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June 29, 2007

Steve Park's Still Looking For a Ride

In early June I spoke with Steve Park at the Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing on Long Island. At the time Steve was extremely confident and optimistic that he was going to be racing again before the end of the season, something he brought up without me asking. In fact, he outlined a timetable as to when he thought he'd be back on the track with a full-time ride and in what series. I was pretty excited after talking to Steve because he sounded absolutely certain that this deal that he said he was working on was going to happen. So yesterday the following was posted on Steve's site, in response to a fan-submitted question about what he's been up to:

Dawn, I have been riding the motorcycle and playing golf..in-between phone calls, e-mails, and meeting with people to try to get back in a car or truck! No luck so far but silly season is starting already? I might run some Busch North and maybe a modified race as we wait to see what happens? Need to land a good sponsor so we can go racing and win!!!!!

No luck so far? What happened to the deal he said he was working on just a few weeks ago? I just don't get it. Was what Steve told me about a few weeks ago just wishful thinking about what he hoped he'd be able to put together as opposed to what was really happening? Which from the sounds of what was just posted on his website is that he has nothing concrete in the works as far as a ride goes. Unfortunately, the lack of a good sponsor is what kept him from a ride last season, and I hate to be so pessimistic but considering that he's not had a full-time primary sponsor, even when he's had a ride, since 2003, I'm not sure how likely it is that he's going to be able to find a sponsor to bring to a team now, particularly when he's not been racing for so long. It's just so frustrating!!! I dearly want to see Steve back on the track - if he has a good car or truck, I know he can race up front and win! But I feel like it's the same old story yet again - Steve says he's working on something, but nothing ends up coming of it.

Something else that Steve told me when I spoke with him was that numerous teams had offered him a ride - he actually mentioned a specific number which was substantial - but he turned them all down because he was content to wait for a "good" ride. He made it very clear that not racing was his choice. Not that there was a conspiracy against him by Nascar as some fans think. Not because the garage area still thinks of him as "damaged goods" because of the accident. Steve said he was willing to wait for the right opportunity to come along, a good ride that he can win in. That kind of shoots down the theory that some fans have that the direction of Steve's career has been completely out of his control, and that the reason he's not racing is due to decisions that everyone else makes.

Of course that Steve has turned down rides that have been offered to him brings up the debate about whether a driver should take any ride that's offered to them just to keep racing, or whether a driver should hold out until they get an offer for a competitive ride - like Steve's doing. There's really no easy answers, and there's pro's and con's to each. Ultimately a driver has to do what they feel is best for themselves and their career. It's not fun for a driver to just make laps, knowing from the minute they show up at the track they have no chance of racing competitively, and that's if the car or truck they're racing is even locked in and they don't have to worry about qualifying. Poor results week after week can also effect the way a driver is viewed because some don't look behind the stats and assume that bad finishes are because a driver can't race well as opposed to that they were racing lousy car or that there were mechanical issues. On the other hand, sitting out hasn't seemed to work for too many drivers. Sure, Ward Burton came back after a lengthy absence, but he had to accept a subpar ride to do so, something he had initially been unwilling to do. Teams seem to forget about drivers who sit on the sidelines, or maybe they assume that if they're not racing there's a reason why. The other concern for drivers who continually turn down teams who offer them rides is that eventually teams will stop calling because word will get around that they're always saying "no." I hope that waiting for a good ride works out for Steve, but only time will tell on that.

So basically for the second year in a row (third if you count the end of 2005 when he was released by Orleans Racing), fans are left to hope and wait, which I suppose is what Steve is doing too. For a few weeks I had gotten pretty optimistic that something might actually happen for Steve, but based on the latest on Steve's site, it appears that there's really not all that much to get excited about after all. Earlier someone said to me that if Steve doesn't find a ride this season he's done, and as much as I would hate for that to happen, I have to agree, and I know we're not alone - far from it - when it comes to thinking that we might not see Steve back on the track.

Maybe a part of Steve even realizes that the end of his racing days, at least full-time, is near because he also discussed how he'd like to start mentoring young drivers and help them reach their potential in Nascar like people helped him. I think that's something that he would be very good at - Steve has a lot to share with young drivers, maybe even more than some other veteran drivers because the past few years have been such a struggle for him. He can certainly teach a young driver, not only about racing, but about the right attitude to get them through challenges. I'm really happy to hear that Steve is thinking about ways to keep himself involved in racing, even if he's not actually on the track. One of my biggest fears is that when Steve hangs up his racing shoes for good, he'll just ride off into the sunset on his motorcycle never to be heard from again because there's nothing to keep him connected to Nascar in a visible way.

Whatever happens, I hope that things end up working out in the way that Steve wants, and that he ends up happy.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2007

Photo of the Day - Have It Your Way

June, 2007. Pocono Raceway. #00 Burger King Car. If only I could have it my way all the time...

Posted by silverdsl at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2007

Ted Musgrave Suspended for Incident at Milwaukee

I think I'm in the minority but I'm glad that Nascar stepped up and suspended Ted Musgrave for a race for his actions during the Truck race at Milwaukee. Musgrave was on the lead lap racing Kelly Bires, a rookie who was a lap down, when Bires got into him, causing both of them to wreck. Instead of accepting that it was a rookie mistake, and taking his truck immediately to the garage so his team could try to fix the damage, Musgrave revved his engine, and slammed into the driver's side of Bires's truck so hard that it sent him into the wall. After the incident, Musgrave was completely unapologetic in his interview, blaming steering issues for getting into Bires when he was trying to go to the garage, and complained about slower trucks not giving way to faster trucks. Although Nascar parked Musgrave for the remainder of the race at Milwaukee, it's clear they were extremely displeased with his actions - in addition to the suspension, he's been docked 50 driver points, fined $10,000, and his team has also lost 50 owner's points.

I understand that racing is an emotional sport, and that Musgrave was angry about getting wrecked. But I don't think that excuses him from using his truck as a weapon, and especially to the degree that it plants another driver into the wall. I don't care how many safety advances have been made the past few years, there's still the risk of injury. A lot of fans think the penalty to Musgrave is extremely unfair since drivers in the past who have used their cars as weapons - most notably Kurt Busch recently - haven't been suspended. I agree that there's a number of drivers who should have been parked for doing similar things, Kurt included, as well as Carl Edwards when he went after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on pit road last year. But I have to wonder in this situation whether Nascar came down harder on Musgrave because of his attitude after the incident in which he didn't show the slightest bit of regret or acknowledgement that he did something wrong. In other incidents other drivers have admitted that they did something wrong, and have been much more apologetic. Regardless, I'm glad that Nascar came down hard on Musgrave, and I hope it indicates a willingness to suspend drivers in the future who engage in similar inappropriate behavior.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)

David Reutimann Thinking About Leaving Michael Waltrip Racing?

Over the past few years I've come to be a big fan of David Reutimann, and I was lucky enough to spend some time with him and his team a few weeks ago at Pocono. David is an outstanding driver, who has shown he can race up front and contend for wins in all three of Nascar's highest series. Last season he was in contention for the Truck Series Championship, and this season he's 2nd in point in the Busch Series. Even in Cup this season in spite of his cars often not being very competitive, David has shown that he can race in that series too - he's often been Michael Waltrip Racing's best qualifier, and at Talladega until his engine blew, David was racing in the top five with a real chance to win. Beyond that David has an outstanding attitude, not just towards racing, but in general. He loves to race, and he truly "gets it" when it comes to the fans and being in Nascar in general. He's good with the media, and he represents his sponsors extremely well. In short, he's a tremendous asset to MWR, and I hope he's a part of the organization for years to come.

However, yesterday a rumor surfaced on Jayski, which was quickly denied by MWR, that David might be talking to other teams about a ride for next season. I doubt it'll be the last time there's a rumor to surface about David since he, as well as Domino's and Burger King, the sponsors of the #00, are all only signed through the end of the season. In addition, based on David's interview this weekend that was played during the Busch race at Milwaukee, he was very unhappy with being replaced in the #00 at Somona with P.J. Jones, and as much as I wish that things were different, the cars that David's been getting from MWR so far on the Cup level haven't been very good. So if there's any truth to the rumor - and I hope there isn't - I can understand why David might think about exploring his options elsewhere, even though both Darrell Waltrip Racing and MWR have been very good to him.

The thing is that the denial by MWR that David's talked to any other teams is kind of meaningless, unless they've already re-signed him for next season but haven't announced it yet. A driver isn't going to tell his present team if he's talking to other teams, particularly if there's anything in their contract that prohibits that as there sometimes is. So MWR may be out of the loop when it comes to exactly what David's thought process is in regards to next season, unless again, they know for sure he'll be back in the #00.

As much as I hate to hear that David might be talking with other teams, I understand why he, or his representatives, might be doing so. It keeps his options open and allows him to know what else it out there in case MWR decides to go in another direction. Everyone seems to be assuming that it's guaranteed that MWR would want David back for 2008, but what if Domino's and Burger King have expressed a willingness to re-sign, but only with a younger, more marketable driver? Or what if MWR has the opportunity to sign a top driver like Kyle Busch? I don't think it's too likely that Kyle would choose MWR considering all their struggles over a team where he'll be in a position to compete for wins right away, but if MWR sees an opportunity to improve, even if it's at David's expense they might feel they have no choice but to do so, especially if it keeps their sponsors happy.

There may not be any truth to this particular rumor, but rumors like this are sometimes spread as a way to test the waters. Drivers might want to make it known that their services are available to other teams even if they currently have a ride. Or they might want to prompt their current team to re-sign them. Teams might want to make it known that they're thinking about going in a different direction and that they have a ride available. Sometimes drivers, teams, sponsors (or even Nascar depending on the rumor) want to gauge the reaction of fans and the media. So this could be a case of someone trying to make some things happen... or it could also be a completely false rumor being spread by someone with an agenda trying to start trouble for MWR.

I'll have my fingers crossed that David ends up re-signing with MWR.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)

Another Perspective on Aric Almirola

Last night on "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" on XM, Michael and Tony Rizzuti, who does the show with Michael, got to talking about the Busch race and Aric Almirola being taken out midway through the race for Denny Hamlin. I was surprised to hear them say that they thought that Aric behaved inappropriately for leaving the track in a huff. Michael said that it might cause Joe Gibbs Racing, and possibly other teams, to not want to give him opportunities because of his poor attitude. He also felt that it would have made a better story if Aric had stuck around to celebrate the win with Denny. Tony said that he talked to a couple of veteran drivers who said Aric's behavior was so bad that he should be fired, and he bemoaned the attitude of young drivers these days, as opposed to drivers of the past who would have simply accepted Gibb's decision and gotten out of the car without question.

As I listened I realized that Michael thought so poorly of Aric's attitude because he was thinking of an owner, and Tony was also viewing things from the team's perspective. Of course any owner wants drivers racing for them who are easy to work with, don't cause any problems, and accept the decisions their team makes. Which is very different from the perspective of fans, who have little tolerance for decisions that are made purely for business reasons, in this case to please the sponsor. In thinking about it, Michael had an excellent point that it would have made for a great story if Aric had dealt with his disappointment, and stuck around to celebrate "his" win. It would have sent a message to Gibbs, that he's a team player, willing to do anything to help the organization succeed. That said, I still think that Gibbs and Rockwell Automation made a poor decision, if only for how much negativity they garnered from fans, and that they didn't show much regard for Aric.

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

June 26, 2007

Penalties Announced for #24 and #48 Teams

Although Nascar threatened to escalate the penalties for COT violations, in the end they gave the same penalties to the #24 and #48 teams as they did to the #8 team for COT rules infractions. Drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson lose 100 driver points; the crew chiefs, Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus are suspended for six races until August 15 and have been fined $100,000; and car owners Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon lose 100 owner points. While the penalties seem severe, are they really? Jeff has such a big lead in the Championship Standings that he still maintains a healthy lead of 171 points over Denny Hamlin despite the loss of points. For Jimmie losing 100 points is costly because he drops three spots in the standings, but he's still solidly in the Chase. Likewise, losing owner's points isn't much of an issue for either of these teams since they still remain in the top 35 in owner's points. The money is meaningless, likely even to these crew chiefs, and that's even if they'll be paying the fines with their own money.

Losing their crew chiefs for six races is probably what will hurt these teams the most, but both teams are extremely strong and have shown the ability to overcome obstacles, particularly the #48 team who has lost Chad before to suspension. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports has so much depth that they probably have more than a few candidates who are well-prepared to step up and take over and lead these teams almost as well as Chad and Steve can. But the reality is that even though Chad and Steve will be suspended, and won't be able to be in the garage or on the pit box, they'll be able to work with their teams at the shop, and communicate with their teams as much as they want by IM, email, cell phone, etc... something that Nascar can't prevent them from doing, both because there's no way to monitor computers and cell phones 24/7, but also because Nascar has said previously they don't want to get into doing, probably because of the privacy issues it raises.

What gets me is that Chad Knaus is a repeat offender and has been suspended before for cheating. So why isn't the penalty given to him more severe than the one given to Steve Letarte? That doesn't seem quite right that a crew chief with no history (that I can recall) of breaking the rules gets the same penalty as one with a long list of rules violations, some of them quite serious. It begs the question as to whether Nascar, for all their tough talk about having zero tolerance for rules violations, particularly as they relate to the COT, is really as serious about it as they say they are.

Some fans don't think they're very serious at all. After all, Jeff and Jimmie were allowed to race at Infineon and they weren't parked for any upcoming races, and some feel that the only way to prevent cheating is if teams are afraid that they won't be allowed to race. But I don't think it's very likely that Nascar will ever park a driver if their team is found to be in violation of the rules because that would punish the sponsor and fans for the misdeeds of the team. The last thing that Nascar wants to do is anger sponsors, particularly big-time sponsors like Lowe's and Dupont who probably spent $15-20 million each on their sponsorships, plus the additional money they invest in merchandising, marketing, promotions and advertising. Nor does Nascar want to disappoint large fanbases like those that Jeff and Jimmie have by not allowing them to race - they need those fans to buy tickets, merchandise and watch the broadcasts.

The question is how many more teams will be willing to risk a possible loss of points and the suspension of their crew chiefs to try and see what they might be able to get away with in relation to the COT?

Posted by silverdsl at 04:11 PM | Comments (0)

Aric Almirola Gets Screwed

I'm usually pretty understanding of when the teams make "business decisions," even when I don't necessarily agree with the decisions they make or the outcome. So to a degree I can understand the reasoning behind why Joe Gibbs Racing took Aric Almirola out of the #20 Rockwell Automation car on lap 42 of Saturday night's Busch race once Denny Hamlin, who was supposed to have raced the car from the start of the race arrived. To Rockwell Automation, who is based in Milwaukee, Hamlin is the more marquee name since he's a very popular Cup driver, so in their minds Hamlin is the driver who is going to get them the most exposure, and perhaps give them the best chance to win in front of a home-town crowd. With how hard it is to find and keep sponsorship in the Busch series these days Gibbs probably wanted to do whatever they knew was going to make the sponsor happy which meant that Almirola had to get out of the car and Hamlin get in. So Rockwell Automation must have been thrilled when Hamlin put the car in Victory Lane. But was it really the right decision? I don't think so. Almirola was so upset that when he left the track he opted to go home on another team's plane instead of one belonging to Gibbs, and (as of this weekend) wouldn't return calls from J.D. Gibbs. Hardly the way that Almirola wanted to win his first Busch race (Almirola is credited with the win since he started the race, and Hamlin is considered a relief driver), and it's disappointing that Gibbs had so little regard for Almirola.

Teams frequently cite business decisions as the reason why they do a lot of things and then expect fans and the media to except it without question. Of course teams have to make the decisions they feel are best for their organization, and those decisions aren't always going to make fans happy. But just because something makes sense from a business standpoint, does it mean that it's always the right thing to do? What about the human element? Almirola is a human being with feelings and emotions, not just a robot. Almirola did everything that Gibbs asked him to do - he practiced the car, he put the car on the pole in qualifying, and when Hamlin was late he started the race. But instead of being rewarded for putting the car on the pole and racing in the top five, Gibbs tossed Almirola aside like he didn't matter, when he had a chance to win on his own without any assistance from Hamlin. That sends a terrible message to Almirola because it says to him that neither Gibbs nor Rockwell Automation believe in his ability to race or win. How does an organization do that to a driver they claim is an important part of their future? They should be doing everything they can to support and encourage him, not make him feel like his time, effort and hard work is meaningless.

I wonder if Gibbs or Rockwell Automation regret the decision now? Sure Hamlin put the car in Victory Lane, but that's been far overshadowed by the controversy about whether it was the correct decision for Almirola to be taken out, and the reaction from fans has been overwhelmingly negative. Since the goal for sponsors is to get positive exposure that helps promote their products and services to fans in the hopes of making them customers, to me that outweighs any benefit they might have gotten from Hamlin being in the car. It may prove to be costly long-term too since this is the kind of thing that fans (and the media) have long memories for.

To his credit, Almirola hasn't spoken publically about any of this, even though he's probably still not very happy about the way things played out. Gibbs has indicated they'll try to make it up to Almirola by having him get in the car for one of the races that Hamlin was scheduled to race, but I suspect as much as Almirola will welcome the opportunity to race, that won't smooth things over completely since there's no guarantee he'll have a car as good as the one he had in Milwaukee. Already rumors have surfaced that Almirola might be in line for a Cup ride as soon as next season with Ginn Racing, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see him leave Gibbs sooner rather than later. Every driver wants to be with an organization that gives them the best possible chance to succeed, and I think besides having competitive cars and a strong team, a supportive environment is extremely important as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2007

Toyota Teams at Sonoma

Toyota was a sponsor of the Cup race at Infineon this weekend, and I suspect that was one reason why there were a number of driver changes among the Toyota teams to ensure as many of their teams got into the race as possible. But how well did the Toyota teams really fare at Sonoma? Not real well other than P.J. Jones in the #00.

Michael Waltrip Racing - I think Michael Waltrip Racing did the best out of all the Toyota teams this weekend, and there were some positives for sure. For one thing, for the first time since Daytona, all three MWR teams made a race together. That's something to be very happy about! Hopefully we'll see that happen quite a few more times this season! Terry Labonte didn't even need to use one of his provisionals to get in, which means that all three cars qualified in on time, which is also something to celebrate. In addition, P.J. Jones did exactly what he was hired to do - get the #00 in the race and finish well. 12th place may not be a top ten, but it's a solid finish, especially considering P.J. started 43rd, and it's P.J.'s best Cup finish of his career. In addition, P.J. was also the second highest finisher of the road course ringers, just a few spots behind Boris Said who finished 9th. I was also impressed by the way P.J. handled himself in an XM interview last week - he had a great attitude, and made it clear that he was getting in the car to race and give 110% even though it was just for one race, instead of just getting in the car to make laps and pick up a paycheck. In addition, he had a very good sense of humor and plugged Burger King quite a few times. Although I still don't like the decision to remove David from the #00 for this race, I do think P.J. did good for MWR, and I wouldn't mind seeing them use him again, just not as a replacement to any of their existing drivers.

But was this weekend really a success for MWR? I think the results were mixed at best. For one thing, Terry didn't do anything in the #55 that Michael couldn't have done himself. Michael's a very good road course racer, and he's just as capable as Terry behind the wheel on these kinds of tracks. Also, maybe it's just because he was focused on the race, but Terry said very little over the radio, and when he did speak, he sounded less than enthused, to the point where I stopped listening to his radio communication. So I'm just wondering - how much useful feedback did the #55 team get in the end from Terry that they couldn't have gotten from Michael being behind the wheel? That said, the team knew going in that they were guaranteed to make the race because of Terry's provisional, and that had to make NAPA happy. Based on all the huge NAPA billboards around the track, they're one of the biggest sponsors at this track, and it wouldn't look very good if their car wasn't in the race. So they had to be happy to see the #55 on the track, even though they got very little exposure on TV during the race.

Then we have Dale Jarrett who was hurt by getting spun by Johnny Sauter, but also had a very poor car that didn't allow him to make up any of the positions he lost after that incident. 26th is far from an impressive finish, and DJ himself admitted after the race that MWR has a lot of work to do on their COT program, something that's a concern since the COT will be used full-time next season.

But the worst part of the weekend for MWR might be related to David Reutimann, who wasn't even at the track. Based on what David said in an interview that was played on Saturday night during the Busch race, David, who seems to be fairly sensitive, is extremely unhappy about being taken out of the #00 in place of another driver. While I think MWR had good reasons for putting P.J. in the #00, I don't entirely understand the decision either for the reasons I've discussed in previous entires. What really concerns me is the message that might have been sent to David, even if it was unintentional. Although they've indicated that David is a big part of the future of their organization taking him out of the car sends a message to him that they don't have much confidence in his abilties behind the wheel. Now MWR may actually believe in David completely, but that might not be what he perceives they think. I'm sure MWR does believe in David otherwise they wouldn't have put him behind the wheel in the first place with so little experience in Cup or even Busch, but after being taken out of the car, David may be questioning just exactly what MWR thinks of him, and what their plans are for him long-term. I hope that they let him race at Watkins Glen, and all other tracks, and that they get some really positive results because that will go a long way towards smoothing things over with David, and making him feel better about the decision that was made for this weekend. David's an outstanding driver who is far more talented than he's been able to show in Cup, and once the MWR cars are competitive I think we're going to see some really great things from David. But I'd hate to see him get discouraged or think about moving to another organization because he's a tremendous asset to MWR - not only does he have a tremendous amount of talent, he truly loves to race and he has a great attitude.

Perhaps almost as bad is the damage that's been done in relation to the fans. I can't emphasis enough how furious a lot of fans are with the decision to take David out of the car, and a lot of that ire is being directed towards Michael, including from more than a few of his long-time fans, who are usually the people who are the most understanding and supportive of his decisions, no questions asked. No owner, team, sponsor, or driver is always going to make decisions that fans agree with, and there's no way to make all the fans happy all the time. However, it's unusual for this many fans to be this upset with the actions of their favorite driver/owner/team. When this many fans are upset and don't understand why a decision was made that's a problem. Without the fans, there's no one to support the sponsors, buy the mechandise or Raceworld tickets, no one to listen to XM shows, no one to watch Inside Nextel Cup, no one to show up at appearances, no one to cheer for the drivers and team, etc... It also pains me because the last thing Michael needs is more negativity being directed towards him, but that's exactly what's happening now. He really needs the support of his fans because of how difficult this season has been for him, and may continue to be.

Hopefully all three MWR teams will make the show at New Hampshire and finish well, which will give fans more positive things to focus on.

Bill Davis Racing - Both of their cars made the show so the weekend started out promising for Bill Davis Racing, but the end result was anything but good. Dave Blaney's finish was extremely poor due to issues with the electrical system. Butch's finish wasn't all that impressive either. I'm pretty sure that Jeremy Mayfield could have done at least as good as Butch Leitzinger, and maybe even better considering his three top tens at this track. Which by the way, is better than Dave's stats at this track, and I'm sure BDR never once considered taking him out of the #22. At least BDR supposedly got Nascar's approval to transfer the owner points that the #23 earned to the #36. But overall the weekend wasn't a very good one for BDR after Friday.

In addition, you can cut and paste everything I said about the reaction of the fans to the decision to take David Reutimann out of the #00 here in regards to the reaction of Jeremy's fans to him not racing this weekend. Teams like to say that this or that was a "business decision" as if that should somehow make it make sense to the fans or excuse anything that happens. But fans often aren't very understanding of business decisions because they see the drivers are the human beings they are, not just as faceless commodities with a dollar value attached to them and their sponsors.

Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports - Although the results weren't very good, just making this race has to be considered a success for this team considering how new they are.

Red Bull Racing - As much as it pains me to say it because I'm a fan of Red Bull Racing and their drivers, this weekend was a complete failure for this organization because both of their cars failed to qualify for the race. I'm not that surprised that Brian Vickers DNQ'd because his average starting spot at Infineon is 33rd, but I am surprised that A.J. Allmendinger DNQ'd since he has a road course racing background. I really thought that he'd make it in. But both cars were really slow during practice, and I guess they were never able to make them any better. It's unfortunate because it seemed like recently RBR had made a lot of improvements to the point where their teams were qualifying regularly for races, and Brian was racing up front in the races he was in.

RBR's failure to get either of their two cars in the race make me wonder - are the Toyota teams sharing information with each other like it was said a few months ago they were going to start doing more of? Because it seems to me that something was really off for them this week in comparision to the other Toyota teams, and I'd think that wouldn't be if the teams were sharing information with each other. I think it's essential for the Toyota teams to work together, particularly now when they're all struggling, but with how competitive things are in Cup, even among teams that are affiliated with the same manufacturer, that might not be happening as it does with the Toyota teams in the Truck and Busch series.

At least there were no angry fans of either RBR driver because RBR kept both of their regular drivers behind the wheel. Which makes sense for them since they don't have any outside sponsors they have to please, and the team's not going to bring a road course ringer in for A.J. when he has so much road course racing himself, nor for Brian since he's their #1 driver, who has gotten them results at other times this season.

So I wonder, how did Toyota really feel about the results from this weekend? I'm sure they were happy that six of their teams made the show. It would have been terribly embarassing for them if most of their cars DNQ'd since they were a sponsor of the race. But as for the actual race results? As much as it pains me to say it because I dearly want Toyota and their teams to be successful, there wasn't much to be proud of. Which has been the story for much of the season for the Toyota teams. By this time next season, I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of changes and additions to the Toyota teams, some of which I might not like very much.

I hope all the Toyota teams do well this weekend!

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

Driver by Driver: Sonoma

A couple of general thoughts on the race first...

TNT did an embarassingly bad job with their coverage of this race. Worst of all was that when the race ended they showed the finishing results for Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick, first and second respectively, but never showed a full run-down of the finishing order for the other 41 drivers. Do they think that no one cares about how the rest of the field finishes? Not only that, but TNT never bothered to even mention, let alone show, at least one incident during the race - when Terry Labonte spun in the #55 towards the end of the race - how many other incidents did they miss? Fans complain about how boring some races are, and how nothing ever happens, well maybe that's because the TV broadcast doesn't show us or tell us all of what's going on. It's impossible to cover absolutely everything, but Terry's spin should have been worth a brief mention at least, especially since it put him a lap down. That I can recall, TNT also never gave an update as to whether Jeff Green got out of his flaming car without injury. Absolutely awful race coverage.

Many fans are upset that JPM's win was made possible because his team got better fuel mileage than others, and that somehow it's not a "real" win. Ridiculous. It's true that the #42 team (and some other teams) played the fuel mileage game in such a way that it helped them win, but JPM still had to put himself in a position to contend for the win, no easy feat since he started 32st, he still had to race his way into the lead, he had to hang on to the lead once he got it, and he had to make sure he made no mistakes, and do all of this while he's trying to conserve gas. JPM and his team didn't just cruise into that win, they had to work hard for it. In addition, if we go back and examine other wins, there's been countless wins that have been made possible by good fuel mileage, good pit strategy, capitalizing on another driver's mistake, or just plain luck. Some of the most exciting wins are those where two drivers are battling each other right to the finish line, but not every race is going to play out like that. Wins are win, no matter how they come.

1. Juan Montoya - One of the most unpopular wins in recent memory. JPM is tremendously disliked because of his aggressive driving and attitude, but the reality is that he's a tremendously talented driver. I'm not surprised he won yesterday, and I think it's likely he'll eventually win on a non-road course track too. JPM made Nascar history by winning from 32nd, the furthest back a road course winner has ever won from.

2. Kevin Harvick - I have to wonder if Kevin might have raced this race differently if he knew that JPM wasn't going to run out of fuel as his team told was going to happen? There's a number of drivers who are considered road course experts, but Kevin is often forgotten, even though he's won at Watkins Glen and finished well here a time or two. This is Kevin's first top five since Bristol in March.

3. Jeff Burton - Since he won at Texas in April, Jeff and his team have got so-so results, with only one top ten. Hopefully this will give them a little momentum that they can build on, and they'll get more consistantly good results over the next few races.

4. Clint Bowyer - Although he's put together a pretty solid season so far, this is Clint's first top five of 2007.

5. Greg Biffle - Greg fared much better than his teammates did in this race, and in the process got his second top five of the season. But to do that he apparently had to conserve fuel to the point where he felt he couldn't really race. However, for a driver who felt he couldn't do much racing, he sure finished well.

6. Tony Stewart - Like clockwork, the race ended and Tony was unhappy about something, this time that the race came down to fuel mileage strategy. Tony felt that he finish didn't reflect how good his car was, and that might be true, but a 6th place finish isn't all that bad either. There's always some races where fuel mileage is going to be a factor, so perhaps Tony and his team need to look at how they can stretch their fuel mileage like other teams were prepared to do.

7. Jeff Gordon - An excellent finish considering he started 41st. Jeff did exactly what he needed to do - get the most points he possibly could in advance of the penalty that's likely to cause him to lose points. Jeff didn't allow himself to be distracted by either the rules violation or the birth of his daughter. Well done by both him and his team.

8. Kyle Busch - At one point Kyle went for a spin, but it didn't prevent him from finishing well.

9. Boris Said - Best finish out of all the road course ringers, and it came in spite of Boris having some problems during one pit stop.

10. Denny Hamlin - Flying back and forth between Sonoma and Milwaukee didn't seem to effect him any. Finished 10th after starting 36th.

11. Ricky Rudd - Although it's probably not as good as they were hoping since Ricky is a very good road course racer, they should still feel good about this finish since it's Ricky's second best finish of the season after his 7th place finish at Charlotte.

12. P.J. Jones - I wasn't a fan of the decision to take David Reutimann out of his car in place of P.J., but I think P.J. did well in this race, especially considering he started 43rd.

13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Spent time up front but had to pit for fuel when others didn't, something that bit other fast cars, and Junior was unable to make up the spots he lost.

14. Elliott Sadler - Hard to believe but this is actually Elliott's best finish since he finished 14th at Las Vegas in early March. Although this is a decent finish for Elliott in comparison to the way his season's gone overall, this race wasn't an impressive one for Evernham Motorsports overall, but they've not done much to celebrate this season at all.

15. Ron Fellows - Had a pretty good car, but his team was just one of the many that gambled wrong when it came to fuel mileage strategy.

16. Robby Gordon - Not a terrible finish, but it has to be an incredibly disappointing one for Robby because he started from the front row, and led 48 laps in dominating fashion. Gambling wrong on when to pit for fuel really bit this team, but was that the only reason why Robby didn't finish better? Other teams pitted like Robby did and made more progress through the field than he did. So maybe his car just didn't perform as well towards the end of the race.

17. Jimmie Johnson - Jimmie really needed a stronger finish here considering that he's likely to lose quite a few points plus his crew chief in the next day or two due to the rules infraction his team was busted for on Friday.

18. Carl Edwards - With ten laps to go, Carl was in the top five, but with just three laps to go Carl ran out of gas.

19. Bill Elliott - Considering how the first three races went for Bill in the #21, a top 20 isn't a bad finish.

20. Ryan Newman - Fuel mileage bit this team too, but a 20th place finish was enough to move Ryan up two places in the point to 13th.

21. J.J. Yeley - Not a factor at any point in this race. Besides a second place finish at Charlotte, and a the pole at Michigan, Yeley has been extremely unimpressive this season, which has led to rumors that he might not be at Gibbs next season.

22. Kurt Busch - First race with Pat Tryson didn't bring the results they were probably hoping for, but considering he spun, it's not awful either.

23. Kasey Kahne - Started well, but didn't finish very well, a familiar theme for Kasey this season.

24. Martin Truex Jr. - Never had a good car, and the team was never able to make it any better for Martin. Good fuel strategy is apparently what allowed them to pick up positions on the track.

25. David Gilliland - Won the Grand National West Series race the day before so he's got some road course skills, but was never really able to make much headway in this race, particularly after a run-in with David Ragan.

26. Dale Jarrett - Got turned by Johnny Sauter which caused DJ to lose a lot of track position he was never able to make up because the car wasn't very good. Stretching his fuel allowed him to finish this "well."

27. Casey Mears - Was never a factor in this race, but maybe that's not so surprising. Although he does have one top ten at Sonoma, the results haven't been great for Casey at this track in the past.

28. Butch Leitzinger - Did replacing Jeremy Mayfield with Butch really bring any benefit to BDR?

29. David Ragan - No surprise that he would struggle at this track considering his lack of road course racing experience. In spite of his lack of experience at this kind of a track, Roush Racing showed their confidence in him by not replacing him for this race.

30. Regan Smith - Regan has a little more road course racing experience than David Ragan, but none of it in a Cup car, so this race must have been challenging for him as well.

31. Johnny Sauter - Disaster for Haas/CNC Racing, as Johnny's teammate, Jeff Green, ran into him on a pit stop which damaged both cars, though Johnny was able to continue.

32. David Stremme - Was in line for a top 20 but he ran out of gas on the last lap. I'm glad that Ganassi is letting David race the road course races this season.

33. Bobby Labonte - Ran out of gas.

34. Matt Kenseth - Not a good race for Kenseth. Was involved in the early incident with Kyle Petty and Marc Goossens that caused damage to his car, spun another time, then ran out of gas.

35. Terry Labonte - Did the #55 team really gain anything by having Terry behind the wheel, other than NAPA being happy because it guaranteed their car being in the race at a track where they obviously spend a lot of money based on all the large NAPA billboards around the track. Spun towards the end of the race but TNT never mentioned it.

36. Marc Goossens - Got damage in the early incident with Matt Kenseth and Kyle Petty.

37. Jamie McMurray - Had a great car, started from the pole, and was in the lead with just a few laps to go until he ran out of gas. Had to be heart-breaking for Jamie.

38. Joe Nemechek - Spun twice.

39. Kyle Petty - Was doing pretty well at points in this race in spite of being involved in an early incident, but ran out of gas near the end. When it was first announced that Kyle would be a part of the race broadcast from TNT from inside his car during the race it sounded like an intriguing idea, but I'm not crazy about it now. For one thing TNT might have gotten Kyle in trouble with Nascar by playing an unedited version of his radio communication from during the incident in which he used the F-word, which could bring a penalty, since cursing on-air is a major no-no to Nascar. But it also seemed like things were disorganized at times, and I can't help but wonder if broadcasting during the race took some of Kyle's focus off of racing.

40. Reed Sorenson - Was racing up front for a while, but spun and got damage that forced him behind the wall for a while.

41. Dave Blaney - Spent time behing the wall for repairs for electrical problems.

42. Jeff Green - Poor communication hurt this team badly. First, no one warned Jeff that his teammate was coming into his pit resulting in Jeff running into him. Then when he was back in the pits getting repairs done, he was told that his fender was fine but when he went back on the track, the fender rubbed in such a way against the tire that it caused a fire that ended his day prematurely.

43. Sterling Marlin - A blown engine ended his day on lap 12. Rumor has it Sterling might race only part-time next season, and for Furniture Row Motorsports, not Ginn Racing. I can see how a part-time schedule might appeal to Sterling, but FRM struggles to get one car in all the races, so I'm not sure how they'd fare with two.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2007

Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson Parked

A major shocker at Sonoma - Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, were parked today, which means that there weren't allowed to practice, and they won't be able to participate in qualifying for Sunday's race at Infineon, because both of their cars failed inspection due to the same infraction - the front fenders on both cars were found to be outside Nascar's template. Since the infractions are COT violations, Nascar considers this to be a major rules violation. Although both teams were parked, they were allowed to make repairs to the cars, and they may be allowed to practice tomorrow. Regardless of what happens tomorrow Jimmie and Jeff will both be allowed to race on Sunday, but they will have to start at the back of the field which is a major disadvantage at this track since track position is so important. Jeff is a five-time winner at this track, so there's no question if any one has the ability to race his way up front from the back it's him, but it will still be a challenge.

I can't imagine what Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte were thinking. It's one thing to play around in the grey area on the current car, but Nascar warned the teams quite clearly several times that they wouldn't tolerate any deviation from the templates on the COTs. Penalties were also spelled out very clearly, and Nascar indicated that if crew chiefs continued to play games, the penalties would only get more severe. Since Tony Eury, Jr. and the #8 team already were penalized harshly for a COT rules violation, the door is open for penalties like Nascar's not handed out before, particularly since Chad is a repeat offender when it comes to cheating. Jeff is currently leading the points, and Jimmie Johnson is in third, but a massive loss of driver or owner points could severely impact the course of the rest of the season, including their participation in the Chase, particularly for Jimmie, who has had some other issues on the track to contend with which has led to some poor finishes. It's mind-boggling to me that these teams would take a risk like this, particularly when they know what the consequences could be.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)

Random Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Jason Giambi agreed yesterday to speak with Sen. George Mitchell as part of his on-going investigation into the use of performance enhancers in baseball. What choice did Giambi have really? If he didn't talk he risked a suspension by Bud Selig, which would have led to a major legal battle between the Player's Union and MLB, which he surely didn't want to go though. I think it's ridiculous that Giambi was forced to speak with Mitchell, as punishment for having the courage to be one of the few people who actually used performance enhancers who has given some honest opinions about it. There's probably very little to be gained by Mitchell in his discussions with Giambi that weren't already known thanks to the leaked grand jury testimony in the BALCO case since Giambi has already said that he won't talk about other player's use of performance enhancers. Selig will surely point to this as an example of how successful the investigation is, though I think it's highly unlikely the investigation overall will uncover any new information or come to any earth-shattering conclusions. Giambi will continue to be the poster-boy, along with Barry Bonds, for steroid use, even though there are surely countless other players who have or are using performance enhancers.

*Dale Earnhardt, Jr. signed a deal with a sponsor, but it's not for his new ride at Hendrick Motorsports. Instead, it's a personal endorsement deal with Sony, something Junior is very happy about given his love of computers and other electronic devices. Word is a similar deal is in the works with Adidas, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him sign one or two other deals like this as time goes on. At DEI Junior apparently had a lot more restrictions about what kind of sponsorship deals he could enter into, even personal endorsement deals, but at Hendrick, there's far less issues of that nature. So I expect that Junior's "people" will look to capitalize on the desire by many companies to use the sport's most popular driver to promote their products or services.

*Speedway Motorsports, Inc. has decided to put North Carolina Motor Speedway, otherwise known as Rockingham, aka "The Rock" up for auction. Apparently they've been unable to find a buyer, which gives an indication of what the track and the land it's on is worth. I heard someone from SMI on XM yesterday, and he was very much trying to push the idea of a team or manufacturer buying it to use as a test track, particularly since it's only a couple of hours from Charlotte. But I imagine there would be considerable costs associated with purchasing the track, renovating it to suit that purpose, and then maintaining it that most organizations probably wouldn't want to deal with. It's sad that The Rock is up for auction - Steve Park won his second Cup race at this track, and it was a very emotional and meaningful win, not only to Steve's fans, but to many in the garage area, since it came the week after Dale Earnhardt's death.

*The Trucks and Busch cars race at Milwaukee this weekend, while the Cup Series is at Infineon. Normally, I'd be extremely excited about the race at Infineon since I love road course racing. However, some of the excitement is gone for me since Michael Waltrip won't even be attempting to make this race since he's put Terry Labonte in the #55. Unlike some fans who don't even turn the race on if their favorite driver isn't racing, I'll still be watching, just like I've watched all the other races this season whether Michael was racing or not, I just wish that he was going to be the one in the #55 this weekend since this is such a good track for him. One day Michael will retire, and I'll have to find a new driver to be my favorite, though I suspect I'll never like another driver as much as I like Michael, just like I've never found another baseball player who is as much of a favorite as David Cone was. But for now, I'd like to see him at least trying to make races.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2007

Nascar to Rename Cup Series in 2008?

Sources told Marty Smith from ESPN that the Cup Series will undergo another name change from the Nascar Nextel Cup Series to the Nascar Sprint Cup Series in 2008 to reflect the merger between Nextel and Sprint that took place in 2004, the same year Nextel took over as the sponsor of the Cup Series. Nascar declined comment, but Dean Kessel, Sprint's NASCAR marketing director, denied that a decision to rename the series has been made, and that there's numerous details that need to be sorted out before a decision can be made either way. However, someone who is directly involved going on the record to deny what Smith reported, hasn't stopped many from talking about this as if it's a done-deal that the series will be re-named in 2008. It's probably inevitable that the name change will happen, and I would expect it will happen sooner rather than later, but until someone goes on record to say that this is really happening, then the discussion about it in the media and by the fans needs to be in the purely speculative.

Some fans are making a big deal about this, but I don't care what the series is called. Winston Cup, Nextel Cup, Sprint Cup, it's just another company paying big money to get exposure by sponsoring the series. The racing isn't effected at all by the name that the series is called by. I also think the issue of Sprint-Nextel wanting to change the name of the series as a result of their merger, but being involved in legal manuvearing to prevent Cingular-AT&T to do the same thing with the #31 team is over-blown. Sprint-Nextel pays five or six times to sponsor the series than Cingular-AT&T pays to sponsor one car that races in that series. As such I think they have the right to change the name of the series any way they'd like, and as unpopular of an opinion as this may be among some of my fellow fans, I also think it gives them the right to have some say in what goes on with their competitiors as it relates to their sponsorships of the cars in the series.

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

June 20, 2007

Photo of the Day - Brian Vickers

Pocono, PA, June, 2007. Red Bull Racing is the only Toyota team that didn't replace any of it's drivers with road course ringers (one reason being that A.J.'s an experienced road course racer, and Brian is RBR's #1 driver so he's not getting replaced). Brian has done okay at Infineon, thought not great, but his average start is really poor - 33rd, so that could present a problem for him, which is unfortunate because given that my other favorite Toyota drivers are going to be sitting this one out, I'm really hoping that Brian makes the show so I can have him to cheer for.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:16 PM | Comments (2)

June 19, 2007

Jeremy Mayfield, #36 Team Won't Race at Infineon

... and I don't think it bodes well for the future of this team. Instead of just replacing Jeremy Mayfield in the #36 with another driver, Bill Davis Racing won't be fielding the #36 at all at Infineon. Instead, CAT will sponsor two entries, the #22 with its usual driver, Dave Blaney, and the #23 with Butch Leitzinger. The main question in my mind is why isn't BDR just replacing Mayfield in the #36 with Leitzinger if they feel the need to use a road course ringer? I'd think they'd want to get owner's points for that team, and that they aren't concerned with owner's points for that car makes me think that they don't have long-term plans for the #36. In addition, that 360OTC won't be sponsoring a car at this race makes me wonder what their situation is with BDR, and whether they've fallen short of their financial obligations to BDR like they did with World of Outlaws? The other thing is that if this was about putting a driver behind the wheel who gave them the best chance of good results, Blaney's qualifying results are slightly better than Mayfield's, but Mayfield has three top tens at Infineon, and Blaney's best finish is 19th in 2005. So performance really isn't a factor here.

BDR's press release indicates that Jeremy and the #36 team will be back on the track next weekend, along with 360OTC. But one has to wonder whether BDR will continue to field this car for the remainder of the season. If they pull the car once, they'll probably have no hesitation pulling it again, particularly if there's issues with the sponsor. In some ways, as much as no driver wants to lose their ride, it might be a blessing in disguise if BDR stopped fielding the #36 team and Jeremy was released. That way he could find a more competitive team to race for. I highly doubt Jeremy's lost anything behind the wheel, but he can only make do with the cars that he's given, just like Michael Waltrip could only do the best he could with the cars BDR gave him last season, which were slow and often had mechanical issues. With a variety of teams thinking about fielding additonal cars next season, it's likely that Jeremy would be able to find himself a much better ride than the #36, with a more reliable sponsor, if he was able to get out of his deal with BDR.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2007

In the News: Michael Waltrip (6/18)

Nice to see some positive media attention for Michael Waltrip for a change! That's what happens with such a fine finish that I think caught just about everybody by surprise, except maybe the team considering Michael told them after practice on Saturday he had the best car he's had to race since 2005 when he was with DEI. It certainly showed in the results since he got his best finish since 2005, which is a much better reflection of the driver that he is than all the poor finishes he had with Bill Davis Racing, and the troubles he's had qualifying with his own team.

After the race Michael said,

"It's really great for our team to have run that well all day today and my guys did a great job on pit road," Waltrip said. "I messed up there at the end, otherwise I think we could have picked up a few more spots. I just got real tight there at the end and I was trying to pass [Kevin] Harvick and got up into the wall. My guys are a little rusty, but you would have never known it. Today was a hot day and I haven't gotten to race this much in awhile, but I felt just as good at the end as I did in the beginning. But once the checkers fell, then I started feeling bad. Hot, tired and glad it was over."

I'm not sure how rusty his crew actually was considering that every pit stop was excellent for the #55 team. Besides Michael's skill behind the wheel, and how good the car was, that's a big reason why Michael was able to finish so well in this race - good calls from his crew chief, and strong pit stops.

What's a mystery to me is why Michael brushing the wall in the last few laps of the race while he was racing Kevin Harvick was never mentioned during the TV broadcast. I knew that something must have happened when his crew chief started telling him not to overdrive and then his speeds dropped off dramatically, but until I read this article I had no idea the reason why. Did TNT miss this happening? Did they think it wasn't important enough to mention? I'm guessing it was the latter since his 10th place finish, something which should have warranted a post-race interview given all the problems he's faced this season, was completely ignored. I've seen some speculation that because D.W. is in the booth for FOX, a competitor to TNT, they didn't want to focus on Michael, given that they're brothers, but I think it's just as likely the producers decided that fans aren't interested in much more than an interview with the race winner, then the obligitory Dale Earnhardt, Jr. interview. After all, isn't everyone a fan of Junior? And who cares about the rest of the field beyond who wins? Well, I'm not a Junior fan, and I'd like to hear some of the stories of the race beyond what's going on with Junior or the rest of the sport's most popular drivers. TNT didn't even appear to do much follow-up with the #48 team regarding what led them to be nine laps short on fuel!

Michael also said,

"One race doesn't make your deal, but it certainly doesn't hurt your morale. We're capable of things a lot better than this and hopefully it's just a start. Everyone is working hard and what it does is show the guys what they're doing is working. If we can get these things so we can drive them, than we can race these guys. And we're getting a little closer to what we need to have."

It's true that it's just one race, but I think it's huge for the organization. It wasn't a perfect weekend since Dale Jarrett failed to qualify for the race, but that both teams that did make the race finished so well has got to make Michael Waltrip Racing as a whole feel so good about their future. After all, if they can field competitive cars for one race, then surely they can do the same for other races.

Some of the credit for the improvements that MWR has shown recently are due to input from Andy Graves from Toyota according to Michael.

"Andy Graves from Toyota started sitting in on our competition meetings and helping us with our direction and structure. It just means the world to us. He's built winning race teams before on this level and we really don't have anyone in the position to give us that type of direction. He works for Toyota, but he is kind enough to come and listen - he has helped give us direction and advice. We've re-structured quite a bit and we've got some more to go, but we've got a lot to be proud of here today. The Toyota motor performed perfectly and we got good gas mileage. We ran around the top-10 all day and we were able to finish 10th - that's a great day."

I'm glad to hear that Toyota is being hands on in helping MWR, and presumably they're doing the same with their other teams as well. One of my concerns earlier in the season was whether they were doing enough to help their teams, and it appears they are in fact doing everything they can to help turn the fortunes of their teams around.

Michael's right - yesterday at Michigan was a great day! I hope it's the first of many great days to come for Michael and MWR!

As happy as I am about the events at Michigan for MWR, I'm not very happy about what this weekend is going to bring at Infineon. Not only has Michael taken himself out of the #55 for this race and the other road course at Watkins Glen in place of Terry Labonte, but he's also decided to replace David Reutimann in the #00 with P.J. Jones. As much as I don't like it, I understand the thinking regarding Terry because he has a Champion's Provisional at his disposal, which will guarantee that the #55 will race, something that will make NAPA happy. But P.J. doesn't have a champion's provisional. In fact, he doesn't even have impressive stats in a Cup car at Infineon, although he has more road course experience than David, which is one of the reasons given that David is being replaced for this race. But I don't understand why Michael felt the need to replace David for this race and not Watkins Glen? And how is David supposed to get more road course experience if he's not racing in the road course races? The biggest thing in my mind is that it's not a for-sure that P.J. is going to be able to qualify for the race. In four starts at Infineon, he's qualified 14th and 16th, which would likely be good enough to make the race, but the other two times he qualified 31st and 43rd, which given the strong competition for only a few available spots, likely wouldn't be good enough. Now part of both his qualifying and race results, might be the quality of the cars he was given to work with, but is the #00 really going to gain that much with P.J. behind the wheel? I kind of doubt it. I also feel like it would also have been nice if MWR had given their rookie driver a vote of confidence by leaving him behind the wheel. It's been hard enough for David this season, and sometimes it seems like he gets very anxious and he's hard on himself. Why not show him that they believe in him? Particularly since he's been the best qualifier of all three MWR Cup drivers this season.

Normally I'd be very excited about this weekend's race at Infineon since I love road course races, and this is one of Michael's better tracks. But with other drivers behind the wheel of both the #55 and #00, a lot of the excitment of this race has been muted for me. I'm still going to watch, but I have a feeling I'm not going to enjoy it as much as I might have otherwise. It's one thing if Michael and David DNQ'd - at least they'd be there trying to make the race, but this weekend they'll only be spectators to the action at Infineon all weekend long. Not much fan as a fan of both drivers. I think what makes me even sadder is that they both finished so well at Michigan, but they're not going to get a chance to build on that momentum this weekend.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:13 PM | Comments (2)

Driver by Driver: Michigan

I thought this was a pretty decent race, though I suppose I'm biased because it was the first top ten for my favorite driver, Michael Waltrip in quite some time. Still, unlike some races at this track, fuel mileage didn't seem to be much of an issue for most teams, as the only team that really ran into a problem in terms of running out of fuel was the #48 team.

1. Carl Edwards - The happiest man on the #99 team probably isn't Carl, but his motorcoach driver who finally got to shave his beard. Tom Giacchi had promised to not shave his beard until Carl won a race... only thing is he made that promise over a year ago, and since Carl hadn't won during that time, Tom's beard had continued to grow and grow and grow. I saw him up close at Pocono, and he looked more like a mountain man than a motorcoach driver. One of the first things Carl did was trim Tom's beard in Victory Lane. "Flipper" successfully executed one of his trademark backflips after winning much to the delight of the fans, but I always hold my breath until he lands without incident.

2. Martin Truex Jr. - Martin looked like he might run down Carl for the win, but late in the race he brushed the wall and that ended his chances for challenging Carl. In the last few weeks, Martin and his team have really come on strong, so strong that they won at Dover. More than a few fans believe that's due to Junior having announced that he'll be leaving DEI for Hendrick Motorsports that now DEI is putting all their resources behind Martin, but I think this team has been showing signs since the very first race of the season that if all the pieces fell into place that they were capable of contending for wins. If Martin can continue racing as well as he has been, there's no question that he'll be in Victory Lane a few more times this season.

3. Tony Stewart - Another race weekend, another opportunity for Tony to whine about one of his fellow competitors. This week's victim was David Gilliland, who neglected to signal during practice that he was slowing down to go to the pits, which resulted in Tony running into him and doing damage to his car. Yeah, David made a mistake for sure, but on the other hand, whose fault is it that he ran into another car? Tony's got to be paying attention there too. To rip David publically and then cry to Nascar about it is ridiculous. Ultimately Tony ended up talking to David about it, but that was what he should have done in the first place. Tony did a fine job of racing his way up front in this race though considering he started 41st. What gets me though is that Tony said he deliberately dropped back two positions at the start of the race so he could say he went from 43rd all the way to the front - what if something happened and that didn't work out? Seems to me it's not really a good idea for a driver to be giving up positions if they don't have to.

4. Casey Mears - Another strong race for Casey and his team. They had a lot of bad luck early on to ruin some good finishes, but it seems like they've really turned a corner.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - A flat tire which caused him to have to drop back saved him from getting caught in the biggest wreck of the day, which occured on lap 76. I don't see how Junior fans have anything to complain about a day in which their driver finished 5th, but as long as Martin Truex, Jr. is finishing better than him, there will be some who will insist that Junior's not getting cars as good as Martin is.

6. Kyle Busch - Every top team in the garage area has expressed interest in Kyle, so it looks like he's not going to have much of a problem finding a new ride, and especially if he continues to race well. I was amazed to see a comment in one article that some in the garage area believe that Kyle may have more ability behind the wheel than Junior, the driver who is replacing him at Hendrick. The difference of course is that Junior is the sport's most popular driver, who will bring Hendrick a significant amount of revenue.

7. Kevin Harvick - After four so-so finishes in a row, Kevin finally got another top ten, but he had to do it the hard way by overcoming damage received in a lap 74 incident that required two pit stops under cautions for repairs.

8. Jamie McMurray - Another driver who was in need of a strong finish after several not very impressive finishes in a row. This is Jamie's best finish since he finished 5th at Talladega in April.

9. Jeff Gordon - Led some 18 laps but never got back up front after a late pit stop as far as I thought he would.

10. Michael Waltrip - I discussed Michael's fine finish in detail in an earlier entry - it should was awesome to see Michael race up front for so much of this race! A finish like this, in conjunction with David Reutimann finishing 15th, gives me hope for the future competitiveness of MWR because clearly they can field good cars when the pieces fall into place in the right way.

11. Bill Elliott - Best finish of the season for the #21 team among three different drivers, and the best finish for Bill as a part-time driver since 2005 for Evernham, also an 11th place finish at this track. Bill's deal with the Wood Brothers is race-to-race, but I have a feeling they'll be keeping him in the car for a while longer, particularly since Jon Wood hasn't been heard from since he came down with mystery headaches a few weeks ago.

12. Paul Menard - This was Paul's best finish of the season, and it made for a good day for DEI overall since all three of their cars finished in the top 15.

13. Robby Gordon - A solid finish for Robby. I noticed that Menard's is listed as one of the sponsors for Robby. Of course he has a long-time association with Menard's prior to when Paul Menard started racing Cup, but it's strange to me that Menard's would sponsor two cars that compete against each other in the same series, particularly since one is driven by the owner of the company's son.

14. Denny Hamlin - Perhaps not as good of a finish as he might have liked, but it was still good enough to move him into second in the points.

15. David Reutimann - For a while it looked like David was in for yet another poor finish, but he seemed to luck out with the way a caution and his pit stop fell which gained him track position when some others fell a lap down. Still, he was able to hold his own and not drop back. This is David's best finish in Cup.

16. Clint Bowyer - Did the best he could with an ill-handling race car.

17. David Gilliland - Didn't appear to allow himself to be drawn into verbal sparring match with Tony, just met with him, made his apologies and moved on, an approach Tony should try sometimes.

18. Dave Blaney - Looked to be in line for a top ten finish, but suddenly dropped back in the field. Of course TNT didn't bother to mention why but according to Dave's post-race report, he was fighting a loose handling car, then the team was worried that they'd have enough fuel to make it to the end so with just four laps to go Dave came in for some fuel.

19. Jimmie Johnson - A rare major miscalculation by the #48 team left Jimmie Johnson out of gas with nine laps to go. Jimmie had led 56 laps, and looked like he was going to finish the race strongly until he had to pit for fuel. Usually this team is exceptionally strong in the pits, so it was surprising that they made a mistake like this.

20. Sterling Marlin - Raced very well for much of this race, and spent time in the top ten, but Sterling was forced to pit for fuel late in the race and that cost him track position.

21. David Ragan

22. Ricky Rudd - Yet another not very impressive finish for Ricky - I'm guessing he might be starting to get a little frustrated that he only has one top ten this season.

23. Reed Sorenson - This is Reed's best finishing since finishing 4th at Charlotte. I really thought we'd see a big improvment between this season and last for Reed with him racing up front a lot more often, but so far that's not the case.

24. Jeff Burton - Fought an ill-handling car all race long. Jeff probably feels a lot better about this disappointing finish now that he's been re-signed to RCR, along with AT&T, for another three years.

25. Kurt Busch - Was racing up front until a loose wheel with just about 50 laps to go ruined his day.

26. Johnny Sauter - Johnny and his team are still hanging on to 35th in owner's points, but he's got to step it up with some strong finishes if he wants to stay there.

27. John Andretti - Even with Kyle Petty who is normally behind the wheel of this car in the booth, I don't remember John being mentioned at all during the race broadcast.

28. J.J. Yeley - Won his first career pole for this race, but couldn't finish anywhere near as well as he started. As soon as the race started J.J. dropped back and was never able to regain the ground he lost due to an ill-handling car.

29. Mark Martin - This was the first time that Mark finished outside the top 20, and only the second time out of the top 15 all season. A rare occassion when Mark didn't have a very good car.

30. Joe Nemechek - Was able to race in the top 15 for part of the race, but lost track position due to pitting when the caution came out, then fought a loose condition.

31. A.J. Allmendinger - Sad to say but this tied A.J.'s best finish of his brief-to-date Cup career.

32. Kasey Kahne - Kasey finished the best out of all the Evernham cars but that's not saying much. Hard to believe but Kasey's lone top ten of the season came at Daytona and it's been downhill in a major way since then. Rumor has it that Kasey is interested in trying to get out of his contract with Evernham to race for Joe Gibbs Racing, and I can't blame him for wanting out if things are going to be this bad for him at Evernham. I highly doubt the problem is with Kasey considering how many races he won last season.

33. Scott Riggs - Finishes like this isn't going to get this team back into the top 35 in owner's points.

34. Bobby Labonte

35. Elliott Sadler - Another Evernham car, another poor finish. I guess the grass isn't greener on the other side for Elliott after all. Rumor has it just like his teammate, Elliott's also looking to leave Evernham, but I don't know how likely they are to let him go after just signing him last season.

36. Jeff Green

37. Ryan Newman - Lost three laps very early in the race due to repairs needing to be made after a cut tire, but things got even worse when he was spun by Jeff Green later in the race. Ryan was angry after the incident at Jeff, but he should have been angry at himself for racing lead lap cars so hard on a re-start when he was three laps down. I could understand if he was a lap or two down and he was trying to get a lap back, but when he's three laps down and he appears to be in the way of lead lap cars, that outcome isn't suprising.

38. Greg Biffle - A punctured oil cooler ruined his day.

39. Tony Raines - Got spun with help from one of the Evernham cars.

40. David Stremme - Lost a cylinder which forced him behind the wall for repairs.

41. Brian Vickers Was racing up front until he got caught in a wreck that ended his day early.

42. Matt Kenseth - Got caught in the same wreck as Vickers.

43. Juan Montoya - A tangle due to a tire going down ended his day prematurely.

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

June 17, 2007

Michael Waltrip Finishes 10th at Michigan!!

Awesome day for Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing today at Michigan! Michael not only made the race, but he finished 10th, and David Reutimann finished 15th! Michael's fine finish wasn't due to good fuel strategy as we see at this track sometimes either - it was because he actually had a competitive car! After qualifying 18th, he didn't spend a single lap outside the top 20, and raced 83 laps inside the top ten, even leading one lap as pit stops cycled through under green. Truly an outstanding day for Michael and his whole organization that has to make them feel good about the direction they're heading in. I'm really happy for them! NAPA has to be thrilled as well, since Michael got a good amount of TV time today for positive reasons, and there's already been some media attention about his fine finish. It sure must feel good to have members of the media want to talk to him for positive reasons!

When the raced started I figured it would be a lot like most of the race for Michael since he's left DEI. He would hold his position for a few laps, but the car would be too tight or too loose and all together too slow, and very quickly he'd drop back, lose laps, and only pick up positions due to other cars dropping out of the race. But not this race - Michael not only held his own, but was able to race for position. A few times Buddy Cisco, Michael's crew chief, told him over the radio that he was the 3rd fastest on the track - not just once but a couple of times. That's incredible to me - a few weeks ago this team was struggling to make races, this race they're one of the fastest cars on the track - outstanding!

Michael's finish might have been even better if not for brushing the wall late in the race trying to aggressively race Kevin Harvick for 8th. Had he not brushed the wall and gotten past Kevin, Michael might even have been able to pick up few more positions. But the damage from brushing the wall really hurt the car, and he gave up two positions late in the race. Still, finishing 10th is outstanding, and I think it's awesome that Michael even had a car good enough to race Kevin that hard! Michael gave it his all, and it's pretty clear that in spite of racing just three races this season, he's not lost the desire to race or the competitive fire! Of course there's going to be some who'll try to brush off Michael's fine finish as being only about the car - but isn't that true of every driver to a degree? Those that have competitive cars that are fast are the drivers who are able to finish up front, and those who have ill-handling cars, that are slow or have mechanical issues are those who don't finish well. Today Michael showed that he's every bit as capable of racing well as he ever was!

Overall, it was a great day for Michael Waltrip Racing as a whole - both cars finishing in the top 15 is outstanding, particularly for an organization that's struggled so much. It definitely shows that they're capable of fielding competitive cars, they just need to figure out how to do it on a consistant basis. I'd like to see them qualify all three cars into a race sometime soon - and not when they have a driver who can make use of a Champion's provisional is behind the wheel, as will be the case next week. Then from there, I'd like to see them regularly qualifying for races, and then it would be great to see all three cars finish in the top 20 or better at least once. After that, maybe they can start thinking about racing competitively like they did today on a regular basis.

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

June 15, 2007

Michael Will Race at Michigan!

Oh happy day! Michael Waltrip will race this weekend at Michigan!! I'm so happy for him - he's now been able to qualify for two out of the last three races, and the one he missed last week, the only reason he missed it was because of Bill Elliott needing to use one of his Champion's provisional. No question that this team has made some improvements recently, which I'd guess are due to Bobby Kennedy being un-suspended and being able to work with Michael and his team each week at the track. Although it appears that Dale Jarrett will miss the race, I think David Reutimann will race this weekend as well, which is also very good news. Two out of three MWR cars making the show is awesome, and hopefully in the near future I'll be celebrating all three MWR cars racing in the same race! Whoo-hooo! I'm so excited for Michael!!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

In the News: Michael Waltrip (6/15)

Before I get to exactly what Michael Waltrip had to say today, I have to say that it's unfortunate that Michael keeps having to deny rumor after negative rumor about his organization. But I guess it's to be expected - when an organization is struggling as much as his is, it's natural that people will make dire predictions about sponsors leaving and the entire organization being on the verge of folding. However, Michael said that's far from the truth:

"Rumors don't bother me. We've had as bad a start as I think we could have had, and the best support from sponsors we ever could have hoped for. Sponsors dictate how many cars you have, and ultimately, how well you do. My sponsors are very confident in our making this thing work. I don't know of anybody that's leaving or quitting; I still live in a nice house so I don't guess I'm broke. I haven't looked around lately, but I think it's all going to work out. The key still works."

I'm glad to hear that the sponsors have been so supportive! It's also good to know that no one's leaving or quitting. Both of those things mean that Michael's sponsors and employees also believe that things are going to improve for Michael Waltrip Racing eventually. Knowing that people believe in him has to make Michael feel good, and especially that it's not just his fans, but the people who work directly on the cars, and his sponsors who provide the necessary funding to keep his teams going.

Michael added,

"I still believe in what we're doing and in our future,. Still real confident and I feel good about how we structured it and what we're doing. From the shop to the people, just everywhere. I feel real good about it."

Although Michael's made quite a few comments along those lines the past few months, I often wonder - how good does he really feel about it? Missing races hurts him, as did the decision to step out of the car for Terry Labonte for two races, plus everything else that he's had to endure has to be so difficult for him. I'm glad he's able to stay optimistic about the direction they're heading it, because I'm not sure I'd be able to if I were in his shoes and every week was such a challenge.

He also talked about the problems his teams have been experiencing.

"The rules are really tough for new teams. None of the Toyota teams have prospered and we've been the worse, for sure. My car, particularly. When you build for a few months around one guy being your crew chief, and you don't even get to run one race with him, it tends to upset the apple cart."

and

"Our team has been in a state of dismay since we started, with the 55 particularly. Matt Borland [Jarrett's former crew chief] just wasn't the right fit for Dale. I think we've seen some improvement from that team since Jason [Burdett] came on board. David just hasn't been able to find harmony among how they work together [on the No. 00 team]. They qualifying well at times and then run bad. We certainly have room for a lot of improvement. But again, I don't think we're doing anything wrong or bad, I just think we need to get better."

I think Michael meant to say that his teams have been in a state of disarray, not dismay, though they likely feel dismay each time they're unsuccesful in qualifying for races. But I do think losing David Hyder really hurt the #55 team, and the lack of the right chemistry on the other teams has really hurt their performance. It's so hard for established, competitive teams with top personnel to get consistantly good results, let alone brand-new teams struggling to qualify for races and gel with each other.

The one thing I kind of wish Michael hadn't said is that he thinks that they're not doing anything wrong or bad. That opens the door for fans and others to jump all over him because they'll point at the issues with qualifying and other problems as evidence that they are doing things wrong. But the reality is that as Michael mentioned, the rules are tough for new teams. Any team not locked into the top 35 in owner's points is at a huge disadvantage because they don't have any margin for error.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts

*During the press conference to announce that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. would drive for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 and beyond, Rick Hendrick said that the decision to part ways between his organization and Kyle Busch, the driver of the #5 car was a mutual one, and that contract negotiations stalled when he found out that Kyle had been talking with a number of other teams. That gave the impression that Kyle was looking into leaving Hendrick on his own. However, Kyle's comments yesterday indicate that's not the case. Kyle said that he hadn't talked to any other teams, and that the news that he was going to be replaced at Hendrick came on Monday. Both versions can't be true - either Kyle was talking to other teams or he wasn't, and they either decided to part ways mutually, or Kyle was told that he would be replaced without having any say in whether he was leaving Hendrick or not. I really wish that more people in the garage area would be up-front about things. Of course I understand that they're often not at liberty to give details about certain things, that they're trying to put a positive spin on things, etc... But it makes it hard to trust what's being said when it's obvious that the full truth isn't being told by someone (and in this case, like so many others, we have no idea which version is the right version.)

*Richie Gilmore made an interesting comment when he spoke with Jim Utter from the Charlotte Observer. He said that not only is DEI looking for a driver for the #8 car, but also for a 4th car that they would field as early as next season:

"Whatever comes first. Maybe we could sign both drivers next week. You never know how that all works out. Our goal still is to be at four cars. And one would be with a young guy and one with a veteran."

Just exactly how is DEI going to manage with four teams, when they aren't able to get three teams into the field successfully each week? I think it's really unlikely that there's going to be less teams trying to make races next season, in fact there could even be more since a number of teams such as Richard Childress Racing, Penske Racing and Evernham Motorsports have also indicated that they might add additional teams. If all these organizations proceed with their expansion plans, even more well-funded teams might end up going home each week, and it's unlikely that they'll all be Toyotas.

*Greg Biffle made a strong statement today that he's not happy with his current situation at Roush-Fenway Racing. Greg's contract with Roush is up at the end of next season, and he indicated that he wouldn't negotiate on an extension until the performance of his team improved. He said,

“I’m not 100-percent happy with the performance of the team. I’m not going to run 20th in points. If I’m not happy, why should I negotiate?

Now Greg later added that he felt the chances of him eventually signing an extension were 90%, but what if the performance doesn't improve and he's no happier at the end of the season than he is now? It seems to me that Greg's saying that if the results don't improve he's not sticking around, and I think that would be a wise decision. At some point Roush needs to reduce by one team, so it seems to me that Greg needs to make sure that if it's going to be his team, it's by his choice. Moving to a different organization might be exactly what Greg needs too to get the improved results he's looking for.

*So far Robert Yates Racing, DEI and Evernham have expressed interest in signing Kyle Busch, and other teams are surely interested as well. Hard for some to believe, but it appears that Kyle is going to be in demand almost as much as Junior, maybe even more so because Kyle has indicated a willingness to sign with a non-Chevy team. Some seem to think that because Kyle gets himself into trouble sometimes and has some attitude issues, that he's going to have a hard time finding another ride, but he's a very talented driver, who knows how to win, who likely has a very long and successful career ahead of him. Owners are going to overlook his behavior issues as long as he gets them results, and given how young he is, there's the possiblity that as he matures, he'll learn how to keep himself out of trouble.

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

Another Black Mark for 360OTC

At least one person who is very involved with 360OTC has a criminal background. Mark DeMattei whose "advertising agency" Air, Sea, Ground, was "awarded" a $65 million contract (by his alleged girlfriend, the CEO of 360OTC's parent company) to promote and advertise 360OTC (something they haven't seem to do much of), pled guilty to battery with substantial bodily harm, and was sentenced to 1-5 years in prison. More serious charges related to sexual assault were dropped as part of a plea agreement. Yes, that was quite a few years ago, but that doesn't change the fact that one of the key players in 360OTC has a rather checkered past. It's amazing to me that given how image conscious and concerned about morals those in the garage area are that Bill Davis Racing would enter into a sponsorship deal with this sponsor.

All I know is that as I discussed in a previous entry, I hope Steve Park doesn't end up in the #36 truck unless it's with a different sponsor. He told me last week at the Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing that he's trying to put together a deal for a truck ride for later this season. Maybe it's with Wyler Racing or another organization, but given that Steve was at an event with a whole bunch of folks from BDR, it does makes one wonder. As I said before, I have no idea how a driver with as much integrity and class as Steve could want to put himself in a position where he has to represent a sponsor that is as shady as 360OTC appears to be. Now it's entirely possible that 360OTC would be off the truck by the time Steve gets in, if that's even what's going to happen, but then there's the question of who's going to sponsor the truck if not 360OTC?

There's also the question of why Steve would even be talking with BDR after being strung along by them for a good part of last season? An old saying comes to mind - "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Of course I'm certainly not privvy to the inner workings at BDR or what happened in regards to Steve's disappearing truck ride last season, or what assurances they might make to him regarding a future truck ride to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen. But from outside looking in, if I were in Steve's shoes I would hesitate to get involved with them again, regardless of how many friends I might have in the organization.

It's really a conflict for me. I dearly want to see Steve racing again, and it's almost certain that a BDR truck would be competitive. But I think this sponsor is bad news, and I'm not too thrilled with BDR as a whole either. I'll be excited if and when Steve finds himself a new ride, but if it were with this organization and this sponsor, I probably won't be jumping up and down with as much excitement as I would if it were a different scenario. I just can't can't wrap my mind around how Steve would represent a sponsor that appears to have so many issues.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2007

Photo of the Day - Kenny Wallace

RaceDay taping, Pocono, PA. June, 2007. This is my favorite photo from Sunday because I think it captures the fun and kind of crazy side of Kenny's personality.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2007

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Will Race for Hendrick Motorsports

The worst fears of many Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans have become reality. Today Junior announced that he would drive for Hendrick Motorsports for at least the next five years, joining Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears, at an organization that many of his fans despise. Although Rick Hendrick had said a few weeks ago that there was "no room at the inn" for Junior, he made room by making the decision to release Kyle Busch from his contract at the end of this season. There was no word about a sponsor or car number, but it's likely that Budweiser will follow Junior to Hendrick, particularly since they've already released a statement expressing their intention to discuss possibilities with Junior's new organization.

When Junior announced his decision to leave DEI he indicated that he wanted to join an organization where he can win races and contend for a championship right now. There's no question he's found that at Hendrick, an organization that's won ten of fourteen races this season. Every Hendrick car has found Victory Lane at least once this season, and I'm pretty sure that will continue next season as well. Aside from how much success Junior is likely to have at Hendrick because of how competitive the cars are that they field, the other good thing about him going there as opposed to Richard Childress Racing, who many assumed were the front-runner for Junior's services, is that at Hendrick Junior can race without being in his father's shadow, something that he'd been doing at DEI, and something that would continue at RCR. This way Junior can carve his own legacy in the sport, one that's very separate from his father.

However, I think there's still some issues that Junior will have to face at Hendrick. For one thing, I have to wonder how Junior's going to adjust to the "Hendrick Way," which is more corporate and professional than he's used to. Already a comment was made about how he's going to have to wear less t-shirts and jeans. To some that might not seem like a big deal, but some people have trouble dealing with a new atmosphere that's less casual, and more restrictive than they might be accustomed to. I think some players who have joined the New York Yankees have had difficulty with the "Yankee Way" and how professional that clubhouse is, so the same could be true for Junior at Hendrick. One thing that I don't think is going to be a problem is how he's going to get along with his new teammates. Junior took great pains to point out the pre-existing relationships he has with those at Hendrick. Contrary to the belief of some Junior fans that just because they don't like the Hendrick drivers means that Junior doesn't either, it's clear that he very much gets along with the drivers who are there.

The other thing that I'm wondering about is how Junior's going to react to not being the #1 driver at the organization he races for, as he's used to at DEI. On one hand he might respond very well to it because there will be less pressure since the expectations for a high level of success on the track will be spread throughout all his teammates, whereas at DEI he was expected to always be the best of their drivers since Martin Truex, Jr. and Paul Menard are still so new to Cup. But on the other hand, Junior might not enjoy sharing the spotlight. It's going to be an adjustment going to an organization where there are other drivers with important sponsors, strong fanbases who attract a lot of media attention. So it'll be interesting to see how he responds.

But the biggest issue might be how he deals with the reaction from his fans to this announcement. There's no doubt that he's going to lose some fans since the Hendrick/Gordon vs. Earnhardt rivalry is too deeply rooted to let go of easily. It's very similar to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry - there's no doubt that players who go from one team to another lose a large chunk of fans, though they gain new ones who are fans of their new team. It's just that some fans have a very hard time letting things go and once they've made their mind up that everything about a team, driver or organization is bad, they have a hard time being open-minded enough to consider that maybe they were wrong. Obviously Junior is aware of how how poorly some of his fans might take him going to Hendrick because a lot of time was spent today discussing the longtime friendships and connections between himself, Rick Hendrick and the Hendrick drivers. But I don't think that's going to make it any easier for a lot of his fans to accept this choice that he's made.

Of course the next question is what team Kyle Busch is going to sign with. Rick said that there's been interest in Kyle from many teams, and him being aware that Kyle was talking with some of those teams is what helped lead him to make the decision to release Kyle early from his contract. Some fans are also assuming that Kyle's attitude and personality also played a role in his release, but I suspect that wasn't as much of a factor as was Rick not wanting to pass up the opportunity to sign the sport's most popular driver who could not only be very successful on the track, but make Hendrick Motorsports a lot of money too. Leaving Hendrick might work out well for Kyle since he could have the opportunity to go to an organization where he'd be the #1 driver as opposed to the #3, plus he might do well in a different kind of environment than that at Hendrick. Kyle is a talented driver who is still very young so he has many years of racing left ahead of him. Contrary to what some fans think, I don't think he's going to have any problem finding a new ride. The popular speculation is that he's going to replace Junior at DEI, so it would essentially be a driver swap, but I think he's going to be able to choose from a number of different teams.

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

June 12, 2007

On My Experience at Pocono

Jeff Gordon, Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PA, June, 2007.

This past weekend I had tried with the best of intentions to do something nice for Michael Waltrip and things didn't work out like I had hoped.

I had won an auction to benefit the Fisher Center Foundation for Alzheimer's Research via The Waltrip Challenge for a Race Day experience with the #55 team or if they didn't qualify, with another Michael Waltrip Racing team. Because I had been told that I would get a meet & greet with Michael regardless of whether Michael qualified or not, I stepped up what I was doing with a project for Michael I had organized with some other fans because I thought I was going to be able to give it to him in person. Myself and others put a lot of time and effort into this project which was an effort to show Michael how much his fans support, love and believe in him in spite of all the problems he's had this season, and we hoped it would put a smile on his face. As it turned out what I didn't know is that apparently Michael's been leaving the track early some race weekends when he's not been qualifying, which is what he did this past weekend. Which is completely understandable given how hard all of this is on him, it's not surprising that it would be difficult for him to be at the track and not race. What wasn't entirely understandable is some of the other issues I encountered which were separate from not seeing Michael. So what was an effort to help support Michael's charitable efforts and try to make him feel good about himself, two things I've tried hard to do as much of as I can over the past few years, turned into something that was upsetting and distressing to me and has made some others unhappy as well. I'm not going to go into any details what-so-ever even if I'm asked, but I just felt I had to say something because it's been on my mind a lot since this weekend. I still think the world of Michael and will continue to support him as I always have, I simply wish that certain things had been done differently this weekend.

Michael's motorcoach driver, Benito deserves a huge gold star for stepping up and making every effort to make sure we had as good of a time as possible on Sunday. He's a great guy, very nice and he's definitely an asset to Michael and his organization! Because of Benito I was able to get some great photos like the one above, and he also was why we were able to spend some time with Kenny Wallace, which was a definite highlight of the day. I left the project for Michael with Benito and hopefully Michael will get it this weekend at Michigan and enjoy it.

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

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to Announce 2008 Plans Tomorrow

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a news conference scheduled for tomorrow morning to announce where he'll be racing in 2008 and beyond. Marty Smith from ESPN, and others, are reporting that their sources are telling them that Junior will end up at Hendrick Motorsports, and that Kyle Busch has either asked out of his contract, or will be released, so that Junior can join the organization in either the #5 or the #25 with Casey Mears moving to the #5. I would tend to think that there's likely truth to what Smith is reporting since he's got quite a few close friends at Hendrick, but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)

Terry Labonte to Race the #55 at Infineon and Watkins Glen

Today it was announced that Michael Waltrip would be stepping out of the #55 for the two road course races at Infineon and Watkins Glen. Terry Labonte, with his champion's provisional which locks him into the race, will be behind the wheel instead. Hearing that makes me very sad. As much as some people think that Michael is only about his sponsors, he loves to race as much as any other driver on the track, so getting out of the car has to tear him up inside, no matter what he says publically about it being for the good of the team. Really, it's for the good of NAPA's sponsorship of the #55. They can spin it a hundred different ways about how it's going to "spark" the team and how great it will be for the #55 team to get a new driver behind the wheel for a couple of races, but the bottom line is that it's all about Terry's champion's provisional which will guarantee him a spot in both races, which will make NAPA very happy. I just can't see how Terry's feedback about racing two road course races is going to help the #55 team all that much at the other tracks. It would be great if putting him behind the wheel was the magic solution to fix all the woes of the #55 team but the reality is that this team needs to find long-term solutions to make themselves more competitive that likely aren't going to be found via these two races.

As a fan of Michael's I know I'm supposed to support every decision he and his team make, but whether it's Bill Elliott, Terry or any other former champion, I don't like them being put behind the wheel just because they have a provisional that will lock them into races. Given some of the reaction from other fans who also don't like the champion's provisional, some of the positives about this move in that NAPA is going to get exposure from having their car in the race and Michael being replaced by Terry, will likely be overshadowed by the criticism they're going to get for manipulating the system, particularly since some fans already thought they were doing that by hiring Dale Jarrett who also had the use of a champion's provisional.

The whole situation just makes me so sad. I dearly want Michael to be successful, and I hate that he's in the situation where he has to get out of the car. Particularly since his stats are very good at Infineon, so it would have been an opportunity for him to have a good race if he were able to qualify. In the press release Michael talked about looking forward to being in solely an owner's role those weekends, but the reality is that he's already been in that role for much of this season after qualifying is over since he's not been making races, and my sense is that being solely in that role has been very distressing to him. My heart breaks for Michael that he's going to have to watch someone else race his car.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:52 PM | Comments (1)

June 11, 2007

Dale Jarrett Rumor Denied

Apparently there's no truth to the rumor that was reported today that indicated that supposedly XM reported on Sunday that Dale Jarrett might be released or leave Michael Waltrip Racing by choice. Claire B. Lang said that she wasn't on the air on Sunday, and the sports reporters she checked with who were on the air indicated they never reported this story. Just by the fact that the folks at XM say they never reported it is an indication there's not any truth to it, but Claire also followed up with Michael Waltrip, who called the rumor "ridiculous," so much so that he didn't think it was worth going on the air to address it. I have to agree because addressing it would probably give the rumor legs and make people think there was actually something to it.

I immediately thought this rumor was suspect. For one thing it showed up initially on the Speed message boards, yet no one could find any thing about it anywhere else. Message board rumors are some of the most unreliable since anyone can post anything and there's often no way of verifying it. In addition, sometimes people post things they hear on one of the satellite radio shows that's just speculation that they take to be fact. But the rumor doesn't make a lot of sense anyway - Jarrett has indicated that part of the reason he went to Michael Waltrip Racing was so he could take a management position there after he retires at the end of the 2008 season, and that he was very much looking forward to that. Why would he suddenly decide he didn't want to do that, especially considering what great friends he is with Michael. In addition, there's the UPS sponsorship to consider - they're apparently signed through next season and I can't imagine DJ walking away from them considering how closely tied together they are.

The unfortunate thing is that a lot of fans are never going to hear that this rumor has been denied, and even if they do some will still believe there must be some truth to it.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:57 PM | Comments (1)

Haven't Blogged For a While...

...mostly because I've been busy. Last week I was on vacation and while I didn't go away anywhere I ended up being busy with quite a few different things. Thursday was the Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing that I go to every year, and once again it was a lot of fun! Steve Park was there and he was awesome - I'll have to write about that in more detail. Yesterday I was at Pocono which wasn't so awesome, but I did get some good photos, some of which I'm sure will end up in this space.

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

June 05, 2007

On Michael Waltrip Racing at Dover

The results for Michael Waltrip from this weekend's race might not seem all that great - 28th, five laps down, but Michael and his team should feel good about themselves. For one thing Michael qualified for his first race since the Daytona 500 in Febuary, and Michael was able to race the entire race in spite of a spin caused by a flat tire, and a car that wasn't very good even before the spin. Dover isn't an easy track to race on under any circumstances let alone that it was Michael's first race in three months, and on top of that he was racing a car that was very difficult to handle. Still, at no point did Michael or his team give up. They tried making the car better throughout the race, and after the spin, the #55 team worked hard to make sure that Michael didn't lose any more laps than he already had.

I was just thrilled to see the NAPA car back on the track regardless of what the result was! It was awesome seeing Michael actually race too as opposed to just making laps. At one point, the TV broadcast showed him battling the race leader at the time, Ryan Newman, to avoid going a lap down, and I was filled with such a feeling of excitement to see Michael racing hard, even if it was just to stay on the lead lap. That shows that he hasn't lost one ounce of his competitive fire. I had no doubt that Michael never lost anything behind the wheel - not his determination, his competitiveness, his drive, or his talent, in spite of what some may think. My hope is that the #55 team will start to qualify for races more consistantly and then they'll be able to work on getting some decent results during races. There's nothing I'd like to see more than Michael be able to show some of the doubters that he can still race well!

Apparently Bobby Kennedy was calling the shots from the pit box for the #55 team this weekend which might have made the difference for why they were able to qualify. I think Bobby not being able to come to the track as a result of the penalty from the Daytona mess really hurt all of MWR, but especially the #55 team since Michael and Bobby have worked together for so long with good results. I heard Buddy's (Cisco who is supposedly the crew cheif of the #55) name mentioned over Michael's radio so somehow he's still in the mix, but at least for last weekend he had some other role with the team. I'm not complaining though about yet another personnel switch with this team - whatever works is what they should go with!

NAPA had to be happy to see Michael get some TV time for actually racing as opposed to not qualifying. The partnership between NAPA and Michael is such a wonderful one. Without a doubt Michael has helped NAPA gain new customers - there's so many of Michael's fans who use NAPA for their autocare needs just because of Michael's association with NAPA. And Michael's benefited from his partnership with NAPA as well since they're a sponsor who understands how to utilize his unique personality in their commercials, marketing and promotions. I hope that their partnership continues for years to come even after their current deal with Michael Waltrip Racing runs out after next season, but to ensure that happens there's going to have to be more good weekends like this past one was where Michael qualfies for the race, and gets a decent amount of TV time - hopefully in time that will happen because he's racing up front!

I'll be at Pocono this weekend, and hopefully I'll get to see Michael race!!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2007

Random Thoughts on Dover

*Bill France, Jr. died yesterday at the age of 74. Under his leadership Nascar grew and eventually exploded into what it is currently - a sport popular throughout the country, and maybe even thoughout the world. Some fans were all over Martin Truex, Jr. after the race for not acknowledging France's death during his comments in Victory Lane, but considering it was his first Cup win, I have to give Truex a pass - it was probably hard to think of much of anything in his excitement about winning for the first time. In addition, Truex has only been racing in the upper levels of Nascar since 2001. While he's surely known who France was, it's likely that he doesn't have the same kind of contact with him, particularly when France was in control of the sport as many of the older drivers, so France's passing might not have the same impact on him as on others in the garage area.

On the other hand, Darrell Waltrip was clearly upset as he talked about France's death during the TV broadcast. Some fans were critical of him too for being overly emotional or playing to the cameras. Ridiculous. France's loss is a personal one to DW. This isn't just someone who had a major impact on the sport, but someone who was also personally important to DW - of course he's going to be upset about it!

*I'm really disappointed in Kurt Busch. I had really grown to like Kurt, and admire the way that he'd seemed to mature in the past couple of years. It seemed like particularly after he left Roush Racing, Kurt had learned how to control himself and keep himself out of trouble. Until today, and now I have to question if he actually matured at all. I can understand why he was frustrated after the incident with Tony Stewart - after all, they had been racing each other hard for quite some time without either one giiving the other an inch, and the end result was that both of them ended up wrecked. But there is absolutely no excuse for Kurt to bump Tony's car with his own on pit road, which could have resulted in an injury to Tony's jackman, who was working on the car at the time. Nascar made the right call in parking Kurt for the rest of the race, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were further penalties. Using one's car as a weapon is completely unacceptable to me, and even worse when it puts pit crew members at risk, who have far less protection than the drivers in the cars. It's such a shame because Kurt had come so far. At least in his post-incident interview he acknowledged that his actions were wrong, but that likely won't make a difference to most fans or to Nascar. I wouldn't be surprised if Kurt got suspended for a race or two, something I would agree with, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Nascar decided to avoid the negative publicity that would come from something like that and deemed parking him during the race as punishement enough.

*What amused me was Tony's post-race comments, particularly the following remark: "I don't have problems with 95 percent of the guys out there. It's only a couple." So if he doesn't have problems with the majority of the other drivers, why is he always complaining about those that he's racing with? He's complained about aggressive driving, the way Nascar throws cautions, about Juan Pablo Montoya, David Ragan, Kurt and others. Just about every single week Tony is complaining about someone or something, but he claims he doesn't have problems with 95% of his fellow drivers. Please! I think he's completely justified in being upset with Kurt, particularly in relation to the incident on pit road, but it's ridiculous for Tony to act as if there's only a select few that bother him because his own comments seem to indicate that's not the case. He may very well like and get along with most of the drivers off-the-track, but he seems to get irritated very easily on-the-track with quite a few of their actions.

Tony also complained about how he'll let drivers go by for position but others like Kurt won't. Tony seems to race hard almost every lap, and I can't see him giving up much, particularly a position to another driver. And why should he or any other driver really? Yes, there's certain situations where it might be a good idea for one driver to ease up a little on another driver, but pull over and let another driver go by for position? I don't think so. No driver should have to do that.

*I don't think anyone would have predicted that the first DEI driver in Victory Lane this season would be Martin Truex, Jr. Seems to me that DEI made a statement that they're about more than just Dale Earnhardt, Jr. If Truex can win now even when they're an organization that Junior feels has issues on the competition side, which is part of what led him to leave, then imagine how good they might be if they made some improvements? I think today's win has to give all of DEI a lot of confidence that maybe things will turn out okay without Junior after all. I've always liked Truex so I was happy to see him get his first win yesterday.

*However, some Junior fans weren't too happy that Truex won, even though Junior was clearly very happy for his close friend, going as far as to congratulate him in Victory Lane. Some fans are even suspicious that now that Junior's announced he's leaving that DEI is going to give him subpar cars as compared to his teammates. Ridiculous. Junior had a very competitive car today but a flat tire eliminated any chance he had at winning by putting him several laps down early on. I do think it's possible that if for some reason Junior didn't make the Chase and they knew that Budweiser was leaving for sure that DEI might put their resources into the teams and drivers that would be with them next season over the last ten races, but this early in the season I think they're just as committed to getting good results for Junior and the #8 team as ever.

*Maybe I missed it but I don't remember the TV broadcast ever following up to let viewers know whether David Stremme was okay after needing a relief driver in the form of Regan Smith because he was so sick. Drivers have to be extremely ill or hurting to feel that they can't finish a race so Stremme's fans had to be concerned about him. But after mentioning the driver switch, I don't think they ever updated what Stremme's status was. As it turns out, he was sick with the flu, and he had to get oxygen and intravenous fluids at the in-field care center, but he's fine now.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)

Went To Dover, But Didn't See the Race

So Saturday my husband and I headed down to Dover with the intention of seeing our first Cup race in person in two years. I was really excited not only to see the race in person, but also because Michael Waltrip was going to be racing for the first time since Daytona. Unfortunately due to the rain that postponed the race until today that didn't end up happening. While I could have stayed for the race today because I have off this week, no one else that I was with was able to take off, particularly since there was a possiblity that the rain was going to continue through the day today, making it possible that the race could have been rained out for a second day in a row. All of us, with the exception of my husband who doesn't like Nascar, were pretty disappointed, particularly since we spent a lot of money on hotel rooms and tickets for nothing. Still, we ended up having a lot of fun.

Our friends had booked us into a motel to stay in called the Knights Inn. I'm not very fussy when it comes to places to stay, but I'd like to avoid gunshots and bugs. Unfortunately, based on the looks of the Knights Inn, we weren't sure that we wouldn't encounter either or both of those things, so we ended up having to find another place to stay Saturday night. That made things costly since naturally the Knights Inn wasn't going to refund our money. But it was worth it to spend the extra money to check into the Hawthorn Suites up the road, which was much nicer. After we sorted out that issue Jim and I took a ride to see the sights around Elkton, Maryland. We ended up finding a very cute little town, North East, where we walked around and looked in some of the shops there. One home decor store had a lot of ocean themed stuff, a lot of which I really liked, but I didn't really have any extra money to get anything.

On Sunday we headed to the track even though the forecast called for rain all day because I was really anxious to get some Michael Waltrip shirts and other merchandise that I can't get online. I was thrilled to see that they have a new Michael Waltrip Racing hat and shirt, so I got one of each. The new MWR logo, which I've heard Michael designed himself is very sharp looking, and I've really wanted something with it on it. As much as I'm a fan of Michael, I also wanted a way to show my support for his entire organization. I also got a #55 necklace that I've had my eye on since I saw someone else wearing one. I'm not usually one for wearing driver jewelry, but there was something about this one that I really like. Because I'm so petite it's really hard for me to find shirts that fit since even small are usually way too big when it comes to driver apparel. That really limited my choices as what to get from Michael's trailer since some of the shirts I really liked would have been laughably big on me. But I ended up with the MWR shirt and one other shirt of Michael's that's more fitted for women.

By the time we got to the track any of the drivers who were doing appearances at their trailers before the race were gone other than A.J. Allmendinger, so I spent a few minutes taking photos and watching him interact with the fans. There weren't very many people who wanted his autograph, and some people actually didn't even know who he was. A.J. was good about making eye contact, smiling and talking to every person who came up to him, so everyone who got his autograph left with a smile on their face. However, when A.J. decided he didn't want to sign anymore he abruptly said to the woman helping him with the signing, "I'm done!" And then he got up and left even though a couple more fans had just come up to buy stuff for him to sign. I'm very understanding of the demands on the driver's time and that there's no way that they can make every fan happy all the time. However, in spite of the fact that A.J. likely had somewhere to be, given how small his fanbase in Nascar seems to be at the moment, it seems to me that it might have been in the best interests of A.J., his team, Toyota and his sponsor for him to wait 3 or 4 more minutes for the last two or three fans who wanted his autograph to finish buying the merchandise they were getting and then sign it for them. That would have created some good will with those fans, and considering how A.J. and Red Bull Racing have struggled this season, he could certainly use all the fan support he can get.

What was also pretty interesting to see was which trailers were busy with sales and which drivers didn't seem to be moving much product. Of course the trailers belonging to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and other top drivers were doing brisk business. It was interesting to note that sales seemed to be very good at Michael's trailer, so his struggles this season don't seem to be chasing any of his fans away - I also saw a lot of people walking around with NAPA Racing/#55/Michael Waltrip gear on. There were a lot of fans making purchases from the Petty Enterprises trailer, many of whom seemed to be Bobby LaBonte fans. I saw a huge amount of Dale Jarrett fans, but not many people buying from his trailer yesterday, so I have a feeling not everyone is completely sold on him racing a Toyota yet. Other trailers were there wasn't much action included those of Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle and Robbie Gordon. I was surprised by there not being much doing at Robbie's trailer since his fans always talk as if they're the best and most supportive fans in Nascar, yet the next time I see someone sporting anything of Robby's at a race will be the first time, though in all fairness I've not been to all that many races. There were other drivers like J.J. Yeley, and even Denny Hamlin, who didn't seem to have many fans wearing their shirts and hats as well.

In terms of the actual merchandise, some drivers had much nicer shirts and hats than others that's for sure. I don't like to wear just anything, I like what I wear to have a cool design too. I have to admit that at times that I've not been thrilled with some of Michael's merchandise in terms of design, but I think since he's left DEI, whoever is in charge of that kind of thing has really stepped it up in relation to making shirts and other merchandise that's a lot nicer. Maybe Michael and his "people" have more control now, but I like the direction they're going in, especially in terms of using the MWR logo more. I was surprised by how nice the shirts were that Speed had in their trailer - the design of some of them was outstanding, and they had shirts fitted for women. Only thing is that I'm not a big fan of Speed so I wasn't about to spend any money on anything with their logo on it. Greg Biffle also had a cool looking retro styled t-shirt, but I didn't really have any extra money after all that I had spent at Michael's trailer to get anything else.

So it ended up being a good weekend in spite of not seeing the race - we just made the best of a bad situation and had as much fun as we could under the circumstances. Hopefully next weekend at Pocono will go better!

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

June 01, 2007

Michael Waltrip Makes the Dover Race!!!!!

I'm beyond happy, thrilled and excited right now!!!! After missing every race since the season opener at Daytona, Michael Waltrip was finally able to qualify for a race!! I'm so happy for him, he must be walking tall(er than usual), right about now! And what's awesome is that I'm going to this race on Sunday, so I'll get to see Michael race in person! Yay! I don't even care how well he finishes on Sunday, just that he has a safe race, and that he's going to be in it racing! Now maybe the goal can be to make two races in a row, and then three, and then from there start to try to race competitively. But for now I'm just going to celebrate that Michael made the race!! Awesome!!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)