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November 29, 2007

Michael Waltrip Finishes Third in Most Popular Driver Voting!

I'm not a big fan of internet polls, but I still think it's pretty awesome that Michael Waltrip finished third in the Chex Most Popular Driver poll! Fans could vote all season for their favorite driver, and Michael beat out other popular drivers such as Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler and Jimmie Johnson. Of course Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won for the fifth year in a row, and Jeff Gordon came in second. It's pretty amazing that in spite of all of Michael's struggles this season, the Daytona mess and his accident, that he got so many votes. Maybe it's because of all of what Michael had to endure this season that fans voted for him even more to show that no matter what they still support him. It has to make Michael feel good to know that his fans are so loyal. Maye more importantly, if NAPA and Michael's other sponsors put any significance on this kind of thing it'll look good to them that he did so well in this poll.

Michael Waltrip Racing actually placed two of their drivers in the top ten in MPD voting since Dale Jarrett finished tenth. Again, it shows that in spite of a subpar season DJ's fans are still very willing to show their support for him.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2007

Photo of the Day - Cannon Beach

Ecola State Park, Cannon Beach, Oregon, September, 2006.

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

South Point Racing and Wyler Racing Won't Merge After All

Looks like Brendan Gaughan is getting his way... sort of. The merger that Brendan was so against between his father's team that he raced for, South Point Racing, and Wyler Racing has been called off. But Brendan won't get to continue racing out of Las Vegas because South Point Racing will shut down at the end of December. Brendan is exploring his options for 2008 with other teams, and given that he was spotted talking extensively with Rick Crawford at Homestead, it may be that one of those options is with Circle Bar Racing.

There may be other reasons as to why this deal fell apart but I suspect that Brendan's unhappiness and reluctance to race for Wyler-Gaughan is a big reason why. I didn't care for Brendan's attitude or his comments on Sirius and XM in reference to this deal. I thought he came off as a spoiled brat who was airing issues publically that were better to be handled privately between himself and his father, and that he wasn't showing all that much respect to his father or the Wylers. But in spite of how against the deal Brendan seemed to be, I figured he'd work things out with his father, come to his senses and realize how many positives there were about the merger. Apparently that never happened. The last time Brendan raced for someone other than his father - Penske Racing - it didn't work out too well. Looks like he's now going to get to experience racing on his own without his father's support once more. I have to wonder if he's going to like it any better this time.

One of Brendan's biggest objections to the merger is that he wanted the team to continue to be based in Las Vegas and prove that a team out of Las Vegas could succeed. Well, unless he comes up with the money to field a truck himself, odds are he'll end up racing for a team out of Charlotte, and certainly not in Vegas, anyway. It also appears that the answer to the question of whether a team from Las Vegas can have long-term success and staying power in Nascar is "no."

What gets me is that Brendan has always spoken so proudly and so well of his crew on the #77 and how one reason he didn't want the merger to happen is because he didn't want them to have to uproot their lives to move to Charlotte (assuming they stayed with the team after the merger). Well, now his entire team, plus everyone else at South Point have now lost their jobs completely. I can't say I blame Michael Gaughan for closing up shop. For the past few years he's fielded the truck mostly out of his own pocket without an outside full-time primary sponsor. I would guess that the merger might have eased the financial burden a little and maybe even helped attract a sponsor for the #77 team. I can understand why he wouldn't want to keep the team going for a driver other than his son.

One question mark is what happens to Wyler Racing now? I'm sure that this merger has been in the works for a while and that their plans for 2008 and beyond were made on the basis of the deal going through. I'm not sure it bodes well that they now have no merger, no driver and no sponsor for the #60 truck. It's been rumored that Ted Musgrave is going to end up in the #60, but he's also been connected to a few other organizations as well - I'd think that a multi-truck organization would be more attractive than one that suddenly finds themselves a single-truck operation again. The merger getting called off may increase Steve Park's chances of getting this ride in one regard since I wasn't sure how likely he was to be considered for a ride at Wyler-Gaughan when the Gaughans released him previously. But on the other hand this may make it more difficult because the amount of sponsorship that Steve might have to bring with him (or that the team might have to find themselves) might be even greater now without whatever support they were going to get from South Point Racing. One race team has already closed their doors as a result of this merger falling apart, hopefully Wyler Racing won't have to do the same.

ETA: According to Jayski, Brendan was on Sirius talking about the failed merger, and while he wouldn't give many details he said, "It's unfortunate when individuals put themselves ahead of the team." I ass-u-me that Brendan is likely talking about someone other than himself otherwise he'd probably just say so. Well, given his previous comments, perhaps Brendan should repeat that remark as he takes a long, hard look in the mirror. Of course I don't know all of what happened and likely never will, but Brendan's comments a few weeks ago didn't reflect too well on him then, and even worse now in light of what happened. Brendan did indicate that he would like to take 10-12 members of his team with him to whatever ride he ends up with next but that might be difficult to do since a lot of teams will already have full crews already that they might not necessarily want to part ways with. It'll be interesting to see whether his father is willing to hand over the money to sponsor him with a new team or whether he's going to cut the cord completely.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)

Season in Review: Michael Waltrip Racing

To a lot of people 2007 was a complete failure and a disaster of a season for Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing. In some ways it was with the Daytona mess, Michael's accident and the struggles to make races and be competitive. However, there were some accomplishments and high points to this season too which prevent this season from being a failure in my mind.

For one thing Michael took MWR from a Busch team in his backyard with a handful of employees, and turned it into a huge organization with hundreds of employees, multiple major sponsors, fielding three Cup teams, a Busch car (likely soon to be two), and until the truck was sold a truck team, all of which is housed in an incredible facility - Raceworld USA. I'm in awe of the way that Michael was able to grow MWR. Some are thinking but he didn't do it successfully, but he still did it, and this was only the first year of a journey as an owner that will probably continue for many years into the future. For all the problems on the track, there's one thing that did turn out the way Michael wanted it to - Raceworld. Not only is a destination for Michael's fans, but for all race fans, and attendance has been very good since it opened in May. Raceworld is something for Michael to be proud of. I think what he did with Raceworld is innovative and will revolutionize how race shops cater to fans who visit.

On the track there were a lot of disappointments, particularly on the Cup side, there's no denying that. Still, as the season went along there was definite progress, particularly with the #00 and #55 teams. David Reutimann works so incredibly well with the #00 team and the way they've gelled as a unit is definitely a success of the season. Michael was able to get MWR their first Cup pole at Talladega, which was also Toyota's first Cup pole with an engine they built - no small victory considering that the Toyota built engines seemed to often be lacking in power. Plus, although Michael only made 14 races this season, he got two top tens, two top 15's and a top 20. That's not too good for an established team, but to me that's not bad for a team in it's first year that's struggled so much. With the additions of engineering expertise from Dr. Eric Warren and additional financial resources from Rob Kauffman, plus everything else that MWR is doing to make themselves a stronger organization, I feel very confident that we'll be seeing much better results for MWR in Cup in 2008. That doesn't mean I think that they'll be winning races and racing up front all the time next season, but I do think that MWR showed signs that they're capable of fielding cars that can race competitively and I think we'll be seeing a lot more of that in the future. I don't think a win is out of question either - David is an extremely talented driver, and when he has a good car, which he had at Talladega, Michael is always a threat to win at restrictor plate tracks.

On the Busch side, David was awesome! Not only did he win his first Busch race, but also his first Busch pole. And he and the #99 team were in the hunt for the Championship. Finishing 2nd in points is probably a disappointment to the #99 team but I think it's outstanding considering it was David's first full-time Busch season and he was dealing with a lot of stress on the Cup side. I'm really looking forward to seeing David battle for the Busch championship next season as well. It's also great that MWR added some more young talent in 2007 - in addition to Josh Wise, who we'll hopefully see in a second Busch car next season, they signed Michael McDowell, who also appears to have a lot of talent. Both of them are the future of MWR and it's going to be exciting to watch them develop.

One area in which it's hard to find as many positives is with Dale Jarrett and the #44 team. I have no doubt that the team worked hard all season, but they didn't seem to make as much progress as the #00 and #55 teams did as the season went along. At times, particularly towards the end of the season they did have a lot more speed in qualifying than they did earlier in the season, but even when they made races they never seemed to be able to do much in the actual race, whereas at times David and Michael were able to race their way to decent finishes in a few of the races they made. Maybe it was just that the team dealt with a lot of bad luck in the form of getting swept up in wrecks or having mechanical failures but I didn't feel like this team showed as much as the other two did. One positive is that contrary to some of the rumors that were circulating UPS is staying at MWR, and they'll be gaining a fine driver to represent them instead of DJ in David. Perhaps another positive will end up being that DJ is retiring earlier than expected. DJ is a past Champion and an accomplished driver who has won 32 races over the course of his career but his heart doesn't seem to be in racing like it once was. So it might do this team some good to have another driver behind the wheel. The #44 team will turn into the #00 team, most likely with Michael McDowell at the wheel possibly sharing time with Josh, and/or a veteran. An infusion of youthful excitement might be exactly what this team needs.

What Michael had to deal with this year might have broken some others who aren't as strong as he is. Not only did he have to worry about qualifying in for races himself, but also whether David and DJ were going to make it in. But Michael kept showing up week after week, no matter what, even when he had replaced himself with Terry Labonte. Some others might have given up, taken themselves out of the car, and stopped coming to the track. That would have been the easy thing to do, just quit racing, quit trying and only be an owner. Everyone would have understood if he had taken that route. But he didn't. Even on weekends that he DNQ'd Michael was there for his teams, took care of his hospitality obligations, and almost always did some sort of appearance for the fans. When he was able to race Michael sometimes the finishes were poor, but when he had a decent car he made the most of it, which resulted in those two top tens. No matter how difficult things were, Michael continued to be outstanding as part of the team in the booth for the truck races - I love his enthusiasm for the series and those racing in it! Although his smile was strained some weeks, Michael also entertained fans on Inside Nextel Cup each week. But best of all as far as his media work goes is the XM show he started doing this season. I looked forward to listening to Michael Waltrip Out Loud each week. Whether that week's results were good or bad Michael never hesitated to be candid on his show about MWR and everything else that was going on in the sport.

I'm a long-time huge fan of Michael's because of his talent behind the wheel, because of how fascinating and intelligent he is, and because of what a great person he is, but I've come to be even more of a fan of his this season. I wish that I had even close to the amount of determination, perseverance and sheer force of will that he has. There were times when Michael got down this season - sometimes very down - but overall, he continued to be forward-thinking and optimistic about the future for himself and for MWR. He rarely complained or blamed others and instead tried to find ways to make the best of things. I've come to admire all the go-or-go-homers and their teams because of how hard they work to make the best of the situation that they're in, but I really admire Michael's "no quit" attitude (as Ty Norris once put it).

In August I got to spend a little time with Michael at Pocono and he was wonderful as always. I always treasure the times I see Michael because I don't know when - or if - I'll see Michael again. For me that was a definite highlight of the season - seeing Michael and getting to experience all the sights and sounds of the garage area. Maybe the most incredible race-related experience I ever had was watching Michael get strapped into his car on pit road prior to the race and then standing there as the command to "start your engines" rang out. Hearing all those engines start up from so close was so awesome and almost overwhelming I thought I was going to pass out! Even though I knew that Michael wasn't likely to finish up front, I was still unbelievably excited - Michael made the show and I was going to see him race! Due to a fuel pump issue he ended up finishing 38th but I didn't care - I just loved being there! All of Michael's fans appreciate how terrific he always is - he made the day, no year, of many fans this season by taking the time to interact with them. But a big highlight for the Walnutz was definitely when he talked about how much he appreciated our support in the Chex Most Popular Driver Newsletter.

All in all it was quite a season with a lot of ups and downs - okay, a lot of downs. But the slate is wiped clean now and it's on to 2008, a year that will hopefully be filled with a lot more happiness and positive things for Michael and his teams than this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2007

Driver by Driver: Season in Review - Busch/Nationwide Series

1. Carl Edwards - Had the Championship sewed up so early on that there was almost no drama in the points battle in this series this season. The first 15 races of the season was outstanding for Carl - four wins and only one finish outside the top 15 and that was a 17th place finish. However, Carl was much less consistent over the remainder of the season with eight finishes of 25th or worse.

2. David Reutimann - David was terrific in his first full-time season in Busch! Not only did he win his first Busch race but he also got his first pole in that series as well. David's results weren't that great to start the season but as time went on he and his team really gelled. David ended up with 5 top five's and 12 top ten's in addition to his win. Unfortunately for David, Carl Edwards had an even better season than he did. But David enjoyed racing Busch so much that he's going to race full-time in this series again in 2008. I expect him to be in the Championship hunt next season as well.

3. Jason Leffler - Did anyone notice that a Busch regular finished third in the points? I didn't think so. Jason is far from a favorite of mine but I have to give credit where credit is due - Jason and his team raced extremely well this season. In addition to a win, Jason also raced his way to seven top five's and eleven top ten's. No easy when racing against so many Cup drivers.

4. Kevin Harvick - Last season's Series Champion, Kevin only raced in 26 of the 35 Busch races this season but his strong results were good enough to put him in 4th in the points. Not only did Kevin win six times, but he finished in the top ten in 20 of the 26 races he started, with his worst finish all season being 24th. What's impressive is that Kevin raced this well between three different teams - two fielded by his own organization, Kevin Harvick, Inc. and the #21 fielded by his Cup organization, Richard Childress Racing.

5. David Ragan - Most people wrote off David as being lacking in ability after his Cup debut didn't go so well last season. His results in Cup this season weren't all that impressive either. However, in Busch it was a a different story. David was Rookie of the Year in Busch, and while he didn't win any races, he had a solid season with four top five's, and nine top ten's.

6. Bobby Hamilton Jr. - Other than when his father passed away or when he was speaking ill of his father's second wife and new ownership at Bobby Hamilton Racing, did we hear anything about Bobby this season, particularly in relation to what happened on the track? Maybe that's because although he finished 6th in points, the results weren't all that great for Bobby - just three top tens.

7. Stephen Leicht - Stephen won a race this season, no small feat for a Busch-only driver considering the level of competition in this series (though his team is Cup-backed). I had been wondering why Yates Racing didn't keep their Busch program going for him considering his win this season, then I looked at the rest of his results. He does have some good finishes, but he's got a lot of iffy finishes as well. Stephen is considered a very promising young driver but if he finds another ride for next season he'll probably have to show some improvement if he still wants to be considered a hot commodity.

8. Marcos Ambrose - A top ten finish in points is pretty good for a driver who is a rookie in the series and only in his second year in Nascar overall.

9. Greg Biffle - It wasn't just Greg's Cup season that was a little disappointing - his Busch season wasn't so great either in comparison to his past results. This season was the first since 1996, when he raced only two races, that he didn't win any Busch races. Greg did have some good cars as he was able to get three poles, but he also DNF'd nine times, six of which were due to wrecks.

10. Matt Kenseth - Matt raced in just 24 Busch races, but the results for him were stellar in the races he was in. Aside from two wins, Matt finished in the top five 15 times, and in the top ten, 18 times.

11. Mike Wallace - This is actually Mike's best points finish in Busch in the 18 years he's raced in this series, but featured some of the worst results of his Busch career. No wins, no top fives, no top tens and no poles. I can understand why he wasn't too happy with his team this season. He'll be moving to Germain Racing's new team in this series next year and taking the Geico sponsorship with him. Although Nascar is making them make some changes to the engine package, the Toyota teams have been able to race up front in Busch a lot, so I expect the results to improve a little for Mike next season.

12. Clint Bowyer - Clint raced up front in just about all of the 22 Busch races he was in - along with two wins, Clint finished outside the top ten just three times.

13. Denny Hamlin - Three wins, 11 top fives and 16 top tens, another Cup driver who ran circles around his competition in this series in a limited amount of races. But what most fans will remember about Denny's season in Busch is how Aric Almirola was removed from his car mid-race so Denny could get in and Denny went on to "win" the race, though Aric was given credit for the win.

14. Scott Wimmer - Scott didn't do too bad in the limited amount of races he raced for RCR - a pole, seven top fives and 14 top tens. More importantly Scott paired with Jeff Burton in the #29 to win RCR the Busch Series Owner's Championship. I think Scott made a very wise decision when he opted to race part-time for RCR instead of holding out for a full-time ride. He probably got better results on a part-time basis with RCR than he might have on a full-time basis with another organization with lesser equipment.

15. Jeff Burton - The other half of the driver team that won RCR the owner's Championship. Jeff was outstanding in just about all of the 19 races he raced in Busch this season. In fact, out of those 19 starts, he finished outside the top ten just once, and won five times.All this from a driver who is 40, an age at which drivers start to be considered over-the-hill these days.

16. Kyle Busch - Another Cup driver who raced up front just about in every race he was in. Kyle won four times and finished in the top five 14 times and the top ten 16 times in 19 races.

17. J.J. Yeley - Yeley wasn't impressive in Cup and he was one of the few Cup regulars to be unimpressive in Busch as well.

18. Kyle Krisiloff* - Had six DNFs due to wrecks and an additional DNF due to getting parked at Memphis.

19. Steve Wallace - Steve only had eight DNFs (including being parked once, also at Memphis) but it seemed like he wrecked in just about every race he was in, sometimes more than once. Things got so bad that his own father, who owns the team, took him out of the car for one races so another driver could evaluate the team and give some feedback. It wasn't just that Steve wrecked a lot, he also showed a lack of patience - yelling at his crew and getting himself parked. Someday Steve may turn into a successful driver but I think Rusty needs to re-evaluate the way they're developing Steve - perhaps racing ARCA and some truck races, then bringing him back to Busch after he's mastered racing on lower levels might be beneficial to him.

20. Casey Mears - Casey did pretty well in the 19 Busch races he was in finishing in the top ten 14 times.

21. Mike Bliss - Although he DNF'd five times, Mike did a good job of racing the #22 for Fitz Motorsports, especially considering how much the organization has struggled in the recent past and that they're a Busch-only team. Mike got three top fives and eight top tens this season and will be in the #22 full-time next season. The #22 is one of the better Busch-only teams at this point.

22. Dave Blaney - The results for Dave in Busch were similar to what he did in Cup - although he got a pole and raced up front some, he encountered some bad luck that led to some DNFs, and there was a lot of inconsistency for Dave and his team.

23. Brent Sherman - Brent didn't work out in Cup and his results aren't much better in Busch.

24. Jamie McMurray - Although the results improved for him as the season went along, Jamie didn't fare as well in Busch as many of his fellow Cup drivers did.

25. Brad Keselowski - Started the season as a virtual unknown racing for Keith Coleman and the results weren't too pretty due to the poor quality of the cars he was racing. But Brad impressed in the one truck start he made and it wasn't long before JR Motorsports had replaced Shane Huffman with him. Brad's results immediately improved and I expect they'll get even better once he's racing even better cars like he'll surely have to race next season now that JR Motorsports is merging their Busch operations with Hendrick Motorsports. If there's a young driver who truly deserves the opportunity he's getting with JR Motorsports it's Brad - he raced for his family, built his own cars, raced for less than stellar teams, didn't have a sponsor to bring with him to a team, and didn't get a ride because he's cute and marketable. Instead Brad got this ride because of his talent, hard work and great attitude.

26. Jason Keller - From 1995 to 2005 Jason finished in the top ten in points nine times, including finishing 2nd in points twice. But he's since struggled to find a team to race for regularly that fields competitive cars.

27. Kasey Kahne - Kasey got a lot more satisfaction in Busch than in Cup this season since he won twice. Still, this team wasn't as strong as some of other Cup-backed teams, which isn't surprising given Evernham's woes overall.

28. Bobby Labonte - Bobby won at Talladega but other than two top tens, the results were pretty mediocre for Bobby in Busch, which is a little surprising since he was racing for Kevin Harvick, Inc. which usually fields good cars.

29. Aric Almirola - Aric was credited with his first Busch win of his career this season but he wasn't in the car when it crossed the finish line. By that time Aric had long since left the track after being yanked out of the car by Joe Gibbs Racing in favor of a late-arriving Denny Hamlin who was supposed to have started the race. The move may have been an effort to keep the sponsor, Rockwell Automation happy but RA ended up leaving the team at the end of this season anyway. Aric also left Gibbs for DEI where he'll be racing Cup next season, something he couldn't have done if he remained at Gibbs.

30. Reed Sorenson - Nice to see Reed win in Busch since he struggles so much in Cup. This win shows why Ganassi sticks with him - a driver has to have some talent to end up in Victory Lane. Hopefully as Reed gets more experience and develops more as a driver the results will get better for him on all levels.

34. Shane Huffman - I didn't think Shane was doing too terribly in the #88 but Junior didn't agree. Either that or the ugly rumors related to his personal life didn't go over too well. Whatever the case was, Shane was replaced in the #88 by Brad Keselowski. Instead of finding a new ride he got a gig as the car chief for the #66 team.

35. Tony Stewart - Tony raced well in the Busch races he made an appearance in but I'm a little surprised that he didn't win any Busch races this season.

45. Jon Wood - Raced in 13 Busch races before he took himself out of the car due to effects from a bad reaction to ADD medication. I suspect we won't be seeing Jon back in Busch or Cup in the near future.

47. Robby Gordon - I didn't realize that Robby had raced in this many Busch races this season (11). I'd like to see Robby turn his Busch team into a full-time team then maybe bring the team up to Cup as a second team.

51. Morgan Shepherd - I really dislike how Morgan starts and parks. But on the other hand I respect that he has something he believes in strongly that drives him to keep on trying to make a go of it in Nascar in his own way. I also have to respect how Morgan works on his own cars. It's pretty amazing that at age 65 he's still getting behind the wheel of a race car (or truck). I suspect we'll still be seeing him try to make races at age 75 too.

59. A.J. Allmendinger - It took them until the second half of the season but Red Bull Racing did a smart thing by finally getting A.J. into a Busch car. The added seat time seemed to improve his results in Cup.

68. Sam Hornish Jr. - His results in Busch were unimpressive. I really wish that there was a way for Sam to race at least one season full-time in Busch before racing Cup full-time as I'm not sure the results are going to be too good for him in Cup next season.

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

November 26, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Bobby Labonte has a new crew chief and it's Jeff Meendering who was the car chief on the #24 team prior to being hired by Petty Enterprises. In 2006 Robby Loomis joined PE as Vice President of Racing Operations and he's surely very familiar with Meendering from his time at Hendrick Motorsports. Just like things seemed to improve when Loomis joined PE, I think Meendering will also have a positive impact at PE considering the #24 team is coming off of an outstanding season. PE still has quite a ways to go before they're contending for wins on a regular basis but eventually all these small improvements that they've been making will translate into better results on the track.

*Germain Racing will feature a different driver line-up next season and Bob Germain gave some interesting reasons as to why. For one thing the reason that Mike Wallace will be racing a Nationwide car for them next season is because he brought a sponsor with him - Gieco - who was willing to foot all the bills. Germain said that because the Nationwide series will go to a COT in 2009, they were unwilling to invest a lot of their own money in the current Nationwide cars, but they apparently have no problem spending someone else's money on the Nationwide cars. It works out for both Geico and Wallace - he was unhappy at Phoenix Racing and Geico can continue their successful partnership with Wallace. Although Wallace isn't among the elite drivers in Nascar, he's become pretty closely associated with Geico via the commercials they've done together.

*Germain also said that while he liked Ted Musgrave he lacked intensity, which is one reason he was replaced by Justin Marks (that and the Crocs sponsorship Marks brought with him to Germain Racing). I'm surprised that Germain felt that Musgrave is lacking in intensity. Just two years ago Musgrave won a Championship and I think it's hard for a driver to win a Championship without intensity, determination, drive and some hard racing. Did Musgrave's approach change in those two years? Or maybe things never clicked with him and the #9 team. Also, as I wondered in the prior entry, is there any possibility that the incident between Musgrave and Kelly Bires which led to a one-race suspension for Musgrave, also played a role in the decision to part ways with him? I found that incident disturbing and some other fans did as well, I wonder if Germain also took issue with a driver using his truck as a weapon so blatantly to the point where Nascar stepped in. Or maybe it's just that the team got a taste of working with a young, hungry, and enthusiastic driver with a different attitude when Brad Keselowski stepped in for Musgrave and that was a eye-opener about what a young driver could do for their team.

*Speaking of Musgrave one thing I've never understood is why he doesn't have an official website. There's a fan site that has his stamp of approval, but there's no official Ted Musgrave site. It's astonishing to me when websites and using the internet to communicate and connect is so prevelant that there are still some drivers who don't have official sites.

*Bruton Smith had threatened to move Lowe's Motorspeedway from Concord, NC to another location in the Charlotte area, so to ensure that the track stays exactly where it is, Smith is getting an $80 million incentives package from the city of Concord, Cabarrus County and North Carolina to help pay for an estimated $200 million worth of improvements that Smith has planned for the track. I think it's a good thing that the track is staying where it is, but there's a bad taste in my mouth about how Smith weaseled $80 million out of the city, state and local government.

*Jayski has an "I heard" item that Kenny Wallace is talking to Fitz Motorsports about them fielding a Nationwide car for him next season if sponsorship could be found. That could be a good opportunity for Kenny. It's not too long ago that Fitz was really struggling but the results with Mike Bliss in the #22 weren't bad - in 24 races Bliss got three top five's and eight top ten's. That's good considering how many Cup drivers and Cup backed teams Bliss was racing against. Kenny might not get the best car in the garage area from Fitz but he'd probably get one that's competitive enough to get some good finishes with.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Season in Review - Truck Series

Everyone else is doing season in review posts or articles, why not me too? I'll start with the Truck Series, then Busch/Nationwide, then Cup.

1. Ron Hornaday - Outstanding duel between Ron and Mike Skinner for the Championship that came down to the last race. While it would have been more exciting to see it decided on the basis of good hard racing rather than a loose wheel, it was still awesome to see these two veterans battle it out each week. Although Ron had won every season except one that he's been in the Truck Series, this was his best season since he last won the Championship in 1998. Last season Ron's team struggled to find sponsorship but that wasn't a problem this season - the added financial resources probably helped them get more competitive and win this Championship. I'm extremely impressed with what Kevin and Delana Harvick have done with Kevin Harvick, Inc. and I don't think this is the last Championship that organization is going to win.

2. Mike Skinner - Since he's friends with both Michael Waltrip and Steve Park, one would think I would be a fan of Mike Skinner as well, but I'm not so I can't say I'm disappointed that he lost the Championship to Ron. Although finishing second in the points, particularly since it was due to a loose wheel, had to be a tremendous disappointment to Mike, but he really had a terrific season with five wins and eleven poles. I think his team let him down a little over the last two races, first with allowing themselves to be thrown off their game when Kevin Harvick drove through their pit at Phoenix, but also in the final race when they maybe should have changed all four tires and didn't. Maybe the loose wheel would have still happened, but I just felt like by that point his teams wasn't making the same kind of decisions that they had to help put Mike in contention for the Championship. Still, this is a very good team and I look for them to be in the mix for the Championship again next season.

3. Johnny Benson - Johnny might not have been in the hunt for the Championship but it was still a great season for him as well. By winning the last race of the season Johnny moved up to third in points, which is why I think Johnny had every right to race Mike Skinner for position at Phoenix since he was racing for something too. In addition, as Michael Waltrip said on his XM show, if Bill Davis didn't want Johnny to race Mike for position he needed to make sure that was understood prior to Johnny and Mike being in position to race each other. Johnny won four races this season and I don't think he's going to stop winning Truck races anytime soon.

4. Todd Bodine - After winning the Championship last season, 4th must seem like a big disappointment to Todd and his team. They actually weren't too far off from their 2006 results, just one less win and two less top five's, but the other three teams ahead of them in the points were just that much better.

5. Rick Crawford - Best finish in the points for Rick since 2002. Although Rick didn't end up winning any races he sure did race up front a lot! In 25 races, Rick finished outside the top ten only seven times, which made for a really strong season for Rick and his team.

6. Travis Kvapil - Although Travis won four times in 2007, the results trailed off towards the season went along which is unfortunate because at one time he had a shot at being in contention for the Championship. I'm pretty surprised that Travis fell all the way to 6th in the points from 3rd, and I'm not sure entirely what might have caused the drop in results other than that the #6 team had some bad luck in some races. In 2008 Travis will race the #28 for Yates Racing, and given the way that organization has struggled recently, he'll probably be lucky to have four top tens let alone four wins next season.

7. Ted Musgrave - The 2005 Truck Series Champion, Ted had never finished lower than 3rd in the points as a full-time truck driver before winning the Championship, but he hasn't done as well since he's been with Germain Racing. Last season he finished 6th in points and this season 7th, and Germain has cited a lack of intensity that they didn't like as to why they were opting to go in a different direction in 2008. I also have to wonder if Germain was less than pleased when Ted got himself suspended for one race. Ted has said that he's reassembling some old friend with a new team and rumors connect him with multiple organizations including Wyler-Gaughan Racing and Bobby Hamilton Racing. Wherever he ends up it'll be interesting to see whether Ted has finds the fire again next season.

8. Matt Crafton - We didn't hear much about Matt, nor did he win this season, yet he raced well enough on a consistent basis to finish in the top ten in points. Not bad.

9. Jack Sprague - A 9th place finish in the points isn't terrible but it's Jack's worst points finish in 11 seasons as a full-time truck series driver. Jack's a three-time series champion and there was a definite drop-off in results between 2006 and 2007 so I can understand why he got so excited about the opportunity to race for Kevin Harvick, Inc. since the trucks they field seem to be more competitive than those at Wyler-Gaughan Racing. I expect to see Jack in Victory Lane a couple more times in 2008. It'll be interesting to see who takes Jack's place in the #60 - I think a young driver would compliment Brendan Gaughan nicely (assuming Brendan races for them next season) but it'll probably come down to who brings sponsorship with them.

10. David Starr - After winning a race and finishing 4th in the points last season, David didn't win any races and dropped to 10th in the points this season. David will be going back to Red Horse Racing next season, and I think the results will be improved for both David and RHR next season compared to last season.

11. Brendan Gaughan - This is actually Brendan's best finish in the points since 2003 when he finished 4th. Each season since his return to racing in the Truck Series full-time Brendan and his team have made progress and improved. Now that they've merged with Wyler Racing I think they'll be even better next season - if Brendan decides to race for them. Brendan was very unhappy when the merger was announced and was very upset at the prospect of leaving Las Vegas for North Carolina but in the long-run it's likely the best thing for his race team and his career.

12. Erik Darnell - Erik won a race this season but he didn't improve his finish in the points as compared to last season - both years he's finished 12th.

13. Dennis Setzer - Even winning a race couldn't keep Setzer from losing his ride. After 17 races, Spears Motorsports released Dennis, and he ended up racing for Green Light Racing and Bobby Hamilton Racing to close out the season. Although there's been no formal announcement, it was said on one of the truck broadcasts that Dennis will race full-time for BHR next season. After three straight years of finishing second in the points, and 7 seasons overall of finishing in the top ten in points, Dennis has now finished 13th in the points for two years in a row. In the Cup Series a top 15 points finish is considered pretty good but not in the Truck Series where the level of competition isn't as great. I'm not sure we'll see the results improve all that much for Dennis at BHR.

14. Terry Cook - After winning a race last season and finishing 8th in points, although he had some good finishes, Terry didn't race up front as much as he did the season before which likely had to do more with the #59 team than Terry himself. Terry's lone top five and four top tens are an improvement for the #59 team from 2006 when Steve Park and Chad Chaffin only combined for two top tens, so this team is likely moving in the right direction and will probably continue to do so with Donny Lia, hungry to make his mark in the Truck Series like he did in the modifieds, behind the wheel. As for Terry he's still looking for a ride for next season. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the #60 if Ted Musgrave doesn't end up in that truck.

15. Willie Allen - The 2007 Rookie of the Year in the Truck Series. Although Willie won ROY with just one top ten, his results otherwise weren't all that bad for a rookie and his only DNFs were due to engine issues as opposed to wrecks. He'll be back with ThorSport Racing next season where he'll be looking to build on his solid rookie season.

16. Tim Sauter - One of the imfamous Sauter Brothers, Tim is in need of a ride for next season.

17. Mike Bliss - In just 18 races for three different teams, Mike was able to race his way to four top 5's and ten top ten's. Nicely done. The 2002 Series champion, he'll be full-time next season in the Busch Series, but it's clear he still knows how to race a truck.

18. Chad McCumbee - In 22 races between two teams Chad had just one top ten. I'm not sure what Chad will be doing next season. There had been some talk of him racing Busch for Petty Enterprises in 2008 to develop him to eventually take over the #45 but I haven't heard anything about that lately. Sponsorship could be an issue like it is with so many other teams.

19. Ken Schrader - Ken raced the most races he's ever raced in the Truck Series - 17 - and had the best results, two top fives and three top tens. I would guess in a full season he'd do even better. However, Ken has said that he will likely race 12 or more Cup races next season for the Wood Brothers so while he's said he'll also race some truck races it might not be as many as this season when he was doing a favor for Bobby Hamilton Racing.

I don't have something to say about all of the rest of the drivers so from here on out I'll just highlight a few.

21. Stacy Compton - In addition to working for ESPN, Stacy raced in 14 truck races for a few different teams and was able to get a top five (a second place finish at Dover) and three top tens. I'm not sure whether he plans on concentrating on his broadcast career next season or whether he's going to try to continue to race, but three top tens in such a limited amount of starts isn't bad.

23. Bill Lester - Bill lost his ride with Billy Ballew Motorsports after just 15 races, due to a lack of sponsorship. The results for Bill weren't actually that terrible and seemed to be somewhat better than what he did in 2006, but given his overall lack of results over the course of his career I think he's going to have trouble finding another full-time ride next season.

24. Ryan Mathews - Hard to believe that Bill Davis Racing let Mathews go since he got a pole, a top five, two top tens and had an average finish of about 16th in just 13 races, the first 13 truck races he had ever raced. It seems to me that Ryan has some talent and I hope that another team gives him a chance full-time next season.

25. Aaron Fike - What a waste. Based on his top five and four top tens in only 12 races, it's clear that Aaron had some talent behind the wheel. But the pull of heroin was more enticing than the potential success he could have had in Nascar. We've seen other drivers who have been suspended for drugs come back (never successfully) but even if he's able to return to the sport I doubt Fike will get the same kind of opportunities that he could have had if he had stayed clean.

26. Kyle Busch - Kyle loves racing trucks so much that he does it for free. That's right, Kyle told Billy Ballew that he doesn't have to pay him to race the #51. Considering Kyle has two wins, four top fives and four top tens in just 11 races, I'm sure Billy will put him in the truck for as many races as he wants, providing there's sponsorship to pay for the costs of the truck.

27. Jon Wood - After mysteriously getting out of his Busch ride due to headaches and other issues that he said were caused by a reaction to medication he was taking for ADD, Jon started racing in the Truck Series. Which is probably where we'll see him in 2008 as well. Jon once had a lot of potential, and he may still end up having a successful career, but right now it's not looking like his career is going in the right direction.

33. Josh Wise - Josh was able to get two top tens in nine starts. I would have liked to have seen what he'd be able to do in more races, but since MWR sold the truck team, Josh won't have that opportunity. Hopefully we'll see Josh full-time in the Nationwide Series next year.

34. A.J. Allmendinger - Although A.J. finished 2nd at Charlotte in the #00 truck, the results weren't all that great for him in the nine truck races he was in, though in those nine races there were two engine failures. I doubt we'll see him in this series again, particularly since the #00 team's been sold.

36. Kevin Harvick - Kevin had two top fives and only finished outside the top ten once, due to an expired engine, in the six truck starts he made.

37. David Green - David stepped into the #1 when Red Horse Racing needed a driver on short notice due to Aaron Fike's problems, but after seven races they replaced him with Jason Leffler and Brandon Whitt. For a guy who hadn't raced much in the truck series, David actually didn't do too terribly as he never finished outside the top 20, and was able to race his way to one top five.

38. Mark Martin - Mark wasn't able to repeat his 2006 success where he won six races, but he did get three top fives for the Wood Brothers in just six starts.

39. Chad Chaffin - Chad was only able to manage two top tens in eight starts, but that's not bad for a driver who had thought heading into the season that his racing career was over and that he would be running his family's recycling business for the rest of his life.

41. Jason Leffler - Jason did well in his five starts in the #1 truck - three top fives and a 9th place finish. If not for his Nationwide ride, I suspect this team might have been interested in having Jason race for them next season.

42. Jacques Villeneuve - I'm extremely unimpressed with Jacques so far. In seven truck races he DNF'd due to wrecks three times. It wasn't for lack of a good truck that Jacques's results were so poor since Ryan Mathews got a pole, a top five and two top tens with the same team (in 13 races), but rather it was Jacques's inexperience in a truck. It's almost astonishing that Ryan had been results than Jacques since Jacques is a far more accomplished and experienced racer than Ryan. Jacques will be in the #36 full-time next season and I don't think the results are going to be pretty. Given his struggles in the truck, it boggles my mind that Bill Davis Racing didn't put him in the #36 car for more races to end the season after Jeremy Mayfield left the team.

43. Tyler Walker - Another driver with talent that wasted it on drugs.

57. Brad Keselowski - Brad made just three truck starts this season, but it was the start he made in place of the suspended Ted Musgrave that really made an impact and jump-started his career. Brad was already on the radar of some in the garage area but he really impressed by putting the #9 truck on the pole and looking like he might win the race until he got wrecked late in the race. Germain wanted to sign him immediately and Michael Waltrip Racing also expressed interest in signing him but they both lost out to JR Motorsports. Brad will race the #88 for JR Motorsports full-time next season, and with improved equipment from Hendrick Motorsports I expect to see a lot of Brad up front in 2008.

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

Quiet Riot Singer Kevin DuBrow Dead at Age 52

Growing up I was a huge heavy metal/hard rock fan, but I was never a huge Quiet Riot fan. Still, I was very familiar with "Cum on Feel the Noize," a classic heavy metal anthem if there ever was one. Now comes word that Kevin DuBrow, the 52-year old singer for Quiet Riot, which was still actively touring, was found dead in his Las Vegas house. The cause of death is unknown. R.I.P. Kevin.

Come on feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild!
Wild, wild, wild!

So you think I got an evil mind,
I'll tell you honey

I don't know why
I don't know why

So you think my singing's out of time,
it makes me money

I don't know why
I don't know why, anymore
Oh no

So come on, feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild
Wild, wild, wild

Come on, feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
get wild

So you see I got a funny face,
I got no worries
And don't know why
I don't know why

Oh i gotta sing with some disgrace,
I'm in no hurry
And I don't know why
I don't know why, anymore
no, no, no

Come on, feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
wild, wild, wild

Come on, feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
get wild
Come on

Well you think we have a lazy time,
You should know better
I don't know why
I don't know why

So you say I got a dirty mind,
I'm a mean go getter
I don't know why
I don't know why, anymore
Oh no

Come on feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild

Come on, feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild
get wild

Come on (come on) feel it
Girls rock your boys (girls rock it)
We'll get wild, wild, wild
We're gonna get wild (wild,wild,wild)

We're gonna get rocked tonight (come on feel the noise)

Rock it tonight (girls rock your boys)
We'll get wild, wild, wild
OH YEAH!!

Ah, ah, ah (wooooo)
Ah, ah, ah

Come on, feel the noise
Girls rock your boys
We'll get wild, wild, wild

Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah.

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

November 25, 2007

Photo of the Day - Cape Cod

Chatham, MA, August, 2007

Posted by silverdsl at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2007

More Changes at Robby Gordon Motorsports

According to Jayski, Robby Gordon is going to be in need of yet another crew chief and also a car chief for 2008 after he parted ways with both Peter Sospenzo and Bill Henderson. How exactly does Robby think he's going to achieve any success with his Cup program if there's no stability there? At least Jim Beam re-upped their sponsorship with RGM for next season otherwise Robby could really be in trouble. Robby will never be one of my favorite drivers but I think it's important for Nascar that some newish and smaller operations have success. Unfortunately as time goes on, while Robby has some real talents and a definite vision for what he'd like to do, I'm not getting the sense that RGM is going to stop struggling anytime soon.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)

Quotes of the Day

The less people speak of their greatness,
the more we think of it.
Lord Bacon

No really great man ever thought himself so. - William Hazlitt,

Posted by silverdsl at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2007

Photo of the Day - Face

Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA, August, 2007.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Apparently George Gillett buying into Evernham Motorsports wasn't just about giving Ray Evernham more time to focus on the competition side. From the sounds of it Ray was actually looking for someone to run his entire organization for him. Ray plans on cutting way back next season, maybe only going to as few as ten races next season. Ray said, “I will probably tell them what I think is wrong. But I don’t plan on caring whether they listen or not.” That makes it sound like he barely cares about what happens at his own organization. Although Ray cited a desire to spend more time with his son next year, I have to wonder if some of this relates to his relationship with Erin Crocker. Both of them took a significant hit to their reputations and I wonder if Ray is tired of dealing with the criticism, which isn't likely to go away considering how conservative many fans and those in the garage area are.

*I was over on the forum on Ken Schrader's website earlier today and one fan reported that Ken said on a radio show this week that he'll be returning to the #21 car at Wood Brothers Racing for 12-18 races next season, with Marcus Ambrose racing most, if not all, of the other races. That's something of a surprise since it had been thought that Bill Elliott was going to continue to race the #21 and that Ken was most likely out of a Cup ride. Of course since there's been no official announcement yet it's always possible that things can change, but it sounds like we haven't seen the last of Ken in Cup which is a good thing. Ken also plans on racing some Truck, ARCA and as many dirt track races as usual that catch his fancy. What this means is that there won't be a need to replace Ken on the Inside Nextel Cup panel which is also good news because the rapport between he and Michael Waltrip is one of the best things about the show.

*Yates Racing announced this weekend that they're bringing back the #28 that has so much history behind it for Travis Kvapil to race next season. It's great that they have the number settled but what about a sponsor? Seems to me that it's starting to get late in the going for Yates Racing to nail down two primary sponsors for both of their teams for next season. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't able to find a sponsor for both cars and they eliminated one, which will leave either Travis or David Gilliland without a ride.

*Mike Wallace will race full-time in the Nationwide Series for Germain Racing in 2008 with Geico as a sponsor. I had wondered if he might shift to the Truck Series since Geico is only grandfathered in for a few more years due to Nationwide's sponsorship of the series, and this could pave the way for that to happen since Germain also has two truck teams. The plan is for Todd Bodine to eventually move up to the Nationwide Series, probably in 2009, so Mike could potentially take over his truck ride.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Homestead

1. Matt Kenseth - Matt isn't among my favorites but I think it was pretty cool that he ended up in Victory Lane the last race Robbie Reiser was his crew chief for. They've worked together for so many years and had a lot of success together so it was very fitting that their last race together ended in a win. It's not a surprise that Matt won considering that he had finished in the top five for the four races prior.

2. Kurt Busch - This is Kurt's best finish - and first top five - since he won at Michigan in August. It also was enough to move him up three spots so that he finished 7th in the points.

3. Denny Hamlin - The Chase wasn't kind to Denny as he ended up finishing last among all Chase contenders. This is his best finish since Watkins Glen in August.

4. Jeff Gordon - Jeff gave it his all but finishing 4th still wasn't good enough to overtake Jimmie in the Chase.

5. Carl Edwards - Carl ended the season with a fine finish, but overall the results were very uneven for the #99 team in the Chase.

6. Martin Truex Jr. - Although he led laps and finished well in the last three races of the season, Martin didn't have such a good Chase and ended up 11th, just one position short of being one of the drivers recognized at the banquet in New York. Given that it's only his sophomore season in Cup, I think just making the Chase is quite an accomplishment.

7. Jimmie Johnson - Didn't have to win it to win it. All he needed to win the Championship was to finish 18th or better and that's exactly what he did.

8. Jeff Burton - After scraping the wall early in the race and then punting Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by accident, it didn't seem like it was going to be a very good day for the #31 team. But Jeff and his team rallied to finish well.

9. Mark Martin - After a few mediocre races Mark finished the season with a top ten.

10. David Ragan - Just his third top ten of the season and best finish since Richmond in September.

11. David Stremme - One of the best finishes of the season for David in the last race of the season which is also the last race for him in the #40.

12. Dave Blaney - Dave ends the season on a good note. This team has had their share of struggles but they managed to get back into the top 35 in owner's points which is something for them to be happy about.

13. Greg Biffle - Considering he won the last three races in a row at Homestead, it's a little surprising that Greg wasn't more of a factor in this race.

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Juan Montoya - 2007 Cup Rookie of the Year. Best finish since he finished 8th at Martinsville.

16. Casey Mears - This isn't a terrible finish but Casey finished the season kind of so-so.

17. Dale Jarrett - Hard to believe but this is actual DJ's best finish of the season.

18. Ryan Newman - Led a few laps but spun due to a loose handling race car on lap 149 and was never able to get back up front.

19. Kevin Harvick - Never had a very good car and also was penalized for a committment cone violation on lap 50 though that seemed a bit unfair considering Kevin most likely did what he did to avoid getting caught in the incident between Junior and Kyle Busch.

20. Kyle Busch - Incurred the wrath of Junior fans everywhere when he got into Junior on pit road but I think it was more a case of Kyle not being able to avoid Junior and that he didn't really do anything wrong. I'm sure he would have liked his last race in the #5 to be better but ending the season 5th in points is pretty good.

21. Ricky Rudd - Not a bad finish for Ricky in the last race of his career.

22. Reed Sorenson - Never had a very good car.

23. Bobby Labonte

24. Kasey Kahne

25. David Reutimann - I was listening to David's radio during this race via Trackpass and while the race started off pretty well for him things went downhill pretty quick. It seemed like every other lap David scrapped the wall, there was a pit road miscue, plus David argued a little with his spotter, who is also his cousin until his crew chief told them to knock it off. David was really down on himself, saying that he "sucked." It's unfortunate that the season didn't end on a good note for him.

26. Jeremy Mayfield - I figured that the results for Jeremy would improve in the #66 and I guess they did to a degree since he was guaranteed a spot to race each week with this team. However, the car seemed short on speed and the results weren't all that great for Jeremy with the #66 so they have some work to do for next season.

27. Robby Gordon - Yet another subpar finish for Robby.

28. Bill Elliott

29. Tony Raines - An unimpressive finish for Tony in his last race in the #96.

30. Tony Stewart - Was racing in 8th place when he wrecked with just 15 laps to go.

31. J.J. Yeley - Had handling and tire issues. This was J.J.'s last race in the #11.

32. David Gilliland - Was racing fairly well when he got into the wall due to contact from another car. For some reason Nascar opted not to bring out the caution even though it was a pretty hard hit and Gilliland lost three laps when his team had to make repairs on pit road under green.

33. Sterling Marlin - Just making this race was an accomplishment for this part-time team.

34. Kyle Petty - Finishes the way the majority of the season went for him - poorly.

35. Paul Menard - Last laps when he was penalized for speeding on pit road due to the way cautions flew and also brushed the wall to make things even worse.

36. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Junior probably wanted to finish extremely well in his last race for his father's company but it turned into a terrible day. First there was a tangle on pit road with Kyle Busch, then a penalty for a commitment con violation, then he got spun by Jeff Burton and then lastly he had a flat tire. All that bad luck is pretty much the story of Junior's entire season, but hey, at least the motor held together for the entire race!

37. Sam Hornish Jr.

38. Elliott Sadler - Another driver who hit the wall hard but didn't draw a caution. Lost eight laps on pit road while his team made repairs under green.

39. Clint Bowyer - Spent 25 laps in the garage due to a broken transmission but his team did a good job of making repairs so he could finish the race and thus finish the season without any DNFs.

40. Patrick Carpentier - Wasn't able to stop when cars checked up in front of him on lap 171 and had to spend time behind the wall for repairs.

41. Johnny Sauter - Got wrecked. Definitely not how he wanted his last race in the #70 to go.

42. Brian Vickers - Also got wrecked at the same time Sauter did.

43. Johnny Benson - Lost an engine.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2007

What Really Happened With Kasey Kahne?

There's way too many versions of the incident between Kasey Kahne and the security guard circulating for my comfort. Initially it was reported that Kasey shoved a security guard because the guard wouldn't let his brother into the motorcoach lot because he didn't have the proper credentials; then it was said that Kasey was in a rush to change after Busch practice for a sponsor appearance, the guard stopped him because he didn't have proper credentials, they bumped and that's what caused the guard to fall; then it was said that the guard fell when he grabbed Kasey's arm to stop him from continuing into the motorcoach lot without proper credentials. It's also been said that at some point Kasey ended up in handcuffs, the guard's injuries varied from high blood pressure to back pain, and that the track asked for security to be more strict at the motorcoach lot because some drunk fans snuck in earlier in the day and caused some problems. No two versions of this incident have been the same which led to a lot of questions about what actually happened.

There's a few basic facts that seem to be consistent - there was some sort of confrontation between Kasey and a security guard about someone's lack of credentials which led to the guard ending up on the ground. I think the biggest question in my mind is how did things get that out of hand? Kasey's brother should have a hard card by virtue of being his motorcoach driver and even if he didn't he should be allowed admittance because he was with Kasey. Drivers in uniform don't wear their hard cards, and that should have been known by the guard. And if there were any questions about credentials or who should have access there should be a procedure in which phone calls are made to a supervisor or someone with Nascar to resolve any questions. But one thing's for sure - it should never have gotten to the point where Kasey and/or the guard are putting their hands on each other. And Kasey ending up in handcuffs, if true, sounds like a huge over-reaction.

Hopefully we'll eventually find out what the real story is, but somehow I doubt it.

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

Alex Rodriguez Wins His Third MVP Award

Speaking of incredible like I just was in relation to Jimmie Johnson, that word also applies to Alex Rodriguez, who won his third MVP award. A-Rod had an amazing season for the New York Yankees with a .314 batting average, 54 homers, 156 RBIs and 143 runs. A-Rod was the first player since Roger Maris in 1961 to lead the majors in homeruns, RBI and runs. It's stats like that which is why the Yankees are re-signing A-Rod to such a big-money, long-term deal because a player with production like that doesn't come around very often. I'm not too thrilled with the way A-Rod and his agent handled the opt-out mess, but I'm in awe of A-Rod's ability as a baseball player, and I'm very happy that he's a Yankee!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

Jmmie Johnson Repeats as Cup Champion

For the second year in a row, Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team are Nascar Nextel Cup Champions. As I said in a recent post, I don't really care for Jimmie all that much, but I can still acknowledge how awesome he and his team were this season. Ten wins, including four in a row in the Chase; four poles, including this past weekend at Homestead; twenty top fives; and twenty-four top tens is incredible! Jimmie is the first driver to win back-to-back championships since Jeff Gordon did it in 1997 and 1998, to give Hendrick Motorsports their seventh Cup Championship and tenth Championship overall in Nascar. Outstanding. I can't say enough about how impressive both Jimmie and Jeff were this season. Jeff's season was amazing as well - six wins, ten poles, twenty-one top fives, thirty top tens, and just one DNF, which another year might have been enough to win Jeff another Championship if not for the #48 team being better over the course of the Chase races. What's really remarkable to me about Jeff's season is that he finished outside the top ten just six times - wow! Hendrick Motorsports has a lot to be proud of - a Championship, three drivers in the Chase, and a total of eighteen wins between four drivers this season in Cup.

A lot of anti-Hendrick fans try to dismiss Jimmie winning the Championship and the success of Hendrick Motorsports overall as being a by-product of cheating and Nascar showing them favoritism. Nonsense. Jimmie won that Championship because he's one of the best drivers in the garage area, with an incredibly talented crew chief and an elite crew. Chad Knaus might have been busted for cheating a few times over the course of his career, but every single one of Jimmie's cars has passed inspection during the Chase, so there was no cheating involved in the #48 team's dominant performance during the Chase. And Nascar most certainly didn't hand Jimmie anything. He won this Championship with good racing, evidenced by the hard racing between himself and Matt Kenseth for the win at Texas.

An outstanding season by an outstanding driver and team! I would expect Jimmie (and Jeff) to contend for more Championships for years to come.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip on the Walnutz

Michael Waltrip was interviewed for an email newsletter in relation to the Chex Most Popular Driver award and in response to a question about the most unique fan he's ever met he said,

"I wouldn't necessarily say there has been one particular fan that is unique. However, I am very fortunate to have a very unique and cherished fan following called "Walnutz". At almost every race weekend, I am presented with a special notebook filled with messages and well wishes from members of the Walnutz. As a matter of fact, at Talladega while I was at my souvenir rig, they presented me with a birthday plaque. They are wonderful people. I appreciate their support and friendship. They turn up at a lot of events and appearances I attend, so I look forward to seeing them any chance I get. I am very lucky to have them as fans. I love the Walnutz. They are special and unique to me. "

Although I've never been one for associating myself with groups of fans that name themselves in the past, I most definitely consider myself one of the Walnutz and I agree completely with Michael that they are a most wonderful, special, unique, and I would add devoted group of fans! For those that don't know any fan of Michael's can be considered a member of the Walnutz, but the name started on the fan forum on Michael's official website and it's most closely identified with the fans who are members there. As Michael mentioned, every race weekend, one of the Walnutz who is attending the race gathers supportive and encouraging messages from other Walnutz to take to Michael, along with cover sheets that are designed by one of our very creative Walnutz, Cathy (whose cover sheets are no doubt as much of a hit with Michael and those around him as the messages due to how humorous and well-done they are). Some race weekends there's 30-40 messages or more! If there isn't anyone going to the race that weekend, which is rare, the messages are mailed to Michael at Raceworld. In addition throughout the year there are other projects such as "101 Reasons Why the Walnutz Love Their Head Nut" and a yearly holiday gift for Michael. In addition, the Walnutz are very caring, not only about each other and about Michael, but also about others - over the past two years the Walnutz raised $9,000 for The Waltrip Challenge, which benefits The Fisher Center Foundation that funds research to combat Alzheimer's. Through thick and thin, no matter how bad things got this season, the Walnutz stood by Michael, supported him and believed in him, and we'll continue to do that.

Reading what Michael said about the Walnutz really makes me smile. He's made a variety of comments previously about how much he likes the messages and how he loves the Walnutz, but almost always those comments have come in response to a comment or question from one of us so I think some have wondered whether he's sincere or not. That Michael made these comments on his own should clear up any of those doubts. There's no question that he truly values the Walnutz. I think what's really incredible to me is that he didn't just mention the Walnutz in passing but talked at length about how important we are to him. There's other drivers who mention specific groups of their fans to show appreciation such as Carl Edwards with the Edheads or Steve Park with the Sparkies, but I can't recall another driver saying this much in an interview (or at a hospitality appearance like Michael did over the summer when one of the Walnutz asked him a question) about a group of fans the way Michael did. We, the Walnutz mean a lot to Michael, and he means a lot to us.

There's a lot of people who can't understand why anyone would be a fan of Michael's and doubt that he has many fans (far from the truth). But the way that Michael treats his fans is second to none. Of course every fans thinks that about their favorite driver, and there's no doubt that there are more than a few drivers who are extremely fan-friendly and great with the fans. But there's something really special about the way Michael is with his fans, which includes that he showed his appreciation for the Walnutz with his comments in this interview. Michael has a very unique bond with his fans and it's created a very loyal and devoted fanbase who have been willing to stick by him no matter how bad things got this season. Michael's not only a great driver but he's a great person too!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)

On Megan Meier

Most people are probably well aware of the details of the Megan Meier story in which a 13-year old hanged herself after her online "friend," who she thought was a 16-year old that was interested in her romantically turned on her and sent her some cruel messages just before she committed suicide. After her death it was discovered that "Josh" never existed, he was actually a creation of a local woman, one of her employee's, and the woman's daughter, in some sort of twisted effort to supposedly find out what Megan was saying about the daughter online. It's mind-boggling what people think is acceptable behavior. Adults bullying and tormenting a child with known problems, the child of neighbors of their who they socialized with, a girl who had been friends with the daughter. And for what? To find out what Megan might be saying to others online? To feel some sort of satisfaction from hurting her? We'll never really know, but one thing's for sure there's no excuse for adults to behave in the way that some of those involved here did.

It's not just that they created a fake myspace and used it to hurt a 13-year old so badly that it contributed (not caused because she had pre-existing issues) to her committing suicide. But that these adults continued with the correspondence even when the communication from Megan turned sexual. Even if they didn't make any sexual comments themselves, that's just flatout wrong. At some point they should have realized they were going too far and doing something wrong, but they didn't. That's astonishing to me that even sexual comments from a 13-year old didn't wake them up. That somehow they thought that what they were doing was okay.

However, as wrong as the actions are of the adults who were involved in this mess, what's equally wrong is how many people have decided to take matters into their own hands and punish these people themselves because they haven't been charged with anything. Their names, addresses and phone numbers, including cell phone numbers have been published online, and I would guess they've been subject to all kinds of harassment as a result. Others are trying to ruin their advertising and real estate businesses. Just because some people did something very wrong to Megan Meier doesn't mean that it's okay to do wrong to them. After all, the perpetrators in that incident thought they had valid reasons and were justified in their actions, just like some people think they're doing the right thing by harassing them. The other thing is that while the media interest in this story is recent, all the events took place quite a year ago. Not a few weeks ago like some seem to think but a year ago.

It's stories like this that make me shake my head. Sometimes I feel so disturbed about the way people treat each other. Because I'm heavily involved with moderating and administrating two fan forums I pay particular attention to online harassment and related issues. People don't just do mean things to each other off-line, they think nothing of treating each other terribly online too, and a lot of times it's easier because they can do it anonymously (to a degree) and they don't have to face the person. What makes it worse is how often it's adults harassing other adults over petty nonsense. It's just sad what people will do to each other.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2007

Kasey Kahne in Trouble

Prior to last night's Truck race, Kasey Kahne apparently got into an altercation with a security guard that resulted in Kasey pushing the guard to the ground because he wouldn't let Kasey's brother, Kale, into the motorcoach lot without proper credentials. The guard had to be taken to the infield care center due to possible elevated blood pressure, and the incident is under investigation by the Homestead Police Department.

Although it's important for security to make sure that only those who belong gain entry into the motorcoach lot, and everyone should be properly credentialed, it seems like there might have been an over-reaction on the part of the security guard if he truly barred Kole from the motorcoach lot. For one thing, I believe Kole is a member of the #9 team and also drives Kasey's motorcoach so he should have a hard card that would gain him access. But let's say he forgot his hard card somewhere. Kasey should be able to get him in as his guest (and particularly if he still drives Kasey's coach!) Any lost credentials could then be replaced through Nascar. Of course we don't know the details of what happened, but I'd also think a call to a supervisor or someone with Nascar's credentials office would also be enough to straighten things out.

Overall, it just seems like a very strange incident and not really in character for Kasey, who is mild-mannered and quiet most of the time. On one forum someone wondered whether this incident was staged by Budweiser to try to toughen up Kasey's image. I can't see any sponsor wanting their driver to be involved in a physical altercation, but it was an interesting theory, especially given how odd this seems.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park on XM from Homestead

I was happy to hear Steve Park interviewed by Claire B. Lang yesterday on XM, but not so happy with what Steve said. From the sounds of it Steve doesn't have anything in the works as far as a ride goes, but that's not surprising at all. He repeated multiple times how he'll only consider taking a ride that finishes regularly in the top five and top ten, and contends for wins. Well, as I always ask - what elite team is going to hand Steve a ride when he's sat out for a year? Steve also said that he won't even consider a top twenty ride because he thinks it's a waste of his time since he only wants to end up in Victory Lane. That was probably the most disappointing thing he said in the entire interview. Those top 20 rides this season could be next season's top ten ride with his help. The team that races in the top ten this season and seems so attractive now, might end up performing worse next season and only be a top twenty car next year. As I've said before in this space, every driver in the garage area wants to be in an elite ride - why should Steve be given an elite ride over all those other drivers who are at the track every week busting their asses, making the most of the rides that they have even if it's not the perfect ride?

At one point Claire played some audio from Rick Crawford in which he detailed what he and Circle Bar Racing are looking for in a driver to replace David Starr in the #10. Rick said that the team would like a veteran who would be a good teammate to him and would help the #10 develop into a better team. I think that Claire was likely playing that audio for Steve to encourage him to contact CBR about that opening but when she asked Steve what he thought about what Rick had said, Steve didn't really respond with much enthusiasm, simply saying that he thinks he could be a good teammate to anyone and could help any team get better. I suppose that's because the #10 didn't race up front as much as Steve would like this season, but David Starr was able to finish 10th in points in that ride so it's a decent ride. Maybe with Steve's help they could finish even higher in the points, but it seems like he wants an even better ride, one that will be ultra-competitive and in Victory Lane immediately - how realistic is that really?

Steve also mentioned that he's looking for sponsorship to bring to a team with him to make a ride possible. I think he faces the same issues with sponsors as he does with teams, particularly since he's not just asking for the basic amount to get into any ride, but maybe as much as $5 million to get into an elite ride. It's going to be really hard to convince a sponsor to risk millions on him when he's not raced in so long. Even with how much I love Steve if I was an owner or sponsor if I had a choice between Steve who hasn't raced since last August (and not full-time in even longer) and a driver who has been racing regularly, I'd choose the driver who has been on the track because I'd have some idea of what they're capable of based on their recent results.

If I had to sum up what I thought about what Steve said in yesterday's interview it would be disappointing. It's disappointing to me that Steve hasn't raced more than the one Busch East race in more than a year, and Steve's overall attitude is increasingly frustrating and disappointing. I just hope Steve's as happy with his decisions a few years down the road as he is now.

(I feel like I'm always writing the same entry about Steve. It's getting tiresome for me to blog about and it's probably getting tiresome to read about. There's probably going to come a point where I just say "no more.")

Posted by silverdsl at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

Another Partner for Michael Waltrip Racing

There's been a lot of surprising news over the past few days - Alex Rodriguez almost definitely re-signing with the New York Yankees after it had been thought that they parted ways for good, Derek Jeter might be a tax cheat, Barry Bonds has been indicted for prejury, Mariano Rivera is stubbornly insisting the Yankees give him a 4th year before he'll re-sign, etc... Now comes word that somehow Michael Waltrip Racing neglected to mention at their press conference at Charlotte what I think is a key piece of information - that Michael wasn't just taking on Rob Kauffman as a "partner" (owner/investor), but also Johnny Harris, a Charlotte area business person who introduced Michael and Rob. Since that was specifically mentioned at the press conference, I have clue why they wouldn't also say that Johnny also had made an investment to gain some ownership interest in MWR, but maybe they were afraid of how it would look if it was known that Michael was giving up so much of MWR to others.

Usually in this space I'm very positive about most things that Michael does and very optimistic overall about the outlook for MWR long-term, but with this for some reason I have a bad feeling. In some regards it's ridiculous. Partnering with outside investors gives MWR a much needed influx of cash to allow them to add resources and personnel that will help them be more competitive. The six-person board that is referenced in the article will help MWR make sound business decisions. In addition, Michael is a highly intelligent person with good business sense and I don't think he would enter into any deals that he didn't think were good for MWR. Still, I don't have a good feeling.

Part of that is because I'm wondering what else might be going unmentioned if nothing was said until now about an additional investor besides Kauffman. Another part of my bad feeling is because I'm wondering how much control Michael has had to give up - if Kauffman owns half of MWR, and Harris owns another part, just how much of his own organization does Michael still own? Kauffman has said that Michael will remain in control of day-to-day operations, and that he'll continue to make all decisions on the racing side of things, but with boards forming and all these other upper management people joining MWR it seems to me that Michael could get out-voted at his own organization depending on how things are set up. The control issue bothers me because one of the reasons I was so happy to hear that Michael was joining with Toyota and would be fielding his own teams is because of how much control he would have over the direction his career - and his life - went in. Michael definitely marches to the beat of his own drum and people like that are usually happier when they can do their own thing. There are some other things that are concerning me as well but I don't feel those things are appropriate to discuss in this space at the moment or possibly ever.

I guess I'm just being a worry-wart. I want Michael to be happy and I want MWR to be successful - hopefully everything that's going on will help make that happen. I just can't shake this bad feeling, though maybe that has something to do with that it appears that Michael is going to DNQ for the last race of the season. He only took one lap in qualifying and probably won't have enough speed to make the show. I'm not listening to the radio or TV broadcast of qualifying so I don't know if he had a mechanical issue (another engine issue?) that caused him to take just the one lap or he just didn't have the speed he needed to make it in and he knew it. I feel terrible for him - I'm sure he dearly wanted to make this race and end the season on a positive note.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2007

Photo of the Day - Butterfly

Aruba, September, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

Mariano Rivera Wants Guaranteed Foruth Year to Remain With the Yankees

I guess Mariano Rivera wants in on some of the ridiculous amounts of cash that the Yankees have thrown at Jorge Posada and (possibly) Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees made Mariano a very generous offer - 3 years for $45 million, but he apparently wants a guaranteed fourth year. I think Mariano is one of the greatest closers ever in the history of baseball but I think the Yankees are crazy to sign him to a four year contract. At the end of four years Mariano would be 42 years old and I have my doubts about whether he'll be able to be as effective at 42 as Roger Clemens still was. What's particularly concerning is after four years with an ERA under 2 his ERA jumped to 3.15. Maybe that's an aberration for just this season, or maybe at age 38 Mariano, while effective, isn't quite the pitcher he once was. So the Yankees might be taking a risk in signing Mariano for four years. Problem is, unless they want to make Joba Chamberlain the closer, they might not have any other choice but to sign Mariano.

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

Bill Davis Not Pleased With Johnny Benson

Bill Davis said regarding the controversy over Johnny Benson passing his teammate, Mike Skinner, in the last laps of the truck race at Phoenix which cost Skinner four points when he's locked in an extremely tight race for the Championship:

"If we lose this championship by four points, this will be hard to get over. We don't have any rules at Bill Davis Racing, but we expect everyone to be team players. What Johnny did was a really big deal. You shouldn't have to explain the situation to anyone on this race team."

Considering Benson said that if they want him to not pass Skinner, they need to tell him that specifically, apparently it does need to be explained. Racers are out there to race, and unless someone gives them "team orders" that's exactly what they're going to do. And that's what they should be doing. I want to see the drivers racing hard, particularly in the last laps of a race. Team orders or not, I don't like the idea of drivers giving each other positions, even if the drivers in question are teammates. I dislike it even more when both drivers involved are racing for something. Yes, the Championship is the ultimate goal of every driver and team, but Benson is also racing to finish in the top five in points. Positions - and the Championship - should be earned. If Benson has a faster truck than Skinner I don't think he should have to lay back. Skinner should have to race for those four points, same as any other driver on the track would have to do against Benson.

Last season there was a similar situation in which Skinner raced Benson for position when Benson was battling Todd Bodine for the Championship. Davis was apparently angry with Skinner after that, just as he is now with Benson. It seems to me that Davis should have sat his drivers down after that race to clarify what his expectations were about the way he wanted them to race each other. In addition, maybe Davis should have expected that Benson might race Skinner for position given what happened last season - after all, why should Benson have to hold back when Skinner didn't in a similar situation?

The sad thing is that it's not just Davis who thinks this way. Many other owners would likely give some sort of team orders to their drivers in a similar situation. In fact, earlier this season Greg Biffle indicated on Inside Nextel Cup that he was told to give up a position to Matt Kenseth during a Cup race since Kenseth was in the Chase and wasn't. Michael Waltrip, a team owner and driver, said during the truck broadcast that Benson didn't do the right thing, even though he acknowledged that Benson is racing for a good finish in the points himself. And I can understand the thinking - owners want Championships and they want their drivers to help each other make that happen. They want their employees, drivers or otherwise, to be team players, and work together to get the organization as much success as possible. But as a fan it's hard for me to swallow the idea that racers should lay back, even if it's to help a teammate.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

A-Rod to Return to the Yankees?

Has the world gone mad? Just a couple of weeks after insisting that there was no way that they would negotiate with Alex Rodriguez after he opted out of his contract, that's exactly what the New York Yankees are doing, and it appears likely that A-Rod will return to the Bronx next season to a tune of $270 million over ten years. A-Rod said on his website yesterday,

“Prior to entering into serious negotiations with other clubs, I wanted the opportunity to share my thoughts directly with Yankees’ ownership. We know there are other opportunities for us, but Cynthia and I have a foundation with the club that has brought us comfort, stability and happiness.”

A-Rod's trying to make it seem as if he reached out to the Yankees because of how much he wants to continue playing for the team, but I'd say there's a few other things at play. For one thing, A-Rod's one of the most image conscious players in the game, and he was probably none too pleased at how much of an asshat, Scott Boras made him seem by mishandling the decision to opt-out so badly. In addition, I suspect it was a bit of a surprise to both Boras and A-Rod how little interest there was from other teams. Fact is, even for teams who can afford it, the $350 million that Boras said they were looking for it a lot of money. Tying that kind of money up in one player comes with a lot of risk even if it's invested in a player like A-Rod who is one of the best in the game. Not to mention, some teams may balk at having to deal with some of the baggage that comes with A-Rod, such as this opt-out mess.

On one level, I don't have any complaints about the Yankees re-signing A-Rod. After all, he's one of the best players in the game, a force at the plate and he'll help them win for years to come. But the way the opt-out decision was handled left an extremely bad taste in my mouth, and it's going to be hard for me to view A-Rod in the same way that I once did. I was extremely disappointed by the way things went with the opt-out, particularly the timing of the announcement and that A-Rod initially refused to meet with the Yankees before opting out. Although A-Rod and those around him will likely try to shift blame onto Boras, ultimately the responsibility for much of the way things went rests with A-Rod. He made the decision to opt out, he refused to meet with the Yankees, he gave the impression that he didn't want to play for the team anymore, and most importantly, he allowed Boras to handle the decision to opt out in the way that he did. A-Rod could have put his foot down a lot sooner, but didn't.

Some fans are upset with the Yankees for negotiating with A-Rod after they took such a hard stance after he opted out. But I understand why they've reversed course. Fact is, when there's an opportunity to re-sign the best player in the game who was key to the team this season you do it. Short of bloody murder, the Yankees are going to overlook just about anything and let by-gones be by-gones if it means keeping a key player who they think will help them win for years to come.

Of course the money that's involved is ridiculous. Make no mistake A-Rod opted out of his contract because he wanted even more cash than he was already raking in. $270 million (and it could be more with incentives) is more money than anyone can spend in a lifetime and that comes on top of all the money he's already earned in baseball and through various endorsements and business ventures. The greed that's involved is disgusting to me. I don't blame the players for wanting to get the money they think they're worth, and it's a reality of the way that things work that they get millions of dollars thrown at them, but it's outrageous to me that one person is going to earn all that money. And it's not like he saves lives or is an international peace keeper - he may be very talented, but A-Rod is only a baseball player.

So unless things fall apart at the last minute it looks like A-Rod will be playing for the Yankees next season, something that seemed unlikely just last week. Unbelievable.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*This is a real shocker, to me at least - apparently Matt Kenseth is going to be in need of a new crew chief next season, as Robbie Reiser is going to become the General Manager of Roush-Fenway Racing, replacing Max Jones, who is going to become GM at Yates Racing, further strengthening the association between those two organizations. Reiser has been Kenseth's crew chief for 13 years, including the entire time that Kenseth has been in Cup, and together they've had a tremendous amount of success, including a Cup Championship in 2003. The obvious question is who takes over as crew chief for the #17 in 2008, but I'm also wondering how long it might take for Kenseth to adjust to working with a new crew chief after having worked with Reiser for so long?

*Bobby Labonte announced today the formation of a marketing agency, Breaking Limits, which will offer sales, marketing and public relations services. Labonte will be Breaking Limits's President, and it sounds like while the company might be geared towards sports marketing which is natural, they may also provide services to non-sports companies. I had no idea that Labonte had any business or marketing interest or experience, but I think it's pretty cool that he's launching this kind of a company. Breaking Limits gives him something to do once he retires from Nascar and a way to keep involved in the sport if he has motorsports clients.

*Nascar's overall TV ratings are down this season, 9 % from last season and 21% from two years ago. I can't say I'm surprised. Although a lot of fan seem unhappy with the sport overall, I think a bigger problem is that fans are even more unhappy with the TV broadcasts of the races. ESPN especially seems to struggle to broadcast the races in a compelling way and they also seem to struggle to follow all the stories of the races, particularly when it involves teams that aren't among the elite in the garage area. If Nascar wants fans to keep watching I think they need to ensure that their broadcast partners are putting together the kind of broadcast that fans want to see so they don't lose interest and turn the race off.

*Much as I figured, Johnny Sauter will race full-time in the Busch Series next season. He's going to race the #4 for Phoenix Racing, and it appears that Sterling Marlin may race a second Busch car full-time or part-time for Phoenix depending on sponsorship. Apparently one reason that came about is because Mike Wallace is taking the Geico Sponsorship, and the actual #7, with him to another unnamed team. I wonder if there's any possibility that Wallace will end up in Cup or the Truck Series now that there's a conflict between Geico and Nationwide who will sponsor that series next season?

*David Starr is headed back to Red Horse Racing where he will race the #11 truck. Starr raced for RHR in 2006 and had quite a bit of success with them, finishing 4th in the points with a win, six top five's and twelve top ten's. However, a lack of sponsorship caused Starr to leave RHR for Circle Bar Racing, where's he's had much less success in the #10. I was amazed that RHR parted ways with a driver who did so well for them, sponsorship issues or not, and I think it'll be good for both them and Starr to work together again. CBR now needs a driver for the #10, assuming they opt to keep fielding two trucks next season.

*Five truck drivers, including Stacey Compton, had their wallets stolen right out of their transporters during one of the practice sessions at Phoenix. Their credit cards were used soon after to purchase gift cards. That someone was able to get into five different haulers, and poke around in the driver's personal belongings, during a practice session when the garage area was presumably hot, speaks to a major security issue. From what I understand security isn't as strict at some tracks for the truck garage as it is for the Cup garage but it seems to me that maybe it should be. If the driver's wallets can be stolen, there's no telling what else might happen. Unfortunately, the more incidents like this, or Kevin Harvick's helmet being stolen earlier in the season, means the more restrictive things will likely get as time goes on in terms of access to the garage area, which is unfortunate for fans, but a safe and secure garage area should be of utmost importance.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)

Ward Burton on XM

Claire B. Lang did an interesting interview with Ward Burton yesterday on XM in relation to him being released prior to this weekend's race at Homestead from the #4 team. Contrary to what some have said elsewhere it sounds like it's very unlikely that Ward will be back with the team next season - he was not happy about being released with one more race to go, but being with a team outside the top 35 that struggled to be competitive was a difficult undertaking. Actually, based on the way Ward was talking, we may have seen him race his last race not just with this team but in Nascar. Although Ward very much still has the desire to race, the opportunity to do so may not be there. He said he's been talking with one team but that team's current driver is a friend of his and he doesn't want to do anything to hurt that person's career. I think that's pretty admirable of Ward that he's willing to turn down what's at the moment his only opportunity to continue racing because he values his friendship with someone more. Part of his willingness not to explore that opportunity further might be that as much as Ward would like to continue racing, he's also happy just hanging out with his family, spending time in the woods and working with his foundation.

Ward spoke well of everyone that he worked with at Morgan-McClure Motorsports and the organization as a whole, and also said that they actually brought good cars to the track quite often, in spite of what it might seem because they didn't qualify for so many races. The problem, Ward said is two-fold. One, that MMM doesn't have the resources or personnel that larger teams have. With how much the teams use coil binding and bump stops, the set-ups have to be very precise, but one practice prior to qualifying isn't enough time to get those set-ups perfectly right, particularly in light of their disadvantage in resources. In addition, Ward said that the top 35 rule really makes things extremely difficult for the teams and hurts their chances for success. Although there are times they have a decent car, they might still miss races due to the provisionals that top 35 cars get. Plus, missing races and not racing competitively makes it hard for them to attract sponsorship, which in turn makes it hard to get the resources they need to compete. Ward seemed to indicate that he didn't think the #4 team would be around for too much longer, not because MMM isn't trying hard or is a bad organization, but because they can't compete with the larger teams.

One thing I thought was interesting was that Ward brought up how he has some regrets in relation to the choices he made after he was released from Bill Davis Racing in 2003. Although Ward found a ride with Haas-CNC Racing, apparently there were many opportunities available to him at the time, and he said he didn't take advantage of any of them, because he said, he was in shock over being released from BDR. Ward gave no details about exactly what those opportunities were that he was talking about but to my ears he sounded a little sad. I have to wonder whether there were rides that were offered to him then that didn't seem very good, but might be solid rides now, and taking one of them might have led to the last few years being a lot more positive for him as far as racing goes. I couldn't help but think of Steve Park as Ward was talking because Steve has turned down multiple offers for rides that he didn't think were good enough - I hope that a few years from now Steve doesn't have any regrets about turning down those rides like Ward seems to have.

Todd Bodine will be behind the wheel of the #4 this weekend at Homestead. Claire asked Ward why the team asked Todd to race for them, and Ward said that Todd has a lot of knowledge about certain things because he's raced and tested a lot more than Ward has over the last few years. In addition, Ward also said that the team has started getting their engines from Joe Gibbs Racing and implied that the team was going to be aligned with Toyota in the future (if they get engines from JGR next season I would think they would have to be) which may also be why Todd was asked to race the car this weekend given that he's a Toyota driver. If they really do become a Toyota team next year it'll be interesting to see who ends up racing this car. I doubt it would be Todd given his commitments to Germain Racing in the Truck Series, and they may have a hard time finding a really good driver given their struggles to be competitive and their status as a non-top 35 team.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2007

14 Years - Guns 'n' Roses

I had this song by Guns 'n' Roses that I've always been fond of running through my head this morning...

I try and feel the sunshine
You bring the rain
You try and hold me down
With your complaints
You cry and moan and complain
You whine an tear
Up to my neck in sorrow
The touch you bring
You just don't step inside to 14 years
So hard to keep my own head... that's what I say
You know...I've been the beggar...
I've played the thief
I was the dog...they all tried to beat

But it's been
14 years of silence
It's been
14 years of pain
It's been
14 years that are gone forever
And I'll never have again

Your stupid girlfriends tell you
That I'm to blame
Well they're all used-up has-beens
Out of the game
This time I'll have the last word
You hear what I say
I tried to see it your way
It won't work today
You just don't step inside to 14 years
So hard to keep my own head...that's what I say
You know...I've been the dealer...
Hangin' on your street
I was the dog...they all tried to beat

But it's been
14 years of silence
It's been
14 years of pain
It's been
14 years that are gone forever
And I'll never have again

Bullshit and contemplation
Gossip's their trade
If they knew half the real truth
What would they say
Well I'm past the point of concern
It's time to play
These last 4 years of madness
Sure put me straight
Don't get back 14 years
In just one day
So hard to keep my own head
Just go away
You know...just like a hooker she said
Nothin's for free
Oh I tried to see it your way
I tried to see it your way

Posted by silverdsl at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2007

Photo of the Day

Pocono, PA, August, 2007. One of my favorite photos that I took all weekend that wasn't of Michael Waltrip. Bobby Labonte looks intense even though it's just a practice.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

A Couple More Random Thoughts...

*This evening Kyle Busch was on XM talking about the four races he raced in this past weekend - three at Phoenix (Trucks, Busch and Cup) and one at the Bullring at Las Vegas. Kyle spoke at length about racing the #51 truck for Billy Ballew Motorsports, and it's clear he really loves racing that truck. What makes it really obvious that he's racing for the pure love of racing is that he's racing for free. Not because Billy Ballew couldn't afford to pay him, but because Kyle told Billy that he'll race for free. I think that's pretty cool. Even though most of the Cup drivers make a lot of money, I doubt many others race for free when they go Busch or Truck racing. It's a great deal for Billy Ballew - he doesn't have to pay Kyle so he can put all the winnings back into the truck, and he gets a ton of exposure for his team and sponsors when Kyle puts the #51 in Victory Lane. Kyle also mentioned that they're negotiating with Toyota for BBM to join that manufacturer so Kyle can continue to race for them since he'll be racing Toyotas in Cup starting next season.

*While watching Inside Nextel Cup (boring without Michael Waltrip) tonight, I was reminded of something else that I thought was kind of cool - how Ken Schrader coached Patrick Carpentier this weekend at Phoenix. He did such a great job that Carpentier credited him as the reason why he made the race. Based on the video and what he said on INC, working with Carpentier seemed to be something that Schrader really enjoyed so I wonder if we'll see him do more of that in the future? I think there's a lot that young or inexperienced drivers can learn from Schrader and it's something that could be very rewarding for him too.

*Bad news for Ward Burton fans - he's out of a ride again. It was announced today that Ward will be replaced in the #4 at Homestead by Todd Bodine, who has worked with the team previously. Although State Water Heaters will return to the #4 next season, they're in need of more sponsorship and who will drive the car is still up in the air. It's been said that it's possible that Ward may return to the #4 next season, but it seems to me that's less likely now that he's been replaced for the last race of the season. Although they haven't been very competitive at all this season, they've really struggled to make races recently, so I can see why both Ward and the team might want to explore other options.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts

*John Andretti will race the full season for BAM Racing in the #49 next season. Although he's DNQ'd for the past two races, he's done an excellent job of getting the #49 into ten other races for them so I can see why they want to keep him for next season. I heard John on Sirius a couple of weeks ago, and while he acknowledged that the team is at a disadvantage in comparison to many of the other teams, he spoke of trying to make the best of things. He compared his situation to a lower level boxer facing Muhammad Ali - for the most part he's going to be completely overwhelmed but occasionally he's able to land a punch here or there which he can feel good about. I like that attitude. I'm sure John would much rather be in a competitive car that he can race up front in but for now he's just trying to get satisfaction out of small victories like making races and finishing as well as possible.

Supposedly BAM has a unique kind of sponsorship lined up where instead of getting one company to pay millions to sponsor the car, they're going to get many companies to pay $5,000 each to get their logos on the car. I don't see this working out too well since there won't be too much exposure for these companies given how small the logos will probably be, but maybe it'll work out better than I think.

*Roger Penske said this weekend that it's almost definite, pending approval from the sponsors of the #2 and the team, that the points from the #2 will be shifted to the #77 next season so that Sam Hornish, Jr. will be locked into the first five races of the season. Kurt Busch would also be locked in by virtue of his past champion's provisional though odds are he'll have a car good enough to get in on time without having to use a provisional. I can't stand the games these teams are playing with the Champion's provisional even though it's benefited Michael Waltrip Racing, and I hope that Nascar does away with it. Just like every other team outside the top 35 in owner's points, I think Penske Racing should have to show up to the track with a car that's fast enough for Sam to make races with. And if there's any question about his ability to make races then they need to get him enough experience to where he has the ability to do it on his own, particularly since if he's not high enough in the points after those first five races, he'll be back to having to worry about making races on time without the #2's points from 2007 to fall back on.

*Apparently Roush-Fenway Racing will be building all of Yates Racing's cars next seasons. Fans are wondering how Nascar is going to allow Yates to essentially become unofficial Roush teams given the supposed cap on how many teams an organization can own or be closely affiliated with. Of course Roush isn't the only organization with this set-up - Joe Gibbs Racing builds cars for Hall of Fame Racing and Hendrick Motorsports provides equipment and support to many teams. I wonder if Nascar is going to continue to look the other way about these kind of arrangements or whether they'll crack down if Roush pushes things too much?

*During Friday's truck race it was announced that Donny Lia would be in the #59 next season. Someone who I would consider a reliable source posted on a Modifieds forum some interesting information about how this deal came about. Apparently Bill Davis Racing has been talking to Donny about a truck ride for next year since the middle of the season but when it became clear that they weren't going to be able to field another truck next season, Tommy Baldwin, Jr. helped Donny get the ride with HT Motorsports. As a result, there will be some sort of alliance between BDR and HT Motorsports that will result in information from Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner's teams being shared with the #59 team. Considering that those two teams are two of the best teams in the series, that should help the #59 improve their performance. Plus they're going to have a driver behind the wheel who I think has a lot of talent, so I'm anticipating seeing the #59 truck up front regularly next season.

*It's been widely rumored that Ted Musgrave is going to end up in the #60 truck for Wyler-Gaughan Racing with Team ASE as the sponsor. Today WGR put out a release to clarify that they don't have a team or driver signed for the #60 truck yet and that they're still talking to drivers and are open to a variety of options. After reading the full statement on their website, I suspect this is mostly about sponsorship in that they're still looking for some and they don't want to lose out on any potential sponsorship deals if companies think they're already all set for 2008. I would guess that it's likely that there is something to those rumors as Ted has indicated that he's close to a deal with good, winning team and the #60 fits the bill. If not Ted, I'd guess that WGR will go with one of the other available drivers who have raced for Toyota truck teams recently such as Terry Cook or Ryan Mathews. The pattern for Toyota teams seems to be to use drivers who already have an affiliation with Toyota via having raced for one of their teams previously. So I have my doubts as to whether Steve Park is going to end up in this truck as some are hoping he will. The Wylers have talked to Steve about a ride since 2005 and if it hasn't happened yet I kind of doubt it's going to happen now especially if sponsorship is an issue. Plus drivers like Terry and Ryan have actually raced, and in Terry's case won in the last year while Steve has sat idle.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)

Interesting Listening to the Official's Channel

With none of the Michael Waltrip Racing cars having qualified for yesterday's Cup race, although there's a lot of other drivers that I like, I was at a bit of a loss as to which driver's radio communication to listen to via Trackpass. Some drivers and crew chiefs are chattier than others and I didn't want to "listen" to a lot of silence. So I opted to listen to the Official's channel, a fairly recent addition to Trackpass, and I'm really glad that I did. It was really interesting to hear how they call the cautions and I gained a lot of insight into the process.

After having listened, I think it's really laughable that some think that Nascar manipulates the race or throws fake cautions. For one thing Nascar doesn't randomly throw cautions, nor do they always immediately throw a caution every time someone says there's an issue, unless it's something obvious like a wreck or a piece of metal that's a clear safety issue. What happens is that there's people around the track who will call up to the tower if they see something that could be a problem - a possible piece of debris, a car brushing the wall which could result in debris falling off, a car that's smoking, etc.. Then the tower gets reports from officials in the pits who relay what the drivers tell their teams they're seeing that could be a potential problem. The officials in the tower then ask those around the track to check out what's being reported, and a determination is made, sometimes based on what multiple people see, as to whether there's really a need for a caution. At no time was there any discussion what-so-ever about how a caution might effect a team, driver or the race overall. Nascar had plenty of opportunities during yesterday's race when there were long periods of green flag racing to throw lots of additional cautions based on reports of oil leaking from the #09, a loose part on the #2, debris, etc.. to bunch the field up and make things more exciting but didn't because they felt those reports were either unfounded or not enough to where there should be a caution.

In addition, sometimes fans and drivers will complain about how long the cautions are for seemingly no reason. Well, that's because sometimes there are things that are happening that aren't obvious, particularly to those watching at home. Before the Tower can give the signal for one lap to go, they need to make sure the EMTs and clean-up crews are safely off the track. In addition, in yesterday's race during one caution they took the time to fix something near the entrance to pit road that was sticking up. I really doubt that Nascar ever deliberately makes the cars run extra laps under caution for no reason. It's just that the race broadcasts don't always share with their viewers every piece of information about what's going on, nor would fans in the stands always be privy to everything either unless they're listening to the officials.

One thing that I liked about listening to the official's channel is that every time a car went to the garage, came back on track after a stay behind the wall or dropped out of the race, someone in the garage radioed the Tower to let them know when cars were going in and out of the garage and why. Often that's information that never gets passed on to viewers during the race broadcasts. Information about pit road penalties were also given over the official's channel.

I think what I'm going to do for future races is have Michael's radio (or another MWR driver if he's not in the race) going in one window and then the official's channel in the other because it will give me a much more complete picture of what's going on in each race.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Phoenix II

1. Jimmie Johnson - Like I said in the previous entry, Jimmie and the #48 team have been outstanding, especially during the Chase. Four wins in a row with how competitive the Cup Series is these days is incredible. Although anything can happen in this sport, and it's still possible for Jeff Gordon to win the Championship, with how good this team is, it's likely they'll be able to do what they need to do to seal the deal for the Championship next weekend at Homestead.

2. Greg Biffle - Did anyone notice that Greg Biffle finished second? With all the hoopla surrounding Jimmie's 4th win in a row I think it got lost a little how strong Greg was at the end of this race. Given that he was the fastest car on the track over the last few laps, I'd say that if there had been more laps Greg might have been in Victory Lane instead of Jimmie. Greg has had a lot of success at Homestead so I look for him to be strong next weekend as well.

3. Matt Kenseth - Led the most laps yesterday and has four top fives in his last four races but in the end the #17 team hasn't been quite as good as the #48 team.

4. Tony Stewart - Hard to believe but this is Tony's first top five of the Chase. I think most expected Tony to be much more of a factor but he's

5. Ryan Newman - Over his last six races, Ryan has three top fives, and might have had another one at Atlanta if not for his engine going.

6. Kevin Harvick - Best finish for Kevin since he last finished 6th at Kansas, six races ago.

7. Martin Truex Jr. - Martin wasn't too happy with the decision his crew chief, Kevin "Bono" Manion made on the last pit stop to stay out when the other leaders pitted. Without fresh tires like the others had, Martin faded to 7th, which had to be a disappointment after leading 72 laps. That he's led 223 laps over the last three races but doesn't have a win to show for it has to be a little frustrating for Martin.

8. Kyle Busch - Kyle won both the Busch and Truck race so as much as I'm not a big fan of his, it would have been pretty cool if he had been able to sweep all three races this weekend but it wasn't to be.

9. Jeff Burton - Although he hasn't been a factor in the Chase, Jeff's been racing really well over his last five races with two top fives, two top tens, and his worst finish being 12th at Martinsville.

10. Jeff Gordon - Some are being critical of Jeff for his comments after the race in which he said it was "over" and basically conceded the Championship to Jimmie since there's still one more race left and still a chance for him to win. I don't think Jeff is giving up as much as he's being realistic about how things are going to play out. If anyone knows how strong the #48 team is, it's Jeff since Jimmie is his teammate and he owns a part of the #48 team.

11. Clint Bowyer - Pretty good finish considering he was apparently dealing with brake problems.

12. Kurt Busch - Not a bad finish but handling issues prevented him from finishing better.

13. Casey Mears - I don't think I remember hearing Casey mentioned at all during yesterday's race but this is a decent finish, especially considering he's struggled to finish better than mid-pack the last five races or so.

14. J.J. Yeley - Best finish for J.J. in four races.

15. Johnny Sauter - Best finish for Johnny since he finished 12th at Talladega. Still no word on what his plans are for next season.

16. Denny Hamlin - After the race Denny blamed a car that wasn't set-up right for only finishing 16th, but I was listening to the Official's radio channel during the race and I believe he got busted for speeding on pit road twice, so that probably didn't help them when it came to track position.

17. Juan Montoya - Best of the Ganassi cars. The team struggled to get the handling of the car right for most of the day.

18. Bobby Labonte - Had a car with some speed and at points was among one of the faster cars on the track but a broken splitter brace caused him to have to keep coming down pit road for repairs, plus he was busted for speeding on a late pit stop.

19. Reed Sorenson - An okay finish considering he apparently didn't have a very good car, much like his Ganassi teammates.

20. David Stremme - A tight handling car meant that he could finish no better than 20th.

21. Brian Vickers - Qualified 22d but had to start from the back due to an engine change. Had handling and brake issues that only got worse as the race went along. Still, he was the highest finishing Toyota in the race.

22. Paul Menard - This is actually Paul's best finish since he last finished 22nd at Charlotte. Although being outside the top 35 really put this team at a disadvantage earlier in the season, the results haven't been very good overall, even after they became a Top 35 team and were thus locked in.

23. Jamie McMurray - Much as has been the pattern for Jamie this season, he was unable to carry any momentum from his good finish at the last race into the next race.

24. Robby Gordon - Not a great finish for Robby but it is his first lead lap finish since Kansas, six races ago.

25. Sterling Marlin - This is a good finish for a team that doesn't attempt races very often. Apparently Sterling's going to be in this car for at least ten races next season.

26. Aric Almirola - Had electrical issues.

27. Elliott Sadler - The usual for the #19 team - an ill-handling race car prevented a better finish.

28. David Gilliland - Spun on lap 35 after Jeremy Mayfield was forced into him.

29. Kyle Petty

30. Sam Hornish Jr. - Sam's Cup debut has to be considered a success even though he finished two laps down. Not only did he meet his goal of finishing in the top 30, he did so without getting into any trouble on the track.

31. Dave Blaney - Spun on lap 233.

32. David Ragan - Ran into the curb which not only sent the car airborne briefly but caused damage to the splitter and necessitated a number of trips to pit road for repairs. During one of those stops, one of David's crew members injured himself on a piece of the splitter and had to go to the in-field care center but his injuries ended up being minor luckily.

33. Patrick Carpentier - I'm not sure what his goals were for this race other than qualifying in, but like Sam, Patrick's Cup debut was mostly a success. Although the finish was poor he pretty much stayed out of everyone's way and just worked on getting adjusted to racing the car.

34. Bill Elliott - The car was pretty bad to start the weekend, so bad that Bill had to use a Champion's provisional to make the race, but according to his post-race comments the team worked on the car to the point where it got much better by the middle of the race and he was actually having "fun" out there.

35. Ricky Rudd

36. Johnny Benson - Considering how bad this team has been all season just making this race is an accomplishment.

37. Tony Raines - On lap 149 he got damage when Kasey Kahne bounced off the wall and into him which resulted in a trip behind the wall.

38. Joe Nemechek - Spun and ended up in the wall on lap 296.

39. Jeremy Mayfield - A blown engine did him in. Jeremy's gotten off to a much tougher start with his new team than I thought he would.

40. Kasey Kahne - Got damage when Jacques Villeneuve got into him on lap 138, then got into the wall hard not long after. Although Kasey could have blamed damage from the wreck as the reason, he was very hard on himself saying that he had been "driving like an idiot" apparently because he wasn't too happy with the way the car was.

41. Jacques Villeneuve - Not a good weekend for JV. Though his post-race notes left it out he caused a big wreck in the Truck Race that led to a hard hit for Andy Lally and a red flag so damage to the inner wall could be fixed. Then in the Cup race he got into Kasey Kahne because he said after the race he didn't know that someone was there on the outside.

42. Carl Edwards - Led 87 laps and looked like he might be the car to beat but the race ended prematurely for Carl when he lost an engine.

43. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Although some fans are insistent that DEI is somehow responsible, by his own admission, Junior "lost it" on his own on lap 118.

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

November 11, 2007

Photo of the Day - Cape May

Cape May, New Jersey, September, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

Jmmie Johnson: Awesome

I don't care for Jimmie Johnson or Chad Knaus and I'd much rather that Jeff Gordon or another driver won the 2007 Cup Championship. However, I have to say that what Jimmie, Chad and the #48 team are doing in the Chase and this season overall is nothing short of incredible. With today's win Jimmie has now won the last four races in a row, the first time a driver's accomplished that since 1998 when Jeff did it. In addition, Jimmie's ten wins this season are the most since Jeff won 13 races, also in 1998. It's all but certain that Jimmie is going to win his second Championship in a row next weekend in Homestead and that will also be the first time that a driver has done that since Jeff in 1997 and 1998. What makes it especially amazing is that the level of competition while always high on the Cup level has only gotten more intense as the years have gone on. Some fans would like to dismiss what Jimmie and his team are doing as a product of cheating or Nascar manipulating races, but that's nonsense. Plain and simple Jimmie and the #48 team are the best team on the track right now. Cheating wouldn't win them a Championship because it still takes good decisions making and talent, which this team has lots of. Jimmie's an outstanding driver, Chad makes good decisions on the pit box, the crew pulls off outstanding pit stops and overall the team has an exceptional ability to overcome challenges, adjust mid-race as needed and not let themselves get distracted from their goals. The Championship that Jimmie will most likely win next weekend will be one that he and his team most definitely deserve.

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

November 10, 2007

No Michael Waltrip Racing Teams will Race on Sunday

As much as Michael Waltrip Racing has struggled this season, they've still managed to get at least one car in every Cup race this season until this weekend. Qualifying for tomorrow's race at Phoenix was a disaster for MWR - Dale Jarrett was almost embarrassingly slow, David Reutimann lost an engine on the warm-up lap and Michael was bumped out of the field by Bill Elliott needing to use a Champion's provisional. Like last week when the #55 team missed the show after having done so well for so many races in a row previously, I'm not too happy with the way things went this weekend. It was pretty obvious based on the practice speeds that DJ had no chance of making the race and that it would be borderline for David and Michael. That can't be happening. As the season went on the MWR teams had done a much better job of showing up with cars that had the speed necessary to make races, and I hate to see them take a step backwards. They absolutely have to show up with cars that are decent off the truck because one practice isn't enough to make changes to give them the speed they need to make races. In addition, while teams are always going to have mechanical issues, it can't be happening during qualifying when there's no margin for error for the MWR teams. Of course since they don't build their own engines, that's a Toyota issue - it's incredibly disappointing for the #00 to miss races to begin with and even more frustrating when it happens for reasons that are out of their control.

What I'm really bothered by though is Michael missing this race. While the #55 team needed to come to the track with a car that had more speed, Michael qualified 32nd, better than six go-or-go-homers, which should have gotten him into the race. However, because one of those cars was the #21 and Bill is guaranteed to race thanks to his Champion's provisional, Michael goes home and Bill gets to race even though he was slower. Even though MWR has used the Champion's provisional to their advantage, I wish they'd eliminate that provisional all together so no team can use it to get into races even when they're lacking the necessary speed. In addition, Michael was bit by having such an early qualifying draw. He went out second and as qualifying went on the track cooled down considerably, which meant that those that went out later picked up a lot of speed. Had he had a later draw I suspect Michael would be racing tomorrow. It seems to me that all the go-or-go-homers should qualify together so that there's no advantage for some teams over others based on their qualifying draw.

But more than all of that, as it has all season, it bothers me that Michael was one of the 43 fastest cars yet he's still going home. Michael routinely out-qualifies drivers like Robby Gordon and Kyle Petty, yet both of them are guaranteed to race each week because they're in the top 35 in owner's points, even though they're sometimes significantly slower than Michael. Of course all the teams are aware of the rules and need to adjust what they do accordingly, but I think it's ridiculous that Michael out-qualified 17 other cars and his team still had to pack up and go home. I highly doubt that Nascar is going to make many - if any - changes to the rules regarding qualifying for next season, but they're doing a tremendous disservice to many teams and sponsors. The rule was created to protect big-money sponsors and teams that show up every week to race - well there's big-money sponsors such as NAPA and UPS who spend a significant amount of money not just on their cars but in the sport overall that are being hurt by this rule, and all of these teams are attempting to race every week. It makes it so hard for new teams to have any kind of success and that's a problem that Nascar doesn't seem too concerned about.

I also feel terrible for Michael. He's been so happy and proud of the improvements his teams have made recently. That none of them will be racing on Sunday has to hurt pretty bad. With one more Cup race left, next weekend at Homestead will be very important for MWR so they can finish the season on a positive note. I suspect there might be a large entry list since it's the last race and one with a large audience both at home and at the track since the Cup Champion will be crowded. So it won't be easy for all three MWR cars to make the show, but I'd at least like to see two out of their three cars make the race. I'll have my fingers crossed all week that we'll see Michael (and hopefully his teams) racing at Homestead!!

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

Random Truck Series Thoughts

*Is there any better racing right now than in the Truck Series? I absolutely love watching the truck races and it's not just because Michael Waltrip is in the booth! Not only is there an outstanding battle for the Championship between Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Mike Skinner, but the quality of the racing is outstanding! As opposed to the Cup Series where things tend to heat up over the last 30-40 laps, it seems like in the Truck Series every lap features exciting racing. From start to finish the drivers are hungry and race hard to get to the front! So it's really a shame that most fans have so little interest in this series - they're really missing some great races!

*There was a lot of drama in last night's race due to the battle between Hornaday and Skinner. Last week Hornaday felt that he was getting blocked by Skinner's fellow BDR teammates whereas he was out there alone with no one to "protect" him. So this week Hornaday had someone to watch his back - his owner, Kevin Harvick. During an early pit stop, Skinner's team flipped out because Harvick, who was pitting immediately in front of them, came through their pit and in their view, caused them to have a poor pit stop which cost Skinner positions on the track. Ridiculous. Harvick did nothing wrong - it's his right to drive through the pit stop behind his if it's empty to get to his, and he was in front of Skinner heading into the pits. It's true that Harvick going through the #5 pit caused their jackman to hesitate which threw off the timing of the pit stop but this is big league racing. A team has to be on their game at all times and has to be able to pull off strong pit stops even under adversity and especially in the midst of a Championship battle.

The #5 team claimed that Harvick stopped in their pit and put the lives of the pit crew in danger since they were already going over the wall to service the #5 - it sure didn't look like he stopped to me, and again, he's perfectly within his rights to go through that pit to ensure he's lined up correctly in his own pit. The #5 team should have been anticipating Harvick driving through their pit since he was ahead of Skinner on the track, and no matter how angry the jackman or anyone else on the #5 team was, they needed to put that aside until the stop was finished.

*But the bigger controversy was what happened between Skinner and his teammate, Johnny Benson at the end of the race. Because of how close the championship battle is between Skinner and Hornaday every point counts. So with just three laps to go, Benson passed Skinner for 7th which cost Skinner four points. Skinner was furious after the race, as were his fans. While I can understand why Skinner might be upset since there's an expectation that teammates are going to help each other out, I don't think Benson should have to hold back if he has a better truck than Skinner and thinks he can pick up a position. While he might not be in the Championship hunt, Benson is out there racing for something himself - he's currently fifth in points and the points are so tight there's a chance that he could finish as high as third in the points. At the end of the race, even among teammates it's every man for himself, and I think every driver needs to be racing as hard as they can to finish as good as they can.

*There was briefly some excitement among Steve Park fans when it was announced that Terry Cook wouldn't be returning to the #59 truck. Last year Steve raced the #59 for ten races but left the team when he thought he had a ride with Bill Davis Racing, a ride that never materialized. I would have been thrilled if Steve was announced as the driver of that truck because they've developed into a solid Toyota team that may not race up front all the time, but is still fairly competitive and may continue to get more competitive as time goes on. However, Sparkie hopes and dreams were quickly dashed when it was announced that Donny Lia, the 2007 Whelen Modified Tour Champion and winner of six modified races this season, would take over driving duties in the #59 next season. As much as I would have liked to have seen Steve get this ride I'm thrilled that Donny will be behind the wheel - as someone from the Northeast I'm always happy to see someone from the Northeast get an opportunity in one of Nascar's highest levels. But beyond that I've been looking for a driver to cheer for in this series since there's not going to be an Michael Waltrip Racing associated truck anymore - Lia definitely fits the bill.

I'm not surprised that the #59 team went with Lia over Steve. For one thing he's younger, he's had more recently success than Steve even though it was on a lower level, he's probably cheaper and he'll likely attract more sponsorship than Steve. In addition, although it's commonly thought that Steve parted ways with that team on good terms, the way it happened was very strange to me, with the team making the announcement for Steve that he was leaving to go to BDR when no deal actually existed. I just got a very odd vibe from the way that went down even though Steve raced another race or two for the team, so I had a feeling they might not re-visit the past. In addition, Steve might not even be interested in this ride if it was offered to him. He's said repeatedly he wants to race for a team that races up front every week, contends for wins and would be in the Championship hunt. Although this is a decent team, they definitely aren't a Championship contending team right now.

*A few other driver moves for next season were discussed during this race. Apparently Dennis Setzer will race the #4 for Bobby Hamilton Racing next season. I think Setzer will be a good fit for that team, but it's a shame that Mike Bliss won't be remaining in that truck. In the 12 races he's raced the #4, he's got nine top tens and five top fives. However, Bliss may want to concentrate on racing the #22 in the Busch Series, since it's expected he'll be behind the wheel of that car full time next season. I didn't hear it myself but apparently it was also confirmed that Ted Musgrave would be heading to the #60 truck in 2008, and that he hopes to reunite most of his old team from the #1 team that he won a Championship with at Wyler Racing.

*Of course I'm biased a little because Michael Waltrip is my favorite driver, but I have to say that I love the team that Speed has in the booth for these races - Michael, Rick Allen and Phil Parsons. I think the three of them do an exceptional job of calling the races and I enjoy listening to the truck broadcasts (even when Michael's not in the booth) more than I do the broadcasts of any other series. I love Michael's excitement in the booth when he calls these races - his excitement is just like that of the fans watching at home and it speaks to how much passion he has for this series. Rick and Phil are outstanding as well and all three seem to work extremely well together. Overall, Speed does a terrific job with their broadcasts. In comparison to the other series where the networks struggle to cover all the action on the track, talk about all the teams and broadcast the race in a compelling way, Speed does a very good job of talking about as many of the teams as possible and showing all the action on the track.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts

*As widely rumored, Best Buy is leaving Haas-CNC Racing to become the primary sponsor of the #19 at Evernham Motorsports. I think Best Buy is a great fit for Elliott Sadler who is in his own words "a gadget guy." Not only does Best Buy get a driver who says he was a big fan of their stores even before they became his sponsor, they will also be sponsoring a younger and higher profile driver than Jeff Green, who was in the #66 at Haas.Odds are that in spite of Evernham's struggles this season, Best Buy has a greater chance of ending up in Victory Lane as the sponsor of the #19 than if they stayed at Haas, even though Jeremy Mayfield, Green's replacement, is a driver who knows how to win too.

*What gets me is that Mike Mulhern from the Winston-Salem Journal, reported in his column today that the Best Buy announcement today might be that they were going to sponsor David Gilliland at Yates Racing. It's entirely possibly that there were some conversations at some point between Best Buy and Yates. However, given that every rumor making the rounds connected Best Buy to Evernham, I think Mulhern should have done a little more digging before reporting the Best Buy to Yates item. In fact all he needed to do was talk to Ray Evernham who apparently told Dave Moody on Sirius that Elliott was going to be able to get a "best buy on electronics." Of course this is nothing new for Mulhern - while he gets some things right, he frequently reports things that have little to no truth to them, and uses very poor sourcing. But I guess it makes for more readers when he reports wild and crazy rumors.

*Turns out one reason why Best Buy left Haas-CNC was Gene Haas's legal troubles which resulted in him being sentenced recently to a two-year sentence in prison. Although Brad Morrill, Best Buy's senior motorsports manager says that it was only one reason that led them to explore their options with other teams, I suspect that it was a pretty big reason why they left. Sponsors can overlook a lot but it's difficult to ignore major legal issues and prison sentences. According to Nascar Scene, Haas-CNC says they will field the #66 even if a replacement sponsor isn't found but I have to wonder how realistic that is, particularly if they expect to be competitive? I have to admit I'm surprised that Jeremy Mayfield would enter into that kind of a situation after having just left a team with major sponsor woes that were factor in the team's struggles. If Best Buy was concerned about Haas's legal issues, I have to think that other sponsors would be as well, so getting a ride with Haas might not be as much of a step up from Bill Davis Racing for Mayfield as it first seemed.

*Speaking of Jeff Green, if anyone's been wondering what he's been up to, and I suspect not too many have even noticed he's hasn't been racing since he was released from the #66, according to his website, Green has been hunting the past few weeks and seems to be having some success as he bagged a bull moose in Maine. He's now off in Illinois on another hunting trip. I'm thinking it's not too likely we'll be seeing him back in Cup next season.

*As expected Hall of Fame Racing will be a Toyota organization next season, following the lead of Joe Gibbs Racing who they get cars and engines from. HoF's continuing alliance with JGR means that J.J. Yeley and Brad Coleman haven't really parted ways with JGR even though they're not officially racing directly for that organization. In the case of Coleman who will race a limited amount of Cup races for HoF in 2008, then race Cup full-time for them in 2009, it's a way for JGR to keep an informal association with a very promising young driver who they didn't have room for in one of their own Cup cars. Although HoF hasn't had much success in Cup so far, Toyota is probably happy to gain two more young drivers into their stable.

*Despite the fact that he's been unable to qualify for any of the six Cup races he's attempted so far this season, Penske Racing announced yesterday that Sam Hornish, Jr. will race the #77 Cup car full-time next season with Mobil 1 as a sponsor. If Penske is really committed to Hornish in Cup, I don't think this is a wise choice. Although Hornish clearly knows how to race given that he's a three-time Indy Car Champion, he's not shown much in the limited time that he's been in Nascar. I think Penske would be better off putting Hornish in a Busch car full-time next season then in 2009 moving him up to Cup. Penske will likely transfer the points from the #2 to the #77 so Hornish will be guaranteed a spot in the first five races, so Hornish won't have to worry about qualifying for those races at least, but I suspect the results for him at least initially might not be too pretty.

*DEI announced this week a number of personnel moves which are intended to improve their race operations. Dave Charpentier will move from being Paul Menard's crew chief into the Technical Director position, and a number of others have also received promotions. Doug Randolph will leave Petty Enterprises where he was Bobby Labonte's crew chief to assume the same role for Menard. Of course Junior fans are finding every which way to make these moves seem like the last gasps of a dying organization but the reality is that DEI is doing exactly what they need to do to become stronger.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park to Attend Homestead in Search of an Opportunity

The following was posted last night on Steve Park's website:

Steve Park, a two time NEXTEL CUP winner, will attend Homestead in search of opportunity for the 2008 racing season.

"I'm determined to find an opportunity that puts me with a team that can not only win races, but win championships as well. I've had success in all three of the top divisions of NASCAR, and I'm determined to continue that success with an excellent organization. I intend to show my face in the garage area and try and strike a spark with some teams that have the potential to win. I want team owner's to know how determined I am!" Park said.

As one who worked in public relations, I'm familiar with spin and how press releases are often full of exaggerations but if Steve truly wants a ride not just with a team that can win races, but one that can contend for Championships, then he needs to do a lot more than just show his face in the garage area and talk.

I've said all this what seems like a hundred times before in this space, but Steve can't just be saying how determined he is, he needs to prove it. Race, test, spot, consult, mentor, even do some media work. Whatever it takes to show teams that he really wants to stay involved in the sport. Every single driver in the garage wants to race for an elite team whether that's what they're doing or not. Most of them are hungry to make something happen and are actively doing a lot more than Steve is at this point to show what they're capable of. As someone else said on SPC, if this were a popularity contest Steve would win hands down since he's such a great person who is well-liked by all. But it's not. Teams want to to see that a driver will give 110% effort to their team whether they're given good or bad equipment to race, that a driver can make the most of the car or truck they're given, that they have the right attitude not just in conversations but on the track, that they race hard, that they can represent a sponsor well, etc... all things that Steve hasn't done in more than a year.

Steve's last Cup win was six years ago and many things have changed since then. His last Busch win was ten years ago and even his truck win was almost three years ago. What Steve did years ago isn't going to get him much of anything, and especially not a ride with a Championship caliber team, now. He needs to show what he's capable of in 2007, not what he was once capable of. It's not just race results, it's all the intangibles that teams also look for when it comes to putting the pieces together for what they hope will be a successful team. Taking a crap car that has no chance of racing up front and finishing 25th while bringing it home in one piece, providing helpful feedback that might help the team improve, mentoring a young teammate and in general showing a willingness to do whatever it takes to help a team get as much success as they're capable of, shows something about determination and desire. As for the oft-mentioned sponsorship issue - just bringing a multi-million dollar sponsor may get Steve a ride but probably not with the kind of team he wants - most teams that are winning races consistently and contending for Championships already have sponsors.

I dearly hope to be wrong - I hope Steve proves me wrong and finds an elite ride just by showing his face in the garage area. But I don't know of any drivers who have had an elite ride handed to them after not racing for more than a year. Ward Burton, who has more wins that Steve in Cup (and Busch) including a Daytona 500 win, had to take a non-competitive ride (that Steve would never consider) to return to racing after having not raced for more than a year. If Ward, who tried the same thing as Steve - show up in the garage area, talk to some people and hope for the best, couldn't get a ride with a Championship, winning team, then why does Steve think that's what's going to happen for him?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2007

Photo of the Day - Ogunquit Sunrise

Ogunguit, Maine, July, 2004.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

Old School Racing Champions Tour

A number of mostly former drivers such as David Pearson, Harry Gant, Geoffrey Bodine, Phil Parsons and Derrick Cope are slated to take part in the Old School Racing Champions Tour next season. Over the course of a ten race season, plus a "Last Chance" and "Championship" race, retired and semi-retired drivers will race against each other on short tracks close to that week's Nascar event which should guarantee them a decent audience. After seeing the full line-up of drivers, I have to admit that I wondered whether this was something that Steve Park would consider taking part in since it's not just old dudes who are long retired who will be taking place, but also drivers such as Tim Fedewa, Randy LaJoie and Carl Long, who either still race from time-to-time or have only recently stopped racing. Odds are Steve would find a reason not to do it but it seems like an opportunity to have some fun, interact with fans and race in a situation where there's little pressure regarding points or wins or sponsors.

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

It Might be His Right, But is it Right?

Prince is threatening to sue some of his most diehard fans for copyright and trademark infringement due to materials on some fans websites. While I understand that the law is on Prince's side and I'm also sympathetic to Prince's desire to control and protect his image and music, going after fans is almost always a losing proposition. (In the interest of fair disclosure, it should be mentioned that the fan website that my husband and I run, NYYFans.com received a cease and desist order from Major League Baseball similar to the one the Prince fan websites received a number of years ago when the site was known as Bronx-Bombers.com.) What's particularly disturbing about the cease and desist orders that Prince had his representatives send out is how extreme they are. Prince isn't just concerned about bootleg audio and video, or about album cover artwork, but he's also gone so far as to tell these websites that they even have to remove artwork, and fan photos of tattoos and license plates that depict his image or relate to him. That seems excessive.

Odds are the negative publicity and ill-will Prince is going to create with his fans, some of whom have been fans of his for as long as 30 years, will outweigh anything he gains by making these sites remove what he finds objectionable or shutting them down. What's amazing to me is that these are the people that Prince should be reaching out to the most. The three websites involved have active fan forums and are a tremendous source of news and information about Prince. There's likely no other place to get as much information about Prince outside his official site, than on these sites. In addition, without fans like those who run these sites and participate on them, Prince is nothing. There would be no one to listen to his music, no one to buy his albums, no one to attend concerts and no one to support him. Given that Prince's popularity has waned in comparison to years ago, it seems to me he should be happy and thankful that people still care enough to spend time, money and effort on maintaining websites like these to spread the word about him and his music.

Whenever an individual or entity sends out cease and desist orders like this the question comes up about whether it's an effort to quell free speech and shut down websites or forums that might have critical or negative comments. While I think it's likely that the primary purpose is in fact protecting their copyrights and trademarks, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that some use copyright and trademark protections as a way to shut down websites they don't like. In the end that never works out. For one thing, it's impossible to completely control what fans discuss or think. There will always be negativity and criticism - fans aren't going to like everything that their favorites think or do. But nothing makes fans angrier than when they think there's an effort to censor them. Why would any artist do something to make fans angry and drive them away, when their success is dependent on those same fan's support?

So Prince isn't wrong to be trying to protect his image, his trademarks and anything copyrighted to him. However I'm not so sure he's doing the right thing by going after his fans.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2007

Andy Pettitte Declines $16 Million Option

While many fans are falling all over themselves to poo-poo Andy Pettitte declining his $16 million option with the New York Yankees as no big deal, I think it's very much is cause for concern. It's not Pettitte becoming a free agent and signing with another team that's an issue - he's said that either he'll play for the Yankees or retire next season and that he just needs more time to decide what he wants to do. It's that if Pettitte opts to retire, it leaves the Yankees without a player they were counting on next season for their rotation. Sure, Pettitte might decide he wants to keep pitching and return to the Yankees next season, but just as he hasn't said for sure he's retiring, he's also not said for sure he's coming back. Fact is, losing Pettitte would be a big deal for the Yankees. Some fans seem to think that the Yankees can sign or trade for any player at any time to fill their holes, but quality pitchers don't grow on trees, not every team is willing to make trades with the Yankees, and not every player wants to play in the Bronx.

This isn't the first time that Pettitte has talked about being unsure if he wants to continue pitching. He expressed many of the same sentiments even before the 2006 season started, and it seems like he's made a few similar comments since. That was one reason I was concerned when the Yankees signed Pettitte prior to the 2007 season because I'm leery of a player who waffles about whether they still have the desire to continue playing. I think it's a bit unusual for a player who isn't ancient and appears to still have the ability to play the game well to consider retiring every season. Usually the ball has to be pried out of player's hands because their competitive spirit is so great, and they try to extend their careers well past when they should retire and go out gracefully. Some fans have wondered whether the Mitchell report and the possibility that Pettitte might be named could be a factor. I think that's not too likely considering Pettitte has felt this way for a few years now.

Some think there's no way that Pettitte will retire, since in their minds no player would ever turn down an opportunity to play for the Yankees. But the reality is that the Yankees are a team in transition. Joe Torre is gone, Don Mattingly is gone, A-Rod is gone, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, may leave as well. Pettitte may rather retire than play for a team that might be very different than the Yankees teams of the past he's played on.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2007

Is He For Real?

Both JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports face penalties for being found to have "lugnuts that did not meet specifications" on their Busch cars at Texas. Of course JR Motorsports and HMS are in the process of merging their Busch programs, and one area they apparently already started working together on is in the grey area of Nascar's rule book. Tony Eury, Sr., JR Motorsport's director of competition said,

"We had some lug nuts that had a thread turned out of them, just trying to make pit stops faster. We've got a Busch crew here against all these Cup crews it's hard to compete against them. We just stepped over the line a little bit trying to be even."

First of all, Eury, Sr. appears to be admitting that they deliberately messed with the lugnuts to try to get an advantage over other teams, so now that he's admitted guilt it's going to be hard to have much sympathy when Nascar gives them a penalty. But beyond that I'm supposed to swallow the bit about JR Motorsports being a poor, little Busch team struggling to compete against the big, mean Cup backed teams when they're merging with HMS, one of the strongest Cup organizations? Even prior to when Junior joined HMS and it was announced that his Busch team operation would merge with HMS's Busch operation, he had some support from Richard Childress Racing in terms of engines and equipment, and worked to some degree with DEI. So although JR Motorsports didn't have a Cup crew pitting their car, nor did they normally have a Cup driver behind the wheel, they most certainly weren't fending for themselves, and even less so now that they're merging with HMS which will give them access to the best of the best resources in the garage area from engines to equipment to personnel. I think it's really ridiculous for Eury, Sr. to try to play the we're a Busch-only team that needs every advantage that we can get - ask Fitz Motorsports or Team Rensi Motorsports about what it's like to truly be a Busch-only team looking for every advantage possible.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2007

Photo of the Day - Castle

Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, January, 2004.

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

Foo Fighters - "The Pretender"

Been listening to this song a lot this weekend...

Foo Fighers - "The Pretender"

Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark
And so it all began

Send in your skeletons
Sing as their bones go marching in... again
The need you buried deep
The secrets that you keep are ever ready
Are you ready?
I'm finished making sense
Done pleading ignorance
That whole defense

Spinning infinity, boy
The wheel is spinning me
It's never-ending, never-ending
Same old story

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

In time or so i'm told
I'm just another soul for sale... oh, well
The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We're temporary, temporary
Same old story

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

I'm the voice inside your head
You refuse to hear
I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrored in your stare
I'm what's left, I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that will take you down
Bring you to your knees

So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?

Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
(Keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
(You know they all... pretend)
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
(Keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
(You know they all... pretend)
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?

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

November 03, 2007

Michael Waltrip DNQ's at Texas

I knew that there was a possibility that in spite of how much progress Michael Waltrip Racing has made over the past few months that Michael still might not make every race to finish the season. Still, with how well they had both qualified and raced, I had confidence that the #55 team would qualify for the last three races. Perhaps I shouldn't have had so much confidence. The #55 car was slow in practice and they didn't find any speed for qualifying either, which resulted in yet another DNQ for Michael. I feel really bad for Michael. He's been so happy and excited about how much not only the #55 team has improved, but MWR overall, now a setback, on the heels of another setback when David Reutimann DNQ's last week.

As bad as it was when Michael missed a lot of races earlier in the season, I had come to expect it because of how much his team, and all of MWR was struggling. Now that they've gotten better, I've come to expect that they'll make all the races, so it's hard for me to swallow when they miss one. Because they're outside the top 35 in owner's points and aren't locked in to race, they have no margin for error and it's essential that they show up on Friday with the speed necessary to make the race since one practice isn't enough to make major changes. It's very disappointing to me when they show up with a good car. Earlier in the season it was easier to excuse because of all the turmoil that surrounded the team and the organization, at this point they've shown they can field decent cars, but clearly they still have work to do when it comes to putting together good cars on a weekly basis.

At least the other two MWR cars made the race, and hopefully the #55 team will bounce back next weekend at Phoenix with a strong qualifying effort and a great race!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2007

What Does $350 Million Get You?

Well, if you're the New York Yankees, $350 million would have gotten you Alex Rodriguez for eight years. If you're Bruton Smith and SMI, you can buy New Hampshire International Speedway for $340 million, use it for a lot longer than eight years and still have $10 million left over. That's how ridiculous A-Rod's demand was that the Yankees make him an offer worth at least $350 million if he was to meet with them. The purchase of a race track actually cost less than the amount that an individual baseball player wanted a team to pay him! Insanity. A-Rod already has more money than he'll be able to spend in a lifetime. I don't expect him to play for nothing, but at the same time how much is enough? Will his next contract have another opt-out clause that will allow him to become a free agent again, and try to leverage even more money out of some team? Whatever team ends up with A-Rod better hope that he not only has an MVP season every year, but that he also gets over his inability to be productive in the post-season.

As for SMI buying New Hampshire, I'm not too happy about it since it will likely lead to one of New Hampshire's Cup dates being shifted to Las Vegas. I'm not against Las Vegas getting another Cup race, but I don't think it's right for a track that sells out every Cup race to lose a date. If Las Vegas is to get another Cup race, maybe a track that doesn't sellout should be the track to lose a date. This past weekend at Atlanta there were supposedly many empty seats, and I realized that since there's so many sponsors based in the Atlanta area, there would likely have been even more empty seats without large blocks of tickets being given to those sponsors for their employees. When Nascar is dealing with a decline in fans who are willing to buy tickets to races, and a decline in ratings, it doesn't make sense to me that they would take a date away from a part of the country where the fans are extremely supportive.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)