat because he's not made any races since Daytona, but the reality is that none of the Toyota teams have been impressive. Sure, Brian Vickers got Toyota their first top ten in Cup, but even his team has struggled to make races, with Brian only racing in four races so far this season. And Bill Davis Racing who most had thought would be Toyota's best hope for success this season has had dismal results. Not a single Toyota team is in the top 35 in owner's points, and there hasn't been a race yet that all of their teams have made the field. Overall, all of the Toyota teams need to improve their competitiveness and find more speed, not just Michael's team.

As for NAPA, last week there was a rumor that they were talking to Richard Childress Racing and Roush-Fenway Racing about potentially leaving MWR to join one of those organizations. It wouldn't suprise me if there was some truth there. It's to be expected that teams that are in need of sponsorship might reach out to sponsors they think might be interested in making a change. And it's good business for NAPA to listen to what other teams are offering even if they're not really interested in leaving MWR. However, how likely is it that NAPA's really going to leave MWR? I don't think it's very likely, right now at least. For one thing NAPA's made a significant investment in Michael and the #55 beyond the sponsorship in terms of marketing, advertising and promotions. How willing are they to toss all that, especially before the end of the season. Michael and NAPA are also very closely associated in Nascar, and many fans don't think of one without thinking of the other. But beyond that, another team and driver is going to have to be able to get NAPA as much exposure in as many creative ways as Michael's able to do. I don't think there's that many teams or drivers who can give NAPA a Waltrip Racing World to be a part of or any of the other many ways that Michael makes sure that even during a poor season NAPA remains visible. Furthermore, I would hope that NAPA was prepared for the possiblity that this season could be a challenging one, and expected that they might miss races, maybe even a lot of races. Of course they have every right to be disappointed and expect improvements to be made, but I would hope that they're willing to give Michael a chance to turn things around.

According to Michael, NAPA does have patience. He denied the rumors that they're leaving and said,

"NAPA has ... had a lot of trials and tribulations; they've been really very supportive of getting this whole thing turned around. ....This is the first year. I read on the Internet that NAPA was looking. They are; they're looking for us to do a better job."

Of course Michael's not going to admit it if NAPA is looking elsewhere, but since Michael just met with NAPA a couple of weeks ago, I'd guess he's more familiar with their plans and thinking than most are.

Another thing that Michael addressed recently was the belief that he should stop doing as much TV work and other things that aren't directly related to his teams. He said,

"Man, I wish you knew how much I love it. It makes me happy. It's a relief. Some people go hunting. Some people go boating. Some people go on vacation. I like to do TV. When you having a bad year and your car is not fast it's real easy to figure out there's something wrong with your focus. ... I have to make sure the people that are paying me to race my car are comfortable with who I am and what I do as far as my attention span, my attention to the details."

Which basically means that he didn't really want to give up doing Tradin' Paint, but felt that he had to. Of course spending more time with his team(s) at the track is a good thing. However, I think given all the pressure he's under, and all the problems he's had to deal with, it's important that Michael has an escape, something that he can do that he enjoys so much, that he can do and not have to think about missing races and all the other issues for a while. I also think that not only is it important for the sponsors to be comfortable with who Michael is and what he's doing, but also that Michael himself is comfortable with who he is. I hope that one day soon things will improve with his teams, and Michael will be free to do as much TV work as he wants.

Michael, and MWR need some positive things to happen for them to quell some of the rumors. I believe that Toyota, Michael and all at MWR are doing everything they can to turn things around and get improved results. But I hope improved results and Michael being able to qualify for races starts to happen soon - it's painful to see Michael struggle so much.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)

People the Problem at Michael Waltrip Racing?

Larry McReynolds thinks so. In a recent column he said,

"Michael Waltrip stepping out of his race car is not the answer to the problems at Michael Waltrip Racing because the same people are still going to be involved. Surrounded by good people, Waltrip could easily do everything he's doing: run three race teams, drive the car, do television and radio, be a dad, son, father and husband.

He's going to have to bring in people that won't sit there and shake their head up and down or back and forth depending on which way he's shaking it. That's what he has right now. He's got to get people that will say, "Michael, no. You can't do that. That won't work. We don't need to do that." The right people will still respect that he owns it, but they're not just ear massagers. That's what he has. They're just marching to the beat of his drum, and Michael doesn't have the right beat."

I agree completely that Michael replacing himself as driver of the #55 isn't the answer. They could put Jeff Gordon behind the wheel and the results aren't likely to improve very much because it's the cars that are the problem. The cars simply aren't fast enough to make races. I also think that on the competition side Michael needs people around him, and particularly a crew chief, who are willing to take control and be the person to make decisions regarding the set-up of the cars and other things that relate to performance. That's difficult because Michael has an extremely strong personality, so his crew chief also needs to have a strong personality. Good communication is essential.

However, what I don't agree with is the idea that the only people Michael is surrounded with are "yes" men and women. I highly doubt that Ty Norris, who has worked at some of the best organizations in the garage area including DEI, is nothing more than a "yes" man. There are others at MWR who've worked with Michael for years, and would likely be comfortable and willing to express their opinions candidly to Michael even if their opinions are different from his.

But ultimately Michael is the owner of MWR. Whether the decisions are the right ones or not, they're his to make. He needs to do what he feels is best for himself, for his teams, for his drivers, for his sponsors, and for MWR, whether people agree with him or not.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:39 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2007

Tony Stewart Fined $10,000 and Placed on Probation

There's really two issues at the heart of why Tony Stewart was fined $10,000 and placed on probation by Nascar, but only one of them has gotten a lot of attention, and that's Tony's accusations about Nascar throwing cautions as a way to manipulate competition, even throwing cautions when there's no need to actually do so. The other issue, which is what started all of this, was Tony's refusal to do post-race interviews as he's required to do, after finishing second in last week's Cup race at Phoenix. Tony explained on his Sirius radio show that he skipped the post-race interviews was because he was angry about the way that Nascar threw the cautions during the race, and he didn't want to get himself in trouble by critcizing Nascar in the media. Perhaps Tony forgot that the radio is also a form of media, because he then proceeded to accuse Nascar of some serious wrong-doing, and got himself into trouble anyway.

Tony could have saved himself a lot of problems had he just done the interview as required. Fact is despite how he insisted on his show that he has no obligations to do post-race interviews, and that it's only a courtesy to Nascar and to the media, Nascar includes on the entry blank a requirement that the top three finishing drivers meet with the media, which is what he's officially been penalized for. However, I think Tony also has obligations to his sponsors and to his fans that he fails to fulfill when he refuses interviews. He's supposed to get his sponsors as much exposure as possible, and when he dodges the media that's one less opportunity to get his sponsors visibility. But more than that, giving interviews is Tony's way of communicating with the fans. That's the only way that fans know what he's thinking - good or bad - about the race he just took part in, and about finishing second. Tony often lets his emotions get the best of him, and he was trying to avoid saying something he would regret - well, he ended up doing that anyway. I understand that it's difficult for him at times to keep his emotions under control and not say something he would regret later but after this long in the sport Tony should realize that dealing with the media is a requirement even when things don't go his way.

As for his comments about Nascar on his Sirius show, I'm one of the few fans who think they were completely inappropriate. I think Tony is entitled to express his opinions about the way that Nascar throws cautions. But there's a big difference between saying that maybe Nascar throws cautions to bunch the field up or wondering if Nascar is quick to throw cautions when they don't need to, and accusing Nascar of wrong-doing as if it's a done deal they do so without giving any proof. John Darby was on XM last week explaining why each of those cautions were legitamite. Where's Tony's proof that they weren't?

I think the worst part in my mind was the comments he made that accuse Nascar of manipulating races. He said,

“It’s like playing God. They can almost dictate the race at that point instead of the drivers doing it. It has happened too many times this year. ...At what point does NASCAR get the hint? I guess that NASCAR thinks, ‘Hey, wrestling worked and it was, for the most part, staged. So I guess it’s going to work in racing, too.’ ”

Professional wrestling is completely scripted, so Tony's inferring that races are too. That's insulting to Nascar, and insulting to his fellow drivers as well because Nascar would have to conspire with teams and drivers to make that possible. In fact Jeff Burton said,

"Any belief by teams or by fans that NASCAR does something to help a particular team, that drives me wacko. I'll quit if I believe that's where we are. I'll just have to quit. I don't believe they throw a caution so Jeff Gordon can win Phoenix. That worked out, and the 24 car got lucky. It wasn't NASCAR's fault. I don't think they throw a caution so the Lowe's car can win at Lowe's Motor Speedway. I think that's ludicrous. If ever believe that it's like that, I'd quit."

Why would any driver, owner or sponsor want to be involved in the sport if they thought that the finish of races are predetermined and that Nascar helps some teams, and maybe not others?

Tony also said,

“It’s about the integrity of the race and the integrity of the sport and when I feel like our own sanctioning body isn’t taking care of that, it’s hard to support them. It’s hard to feel proud about being a driver in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series when they’re throwing debris cautions.”

Ironically, after his meeting with Nascar yesterday Tony noted that it was he who in fact damaged the integrity of the sport, and I agree. If a driver accuses the sanctioning body of throwing cautions to manipulate races, fans are going to assume they're right because they're on the track in the races, even though that driver may not be fully aware of all the factors that went into why the caution was called, or even what the debris was. I also think if Tony is so unhappy in Nascar, and one could certainly get the impression that he's miserable considering how many weeks in a row he's complained about something or someone, then maybe he should look at racing in another series. Of course that's not going to happen because the reality is that racing in Nascar has been very good to Tony - he's a two-time Champion, who's won 29 Cup races, and he's made a significant amount of money as a Nascar driver.

Even the J.D. Gibbs, the president of Joe Gibbs Racing, the organization that Tony races for felt that Tony's comments were a problem. He said,

"I think for us, we're going to have a long conversation with him. We've already had some. He knows where we are and he knows he impacts Joe Gibbs Racing, Home Depot, this sport more than he realizes. I want him to know we have 420 families at Joe Gibbs Racing that we need to be healthy. And for us to be healthy we need him to conduct himself in the right way. I think he understands that and realizes that."

Sure Tony realizes it. Unfortunately his entire career he's shown an inability to keep his emotions under control. Every season we hear about how Tony's changed from the way he once was, but eventually there's an incident on or off the track that indicates the only thing that's different is that Tony's learned to keep his hands to himself, but not his emotions in check.

I heard it said, but can't seem to verify it in any articles, that Nascar is going to have Tony sit in the control tower during a Busch race so he can understand what goes on and the process by which cautions are thrown. I think that's a very good idea, and Tony may change his mind about a few things after that. Claire B. Lang sat in the control tower during a truck race, and based on what she recounted on her XM show afterwards, it didn't sound too likely that Nascar has time to figure out ways to manipulate outcomes. In addition, there's multiple people around the track and in the control tower who have a hand in passing along information or deciding when a caution is thrown. I really doubt all of them are conspiring to call cautions for debris that doesn't exist.

After his meeting with Nascar Tony backed away from many of his comments, and said

"To be honest, the group that I spoke with this morning is a group of peers that I trust. If they tell me the stuff is out there, I believe them. I should have went to them instead of just saying it out in public."

That's exactly what he should have done, but Tony often acts without thinking. Many fans are going to say that Nascar wrote those comments for Tony and that they've forced him to back away from his criticism. In reality Nascar explained to Tony why he was off-base, and made it clear that his way of expressing his opinion, as well as skipping his media obligations was inappropriate. Despite what many fans think Nascar is well within their rights to defend themselves from what they say are baseless accusations, and penalize a driver for a violation of their rules. Like it or not, Nascar calls the shots and if a driver really doesn't like it they can find another series to race in. MLB and the NBA also penalize players and owners for criticizing officials or arguing calls, why should Nascar be any different?

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

360OTC Dropped as World of Outlaws Title Sponsor

I've mentioned a few times in this space that something seems very off about 360OTC, the primary sponsor for Jeremy Mayfield's #36 team, and that they were removed as title sponsor by the World of Outlaws from their Late Model division makes me suspect even more that their sponsorship of the #36 team may not last long-term. The CEO of the World Racing Group, Tom Deery said,

“We enthusiastically promoted the 360OTC brand and were delivering, and even over delivering, on our obligations in the partnership. Unfortunately, Rockford-Montgomery Labs and its 360OTC brand were not able to live up to its responsibilities and obligations and we are effectively ending the sponsorship.

Of course I don't really know exactly how 360OTC didn't live up to their obligations, but I would guess that for one thing they likely stopped paying their bills. Nothing causes a partnership between a sponsor and an organization to be ended quicker than when the money stops coming in. It may also be that Rockford-Montgomery, the parent company of 360OTC made some promises about how they were going to market their World of Outlaws sponsorship that they failed to follow through on. In Nascar it also seems as if they also haven't made as much of a splash as they indicated they were going to do when they first signed on to sponsor the #36 car. However, they must be continuing to pay Bill Davis Racing for their sponsorship, since they're on Mayfield's #36 this weekend, and also the trucks of Johnny Benson and Tyler Walker. I just have to wonder how long that's going to continue, especially if they still struggle to get their product into stores as they have so far. I think BDR could have problems if 360OTC stops paying the bills. They've run trucks without sponsorship before, but a lack of outside funding coming in could interfere with their ability to be competitive on the Cup level where speed costs money. And speed is something they most definitely need to help the #36 qualify for races.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

Juan Pablo Montoya Fined, Placed on Probation

Yes, this is old news but I'm still playing catch-up due to how busy I've been. At any rate, last week Juan Pablo Montoya was fined $10,000 and placed on probation through the end of the season for giving the finger on camera during a practice session at Phoenix. Apparently Montoya was joking around and didn't realize that the gesture was going to be live on Speed.

I understand why Nascar penalized JPM, and other drivers for giving the finger. The last thing they want is for drivers to routinely give the finger on live TV and have it re-played over and over again in the media, and discussed by fans endlessly. Many think that giving the finger is no big deal, but there's also a lot of people who think it's extremely inappropriate and offensive, so Nascar doesn't want anything to happen that might damage the image of the sport as one that's family-friendly. However, I think that there should be a distinction in the rule for drivers who give the finger knowing full-well they could be on camera, and when a driver has no idea there's a camera around. To me there's a big difference in JPM joking around with a friend, not being aware that him giving the finger is going to end up on Speed, and a driver giving the finger in anger to another driver after an incident knowing that the cameras are going to be on them trying to capture their reaction.

What's interesting to me, and I've not seen any mention of this elsewhere, is that the article on That's Racin' notes that Tony Stewart has twice given the finger to drivers, including at least once this season that was caught on camera, and so obvious that the driver it was intended for commented on it later, yet he was never penalized for it. So why then was JPM? It's quite possible that no one from Nascar saw Tony give the finger on those two occassions. Maybe it also comes down to how much of an issue it is with the fans. I don't remember anyone making a fuss about Tony giving the finger, but JPM doing it caught the attention of many fans who felt he should be penalized for it. That shouldn't be the way that penalities are handed out. It's unfair for one driver to be punished but not another for the same infraction. Penalities should be handed out for rules being broken and inappropriate behavior, not because of how much of a fuss it causes with fans.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2007

Argh!

I had this whole giant entry going about Michael Waltrip, his latest woes, NAPA, all the rumors and everything else but my browser froze and stupid me hadn't saved any of it! So I lost the whole thing. Seems like that always happens when I'm working on my longest entries. At any rate, I don't have the time to recreate it now, but needless to say I may scream if I read any more negativity directed towards Michael. Why can't anything go right for him, and why does everyone have to pile on to rip him? I have another huge event at work, but hopefully later or over the next few days I can grab some time to really let loose about how I feel about all this. I hope he qualifies for Talladega, has a good race and maybe that'll shut some people up for a while!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2007

Amazing

I'm astonished by how many Earnhardt fans took offense to Jeff Gordon taking his Victory Lap around the track on Saturday night with a #3 flag. Jeff had just tied Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time wins list with 76 victories, and flying that flag was meant as his way of showing respect for a man who he was friendly with and whom he had learned a lot from. Sadly, many Earnhardt fans interpreted that gesture as gloating, disrespectful and inappropriate. One fan even went so far as to refer to what Jeff did as "dancing on Earnhardt's grave." Ridiculous. Some fans are completely unable to put aside their blind hatred of Jeff to see what a nice gesture he made. A gesture that was very much appreciated by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who can't figure out why some fans are reacting the way that they are. He said, "

I don't understand the disrespect - what's the angle there? Basically, when you win a race, it's all about you at that moment. You won, you're happy, you're excited, you're the best of the best. And he decided to split that down the middle, 50/50, and give my father some respect and take half of his moment and give it to my dad. I thought that was really classy."

In addition, the member of Jeff's team who thought up the idea, Aaron Kuehn, actually asked Junior and his sister Kelley for their approval, which they gave, months ago. So this team did everything right - showed respect for a legend of the sport, and asked his family to be sure it was okay with them, and still fans are upset? I can't understand why. I think some fans are so determined to dislike Jeff and everything he does that they're looking for any excuse to rip into him, even if they have to make up reasons in their head. I find it somewhat scary that so many fans are convinced that Jeff had some sort of malicious intent behind what he did, in spite of Junior repeatedly expressing his approval, and that Jeff did nothing wrong.

But really why should I be surprised? There's a segment of fans who are so close-minded that once they make their minds up about things they refuse to believe anything else could possibly be true, even when there's evidence to show that they're wrong. Apparently Michael Waltrip said on last night's Inside Nextel Cup that fan who take issue with what Jeff did should "grow up!" and I agree!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2007

Driver by Driver: Phoenix

Much like a lot of races recently, it seemed like things started out slow in Phoenix, but then picked up as the night went on. Based on what those who were at the race said, it was a lot more exciting in person than on TV, which often seems to be the caes. I wish the TV broadcast was able to do a better job of capturing the racing in a way that made it compelling from start to finish.

1. Jeff Gordon - With this victory, Jeff tied Dale Earnhardt with 73 career wins. That's a huge amount of wins, and no easy feat. I'll do a separate entry about the reaction many Earnhardt fans had to Jeff carring a #3 flag during his victory lap, but I think it's unfortunate that so many are unable to get past their hatred for a driver to recognize that he had nothing but respect in mind with that flag.

2. Tony Stewart - Tony led three times during this race for 132 laps, but Jeff was ultimately able to get past him with 13 laps to go. After the race Tony was so upset that he refused media requests for interviews, something which may get him in trouble with Nascar since the top five finishing drivers are required to make themselves available to the media after races. I would guess that Tony was trying to avoid saying something he might regret later, but on the other hand every driver is aware of their obligations to the media. For this reason I wish that Nascar would allow the drivers to have 15 minutes to cool down and compose themselves after they get out of the car before the media go rushing over for interviews.

3. Denny Hamlin - Denny led 70 laps in this race and looked like the man to beat until he was caught speeding on pit road, which earned him a penalty, and forced him to restart the race in 31st. Denny was upset after the race because he didn't think he was speeding, but I think it's hard for drivers to argue speeding penalties. Everything is done automatically by computer, so it's not a question of a person checking speeds who possibly made a mistake, as the speeds of the drivers on pit road apparently come up on a computer in Nascar's control booth, with the drivers over the pit road limit highlighted in red. Denny implied that Nascar was lying when they said he was speeding, but I think that's highly unlikely. Denny is from Virginia, and he wanted to win the race for the state of Virginia in light of what happened at Virginia Tech last week, so that might have played into why he was so upset as well.

4. Jimmie Johnson - Good race for Jimmie, but this team rarely has a bad race unless they get wrecked like they did last week or have a mechanical problem out of their control.

5. Matt Kenseth - Another solid top five for Matt. Since Daytona where he finished 27th, Matt's worst finish is 11th at Bristol.

6. Jeff Green - This is Jeff's second top ten of the season, but otherwise the results for him have been pretty poor. Obviously this team is capable of racing competitively, but can they do it consistantly?

7. Kyle Busch - Third Hendrick Motorsports driver in the top ten. In the early going at least, it appears that Hendrick is the organization to beat.

8. Bobby Labonte - First top ten of the season for Bobby, but it doesn't appear that anyone, besides presumably his fans, noticed.

9. Johnny Sauter - A much needed top ten for Johnny, his first of the season, moves him up six places in the owner's points from in danger of falling out of the top 35, to solidly in. Both Haas-CNC cars finished in the top ten, and with their affiliation with Hendrick, that shouldn't be surprising since the other Hendrick cars did so well at this track.

10. Kevin Harvick - I thought this was a good finish for Kevin, especially considering the last two races he finished 29th and 41st. However, a number of Kevin's fans were upset that he "only" finished 10th, when he led 54 laps at one point. It's unfortunate that his car apparently lost a little something as the race went on, but there's never a guarantee that a driver who leads mid-race is going to win the race. Not only do some cars get worse as the race goes on like Kevin's might have, but other teams improve as the race goes on. It's the driver who is leading on the last lap that matters, not the driver who's leading in the middle of the race.

11. Carl Edwards - Carl is probably pretty happy to have finished 11th considering he battled handling problems with his car all race, and also accidentally wrecked Dave Blaney as Blaney was trying to enter pit road. Apparently Carl was immediately apologetic for having wrecked Dave, and took full responsibility for having caused the wreck.

12. Mark Martin - First race of the six he's been in that he's finished outside the top ten, but this still isn't a bad finish.

13. Jeff Burton - The team struggled to get the car right all race long, but Jeff still hasn't finished outside the top 15 this season.

14. Tony Raines - Second top 15 in a row for Tony.

15. Reed Sorenson - A solid finish follows a few weeks in which Reed has had to deal with mechanical issues, wrecks and not very good race cars.

16. Joe Nemechek - A good finish for Joe considering at one point he was all the way back in 40th after an unscheduled pit stop.

17. Greg Biffle - Never had a very competitive car at any point in this race. I expected Greg to have a strong 2007, but so far the results have been pretty inconsistent and not very impressive. Hopefully he and the team will get stronger as the season goes on.

18. Kurt Busch - I had picked Kurt to win because he's raced well at this track in the past, and Kurt was up front for a good part of the race, but they had some issues with fuel mileage and an ill-timed caution. What suprises me is that Kurt only has one top ten this season. Just like with Greg Biffle, I had thought Kurt would have a better season this year.

19. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Raced in the top ten for much of the race, but an caution at a bad time put Junior on the tail end of the lead lap without enough time to make his way back up front.

20. Martin Truex Jr. - Got bit inthe same way that Junior did by an ill-timed caution. Prior to that Martin was able to race up front for a good part of the race.

21. J.J. Yeley - Was racing in the top 15 until he got collected in the incident between Carl Edwards and Dave Blaney.

22. Clint Bowyer - Won the Busch race the night before, but couldn't follow up with a strong finish on the Cup side.

23. Jamie McMurray - He's lucky to have finished even this well. A malfunctioning air gun caused a problem on a pit stop, then Jamie had to come in for an unscheduled pit stop because his engine was overheating due to a window tear-off covering the grill of the car. It's not unusual for trash to get stuck on the front of the car, but I don't remember it ever being a tear-off before. How does that happen - was it from Jamie's car? Another competitor's car? Seemed strange.

24. Robby Gordon - As usual Robby wasn't a factor in this race. His fans and others are fond of pointing to his "success" as a driver/owner as a way of highlighting Michael Waltrip's failures this season. And it's true that Robby is in the top 35 in owner's points, but so far the results for Robby haven't been very impressive this season.

25. Paul Menard - He was able to race his way into this race, but I'm sure he was hoping for a better result. It's unfortunate his rookie season is going so poorly because I think he's a much better driver than what he's been able to show, much like a lot of the drivers with qualifying problems this season.

26. Ricky Rudd - Another mediocre finish for the #88 drops them even further in the owner's points. This team really, really needs a strong run to give themselves a little more margin for error.

27. Sterling Marlin - Fought handling problems for much of the race.

28. Ken Schrader - Still remains in 36th in owner's points. This team has done a good job of qualifying for races while they've been outside the top 35, but they've not done so great when it comes to getting the results on race day (night) that they need to get back into the top 35.

29. Dale Jarrett - Sadly I didn't expect DJ to be able to finish even this well considering how slow the #44 was in practice and qualifying. This finish in combination with other team's problems, allowed DJ to move up a couple of spots in the owner's points standings but I have a feeling that he'll run out of provisionals before they can get into the top 35. The #44 has just been so slow week after week, and they're going to need to find some speed somewhere otherwise DJ may miss some races soon.

30. Kyle Petty - Another team that needs to make some improvements if they want to stick in the top 35 in owner's points.

31. Kasey Kahne - Evernham Motorsports as a whole is struggling this season, and apparently particularly with their COT program. Kasey was the highest finishing Evernham car. I still continue to be astonished that a driver who won so many races last season is doing so poorly this season.

32. David Reutimann - David had a car good enough to make this race, but unfortunately not good enough to race his way to a decent result. Another driver who isn't able to truly show what he's capable of behind the wheel.

33. Juan Montoya - Handling problems were an issue all race long for JPM.

34. Elliott Sadler - Another driver with handling problems that doomed him to a poor finish. Some teams clearly have a lot of work to do on their COT programs.

35. David Gilliland

36. Ward Burton - State Water Heaters gave up space on the hood of Ward's car to feature the Virginia Tech logo, which was very appropriate considering this team is based in Virginia, and Larry McClure, Ward Burton and others are from Virginia. A very nice gesture by this team to show that what happened at VT was in their thoughts.

37. Casey Mears - Bad luck continues to plague Casey. He was an innocent victim in the lap 42 David Regan wreck, not the first time his car has been damaged when David's made a mistake. Hard to believe, but Casey is in danger of dropping out of the top 35 in owner's points and possibly having to race his way into the field soon if the results don't improve. I never thought Casey would be in that position, particularly considering how strong the other Hendrick teams have been this season.

38. Ryan Newman - Ryan had a decent car and was able to race in the top 15. However, major problems in the pits led to Ryan finishing 11 laps down. It highlights how important what happens in the pits is. A driver can do everything right on the track, but it's also important that things go well on pit stops. Some feel that racing is an individual sport, but I think it's very much a team sport because of how much the driver is dependent on his crew chief and crew.

39. Dave Blaney - Dave signaled as he made his way to pit road, only thing is that Carl Edwards didn't see him wave and ran into him. And the bad luck continues...

40. Kenny Wallace - I honestly can't remember Kenny getting involved in a wreck, but he's listed as having DNF'd due to an accident. I must have been out of the room when it happened.

41. David Ragan - David started off the season racing fairly well and keeping himself out of trouble, but lately he's been showing why he's a rookie. His mistake in this race led to a few other torn up race cars. Some feel that Roush is going to release him sooner rather than later because of the problems he's been having, but I think they'll have more patience with him. David Stremme looked pretty bad last season too, but with more experience he's looking like a much better driver this season, the same may happen with Ragan.

42. Scott Riggs - Another driver who needed a good race who got swept up in the lap 42 wreck. Though based on the poor results of the other Evernham cars, I'm not sure that Scott would have finished much better even if he hadn't gotten wrecked.

43. David Stremme - He also was an innocent victim of the mistake by David Regan.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)

Busy...

A big event at work last week meant no new entries for a few days, and I have another big event this week, so if entries are sparse that's why.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2007

In the News: Michael Waltrip (4/19)

Both of the recent rumors about sponsorship trouble for Michael Waltrip, and that Bill Elliott was going to step into the #55 have been denied. Of course, in this sport things that are denied sometimes come true not long after, but I'm hoping in this case both denials are for real. On Inside Nextel Cup on Monday night Michael said that he met with NAPA last week, that everything is good with them, and that "reports of his demise are premature." In addition, David Newton reported on ESPN2 that according to Bill's wife there's no truth to the rumor that he'll be racing the #55. I can't say I'm surprised that both items in Mike Mulhern's column weren't accurate - it seems like he reports anything that anyone tells him without doing any checking around to make sure his source got it right. He could certainly have put a call in like David Newton did to Bill's wife. But maybe Mulhern didn't really want to find out if those rumors were correct or not because it would be less material that he'd have for his column.

In other news, Michael's got a crew chief! Starting this weekend, Buddy Cisco, who was also Michael's crew chief for some races last season, will take over as crew chief. In addition, another former crew chief of Michael's from last season, Derrick Finley, will become the lead engineer for the #55. Buddy had been the car chief for David Reutimann's #00, and he said of his promotion, “This is a position I have wanted for a long time." I have to admit that I wasn't all that impressed with Buddy as Michael's crew chief last season, or at least what I can remember of him, but what I really like is that he wanted to become Michael's crew chief. Some others would probably shy away from the #55 considering all the issues that the team's had to deal with this season, but Buddy's very much willing to take on the challenges that come with the job. I hope that attitude means that he's going to be very motivated, and that he'll be able to get some positive results for Michael on the track!

That said, I doubt that Buddy will be able to turn things around immediately for the #55 team. As he said, “

You have to remember that this team is a start-up team with a new manufacturer to the sport. We have veteran people on our crew, but this is not a veteran team.”

So I'm not going to make any predictions about Michael qualifying for every race for the rest of the season or having great results in the races he does make, because Buddy is 100% right that this team is still in the process of growing, learning and gelling together as a cohesive unit. However, having a permanent (for now) crew chief can only help this team get on track. Hopefully the positive effects of having a crew chief in place will be felt this weekend at Pheonix.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)

More on the Virginia Tech Horror

There's been much criticism directed towards officials at Virgina Tech for their decisions on Monday. And it does seem inexplicable that they didn't lockdown the campus, or at least cancel classes, after the dorm shooting when they didn't have the gunman in custody. It's been said that they thought they had identified the perpetrator of that incident because of a tip that the boyfriend of one of the victims had guns, but it's puzzling that they assumed that he was responsible on the basis of no actual evidence to connect him to the shooting other than his interest in guns. It seems as if they had cancelled classes just to be safe, there might have been much less of a loss of life in Norris Hall because those students wouldn't have been sitting in their classes, probably all unaware of the shooting that had taken place earlier. However, because unknown to them they were dealing with an apparent madman who seemed detemined to take as many lives as possible, had classes been cancelled he may have just went on his sick rampage elsewhere.

Reports have indicated that Hui's behavior raised alarms well before Monday. He was a withdrawn loner, with no apparent friends, who shunned conversation, even with people who tried to be friendly to him. But it was his writing that really concerned people, so much so that members of the Creative Writing program, including the noted poet, Nikki Giovanni, alerted campus security, and referred Hui for counselling. Which of course will lead to the question being asked - why was nothing done about him? Unfortunately it seems that because there was no specific threat against any individual and there was no actual evidence at the time that he posed a threat, there was nothing that campus officials could do.

The bottom line is that while it's possible that officials at Virgina Tech should have done some things differently, particularly regarding not locking the campus down after the first shooting, ultimately blame and responsiblity rests with Hui. It's human nature to look for explanations and to make sense out of things that happen, but sometimes it's not possible. We may never be able to fully understand the motive behind why Cho Seung Hui committed mass murder on Monday at Virginia Tech. It's been said that Hui might have had a history of mental illness, and even if that's not accurate, it's clear that he was an incredibly disturbed individual. It seems impossible to try to figure out the meanings of what he wrote about, or the words found written on his arm, or anything else because his thought process was likely so different from everyone else around him due to his mental issues. I suppose people can't get closure in many cases without explanations and answers, but it may be very difficult to ever fully understand what led to the terrible events of April 16th.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2007

Photo of the Day - Aruba Sunset

Aruba, September 2005.

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

In the News: Michael Waltrip (4/16)

A lot of fans have speculated about what Michael Waltrip Racing's future is with Toyota, and all those who believe that Toyota is going to drop MWR due to Michael's accident are apparently very much mistaken. This weekend at Texas Lee White repeated his continued support for Michael and MWR. He said,

"Our position is still that we have agreements with our teams. We live up to our agreements. Everybody is working hard. Michael is working hard. His organization is working hard, as is all the others."

By saying that Toyota lives up to their agreements, it sounds like to me that not only does Toyota not have any intention of severing ties with MWR now as some seem to think they're going to do any day, but that they're not going to end their association with MWR at all, at least not until the end of their deal which I believe is for three years at least. I'm also glad that White acknowledged how hard Michael is working to turn things around - some seem to think that he's not doing much of anything, and that's far from true.

In relation to Michael's accident specifically, Lee said,

"That accident didn't have anything to do with what happened at Daytona. It was an unfortunate incident. Anybody who looked at the pictures has to be happy that Michael is OK, and we'll leave it at that. The two items are not related in our company's minds."

He's 100% right. Instead of jumping to conclusions about whether or not Michael was drinking and driving, something that there's not any actual proof he was doing, maybe a few more people should be happy that Michael walked away with his life. Unfortunately I suspect some don't really care if Michael is okay or not - it's more important to them to continue to kick him while he's down.

I was glad to read Lee's support for Michael in relation to the accident but it was also good to read this comment,

"But we were certainly looking forward when we came here for all of them having an opportunity because we've made some steady progress and we are confident the results would show on the race track."

I'm happy to hear that he thinks they've made progress, and that the results are going to show on the track. That seemed to be the case for David in practice, and maybe it would also have been the case for Michael had he not had the electrical fire.

One thing that's been a subject of some discussion on the forum on Michael's site is how Michael's brother DW, instead of expressing how glad he was that Michael was okay after the wreck, and his support for his brother, repeated the same mantra that he had over and over again ever since it was announced that Michael was joining with Toyota over a year ago - that Michael was taking on too much. Now I have no doubt that privately DW is extremely supportive of his brother. I'm also sure that DW wants to be careful what he says about Michael so as to not be accused of not being objective. However, it sometimes bothers me that DW is constantly talking about how Michael might be in over his head. In fact, on the night that MWR was announced as a Toyota team, DW was interviewed by XM and he said that he felt that Michael was taking on too much as owner and driver, comments which I felt were inappropriate on a night that was meant to celebrate Toyota's partnership with their teams. Yes, it's good to be realistic, but couldn't DW save his concerns about what Michael was getting himself into for another time? And DW has just continued from there.

I have to ask, what kind of a message does it send, if DW who is directly involved with MWR since his truck team is fielded through the organization, feels that the owner, his own brother, has taken on too much? How would any sponsor or anyone else feel confident about Michael's chances for success if DW sometimes sounds like he thinks his brother might fail? To be clear, I think DW has a right to his opinions. He's certainly privvy to more than I am and that may be coloring what he says. However, I'd like to see DW show a little more public support for Michael, that's more than just "poor Michael, he's dealing with so much!" particularly now when Michael's under the gun once again for his accident.

Mike Mulhern, never a particularly trust-worthy source of legitamite information, had the following in his column today:

Elsewhere in the garage, rumors are swirling about Toyota driver Michael Waltrip's future and his sponsorship support, after failing to make the last six tour races. According to one unconfirmed report, Waltrip is having to return $300,000 to his sponsors for each race he misses. There is also speculation that Bill Elliott may be under consideration for a ride with the three-team operation; Elliott, 50 and only a part-time driver these days, would have six championship provisionals, guaranteeing him a spot in at least six races.

I believe it's fairly standard for teams to have to give back money to sponsors when they fail to make races, and considering how expensive sponsorships are, $300,000 seems like a realistic amount that MWR might have to return to NAPA. I wouldn't be surprised if this was true, but it seems like Mulhern prints every rumor that gets fed to him whether it has any validity or not, so sometimes it's hard to know what's true and what's not.

As for the Bill Elliott rumors, there's been speculation about Michael stepping out of the car, and Bill getting in because his Champion's provisional would guarantee the #55 would be in six races. I wouldn't be too happy if this actually happened. For one thing I want to see my favorite driver race, or at least have an opportunity to race. I also know how much it would hurt Michael to step out of his car. But more than that, putting Bill in would just be a bandaid, short-term solution, when they should be focused on improving the performance of all the MWR Cup cars for the long-term. The problem isn't the driver behind the wheel, it's the cars themselves. Some have said that Bill might be able to give the team feedback that could be useful to improve performance, but if he's going to only be able to race around at the back of the field in those six races I don't see how much he's going to be able to help. In addition, the last thing that Michael, MWR, and NAPA need right now is the negative publicity that would come with putting Bill in the car just because of his provisionals. And make no mistake, no matter how much they spin it, that's exactly what it would be all about - guaranteeing them a spot in those six races. I hope that NAPA and the rest of the sponsors on the #55 continue to display the patience that they have so far - things are likely to improve, and that will happen with Michael behind the wheel if he's allowed to remain there.

What I like is that in spite of the problems on the Cup side, David Reutimann and the #99 team are continuing to have success in the Busch Series. This weekend at Texas, David got his second top ten in a row, with a 7th place finish at Texas. David is now 5th in the overall points standing in the point standings, and if he continues to race well I'd guess that David will move up even further in the points because I don't think Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick who are ahead of David in the points are racing the full season. It's got to be very hard for David to deal with so many problems on the Cup side, particularly since it's his rookie season, but I'm thrilled for him that he's doing so well in Busch! David is a talented driver, and I'm happy he's able to show what he's capable of in the #99 - hopefull we'll see him in Victory Lane soon too! What I'm also happy about is that the success in Busch indicates that MWR can field competitive teams and hopefully we'll see that in Cup soon.

Jerry Baxter, the crew chief of the #99 defended his organization from some of the criticism they've gotten because of their Cup woes. He said,

"It's tough. From the time they decided they were going Cup racing, you probably figure they're five years behind because of the amount of meshing with all the employees and building from the ground up. You've got a lot of catching up to do. The media's made such a big deal of Michael Waltrip Racing struggling, but if you realistically looked at it, Michael came in being the face of Toyota in the Cup series. Michael happened to be the one that struggled so much. If it was David Reutimann missing all the races and struggling so bad - and Michael was in them - we would've never heard about all this."

I had hoped that Toyota would have some success when they came into Cup, but I also knew that it was going to be harder than a lot of people thought because Toyota was completely new to the series, most of their teams were brand-new, with personnel that had just started working together, in an extremely competitive series. Jerry's correct that MWR was behind, simply by virtue of being a new team trying to enter the sport alongside a lot of established teams. I also agree that if it were just David missing races, no one would care. But because it's Michael who's not only the driver, but also the owner, and also someone who has done a lot of media on Toyota's behalf, it's a big story.

Jerry also said that the Cup and Busch teams meet often to share information and discuss ideas, with Michael leading the meetings. He said,

"Everybody can discuss what's going on. Sometimes there's something that can help the Busch team and vice versa. It's all out the open, sharing information. And Michael's up there spearheading it, asking the questions he feels need to be asked."

Some are convinced that Michael's more focused on making TV appearances, doing his XM show, or other obligations that aren't related to the performance of the cars. But clearly that's not the case if he takes an active role in competition related meetings. I have no doubt that Michael is doing everything he can to improve the performance of his teams, and so is everyone else at MWR - I hope it pays off in improved results on the track soon.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Texas

Before I get into the driver by driver run-down, I want to comment on qualifying being rained out. Some fans are upset that Nascar didn't try to get qualifying in on Saturday when the weather was too severe for qualifying to be held on Friday because that didn't give some of the teams outside the top 35 the chance to try to make the race before they were sent home because of the field being set by owner's points. But the logiistics involved probably made it impossible to move qualifying given how busy Saturday was at the track with the Busch race. Yes, contrary to what some think, the Busch race is important, and it would be extremely unfair to the Busch teams to have things disrupted for them because Nascar is trying to fit qualifying in on Saturday. But more than that, the teams are very aware of what the rules are, and surely all the teams knew what the weather forecast for Friday was, so all the teams who didn't make the race had to be prepared for it before they even showed up at the track. I have to admit I'm glad that qualifying was rained out. It was a shame for David Reutimann who appeared to have a great car, but Michael Waltrip had an electrical fire in the #55, and the car was the slowest in practice, so even if there was practice it's unlikely he would have made the race. So with all that he's had to endure last week already, I'm glad that he didn't have to deal with the embarassment of failing to qualify for yet another race on top of that.

1. Jeff Burton - Jeff only led one lap in this race, but it was the most important lap - the last one. I really enjoyed the great racing between Jeff and Matt Kenseth, who are former teammates, over the last 15 or 20 laps and it redeemed the earlier part of the race where a couple of cars totally dominated. Jeff's now the first repeat winner at Texas Motor Speedway, and this win solidifies him in second in the points standings. His great season in 2006 definitely wasn't a fluke.

2. Matt Kenseth - Matt won the Busch race the day before but he couldn't hold on to sweep both races in Texas. Since I don't like Matt all that much I can't say I'm disappointed that he couldn't hold off Jeff Burton at the end. Matt already has one win this season, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing him in Victory Lane before too long again.

3. Mark Martin - After missing the last two races Mark picked up right where he left off with his fourth top five of the season. That moves him up to 11th in the points. I'm not sure the full breakdown of races that Mark is planning on racing this season, but I'm wondering if there's any chance that Mark could end up in the Chase even if he doesn't race the entire season if he continues to race as well as he has been.

4. Jeff Gordon - Started from the pole thanks to the lineup being set by owner's points after qualifying was rained out. Jeff led 173 laps and for quite a while it looked like he might be the man to beat, but after he brushed the wall late in the race, he lost the lead and dropped to 4th. Still an excellent finish but it has to be disappointing for Jeff and his team considering how good the car was before Jeff brushed the wall.

5. Jamie McMurray - After a show start to the season, Jamie continues to race well. He follows up two top tens with his first top five of the season.

6. Greg Biffle - Hard to believe that Greg's only led two laps this season, and this is only his third finish in the top fifteen this season. There's a rumor making the rounds that Greg might explore his options with other organizations now that his sponsor is leaving the team, and Roush has to downsize by one driver in the future anyway - if the results continue to be uneven I would think he'll at least listen to a few offers from other teams. What's interesting though is that Greg included, three Roush drivers, and two former Roush drivers finished in the top ten in this race.

7. Martin Truex Jr. - Rebounds from finishing 29th at Martinsville with a top ten. Good race for Martin.

8. Juan Pablo Montoya - A good finish for JPM, but it's probably going to be overshadowed by Tony Stewart's complaints after the race about how JPM raced him. I'm not sure that JPM really did anything wrong other than race another driver hard for position, but he should be careful not to make too many enemies among his fellow drivers.

9. Denny Hamlin - Solid finish for Denny after overcoming some early problems.

10. David Stremme - First career top ten in Cup for David. He's not dominating the series or anything but David definitely seems to be a much improved driver over last season. I hope he continues to be able to race as well, or even better.

11. Kurt Busch - Everyone's going to be talking about the tough luck that Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr. and Tony Stewart, but Kurt Busch got bit by bad luck as well. While he was leading the race, Kurt was caught in the pits when the yellow came out, which put him a lap down, but thanks to the lucky dog he was able to get back on the lead lap. However, there weren't enough laps left to allow him to race his way back up front. That there weren't that many cars on the lead lap is what allowed Kurt to finish as well as he did.

12. Carl Edwards - Another Roush driver, another solid finish.

13. Tony Raines - Best finish of the season for Tony. It's been said that Hall of Fame Racing wants to expand to two cars at some point, that would probably help Tony have more good finishes more often if he has a teammate to work with and share information with.

14. Brian Vickers - I'm really happy to see a Toyota in the top fifteen, and especially Vickers, who I've come to like a lot. Vickers finishing 15th shows that if they can overcome their qualfying issues, maybe the Toyotas can start to be somewhat competitive.

15. Paul Menard - Decent finish for Paul. He's another driver I like, and I hate that he had to deal with missing races in his rookie season. He might have to deal with it next season as well if he can't race his way into the top 35 in owner's points.

16. Clint Bowyer - Had an ill-handling race car but his team kept working on it, which allowed him to finish in the top 20.

17. Elliott Sadler - Another mediocre finish for Elliott, but he was the top finishing Evernham car. What's interesting is that at this time last season Elliott had two top tens, one more than this season. So far the results haven't been any better than they were at Yates.

18. Joe Nemechek

19. David Gilliland - Best finish of the season for Gilliland since he finished 8th at Daytona. Wining the pole and outside pole at Daytona made some think that Robert Yates Racing had found a quick resolution to their problems, but it seems like they still have a ways to go.

20. Kasey Kahne - What's going on with Kasey this season? His best finish was 7th at Daytona, and his season has been downhill since. This from a driver who won six races and had 19 top tens last season. I highly doubt Kasey lost his ability to drive over the off-season, so what's the issue? Is it the cars? Were changes made to his team during the off-season? It's only seven races into the season, but this team needs to make improvemements fast.

21. Dave Blaney - Moves up one place in the owner's points to 38th. At one time Dave was Toyota's best hope for being in the top 35 in owner's points but they'll need better finishes to have any hope of doing that.

22. Johnny Sauter

23. Casey Mears - Got damage in the lap one wreck and also had to contend with alternator problems. So when is Casey going to start getting all those great finishes that everyone, including myself, predicted he would when he signed with Hendrick Motorsports?

24. Robby Gordon - Robby actually gained two spots in the points with this finish, but he's going to need to finish better if he wants a solid points finish at the end of the season like he predicted he'd be able to do in an interview on XM a few weeks ago.

25. Tony Stewart - Was racing hard with Juan Pablo Montoya when JPM got into him and he spun, right into the path of Jimmie Johnson who had no way of avoiding Tony. When Tony returned to the track after repairs, he seemed to be racing like a man possessed to try to get his lap back, which appeared to result in him overdriving the car and spinning again, which led to Dale, Jr. being wrecked by Kyle Busch. After the race Tony complained about the way JPM was racing him, and how JPM got into him. Tony complains a lot. Just about every week someone or something has done him wrong. So it's really hard to know when Tony has a legitamite complaint and when he's just whining about something that's annoying him. I think both Tony and JPM were racing each other hard for position, both were irritated by the other, and neither were willing to give an inch - sometimes that just doesn't work out well. The second spin irked me because I felt like Tony was angry over the first spin, and let his emotions get out of control which led to him overdriving the car. Last night Tony was on Wind Tunnel complaining even more about getting boo'd because his second spin led to Junior getting wrecked. Suck it up and deal with it Tony - it can't be the first time you've been boo'd and it won't be the last time.

26. Jeff Green

27. Scott Riggs - The woes of the #10 team continue with yet another umimpressive finish. So much for the predictions that Scott was going to have a breakout season in 2007.

28. Bobby Labonte

29. Kevin Harvick - Had to deal with a tight car all race long, then a flat tire put them further back in the field. Kevin won the Daytona 500 and has a top five at Bristol, but otherwise this season's not gone very well for Kevin.

30. Dale Jarrett - Making this race was an opportunity for DJ to get a solid finish in an effort to try and work his way into the top 35 in owner's points. But not surprisingly DJ didn't have a car capable of racing competitively. If the #44 team doesn't have faster cars soon, and DJ has to use his remaining Champion's provisionals, I wouldn't be surprised to see him miss some races.

31. Ken Schrader - Got damage in the lap one wreck and it hurt the handling of the car for the remainder of the race.

32. Ryan Newman - Also got damaged in the lap one incident, then there was a problem with a jack during a pit stop that led to damage on the car, which caused a cut tire. By the end of the race Ryan was four laps down, with yet another poor finish. So far this season he's only finished in the top ten once at Las Vegas.

33. Ricky Rudd - Got swept up in the lap one wreck.

34. Sterling Marlin - A problem with a driveshaft caused him to have to spend time in the garage for repairs. This team is 31st in the owner's points, but they need to be careful that they don't have too many more poor finishes which could take them out of the top 35.

35. Kyle Petty - 34th in owner's points. I have a feeling that Kyle will be trying to race his way into races pretty soon.

36. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - At one point Junior looked like he might win this race, instead he ended up DNF'ing thanks to getting wrecked by Kyle Busch while in 2nd, and then a blown engine. In an interesting twist, Junior was asked to get into the #5 when the team made repairs but Kyle was no where to be found. So Junior ended up racing the car that wrecked him. I was surprised that Hendrick would put a close competitor behind the wheel of one of their cars, even for a few laps, but I guess it was a case of one Chevy driver helping out another Chevy driver/team.

37. Kyle Busch - Public Enemy #1 for the Junior Nation right now. When Tony Stewart spun, Junior checked up, but Kyle didn't and ran right into the back of Junior. I'd guess that due to how much smoke there was Kyle was racing blind and had no idea that Junior was right in front of him. That's where his spotter needs to help guide him, and maybe he did, and it was just a case of not being able to get stopped in time. Early reports were that Kyle threw a temper tantrum and refused to get back into his car after his team fixed it so he left the track, but the team insists that it was a miscommunication and Kyle genuinely thought that they were done for the day.

38. Jimmie Johnson - Jimmie was unable to avoid Tony Stewart when he spun, and the damage sent him to the garage.

39. David Ragan - Got into J.J. Yeley on the first lap which touched off a multi-car wreck. David might have just spun and that would have been the end of it, but Ricky Rudd literally drove over David causing much worse damage.

40. Reed Sorenson - Was racing in the top ten until a blown engine ended his day.

41. Mike Bliss

42. Kenny Wallace - I don't think it was ever mentioned during the broadcast but it appears that he lost an engine.

43. J.J. Yeley - J.J. had to be furious with getting wrecked out of the race on lap one by David Regan.

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

Jimmy Spencer Puts His Foot in His Mouth

I used to have a lot of respect for Jimmy Spencer because he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. But I've long since lost any respect I had for Jimmy. There's stating one's opinion strongly, and making an asshat of one's self, and that's what Jimmy does way too often. Which is unfortunate because any time he has a legitamite point, it's lost in the uproar over his ridiculous comments, such as in the case of his remarks he made about Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge yesterday on Race Day on Speed. It's hard to find a complete transcript of exactly what Spencer said, but I believe I have his full comments from the Dale Jr. Pit Stop and the blog, The Daly Planet. Spencer started by saying,

"The thing is that Teresa Earnhardt gave Dale Jr his opportunity to race. She's the one that told Dale, her husband, Sr, let's give him a shot. Uh, Kelly Earnhardt Elledge, I, I'm shocked she kept her middle name. I mean you're married, you know, why keep Earnhardt. I think her ego is so big, I think she's backing Teresa and Max in corners. She's not a good negotiator. I think she, if she worked for anybody else they'd probably fire her. But because she's working for Dale Jr and it's her sister, I think that she's using ego to control this direction. And I think that Dale needs to be careful about that, because that Dale if he makes the decision to leave DEI, there's a lot of true Dale Earnhardt Sr fans that will lose respect for Dale Jr. That's the one thing that Dale Sr, I don't think Dale Jr needs to leave the organization. I think there's more to it. I think Max Siegel is a heck of a negotiator, but the thing is I don't like what Kelly is doing, putting them in corners."

He then finished with,

"Dale and Theresa and Max need to sit down and get this worked out. If the old man was still living, he would kick Earnhardt (Junior's) butt. I would hate to see that organization fall apart."

Let's get one thing straight - unlike some Junior fans who think that no comments should be made about any Earnhardt that isn't complimentary, Spencer has the right to think that Kelley and Junior aren't conducting negotiations with DEI very well. I think he has a point that Kelley (and Junior) are boxing Teresa and DEI into a corner with all the talk about wanting 51% ownership and control of the organization. It's also not a good thing for anyone that so much of the negotiations are being aired publically through the media. Most other organizations would keep a tight wrap on negotiations for everyone's benefit, and to try to prevent things from getting ugly - of course it's too late for that in the case of Junior, Kelley and Teresa. However, there's absolutely no excuse for Spencer to personally attack and insult Kelley, no matter how many valid points he might have about the way Junior's contract negotiations are going.

What's really offensive is his comments about Kelley keeping her madien name. Doesn't he have a clue that these days lots of women incorporate their madien names into their married names, or keep their madien names all together? I kept my madien name and it has nothing to do with ego. It's because I have pride in my family and my family's name, and since other than my parents there's no one left in the family with that name, I'd like it to carry it with me for a little while longer. I'd expect that Kelley also had a great deal of pride in her family name, and may even keep it as a way to memorialize her father. Kelley is an Earnhardt, just like any other Earnhardt, and I see no reason why she should have to give up that name if she didn't want to.

I definitely think that Junior, Max Siegel and Teresa need to sit down and work this all out, and that Kelley's presence may not always help negotiations go smoothly. But I highly doubt that Dale would kick Junior's butt for looking out for himself. My impression has always been that Dale wanted his children to be independant and think for themselves. It's true that there are some fans who will lose respect for Junior if he leaves DEI. There's already some fans who aren't all that happy with the way Junior and Kelley have conducted themselves in relation to contract negotiations. However, I really doubt there's going to be a mass exodus of fans from the Junior Nation because Junior leaves DEI or Kelley's involved in negotiations. Most fans understand that Junior is trying to make decisions that he feels will give him the best chance to win races and Championships, whether that's with DEI or with another team. Spencer should understand this as well, as one who raced Cup for 18 years and surely had to engage in difficult negotiations and make hard choices about the course of his career.

After the race Spencer apologized on Victory Lane for his comments, but I think he also owes Kelley a face-to-face apology. It's incredible that anyone was willing to put him on the air after his ill-advised comments about "Japs" in relation to Toyota's entry into Cup racing, and those at Speed who were likely horrified when he made his comments, shouldn't be surprised that he stuck his foot in his mouth yet again.

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

22 Dead in Shootings at Virginia Tech

We live in a scary world. A gunman killed 21 people in two locations at Virginia Tech University today. The first shooting happened in a dorm around 7:15 a.m., and the second was in an engineering building about two hours later, where there was a much greater loss of life in a classroom. Truly horrifying and incomprehensible that someone would get it in their head to do something like this. An awful tragedy. The gunman is also dead so we may never learn the answer to the question that everyone wants to know - why?!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)

New York Yankees Place Carl Pavano, Mike Mussina on the Disabled List

With Chien-Ming Wang already on the disabled list with a pulled hamstring, the last thing the New York Yankees needed was for any more of their starters to get injured, but that's exactly what's happened. The Yankees have now lost two more starters to injury. It should be a surprise to no one that just two starts into the season, Carl Pavano is back on the DL - he's so fragile that just getting out of bed in the morning is probably risky. But I think most were counting on Mike Mussina to stay healthy and be one of the foundations of the starting rotation - hard to do on the DL.

Pavano is downplaying the tightness in his forearm that put him on the DL, but any kind of pain in a pitcher's throwing arm isn't a good thing. Pavano also hasn't shown the ability that other players have to pitch through pain either. I'd like to be optimistic and think that it's as the Yankees are saying, that they're putting him on the DL just as a precaution, and that he'll be back after the minimum DL stint. But I'm not holding my breath. What would be minor injuries for other players seem to be season ending for Pavano. It's unfortunate because in his last start he was pretty solid. I've always said if healthy Pavano could help the Yankees win, it's just that he's rarely able to stay healthy.

As for Mussina, given his age I think it's too be expected that he might have some injury issues here and there, but I definitely didn't think the Yankees would lose him in the first month of the season. The worst part is that hamstring injuries can be notoriously slow to heal so there's no telling how much time Mussina might miss. Hopefully though this won't be something that lingers and Mussina will be back soon because I think the Yankees really need him.

What's troublesome is how many hamstring injuries the Yankees have had to deal with so far. It might just be coincidence but Wang, Mussina and Hideki Matsui all have hamstring injuries. In addition Andy Pettitte hurt his back lifting weights and Johnny Damon strained his calf. So attention has turned toward the Yankees strength and conditioning program, which has undergone some changes this season, after the longtime strength and conditioning coach, Jeff Manigold was fired at the end of last season. New "Director of Performance Enhancement" (really!) Dave Miller has de-emphasized running to build leg strength, and also changed some of the stretching routines the players would do with Mangold before games. Does that mean MIller is to blame for the injuries? Maybe not. However, it should concern the Yankees that just after they make changes in that area, there's so many muscle related injuries, and it should especiallly send up a red flag when players have themselves expressed concern and not fully embraced Miller's program.

I think what really got my attention in relation to Miller is how little experience he has working with professional atheletes, and none of it recently. Miller's experience in professional baseball is limited to two years in the Montreal Expos minor league system as a trainer, adn for the last nine years he's been a fitness director at a country club in Palm Gardens, Florida. So I have to ask, how exactly did he get this job? It seems to me that the Yankees would want someone with at least some experience working with major league players to ensure that he or she understands the demands on a MLB player's body, and what their needs are. There's a big difference between the strength and conditioning routine for a member of the New York Yankees, and a retired executive working out at a country club.

Back to Mussina and Pavano, does losing them mean the Yankees are doomed? Of course not. It's only April, so there's still plenty of baseball to be played. Hopefully both players willl be back in the minimum amount of time. However, it's a real concern when three of the Yankees starters are on the DL, and the defense has been shaky. The Yankees have to play solid baseball anyway to get back to the post-season, but without most of their starting rotation, the rest of the team is going to have to really step it up until those three pitchers return.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2007

Random Thoughts on Nascar

*It's looking more and more like qualifying today is going to be cancelled for the Cup race at Texas, which means that the field will be set by owner's points, and both David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip will be going home. My heart breaks for Michael that after such a hard week he may not even get the chance to try to make it in this race. I feel bad for David too, because in the half hour of practice they got in, he had one of the fastest cars. I'm sure the talk will start up again about how NAPA is going to dump him, and how Michael should get out of the car, but with rain forecasted all week, I'm sure that NAPA and everyone else associated with the team expected that weather might be a problem today.

*Speaking of NAPA, at some point last week it was mentioned either by Michael or Lee White from Toyota that he and Michael were going to go down to meet with NAPA in Atlanta, presumably to reassure them that things will improve this season. Given Michael's accident last weekend, and the ensuing media and fan frenzy that followed, I'm sure the meeting was about more than just the performance of the #55. I really hope NAPA continues to have faith in Michael. He's going through a hard time now, but if everyone shows enough patience, things are likely to improve as time goes on - Michael, MWR and Toyota are working hard to make it so.

*Previously Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had said that he had no plans to field any Cup cars through JR Motorsports. However, since then he's apparently changed his mind. Junior now says that while they have no plans to do so now, that's something they could do down the road. I don't see how they couldn't look into doing that if they have the resources, sponsorship and a driver that's Cup ready. That seems like the natural progression of things. Eventually the drivers they're developing will be ready for Cup, and it doesn't make sense to let them go to another organization, when they could be very successful for JR Motorsports. Junior says that his sister, Kelley, wouldn't let him race a Cup car for JR Motorsports even if he wanted to, but I wouldn't be surprised if that changed one day too.

*Kelley repeated this week that she and Junior want at least 51% of DEI as part of the terms of negotiating Junior's next contract with DEI because they want control of the company to make the decisions they feel need to be made to make the Cup program as successful as it needs to be so Junior, and presumably the other DEI Cup drivers, can win Championships. I've previously discussed in this space my issues with Kelley and Junior's demands to gain control of DEI, but I'll repeat a few things. First of all, Teresa has just as much right to DEI as any of the Earnhardt children do. Contrary to what many fans think, I don't think she should have to hand it over just because Kelley and Junior are demanding it. In addition, what about the rest of Dale Earnhardt's children - there are four, not just two, and they all should be involved on the ownership side equally.

I also wonder how Junior and Kelley are going to manage running two different motorsports organizations with multiple teams, plus Junior racing full-time in Cup, and all the other obligations Junior has to sponsors, the media and the fans? They may find that having control isn't as easy as they think. The other thing I'm wondering is whether Junior and Kelley are prepared to walk away from DEI completely if they don't get control. If they walk away, it might not mean that they have no involvement in DEI now, but also in the future - is that what they really want? Not to mention, what do Junior and Kelley think is going to happen if Junior leaves DEI for another team? They aren't going to get an ownership share and control over the organization to guide the Cup program the way they want.

*I didn't post many of my opinions regarding what Steve Park said on Sirius today because I didn't want to accidentally upset anyone coming over from SPC, since some have trouble with analysis and opinions, so I'll post a few thoughts here. From the sounds of it, Wyler Racing wants to put Steve in a truck, and Steve wants to race for them, but sponsorship is the issue. So how likely is it to actually happen with all the problems teams in the Truck Series are having finding and keeping primary sponsors? It took Wyler Racing months, if not close to a year if I remember right, to find a primary sponsor for Jack Sprague, how quickly will it happen for a second truck? Steve says he wants to be in a truck by the race at Charlotte, which is a month from now, but unless they're fairly close to a deal, as much as I'd like to see that happen, I'm not going to get my hopes up. My other concern would be if Wyler finds a sponsor, but that sponsor doesn't want Steve. There is no better driver available, but depending on that sponsor's marketing plan and other factors they might not want to go with Steve.

I'm just glad to hear Steve say that unlike in the past when he's put his eggs all in one basket and been burned by it (BDR deal anyone?), he's going to make sure he has a back-up plan. Steve said specifically when he put his eggs all in one basket, and then ended up rideless, that he was to blame for that. Not that Nascar has some vast conspiracy against him. Not that that every team in the garage area thinks he's damaged goods. And not any other conspiracy or excuse that fans use to justify their belief that the course of Steve's career is entirely in other people's hands, not his own. He was quite clear about saying that he realized that his approach to finding a ride needed to change, and I was very happy to hear him say that.

Hopefully things will come together for Steve, and we'll see him back on the track soon. I would love to see him race for Wyler Racing (or any Toyota truck team for that matter), since they're a strong team that fields competitive trucks. I have no doubt that Steve would race up front and contend for some wins with Wyler Racing!

*What I don't understand is why Steve didn't have someone put a note up on his website about his appearance on Sirius today? He knew about it since yesterday at least, so that would give time to throw something up quickly to ensure that as many of his fans as possible knew about it. Sirius even had him listed as a guest on their own website. It just seems like a missed opportunity to promote himself, and something that he was doing. Steve talked about being worried that fans would forget about him if he wasn't racing, making sure they know about appearances he's making, whether it's at the track, or in the media, will help make sure that doesn't happen.

*The 911 call from Michael's accident was released today, and I won't be listening to it. Based on the summary I've seen, it's not much different than what's already been reported, but I feel like it would be way too upsetting to listen to. I guess to some it sounds crazy that I'm upset about someone I don't know being involved in an accident, but that's what happens when you're a fan of someone.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

Summary of Steve Park on Sirius

I’m not going to bother to summarize most of what Steve said in the first segment about the positives in Nascar because it was mostly agreeing with callers rather than anything much about himself specifically, other than some discussion about how great Whelan is with all that they’re doing to help give young driver opportunities through their series sponsorships. A caller had a story that I’m not sure I got correctly, but was something along the lines of how prior to that race in California where Steve had the pole and then wrecked on lap one, he did a signing. Apparently there was a guy at the signing who didn’t get a ticket to get something signed and was angry so he yelled at Steve that he hoped he wrecked on lap one, and that’s exactly what ended up happening.

It hurts not racing but he’s working on a lot of things. He’s hoping it’s going to happen soon. He would love to be in a truck by Charlotte, and is working on a couple of deals. The racing is second to none in the trucks, so that sounds like where his focus is. He was in Atlanta, and in Bristol – I think he said he was talking to people on the Busch side in Bristol. Steve wants to get involved with an established team that wants to win as much as he does. He won’t be racing for the points, but he can race to win races. He wants to establish himself, help establish a team, win races, then look at 2008 to race for the Championship.

He made the mistake of trying to push for the Busch deal, and put all his eggs in one basket.

What does he miss most? Steve has a lot of friends involved in the sport on all three levels, so he misses seeing his friends. He misses the competition most because he loves racing. He feels he still has a lot of wins in him, and he wants to put himself in the right position where he can get back to winning and enjoying himself.

On racing in the Truck Series – as a young guy you’re racing against champions and former Cup guys. As an older driver you’re racing against kids trying to get to the Cup level. He’s somewhere in the middle, not young or old. It’s the best of both worlds and that’s why he wants to be in the Truck Series.

I had sent an email in asking about whether he planned on going to the track again this season like he did in Atlanta, and whether it’s difficult to be there and not race. (I must have good karma since both of my favorite drivers have now answered questions of mine on their respective satellite radio shows this week!). Steve said he hates being there and not racing, but it’s a necessary evil. He needs to be there, and people in the garage area need to see how eager he is to race. He can’t stand being there without racing, but he can’t stand not being there at all. John Kernan had mentioned that I was from Hempstead, NY (where I work), and Steve commented that he believed that was Hempstead, Long Island, NY, and he would be right about that. :)

Someone asked about how you get discovered. Steve said that he had to race 3-4 nights a week and win a bunch, plus network. He would go to New Hampshire and race modifieds and all while the Cup guys where up there. He met Richard Childress and other big owners that way, and it was an opportunity to showcase himself. RC talked to Dale Earnhardt about how he wanted to put Steve in his #3 truck when Mike Skinner moved up, which is how Steve came to Dale’s attention. Steve then told the familiar story we all know about Dale leaving the message on his voicemail and him not believing who it really was. Back then he couldn’t get the opportunity without winning a hundred races or so, now things are different for young drivers.

His Dad retired from racing two years ago, but his Uncle is still racing at Riverhead. His Uncle was Champion there two years ago. Steve talked about how when he was a kid, the newspaper would have headlines that said “Park Wins Riverhead!” At the time it was either his father or his uncle, but Steve was more than happy to take the credit for those wins when people asked him about it.

Melissa called and asked Steve what he’s been doing while he’s not been racing. He said that he’s been golfing, and joked about what he said in Atlanta about having knocked ten points off his golf game. But now golf is over. He loves to golf and ride the Harley, but nothing pleases him more than racing. She also asked about Stafford and Thompson about whether he might get up there, and he said he wouldn’t rule it out, that he likes to get back there and to New Hampshire any chance he gets. My signal dropped out a bit a this point so I don’t know exactly what Melissa said about the Sparkies, but Steve then gave a shout-out to all the Sparkies.

Unfortunately because it was cutting out a bit so I think I missed some of this part where he was talking about the fans. He went on to explain how Sparkies are dedicated race fans and he loves them all. He talked about going to Atlanta and he ran into 10-15 Sparkies wearing Pennzoil, Orleans Racing, Harris Trucking, etc… gear. He said it’s great how fans will rally around a driver even if they’re not racing. Steve also said that fans have told him how great it is that they make friends with other Sparkies just by being a Sparkie. How 1-2 Sparkies will go to a race and leave with 10 new Sparkie friends (As an aside, I think this is one of the most wonderful things about race fans in general, how you can go to a race or even just hang out online, and when someone meets a fellow fan of a particular driver from Jeff Green to Jeff Gordon to Steve, it’s like there’s an instant bond, and you’ve got a new friend).

Steve then talked about how he was worried that no one would remember him when he stopped racing. But he hasn’t lost all his fans, and that’s motivation to get back to racing even more.

Someone called in to ask him about Wyler Racing and whether he’s talked to them about how they hope to have a second truck. He said that he’s really good friends with the Wylers, and that “I think they would love to have him drive for them.” I believe he directly said that he had talked to them, but I can’t swear that I heard him correctly on that. He said that sponsorship is key for them in relation to the second truck, and also key for him in terms of finding a new ride. (I took that to mean that he would be their driver if a sponsor was lined up for that truck, and if that sponsor wanted him in the truck). He then said that he passed by some opportunities to go to the Busch Series. (This is me totally reading between the lines, but I felt as if he might have been saying that there was an opportunity with them previously that he passed up to work on a deal in Busch).

He then said that he intends on taking the best opportunity for Steve Park whether that’s in the Trucks, Busch or Cup, and whether that’s with Wyler or another team. It wouldn’t hurt his feelings to race for Wyler – they’re a great organization and they’re doing great with Jack Sprague. However, he has to do what’s best for Steve Park.

My signal then started cutting out big time as Steve started answering a question related to whether he was trying to find a sponsor to bring to a team. He said that’s exactly what he’s doing. That he’s talked to some great companies in the past, and some great companies now. You can’t run up front if you don’t have the money.

I missed the next few minutes as I made a mad dash out to the car so I could keep listening...

Steve answered Dave’s question by saying that he had opportunities that he’s let go because he’s put all his eggs in one basket, and then because he didn’t have a back-up plan, he was left without a ride. He said that he blames no one but himself for that. He’s going to be a realist, and he’s not going to let that happen again. However, people race to win races. He’s not going to take an opportunity to race 25th or 30th, he’d rather golf than do that. But he’s not going to let opportunities pass him by.

Another person who called in told a story about how his young son met Steve at a signing, and Steve spent ten minutes talking to him. I didn’t quite get all of what Steve said here, but basically the kids are the future of the sport, and the young children will be fans for years to come, and might even be future race car drivers too.

The first time Steve met with Dale Earnhardt came up, and Steve talked about Dale sending his plane for him. Apparently Dale took him through the drive-in to get a bite to eat and he was in awe that he was going through the drive in at Bo-jangles with Dale. “How many people have gone through the drive-in with Dale Earnhardt?”

The next caller told a story about how he was at a signing where all the fans were standing in the rain to meet Steve, and Steve also stayed in the rain until he had signed everyone’s autographs. Steve said his philosophy is that if fans can stand in the rain for his autograph, he can stand in the rain to sign them all.

Another caller talked about how in 2001 near the track in Bristol he ran into Steve with Michael Waltrip. So the caller runs up to hug Michael and congratulate him for winning the Daytona 500, plus express his condolences for the loss of Dale Earnhardt. Then he runs back to his wife, who tells him that in his excitement he had missed that Steve was there too! So the caller ran back over to Michael and Steve, and apologized profusely to Steve for ignoring him. So after shaking his hand, Steve apparently said that it happens all the time when he’s with Michael. Steve then told the caller that’s still what happens – when he’s with Michael, Michael is very popular and has a lot of fans, so everyone is in a rush to talk to Michael and walks right past him. So he knows how his friends feel when everyone ignores them to talk to him. (Steve should know that besides myself there are many fans of Michael’s who wouldn’t ignore him if we saw them together – that would be our idea of heaven!)

The last caller brought up the emotional win at Rockingham, and Steve talked about the emotions of that week, how they had spent the week before trying to decide what to do, and ultimately decided to race because Dale would want them to race and put themselves in a position to win. Which of course Steve did!

Steve closed by saying that he’d come back on the show if and when he has something to announce, and that he wanted to thank all the race fans!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:53 PM | Comments (1)

April 12, 2007

Photo of the Day - Nubble Lighthouse

Cape Neddick, Nubble Lighthouse, York, Maine. 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

And Still More...

One other thing I've noticed in relation to Michael's accident is that a lot of people have complained since it first broke about how many unanswered questions there are, yet now that more details have come out to fill in some of the missing pieces, some are dismissing those things because it doesn't fit into what they've decided must have happened. Fact is, you've got three people who have given an account of the events of that night - the State Trooper, Michael and the witness. While there are still unknowns, there are overlaps in the stories and explanations for some things. It's highly unlikely that all three are lying or conspiring together to hide the "truth," but some fans sure seem to think they are. I've said it before and I'll say it again - people say they want to know the truth, but they only want to hear a version of the truth that matches up to their opinions and beliefs.

Someone on the Speed forum brought up an interesting point that the drivers in Nascar are held to a much higher standard than they are in other sports, and I completely agree with that. In the other major sports, a car accident likely wouldn't get this much attention unless it was proven that the player actually was driving drunk or suffered serious injuries. Of course racing involves driving a car so traffic tickets and accidents take on heightened meaning, but there's other things such as drinking, divorce, partying, etc... that some fans in Nascar are less tolerant of than in other sports. Even certain political beliefs as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

More on Michael Waltrip's Accident

Since news of Michael Waltrip's accident broke, a witness has come forward with what she saw, Michael has given his side of the story to David Poole from The Charlotte Observer, and photos of Michael's wrecked SUV have surfaced. I'm not going to bother to analyze everything that's been said by the various involved parties - anyone who comes across this entry and cares enough to read it has probably read a variety of articles already. So I think I'll just touch on a few things.

Seeing the photos of from the accident scene makes it hit home just how serious this accident was. Michael is incredibly lucky to have walked away. The driver's side of the SUV appears to have been crushed, and he could have been seriously injured or worse. Seeing those photos makes me ill. In addition, now that I've seen the violence of the wreck and the damage to the car, I can fully understand why he might not have been thinking straight afterwards. Michael said that he sat inside for ten minutes before he crawled out, I wouldn't be surprised if he was in there even longer dazed and in shock. I also wouldn't have been surprised if he recieved a bump on the head, and maybe even a concussion, but of course he's not going to admit to that since he might not be allowed to race if that were the case. However, that would certainly explain some of his behavior after the wreck. I was in a much less serious accident last year, and I cried hysterically to the point where I probably embarassed myself, I can't even begin to imagine how one handles an accident of this magnitude.

What's really a sad commentary about the way things work these days is that David Poole was saying this morning on Sirius, that he received an email yesterday in which someone claiming to be a witness, said that they were in posession of six photos of Michael's wrecked SUV, and in light of how much he had been in the news this season, that they thought these photos had some value. So they were offering them up for use by the media to the highest bidder. Truly incredible that someone would try to profit off this terrible accident, and one has to wonder if the photos that WCNC has are the same photos and if they paid for them. Another question that has to be asked is whether the witness who was trying to sell the photos is the same 18-year old witness who spoke with Michael at the scene and then told what she saw to Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press. If so, I think it would make everything that she's said to the media suspect - there's no telling what her motives might be, and whether she might be looking to profit in other ways from this down the road. That said, it's quite possible that the person trying to sell the photos and the 18-year old witness are two different people. It's also possible that the person who emailed only claimed to be a witness. It's a huge no-no but sometimes people who are working accident scenes as firefighters, law enforcement, etc... see an opportunity to profit, take some photos and descreetly try to sell them. Since there's proof that the 18-year old witness is the seller of the photos, it must be assumed that she isn't until it's known otherwise, but it still makes me wonder.

Apparently the 18-year old witness told ESPN that she didn't smell alcohol on Michael when she was talking to him, and the police said they didn't find any evidence of alcohol in the SUV either. So in spite of all the conclusions that many have lept to, there's still absolutely no evidence what-so-ever that Michael was drinking and driving. This morning I heard a repeat of part of Dave Moody's show on Sirius in which he went into a rant that I agreed with completely. He said that just because a lot of people believe something, in this case that Michael was drinking and driving, doesn't mean that it's true. I can't even begin to put enough emphasis on that, and not just in relation to this incident. It's scary sometimes how many people are convinced that certain things are true, even though it flies in the face of the known facts, and sometimes common sense. In addition, Moody said that it's wrong to slander Michael when there's no proof that Michael was drinking prior to his accident. He's right. Some fans feel that walking away from the accident scene or taking a shower in his pool house instead of the main house or not talking to the police until 8 that night (because that was when the trooper came back on duty) means that he's guilty of driving drunk. Michael made some bad decisions and used poor judgement that night for sure, and I can understand why there's so much speculation, but it's very troubling to me how many are talking about Michael like it's a done deal that he was drinking that night even though he's not been charged with anything related to alcohol use, and there's no other evidence that shows he was drinking.

John Daly wrote something in his blog regarding ESPN's coverage of Michael's accident that I think applies to more than just the way ESPN covered the story. He said,

Today, host Doug Banks blew through the Michael Waltrip accident story without displaying any human feelings or even seeming to care about this man and his struggles. Waltrip could have been a bum on the corner who was hit by a car. This is exactly the problem. Those of us who follow the sport know the history of Michael, his connection with Dale Earnhardt Sr., and his giant leap of faith into the world of team ownership with Toyota. We know his wife, his daughter, and his world. Almost everyone has been entertained by Michael on his SPEED Channel show Inside NEXTEL Cup Racing. Whether he makes you laugh or makes you nuts, we know who Michael is and care about him as a person...because we are NASCAR fans. ESPN has consistently struggled to attach "human emotion" to this sport.

Daly's line "...without displaying any human feelings or even seeming to care about this man and his struggles" really jumped out at me. I've seen a shocking lack of compassion from some fans in relation to this incident. I've seen countless fans mocking Michael getting into this accident, and in general finding it hysterical, but I can't find anything funny about an accident in which a driver could have lost his life. Daly says that Nascar fans care about Michael as a person. That's true about a lot of fans. But it seems as if there's just as many fans who don't care - not one bit. That he could have been seriously injured or worse doesn't seem to matter to some fans. After all, he made a mistake, maybe even a few mistakes, and to some fans, there's no room for the drivers to make mistakes or be less than perfect. I could go on a whole rant on that topic, but it won't be anything different than I've said before in this space.

I can only repeat what I've said a hundred times before - I really hope things get better soon. I feel awful for Michael, and I hope his season starts to turn around this weekend.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2007

Michael Waltrip Cited After Accident

Michael Waltrip's horrendous season continues to get worse, but this time the bad news has nothing to do with what happened on the track. I've seen three different timelines depending on what media outlet is reporting it, so I'm a little leery of how accurate any of the facts that have been reported this far are, but the basics are that Michael was driving home from Charlotte late Friday night or early Saturday morning when he flipped the vehicle he was driving, due he says to falling asleep at the wheel. Thankfully, and most importantly, Michael escaped with only some minor cuts and scratches. But instead of staying at the scene, Michael decided that since he was so close to home, and according to Ty Norris because he didn't have any cell phone service to call for help, he would just walk the mile home. That's where things get very murky, because there's several versions of how long it took for the police to find him. However, when the police did talk to him in person, he admitted that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, and they cited him for reckless driving and failure to notify authorities after an accident.

The first thing that needs to be made crystal clear is that Michael wasn't cited for any violation related to alcohol. I feel like putting that part in bold, because even though alcohol hasn't once been mentioned as a cause of this accident by the police, that hasn't stopped fans from assuming that he was drinking and driving. Now I can understand some speculation - that Michael left the scene instead of sticking around, and that there was a period of time in which the police couldn't find him, makes things look suspicious. However, right now there is absolutely zero proof that Michael was drinking and driving. But that's not stopped some fans, and as the days go on possibly some in the media, from talking as if it's a done deal that he was driving under the influence. And just like how it bothered me that some jumped to the conclusion that Kurt Busch was drunk driving after his run-in with the police in Arizona, even though it was shown that he wasn't, it bothers me that some are assuming the same about Michael, even though there's nothing that shows that he was. It's troubling to me that often times people's immediate instinct is to assume the worst, and sometimes won't even consider other possibilities - such as that Michael is telling the truth and he did fall asleep at the wheel. To be clear about something else, I feel strongly that people need to be responsible behind the wheel, and I don't think Michael used very good judgement in relation to this incident, but I refuse to condemn him or assume things without proof.

I feel like there's a lot of missing pieces to this story, particularly in relation to what the actual timeline of events were, and why the police couldn't find Michael for a while. Was it because when they went to look for him intially, he hadn't walked the mile to his property, plus the distance from the road to his house, which may be as much as another mile yet? Was it because he went to seek medical attention? Did they know at some point soon afterwards where he was, but waited to make the follow-up visit themselves? For example, if it's true that they didn't go back to his house until 8 p.m., was that because they were informed that he went to the Busch race in Nashville? Was there communication between Michael and/or his "people" with law enforcement at some point soon after the accident? Just because the officers that went to his house didn't find him there, doesn't mean that he or someone else hadn't been in touch with someone in relation to the accident - once he left the scene of the accident, he's already gone, and he's going to be in trouble no matter what time he reports it.

The other thing that sticks in my mind, and probably is just me overanalyzing things, is that to knock on the front door of Michael's house, the police would have had to have been given access through the gate to his property, so they could drive up the road to his house. Did they even get through the gate, or did they just assume that he wasn't there if they couldn't get through? In addition, there's four or five other houses on the property belonging to various relatives. Some are assuming that Michael was dodging the police, but how do we know that Michael didn't go to one of his sister's houses for help, particularly since he has a nine-year old who might be tramatized by the sight of her father bleeding in the middle of the night?

In relation to him leaving the scene, I also have to wonder if a race car driver's attitude about an accident, even in a street car, is different than that of the average person, due to how many wrecks they get into over the course of their career. Michael's flipped his race car any number of times, so to him that might not seem to be as much of a big deal is it is to someone else. And what do race car drivers do when they wreck on the track? They simply get out of their cars and walk away, letting someone else clean up the mess, much like Michael did this weekend. However, there's another possibility. I'm not sure Michael was thinking too clearly after this accident, and there's no telling how disoriented and out-of-sorts he really was. Given the way head injuries, even minor ones, are viewed in racing, I don't think Michael is going to admit to it if his instinct to walk away was due to the effects of the accident.

Overall, I guess I'm wondering whether this situation is like so many others in which misinformation abounds, which can lead to people making assumptions where none should be made. Michael has already suffered through so much this season, and I think it's really unfortunate that yet again there's another rush to judgement about him. There's so many people who are willing to believe that Michael isn't telling the truth. Considering how many people were already skeptical of him after the Daytona mess, that's the last thing he needs right now is a situation like this. My heart aches for him yet again, and I really hope that things start to turn around for him because I'm not sure how much more he can take.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2007

JR Motorsports to Sign Motorcross Champion Jeremy McGrath?

JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a media event scheduled for later today. According to Foxsports, one thing they may announce is that seven-time Supercross Champion, Jeremy McGrath may have been signed to a deal with JR Motorsports, first to race Late Models, then if that goes well to race in the Busch Series. McGrath's sponsor would be Monster Energy Drinks. If true, I think this is interesting on two levels.

For one thing JR Motorsports felt the need to go outside of Nascar for talent to develop. Some fans can't stand the idea of drivers from other racing series coming into the sport, but I think it's a good thing to have drivers with diverse backgrounds. There's no way of knowing whether being a Supercross champion will translate into success in Nascar for McGrath or Ricky Carmichael, but both drivers certainly know what it takes to win. However, it may say something about the available pool of drivers, young and old, that Junior went to Supercross to find a driver to work with.

The other thing that I got to wondering about is in relation to Monster. Not long ago Monster was supposed to be the primary sponsor on Robby Gordon's Cup car but the deal got held up, possibly because of a conflict with Red Bull who has a deal to be the official energy drink at some tracks, or possibly for other reasons. Is it possible that Robby's deal with Monster hasn't gone through yet because they decided to sponsor McGrath at JR Motorsports? Of course there might not be any connection at all, and it's also possible that Monster could sponsor McGrath and also Robby, but lately Monster has aligned themselves with a number of drivers, none of whom are Robby.

Until I checked out the JR Motorsports website, I hadn't realized that Curtis Truex, Martin Truex, Jr.'s cousin, was racing a Late Model for Junior. I remember seeing Curtis race at an event at Wall Township in New Jersey four years ago. I wonder if he has as much ability behind the wheel as Martin seems to have?

Junior has said that he has no interest in owning any Cup teams, but I wonder if that'll change one day? He has four or five teams in various series that he's working with, and it seems to me that if any of them advance and have success at level, he might want to one day field a team for them on Nascar's highest level.

ETA: It was just confirmed on XM that this story is true, and Jeremy McGrath has been signed by JR Motorsports to race a Late Model for ten races this season with Monster as the sponsor.

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

Don Imus Suspended for Two Weeks

Imus has been suspended by both CBS and MSNBC, and he should consider himself lucky that he wasn't fired. I've seen some, including Imus, try to excuse away his comment because it was in the context of a joke, or say that people are too sensitive and politically correct, but to me calling the Rutgers Women's basketball players a bunch of "nappy-headed hos" is indefensible. The comment is inappropriate no matter what to begin with, but what makes it even worse in my mind is that he was saying it about a bunch of college students. Not professional basketball players, though the comment would have been idiotic regardless of who he was talking about, but young women who at most are 21 or 22-years old. These women should be celebrated for their successes, not insulted. How awful these women must feel that their achievement in reaching the finals of the NCAA women's basketball tournament has now been overshadowed by Imus's idiotic comment and the ensuing controversy?

I think what bothers me the most are how some feel that it's acceptable to insult others if it's a "joke." And that comment was funny how exactly? I don't see one ounce of humor in a remark with racist overtones. Of course to some, it's my fault for being offended. I'm too politically correct or too serious. Well, I believe that people need to have respect towards each other and to be tolerant of each other's differences. I believe in freedom of speech, though that doesn't really apply for Imus since CBS can do whatever they want to their employee, but I also believe that just because someone can say something doesn't mean that they should. Imus should have had the sense to stop himself before he crossed the line but he didn't and now he has to deal with the consequences.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2007

Photo of the Day - Bark

New Jersey Botanical Gardens, Ringwood, New Jersey, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

Nascar Makes Toyota Busch and Truck Teams Change Manifolds

Although Nascar approved the manifold prior to the start of the season, they've decided that the manifolds that the Toyota Busch and Truck teams were using gives them a horsepower advantage over other teams, so they've decided that those teams need to use a different manifold that would give reduced horsepower. Nascar says it's to "level the playing field." However, isn't the point of racing for teams to find an advantage over other teams that allows them to be better than the other teams so they can win as many races as possible? In addition, it seems to me that it's unfair to make this change during the season after they already previously approved the part, but Nascar has the right to change the rules at any time if they see fit to do so.

The good news is that the new manifold doesn't appear to effect the ability for the Toyotas to be competitive, at least in the Busch Series. Using the new manifold the three Toyota teams finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at Nashville. But it won't be until the end of the month until we see how the new manifold effects the Truck teams. In the Truck Series the Toyota teams have been dominating, winning all four races this season, with Mike Skinner ending up in Victory Lane for the last three. It's possible that this change may open the door for a few more teams to win this season.

Of course they won't be doing this to the manifolds on the Toyota Cup cars. If they lose any more horsepower, a drunk snail might be able to outqualify some of them at times. Ugh!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)

Dale Jarrett in the Busch Booth for ESPN2 in Texas

Dale Jarrett is slated to be part of the broadcast team for ten Busch races this season, the first of which is this weekend in Texas. Although DJ has shown that he has a firey streak that comes out when he feels he's been wronged on the track, for the most part DJ is even-tempered and he seems to handle himself well during interviews, so I think he'll be pretty good. His father, Ned, did TV work for CBS and ESPN among others and currently has a daily show on MRN, so DJ probably picked up a lot from him regarding how to be successful in the both.

Like his father, DJ might like to go into broadcasting when he retires from racing as a way to stay involved in the sport. He said,

“Over the last few years, TV was something that I have taken more interest in and looked more at because I want to stay involved in the sport. This is the perfect chance that ESPN is offering me to see if it’s something that I really want to do and want to look at after 2008 to do maybe closer to full time. And to find out if it’s something I can do and if ESPN would be interested in having me.”

I think he's very smart to start testing the waters regarding broadcasting now so he can find out whether it's really what he wants to do when he retires or not. As a former Cup Champion, who has also won 11 Busch races, and is still racing Cup full-time, DJ has a lot of knowledge about racing to share from a driver's point-of-view. Of course this is also good for DJ's sponsor, UPS, who will likely get some added exposure through DJ's involvement with broadcasting.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2007

David Reutimann is the Man!!!

Whoo-Hoo! This is the kind of day I like - the New York Yankees win in exciting fashion, and one of my favorite drivers has a great day at the track too!! David Reutimann didn't win at Nashville, but he did come in 2nd, and considering all the problems that Michael Waltrip Racing has had this season, that's an awesome finish! But I expected no less. Both David and the #99 team have separately raced extremely well at this track so I had no doubt that they'd have a great race together, especially after seeing how well David practiced and qualified for this race. Today's second place finish was a career best for David in the Busch Series, and I'm pretty sure that we'll be seeing him repeat that and better as time goes on!

There was a pit road miscue at one point where a catch can wasn't removed before David went back on the track after a pit stop. That resulted in a penalty that put David back in the field but it didn't take him long to race his way back up front, as I knew he would. The great thing about David is that when he has a strong car or truck he never lets mistakes on pit road or problems rattle him. He collects himself and races his tail off for the best possible finish. With this finish David moves up into 5th into the points standings. Since Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch aren't racing the full season, if David continues to race well he's likely going to move up even higher in the points and put himself in Championship contention, just like last season when he was in the truck. I'm absolutely thrilled for David, and I hope the great finishes in Busch continue because it will give him confidence on the Cup side where things are much more of a struggle, though that's not through any fault of his own. This finish should make everyone at MWR overall feel good because it's a sign they can build competitive cars and be successful!

Posted by silverdsl at 12:11 AM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2007

A-Rod is the Man!!!

Alex Rodriguez has long been critcized for not coming through in the clutch for the New York Yankees, to the point where just a few games into the season, he's been booed when he doesn't get an RBI hit when the Yankees need one. Well, this afternoon he came though in a very big way! In the 9th inning with the Yankees down by one run, and the bases loaded, A-Rod came to bat. And he showed why he's considered one of the best players in the game. With two strikes, A-Rod hit a monster grand slam to win the game! That should quiet some of the fans who are so quick to boo, at least for a few games. A-Rod's a truly outstanding player that the Yankees are lucky to have. He was the MVP as a Yankee a couple of years ago, and he had two homeruns in this game alone. Good game for Jason Giambi as well, who hit a three-run homerun to break out of a mini-slump.

What wasn't so good is that Hideki Matsui had to leave today's game with a hamstring strain. Hopefully it's nothing too serious because they're already missing Johnny Damon who's recovering from a strained calf.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)

April 06, 2007

Nashville

It's an off-weekend for the Cup series this weekend, but the Busch Series is in action at Nashville Superspeedway. I've got a really good feeling about this race for David Reutimann. His results in a truck at Nashville are outstanding - in three races he's got a win in 2005, and two other top tens. In addition, Michael Waltrip won with this team at this track in 2004. Jerry Baxter, David's crew chief was on Sirius yesterday morning, and he couldn't have been more upbeat about his teams chances this weekend (and about Toyota's overall efforts in the series). David was 4th in the first practice today, and 11th in Happy Hour, so that's an indication that he has a good car. Michael Waltrip Racing is struggling so much on the Cup side, I'd love to see David put them in Victory Lane on the Busch side!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day

I know I've posted this before. Given some of the recent discussion in one corner of the 'net, I feel like posting it again.

Much like their cars in the photo, Steve and Michael are still going in two different directions six years after that photo was taken. It doesn't seem like it because of how much Michael and his organization is struggling this season, but the reality is that Michael has a chance to race each week, something that Steve doesn't have, and is doing things to ensure he'll likely be involved in this sport long after people barely even remember who Steve is. Yes, already some people ask "Who's that?" when I bring Steve up in conversation. I hope that Steve's efforts to find a ride pay off, but another reality is that as much as I wish things were different this sport doesn't seem to have a place for him in it anymore.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:37 PM | Comments (1)

Quote of the Day

"We cannot live for ourselves alone.
Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads,
and along these sympathetic fibers,
our actions run as causes
and return to us as results."
-Herman Melville

Posted by silverdsl at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2007

Crew Chiefs to Race Before the All-Star Challenge

This is the kind of stunt that could be a lot of fun... or a complete disaster depending on the way things go. Crew chiefs for some of the biggest teams in the garage area, plus a couple of retired crew chiefs will participate in a 30-minute event prior to the All-Star Challenge on May 19 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The format of the race will be two qualifying heats and then a feature. Crew chiefs expected to participate include Chad Knaus, Tony Eury, Jr., Kevin "Bono" Manion, Darien Grubb, Steve LeTarte, Paul Andrews, Jimmy Elledge, and former crew chiefs and current broadcasters, Larry MacReynolds and Jeff Hammond. Should be interesting to see how it all works out, and see if any of those crew chiefs have as much skill behind the wheel as they do on top of the pit box.

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

High Hopes - Pink Floyd

Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our troughts strayed constandly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begin

Along the long road and on down the causeway
Do they still meet there by the cut

There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
Running before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
To a life consumed by slow decay

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The night of wonder

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide

At a higher altitude with flag unfuried
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

Eneumbered forever by desire and ambition
Theres a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road weve been so many time

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river

Forever and ever

Posted by silverdsl at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2007

Photo of the Day - Driftwood Beach

Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia, July, 2006.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

On Bad Karma

I normally try to ignore negative opinion columns that are written about Michael Waltrip or other drivers that I like. For one thing, I respect everyone's right to their own opinions, even if it's ones that I don't agree with. Beyond that I don't really see the point most times in getting worked up about things I have no control over, like negativity directed towards Michael. But sometimes... Today Shawn Courchesne, who covers motorsports for the Hartford Courant , mostly local Connecticut short-tracks, wrote an opinion piece in his blog about how he feels "karma is having its way with the Mikey and that doesn’t bother me a bit."

Now I found the timing of this particular piece pretty ironic considering just yesterday I had suggested to some of my fellow Steve Park fans that taking amusement from another driver's ill-fortune, as they were doing by laughing about Michael failing to qualify for races, might be tempting the bad karma gods to turn their eye towards Steve. It's particularly perplexing that fans would mock a driver not racing and experiencing misfortune, on a forum for a driver who isn't racing and whose career has gone downhill for a number of years. Even more ironic was that Courchesne mentioned Steve in his column. Or maybe he's just a lurker on Steve Park Central. Story ideas have to come from somewhere, why not from a driver's forum filled with bitter and resentful fans?

In any event, why does Courchense believe that Michael is deserving of all that's happened to him of late? Simple - because he was cranky one day three years ago while speaking with the print media, and turned down a few interview requests from Courchesne and others in the two years that followed. That's right. Courchesne believes that turning down interviews with the media caused bad karma to catch up to Michael, and why he deserves to not qualify for races and have his organization struggle so much. Then there was St. Steve, who was so gracious on that day. (I wonder what Courchense thinks of the times that Steve has ranted about the media?) So by following Courchense's reasoning, what exactly did Steve do to deserve the lousy things that have happened to him in racing since 2001? Because bad karma has apparently bit him in the rear end very hard. He must be guilty of far worse than blowing off some reporters to earn himself as much bad luck and difficulty as he's had to endure. (That was sarcasm for those who have trouble recognizing it, not what I truly believe.)

The original event at which Courchesne developed his dislike for Michael was one at which Michael apparently met with TV reporters, met briefly with print journalists, and then did an appearance at which he presumably signed autographs and posed for photos for hundreds of fans. Courchesne's issue is that Michael was all happy and bubbly for the cameras, and for fans, but made it clear that he didn't really want to deal with the print journalists, Courchesne included. So let me get this straight - Michael fulfills his obligations to both the media and the fans, but isn't as cheery as he was on camera with the print journalists, and he's a terrible person? Just exactly what else is expected of Michael? Maybe Courchesne would be cranky too if he was in Michael's shoes and had to perform for the cameras, answer the same questions he's probably answered a thousand times before from reporters who might not be very knowledgable about the sport, and then had to go sign autographs and pose for photos for hundreds of fans, on (if I'm remembering the right event) was a hot summer day. Which probably wasn't much different than what he did the day before and would do the following day, only add in dealing with sponsors and the demands of trying to get good results behind the wheel.

As for Courchesne's subsequent interview requests being turned down, well maybe that's because if he had a fraction of the attitude that he displays in his blog entry when he was face-to-face with Michael, then I can understand why Michael wasn't so willing to agree to an interview with him. If there's one thing I've noticed about Michael it's that he appears to have a very good and very long memory. In addition, as someone pointed out in the comments section, given how many interview requests that Cup drivers get they can often be selective about what media they talk to, particularly when it comes to smaller media outlets in markets that aren't major ones for Nascar, unless there's something specific they're trying to promote. Jade Gruss, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s PR person has said in the past that's what they do with Junior. Not that Michael is on quite the same level as Junior, but there comes a point where a driver is in a position where they both can't and don't have to agree to every interview request, particularly when they're in a situation where there's media from bigger outlets present.

Let's be clear about one thing - by no means am I saying that Michael is perfect or that he's happy and wonderful to the media or anyone else all the time. No one is. As I say often, the drivers are human, they experience the full range of emotions that everyone does, they have their flaws, and they will make mistakes. I've been around Michael when he's not been in the best of moods, and I've been around him when he's been very happy. So I know full well that he's not always the way he is when he's on TV. However, Michael, even when there's not been a camera around has always been exceptionally nice to me, even when he didn't have to be. In addition, on one occasion I saw him stop to speak with the media even though he had just had a poor qualifying effort, and no, none of the reporters he was speaking with were female or had TV cameras. Of course Courchesne would probably say that even though I saw Michael when there were no cameras around that Michael was just putting on a performance for me, or that he was extra-nice because I'm female. Did I mention that my husband was also present most of the times that I saw Michael, and he was just as nice to him?

I wonder how karma and the fates will treat a reporter with an apparent grudge, who can only come up with "dissed some reporters" as examples of why someone is a bad person who deserves the tough times they've had to deal with?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (1)

Funny the Way Things Work...

I got an interesting phone call this morning. It may not turn into anything, but it appears there's an opportunity to do something that would be exciting, fun, and most importantly help a good cause, something that is very important to me. It's funny how the fates work and how things come to be. Sometimes one choice that you make, something that doesn't even seem very significant at the time, can have an influence on the things that you do for years to come.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2007

Photo of the Day - Patterns

Meadowlands, New Jersey, 2006.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Wyler Racing is at Richmond today with all the other Cup teams testing a COT. Behind the wheel is Johnny Benson who normally drives a truck for Bill Davis Racing. Apparently Wyler hopes to expand in two ways this season - they'd like to field a second truck in the truck series (as per Jayski), and they'd also like to field a Cup car in some COT races. Both with a driver to be named later, though David Wyler indicated that a driver already affiliated with Toyota might get the call to race the Cup car. Wyler's plans could be great news on two fronts. I'd love to see Johnny return to Cup racing, and their second truck could also be an opportunity for Steve Park. However, it would seem strange to me for Johnny to be allowed to race a Cup car for a different organization when his own organization has a Cup operation. As far as Steve goes, it's been rumored in the past that he's talked to Wyler Racing about a ride, and it would be a compeitive truck fielded by people who he's been friends with for years. That would be the perfect situation for Steve. Only problem is whether Wyler can find sponsorship for a second truck and if Steve is the driver they, and their potential sponsor, wants to work with.

*Kyle Petty has been selected as Michael Waltrip's replacement on Tradin' Paint. Kyle's a good choice because he's very smooth in terms of the way he deals with the media, but he also isn't afraid to give his opinions on things. That said, I can't see myself tuning in too often to watch the show now that Michael's no longer a part of it. The whole reason I watched was for Michael - I can read and hear opinions on what's going on in Nascar from the drivers, fans and those in the media in quite a few other places - no need to tune into Speed for that.

*ESPN has purchased Jayski.com, a site they've hosted, and had a working relationship with since 2004. I'm not surprised by that since ESPN has vastly expanded their coverage of Nascar, both on their network and on their website. In addition, Jayski is one of the most popular Nascar websites for news and information. Since Jayski first aligned himself with ESPN, it seemed to me that he got a lot more careful about what kind of unsourced rumors he posted, and although ESPN has said that the contend on the site will still be left up to Jayski and his partner, I would expect the standards for what Jayski posts might get even more stringent now that ESPN owns the site. What was interesting to me is that Jayski said in a Sporting News article that he hasn't gone to a race in three years. He certainly does an outstanding job of keeping fans informed for a guy who never goes to races.

*In response to several teams having problems with the foam on the side of the door of their COTs melting due to heat from the exhaust system, Nascar will allow teams to remove part of the foam. That's a good thing if it will prevent that problem. Nascar claims that the material is non-toxic when it melts, but I tend to agree with Greg Biffle who said,

"I don't think anything is non-toxic. There is a certain amount of toxicity to any kind of material burning."

I wouldn't feel comfortable breathing in the chemicals from that foam, no matter how non-toxic it's supposed to be.

*Apparently Petty Enterprises is still looking for a driver for the #45 for the races that Kyle Petty will be in the booth for later this season. Previously Robbie Loomis had been talking about how PE has been looking at some young drivers that they'd like to work with, but I'm wondering whether PE might consider going with a driver like Bill Elliott, particularly if the #45 is outside the top 35 in owner's points. I'd like to think that the #45 won't be in that position, but they need to have a few strong races to put them a little higher in the standings.

*Sad news for Red Bull Racing this weekend. An employee of the organization who did some testing for them, and had previously worked as a mechanic for some other teams in the garage area, Jimmy Sprinkle, was target="_blank"shot to death on his farm on Saturday night. I have a feeling that this will turn out to not be the random shooting that it's been implied this is in initial news reports, but only time will tell on that. In the meantime, thoughts and prayers to his family, friends and the RBR team.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2007

Driver by Driver: Martinsville

Before I get into the driver by driver run-down, a few comments on the race. For the second week in a row, I thought the racing was pretty good. Once again, all the hand-wringing in relation to the COT and how horrible it would make the racing was all for naught. In fact, there was some outstanding and exciting racing at the end between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for the win. Of course we've yet to see how the COT will perform on a different kind of track other than a short-track, but I think once the drivers adjust to driving a different kind of car, the racing will be pretty much what it's been like the past few years - great at some tracks, boring at others.

Hard to believe but some fans took issue with the way that Jeff and Jimmie raced each other there at the end of the race. Apparently that Jeff wasn't willing to wreck his teammate for the win, was a sign that Jeff's lost the will to win. Hardly. Jeff's leading in the points right now and it seems to me a driver who's lost the competitive drive wouldn't be leading the points let alone racing hard at the end of a race for a win. I thought Jeff and Jimmie raced each other in exactly the right way. They raced each other hard, and neither was willing to give up easily, but they raced each other cleanly as teammates should.

1. Jimmie Johnson - Just six races into the season and Jimmie's already won three races including yesterday. The #48 team doesn't seem to have lost a thing since last season when they won the Championship. The only question is whether their momentum will continue through the summer and into the Chase.

2. Jeff Gordon - Wasn't 100% happy with the way that Jimmie was blocking as they were racing each other for the win, but I don't think he's too upset either considering a car he owns ended in Victory Lane, and he's still the points leader. I doubt it will be long before Jeff is in VL himself.

3. Denny Hamlin - Since he's a Virginia native, Denny surely wanted to win this race bad, but it wasn't to be.

4. Kyle Busch - Based on the fact that Hendrick Motorsports had three of their cars in the top five, and given their past record of success at Martinsville, it's pretty clear they have this track figured out, and maybe the car of tomorrow too. Kyle made some bold moves during the race to pass for position, and he's lucky that those moves worked out for him because he could easily have caused a few wrecks and been public enemy #1 to the fans yet again.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - For a while it looked like Junior had the car to beat. He led 137 laps in dominanting fashion and was in the lead during a rain delay. However, after the race restarted Junior lost track position on the next round of pit stops and was never able to get back into the lead.

6. Jeff Burton - Another race, another top ten for Jeff. In the six races to start the season, he's only finished outside the top ten once.

7. Tony Stewart - After last week's dominating performance that was cut short only by a mechanical failure, some picked Tony as the sure winner this week. And he had a competitive car, but not as strong as last week.

8. Scott Riggs - Until this race Scott's had an extremely poor start to the season, but this top ten moves him up in the points to within shouting distance in 37th place to the all-important top 35 in owner's points. He's going to need a few more finishes like this, plus be able to consistantly race well the rest of the season to make it in and stay there.

9. Jamie McMurray - Looks like the COT is to Jamie's liking. After starting the season a little slow, Jamie has finished 9th in his last two races.

10. Matt Kenseth - The #17 team battled hard for this top ten finish. He started 33rd, had handling problems, and went a lap down, but the team kept making improvements in the pits until they were in position for a good finish.

11. Clint Bowyer - A good race for Clint moves him into 7th in the points standings.

12. Kurt Busch - Started 12th and finished 12th. Although yesterday's finish wasn't terrible, the #2 team needs to start getting better finishes soon if they want to have a better season than last.

13. Ricky Rudd - Best finish of the season for Rudd.

14. Ryan Newman - Had to overcome some problems in the pit - Juan Pablo Montoya hit one of his pit crew members (who was uninjured and able to continue) and then on a later stop Ryan had to avoid hitting one of Juan's crew members which cost him time.

15. David Ragan - David was so bad in his debut at this track last season that he wasn't allowed to race Cup the following week, and some felt that Roush had made a mistake in naming him as Mark Martin's successor in the #6 car. Well, David did exactly what he needed to do at this track - he stayed out of trouble and got a decent finish.

16. Juan Montoya - Juan's showing that he can handle himself well in all kinds of cars on all kinds of tracks. As he continues to adjust to racing in Nascar, the finishes are sure to get even better.

17. Carl Edwards - Was able to race in the top ten for a lot of this race but the handling of his car eventually went away and the car got too loose for him to continue to race up front.

18. Reed Sorenson - Another driver that dealt with handling problems, but was able to get enought of a "handle" on things to get a top 20.

19. Ken Schrader - Best finish of the season for Ken and this car, but still Schrader fans, and apparently Ken's crew chief for this race, "Fatback" McSwain were unhappy based on what's being said on Ken's forum. I thought this team did a great job of moving up four spots in the owner's points, but apparently the feeling is that the car was better than a 19th place finish, and the #21 should be in the top 35 right now. I think they should be happy they were able to make the progress that they did. This team hasn't been very good at all this season, and it's hard to go from racing around in the back to a top ten team in one week.

20. Tony Raines - Tangled with Juan Montoya on lap 375, and ended up in the wall while he was racing in the top ten. Tony's car was heavily damaged, but thanks to some really great work by his team in the pits, he was able to continue without losing a lap. Considering the damage, he's lucky to finish 20th, but it's probably disappointing to Tony and his team since they started 11th and seemed to have a car good enough for a top ten finish.

21. Sterling Marlin - Last car on the lead lap. Had a decent car but got spun by Scott Riggs, which didn't bring out the caution. The team was never really able to make up the ground they lost after the spin.

22. Kyle Petty - Needs to get some better finishes if Kyle doesn't want to be in a position all season where he's in danger of dropping out of the top 35 in owner's points.

23. J.J. Yeley - Locked his brakes up and spun on lap 474 which is unfortunate because he had made up a lot of ground after an early penalty for pitting outside of his box.

24. Elliott Sadler - Scott Riggs finished well, but his Evernham teammates struggled all race. Elliott started the season with a 6th place finish, but I've not been impressed with what I've seen from the #19 team since. Perhaps leaving Robert Yates Racing for Evernham wasn't the key to getting better results for Elliott?

25. Kasey Kahne - What's going on here? Last season at this time Kasey had a win, two top fives and a top ten. Now he's 34th in points, and much like his teammate Elliott Sadler, his best finish came at Daytona where he finished 7th. Is there an issue at Evernham with their ability to field competitive cars? Is it a COT thing? This team needs to get some good finishes soon if they're going to have a decent finish in the points this season.

26. Regan Smith - Other than when he was penalized for pitting out of his pit box last week, in his first two Cup races, Regan's stayed out of trouble on the track, which is no small accomplishment for a driver with so little experience on short-tracks.

27. Joe Nemechek

28. Dale Jarrett - Was in 22nd and appeared to be on his way to a finish that could have gotten him into the top 35 in owner's points, this in spite of the shifter being broken. But on lap 422 he lost a wheel on the right side. It's incredible how much bad luck the Michael Waltrip Racing teams have had to endure. In spite of his problems, DJ was still the highest finishing Toyota, which is an indication of how poor overall the Toyota teams luck is. But what was good is that DJ commented over his radio, and then again after the race, that if things start going their way, he thinks they'll end up being okay because the car wasn't all that bad yesterday.

29. Martin Truex Jr. - Had brake problems.

30. Mike Bliss

31. Johnny Sauter - Because he missed the race at Bristol, Sauter can't afford too many more poor finishes. He's just hanging on to 35th in owner's points.

32. Greg Biffle - Brake problems were an issue all day.

33. David Reutimann - A tough weekend for David, but at least he finished this race. First, he bumped his car owner out of the race, then he had to deal with a ill-handling car, and then engine problems. He's lucky that the engine held on until the end of the race.

34. Robby Gordon - Just after boasting on XM about how he was 16th in points and how wonderful he was racing, Robby followed that up with two poor finishes - 33rd at Bristol and 34th yesterday. Not the way to convince additional sponsors to come on board.

35. David Stremme - Bad car and spun a few times. Definitely a poor day for the #40 team.

36. Jeff Green - I believe he also had brake problems.

37. Dave Blaney - Qualified 22nd but a blown tire and brake issues ruined his day. Was just out of the top 35 in owner's points heading into this race, now he's 39th in owner's points.

38. A.J. Allmendinger - Qualilfied poorly and didn't have a very good race either.

39. David Gilliland - Had a decent car but experienced mechanical issues.

40. Jeremy Mayfield - Was able to qualify for his second race in a row but blown a tire, got into the wall and had brake issues on top of that.

41. Kevin Harvick - Had the same fuel pump issue that effected the Gibbs cars last week, but also had the foam inside his car catch on fire.

42. Casey Mears - Had a broken sway bar which caused a spin that led to brake problems. Also, cut down a tire and got into the wall. Casey finished 10th last week, but so far the results at Hendrick aren't much better for him than he was at Ganassi.

43. Bobby Labonte - Brake problems led to him wrecking on lap 37.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2007

COTs Not So Safe After All?

Supposedly the COTs are all about safety for the drivers. Well, if that's true, how is it that in two races there's been at least four incidents where foam inside the cars have caught fire? Last weekend Brian Vickers received first and second degree burns, and had to get oxygen after the race due to breathing in fumes, and Matt Kenseth felt ill all week, which the team believes is also from breathing in fumes. This week Kevin Harvick had to jump out of his car when the foam caught fire filling the car with thick black smoke. It's unacceptable to me that this is happening. Nascar claims that the reason is that the teams are installing the foam incorrectly, something that the teams that have had this happen to deny. Well, if the foam is being installed incorrectly, then why isn't that something that Nascar's catching in inspection, and making the teams fix? Safety should be a priority, and the COT shouldn't be on the track if there's any unknowns that could lead to drivers getting injured or breathing in potentially toxic fumes.

What bothers me is that when Robbie Reiser was asked about his team's foam incident he said,

"NASCAR said we didn't have one. We put it in wrong. I'm not getting involved. I'll end up paying the price for it."

No one should have to be afraid to speak up about safety. If there's a safety issue drivers, teams and anyone else in the garage area should be able to feel like they can speak openly about it and raise concerns. I hope that Nascar is taking this issue seriously, and by the next COT race they'll find a solution.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)