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May 31, 2007
Toyota Trying To Woo Gibbs, Penske or Yates?
I almost hesitate to discuss this rumor because it comes from a column by Mike Mulhern who isn't exactly the most reliable source of information, but a "Detroit Source" told him that Toyota might be interesting in trying to get Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske Racing or Robert Yates Racing to switch to Toyota from the manufacturers they're currently aligned with. In addition, if Penske were to switch they might merge with Michael Waltrip Racing. I'm not surprised that Toyota might be looking to lure an established organization to sign with them given the struggles of the brand-new teams they went with for this season. I don't think it's too likely that Gibbs is going to switch from Chevy to Toyota, particularly since they're a player in the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sweepstakes and I don't see him racing for Toyota. But do think it makes sense that Penske might make the switch given that Roger Penske already has an affiliation with Toyota due to his dealerships.
However, what I don't see happening is a complete merger with MWR. Michael has spent a significant amount of time, effort and money into becoming a three-team Cup owner. Although they've struggled tremendously this season, I don't see him giving up on being an independent owner so soon. What I could see happening is if Penske makes the switch, that they form a partnership where Penske provides some of the engines and other equipment like Hendrick does so well with Haas/CNC, Ginn Racing and Furniture Row Motorsports. That would probably give MWR a huge boost because they might not have to worry about as much of the issues on the competition side in terms of the engines and cars as they do right now. And they'd be getting engines and equipment from an established team that has more experience than they do with making those things competitive. Then MWR could focus their resources in other areas.
But if there were a merger between Penske and MWR a team would need to be eliminated. NAPA and UPS are signed through next season so neither the #55 or #44 is likely going anywhere. While Domino's and Burger King only have a deal for this season, I have a feeling they'll be back since David Reutimann has done a good job of qualifying for races and making the best out of a bad situation on the Cup side. At Penske I don't think it's likely that Kurt Busch is going anywhere, so that leaves Ryan Newman. It's been rumored that Ryan is looking around for a new ride, and it's also been rumored that Alltel has some concerns about their sponsorship in light of the legal battle between AT&T/Cingular and Nascar/Sprint-Nextel. So that could be the team that gets dropped, with the #12's points shifting over to one of the MWR cars to lock that car into the top 35 in owner's points.
All of that said, the rumors that Mulhern is reporting are so vague that there's no telling if there's any truth to it. Not to mention just because various scenarios are under consideration doesn't mean that it's going to actually happen. However, I'm in favor of anything that would help strengthen MWR. I dearly want to see Michael have success as an owner and as a driver, and working closely with another organization, particularly a large, established and successful organization could be the key to that.
ETA: Claire B. Lang has a spokesperson from Penske on her XM show now who says there's absolutely no truth to any of what Mulhern reported. He says Penske has a deal with Dodge through next season, that they're very pleased with their relationship with Dodge, and have no intention of going anywhere.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)
Speaking of What A-Rod Does on the Field...
Last night Alex Rodriguez was involved with a controversial play during the game between the New York Yankees and the target="_blank"Toronto Blue Jays, a game in which the Yankees went on to win 10-5. In the 9th inning Jorge Posada hit what should have been a catchable fly ball, but A-Rod was on base, and as he passed third baseman Howie Clark he yelled something (he says it was just "Ha," the Blue Jays say it was more like "I got it!"), which caused Clark to back off because he mistakenly thought it was the shortstop, John McDonald calling for the ball. The result was that no one caught the ball, and it turned into a run-scoring single. Naturally the Blue Jays were livid, and I can't say I blame them.
I like the fact that A-Rod plays hard, and trys to make things happen on the field. However, just like I wasn't completely comfortable with "The Slap" or more recently "The Elbow," when A-Rod jammed his elbow into Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia as he was sliding into second in an effort to break up a double play, I'm not comfortable by what A-Rod did last night. To most Yankee fans it's hysterical that he fooled the Blue Jays, but I wish that that he didn't feel the need to resort to tricks like that. Fact is, he made the Blue Jays look stupid, and humiliated them in front of their own fans. But more importantly than that, what's going to happen the next time these two teams play? Odds are that the Blue Jays are going to be looking for some revenge which may come in the form of A-Rod getting hit when he goes up to bad, which could lead to the Yankees retaliating and even more bad blood. The Yankees simply don't need to be drawn into any petty nonsense with other teams when they have to be concerned with winning as many games as possible to turn this season around.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
It's hard for me to understand the fascination with the personal lives of athletes or any celebrities for that matter. Sure, I pay a little attention to who's dating who, and read some gossip columns on occassion. But for the most part I think the personal lives of those that I'm a fan of isn't really much of my business, unless something happens that's especially newsworthy or effects the way they race, play the game or otherwise go about their chosen career path. I also accept that athletes cheating on their significant others is common and an accepted part of many athlete's lifestyles. To be clear, I don't agree with people cheating on their significant others, and that's not a choice I would make in my own life. However, I also accept that not everyone is going to live their lives the way I would. I also suspect that if I stopped being a fan of everyone who ever cheated on their significant other, I might have a hard time finding anyone to cheer for.
But a lot of people don't see things as I do. To many fans the recent stories in some of the New York area newspapers about Alex Rodriguez being spotted with a woman who wasn't his wife is big news. Not that anyone actually knows who this woman is, or what kind of an arrangement A-Rod might have with his wife, but that hasn't stopped any number of people from leaping to all sorts of conclusions. Some of which may very well be true, but it seems to me that the status of A-Rod's marriage is something that's between him and his wife. Not that I like it, but I can understand why a photographer followed A-Rod and his lady friend, as well as why the Post printed the photos since they knew it was going to sell a lot of papers. Still, I think it's very unfortunate that A-Rod's private life is suddenly a topic of discussion as much as how he plays the game.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2007
Photo of the Day - Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV, January, 2005.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
What if Steve Park Were to End up in the #36 Truck?
The possibility of Steve Park being signed to race the #36 truck for Bill Davis Racing now that Tyler Walker's been suspended indefinitely came up today on SPC. As much as I want Steve to find a ride, I hope it's not this one. For one thing BDR strung Steve along last year for months about the possibility of a ride, which likely contributed to Steve not having a ride now because in his own words, he "put all his eggs in one basket" thinking that BDR was going to come through with a ride for him, which never happened, and by the time he found out they were going in another direction, other teams had already made their plans for this season. But I think the biggest problem with this ride is the sponsor - 360OTC. I'll always be a fan of Steve's, I'll always cheer for him, and support him no matter what, but there's no way that I could support this sponsor. Not when they're seemingly getting sued every other week, have been tied to possible shady sponsorship deals of the past, and just recently merged with another company with a sketchy past. That's not even taking into account the broken promises to Jeremy Mayfield fans, plus the shoddy way Jeremy's fans were treated on the 360OTC website, and how little of this sponsor's product has actually seemed to make it to stores. Of course maybe things aren't what they seem, and all the accusations against this sponsor are unfounded, but it seems to me there's a pattern here that's very troublesome. I try to support the sponsors of my favorite drivers, but in this case there would be no way that I would purchase anything associated with this sponsor until it was clear that the allegations against them were untrue, or there were some sort of reasonable explanations offered.
Given Steve's tremendous integrity and class, I really can't picture him representing and promoting this sponsor given all their issues. I have no doubt that Jeremy is well-aware of some of the problems related to his sponsor and I think it must be difficult at times to pretend that everything is fine with them. Of course in some ways everything still is okay as long as 360OTC continues paying for their sponsorship - and they must be for now at least considering they're still on the #36 car, and are slated to be back on the #36 truck sometime in June. Still, I wouldn't want to see Steve (or any other driver), in the position that Jeremy's in where he might have to make excuses for the actions of his sponsor, or worry about when BDR might be the next organization suing them for breaking a deal or for non-payment.
Somewhere, someone is surely saying that I'm a "bad" fan. After all the #36 truck would be competitive, Steve would be racing every week, he'd be working with his good friend and former motorcoach driver, Carl, and be a teammate to another good friend in Mike Skinner. Someone is likely saying that if I were a "real" fan I'd want Steve to take any ride, no matter what issues might be associated with it if it meant that he could get back to racing regularly. That if I were a "true" fan, I'd support Steve no matter what, no questions asked, and that I would keep any concerns about this sponsor to myself. After all, "good" fans have only positive, happy, "flowers and rainbows" things to say about their driver and everything he's associated with. Of course that's all a bunch of BS. "Real," "true," and "good" fans don't want to see their driver in a bad situation where their reputation could possibly be tainted by their association with a possibly shady sponsor. Nor do they have to agree with everything their driver says or does. Jeremy's fans still support their driver 110%, as well as BDR, but many of those that are aware of the situation with 360OTC hope that he gets a new sponsor sooner rather than later.
Of course it might not be too likely that Steve is considered for this ride anyway. Tyler was in BDR's driver development program, and BDR has replaced him with another of their development drivers, Ryan Mathews. I can't find an article that mentions it but it's been said over on one of Jeremy's forums that Ryan's in the truck for at least five races. Maybe they'll be some discussion between now and then about Steve racing the #36 but I wouldn't be surprised to see BDR continue with Ryan if he gets semi-decent results. Something tells me that the BDR ship sailed for Steve long-ago.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2007
Tyler Walker Suspended Indefinitely for Violating Nascar's Substance Abuse Policy
I was wondering why Bill Davis Racing had seemingly given up on Tyler Walker, replacing him after just six races in the #36 truck with Ryan Mathews. At the time BDR had indicated that Walker would remain a part of BDR's driver development program and split time in the truck with Mathews, another development driver, but it appears likely that they knew at that time that Walker might be in trouble with Nascar and that they might be in need of another driver. As it turns out the trouble that Walker found is quite serious - he's been suspended indefinitely by Nascar for violating their substance abuse policy. The violation was found when Walker was tested after the May 18 truck race at Charlotte.
Very few details are known at this point, so there's no way of knowing if Walker has a drug problem, whether he's just a casual user, whether he was using illegal drugs, or whether he used a legal drug that's on the banned list because it impairs a driver's ability to race. It would also be interesting to know what led to Nascar's decision to test Walker since they only test driver when they have reason to. But one thing jumps out at me - if Walker tested positive after the race then it's possible that he was racing under the influence of whatever drug he was using. If that's the case not only do I think Walker deserves to be suspended indefinitely, but that he should be permanently barred from racing in Nascar again.
If there's one thing I have no tolerance for it's a driver putting their fellow drivers at risk by being impaired on the track. Racing is a dangerous sport to begin with, and it's even more dangerous when a driver is racing under the influence of something that might effect their reaction time, cloud their mind or cause them to drive erratically. There's no excuse for using a drug on the banned list, even if it was a legal drug, and especially not during a race.
In a lot of ways it's astonishing that a young driver would throw the opportunity of a lifetime away, but on the other hand it's not all that surprising. The use of drugs, both casual and to the point to where they're abused, isn't unusual in society as a whole, then why not in Nascar? Some fans would like to believe that the drivers are different than the athletes in other sports in that they're much more squeakly-clean and less apt to get into trouble. But in reality Nascar doesn't know what kind of a substance abuse problem they actually have because drivers and others in the garage area aren't subject to regular, mandatory drug testing. I highly doubt that Walker and the drivers who have been suspended for drugs before him were the only ones in the garage area who have used drugs, they're just the only ones who have been caught by Nascar. Some individual teams do drug testing, much of it random, but the penalties for a positive test vary, and Nascar likely never finds out about those test results. And that's probably the way they like it. Nascar seems content to address the issue of substance abuse only when they're forced to.
What I'd like to know is whether there's going to be any increased scrutiny of BDR and the problems they've dealt with this season. Michael Waltrip Racing has been regularly ripped by fans and the media for all of their issues and problems this season, well why not BDR? After all, they're getting sued by one of their former drivers, they're involved with a possibly shady sponsor, one of their drivers and crew chiefs was just penalized for letting a driver without a Nascar liscense get behind the wheel of one of their trucks, and now another of their drivers just got suspended for testing positive for drugs. If MWR is thought to be a troubled organization than what's BDR? I've never really cared for the way that BDR does business, whether it's how they released Scott Wimmer, to the lousy cars they gave Michael Waltrip last season, to how they seemed to string Steve Park along last season in terms of a truck ride. While they can't be held responsible for Walker's decision to use drugs, it's just one more thing that makes me think that BDR has some internal issues they need to deal with.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)
Nascar Continues the Crackdown on Credential Abuses
Last week the hauler driver for the #00 team was suspended for duplicating his hard card, and this week others in the garage area are facing penalities for credential related violations. In the first instance, Nascar confiscated credentials belonging to a number of members of the media, including some from Fox Sports and Nascar Images, because they ran onto pit road at the conclusion of the Coca-Cola 600 before all the cars had crossed the start-finish line as the rules dicate. That happened because those members of the media were following the #25 team who were celebrating Casey Mears's first Cup win of his career.
I assume that the media members involved were likely photographers and camera people looking for "jube" (jubilation) shots of the team celebrating, in a possibly more spontaneous and emotional way than they might in Victory Lane. Of course safety needs to come first, and the media members should adhere to the rule that they can't enter pit road until all the cars have crossed the finish line, but on the other hand if it's photographers and camera people that were involved they also have a job to do, which in this case is to document Casey's team as they celebrate the win. It's in issue in other sports as well, photographers running onto the field to photograph celebrations at big games such as the Super Bowl and the World Series, which can lead to clashes like this one between photographers who are just trying to get the photos the media outlets they work for want, the governing bodies of the each sport, who want there to be some restrictions so that the photographers aren't in the way. It'll be interesting to see if any media members get their credentials revoked for this.
In the second case, there's no excuse for the photographer having a fake hard card. If she's legitamitely covering the race for a media outlet or other organization, they could get her the appropriate credentials to allow her the access that she needs. That she had to resort to a fake indicates that she didn't belong. Every fan wants to get as close as possible to the drivers, and as one who loves photography, I'd love to have the regular access to every area of every track that a hard card would bring because I'd be able to use it to take some great photos. But there's no way that I'd ever consider faking a credential or sneaking in somewhere that I don't belong! It's amazing what some people will do - and scary too.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 28, 2007
Driver by Driver: Charlotte
It's always exciting to see a first-time Cup winner, and I was also happy to see some drivers who have struggled recently get good finishes. However, I didn't enjoy seeing half the field wrecked before the race was halfway over, and only 12 cars on the lead lap by the end of the race. I much prefer races where the majority of the field is still on the lead lap.
1. Casey Mears - This should end the speculation that Casey's stint at Hendrick Motorsports is going to be a short one. Casey showed last night that he can race up front and win races just like any other Hendrick driver. I loved seeing how emotional he was about his first Cup win, and it was great to see so many others - from his current teammates to his former teammates come over to congratulate him. Some feel that the #25 team doesn't get as good equipment as the other Hendrick teams, but I think Casey's probably this season has been bad luck. Hopefully this win will mark a new beginning to the season for Casey and he'll have better luck.
2. J.J. Yeley - J.J.'s first top five of his career and it couldn't have come at a better time. Apparently J.J.'s been told that his future at Joe Gibbs Racing is in his own hands, meaning that he has to show he can get good results like his teammates. Unlike Casey Mears, I wouldn't be surprised if J.J. isn't able to follow this 2nd place finish up with other strong races. It's not that he's a bad driver, I'm just not sure he's going to live up to some of the expectations that have been set for him.
3. Kyle Petty - Kyle's best finish since 1997, and he didn't finish this well simply because others ran out of gas. Kyle was racing in the top ten for much of this race, and he had a car good enough to race his way past some other very good cars. Kyle said after the race that this showed that contrary to what some people think he hasn't forgotten how to drive a race car, and he's right. I hope that Michael Waltrip gets the chance to show his doubters the same things sometimes soon.
4. Reed Sorenson - Though it's not gotten as much attention, Reed's another driver who finished the best he ever has in Cup.
5. Brian Vickers - In some ways a 5th place finish has to be disappointing to Brian considering hwo many laps he led, and how strong his car was for a good part of the race. However, considering he raced to a top five without power steering, and he had to get back up front after a cut tire, this was an outstanding race for Brian! He really did an incredible job of racing yesterday and if Red Bull Racing can start consistantly getting him into races I think we'll be seeing a lot more of him up front.
6. Tony Stewart - Was leading as the laps wound down, but much like a lot of other drivers, he didn't have enough to make it to the end so he was forced to come in for just enough fuel to make it to the end of the race.
7. Ricky Rudd - First top ten of the season for Ricky and one that he really needed. Good race for Ricky, and maybe it's a sign that this team is capable of more than we've seen of them so far this season.
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Had a top five car for much of the race, but like others had to pit at the end of the race for fuel which cost him positions.
9. Denny Hamlin - Great race for Gibbs with all three of their cars in the top ten. Denny also had to pit for gas late.
10. Jimmie Johnson - A lot of people are very happy that finally someone other than Jimmie won at Charlotte. Jimmie even led 83 laps in this race but he too didn't have enough fuel at the end of the race to go to the end. Some fans tried to blame Jimmie for the big wreck in this race, but Jimmie didn't do anything wrong. When he realized that he had a tire going down, Jimmie signaled to the drivers around him that he had a problem and started to slow down, hopeful that he could get out of the way. His tire separating really created chaos, but there was nothing else that Jimmie could have done to prevent that wreck.
11. Mark Martin - Overcame a flat tire early to race his way up front, but he too had to give up a better finish to come in for gas late.
12. Matt Kenseth - Led four times for a total of 50 laps, but he too had to come in for some gas to make it to the end.
13. Bobby Labonte - Although he finished a lap down, this was still a good race for Bobby, and especially for Petty Enterprises because both their cars finished in the top 15.
14. Tony Raines - Started one of the more spectactular wrecks of the race by getting into Jeff Gordon, but Tony was able to continue and ended up with his third top 15 of the season.
15. Carl Edwards - Carl had a good car in this race but things went bad for him on lap 220 when he lost a tire, which resulted in his teammate David Ragan wrecking. Carl was able to drive away with very little damage, but finishing 15th is probably pretty disappointing considering he was racing in 3rd when he spun.
16. Martin Truex Jr. - Martin was involved in one of the early wrecks, but his crew did a good job of making repairs, which allowed him to finish in the top 20.
17. David Stremme - A better finish than the past two races, but probably still not as good as David would like.
18. Dave Blaney - Dave continues to have terrible luck. He qualified well for this race, and looked like he was going to be able to race well, but he got swept up in the first big wreck. Considering that this isn't a bad finish, but Dave needs a few more incident-free races.
19. Jamie McMurray - Also was involved in the early big wreck but was able to get back on track and keep going.
20. Scott Riggs
21. Kevin Harvick - Got caught in the lap 53 incident, and got big damage, so this race probably wasn't much fun for Kevin to have to make another 547 laps knowing that he had no shot of racing up front.
22. Robby Gordon - A top 25 finish isn't horrible, but Robby needs much better finishes. He dropped one spot to 33rd in owner's points, and a few more poor finishes might mean he'll need to worry about qualifying for race, something that could be a problem considering how bad his cars have seemed to unload each week.
23. Kasey Kahne - Won the Busch race on Saturday but it was yet another mediocre finish for Kasey in Cup. If I recall correctly at one point he got into the wall or cut a tire. Definitely not Kasey's season.
24. Jeff Burton - Was involved in one of the early wrecks, then after he got back on the track, something broke and he got into the wall again. But due to how many other teams also had problems he was able to salvage a top 25.
25. Jeremy Mayfield - Poor Jeremy. He was racing in the top 15 for quite a bit of the race and it seemed like he was on his way to a great finish until the engine expired on lap 385. Did a nice job of saving it early in the race when he went for a spin.
26. Joe Nemechek - Spent time in the garage area due to a brake problem.
27. Johnny Sauter - Johnny was able to race his way into the top 35 in owner's points to start the season to guarantee himself a spot in each week's race, but the results haven't been so great the past few weeks and he's in danger of falling out of the top 35.
28. Juan Montoya - Another driver involved in an early wreck.
29. Clint Bowyer
30. Kyle Busch - Cut tire sent him into the wall.
31. A.J. Allmendinger - Involved in not one, but two wrecks. First, he got into Jimmie Johnson which caused the tire problem that led to the big wreck on lap 53, then he had no place to go and slammed into Jeff Gordon on lap 63.
32. Kurt Busch - Seemed to have a lot of handling problems during this race, then finally wrecked hard.
33. Sterling Marlin - Another victim of the lap 53 wreck.
34. Kenny Wallace - Lost an engine. Makes races, but doesn't seem to be to do much on race day.
35. David Gilliland - Got collected in one of the early wrecks.
36. Elliott Sadler - And yet another innocent victim of the lap 53 mess. Elliott still hasn't finished in the top ten since Daytona, and his last top 15 was three races into the season at Las Vegas.
37. David Ragan - Got wrecked when his teammate, Carl Edwards spun and he didn't have anywhere to go.
38. Bill Elliott - Also a victim of the Carl Edwards spin. Bill didn't need to use his provisional to make this race, so that's one more race he's likely to be in this car for.
39. Ryan Newman - Had tire issues, then lost an engine.
40. Dale Jarrett - Was able to qualify for the race and it looked like he might be on his way to a decent finish for a change until a transmission problem ended his race very prematurely.
41. Jeff Gordon - Took a very hard hit but was able to walk away which shows how safe these cars are. This is Jeff's first DNF of the season, but he still remains first in points.
42. Jeff Green
43. Greg Biffle - Cut a tire and got into the wall, but based on his comments after he got out of the car he wasn't too happy with his car before that either.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2007
Random Nascar Thoughts
There's often a lot of news around the Charlotte races and this week is no exception.
*Pat Tryson is out as Greg Biffle's crew chief and Greg Erwin, most recently Robby Gordon's crew chief is in, though Chris Andrews will crew chief this weekend at the Coca-Cola 600. I can't say I'm surprised that they're making a change there. Biffle had a lot of success with Doug Richert before he left for Red Bull Racing, but he's not seemed to gel as well with Tryson, even though Tryson guided Mark Martin to three appearances in the Chase. I like Biffle so I'd like to see him have better results this season. He's very talented and knows how to win races. However, I don't feel like he has a winning team right now. Hopefully the addition of Erwin will be exactly what the #16 team needs to turn into a team that contends for wins on a weekly basis, but I'm not sure it's going to make a difference. Between the sponsor issues, and the iffy results for a while now, I have a feeling that Biffle will end up with a different team in 2008, which might be a good thing for him. It might work out well for Roush-Fenway Racing as well since they will need to eventually eliminate a team anyway. As for Tryson, there's apparently a lot of teams interested in his services so he'll likely end up with a top team.
*Matt Borland finally figured out what he wants to do with himself, and it's apparently taking a job similar to the one he turned down both at Penske Racing at the end of last season, and just a few weeks ago at Michael Waltrip Racing. It was confirmed today that Borland is joining Haas-CNC Racing as their director of competition. I was puzzled about why Borland would turn down similar jobs at two other organizations but accept that role at Haas, until someone said that Borland's engineering degree included a specialization in Chevys. If that's true, it makes some sense that he would decide to go to a Chevy team. Since the end of last season it seems as if there's been a lot of turmoil surrounding Borland, so it'll be interesting to see if he ends up being long-term at Haas or not.
* Nascar announced this week that much as was rumored, the COT will be used for all races in 2008, instead of it being a mix of the current car and the COT like this season. Apparently the teams were in favor of switching the COT exclusively because of the expense involved in building two different kinds of cars. Although I might have liked to have had them race the COT at all kinds of tracks before coming to a final decision, I think this is probably a wise choice. For the large teams with a lot of personnel and resources it's not so difficult to be building two kinds of cars, but for teams that are smaller or are struggling to be competitive like all the Toyota teams, this will be a big help to them because they'll be able to put all their time, effort and energy into the COT.
*A subject of much debate among fans is Dale Earnhardt's will, and how much of DEI he left to his wife, Teresa. Turns out as rumored he left 100% of DEI to Teresa. The will gave Teresa the authority "to retain and carry on any business or property in which I may own an interest at the time of my death." It's important to note that the will hadn't been updated since 1992, so giving her complete control of DEI may have reflected how young his children were at the time the will was written. However, what this means is that she has every right to make any and all decisions about DEI, no matter how much fans might disagree with her.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)
David Reutimann's Hauler Driver Suspended Indefinitely
It would be nice if a month could go by without some sort of negative news that involves Michael Waltrip Racing, but it seems like on a weekly basis, there's always something going wrong, and not just during qualifying. This week's misfortune involves David Reutimann's hauler driver, Douglas Mercier who has been suspended indefinitely and fined $5,000 for his "unauthorized duplication of a Nascar annual credential." To some that probably doesn't sound like a big deal, but unfortunately it is. My guess is that Mercier's annual credential is his hard card, which not only allows him unrestricted access into the garage area, but virtually every other area of the track for every race during the season. That's even greater access than a "hot" pass allows since those are handed out on a race-to-race basis, and still don't allow access to areas such as the motorcoach lot. Hard cards are given out on a very limited basis to those who work directly for a team or driver, work with a team such as sponsor reps, work with Nascar, or anyone else who has reason to have full access at every track on a weekly basis. So duplicating that kind of a credential is a serious offense because it's a security issue. As much of a fan of MWR as I am, I fully understand why Nascar is taking such a hard stance on a violation like this.
Nascar didn't release any details about what exactly Mercier did and why, and of course he's not talking either. Maybe he simply lost his own credential, though he should be able to easily get a replacement, or was doing a favor for a friend, though he probably could get a limited amount of garage passes for friends or family for races through MWR. But unfortunately it's also possible that he was duplicating his credential to sell it since I've heard of garage passes and other credentials being sold for a profit. I really hope that's not the case. I think what makes it even worse in my mind is that Mercier doesn't appear to be new to the sport - he was a part of Reutimann's truck team last season so he's surely well aware of the rules as they relate to credentials.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2007
Photo of the Day - In the Mist
Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2005.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)
Jason Giambi Tested Positive for Amphetamines?
There has to be a huge question mark on the title of this entry, because no where in the exclusive story
That Giambi might have tested positive for amphetamines should come as no surprise, regardless of his involvement with Balco. The fact is that the use of amphetamines, aka "greenies," has been widespread by players for years. It's likely that numerous players on every team have or are currently still using amphetamines, at least occassionally. The attittudes among players towards amphetamines isn't the same as it is regarding steroids or other performance enhancers, and many of them don't think it's a big deal to drink some spiked coffee or pop some greenies before a game. My guess is that since the penalities for testing positive the first time are so light, including that the positive test results aren't make public, more than a few players are probably willing to risk continuing to use amphetamines to fight the fatigue that comes from playing such a long season.
But I can't get beyond the fact that The Daily News nothing including nothing more than what some mysterious "sources" told them as a basis for this article. To be clear, that doesn't mean that I think the story's false, simply that I don't like it when the media doesn't do a good job of sourcing their stories, or providing factual information to back-up what they're claiming is true. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if instead of just saying "sources," they said "sources in the Commissioner's Office," or "a highly placed Yankee official," or "a source close to Jason Giambi," to put this information in context. Otherwise, there's no way of knowing how accurate this story is since anyone can claim anything if they know they're going to be completely anonymous. How are we supposed to know if the "sources" are perhaps just some employees of the Yankees who might have heard some higher-ups speculating, or whether they're actually people in a position to really know?
In addition, there's the agenda of the source to consider. Is someone feeding The Daily News this information because they want to stop Giambi from speaking further publically about performance enhancers? Are they trying to ensure that other players don't speak up too? Are the Yankees looking for other ways to make Giambi look bad to help them void his contract, as it's been rumored they'd like to do? As someone on NYYFans.com brought up, could Giambi himself have leaked this information to make it seem as if his comments about "doing that stuff" referred to amphetamines, not steroids? I also think it's very convienient that the only two players that I can recall information about them having tested positive for amphetamines becoming public knowledge are Giambi and Barry Bonds, two players already tainted by their association with Balco. Seems to me that it's a good way of showing that testing is working if news of positive tests are leaked, but this way no damage is done to players who to this point aren't connected to performance enhancers.
What boggles my mind is that even after being the posterboy for the use of steroids, and his involvement with Balco, to the point where he had to testify in front of a grand jury, Giambi still might not have had enough sense to stay away from performance enhancers. And make no mistake - amphetamines are a performance enhancer even though a lot of people don't view them in the same way. Giambi should have been doing everything in his power to make sure every test he takes comes back negative. Instead he felt the need to once again put something in his body that he shouldn't in the hope of getting an edge, an advantage, or more likely since he was using amphetamines, trying to give himself some extra energy and focus for a game when he was feeling particularly wornout.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2007
In the News: Michael Waltrip Racing (5/22)
I'm a bit behind in discussing David Hyder and Bobby Kennedy getting their suspensions lifted by Nascar, but I was hoping we might find out a little more information about what led to them being reinstated now, and whether anything more would be revealed about the Dayonta mess overall. But it appears that's not going to happen. I have to admit that I'm surprised that their suspensions didn't last longer. After all, an "indefinite suspension" seems to imply that it'll be for a considerable period of time if Nascar can't define how long it's going to last. In addition, the #55 team being found with an illegal substance in the engine of the car was a major offense. So I expected that we wouldn't see either Hyder or Kennedy allowed back at the track until much later in the season, if at all.
I'd like to think that Nascar allowed Hyder and Kennedy to be reinstated because they were given proof that neither one was involved in putting the substance into the #55 car, and that both Nascar and Michael Waltrip Racing knew exactly who was responsible. Michael's comment seems to indicate that the responsible parties might have been found.
"They told us what was found in the intake was obviously a substance that was put there on purpose to enhance performance, and it had to be done by someone inside our company or inside our circle. I don't want to single out Hyder. I do want to say that a couple of the guys who came with him are no longer employed by us."
That Michael specifically mentioned that they've parted ways with some of the people that Hyder brought to MWR seems to imply that possibly one of those people were responsible. But were they? Unfortunately, though I had hoped that we would find out for sure who was responsible in the hope that it would repair the damage done to Michael's reputation since so many believe he had knowledge of what was going on, I suspect it's very unlikely at this point that we're ever going to find out who really put the substance into the car. Nor are we likely to ever know any of the details about what exactly the substance was or what the thinking was behind why the substance was put into the car.
One thing that's interesting is that Michael made mention of how it had to have been done by someone inside MWR or associated with them. A number of Michael's fans believe that the substance got into the car due to sabatoge by another organization who wanted to tarnish Toyota's entry into the sport. I've always thought that was extremely unlikely due to how hard it would be for someone from outside the team to get the kind of access needed to put the substance in without being noticed, and it appears that's probably true. Which in some ways is unfortunate because it means that someone who Michael and others in his organization put their trust in betrayed them by putting this substance into the car even after they were specifically told not to do anything that would be a violation of Nascar's rules.
In happier news, although the MWR teams didn't do so great in the All-Star festivities, the results were much better in the Truck and ARCA series. On Friday night A.J. Allmendinger did an oustanding job of racing his way to a second place finish in the Truck Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and on Saturday MWR development driver, Ken Butler III, racing for Eddie Sharp Racing, won his first-ever ARCA race, although it was under controversial circumstances.
I didn't get to watch the ARCA race so I'm not sure exactly how it unfolded but basically Butler bumped his teammate, Michael McDowell, out of the way for the win. McDowell, who ended up going for a spin in the incident, was furious after the race, while Butler of course denied doing it intentionally. The other person who was livid about the incident was Ken Schrader who finished second. Schrader said,
"There's no kinda about it - he ran over him to win. I'm real mad about the way that kid took the lead... I just hate to see races end that way. That is clearly not the way to win a race. It's just not right."
I agree with Schrader that spinning one's teammate isn't the way to win a race. However, some have said that Schrader was so angry that at the end of the race he bumped Butler with his own car, and used his post-race TV interview to rip him. Seems to me that's a huge over-reaction since Schrader wasn't directly involved in the incident and McDowell's not his teammate. Not to mention surely Schrader has seen drivers win like that in the past. I don't remember him being so angry when Brian Vickers wrecked Mike Bliss to win the All-Star Open last year, or when Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked his teammate to win the Busch race in Mexico City earlier this season. Schrader's reaction to this incident seems out of character from a driver who is usually careful to keep his emotions under control and say all the "right" things. Perhaps some bottled up emotion over being removed from the #21 car came to the surface, or there was something about the incident that touched a nerve for Schrader, but it seems to me that he'd be better off expressing his displeasure to Bulter privately. That way he might be able to talk to Butler about the proper way to race for a win, particularly when one's racing a teammate. Butler makes his Truck Series debut this weekend at Mansfield, a race that Schrader will also be in, and it'll be interesting to see if Schrader looks to teach him a lesson.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2007
Photo of the Day - Grounds for Sculpture
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, May, 2006.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
A Few Thoughts on All-Star Weekend
*I was thrilled to see Michael Waltrip back on the track racing this weekend - it sure did make me smile to see that #55 in a race in spite of Michael continuing to fall victim to bad luck that included a blown engine in practice, a wreck in qualifying and a cut tire in the Open. Michael was also extremely unhappy with his car in the Open, and according to those who listened to his radio communications, he cussed up a storm, something he normally avoids doing since he knows that fans are listening in, he was so upset with the set-up of the car. However, I'm just glad that he was in a position thiswhere he could be upset about the car during a race. Hopefully, in spite of all the problems they learned some things that will be useful for next weekend at the Coca-Cola 600.
*A few were predicting Juan Pablo Montoya would win the Open, but thanks to his ill-advised move on lap one that wrecked himself and several others that wasn't to be. Some fans were calling for his head, but the All-Star race is when drivers might take risks that they might not during a regular race in an effort to win. I think it was a wee bit early to be doing something like that on lap one, but on the other hand given some of the drivers complaints about tire issues and the difficulty in passing we saw in the Challenge, if he saw an opportunity seems to me maybe it wasn't so crazy for him to try and take it. Sometimes those kinds of moves don't work out so well, but sometimes as they were saying on Sirius this morning they do work out, fans talk about it with wonder. JPM certainly isn't winning himself any friends in Cup with the way he races, and some drivers have indicated that they plan on teaching him a lesson. Only thing is that JPM isn't a traditional rookie - he's an extremely accomplished driver in his own right who is used to driving a certain way, and he's shown that he has no problem giving back as good as he gets. So some of those who plan on schooling him might not find it's so easy.
*Quite a few fans were celebrating when the Busch Brothers wrecked each other. Disgusting. I don't care who the drivers are who are involved, I never cheer when there's a wreck. In spite of all the safety advances this still remains a sport full of danger. No matter how much I dislike a driver - and I really don't like Kyle Busch too much - I can't bring myself to celebrate when something bad happens to them on-or-off-the-track. Kyle declined to speak with the media after the incident, but Kurt agreed to an interview with Speed and handled himself extremely well considering he had just been wrecked by his own brother.
*Dave Blaney was able to race up front for all of the Open, and Dale Jarrett seemed to do pretty decent during the Challenge, so hopefully that's a good sign that as hoped there will be some improvements to the Toyota teams starting with the Coca-Cola 600.
*Overall, I wasn't thrilled with this year's All-Star festivities. I felt like Speed spent a lot of time trying to build excitement where there really was none. The Open featured almost constant wrecks, and there wasn't much passing in the Challenge. I guess it's hard for me to get too excited about "All-Star" festivities that feature every single driver in the series. Sure, there's a main event but one way or another every driver in Cup is included. Now that's not all a bad thing because that's how Michael got to race this weekend, but it just doesn't feel that special to me when the race includes the same drivers we see every single week. I'd like to see the top drivers from Busch and Truck somehow be included - that might make things a little more interesting.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2007
Random Nascar Thoughts
*Steve Park won't be racing in tonight's truck race at Charlotte. When he was on Sirius a while back he had expressed a desire to be in a truck by this weekend, and there seemed like a chance that might happen, even if only for one race, when he tested for Key Motorsports last week and Curtis Key said that he was considering Steve as his driver if he fielded a second truck tonight. However, ultimately Key decided to concentrate on their primary truck, which leaves Steve to attend the race as a spectator. I really have to wonder if we're ever going to see Steve race this season. I really hope something comes through for him - either Key puts him in a truck for a few races or Wyler Racing finds sponsorship for a second truck at some point. But I don't feel too optimistic at this point. And no, that doesn't make me a bad fan. I hope Steve finds a ride. He certainly has the talent to help a team be very successful. But as I've said before I fear there's not a place for him in the sport anymore.
*On the other hand Michael Waltrip will race this weekend. He'll be racing in the All-Star Open with a chance to race in the All-Star Challenge afterwards by racing his way in or getting voted in. Of course Michael has had success in the All-Star race previously since he won the Challenge in 1996, coming from dead last to win, and making Nascar history by being the first driver to win via transfering in from the Open. Strange how that win doesn't seem to matter to most fans since they came in non-points events, but it's a win all the same, and a very impressive win since he had to win the Open, then the Challenge to emerge as the top All-Star that night. Even if Michael doesn't transfer into the main event - and there's a good chance he'll get voted in since as of last week he was one of the top two in voting - I'm going to be very happy to see him racing, even if it's not for as long as I'd like. I hope he can have some fun this weekend racing without a lot of the worries about qualifying and all that have followed him around every week so far this season. Michael's also going to be in the booth for the Truck race, and I'm looking forward to that as well.
*It was said during truck practice that Johnny Benson didn't think it was fair that he got penalized 50 drivers points because he thought that the team having a driver without a Nascar license behind the wheel during last week's test wasn't something he should lose driver's points for. Although it's not directly been said, since it was Johnny's friend taking laps in the truck, I'm guessing Johnny had a hand in allowing him to take the wheel. So to me it's completely fair that he got driver's points taken away if that's the case, even though Johnny wasn't actually the one in the truck during the test.
*Apparently Teresa Earnhardt's been working on improving the performance of her race teams after all. Effective immediately DEI and Richard Childress Racing have merged their engine programs via Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies. Under the direction of DEI's vice president of motorsports Richie Gilmore, and RCR's vice president of competition Bobby Hutchens, the teams will work on a new engine that they hope to debut in July at the Pepsi 400. They'll also build an 80,000 square foot facility to build the engines which they hope to have finished in 2008. Most have been assuming that it's all but a done deal that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is going to RCR, but I have to wonder if this partnership might make tha tless likely. After all, Junior didn't like the direction DEI was going in, and if he signs with RCR, he'll end up racing cars with the same engines, and possibly other elements, that he would have raced had he stayed at DEI. Or perhaps this will make it more likely he'll sign with RCR because it'll allow him to keep a connection, even though it's not a direct one, to his father's company.
*Speaking of what team Junior might sign with, Marty Smith had an interesting comment in his ESPN column. He was asked a question by a fan regarding the chances of Junior ending up at Hendrick Motorsports in the #25 car, to which he responded,
"...I personally believe it would be in the No. 5 before the No. 25. Just my opinion This is unsubstantiated and, again, solely my opinion, but I don't think Kyle Busch is fully enthralled with his position at HMS. Just a hunch ..."
First of all, Marty is very tight with Jimmie Johnson, so he's likely aware of a lot of the inner workings of Hendrick. While he might not be privvy to Kyle's full thinking, if he says that he thinks that Kyle might not be completely happy at Hendrick, I'd guess he knows what he's talking about. I've seen it said elsewhere that Kyle's contract is up either at the end of this season or next, and it wouldn't be shocking to me to see Kyle go elsewhere. Kyle has some attitude issues, but there's no doubt he's a very talented driver who knows how to win, so I think there would be a lot of interest in his services. As long as he's not doing anything criminal and he doesn't have a substance abuse problem, teams are going overlook his behavior issues if he produces results for them. I can see Kyle ending up at DEI, and Junior ending up at Hendrick.
*AT&T won their injunction against Nascar and will be allowed to put their logos on the #31 as soon as this weekend in place of the Cingular logo. According to an ESPN article,
"The court concludes that the continued appearance of the Cingular brand on the No. 31 car, unaccompanied by any indication that Cingular now does business as AT&T, is likely to confuse NASCAR fans." Shoob also concluded that AT&T has shown it will suffer irreparable harm in the form of loss of goodwill and loss of exclusive rights to renew its sponsorship agreement unless the court issues the injunction.
Nascar says they're going to appeal, and in some ways I think they're in a difficult position. What they're doing is pursuing this because of Sprint-Nextel, and because they agreed to give Sprint-Nextel exclusivity in their contract to sponsor the Cup series. So they really have no choice but to appeal even if the chances of winning aren't all that good. I have to wonder if this is going to open a can of worms where every time a sponsor gets turned down due to an exclusivity agreement with another sponsor?
Posted by silverdsl at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
What Was Tino Martinez Thinking?
Tino Martinez was always one of my favorite players before he retired in 2005. However, I don't care for comments he made on Michael Kay's ESPN radio show this week about the current players on the New York Yankees, a team he was a member of for seven seasons, including just before he retired. Tino said,
"It seems like too many guys get hurt and take days off, and there's not that really burning desire to win from nine or 10 guys. You have two or three guys playing hard every day but you don't see the whole entire team just getting after it night after night."
and
"It eats [Jeter and Posada] up inside when the team loses. It drives them crazy when they're [eight] games behind. It just seems a lot of [other] guys really don't care."
Now I would agree with Tino that at times the team collectively seems to play with a lack of fire. It's frustrating to see, and it's particularly troubling to see instances in which players don't appear to be playing hard. However, I think singling out Derek and Jorge as the only two Yankees who care about winning and play hard is ridiculous and insulting to the rest of the players on the team.
For one thing Tino's not in the clubhouse anymore. I have no doubt that he tallks to Derek and Jorge often since he's long-time close friends with them, and there's likely other players he might interact with. But he's simply not around the team enough anymore to pass judgement on who cares about winning and who doesn't. He really had no idea about the mindset of the majority of players. I find it very hard to believe that players like Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, both of whom won multiple World Series with Tino; Mike Mussina, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui or Johnny Damon, who won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, don't care about winning. These are players who have enjoyed a great deal of success during their careers and I doubt they'd be able to achieve that if they didn't care about what happened on the field.
In addition, Tino seems to connect the Yankees injury issues, and that there's players who've missed time due to injuries with a lack of a desire to win. Also ridiculous. There may be some attitude issues for Carl Pavano, but otherwise there's been a rash of hamstring injuries, and it's essential for players with that kind of an injury to take as much time as is needed to heal before returning to the field. I also don't recall that there were any players other than Pavano who've had injuries that have lingered on the disabled listed longer than has seemed necessary.
Tino was a big part of the Yankees World Series Championships in 1996, and 1998-2000. He also came through at the plate for the Yankees many times. However, there were also times that Tino slumped at the plate, so badly in fact at times that Joe Torre had no choice but to bench him. Did those times reflect a lack of desire to win on Tino's part? Of course not. So I don't know why he would accuse other players of not caring about winning because they're struggling right now.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)
Jason Giambi Apologizes for Doing "That Stuff"
Not only did Jason Giambi apologize for doing "that stuff," which is obviously steroids/performance enhancers, he also thinks that all of MLB needs to make some apologizes. He said,
"I was wrong for doing that stuff. What we should have done a long time ago was stand up — players, ownership, everybody — and said: 'We made a mistake.' We should have apologized back then and made sure we had a rule in place and gone forward. … Steroids and all of that was a part of history. But it was a topic that everybody wanted to avoid. Nobody wanted to talk about it."
Giambi's getting slammed for daring to be critical of MLB, and for daring to say that an apology is owed, but I think he's right. First of all, who better knows what was going on regarding the use of steroids and performance enhancers through the years than Giambi? If he thinks there's something to apologize for, there likely is. I also think he's dead-on in that Major League Baseball's handling of the issue of performance enhancers in the sport was dreadful until Congress got involved. Everyone looked the other way - MLB who didn't have testing rules in place with strong enough punishments for players who tested positive until fairly recently, teams who surely knew that players on their teams were using but looked the other way, and players themselves who either used or knew that some of their teammates were using and kept silent. It's absolutely correct that no one wanted to talk about steroids in the past, and they still don't want to talk about it as evidenced by George Mitchell struggling to get players to talk to him for the investigation he's leading for MLB into the issue of steroids. MLB should have taken a stronger stance on the use of performance enhancers in the sport a long time ago, and considering there's still players testing positive, they still have a way to go before they eliminate the problem completely.
Giambi also said,
"Unfortunately, (the rumors) are going to be a part of it. But that's OK. I'm probably tested more than anybody else. I'm not hiding anything,. That stuff didn't help me hit home runs. I don't care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball."
I have to agree. If steroids magically made players into All-Stars who hit endless homeruns then the other Giambi brother - Jeremy needs to get his money back from his supplier since he also used steroids and they did nothing for him. I think performance enhancers do exactly what their name indicates - enhances. Steroids can't made a bad player into a great one, but they can help good players be even better. Steroids aren't what gives players a good eye at the plate, or the knowledge a pitcher needs to know how to throw a baseball, or what pitch they need to throw to get hitters out.
But what Giambi said about the rumor is probably what's damaged the sport forever. Fans will always suspect that players implicated in Balco or who have tested positive are still using but that they just haven't been caught again yet. In addition, fans will also always be suspicious that other players are using and either haven't tested positive or are using HGH, a performance enhancer that MLB doesn't test for. Not only that but fans are constantly questioning records and achievements of the past as to whether they were achieved with help from performance enhancers. The sport is tainted and damaged in a way that it's likely to never fully recover from.
While others are ripping Giambi for his comments, I'm somewhat impressed with him for being one of the only players involved with performance enhancers who has stepped up to apologize and be as candid as he can about using.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2007
Is Ken Schrader Out of a Cup Ride?
There's some signs that he might be. First he was supposed to race the #21 in the All-Star Open, with a chance to race in the All-Star Challenge if he raced his way in or got in via the fan vote, but he's been replaced by Jon Wood, who he's been sharing the #21 with this season. Now it's been announced that Bill Elliott will be racing the #21 in the Coca-Cola 600, and that Bill will be racing at Dover, though it's not clear which team he'll be racing for. I'd think if they're putting Bill in for one race, they're probably going to put him in for at least five or more races to take advantage of his Champion's provisional.
If the #21 team still intends on having Ken as their regular driver when they don't have Jon or Bill behind the wheel, I don't understand why they took Ken out of the car for the All-Star Open. Maybe the biggest reason for keeping Ken in the car is that his fans have been voting for the past month like crazy in an effort to try and vote him into the All-Star Challenge. Taking him out of the car isn't going to create good will with the fans under any circumstances, but particularly when they've been showing their support via the fan vote. It seems to me that considering Ken was voted in once before, they'd want to have him in the Open to see if that might happen again since it would be great exposure not only for Ken but for his team as well if he were to be voted in. Jon's pre-race notes talk about him racing the Open to prepare for racing in the 600, however he won't be racing in that race either due to Bill being behind the wheel of the #21, so there doesn't seem to be much point of putting Jon in the car if he won't be racing it the following weekend. To me that just doesn't bode well for Ken that he won't be in the car for a non-points race that's for the fans, of which he has many, and that the team's looking to another veteran for help, one who brings the guarantee of racing six races with him.
Of course Ken rarely says a bad word about anyone so even if we've seen him race his last Cup race with the #21 team - and they still may intend on having him race for them - he'll have all the "right" things to say about how he was glad to have the opportunity to race for the Wood Brothers. What's also great about Ken is that unlike some drivers who seem to be at a loss for what to do when they lose their primary rides, Ken is involved with so many other forms of racing that he can just turn his attention to racing the truck or any of the dirt-track racing he does. He's definitely one-of-a-kind and even though the results for Ken haven't been very impressive for quite some time, he'll be missed when he's no longer racing Cup.
I've come to really dislike the Champion's provisional. Yes, even though it helped Michael Waltrip Racing because it allowed Dale Jarrett to make more races this season in the #44 than he would have without it. Maybe in the past it was a good way to make sure a former Champion never missed a race if they had bad luck on qualifying day occassionally, but the way that it's evolved teams are putting former champions - particularly Bill - into cars specifically so they make sure that they'll be locked into races. Often those cars are slow as molasses because the teams know they don't have to worry about having speed on qualifying day if they're guaranteed a spot. The #21 has been decent on qualifying day, and has more speed than some of the other teams outside the top 35, so it's possible that Bill might not need to use his Champion's provisional for all the races that he's in the car for them. But with how high the level of competition is, and how many teams are likely to show up trying to make the race, it's not a guarantee that even if they have fairly good car they're going to make the race. So Bill will use his Champion's provisionals, something that's only a short-term band-aid for a larger problem that needs to be addressed long-term - the #21 team is behind other teams in terms of competitiveness and their ability to get good results on the track. What happens after Bill's provisionals are gone? Unless they get results good enough to get back into the top 35, and I have my doubts they'll be able to do that, they're still going to have to worry about making races, and they'll be in exactly the same place as they were before they put Bill and his provisionals in the car as an artificial way to make races.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2007
Photo of the Day - Clouds vs. Sun
Posted by silverdsl at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
In the News: Michael Waltrip (5/16)
If there's any fans of Michael Waltrip reading this who don't already know, Michael's no longer guaranteed a spot in this weekend's All-Star Challenge due to being a past winner. So unless he races in, he's going to need to win the fan vote to race in the main event. According to Michael's website, he's in the top two in voting, so there's a good chance he might win, but he needs the help of all his fans. I usually don't like to vote in internet polls because they're often meaningless, but this one actually counts for something. If Michael wins the fan vote not only would he get to race, something he unfortunately hasn't got to do much of this season, but it would also send a message to NAPA, Michael's other sponsors, Toyota, Nascar and the media just how much fan support Michael has in spite of his struggles this season. Fans can vote an unlimited amount of times, and I urge everyone who likes Michael as much as I do to vote using this link.
Aside from participating in events for the All-Star Challenge, Michael will be celebrating the opening of Raceworld USA (formerly known as Waltrip Race World). The facility officially opens today, and I'm sure there's going to be a steady stream of visitors for the next few weeks since a lot of fans are in the area for the All-Star Challenge and the Charlotte 600. From what I've heard about it Raceworld USA is going to be well worth the visit, not just for fans of Michael and his drivers, but also for any fan of Nascar in general. Raceworld USA is going to give fans a look inside the inner workings of real race teams, much more-so than they can find at any other team shop. There's also going to be interactive exhibits, and fans will be able to watch pit practice, and eventually the taping of some episodes of Inside Nextel Cup. In addition, there's going to be exhibits and memorabilia related not just to Michael, but also many other drivers. I really wish I lived closer to North Carolina because I'd love to go, but hopefully sometime in the near future I'll be able to make a trip down there to check it out for myself.
Last night was Michael's XM show, Michael Waltrip Out Loud, and his brother Darrell was his guest. Naturally, the subject of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. leaving DEI was a big topic of discussion. I've found it interesting how involved DW has gotten with Junior - he was asked a few days before Thursday's press conference to be present, he did an exclusive interview that day for FOX with Junior, he's written a column about Junior for FoxSports.com, and essentially he's been very pro-Junior to just about everyone who'll listen. Although DW is very opinionated on his own, I have to admit that I can't help but wonder if Junior's "people" are using him to get their message out given how sympathetic he's been of late towards Junior. At any rate, the discussion between Michael and DW was interesting, though a lot of it is things that have been said already by others elsewhere about where Junior's likely to end up.
One thing that got my attention was that Michael brought up Junior talking about how he wanted to stay with Chevy, and how loyal he was to Chevy. Though I'm sure Michael's going to have a conversation or two about Junior racing for him, I have a feeling that means that the chances of Junior ending up at Michael Waltrip Racing aren't very good. In fact, most of the discussion between DW and Michael centered on the usual teams that everyone else thinks are most likely for Junior to end up with - one of the top-tier Chevy teams, along with Ginn Racing because Bobby Ginn apparently has a lot of money he's willing to spend. Neither one seemed to think it was very likely that Junior would race for himself, though DW said that's how he would get total control over his team, and that's because as Michael knows well, it's hard to contend for wins and Championships, as Junior says he wants to do next season, for an organization new to racing Cup. I think that's another reason why Junior won't be racing for MWR next season - although I expect them to make improvements as time goes on, I'm not sure they're going to be in a position to field championship caliber teams by next season (as awesome as that would be!).
Of course back in 2005 Michael also made the decision to leave DEI, so there was some discussion as to whether there were was anything with his experience that gave an indication about how things would go down with Junior. Michael joked about him being what set all of this in motion, but otherwise he didn't have much to say about leaving DEI, something he's never discussed in depth other than to say that he parted with DEI on good terms, and give some basics about his reasons for leaving. It might very well be true that he parted amicably with DEI, but I think it's pretty classy of Michael that he's never said anything negative about DEI even though he's no longer there.
Many of Michael's fans don't like Junior too much, something that some really felt strongly about after the incident at Charlotte in 2005 when Junior wrecked Michael. Some are convinced that Junior can't stand Michael, wrecked him deliberately and wanted him gone from DEI. I never believed that. Although I think it might be hard for Michael and Junior to be close because of their age difference and different lifestyles, I think there's a bond there because of how close MIchael was to Junior's father. Based on what DW said last night, it should remove any lingering questions about whether Junior actually likes Michael or not - he does. DW said he talked to Junior at Talladega two years ago when Michael was deciding whether he was going to stay at DEI or not, and at that time Junior expressed that "before he left" he wanted to get Martin and Michael re-signed and taken care of, so to me that's an indication that Junior cared about what happened to Michael and wanted him to remain a part of the organization, and as a teammate.
As I said above Michael's not really gone into great depth about everything that led him to leave DEI, but last night he said Michael that the reason Junior's leaving is because DEI is behind the times, and I would guess it's likely that played a role in why he left as well. When a team gets behind if they don't recognize that before they lose too much ground to other teams they can find themselves struggling to compete pretty quickly - ask Robert Yates Racing about that. However, it's possible to turn things around and make improvements to keep up with the other big teams. Richard Childress Racing fell behind, but the past two seasons they've worked hard to be successful again. The question is what's going to happen at DEI - will they continue to fall behind? DW said that Teresa is at a crossroads where she has to decide what she wants to do just like Junior had to. DW feels that Teresa might very well throw down the gauntlet and throw everything into improving the teams just to show Junior he made a mistake, or she could go the other direction and throw her focus back into the foundation and maintaining the legacy of Dale Earnhardt without much care about the teams. Only time will tell which way things will go.
As usual Michael's XM show was fun to listen to, and I'm already looking forward to next week's show, particularly if he gets voted into the All-Star Challenge!
Posted by silverdsl at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
#23 Truck Team Penalized
As expected Nascar penalized the #23 truck team for allowing a driver without a Nascar license to turn laps in their truck during last week's test session in Charlotte. Crew Chief Trip Bruce has been fined $10,000 and suspended for the next two races. In addition Johnny Benson will lose 50 driver points, dropping him to 9th in points, and owner Gail Davis has lost 50 owner points. Some feel that this penalty is too light, but I can't remember the last time a truck team lost this many points. Also, the team was kicked out of the test and not allowed to participate in the second day of testing, which means that other teams had more of an opportunity to test and gain information than this team. To me that could end up being the biggest penalty of all because as much as they can get information from the other truck teams at Bill Davis Racing, it's not the same as the team directly participating in the test and getting to work on things specific to Johnny and his trucks.
So far Johnny has been completely silent about this, though I would expect that Speed will try to speak with him about this incident during their pre-race show on Friday. Since it appears that he was the one who let his friend get behind the wheel of the truck, I'm really curious to know what Johnny's thought process was since it seems out-of-character for him to do something like this.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)
Nascar Comes Down Hard on the #8 Team
I'm sure everyone's heard by now - the #8 team of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been penalized with the loss of 100 driver and owner points, plus crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. has been fined $100,000 and suspended six races for the use of improper rear mounting brackets. The violation was found in pre-race inspection on Saturday, when it was discovered that the rear wing on the #8 car was at an angle outside of what was allowed by Nascar. Unlike most fans, I think these penalities are completely fair. For one thing all the teams were warned via a bulletin prior to Bristol that COT violations would be punishable with these exact penalities. In addition, there's a specific rule that relates to the angle of the rear wing, and the rear wing of the #8 car didn't meet those specifications. Of course the team claims it was an honest mistake, and while that's certainly plausible, was it really a mistake?
What's most damning to me is what David Poole reported this morning on Sirius. The car passed qualifying inspection, and at that time the rear wing was at an angle that was within Nascar's rules. However, when the car failed pre-race inspection, the angle of the rear wing had been changed to where it was outside the rules. So that indicates a deliberate action - the angle being changed between qualifying and the race - which makes it hard to view this as a simple mistake where the team used put brackets on the car at the shop, used them throughout the weekend, and had no idea that the rear wing was at the wrong angle. What also came up on Sirus this morning was something I wasn't aware of - Nascar doesn't inspect everything on the cars during every inspection because it would take too long, and also because they want to keep the teams on their toes by mixing up what they inspect each time. So they speculated this morning that maybe the team decided to gamble that since that had been inspected in the qualifing inspection, that the rear wing angle wouldn't be checked in the pre-race inspection.
Claire B. Lang had a number of crew chiefs on her XM show yesterday, and they all mentioned what a major mistake it was if the team really had innocently left illegal parts lying around the shop. The team claims that the brackets were around because they had gone to the wind tunnel to test with them - why were they testing with illegal parts? The team also says that the brackets were built as "test pieces," but if those tests were recent, it seems to indicate that the team was experimenting with what the effects would be with the rear wing at different angles. After the test, and once those brackets were clearly not legal to use, why weren't they thrown away or put somewhere safe where no one would mistakenly use them?
In addition, Eury, Jr. said that he had no idea the brackets were wrong because he wasn't at the track on Thursday when the car was going through inspection. Wasn't he in the shop when the car was being prepared to bring to the track? And wasn't he with the car once he arrived at the track and right up until the pre-race inspection? Whether it was an honest mistake or not, he's responsible for the car and for making sure that it's within Nascar's rules at all times.
What I think's interesting is the reaction by fans. Of course Junior is a tremendously popular driver, so many are upset that the penalties handed down by Nascar are so harsh. But overall, most fans seem unwilling to believe that this team would knowingly try to skirt the rules, aka cheat. When it's a Hendrick team that's found in violation of the rules immediately many jump to the conclusion that they're a bunch of dirty cheaters. When Michael Waltrip's #55 team is found to have an illegal substance in the car, fans rip Michael and his organization. Yet when the #8 team is busted for a major rules violation, it must be an honest mistake. Why should Junior and his team be judged by a different standard than all other teams? The reality is that every team has or will try to play around in the grey area of the rules or try to get away with something. In essence they all cheat to some degree, because they're all looking for an advantage over another team. Yet some seem so unwilling to consider the possibility that Junior could be associated with a team that would cheat. But that his team was found to be in violation of the rules isn't a reflection on who Junior is as a driver or as a person. Odds are that he had no idea that there was anything wrong with his car.
I also don't think there's any bias being shown here by Nascar as some think. As mentioned, Nascar spelled out quite clearly what the penalities would be for COT violations and it's likely the penalties would be the same no matter which team, from what organization, was caught. Ultimately the team has to show up at the track with a car that's within Nascar's rules, or pay the price.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2007
Photo of the Day - Shifting Sands
Island Beach State Park, Seaside Park, NJ, May, 2007.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2007
Steve Park May Race This Weekend at Charlotte
Turns out that Steve Park wasn't just testing a truck for Key Motorsports last week at Lowe's Motorspeedway to help the team out, he's also being considered to race the #44 at Charlotte on Friday night. According to team owner Curtis Key, the team's not even sure they're going to field the #44 in addition to the #40 with Shane Huffman behind the wheel, and if they do it may be Clay Rogers who races it instead of Steve. So it's not a done deal that we'll be seeing Steve race this weekend, but I'm happy that he's even being considered! Of course if he ends up being named to drive the #44 on Friday, Steve will have to qualify in for the race. If he makes the show, which he should because Steve has always seemed like a solid qualifier, I'm going to keep my expectations reasonable. This team didn't have all that much speed as compared to other teams during testing, and it seems like they might have start-n-parked this truck twice this season with Morgan Shepard. However, assuming they show up making a legitamite effort to racek, and I think it's unlikely Steve would agree to a start -n- park, it would be awesome to see Steve back on the track in a truck race after so long! Even if the truck isn't as competitive as Steve might like, he might be able to have some fun racing and just like testing it's an opportunity to shake off any rust he might have after not having raced for so long. Really anything that gets Steve to or on the track and in the garage area is a good thing at this point because if nothing else it's another opportunity to network and try to put together a more regular ride.
I know some still think this is just a temporary bump in the road for Steve, that he's going to find a competitive ride and that he'll be back to contending for wins in the near future. That may very well happen if he gets a ride with Wyler Racing, but it's probably unlikely to happen with this ride. I also think there's a good chance that Steve may never race in a truly competitive car or truck again. The perfect scenario would be if sponsorship came through for the Wyler Racing ride because that truck probably would be pretty good, but it's very hard for teams to secure sponsorship in the truck series these days, not to mention a potential sponsor not only has to want to align themselves with Wyler Racing, but also with Steve - some sponsors might want a younger driver or a driver who's had more recent success.
In a lot of ways I find it sad that Steve's career has gone in the direction that it has to the point where I have to be thrilled that he's working with Key Motorsports. To their credit, I think Curtis Key is committed to trying to improve his teams, but they aren't among the best teams in the series. I never thought that Steve would end up with a team like this, not even full-time no less, and struggle to find a ride, just two years after winning a truck race at California. Then again, I never imagined that Michael Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 winner would struggle so much this season either to the point where he's only raced in one Cup race. I guess the lesson is that I should really appreciate the successes of my favorite drivers because there's no telling when it might all come to a sudden end.
And make no mistake, Steve's career likely is winding down. Even if he signs with Wyler Racing or another team to race full-time he's pretty much said that he's not planning on racing much more than another two or three years. But there's also a good chance that it's going to be really hard if not impossible for him to find another full-time ride, not because he's lacking in talent, but because of all the other issues that I've discussed in this space many times before from his age, to his lack of recent good results, to the inaccurate "damaged goods" tag, etc... So I guess the reason why I find it a little sad that he's got no other better offers at the moment than to race for Key Motorsports is because I see it as another sign that the sport has passed him by and there's no longer a place for him.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
Driver by Driver: Darlington
Before I talk about the race itself, I have to talk about qualifying. Or more to the point, the lack of it by Michael Waltrip. As any long-time reader of this space knows, Michael is my favorite driver, and I really, really miss seeing him on the track. Even his struggles last season when the cars were so bad and kept falling apart were better than him not racing at all. What really bothers me more and more is that most weeks Michael is among the 43 fastest cars, let he still doesn't get to race because the top 35 in owner's points locks in cars that are slower than he is. Yes, the #55 team needs to work with the rules as they are, and have the speed necessary to make the show, but I don't like that the fastest 43 cars aren't racing, particularly when some of the cars are much slower than he is in qualifying (Kyle Petty).
The top 35 rule had merit when there were less full-time teams as a way to protect the big investment that sponsors have in their teams, but it's out-dated now that there's so many teams showing up on a weekly basis (a number that could increase next season), and it needs to be at the very least tweaked if not eliminated all together. My preference would be fatest 43 with no provisionals and let the chips fall where they may even if established teams with popular drivers and big sponsors miss races. However, Nascar's unlikely to go that route so maybe they'll consider a compromise like returning to how qualifying was up until the top 35 rules was implimented where teams had a limited number of provisionals, or maybe they'll decrease the top 35 being locked in to where it's just the top 25, or even better only the teams who were in that past year's Chase. Since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could race for a team without owner's points next season, that could provide Nascar with the motivation to change the rules for qualifying, and I hope they do.
1. Jeff Gordon - Won in spite of an engine that was sprewing water, and threatening to blow any lap. According to Jayski's who looked at some stats of the past, Jeff's start this season through 11 races is the second best in terms of points since 1975, when they started using the current points system. Considering how many years that is, and how many drivers have raced between now and then, that's pretty amazing! I don't see any signs that the #24 team is going to suddenly stop racing as well as they have been either so I would guess we'll be seeing more of Jeff in Victory Lane this season.
2. Denny Hamlin - Denny had an outstanding car leading 179 laps until a bad pit stop resulted in two lugnuts falling off. By the time that got fixed Denny returned to the track in 16th with less than 60 laps to go. He was able to race his way to 2nd, but he ran out of time before he could chase down Jeff. After the race Denny was upset both about the failings of his pit crew, since it wasn't the first time a problem in the pits cost him, but also because he felt that Nascar should have thrown a debris caution at the end of the race, something which would have given him the opportunity to try to pass Jeff for the lead on the restart. But it wasn't to be and Denny left Darlington very frustrated.
3. Jimmie Johnson - Followed last week's win with a solid 3rd place finish. Hasn't finished outside the top five in a month.
4. Ryan Newman - Great day for Ryan and the #12 team! Hard to believe, but this is Ryan's first top five since last June at Sonoma. This team seems to have found something since this top five follows two top tens the last two weeks.
5. Carl Edwards - Led 33 laps, and had a strong car for most of the race, however Carl had to race his way back to the front after being penalized for a committment cone violation by being sent to the longest line for a restart. This is Carl's first top five this season.
6. Tony Stewart - An outstanding finish for Tony considering at one point he was two laps down due to cutting a tire. An indication of how good Tony's car was is that he got both of those laps back not by being given the lucky dog, but because he raced his way past the leaders twice.
7. Matt Kenseth - Led 29 laps in this race, but changing conditions when the sun came out towards the end of the race made the handling on Matt's car go away a little so he wasn't able to stay out front. This is Matt's 8th top ten in 11 races.
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Fans were calling for Tony Eury, Jr.'s head because they felt that his decision to keep Junior out on old tires when other cars pitted cost Junior a better finish, but a top ten isn't really anything to complain about.
9. Clint Bowyer - Started from the pole and had a good car all day which enabled him to race his way to his 5th top ten this season.
10. Jeff Burton - Since winning in Texas, the #31 team hadn't raced all that well, but they rebounded nicely this week with a top ten.
11. Martin Truex Jr. - Solid finish for Martin moves him up two spots in the points to 18th.
12. Kurt Busch - Was racing in the top five when a bad pit stop near the end of the race cost him a lot of track position that he was unable to make up. But this finish was still good enought to move him into 7th in the points.
13. Sterling Marlin - Best finish of the season for Sterling and his best finish overall since October of last season at Charlotte.
14. Mark Martin - Finished just behind his Ginn Racing teammate. Despite having raced only 8 of 11 races this season Mark remains in 15th in the points.
15. Greg Biffle - Greg's won this race the past two times, but he couldn't make it three in a row due to an ill-handling car for most of the race.
16. Jamie McMurray - Was able to race in the top ten for parts of this race, but his arm falling asleep so badly that he could only race with one arm, and a set of bad tires on one pit stop preventing him from a better finish.
17. Kevin Harvick - Fought hard to finish 17th since he went two laps down at one point due to the caution flag flying while he was making a green flag pit stop, and also because his team had to repair damage from a cut tire during another caution.
18. J.J. Yeley - I wonder how much patience Gibbs is going to have for J.J. His finishes aren't horrible, but they're not great either. He's never gotten a top five in Cup, and his last top ten was in September of last season. J.J. might have reason to be nervous since he's driving a car with the number "8" in it and Junior's on the market.
19. Bobby Labonte
20. Kasey Kahne - Hard to believe but with the way Kasey's season's been going, finishing 20th has to be considered good. It's amazing considering how many wins he had last season that he only has one top ten and one top 15 this season. But at least he's in the race considering his teammate, Scott Riggs DNQ'd.
21. Elliott Sadler - Yet again didn't have a very good car and the team struggled to make improvements during the race.
22. Jeff Green - Apparently his brakes worked better this week since he didn't wreck anyone like he did at Richmond.
23. Juan Montoya - Juan's seemed to struggle the past month or so but finishing 23rd is an improvement on last week.
24. Kenny Wallace - Best finish for Kenny since Bristol. Now that I know this team gets motors from Hendrick Motorsports it's no surprise that they're having an easier time qualifying for races than some other teams outside the top 35 in owner's points.
25. Kyle Petty
26. Ricky Rudd - Had to deal with an engine that was constantly threatening to overheat.
27. David Ragan - Tangled with Ken Schrader and ended up spinning.
28. Joe Nemechek - Blown tire damaged his car.
29. Johnny Sauter - Was racing in the top 20 until a blown tire cost him positions.
30. David Gilliland
31. Paul Menard - Lost five laps when Nascar forced Paul to go to pit road for further repairs on the exhaust system which was dragging due to being damaged when Paul brushed the wall.
32. Dave Blaney - Looked like he was going to finish fairly well until he lost an engine.
33. David Reutimann - Also lost an engine but probably wasn't going to finish too much better anyway since the team fought handling problems all race long.
34. David Stremme - Another engine gone bad.
35, Casey Mears - Yet another team with engine problems.
36. A.J. Allmendinger - Got into the wall after contact with Kyle Busch.
37. Kyle Busch - Got damage when he tangled with A.J.
38. Robby Gordon - Yet another race where the #7 team had big problems. Robby continues to sink like a rock in the points, both driver and owner's. Some seem to think his problems are only because of the team struggling with the COT and that everything will be fine once they start using the current cars again, but I suspect Robby's going to struggle all season long due to the difficulties of being a single-car team without as much resources as some other organizations.
39. Tony Raines
40. Reed Sorenson - Also had engine woes.
41. Ken Schrader - Tangled with David Ragan but also got into the wall after he cut a tire.
42. Kevin Lepage - If not for this being a milestone start for Kevin, his 200th in Cup, he probably never would have been mentioned at all in this race.
43. Brian Vickers - Brian looked like he had a pretty decent car but he ended up getting wrecked when Jamie McMurray couldn't get checked up in time.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
Parts Confiscated From #8 Team in Pre-Race Inspection
Tony Eury, Jr. and the #8 face severe penalties from Nascar for having the rear wing of the car improperly mounted. The infraction was discovered during a pre-race inspection before the race was rained out on Saturday night, and Nascar confiscated the illegal mounting brackets. Although Dale Earhardt, Jr. was allowed to start the race on Sunday from the position he qualified in after his team reattached the rear wing with the proper brackets, it's likely that some sort of penalties will be announced this week against the team since Nascar takes a dim view of COT rules violations.
Prior to the start of the season Nascar had told the teams that COT rules violations could result in penalties like lengthy suspensions for crew chiefs and a major loss of owner and driver points, so many are expecting Nascar to come down hard on the #8 team. Unlike when Greg Biffle's COT was found to be too low in a post-race inspection, this is something that was put on the car by the team. I think it also looks bad for the team that the car passed pre- and post-qualifying inspection. It's possible that the inspectors missed the problem, but it's also possible that the team used the correct mounting brackets for qualifying, then made a switch for the race, hoping it wouldn't be noticed - if that particular modification which involves changing the angle of the rear wing would give them an advantage on the track.
Eury Jr. explained that this was an "interpretation." How is that exactly? Nascar mandates what kind of mounting brackets they use which doesn't seem to leave any room for interpretation. Eury, Jr.'s next comments seem to contradict that the team got in trouble simply for misinterpreting the rules.
"It was a bad deal. It was a part that got put on there that shouldn't have. We've done a lot of offseason testing for NASCAR. There's been three different styles of brackets on there and it just happened to be one of those old-style brackets."
If it was just a misinterpretation of the rules, why does he acknowledge that a part got put on the car that didn't belong? In addition, Eury, Jr. and his team need to make sure they use the right brackets. It's not Nascar's fault if they aren't careful and use the wrong part. Also, knowing that these are "old-style" mounting brackets, why would they even have brackets on hand that they're not even supposed to be using in the first place? Eury, Jr. continued,
"It fit all of their templates. It just had a problem when you put [the angle] to where you should have."
Seems to me that if the angle was off, then it didn't actually fit Nascar's template. It also seems to me that there's two problems - the team was using the wrong brackets, but also had the wing at the wrong angle.
Being busted for a rules violation that could turn out to be major was pretty poor timing for the #8 team considering Junior's announcement last week that he's leaving DEI. Immediately many of his fans started wondering about the possibility of sabatoge and whether Teresa Earnhardt or others at DEI, maybe even members of his own team, did something to the car out of spite because they're angry that Junior's leaving. Is that a scenario that's possible? Sure, it's possible that someone at DEI got it in their head to get "revenge" on Junior for leaving, but I don't think it's too likely. For one thing, the car was probably set-up and at, or on it's way, to the track before Junior made his announcement. Furthermore, Eury, Jr. is Junior's cousin. I don't think there's any way that he would go along with a plan to sabatoge his cousin, who he's very loyal and close to. Seems to me that it's likely that it was either an honest mistake as Eury, Jr. claims, or that the team was looking for a performance advantage and hoping they wouldn't get caught.
A fine, no matter how big won't be any big deal to this team, nor will losing owner points hurt them too badly. But if Nascar takes driver points that'll drop Junior in the points standings, and as early as it is in the season, with how competitive things are among the top teams, it might not be so easy to make those points up. But what might be the most damaging is losing Eury, Jr. for any length of time to a suspension. Junior's seemed to struggle to work well with other crew chiefs, not to mention Eury, Jr. seems to be providing Junior with some extremely good cars this season. Eury, Jr. would still be able to work at the shop, and there's surely others at DEI who could fill in for him, but DEI doesn't seem as deep when it comes to personnel as some other organizations, so Eury, Jr. not being there to lead the team could really have an effect on their results.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
Gateway National Recreation Area Gets Poor Mark From Advocacy Group
Not only did Jim and I got to Island Beach State Park on Saturday, but we also went to Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, NJ. What a difference between the two parks! One would think that a park managed by the National Parks Service would be nicer than a state park, but that wasn't the case. Although we didn't spend much time exploring Gateway since we had been there before, neither of us thought it was as beautiful or peaceful as Island Beach. Gateway seemed much like any other ocean beach, whereas Island Beach was an almost pristine wonder.
The National Parks Conservation Association agrees that Gateway needs improvements. In fact they said that it's in the worst condition of any national park due to chemical and noise pollution, as well as staffing and financial issues. In addition, many of the former military buildings in the park are on the verge of collapse. The report said,
“There are no resource management plans for cultural resources, existing plans do not adequately address natural resource concerns, and interpretive plans are outdated. Most importantly, the park needs an updated general management plan and resource stewardship plan to guide natural and cultural resource management.”
It seems as if the NPS is content to have Gateway, at least the part located in Sandy Hook, be nothing more than a summer destination for beach-goers as opposed to taking care of the natural and cultural resources. That's unfortunate, particularly considering the oldest continuously operating lighthouse is located in Gateway, as well as Fort Wadsworth which dates back to prior to the revolutionary war, so there's other things that could draw visitors besides the beach. What also could end up happening is that if the NPS doesn't take better care of Gateway, the beaches, which are the prime reason most to go the Sandy Hook part of Gateway, will deteriorate too.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2007
Photo of the Day - Island Beach State Park
Island Beach State Park, Seaside Park, NJ, May, 2007. Wow! I've always loved the Jersey shore, but I had no idea there was such a gem of a park on the NJ shore until yesterday when Jim and I took a trip to Island Beach State Park. It's absolutely beautiful there! The park is a 10-mile barrier beach just south of Seaside Heights, that's one of the few remaining areas on the shore that's undeveloped. I love the ocean to begin with, but I really feel in love with the beach there - the water was so blue-green and the beach so clean. It's amazing that this park is so close to the craziness of the over-developed boardwalk of Seaside Heights with it's games and rides. Overall, we had a great day yesterday driving down the shore in Jim's father's convertible!
Posted by silverdsl at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2007
Johnny Benson Gets Himself Into Trouble
Turns out the guilty party who let a driver without a Nascar liscense take some laps in Johnny Benson's #23 truck during the evening session of testing at Charlotte last night was Johnny himself. Not a wise decision. And Bill Davis isn't very happy about that.
“I didn’t know anything about it. I didn’t even know his name. I had no earthly idea that he was driving the truck. I guess he’s a friend of Johnny’s, Johnny’s mentor.None of our people knew about it. I mean, obviously, the crew chief and those guys did. Nobody in management knew anything about it.”
I have to ask if the crew chief knew about it, why didn't he stop it from happening? Nascar made Johnny go to Darlington for a chat, and that they made him go to a track where he wasn't racing indicates to me that they were extremely displeased - with good reason. Davis said,
“Oh, I think there will be some repercussions, certainly. That’s about against the rules as anything I’ve seen happen.”
The question is whether Davis is referring to penalties that Nascar is likely to assess the team, or what he's going to do to Johnny and his team for such a major violation of the rules. I can't imagine him releasing Johnny for this - after all, Johnny's 7th in points. But it seems to me that Davis is unlikely to let this go without some sort of message sent that his drivers and their teams can't let just anyone get behind the wheel of their cars or trucks. I would assume at the very least that Johnny's going to have to pay the cost to repair or replace the truck.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
Mike Davis Lashes Out at "Lazy" Journalism
One of my pet peeves is when members of the media don't properly fact-check, source or follow-up to confirm the accuracy of the information in their articles. That's often a by-product of the rush by some journalists to be the first to get a story on-air, in print or online, because taking the time to make sure a story is 100% accurate might mean that another media outlet could break the news first. So when the media found out that Nascar's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., would be holding a press conference the following day to announce that he was leaving DEI at the end of the season, many outlets rushed to print or air with what they were "hearing" as opposed to what was actually true. At first that really bothered me, but on reflection, I wonder if there was really any other way to handle this story?
On Wednesday evening it was reported by a number of media outlets, including Dave Moody on Sirius, Claire B. Lang on XM, Jerry Bonkowsi of Yahoo! Sports, and Nascar. com that Junior would announce at the press conference that he was leaving DEI along with teammate Martin Truex, Jr. and that they'd both be racing for the company that Junior owns, JR Motorsports, with support from Hendrick Motorsports. As it turned out the only part of that which was true was that Junior was going to announce that he was leaving DEI. And Mike Davis, Junior's PR person at JR Motorsports isn't happy about it. He wrote in his blog,
"It made for humorous conversations between myself, Dale Jr., and Martin Jr., but in the grand scheme of things, it's pitiful when these journalists refuse accountability by saying, "I was only going on what my sources told me. Time to check your sources, guys. It's bad journalism, bad reporting, and bad ethics."
I agree with Davis... to a point. It's extremely poor journalism, and sometimes unethical, when reporters just throw news on the air or in print when it's poorly sourced, no one's given a chance to respond, or there's a lack of fact-checking with no follow-up to correct mistakes. However, if reporters get information from sources who have been reliable in the past, it's understandable why they might run with a story. I also think most of the media who went with the original story framed it properly in the context of that was what they were hearing was going to happen as opposed to what they knew was going to happen, and there was truth to what was being reported - Junior was in fact going to announce that he was leaving DEI.
I don't have a problem with rumors being reported as such. It's when a rumor gets reported as fact, like what Bob Dillner did when he reported on Speed that Nascar had found violations on the cars of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick after a race last season on the basis of what a source told him when there was little to no truth to what he was reporting. in Dillner's haste to scoop everyone else, he failed to check with anyone involved but the members of the media who covered this story did their due dilligence to follow-up and find out what was really going on. Several hours after the initial story broke, David Poole and Claire B. Lang, and likely others as well, were clarifying that Junior was only going to announce that he was leaving DEI, not what his plans were for 2008, based on having spoken with those closer to the situation than the intial sources were. So how exactly is it bad journalism for members of the media to report on what might be going on, then follow up to correct the inaccuracies in the previous stories (something Dillner never did)? I think it's expecting too much to think that every member of the media is going to sit on one of the biggest news stories in Nascar in years - wouldn't that be doing a disservice to their audience? And the fact of the matter is that there was some truth to what was being reported - maybe Davis is unhappy because the news leaked out before they wanted it to?
Davis also wrote,
"My problem isn't with the "little men" who start crazy rumors in a self-absorbed attempt to feel important."
Well, why not? If he's upset with those who reported rumors, then shouldn't he be upset with those who start them too? People like to gossip. People also like to start rumors, sometimes to start trouble or because they have an agenda. Shouldn't Davis be angry at those people since as I'm sure he's well aware rumors can damage Junior or JR Motorsports reputation, or possibly have an effect on Junior's search for a new ride depending on what people belive. After all, just because something's denied in this sport doesn't mean that it doesn't eventually happen anyway, so some may think that Junior just wasn't ready to announce that he'd be partnering with Hendrick and racing for himself.
Given the nature of this story, and how many effects there's going to be in the garage area from Junior's choice of a new ride, there's going to be constant rumors reported about what Junior's plans are - in fact several TV stations reported last night that Junior already had a deal with Richard Childress Racing, something that's been denied. As much as I strongly believe that the media has an obligation to make sure that the news they report is as accurate as possible, I also feel that they need to report what they hear, as long as they do their due diligence to follow-up, fact-check, allow the involved parties to comment, check sources, and correct inaccuracies. I think for the most part that was done here.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
#23 Team Sent Home From Truck Testing
Bill Davis Racing's #23 truck team was sent home from testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway yesterday, and won't be allowed to participate in any test sessions today after it was discovered that they had a driver other than Johnny Benson behind the wheel of the truck during the evening test session. What's the problem some might be wondering? Well, the problem is that the un-named driver in the #23 doesn't have a Nascar liscense! That was discovered when the #23 wrecked and it was found that the driver who went to the in-field care center wasn't Benson. It's likely the team will be penalized next week.
I don't understand what this team was thinking. It's not unusual for teams to use substitute drivers during testing if their regular driver is unavailable for part or all of a test. However, it's incredible that the team would put someone behind the wheel without a Nascar liscense, and particularly when they're testing in Charlotte where there's likely quite a few people in the area with the proper qualifications that they could have put behind the wheel. One also has to wonder how much useful feedback and information the team was going to be able to get from someone with no experience racing in Nascar, or for all we know anywhere. We may never know exactly how this came to be, but I'd love to know who this mystery driver was, whether Benson, Bill Davis or anyone else from BDR was aware of what was going on, and whether they've done something like this in the past. What's unfortunate is that even if Benson didn't know that his team was going to use an unliscensed driver, he's probably still going to be penalized for it, which could be costly for a driver hoping to contend for the Championship in the Truck Series.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2007
Photo of the Day - The Rock
Marginal Way, Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2005. I love this rock. Every time I go to Ogunquit I spend time photographing the waves washing over it. Maybe with a little luck I'll get back up there this summer to take some more photos of it.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)
Even More Problems for 360OTC
Another week, another sign that things aren't as they should be at 360OTC, the sponsor of Jeremy Mayfield's #36 car at Bill Davis Racing. Recently 360OTC was dropped as World of Outlaws Series sponsor due to non-payment, and sued by a company that brokers sponsorship, also for non-payment, now comes word that Morgan-McClure Motorsports is suing the parent company of 360OTC, Rockford-Montgomery Labs, for not following through on a sponsorship deal for this season. According to MMM, they signed a $10.1 million deal in June of last year that would have put 360OTC on a second MMM car. Rockford-Montgomery assured MMM that they would follow through on their obligations, even after it was announced in August that they would be sponsoring the #36 car.
However, Rockford-Montgomery turned around and told MMM in November that they were terminating their agreement to sponsor the car because of poor performance by the team in 2006, a lack of a driver and a lack of time to prepare promotional materials. That left MMM in the lurch because they had been negotiating with Johnny Sauter, who ended up at Haas-CNC. Rockford-Montgomery's reasons for terminating their deal with MMM are laughable. First of all, were they not paying attention to the performance of MMM when they signed the deal in the first place? Secondly, there was no driver because they pulled out of the deal! And lastly, no time to prepare promotional materials - based on what they've done with Jeremy, which isn't much of anything, I have to wonder if they ever planned to do promotional materials with any team they signed with.
I continue to be amazed at how BDR got themselves involved with this sponsor.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)
Junior Makes it Official: He's Leaving DEI
Today Dale Earnhardt, Jr. officially announced what everyone's known since yesterday - he's leaving the only organization he's raced for in Cup, DEI, the company his father founded, and will race for another, as yet undetermined team in 2008. The news sent shockwaves throughout the Junior Nation and beyond since most seemed to think that in spite of their differences, Junior and DEI would find a way to come to an agreement on a new contract. But it wasn't to be. In fact, Junior said today that they never even got close. I can't say I'm surprised about that considering Junior and his sister Kelley were demanding a 51% ownership stake in DEI, something that I didn't think was likely that Teresa Earnhardt, their step-mother was going to agree to. So Junior's going to walk away from his father's company and start a new chapter in his life with a new team. Immediately he becomes the hottest property in the garage area as the sport's most popular driver, with a major sponsor, Budweiser, likely to follow him no matter where he goes, and let's not forget he's a major source of revenue in terms of merchandise, marketing and promotions.
Junior indicated that he's going to listen to any owner who wants to make a pitch to him, but he was pretty clear about saying that it was likely, and that he would prefer, to continue to race for Chevy. That leaves only a limited amount of teams that are serious contenders for his services. Many believe that Richard Childress Racing is his likely destination, and that he'll be racing the #3 next season, even though Junior repeated last night at an event that racing the #3 is something he doesn't see himself doing until he's much older and at the end of his career. I also wonder if Junior might be better off racing out from under his father's shadow - there's no way to avoid the comparisions between himself and his father but racing for an organization other than RCR might put some distance between himself and those comparisons. Hendrick Motorsports has to also be high on the list since they're dominating this season and could surely provide Junior with cars he could win in. However, Hendrick already has four cars, and I'm not sure Junior would fit into the buttoned-up, corporate environment at Hendrick all that well. Most haven't seemed to consider Joe Gibbs Racing a very likely destination for Junior, but I think that's where he might fit in best. He's good friends with Tony Stewart, they field very competitive cars, and it seems as if they'd be able to handle adding another high-profile driver. There's also Hendrick sattelitte operations like Ginn Racing or Haas/CNC, but how likely is it that either of those two organizations have the resources to give Junior what he feels he needs to succeed?
What I wonder about is how easy it's going to be for Junior to get that Championship he wants with a new team. It takes time for teams and drivers to gel with each other. In addition, Junior might find that things are different when he's not racing for the family's company. Of course any team is going to work hard to help him be as successful as possible, but when his last name isn't a part of the company's name, he might find that the attitude and environment he races in is different that at DEI. Although it doesn't sound likely that Junior's going to field a team for himself, that was a possibility that was touched on. I can't see that being something that has much appeal to Junior right now though, especially since he's no doubt well-aware of all the struggles that former teammate Michael Waltrip has been going through trying to field three brand-new teams. Seems to me the idea of struggling to qualify for races, and not being very competitive isn't something that Junior will want to go through during the prime years of his career.
As interesting as where Junior ends up will be who DEI finds to replace him. Many fans are predicting DEI's demise but I'm not so sure about that. DEI is an established organization that's been around for a long time, and they have the resources to compete. Based on the fact that they entered into talks with Robert Yates Racing recently about some sort of partnership or merger, it also seems like they're taking steps to move forward and evolve without Junior. There's no doubt that losing a major sponsor, a talented driver, the personnel who are likely to follow Junior to his next team, and the revenue that comes from Junior is a huge loss that will hurt. However, I don't think DEI is going to close their doors at the end of the season as many seem to think. After all, they've still got Paul Menard and Martin Truex, Jr., plus those driver's respective sponsors. There's also no telling who DEI might sign to take Junior's place - a driver like Greg Biffle would attract sponsors, and there's no doubt he knows how to win races.
Naturally there's a lot of animosity towards Teresa, with many fans blaming her for why Junior and DEI are parting ways. But the reality is that there's two sides to every negotiation, and we have no idea what really went on behind closed doors. Both Junior and Teresa have to do what they feel are best for their own interests. Junior said he and DEI have different visions for how they would achieve success, and from the sounds of it DEI has more of a long-term plan whereas Junior wants to try to win a Championship as soon as possible. Teresa's decisions may not be for the best, but only time will tell on that, and DEI is her's to do with it as she choses. Dale Earnhardt willed DEI to her, and despite the many fans who felt that she should have handed over control of DEI to Junior and Kelley immediately, she has just as much right to the company as they do.
Junior isn't among my favorite drivers so I'm not looking forward to the constant speculation and over-analysis of everything he says and does as people search for clues as to what team he might end up signing with. But maybe it'll take some of the media attention away from the woes of Michael Waltrip Racing and the other Toyota teams.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:39 PM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2007
Junior to Leave DEI?
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. at JR Motorsports and several reliable media outlets including Dave Moody on Sirius, Claire B. Lang on XM, Yahoo! Sports, and Nascar.com are reporting that Junior will announce that he's leaving DEI along with teammate Martin Truex, Jr. at the conclusion of this season and that they both will race for JR Motorsports in 2008. Support in the form of chassis and engines are rumored to be coming from Hendrick Motorsports. If all of this is true, it's going to rock the garage area, and blow the minds of many fans. I'm hesitant to say too much now before Junior's press conference tomorrow because there's no telling how much is true. But it seems to me that Junior's quest for wins and a Championship might be a pretty bumpy ride if he's attempting to do it as an owner-driver.
ETA: David Poole is reporting that sources have told him that Junior's announcement tomorrow is that he's leaving DEI, but that the part about him taking Truex with him and getting support from Hendrick is false. According to Poole Junior intends on announcing that he's a free agent and that he'll race for any team that gives him the best chance to win a Championship, though given his comments a few days ago about racing a Chevy for sure next season, perhaps the amount of teams that stand a real chance of signing him isn't that big. Junior announcing just that he's leaving DEI makes a lot more sense to me than him announcing all the details of his plans for the future not only for him but also for another driver.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
Random Thoughts on Nascar
*Michael Waltrip's got a newly re-designed website and a new blog too. When I first heard that Michael would be doing a blog I wasn't sure what to expect, because it seems as if some of the other drivers who do blogs/journals/or articles offer up little more than vanilla fluff that summarizes what they've done on- and off-the-track in the last week. I suppose some drivers and their PR people are afraid of offending sponsors or fans accidentally if a driver says anything "wrong" or too controversial, but I'd rather know what a driver really thinks about issues related to racing than a discussion of where they've played golf recently. Michael's first entry was about the COT and why some drivers aren't too happy about racing it, and while he was candid in his opinions, he didn't go so far as to say anything that his fellow drivers or others are going to get upset about. If the rest of his blog is anything like his first entry, I'm really going to like it!
As for the entry itself, I think Michael has an excellent point regarding some of the drivers complaining because they've had a lot of success with the old car, and they aren't all that thrilled about having to race something different that's so unknown. Seems to me that a difficulty with change is something that's a problem not just for drivers, but for many fans as well. But I don't see how the sport can evolve and move forward if nothing ever changes. I don't love every change that Nascar makes, but I think they have to continue to make changes as they feel are necessary for safety, competition and financial reasons.
*Last week's Nascar Scene has a brief article (that's not available online) about the continuing issues for 360OTC, the sponsor for the #36 car. Not only has 360OTC been dropped as a title sponsor by World of Outlaws due to non-payment, their parent company, Rockford-Montgomery Labs, is being sued by Just Marketing, a company that brokers motorsports sponsorship deals, also for non-payment. Bill Davis doesn't exactly give them a big vote of confidence saying that he "hopes" that the #36 team will continue to be sponsored, rather than he knows they're going to continue to sponsor the team. Davis also says that fielding an unsponsored car is a big challenge, and that really doesn't bode well since the #36 team is already struggling tremendously.
*It's been said that drivers quickly forget and forgive after incidents on the track, but that's definitely not the case for Kasey Kahne in relation to his incident with David Stremme on Sunday. Kasey was asked at testing yesterday about David and he said,
"I don't like the guy. I've never liked him. Now we just have a lot more of a reason not to like him."
I'm thinking that there's more to the story of why Kasey is so upset with David than just that he's frustrated about getting wrecked. I have to wonder what other incidents there are between the two, and whether there also might be some off-the-track conflicts that have led to Kasey disliking David so much. The ironic thing is that they're doing a photo appearance together tomorrow for a sponsor. I'd say that it could be an opportunity for them to work out their problems, but based on Kasey's comments he has no intention of doing so. Maybe Kasey has good reason to feel the way that he does about David, but I think he's acting childish and unprofessonal by airing, as David refers to it, his "dirty laundry" in public. I have no doubt that there's plenty of drivers who don't like each other, but we rarely hear about it. If Kasey has a personal problem with David, I think he needs to deal with it privately.
*The rumors are flying fast and furious regarding what teams Dale Earnhardt, Jr. might end up racing for if he doesn't re-sign with DEI. Junior has a clause in his contract that prohibits him from talking to other teams prior to June 1, and teams and manufacturers both have denied that they've ever had any conversations with Junior about him signing with them. However, just because they haven't talked to Junior directly doesn't mean that there aren't any offers being made. Teams are free to talk to Junior's sister, Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge, who handles most of his business affairs, and any other respresentative of his, they just can't talk to Junior directly. So just because a team issues a denial doesn't mean that there's nothing going on there.
*Junior complained about the COT this week, and about how he wants Nascar to make changes to the car to make it easier to handle and turn. To be fair, a number of other drivers have complained as well, but thus far Junior's the only one to ask Nascar to make changes. Seems to me that he needs to discuss with his crew chief and others at DEI how they can set-up the car as close to the way he likes it, something which may take some time to figure out as he adjusts to racing the COT. But I don't think it's Nascar's responsbility to make the car easier to handle and turn for Junior. Robin Pemberton just now said on XM that there's suspension and other areas that the teams can adjust on the COTs to make them turn easier, so it seems as if it's a matter of DEI figuring things out with the COT like Hendrick Motorsports has. But Junior's had very good results in the COT, so it seems as if he's doing a good job of racing it even if he doesn't like it. Maybe Junior's comments stem from frustration at not having won yet this season.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)
Curt Schilling on Barry Bonds
Unlike a lot of fans I enjoy Curt Schilling's candor and that he's willing to give an opinion on just about anything, baseball or otherwise. But there's definitely times when Schilling is too candid, and I think his recent comments on Barry Bonds are an example of him going too far. Schilling said during his weekly appearance on the radio station, WEEI,
"I mean, he admitted that he used steroids. I mean, there's no gray area. He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes, and cheating on the game, so I think the reaction around the league, the game, being what it is, in the case of what people think. Hank Aaron not being there. The commissioner [Bud Selig] trying to figure out where to be. It's sad."
There's only one problem. Bonds never actually admitted to using steroids, cheating on his wife or on his taxes. What he did do, according to leaked grand jury testimony from the BALCO case, is admit to unknowingly taking steroids that were contained in "The Cream" and "The Clear." In addition, he's been accused of cheating on his wife and his taxes, but Bonds never publically admitted that those charges were true. To be clear, my personal opinion is that Bonds likely knowingly took steroids, cheated on his wife and on his taxes. However, Schilling didn't frame his opinions in terms of what he believes to be true, he talked as if it's fact that Bonds admitted to things that he actually never did admit to.
What really makes Schilling look like an asshat is that he just ripped Gary Thorne on his blog for doing virtually the same thing in relation to Thorne's comments about the infamous Bloody Sock. It's pretty astonishing that Schilling would bitch and moan about Thorne playing fast and loose with the facts, and how "stupid and ignorant" Thorne is, then turn around and also get the facts wrong himself. Of course everyone makes mistakes, but to if Schilling is going to make harsh comments about another player, it seems to me he should at least get his facts straight. In addition, Schilling's not just a fan giving his opinion on a message board, or speaking privately to a friend - he's a major league player talking about a fellow player to the media.
In addition, was it really necessary for Schilling to bring up the possibility that Bonds cheated on his wife and on his taxes? What does that have to do with him breaking Hank Aaron's record? Maybe Schilling was trying to illustrate what a bad person Bonds is and that as such he shouldn't be celebrated when he breaks the record. But the reality is that many of Schilling's fellow players, and likely some of his own teammates, also have skeletons in their closets regarding their personal lives. By passing judgement on Bonds - and this may also apply in relation to Bonds use of performance enhancers - he's also passing judgement on many others in his own clubhouse and beyond. Seems to me that the personal lives of the players should be off-limits, and especially from criticism from each other, unless it has an effect on their team or the way they play the game.
What's most unfortunate to me is that I think there's a lot of times that Schilling has some excellent insights into the game, but it often gets lost when he says something controversial. After this long I have my doubts as to whether he'll ever change, but I wish he'd learn to dial it down a notch.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)
Steve Park to Test for Key Motorsports
Steve Park fans have been wondering if he might turn up at truck testing at Charlotte this week, and it was announced today that Steve will be there, but not in a second truck for Wyler Racing as many were hoping, but instead in a truck for Key Motorsports. Apparently Shane Huffman who normally races the #40 truck is unavailable to take part in testing due to having to be at Darlington in his Busch car, so the team called on Steve. I'm so happy that Steve's going to be making a return to the track to do something racing-related, even though it's just taking part in testing!
I can't see any downside to taking this gig. For one thing there's the possibility that it could lead to more opportunities with Key Motorsports, since I think they've been continuing to use a variety of drivers for their second truck. Also, it's another opportunity for Steve to network and make himself visible in the garage area. If he's able to be fast in the #40 during the test, it might also catch the eye of some other teams, who might consider giving him a ride. And owners won't be concerned about Steve being rusty from not having been behind the wheel of a truck in so long if he's at least done some testing.
I'm sure there are some who are disappointed that he's going to be working with a team like Key Motorsports that isn't among the elite in the garage area, but it's not like Steve is making a long-term committment to him - it's just testing, and I think it's terrific that he's taking advantage of an opportunity that's being presented to him. Curtis Key has expressed his intention to put a lot of effort into improving his teams, and even if they haven't gotten impressive results, I think Key has the right attitude. Given how hard it is to find sponsorship in the Truck Series these days, there's no telling how long - if ever - it will take Wyler Racing to find a sponsor for a second truck, and Steve can't wait around for them to put something together.
Maybe it'll work out for Steve and Wyler, maybe Steve will race for Key, maybe he'll race for some other team - or no team at all, but it seems to me that Steve is doing everything he can to try to make something happen for himself. In the past three or four months it's seemed to me like there's been a shift in attitude and approach for Steve. In the past it's seemed like he's not been overly aggressive when it's come to looking for a new ride, and that he's not been very good about keeping himself visible. That's really changed recently - he's gone to the track several times to network, made an appearance at Dale Earnhardt Day, been on XM and Sirius, has been making an effort to connect with his fans via periodic Q&As on his website, etc... I don't know exactly why Steve decided to do things differently or who might be advising him, but both they and he are doing a very good job of late of taking advantage of opportunities!
Posted by silverdsl at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2007
Photo of the Day - Butterfly
Aruba, September, 2005
Posted by silverdsl at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
Barbara Streisand - Woman in Love
I've never really liked Barbara Streisand, but I heard "Woman in Love" on Sirius a while back, and for some reason the song really stuck in my head so I've been listening to it a lot lately.
Life is a moment in space, when the dream is gone it’s a lonelier place
I kiss the morning goodbye, but down inside you know we never know why
The road is narrow and long, when eyes meet eyes and the feeling is strong
I turn away from the wall, I stumble and fall but I give you it all
I am a woman in love
And I'd do anything
To get you into my world
And hold you within
It’s a right I defend
Over and over again
What do I do
With you eternally mine, in love there is no measure of time
We planned it all at the start, that you and I live in each other's hearts
We may be oceans away, you feel my love, I hear what you say
No truth is ever a lie, I stumble and fall, but I give you it all
I am a woman in love
And I'd do anything
To get you into my world
And hold you within
It’s a right I defend
Over and over again
What do I do
I am a woman in love
And I'm talking to you
I know how you feel
What a woman can do
It’s a right I defend over and over again
I am a woman in love
And I'd do anything
To get you into my world
And hold you within
It’s a right I defend
Over and over again
What do I do
Posted by silverdsl at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)
Kasey Kahne on David Stremme
On Sunday Kasey Kahne and David Stremme tangled on a track in such a way that both ended up wrecked. I didn't think this incident was anything more than a racin' deal in which two drivers are racing each other hard, as opposed to a one driver or another doing something dumb. However, after the race Kasey had harsh words for David on one of the Speed shows, calling him "fat and out-of-shape" which he said maybe contributed to him being worn out at the end of the race leading to their incident. Ridiculous, false and unnecessary! I think what makes that comment so out-of-line is that David's not overweight in the least, and he's always seemed to be in fairly good shape to me.
While I think the drivers are entitled to express to have opinions about each other, and I understand some of those opinions might not be positive after they've been involved in an incident together, I really dislike it when drivers personally insult each other. I think the drivers should have more respect for each other. And I especially think that a driver's personal appearance should be completely off limits. What does the way a driver look have anything to do with how they race a car? Sure, Kasey claims that David's not in good enough shape to race a car well, but carrying a little extra weight never hurt Tony Stewart, nor have I seen any study to show that it has any bearing what-so-ever in on-track performance. I understand that Kasey's extremely frustrated that his season has been going so poorly, but the lack of respect that he showed, and has shown on other occasions to a fellow driver, is extremely disappointing.
Posted by silverdsl at 06:54 PM | Comments (0)
Driver by Driver: Richmond I
1. Jimmie Johnson - Hendrick Motorsports continues to dominate not only COT races, but this entire season overall since a Hendrick driver has ended up in VL in seven out of the ten races run so far. I don't believe in any of the conspiracy theories that say that Nascar favors the Hendrick teams, but I do wish that more of a variety of drivers were winning races.
2. Kyle Busch - Second out of three Hendrick drivers in the top four. Kyle led 27 laps in this race but Jimmie passed him with less than 20 laps to go. Kyle has finished in the top five in every Cup race he's been in at this track so far (five).
3. Denny Hamlin - A Virginia native, Denny wanted to win bad, and a lot of fans were pulling for him too just because he was a non-Hendrick driver. But he just didn't have enough to overtake Jimmie and Kyle.
4. Jeff Gordon - Jeff's amazing season continues. In ten races he's only finished outside the top five twice, and those were finishes of 10th and 12th. In many of those races he's also contended for the win like he did on Sunday by leading 114 laps.
5. Kurt Busch - Second top five in a row for Kurt, which is possibly a sign that this team is finally getting back on track after an iffy season last year. A great finish for Kurt considering the problems he experienced early in the race when he got spun as a by-product of the Casey Mears spin, and the ensuing poor pit stop due to a lugnut getting stuck on the air gun. On Inside Nextel Cup they played some audio from Kurt's radio communication at that point in which he expressed his anger about givijng races away in the pits, and considering that incident left him dead-last and a lap down, I can understand why he was upset. Some feel that Kurt's too quick to anger, but as Michael Waltrip pointed out on INC, that's why his team loves him because he's so driven.
6. Ryan Newman - Just like his teammate at Penske Racing, Ryan also got his second strong finish in a row. I think this team still has some further to go than Kurt's team to right things as Ryan still doesn't seem to be able to race as well as he has in the past.
7. Kevin Harvick - If there's any driver who should be angry about giving races away in the pits, it's Kevin. He led 105 laps and for the first part of the race looked like the man to beat until he and David Ragan tangled when Kevin was leaving his pit stall and David was entering his. That comes down to terrible communication on the #29 team. Kevin really can't see other cars that are coming when he's leaving his pit so his crew chief and spotter have to guide him. A very costly incident because Kevin had to come back in for repairs and he was never able to get back in the lead, but at least he was able to finish solidly in the top ten.
8. Tony Stewart - Although he's had a decent season so far, at this time last season Tony had already won a race, so I would imagine as more and more races go by without him in Victory Lane, the more frustrated he's getting inside. Of course a top ten is far from a bad finish.
9. Clint Bowyer - Had a solid race to get his fourth top ten of the season which moves him up into tenth in the overall points. That he did well in the Cup race should be no surprise since he won the Busch race at Richmond on Friday night.
10. Matt Kenseth - Battled an ill-handling car for much of the race to finish tenth. After the race Matt complained that he feels like the cars he's been racing are only 20th place cars yet Matt only has one finish outside the top fifteen this season, and that was to start the season at Daytona.
11. Dave Blaney - Great finish for Dave following a DNQ last week. Some are going to say, well, if Dave can race this well then why can't his teammate Jeremy Mayfield or other Toyota Cup teams? The thing is as Michael pointed out last night on INC, the #22 team is established and have been working together for quite some time. So that gives them an advantage over some of the other Toyota teams - Dave's team knows how to set cars up for him, they know how to communicate, how to work well together as a team, etc... In time the other Toyota teams should be able to get to that point as well.
12. Carl Edwards - Qualified second, but handling woes caused him to be unable to finish as well as he started. Carl hasn't finished in the top ten since Atlanta.
13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - One of two victims of Jeff Green's brake issues. Considering how he was sent for a spin, he's probably lucky to have finished inside the top fifteen.
14. J.J. Yeley - Best finish for J.J. since he finished 12th and 13th to start the season.
15. Bobby Labonte
16. Paul Menard - Just barely qualified for the race, but raced his way to a solid top 20 finish. I probably say it every week, but I really wish that Paul didn't have to deal with worrying about qualifying in each week, and cars that don't always seem to be so great, because I think he's a much better driver than what we've seen of him in Cup so far.
17. Mark Martin - First time Mark's not seemed to have a very competitive car in the starts he's made so far this season.
18. Casey Mears - The Hendrick domination this season hasn't carried over to Casey thus far. If someone's going to experience ill fortune in a race it's him. Casey got spun on lap four but the team regrouped and he was able to race his way to a top 20. Hopefully his season will turn around soon. The cars he's getting from Hendrick are pretty good so if the bad luck monkey stays away from him, he should be able to put together some solid races.
19. Greg Biffle - The other victim of Jeff Green's brake problems. He probably would have finished a lot better if not for that, but this finish allowed him to move up one spot in the points to 15th.
20. David Ragan - Survived the incident with Kevin Harvick on pit road that caused his team to have to pit him backwards to finish in the top 20.
21. Reed Sorenson - Had to deal with a tight race car for much of the race.
22. Tony Raines - Led some laps at one point by virtue of only taking two tires on a pit stop when others took four, so he was able to get out ahead of the rest of the field, but he wasn't able to stay up front.
23. Sterling Marlin - Another unimpressive finish for this team.
24. Jeff Green - Somehow Jeff always seems to have brake problems at tracks like Richmond or Bristol, and somehow it always leads to him getting into other drivers and spinning or wrecking them.
25. Kyle Petty - I wonder if Chad McCumbee or John Andretti are gonig to be able to get any better results in the #45 than Kyle's been getting?
26. Juan Montoya - Somehow Ryan Newman and Juan Montoyta always seem to find each other on the track. Maybe it's just concidence or maybe there's a feud brewing, but things often don't seem to work out too well when they're racing each other. In this case a bump from Ryan on lap 119 caused Juan and Johnny Sauter to get into each other.
27. Elliott Sadler - Fought handling issues, brushed the wall twice, and spun once (something I missed). It's looking more and more like the move to Evernham isn't going to lead to many improvements over last season with Yates.
28. Martin Truex Jr. - Was on his way to a good finish when he got swept up in the Ward Burton/Ricky Rudd wreck.
29. David Reutimann - Started 14th but didn't have a car good enough to keep racing near the front.
30. Scott Riggs - An unscheduled pit stop due to a loose wheel caused Scott to lose a few laps to the leaders, but from the sounds of it he still didn't have a great car. The #10 remains 36th in owner's points which isn't a very good place to be.
31. Johnny Benson - A lot of people were extremely impressed that Johnny was able to qualify for this race over some full-time Toyota teams. And it's definitely an accomplishment to be happy and proud about. However, I also agree with what was said on last night's INC that this team making the race doesn't mean that they're better than the other Toyota teams since they're able to concentrate all their efforts just on testing and getting prepared for the limited amount of COT races that they'll be racing in, which is made easier by the fact that the Truck Series where Wyler Racing races regularly has a lot of off-time in the beginning of the season. On the other hand, the full-time teams have to prepare both COTs and current cars and worry about getting prepared for races, sometimes for multiple teams on a weekly basis.
32. A.J. Allmendinger - The Red Bull site was celebrating that this was A.J.'s best race in Cup. That's sad. It must be a huge challenge for A.J. to be a rookie in Cup and still adjusting to racing this series, but also have to contend with cars that aren't very competitive. He's been racing a truck in some races, but I'm a little surprised they haven't found a Busch car for him to race on a more regular basis. Actually though A.J. might have finished better if not for getting caught up in the Ward Burton-Ricky Rudd wreck.
33. Joe Nemechek - Started the season with a top ten but the results haven't been all that great since, particularly the last two races.
34. Robby Gordon - Had a mechanical issue that led to three or four cut tires and some time spent behind the wall. Robby boasted early in the season about his team's performance and how they were going to be so great this season, but lately it's been one poor performance after another, with a whole lot of mechanical problems mixed in. Robby's done well to show how a one-car, independent team can survive in the Cup series but if he's not careful he's going to backtrack on all that progress he made when he first came into the series racing for himself.
35. Ward Burton - Ward wasn't too happy with Sterling Marlin after the race because he felt it was Sterling's fault that he and Ricky Rudd got wrecked.
36. Johnny Sauter
37. Ricky Rudd - Getting into the wreck with Ward Burton caused Ricky to be able to finish no better than 37th, but even if he hadn't gotten wrecked, Ricky's finish likely wouldn't have been very good since the car wasn't handling very well for him all race long. This team really needs to improve, and it's got to be frustrating to Ricky to return to racing full-time only to have to deal with subpar cars.
38. David Stremme - Got into the wall and also tangled with Kasey Kahne. Kasey had harsh words for David after the race which I don't really understand since it looked like it was just one of those racin' deals where things don't work out so well when two guys are racing each other as opposed to David doing anything wrong.
39. Kenny Wallace
40. Kasey Kahne - Yet another very poor finish for Kasey, and not just because he got into a wreck. I continue to wonder how a driver and team who won so many races last season could look so bad this season.
41. Jamie McMurray - Had a shock problem that led to Jamie getting into the wall, which forced him to the garage for repairs much to the team's dismay considering their sponsor was also the sponsor of the race.
42. David Gilliland - Got a lot of damage after a spin sent him into the wall.
43. Jeff Burton - Blown engine resulted in a DNF for Jeff.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2007
Photo of the Day - Mists Over Red Rock Canyon
Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2005.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
More on Matt Borland's Departure from Michael Waltrip Racing
From the sounds of it, there's more to the story of Matt Borland leaving Michael Waltrip Racing than just that he and Dale Jarrett weren't working well together. Apparently Borland was hired at MWR with the understanding that at some point in the future he'd step into the Technical Director position. And in fact when the decision was made to go in a different direction with the crew chief for the #44, he originally accepted taking the position now, something that MWR felt would help their entire organization. However, two days later Borland changed his mind. Ty Norris, MWR's general manager said,
"Matt has a difficult time with the entire industry right now. Other than that, I don't need to put words in his mouth."
There's been a lot of speculation about which organization Borland is going to end up going to next, but Ty's words make me wonder if Borland has some personal issues he needs to work out before he ends up elsewhere. Particularly when one considers that Borland's issues may date back to when he was with Penske Racing last season. At Penske there was also the option of becoming Technical Director, something it was said Borland wanted to do so that he could spend more time with his family. Suddenly he was leaving that organization for MWR. Just seems as if there might be something more going on than what's been said publically. If Borland's had anything else on his mind this season - something in his personal life, dissatisfaction with the direction Nascar's going in, etc... it could have interferred with his ability to communicate well with Dale Jarrett, which in turn could have effected the way that the team was performing.
One thing that a number of fans, including myself, have picked up on is that Ty's comments differ from that of Michael Waltrip's earlier in the week. MWR released a statement from Michael, which he elaborated on with Lee Spencer and on XM with Claire B. Lang. At that time Michael never mentioned that Borland had accepted the Technical Director position, only to change his mind, and instead Michael focused on the need to make a change with the #44 team to improve performance. In the past I've felt that Ty hasn't always been on the same page with Michael regarding what's said to the media, and that's led some fans to think that one or the other must not be telling the truth. Personally, I think it more has to do with each having a different approach to how they deal with the media. Michael will give his opinions, but he tends to be more guarded regarding some specifics, whereas Ty will be more detailed in his responses. That may be partially by design so that Ty is the one addressing more of the negative news in depth, but I can't help but think that sometimes less is more. Michael spoke about how much respect he had for Borland, and how good he was for the organization, I'm not sure why Ty went so far as to say that Borland has "a difficult time" with the industry because it leads to speculation, as I just did above. I just wish that there weren't some of the inconsistencies in the message sometimes because it gives fans reasons to be suspicious and jump all over MWR, even when there's likely no reason to be doing so. But really the bottom line is that I think Borland put Michael, Ty and MWR in a tough position when he left the organization, particularly when he indicated at first his willingness to stay even if he wasn't going to remain as DJ's crew chief, and it probably left them scrambling as to how to address it.
Not surprisingly DJ failed to qualify for the race this past weekend, and I suspect it won't be the last time he DNQ's this season. But hopefully a new crew chief will enable DJ to make some improvements as the season goes on.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
More on Roger Clemens Return to the Yankees
I know I should be happier about Roger Clemens making a return to pinstripes. And I am glad that the New York Yankees signed Clemens because I know that there's a good chance that he's going to help them win. Still, as I mentioned in a previous entry I'm not a big fan of Clemens. But besides that there's something about paying one player $28 million (pro-rated) for one season's worth of work that doesn't sit quite right with me. I'm not a big fan of a lot of the big-money deals because it often seems excessive to me, maybe because I know I'll never earn anywhere close to a $1 million a year, let alone $28 million. However, it particularly bothers me when an older player is involved. Sure, Clemens hasn't show any signs of slowing down, but eventually his age is going to catch up with him. In addition, one has to wonder if Clemens is going to be as effective in his return to the American League as he was in the National League where the bottom of the order is weaker given how the pitcher bats. Of course it's not my money so I shouldn't be concerned that the Yankees were willing to sign Clemens at any price, but I still can't find myself able to jump up and down about big-money deals like this one.
In addition, I don't like how Clemens is going to get special treatment from his teammates. Clemens will have the option of not traveling on road trips if he's not pitching so he can spend more time with his family. Last season Joe Torre had indicated that he wouldn't agree to that kind of a scenario with any player, not even Clemens, but apparently he changed his mind, maybe because of how desperate the Yankees need for quality pitching is. Supposedly the veteran players were asked if they would object to the special treatment for Clemens, and all of them supposedly indicated that it would be fine with them. But I have to wonder if at some point some players may come to resent Clemens being able to stay home when he wants to. I'm sure there's many players who would love to spend extra time with their families, some of whom are also very talented. Some may wonder why they can't do the same. I think that could especially become an issue if Clemens doesn't live up to expectations - Clemens not pitching well or the team not winning could really sour the current good will he's enjoying with fans and everyone else before he's actually taken the mound t his season.
Hopefully I'll be wrong but something about this is giving me a bad feeling that Clemens might not be the savior that many Yankee fans are hoping he'll be. Hopefully I'll be wrong about that though.
Posted by silverdsl at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
May 06, 2007
Photo of the Day - Driftwood Beach
Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia. July, 2006.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)
Roger Clemens to Return to the New York Yankees
Roger Clemens just announced to the crowd at Yankee Stadium between innings that he's making a return to pitch for the New York Yankees. With the Yankees pitching woes that's not a big surprise - the Yankees probably threw a ton of money at him, plus agreed to any special treatment that Clemens wanted to make sure that he'd come back. Not to mention close friend, Andy Pettitte re-joined the Yankees prior to this season as well. Apparently Clemens won't be ready to pitch for another month which means that the Yankees still have to find a way to fill the holes in their rotation until then. But once he joins the rotation, hopefully Clemens will be just as good as he was in his first go-around in pinstripes, and he'll help the Yankees get back to the post-season.
That said, I dislike Clemens. A lot. I never liked him the first time he was a Yankee, I didn't care for the way he retired and unretired several times, and I still don't like him. But I'll cheer for him if he helps the Yankees win games.
Perhaps I should get something bedazzled to celebrate this happy event.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2007
Does the Talladega Superspeedway Really Want to Stop Fans from Throwing Things?
I'm not convinced that they do. Oh sure, they're talking a good game about how they want to send a strong message that fans throwing cans and other objects onto the track won't be tolerated, but the actions they've taken amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist, and not a very hard one at that. Sure, 14 fans were arrested but it's likely they won't face charges that are particularly severe. And they've banned 14 fans for life for throwing cans, but realistically how easy is it going to be able to enforce that when they have 143,000 in the stands, plus thousands more in the infield? Those fans might not be able to buy tickets themselves through the Talladega ticket office, but there's nothing stopping them from buying a ticket through a ticket broker, Ebay, or having friends buy a ticket for them. With that many fans coming through the gates, there's also no way that ticket takers will be able to recognize the fans that are banned. The same goes for at the other tracks where the president of Talladega Superspeedway is asking for those fans to be banned from.
In addition, the track has no plans to ban coolers in an effort to prevent fans from bringing cans in themselves, nor do they plan on banning alcohol at the track. I hope that they'll at least consider either switching to selling beer or other drinks only in cups instead of can or other containers, and restricting sales towards the end of races like they do at many baseball stadiums. Because otherwise the exact same scenario is likely to repeat over and over again, particularly if the offenders face no real consequences.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)
Matt Borland Out as Crew Chief of the #44
I can't say I'm all that shocked by the news that Matt Borland has been released as crew chief of the #44 at Michael Waltrip Racing, because it's been said in the past that Dale Jarrett goes through crew chiefs like water. So when the results weren't very good for DJ this season, I expected that he'd probably want a crew chief change eventually. I just never expected that it would be after only nine races. I guess there was a sign that this might be coming in an article yesterday in USA Today in which Michael Waltrip said of Matt and DJ,
"(Crew chief) Matt Borland and Dale haven't seemed to be able to click like they need to yet."
What gets me is that DJ specifically asked for a crew chief like Borland, and MWR went out and actually got Borland for him. If he can't click with the exact crew chief he wants, who is he going to click with? This weekend Derrick Finley is going to be on the box for the #44, and afterwards, Jason Burdett, who was a car chief on the #88 at Robert Yates Racing, so presumably DJ had worked with him previously, will take over as crew chief. Maybe DJ will be happier with someone he's familiar with from his time at RYR.
In making the announcement that Borland was no longer at the #44 Michael said,
"Dale Jarrett wasn't happy, UPS wasn't happy, and we had to do something immediately. Originally, we had hoped that Matt Borland would take the role as the technical director, but he wasn't ready to come off the road. We need a technical director down the road, but it wasn't going to help us this weekend."
I think the other thing that bothers me is that Borland leaving MWR could hurt the organization overall. He's got a strong engineering background, and a lot of knowledge so it would seem to me that even if the cars he's worked on so far haven't been very fast, as time goes on he would likely have a lot to contribute to the process of making them better. In addition, they couldn't even convince him to stay on as technical director, and they certainly need someone in that position. I feel bad for Borland because he took a risk in leaving Penske Racing to work at MWR, and things certainly didn't turn out the way he probably expected.
Somehow I doubt that this is going to lead to immediate improved results for DJ. I think he's going to be missing some races, even if not this week at Richmond then in the near future. Fact is, he's been one of the slowest cars on the track every week both in qualifying and in the races, so slow that Michael who has missed eight straight races has been faster than him. So I suspect that Michael may end up making some races while DJ may miss some.
I think what really doesn't bode well is DJ's own words. He said before the announcement that Borland was leaving was made,
"We're going to see all this hard work pay off, but that's going to be down the road, and everyone needs to keep that [in mind], because it is something that's not going to happen next week, next month or even next year. But I believe we'll get there."
So if DJ doesn't think things are going to get better anytime soon, why should anyone else? That said, I think MWR overall needs to improve enough to where they're consistantly making races and are capable of some decent results in races otherwise their sponsors might not be so inclined to stick around, UPS included.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
Michael Waltrip and Robby Gordon Bury the Hatchet
...and not in each other. On Michael's XM show on Tuesday night, Robby came up in conversation, and Michael said that he and Robby are "cool" with each other, that they've had a love-hate relationship in the past, but that they have a lot of mutal respect for each other. Apparently, Robby has also been giving Michael advice since he's also a driver-owner, who knows all about many of the trails and tribulations that Michael is going through since he missed seven races when he was first starting out with his own team in 2005. Michael said of Robby,
"He said he wished he was as smart when he started as he is now. I said, 'Well, would you help me be smarter then?' "
I'm glad that Michael has asked Robby for advice. Fact is, in spite of a subpar season so far, Robby was able to overcome missing races in 2005, to put himself and his organization solidly in the top 35 in owner's points last season, and is there so far this season. So there's likely a lot of insight he can share with Michael, but more than that just encouragement that things can and will improve.
Robby said,
"At some point, you have to feel sorry for the situation that they're in. They've got themselves in a hole where it's going to be tough to get out even next year. Just have confidence, hang in and wake up every day believing you can do it."
I think Robby has some great words of advice there. Having confidence and the belief that things will get better and that they'll eventually be able to have success on the track is really important. If Michael has a positive, yet realistic, attitude, that will inspire everyone else at MWR to have that kind of an attitude, and believing that they can turn things around will help them put a lot of effort into actually making it happen - and they will!
I just hope the good will between Michael and Robby will spread to their respective fanbases. I can't stand how fans of each driver call the other driver POS, bash them obsessively, and especially how many in each fanbase appear to hate fans in the other fanbase simply because they cheer for the "wrong" driver. Yes, Michael and Robby have been involved in some incidents with each other, and yes, there's been some words exchanged. But I remember how Robby showed up in 2005 at the Hootie and the Blowfish concert as part of Operation Marathon which was meant as a celebration of Michael running the Las Vegas Marathon to raise $1 million for the VJCG when a lot of other drivers didn't. So there was a time when they were on somewhat good terms, and I'm glad that it appears they might be back to that way again. If Michael and Robby can get past their problems, I hope that their fans can too.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
Bad Newz
I couldn't help but think of all us Michael Waltrip fans when I saw this in light of the forums suddenly (temporarily) disappearing off of Michael's site. I hope they return soon! That image comes off of the icanhascheezburger site, which is hysterical! I hope the "hamsters" running Michael's site have good newz for uz Nutz soon.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2007
Photo of the Day - Michael Waltrip
Dover, Del., September, 2004. I'm pretty sure I've posted this one before, but it's a favorite of the ones I've taken of Michael.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)
Chad McCumbee, John Andretti to Fill-In for Kyle Petty
Earlier in the season Kyle Petty announced that he would be getting out of the #45 for five races to join the TNT broadcast team, and there was immediate speculation as to who would be named to race the #45 for those races. Steve Park and Ricky Craven fans were hoping that one of those two drivers might make a return to the Cup series in the #45, but today Petty Enterprises announced that Chad McCumbee and John Andretti will race the #45 for those races. McCumbee, who has a full-time ride in the Truck Series with Green Light Racing, will make his Cup debut in the #45 at Pocono in June, and Andretti will race the #45 at Michigan, New Hampshire, Daytona and Chicago.
Andretti raced for PE in 1994, and from 1998-2003, but I have to admit that I'm surprised that he's returning to the organization. I seem to remember when he was released in 2003, Andretti had some hard words for the way things were handled and there was some lingering ill-will. However, it's four years later and Andretti's without a regular ride, so the desire to race probably overshadows the urge to hold a grudge. As for McCumbee, it seems like he's a young driver with some potential, and I'm glad he's getting an opportunity with PE. That organization definitely needs a couple of young drivers to develop for the future who might be able to take over the #45 full-time.
As for Steve and Ricky, both had expressed a desire to only race cars or trucks that were competitive and that they might win in, and that's unlikely to happen in the #45. Steve has also indicated that he's working on finding a full-time ride in the Truck Series. Still, I think it would have been a good opportunity for Steve to do a little Cup racing for a team that's (as of now) locked into the show and isn't completely horrible.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
Harvick, McMurray Fined, Placed on Probation
When I first read that Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray were each fined $25,000 and placed on probation for an incident during the white flag lap of Sunday's race, I actually thought that it was a joke at first because there's not been one mention of them getting into this incident anywhere that I've seen. It was never mentioned on the TV broadcast of the race, never mentioned on Inside Nextel Cup during the panel's review of the race, nor did any of the post-race articles that I saw have even the slightest hint that Kevin and Jamie apparently used their cars as weapons against each other for unknown reasons.
I don't understand how everyone in the media missed this happening. It seems to me that an altercation where two drivers apparently deliberately ram each other to the point where Nascar penalizes them should have been noticed by someone. What's really incredible is that Jamie was interviewed post-race and he didn't mention a word about it! Of course without knowing any of the details, it's very hard to have much of a reaction to Nascar punishing them, but in general I really dislike drivers using their cars as weapons against each other deliberately so I'm glad that Nascar did something about this incident.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2007
DEI and Yates to Merge?
I've not posted on this sooner because I honestly don't understand what the talks between DEI and Robert Yates Racing are all about. Is this DEI trying to force Chevy into throwing a lot of money at them and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to stay in the fold? Is this about Ford trying to lure DEI and Junior to their camp? Is it simply a matter of both organizations looking to make themselves stronger? Is Toyota secretly trying to sign DEI and Junior? It's all really a mystery, including why these two teams are even talking in the first place since they're with different manufacturers and both seem to indicate they have no intentions of making a switch. John Story from DEI said,
"None of this is going to be easy. Any of the projects we're working on, none of them are contingent upon manufacturers and none of them are contingent upon ... it wouldn't kill anything."
I just don't understand how that would work. It doesn't seem likely to me that any manufacturer would let one of their teams work on a project with a team from another manufacturer. However, it's interesting that Story is the point person on this considering he was also the one negotiating with RYR when Robby Gordon Motorsports was considering a merger with them last season. One has to wonder if some of what he was trying to do with RGM, is what he's trying to do with DEI and RYR now.
The other interesting item is that Story indicated that DEI was speaking with more than one manufacturer about the future, and naturally a lot of people are speculating that Toyota might be one who they're talking with. However, Lee White from Toyota said,
“We have not had any conversations with Dale Earnhardt Jr. There is a tremendous amount of both equity and liability involved with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet has such equity built into Dale Earnhardt Jr. and that particular race team - that equity is great for the bigger picture and the health of our sport. Right now Toyota is not ready to take on the liability that would come with that scenario.”
I think that's an interesting comment. For one thing, he didn't actually say they haven't talked with DEI, just that they haven't talked with Junior. But also that he seems to indicate that Toyota might not want to put up with the backlash that would come with Junior leaving Chevy for Toyota. And despite what some seem to think that the Junior fans would seamlessly cheer for their driver regardless of manufacturer, I think there's more than a few fans that would have trouble with Junior racing for a manufacturer percieved to be a foreign one. It's always seemed to me that a part of Junior's appeal to some fans is his all-American image. Of course Toyota builds a significant amount of cars in this country, in some cases more than the American companies, but some fans are so insistant that Toyota is a foreign company that doesn't belong in Nascar, that they may have a hard time dealing with the sport's most popular driver aligning himself with that manufacturer.
The other thing is how much does this have to do with the contract negotiations between DEI and Junior? Is DEI trying to send some kind of a message to Junior? It could be either that they're trying to make improvements for the future, or that they're willing to move on without him. Or maybe this has nothing to do with Junior. Or everything if other manufacturers think that it's all but a done deal that Junior is going to re-sign with DEI, and they're all vieing to have him in their camp.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)