Random Thoughts

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March 31, 2008

More on Jeff Burton vs. Michael McDowell

I'm still bothered by Jeff Burton's comments after the race about Michael McDowell and how McD didn't move over for Jeff to let him by at the end of the race. I understand that Jeff had just gotten out of his car and his emotions were running high. I also understand that he was frustrated because he felt McD was in his way and preventing him from possibly catching Denny Hamlin for the win. But as Michael Waltrip, McD's car owner said tonight on This Week in Nascar, Jeff's comments were disappointing. I don't agree with his remarks but he has the right to his opinions. But was it really necessary to say them on TV? It seems to me if he thinks McD needs to be told a different way to race in that kind of a situation Jeff could speak with him privately where the advice might be better received rather than giving him a public tongue lashing.

I think Jeff and all the fans who are complaining about McD need to remember that this was his first Cup race ever - he's going to make mistakes and he can't be expected to react to things exactly like a veteran would. There's yellow tape on his back bumper for a reason. Maybe that's part of the problem though - maybe Jeff was taken aback by a rookie being such a handful for him to race against. Well, whether it's a veteran or a rookie racing isn't supposed to be easy. If Jeff really wants to get by, find a way by even if it means moving McD out of the way if Jeff thinks that's what needs to happen.

But the more I think about it the more I think McD had every right to be racing in that spot. For one thing it's not like McD was many laps down - he had just gone one lap down so he was racing the leader to potentially get back on the lead lap. Secondly he was trying to catch Travis Kvapil for 18th. Why is Jeff allowed to race hard to better his position but not McD? How about Travis who was also racing the leaders? Why doesn't anyone have a problem with him racing the leaders? If it's okay for a veteran than it should be okay for a rookie too. It's true that there is a protocol or etiquette which dictates moving over for the leaders but if a driver thinks that they are still racing for something like McD did, then I don't think they should have to move over so quickly.

In general I get a little irked with how often some feel that drivers should move over all the time. I definitely think that cars that are many laps down or that are slow should move over. But some seem to think that drivers shouldn't fight to stay on the lead lap, if they're already a lap down should just give up instead of trying not to lose another lap, shouldn't race for position if they aren't as much of a "name" as the driver they're racing against, etc... Then there's how in some situations teammates are expected to lay back for teammates such as when one is a Chase contender and the other isn't. If everyone was moving over for each other as much as some seem to want we might not even see any actual racing!

What really gets me is that fans will complain about how the racing is boring and how the drivers just ride around single file. Yet a lot of times when a driver races hard fans - and some drivers - don't like that either. It seems like someone is always unhappy with something.

McD was on XM this afternoon and he talked about how he felt like he was racing for position and that at the time he didn't do anything wrong but now in looking back he might do a few things differently. While I think McD and all the drivers should race each other with respect, I also hope he won't do things too differently. Drivers should be racing each other, not just moving aside for each other. It's really unfortunate that that lost in all this controversy is that McD raced in the top 20 for almost the entire race and that's extremely impressive for a rookie at Martinsville in his first Cup race ever.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/31)

*I've said in this space that I think Kyle Busch sometimes fans are hard on Kyle even when he doesn't deserve it just because of his reputation but he definitely deserves everything he gets after wrecking Johnny Benson on the last lap of the truck race. I don't have a problem with Kyle being aggressive but he can't make careless mistakes that led to wrecks. Nascar wasn't too happy with his behavior either and they called him to their hauler for a chat. What Nascar also frowned upon was the confrontation that might have involved some fists flying between Johnny and Kyle's teams. No matter how angry one team is at another teams can't be fighting each other. I know some fans love that kind of thing but I think it's unprofessional. I still think some of the reactions to what Kyle did are a little humorous - if Nascar threw every driver who wrecked another driver out of the sport there might not be many drivers left to race.

*Not surprisingly Kyle Busch's actions overshadowed the return of Dennis Setzer and Bobby Hamilton Racing to Victory Lane. That's unfortunate because Setzer pretty much dominated the race by leading 126 of 250 laps. It was also BHR's first trip to VL since Bobby Hamilton won in 2005. Setzer has been very good for BHR finishing outside the top 15 just twice since he started racing for them after having been released by Spears Motorsports last year.

*Elliott Sadler ended up racing every lap of yesterday's race and while he finished well as I mentioned in the previous entry I hope he doesn't even up regretting the decision to stay in the car. Back injuries can linger and it seems to me that maybe Elliott's long-term health is as important as the short-term goal of Elliott finishing the race. I'm sure he didn't want to get out of the car for anything but maybe someone on his team should have encouraged it just to be safe. What's interesting is that there appears to be some question as to just exactly how Elliott hurt his back. It was said that he hurt it while working out then aggravated it playing golf, but that might not be what actually happened. Why the secrecy? Was Elliott doing something he shouldn't have been doing when he got injured?

*Apparently Petty Enterprises is on the verge of entering into a partnership with Medallion Financial, a company that primarily deals with financing taxicab medallions in a variety of East Coast cities. Although the partnership would bring additional outside financial resources to PE which are very much needed, the way this partnership would work seems like it has some risk to it since PE would become a public company and shares would be sold. We'll see how this deal shapes up - if it even happens - and how it effects PE.

*Speaking of the Pettys, Kyle DNQ'd for this weekend's Cup race at Martinsville. It's surprising and it's not surprising at the same time. I'm a little surprised because in the past Kyle and his team have really stepped up their game and made races and raced better when they've needed to. But it's also not surprising because the performance for the #45 team has been putrid overall this entire season. They've blamed some of their problems on mechanical issues but that doesn't explain why they've been slow as molasses from start to finish every race weekend.

*BAM Racing made theswitch to Toyota this weekend at Martinsville. This was one of the worst kept secrets in Nascar. It's been rumored for quite some time that BAM was thinking about merging with another organization or otherwise making a change, and all last week that they were becoming a Toyota team was being talked about pretty openly on more than one fan forum, courtesy of some who had claimed to have seen the cars at BAM in the process of being made into Toyotas. BAM won't be merging with Bill Davis Racing as many thought they would, but they will be getting engines from BDR, and possibly some help on the marketing side. Although BDR has struggled the last few years in Cup themselves, they are still a much larger organization than BAM, and they can probably help BAM with some things that they don't have the personnel to do themselves. The #49 also picked up some sponsorship in the form of Microsoft Small Business, which will be the primary sponsor of the car at Martinsville - a smart move since Ken Schrader has done well there over the course of his career - and will be an associate sponsor for the rest of the season. However, the team is still in need of more sponsorship and as much as working with BDR may help them in some areas, additional financial resources so the Morgenthau's don't have to pay the bills out of their own pockets is what would really help. Ken usually does well at tracks like Martinsville and he seemed to be on his way to a fairly good finish yesterday until he got wrecked.

*Hard to believe but in spite of racing well enough to be fifth in points Mike Bliss has left the #22 at Fitz Motorsports for the #1 at Phoenix Racing. From what I understand part of the issue was money and I can understand why Bliss might be unhappy over money issues. However, while Bliss seems to be able to get the most out of the cars and trucks he's in the #1 doesn't seem to be as good of a ride as the #22 at the moment unless there's going to be some changes to improve the team. Not to mention James Finch changes drivers at the drop of a hat so there's no guarantee that Bliss will last the season. Hope this plays out for Bliss the way he's hoping it will. As for the #22 Robby Gordon is going to race it for a few races and maybe some other Cup drivers as well which could help that organization pick up some much needed sponsorship.

*Some of the Camping World East teams were testing at Greenville-Pickens Raceway last Monday, the site of the first race of the East Series on April 19. Teams included those from DEI, Joe Gibbs Racing and Ken Schrader Racing. Based on the photos it looks like Ken was there helping Ricky Carmichael who he's fielding a car for this season. I think that's pretty cool that Ken isn't just throwing him in a car, he's actually taking the time to be there at testing and presumably elsewhere to help him get adjusted to racing stock cars. I really wish that Steve Park's team had been among those that tested Greenville-Pickens, but maybe that will happen on another day. I don't know what the rules are in the East Series regarding testing, but I'd guess it might be more relaxed than it is in the higher series. Thing is, I don't know if Steve's team has the financial resources in comparison to some of these larger teams to test a lot - or even at all. Maybe they're already done some testing and I've just not heard about it, or they plan on doing some testing in the coming weeks but considering how long it's been since Steve has raced regularly, not to mention how many good teams it seems like there's going to be in the East Series this season, I don't think it would be a bad idea for them to do a little testing if they could.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)

More on "Partgate"

Michael Waltrip met with the media on Saturday to answer questions related to the swaybar from Roush-Fenway Racing that ended up at Michael Waltrip Racing. What's unfortunate is that the media session had been pre-arranged so that Michael could discuss the changes with the #00 and #44, but that was completely overshadowed by Jack Roush's accusations against Toyota and MWR. Of course Michael repeated that the sway bar was taken accidentally and said that he had no knowledge of the bar having been sandblasted or any calls being made to vendors in an effort to get it duplicated. And contrary to what many fans think there's a good chance that's true. Aside from knowing from my own experience (on the non-competitive side) that at times the flow of information internally at MWR could have been better in the past, the two people who took the sway bar - whether intentionally or not - are no longer at MWR, and this also look place before Dr. Eric Warren and Cal Wells, III were overseeing the competition side. So it's entirely possible that no one had any idea that this sway bar was sitting around in a storage area until someone from Roush called looking for it.

Some fans are skeptical that the part could have been taken accidentally but I think that's entirely possible as well. If the two toolboxes were right next to each other and the sway bar wasn't actually in the toolbox it seems to me that it's not out of the realm of possibility that someone could think that the sway bar was one of theirs particularly if they were in a rush to get packed up at the end of the race. What continues to puzzle me is why if this sway bar was so valuable in the first place it was left unattended. In my limited experience in the garage area most of the time the teams keep a careful eye on their stuff. That doesn't mean that there's someone standing on top of every part all the time, but usually there's someone in the general vicinity. That's not necessarily because what other teams might do but because fans get into things - a lot. So most teams seem to want to pay close attention otherwise they might find fans picking up or grabbing things that they shouldn't. That's not to blame the Roush team if they were truly a victim of a theft, but it's just not making sense to me why they weren't more careful with what Jack is acting like is a very valuable part.

While I think Jack has the right to be upset that a part of his ended up with another team, and especially if it was due to it being deliberately taken, I still don't care for the way he's handled this. If his part was so valuable why did it take months for the team to notice that it was missing? If the part was so valuable and Jack was so upset about it being taken why didn't he press charges against the individual or individuals who took it if he was so sure that it was stolen? If the part was so valuable and so much damage has been done to Jack and Roush-Fenway Racing why have they decided not to pursue any legal action unless they find evidence that the part was duplicated? Of course it might be hard to pursue legal action considering he already got the part back and I suspect Jack doesn't have a patent on it so it would probably be hard to find something to sue for. But it continues to bother me that instead of addressing things directly with those involved Jack took this to the media.

In fact, what I find really disturbing is that Geoff Smith, the general manager of Roush-Fenway Racing, admitted that Jack would never have said anything to the reporter in Atlanta about any of this if not for the comments that Lee White made about Jack in relation to the Carl Edwards oil tank incident. Just exactly how upset was Jack about his sway bar if he didn't feel the need to speak out about it until months afterwards and when he did it was in response to Lee's comments that he found insulting? I think it's ridiculous that it seems that Jack was fine with the way the situation had been handled until he got upset at what Lee said. Again, I think Jack has the right to be unhappy with his swaybar being taken, even if it was something that was accidental, but to damage MWR's reputation when they're still recovering from what happened last season as part of a vendetta against Lee White and Toyota is completely out-of-line. Would Jack have even made an issue of this if the team in question was a Dodge or a Chevy team? He and Lee need to handle any issues between them privately not via the media in a way that is damaging to both of them and their teams. Lee was just as much out of line with his remarks about Jack and it also bothers me that him not keeping his comments to himself set this all off.

Where I agree with Jack is in reference to Nascar not wanting to get involved. To me it seems that theft in the garage area should be a concern of theirs. In this case it will likely never be known if the sway bar was taken deliberately because no one seems to have seen it taken to know for sure what actually happened. But in general Nascar shouldn't tolerate thieves if it's ever found that someone takes something deliberately. I agree with Junior who said that Nascar should revoke the hard card of someone who is found to be stealing. I think that this likely isn't the first instance of a part from one team ending up with another team, and I think there's likely some spying and stealing of information that goes on. But just because these things happen doesn't mean that it's okay.

What bothers me the most thought is that once again Michael's reputation and that of MWR is getting trashed once again. It's entirely possible that someone at MWR deliberately took the sway bar and attempted to gain some knowledge from it - if it's true that it was sandblasted and they called a vendor to get it duplicated that's kind of sketchy. However, it's also entirely possible that the part was truly picked up by accident, and it's troubling to me that so many are unwilling to even consider that possibility. Everyone was very wiling to excuse Robby Gordon for the mistake his organization made when they put the wrong nose on his cars, why is it so hard to believe that someone at another organization might have also made a mistake? As I've complained about before some fans are very close-minded once they've made up their minds about someone or something and many of them have already decided they don't like Michael or MWR so they find it impossible to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I just hope that this doesn't effect MWR's efforts to re-sign UPS and NAPA. As happy as a company like NAPA might be with the exposure they've gotten from being associated with Michael, no company wants to constantly deal with negative publicity, no matter what the reasons it might be happening. I hope that MWR is able to improve the performance of all three of their cars sooner rather than later and that they aren't involved in any other controversial incidents this season - the future of MWR might be riding on it.

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

Martinsville I

Overall I thought it was a good race. There was action, there was excitement, and most importantly there was some good racing it seemed.

1. Denny Hamlin - Wins in his homestate. Every driver wants a Martinsville clock but it has to be particularly special for Denny.

2. Jeff Gordon - Talk about a master at this track! Jeff hasn't finished outside the top five at this track in seven races and hasn't finished outside the top ten at Martinsville since 2002, a stretch of time that includes four wins. Finishing second might be disappointing to Jeff since he led 90 laps but it moved him five spots up in the points to ninth. He was lucky to have not received more damage in the incident when Bobby LaBonte spun and he got collected.

3. Jeff Burton - Jeff was angry with Michael McDowell after the race because he felt that McD held him up at the end of the race. I can see both sides on this one. I can understand Jeff's frustration because the protocol there is that McD should let the leaders get by. But on the other hand McD felt that he was racing others for position so I'm not sure slowing down to let everyone go by would have been the best course of action either. Although Jeff didn't insult McD after the race, I would have preferred that he spoke with McD privately - after all, this was McD's first Cup race ever and he could use Jeff's advise about how to handle different situations more than he could use a public tongue-lashing.

4. Jimmie Johnson - Led 135 laps and looked like the man to beat for a while until he spun. Luckily for Jimmie he and his team were able to rebound for a top five finish that moved him up to 10th in the points.

5. Tony Stewart - Seemed like a kind of quiet day for Tony - he was in the mix racing up front but we didn't hear too much about him on the broadcast.

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Led 146 laps so a lot of his fans had penciled him in for the win but it was not to be. If I understand what was said on the Junior Pitstop correctly Junior ended up with an iffy set of tires on a pit stop and that cost him some spots. Stuff happens. That's why they race 500 laps. There are so many drivers and teams that would love to be off to a start like this - Junior has only finished outside the top ten once so far this season.

7. Casey Mears - Casey's 7th place finish means that all four Hendrick cars ended up finishing in the top ten. Casey definitely needed a strong finish like this and hopefully it's a sign of more good things to come for him this season.

8. Jamie McMurray - Another driver who needed a strong finish and got it. With this finish Jamie was able to get back into the top 35 in owner's points and while I think he'll be able to race well enough to stay there, I'm not convinced that he's suddenly going to start racing up front all the time when he hasn't done that consistently for a long time.

9. Carl Edwards - Ran out of gas with just a few laps to go otherwise he probably would have finished better.

10. Clint Bowyer - After three so-so starts, Clint follows it up with three top tens in a row.

11. David Ragan - Although David wrecked at Daytona, otherwise the season has started much better for him than it did last year. More than a few fans felt that Nascar should have prevented David from racing Cup last season but he's looking like a driver who belongs so far this year.

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Juan Montoya - Juan's finishes have gotten progressively better with each race, but I think the expectations were that Juan would be a Chase driver this season. He's still Ganassi's best driver this season so far.

14. Regan Smith - Regan's best finish of his career in Cup couldn't have come at a better time. This finish enabled him to get back into the top 35 in owner's points but the question is can he stay there? If he reverts back to finishing around 35th every week, probably not.

15. Elliott Sadler - Early in the weekend there was some doubt as to how long Elliott would be able to last in this race due to the back injury he suffered last week. But Elliott ended up racing every lap. While it resulted in a solid finish, I wonder if that was really the right choice. It's essential that Elliott's back heal and my concern would be that forcing himself to last 500 laps on a track that's tough for even a healthy driver might cause that injury to linger.

16. Paul Menard - Best finish of the season for Paul so far.

17. Kasey Kahne - Never felt he had a very good car and the team struggled to make it better.

18. Travis Kvapil - Not a bad finish for Travis.

19. Ryan Newman - Got spun in the same incident that Jimmie Johnson did.

20. Greg Biffle - Finished fairly well considering he had to start at the back due to an engine change and was involved in an incident that resulted in two other cars going for a spin.

21. Martin Truex Jr. - Got some damage in an early incident that might have hurt him.

22. Dario Franchitti - Best finish of the season and his career. Good job for Dario on a tough track.

23. Brian Vickers - Poor Brian. He was racing up front and on his way to a very good finish when he ran out of gas at the end of the race.

24. David Gilliland - Matt Kenseth retaliated against him, I'm just not sure exactly what for.

25. Bobby Labonte - Got spun early on.

26. Michael McDowell - Was involved in some controversy as noted above at the end of the race but prior to that McD was in the top 20 almost the entire day which is outstanding for a rookie in his first Cup start ever. If not for the flat tire he probably would have finished a lot better.

27. J.J. Yeley - Got spun early on.

28. Sam Hornish Jr. - Got spun and got run into a few times. Had just gotten into the top 35 and now he's back out again. He may be in trouble - I wouldn't be surprised to see him miss a race and struggle to get back into the top 35.

29. Patrick Carpentier - Got spun a few times.

30. Matt Kenseth - Really tough day for Matt. Got hit on pit road which caused a lot of damage to his car, and then retaliated against David Gilliland for something which got him penalized by Nascar.

31. Mike Skinner - Not a very good day for Mike - ran into trouble on the track and in the pits seemingly all day.

32. Jeremy Mayfield - Had a battery issue.

33. Kurt Busch - Really tough race for Kurt - got spun and spun others. Dropped six places in the points standings to 16th.

34. Bill Elliott - One of many who got spun.

35. Michael Waltrip - A really bad day for Michael and his team. It's unfortunate because Michael seemed to have a good car but on a restart he got into Aric Armirola which resulted in a cut tire and then a brush with the wall. The ensuing trip to pit road for repairs put him six laps down and then a spin cost him more laps when he got stuck on the curbing.

36. Reed Sorenson - Had some sort of transmission issue.

37. Ken Schrader - Got spun.

38. Kyle Busch - A gear issue ruined his day. A lot of fans think it was exactly what he deserved for spinning Johnny Benson the day before in the truck race.

39. David Reutimann - Poor David. Seemed to have a decent car until a gear issue sent him to the garage. Apparently his car also caught on fire and he was leaking some fluid on the track as well. Because Nascar wouldn't allow MWR to swap points between the #00 and #44 this finish means that David is outside the top 35 once again.

40. Robby Gordon - Might have finished okay even after tangling with Mike Skinner but a gear issue sent him to the garage for a while. Even when he was many laps down Robby was driving very aggressively which didn't seem to endear him to his fellow drivers.

41. Scott Riggs

42. Aric Almirola - Aric did well at Bristol but definitely didn't fare as well at Martinsville. Seemed like he was constantly getting hit or hitting someone else in this race.

43. Dave Blaney - Poor Dave. Since he's outside the top 35 in owner's points Dave really needed a strong finish and it looked like that was exactly what was going to happen. But somehow some damage to the radiator occurred and he ended up with a DNF.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2008

Denny Hamlin Wins in Martinsville, Bad Day for MWR

Denny Hamlin must be thrilled to have won today considering Martinsville is his home track! There's probably a lot of fan who are very happy that a non-Hendrick car ended up in Victory Lane too. Personally I like Jeff Gordon so I was hoping that he'd win but I'm okay with Denny winning too. What gets me is that there are some Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans who are up in arms because Junior "only" finished 6th when at one point he looked like the driver to beat. If I understand correctly the issue is that some disagree with Tony Eury, Jr.'s decision to pit toward the end of the race. Apparently a set of tires were put on the car that weren't very good. It's ridiculous to be calling for Tony, Jr.'s head when Junior finished in the top ten for the fifth time in six races. Junior fans have no idea how good they have it. Tony, Jr. may not be perfect but no one is, and he's one of the better crew chiefs in the garage. I'd love for someone to make a rash decision and decide that Tony, Jr. is the wrong crew chief for Junior because then maybe he'd be reunited with Michael Waltrip - Tony, Jr. helped Michael race the best he ever has.

Speaking of Michael he was on his way to a top twenty finish until he got into Aric Armirola on a restart which ended up resulting in a cut tire and a tangle with the wall. That sent Michael to pit road for repairs under green, and in spite of how bad it was I suppose it could have been worse because at least he was able to continue. Not DNF'ing meant that because of attrition he was able to finish 35th and stick in the top 35 in owner's points - but not by much. It's going to be essential that the #55 team is on their game and finishes well next week in Texas. Michael was clearly more comfortable with Bobby Kennedy as his crew chief but the communication was still rocky and Michael even said so at one point. Even with Bobby Michael didn't always give a lot of feedback about the car - at one point all he said was that the car had issues, but Bobby seemed to know what changes might make the car more to Michael's liking. Generally Michael gets along well with Mark Green, his spotter but today he seemed very frustrated with Mark and told him at one point that he needed to get his head in the game. What really bothered me is that early on no one seemed to know who was talking to who - they need to be on the same page and not be confused like that. I feel bad for Michael because he blamed himself for their bad day, but at least he left Martinsville still in the top 35. Also, the car was pretty good so hopefully that's a good sign about the competitiveness of the cars moving forward.

It was a bad day for David Reutimann as well. Nascar not allowing Michael Waltrip Racing to swap points between the #00 and #44 really bit David in the butt. For a while it seemed like he was on his way to a top 20-25 finish but mechanical problems sent him to the garage and eventually caused him to DNF. That was deadly because David had zero margin for error. So now the #44 is outside the top 35 in owner's points and David will have to go back to qualifying on time again next weekend. I have every confidence that David can qualify for next weekend's race and finish well enough to get back into the top 35 in owner's points but it's really not a very good position to be in. UPS can't be happy either - finally it seemed like they were guaranteed to race each week only to have that slip away thanks to mechanical issues.

What was really surprising was that Michael McDowell in his first Cup race ever ended up being the highest finishing MWR driver. I was extremely impressed with McD! I wasn't sure how he'd fare at such a tough track but he ended up racing in the top 20 for the majority of the race until he got a flat tire with just a few laps to go. He ended up finishing 26th which has to be a disappointment considering he was in the top 15 at one point, but again, for his first Cup race ever isn't too shabby. After the race Jeff Burton was displeased because McD didn't move over for the leaders like Jeff thought he should have but it should be expected that a rookie in his first Cup start ever might make a mistake. The other thing is that I believe at that point McD had just gone a lap down - generally the protocol is that that a driver who is many laps down should move over for the leaders but when a driver is just a lap or two down they can race the leaders a little since there's no telling what might happen that could results in them getting a lap back. I understand Jeff's frustration at being held up and it probably would have been better if McD had just let them go by, but on the other hand Jeff just needed to make his way around McD like the other leaders did. Overall, I really liked what I saw from McD and if he races like this at other tracks he is going to be very successful for MWR.

In terms of the top 35, I feel for Dave Blaney - it looked like he was on his way to a solid top 10 or top 15 finish that might have gotten him back into the top 35 but mechanical gremlins - yet again - sent him to the garage. The further behind Dave gets the harder it's going to be for him to get back into the top 35.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:07 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2008

Nascar Won't Intervene; Jeff Gordon Thinks It's Good Entertainment

As much as I love Michael Waltrip and I support Michael Waltrip Racing, I have to say that if a Roush-Fenway Racing part was deliberately and knowingly stolen that wouldn't sit well with me, and I think Jack has a legitimate reason to be upset. However, at the same time I think Jack needs to keep things in perspective, particularly since he got his part back. This isn't something that Nascar is even willing to intervene on. In addition, Jeff Gordon said that Jack shouldn't be taking it seriously. He said,

"I talked to some of my guys on my team. They said you'd be surprised. You're cleaning up or in post-race inspection and stuff gets laid around. You can take it. You cannot take it. You can tell a NASCAR official it's just laying around. It happens all the time. If they don't claim it I think it's kind of yours. The difference is Roush wanted it back."

He also called it "silly." it is kind of silly the fuss that Jack is making. Just exactly what is he going to take legal action about? That MWR returned his part to them once they discovered that it had ended up in their shop? He says he might get a restraining order to prevent MWR from using anything they learned from the part. Just exactly how is he going to prove what knowledge they gained or prevent them from using it? Is he going to try to bar them from ever working on sway bars? Please, let's get real. Maybe instead of going to the media, something Jack admitted he did in anger, or whining to Nascar who say it's impossible to police the teams, he should be taking measures to be sure that proprietary parts and anything else that he wouldn't want another team to get their hands on isn't laying around unattended.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip: We Took the Part By Mistake

Unfortunately it turns out the rumors were correct and the Toyota team that was in possession of one of Roush-Fenway Racing's proprietary parts was Michael Waltrip Racing. Michael said that someone from his team picked the part up by mistake. He said,

“It was a mistake. Look at the back of these toolboxes. There are sway bars, there’s jack handles, and it wound up in our possession. We called them and said, ‘We want to give this back.’ ”

I can definitely buy that a mistake was made and a part was picked up by accident, but what's the explanation for the part being sandblasted and inquires made as to how to get the part duplicated with the vendor? Also, according to Jack Roush the only way he got the part back was because someone from his organization contacted someone at MWR. Which is it? Did MWR call to give the part back or did that only happen because Roush discovered they had it?

This is so disappointing to me that MWR is involved with this. I adore Michael and I want things to work out well for him for a change. This is most definitely bad news for his organization and for his reputation which took such a beating last year. I can only hope that those that were involved with this at MWR are no longer part of the organization if there really was a theft and that there are policies in place to be sure that it doesn't happen again.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

In the News: Michael Waltrip (3/28)

All the charges against Michael Waltrip stemming from his accident last April have been dropped "in the best interest of justice" after Michael spoke to several schools about driving safety. I'm not surprised that the charges were dropped. After the court date was delayed and delayed, I figured that they would work something out where he would just do community service, particularly since what he was actually charged with wasn't all that major in the grand scheme of things. Michael said,

"What I did was really beneficial for me... I look at it as just an opportunity to change one child’s life forever with their decision-making … is what makes me proud. I got a lot of positive feedback from it. I’m very thankful to turn something that was an unfortunate accident into something could be positive for many people for many years to come.”

I'm glad that he was able to take something positive from what was a very negative situation and that he got the opportunity to do something that could make a different in other people's lives. If just one young driver learns from the mistake that Michael made it would be a very good thing.

Michael Waltrip Racing's request to swap owner's points between the #00 and #44 in conjunction with David Reutimann switching from the #00 to the #44 has been denied. Nascar has decided that unless there's a merger they won't allow teams to swap owner's points during the season. That means that David and the #44 will have very little margin for error since they will be 34th in owner's points. Although I understood why MWR was looking to make the change, I wasn't crazy about the plan to swap points since both cars were in the top 35 in owner's points. That said, I agreed with Michael when he said that owners should be allowed to do what they want with their owner's points. After all, the owner puts together the team and hires the driver that earns the owner's points for each car. So why shouldn't they be able to switch them around between teams internally?

However, I can also understand why Nascar might have decided to not allow teams to move owner's points around since it could lead to some abuses of the system, particularly if teams swapped points between their teams multiple times. What this means is that Petty Enterprises won't be allowed to swap points between the #45 and #43 as they were considering to take advantage of Bobby LaBonte's champion's provisional, nor would Roush-Fenway Racing be allowed to do any points swapping if Jamie McMurray can't race his way back into the top 35. Nascar hasn't stopped the points swapping practice completely - as noted they'll allow it if it comes via a merger between two teams, and teams will also be allowed to swap owner's points between their teams during the off-season such as what Penske Racing did with the #2 and #77.

There was an excellent article on Michael McDowell in Nascar Scene last week. Michael (Waltrip) said of his driver,

“What we like about him is being humble and eager to learn, and wide-eyed and open and everything you hope a kid would be when he gets an opportunity like this. Out of all the thousands and thousands of kids who want this chance to be one of the 43 drivers, you should be very grateful. And he is, and that means a lot to me.”

One thing I keep hearing over and over about McD is what a great attitude he has. And I think having the right attitude is really important. Some teams may overlook attitude issues when a driver has an immense amount of talent, but I think for the majority of drivers all those things that Michael cited, being humble, willing to learn and being grateful, among other qualities are the things that make the difference when it comes to being successful and sticking around in this sport that chews up and spits out so many.

One thing in this article that I wasn't aware of is that McD's mother had passed away three years ago from cancer at age 45 - that's something that has a deep and lasting effect. As happy as he must be to be making his first Cup start, It must also be sad for him in some ways to be taking this step in his racing career and not have his mother there to see him do it.

So far with just the go-or-go-homers left to go Michael and David have qualified pretty well for Martinsville - 14th and 15th. Starting in the top 20 at this track would definitely be a good thing! Hopefully all three MWR cars will finish well on Sunday - it's a tricky track and it's easy to get swept up in someone else's mistake but hopefully things will go well for Michael and his teams!

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

Elliott Sadler Injures Back, May Not be Able to Race at Martinsville

Elliott Sadler injured his back pretty badly last week to the point where he's in a great deal of pain when he sits down. As a result Dennis Setzer practiced the #19 this afternoon and may also qualify the car. From the sounds of it Elliott may not be able to practice tomorrow either and in a worst case scenario might not be able to race on Sunday unless the team can figure out a way to make him comfortable in the car.

What must complicate things tremendously is that usually muscle relaxers and pain killers are prescribed for back injuries but Elliott probably can't take any of those things to relieve the pain because those medications are likely all on the banned substance list for drivers for a certain number of days prior to when they're getting in the car. Apparently Elliott initially injured himself while he was working out and then injured himself even further while he was playing golf. I'm sure some fans will criticize him for playing golf after he hurt himself the first time but the pain probably wasn't too bad so he might not have thought it was anything too serious. Not to mention depending on who he was playing golf with he might have felt he couldn't cancel his golf date if he was playing with sponsors or others he might be obligated to.

With Elliott off to somewhat of an uneven start to the season following a couple of other mediocre years, an injury that could effect his ability to race is the last thing he needs. I hope he heals quickly and is able to race on Sunday!

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

Jack Roush Gives Details and It's Not Pretty

Jack Roush did what he should have done in the first place and gave details regarding his allegations that a missing Roush-Fenway Racing proprietary part went missing and later turned up with a Toyota team, that he refuses to name out of respect to that team's sponsor and members of the team who he believes had no idea what happened. According to Jack someone from this Toyota team stole a front sway bar from the toolbox of a Roush team's toolbox that was next to theirs at Dover last September. Roush didn't even know it was missing until the vendor that makes the part for them called them because the Toyota team had called them asking to get the part made for themselves. At the same time someone who used to work for that team was hired at Roush and said he had saw this part at the Toyota organization. Apparently Jack wanted to go out and get search warrants and go after this other team but unknown to him one of his managers contacted the other team's manager, who didn't have knowledge of the missing part but eventually found it and returned it to Roush.

Jack claims he spoke with Nascar three times about this - something Nascar previously denied - and that he's still considering legal action, though he seemed to indicate a public apology and a promise not to use any of the information that might have been gained from that team working on the part would satisfy him. Of course it would because Jack knows that this team - and Toyota - would get crucified in the court of public opinion and that would be very satisfying to him. Jack also claimed that he never would have said anything publically about any of this if not for Lee White from Toyota accusing him of deliberately cheating regarding the oil tank lid on Carl Edwards's car. I don't really believe that since Jack has never shied away from ripping Toyota and accusing them of various misdeeds, but the more I think about it the more of a mistake I think Lee made with his comments about Jack. Fact is, it's wrong for Jack to have accused Toyota of misdeeds without offering up any proof until now and it's wrong of Lee to make accusations about Jack without proof as well.

There's no doubt in my mind that this isn't an isolated incident and that teams engage in espionage and take parts and information from each other when presented with the opportunity to do so. However, just because it happens doesn't make it acceptable if a Toyota team stole a sway bar from one of Jack's teams. That's theft plain and simple. Not only that but the team didn't stop with just examining the sway bar, they were looking at trying to get one made for their own use. Toyota was supposed to issue a statement or hold a press conference at some point and it'll be interesting to hear what they have to say. The other day Jim Aust from Toyota claimed that the part in question had gotten mixed in with other parts after a teardown - I don't think that excuse is going to hold water here. They may have to just admit wrong-doing on the part of members of one of their teams and just try to move on from there.

As much as I wish it wasn't so, cupscene.com says that sources told them that the Toyota team in question is Michael Waltrip Racing. That doesn't mean it's true of course - after what happened last year at Daytona I can see why some might jump to conclusions that they're involved. I would be very disappointed if MWR was the team in question. After the Daytona mess, even if every other team in the garage area is routinely stealing things from each other, they can't be getting themselves involved in anything like that. Another scandal could be deadly to this organization, particularly since contracts with their two biggest sponsors, NAPA and UPS expire at the end of this season. So I dearly hope that MWR isn't involved - or at least isn't named publically.

Now what I'd like to know is since Jack has proof of these allegations, does that mean he can prove that there were multiple Toyota teams besides the #55 that had a foreign substance in them at last year's Daytona 500 and that Toyota tested it ahead of time?

Posted by silverdsl at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

Robby Gordon Motorsports Being Sued by a Sponsor

Robby Gordon Motorsports is being sued by one of their off-road sponsors, Vanguard Integrity Professionals, over their sponsorship of Robby's team in the canceled Dakar Rally. Vanguard apparently wants to terminate a three-year deal they have with RGM and they also want $1.5 million back that they paid in relation to that deal. Leading up to this lawsuit it was clear based on a variety of things that were said in various spots online that there was a considerable amount of ill-will between Robby and Ronn Bailey, Vanguard's chief executive officer, who was supposed to have driven a second RGM vehicle at Dakar. I suspect the suit is as much a product of their own falling out as it is with Vanguard the company actually being unhappy.

What's interesting to me in relation to Vanguard's lawsuit is that they cite comments Robby made when Dakar was canceled as being damaging to them. Robby said in relation to Dakar being canceled because the organizers didn't want to take the risk of the rally being held in certain, potentially unsafe areas,

“Let’s put it in perspective. Eleven people got killed over there. I’m pretty sure in L.A., we kill 11 a night on the streets of L.A. I’m pretty sure there is 11 every night killed. Stabbed, shot, beat up, murdered. … I guarantee you just in L.A., and if you take L.A., Detroit, Chicago, New York, Charlotte? Eleven. It was a couple of kids in the back of a pickup truck with a couple of AK-47s shot a couple of people. I’m sorry to say that. But the reality of it is it’s not like it’s this big setup bombing.”

At the time Robby made those comments I thought they were ridiculous and that Robby was ill-informed. For one thing, as I pointed out then while there is a high homicide rate in Los Angeles and some other urban areas, there most certainly isn't 11-people killed every night. Second, there is no comparison between urban violence and terrorism. While I'm sure that Robby didn't mean for his comments to come off this way, it almost seems like he's brushing off the deaths of the 11-people who died at the hands of "kids" with AK-47s, who "shot a couple of people." While I'm not sure his comments are enough to justify terminating the contract that Vanguard has with RGM, the reality is that Robby has an obligation to represent Vanguard and his other sponsors to the best of his ability. As a representative of Vanguard he has a responsibility to not make comments that could be damaging to them. Robby is known as one who always speaks his mind, which is a good thing, however, the problem is that I think Robby doesn't really know where to stop himself. He can be vocal and say what he thinks without causing trouble for himself or others.

It seems to me what could be most damaging about this lawsuit is that RGM may have to pay back $1.5 million. That could be very difficult for an organization that already lost $4.5 million because of Dakar being canceled and according to Robby is on shaky ground financially as a result. Seems like there's always some sort of negativity swirling around Robby these days. I wondered when Dakar was canceled as to whether it would prove to be a distraction for him, and given all that's happened since and the way it's impacted his organization I don't see how it can't be.

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

Still More Questions Than Answers About Jack Roush's Allegations

Toyota says the missing part that Jack Roush was referring to when he claimed that a proprietary part of his ended up with a Toyota team was a spring that accidentally got mixed in with one of their team's parts following a tear-down after a race. However, Geoff Smith, Roush-Fenway Racing's general manager says that the part in question wasn't a spring, but he refused to elaborate and referred all questions to Jack, who is refusing to answer any questions about his allegations. Is this the same part? Is a mix-up during a tear-down how the part ended up with a Toyota team? No one knows the answers to those question or any others, which is leading to speculation that is extremely unfair to the Toyota teams, particularly since none of them might have done anything wrong.

A few things are very curious to me on top of the questions that I already had. For one thing Nascar says that they haven't been contacted by Jack or Roush-Fenway Racing about any of this. If Jack's missing part is such a serious matter that he may take legal action over it, shouldn't one of the first entities that he contact be Nascar? After all, Jack is alleging that a rival team from a rival manufacturer stole a part. I'd think he'd want Nascar to be aware of what happened so that they can look into it themselves. However, instead of discussing this with Mike Helton or anyone else at Nascar, the first time Jack said something was to an ESPN: The Magazine reporter. So I have to wonder, was his goal to get the situation resolved or was his goal to create more negative press for Toyota?

I had wondered why no other media outlet was reporting these comments that Jack made when they didn't hesitate to report the other allegations he made about Toyota at Atlanta. Turns out it's because Jack spoke with the ESPN: The Magazine reporter privately in one of the Roush haulers. What I think is curious is why would Jack make what is a very serious allegation to one reporter but then when he met with the rest of the media later in the day not repeat that a Toyota team stole a part from him and he's considering legal action over it. Again, I have to wonder if he deliberately was orchestrating something where Toyota would continue to receive negative publicity via the magazine, which came out three weeks after Atlanta.

Robin Pemberton, the vice president of competition for Nascar, downplayed Jack's accusations, saying that "stuff like that happens all the time" either deliberately or accidentally, and that the teams need to work it out themselves. In the garage area people are constantly rushing around. It would be very easy for a part to get left behind, and for someone from another team to think it was one of their's and take it by mistake. It would also be easy for someone to get curious and pick up a part that belonged to another team out of curiosity. But just exactly how much can be learned from one solitary part? I'd guess not much. Nascar regulates most of the parts on the cars so strictly these days that many of them are the same from team to team. Even if there are differences by manufacturer or team are there really going to be so many secrets learned that would warrant legal action?

Seems to me that in the absence of any details - or facts - this is much ado about nothing. That said, I hope that if Jack does reveal details, it doesn't involve Michael Waltrip Racing. Even if there's a completely innocent explanation and no one actually did anything wrong it would be disastrous for them since they're still repairing their reputation after what happened last year at Daytona.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2008

Bobby Kennedy New Crew Chief for Michael Waltrip (Again)

Michael Waltrip Racing announced today that competition director Bobby Kennedy will become crew chief of the #55 for Michael Waltrip, replacing Paul Andrews who will be in charge of the R&D team. In listening to Michael's radio communication via Trackpass during the first five races of the season Michael spent a lot of time yelling, cursing and overall being very frustrated with just about everything. I had been impressed with Paul because no matter how much abuse he took from Michael Paul remained calm and just continued to go about his job. Maybe Michael took that as a lack of caring because Paul wasn't freaking out about everything all the time like he was but they really never seemed to be on the same page which is unfortunate because Paul has always been considered a talented crew chief so I thought he would be good for Michael and the #55 team. I had heard a rumor after the second or third race of the season, yes, that early, that Michael was thinking about getting rid of Paul, but I figured that Michael would show a little more patience and see if they could gel after they worked together for awhile. I guess not.

So Michael's back to having Bobby as his crew chief. He does seem to work better with those that he's comfortable with and unfortunately it seems like he has a very hard time feeling comfortable these days with anyone other than Bobby (or Tony Eury, Jr.). Michael and Bobby did seem to get good results together towards the end of last season so hopefully making this switch will enable Michael to get better results at Martinsville and beyond so that he can solidify a spot in the top 35. I know Michael is a much better driver than the results have shown the past couple of years and I'm sure he's really anxious to be in a position to contend for wins, which hopefully Bobby will help him do.

I have to be honest though. I really hate being critical of Michael but I've long thought that his communication skills over the radio with his crew chiefs aren't always too great. It seems like at times he struggles to really explain what he's feeling and what the car is doing without getting frustrated. Then his crew chiefs sometimes struggle to make the right changes which frustrates Michael even more. Of course after more than 20 years Michael isn't going to change the way he is over the radio, but there are times when it gets frustrating for me to listen to him as much as I adore him. Michael has an extremely strong personality and it can probably be intimidating to a lot of people especially since he's not just the driver, he's the owner and boss as well. It also seems to me that Michael likes things a very precise way, including the way his cars are. The good thing about Bobby is that after working with Michael for so long he probably has a greater understanding than others do about what Michael is looking for in his cars, what he means when he says certain things over the radio and how to handle him.

Of course the bottom line is that Michael has to be happy and comfortable with his crew chief and I guess he thought that was never going to happen with Paul. Michael said, (though I'm not sure exactly when he said this since he's been in Italy since last week),

“Paul did a great job in helping us reach our top-35 goal, and I know he will continue his diligence with our test teams for the betterment of our organization. Bobby has always been there for me and my NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry team to help with our decision-making process. We have known each other for a very long time, and I guess you can say that we are made for each other.Going to Martinsville with Bobby, knowing we have the luxury of being in the top 35, is a relief. Now, it is all about being successful in the race.”

So why didn't Bobby just pick up this season where he had left off last season and continued on as Michael's crew chief? I guess I kind of wish there had been some continuity. Michael's had quite a few crew chiefs the past few years and that can't help not just Michael, but the team. I'd like to see one crew chief for Michael for an entire season so he and his team can really gel and work together to the best of their abilities.

Maybe Michael is also feeling pressure to make a change because he absolutely must stay in the top 35 in owner's points and improve his performance for the sake of NAPA who are only signed through the end of this season and it's essential that they re-sign. As much exposure as NAPA has always got via their association with Michael I'm not sure they'll want to spend $15-20 million a year again if they aren't guaranteed that their car will make the show. So I can understand why Michael might feel that changes need to be made not just from a driver's point of view but from that of an owner too.

Hopefully Bobby will be able to give Michael cars that handle better and are more competitive - I'd really love to see more of Michael leading races like we saw at Bristol! That was awesome to see and I'm hoping that we'll see a lot more of Michael racing up front with Bobby's help!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

Jack Roush Alleges Toyota Stole "Proprietary Part" from Him

ESPN: The Magazine has a quote in it from Jack Roush that he supposedly made at Atlanta in which he alleges that a Toyota team stole a proprietary part from him and that he may take legal action as a result. I really wish I still had my copy of the issue of the magazine in which this supposedly appeared so I could see exactly what it said because at the moment saying I'm skeptical would be an understatement. For one thing, if Roush really made these remarks at Atlanta, why is ESPN: The Magazine the only media outlet reporting what he said? I'd think a bombshell like that would be worthy of headlines in every publication that covered motorsports in even a casual way. And it's not like any of them shied away from reporting any of his other accusations he made in Atlanta about Toyota, so why not this as well?

But let's say that Roush made these remarks because it's certainly possible that for some reason he told an ESPN reporter something he didn't tell others. There's still a multitude of questions without answers. For one thing what kind of a part could this be. Nascar tightly regulates almost everything on the COT so most of the teams are working with the same parts. Ryan Pemberton, David Reutimann's crew chief at Michael Waltrip Racing, was asked about this on XM yesterday and he was completely perplexed. For one thing, the first that Pemberton had heard of any of it was when Claire asked him about it which seems strange for someone affiliated with a Toyota team to have not heard anything about such a serious allegation being made against Toyota and one of their teams. In addition, Pemberton had no idea what kind of part it could be, as hard as he tried thinking of something that would be "proprietary." The only thing he could think of was possible a laptop with proprietary information on it but that wouldn't be considered a part and he said that the information on laptops that teams don't want anyone else to see is carefully guarded and protected with encryption and things of that nature. Later someone speculated that perhaps it was a bump stop since those are one of the few parts that Nascar doesn't regulate, but would a bump stop really be worthy of taking legal action over?

From there, just exactly how does Roush know that his part ended up with a Toyota team? Did he physically find his part in the hands of someone from a Toyota team? Or was he himself or his "people" poking around the Toyota teams? If this part ending up with another team is such a big deal, it would seem to me that the other team would make sure that no one knew they had it.

Beyond all of that does Roush actually have any proof of any of this? So far he's alleged that Toyota tested the foreign substance that was in the #55 before they put it in the car and that additional Toyota teams had that same foreign substance in their cars but weren't busted for it like the #55 team was yet he's not offered up a single shred of evidence to prove any of it. This is something that bothers me a lot in this sport. Quite a few people make allegations but no one ever seems to provide any evidence to support their claims and no one ever calls them on it. Where's Tony Stewart's proof that Nascar throws fake debris cautions? Where's Robby Gordon's proof that Nascar's out to get him? Where's Jack Roush's proof about anything he's said about Toyota? To my knowledge not once had any member of the media asked any of these people to cough up any evidence. I guess it makes for a less interesting story when they have to report that these folks can't support any of their claims and that in reality these are only opinions, not fact.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

Drivers vs. the Media

David Poole, who normally covers Nascar for The Charlotte Observer, Thatsracin.com and Sirius, was covering the NCAA basketball tournament this weekend. So this morning on Sirius, as well as in a column on Thatsracin, Poole stated that if 19- and 20-year old college basketball players from both the winning and losing teams are able to give polite and professional interviews after playing a game then so should Nascar drivers like Kyle Busch or Tony Stewart. In a perfect world, yes, the drivers should always be polite and cooperative when approached for an interview by a member of the media but the circumstances under which a driver is approached is very different than the circumstances under which an NCAA basketball player or other athlete is.

For one thing in almost every other sport, while the media might have full access to both teams locker rooms, there's a cooling off period of 10-15 minutes between when the game or sporting event ends and when the players meet with the media. That allows the players to calm down if they're emotional over something that happened in the game and they have an opportunity to collect their thoughts and prepare for the questions from the media. However, drivers in Nascar don't have that luxury. As soon as they get out of the car, they might be swarmed by members of the media looking for a comment. There's no time to calm down or collect one's thoughts. And then some wonder why some drivers react the way that they do? Of course there will never be a cooling off period in Nascar, though I very much think there should be, since all the drivers are in a rush to leave the track and get to the airport as soon as possible so none of them want to have to stick around for an extra 10 or 15 minutes.

In addition, in most other sports members of the media can't chase the players through the halls of the stadium - or even the locker room, since many teams have areas of the locker room that are off-limits to members of the media where a player can hide if they need additional time or don't want to talk to the media at all. However, at the track media members can chase driver through the whole garage area if they want, and while drivers can escape to their hauler or the motorcoach lot, media members seem to have a lot more leeway in terms of where they can go and what they can do. I'm fairly certain that at the NCAAs if officials allowed the media to chase members of the losing team through the halls of the arena to try and get a quote that those players might also give some less than courteous interviews. No one wants to be chased down, and especially when things have gone bad. In general, while there are many rules and guidelines in Nascar that the media have to follow, there seems to be even more control in other sports as to when and where the media can approach the players.

That said, I definitely think that speaking with the media is an obligation that the drivers need to live up to. Frequently, interviews are the only way that fans hear from their favorite drivers so when a driver dodges interviews, they're also dodging their fans. Also, the drivers have obligations to their sponsors to get exposure for them which is another reason why the drivers should be doing interviews. I also think that the drivers should make every effort to be cooperative and pleasant with the media - not only is that showing common courtesy for another human being, in the long-run things will go a lot better for them in terms of the kind of coverage they get if they have a good working relationship with the media. It bothers me that Tony Stewart is routinely rude to some members of the media and not just under trying circumstances. Tony seems to have problems even being courteous during routine Q&A session with the media. I don't like when other drivers like Kyle Busch are rude either.

However, I also understand where the drivers are coming from. There's a lot of emotion in not just racing but in all other sports. When the drivers aren't given an opportunity to gain control of their emotions then it should be expected that they might not always react perfectly. Athletes, the drivers included, aren't robots, they're human beings with flaws who experience the full range of emotions that anyone else does. The drivers are also constantly being swarmed, not only by the media, but by fans, sponsor reps and others who don't always understand proper boundaries or that they might be having a bad day. The drivers probably feel like they're in a giant pressure cooker and it has to be very difficult to deal with at times.

If there's a story to be told then the reporters have to do their jobs and try to get a comment even when someone is having a bad day. But if there's nothing to be gained other than footage of a driver giving short answers that are nothing of substance as they try to get away from the media member as quickly as possible and the media outlet and it's journalists know that's what the likely outcome is, at that point are they still pursuing the driver to get the answer to their questions or is it an effort to get footage that makes a driver look bad that create drama and draw attention? I feel like that's what happened to Kyle Busch at Nashville where it might not have been so much of an effort to get an interview as an effort to get something that made for good TV.

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

March 24, 2008

Aaron's To Sponsor the #00 Cup Car at MWR for Five More Races

One of the concerns for Michael Waltrip Racing fans this season has been what the sponsorship situation was going to be for the #00 Cup car after David Reutimann moved to the #44 since Aaron's was only scheduled to sponsor that car for the first five races of the season. However, the #00 won't be blank at Martinsville - Aaron's stepped up and decided to extend their sponsorship of the #00 for another five races, through Richmond. Ken Butler, President of Aaron's said,

“We are thrilled to continue to be on the #00 for the next five races and help introduce Michael McDowell to the Cup side. We are proud to be able to extend our involvement in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Michael Waltrip Racing and look forward to having McDowell in the Aaron’s Dream Machine especially at Talladega Superspeedway for our race, the Aaron’s 499. I have seen Michael race in the ARCA Series last year and was impressed with his driving. I think he will do well at this level and everyone at Aaron’s will be behind him 100 percent.”

I'm really happy that Aaron's decided to stay on the car for a few more races! Sure, it's not a full season sponsorship and I wouldn't be surprised if MWR gave them a deal to convince them to sponsor the car for additional races but some sponsorship money coming in is better than no money at all. The costs for fielding a competitive Cup car are immense and while MWR has said they can field the #00 for the full season regardless of whether there's sponsorship or not, I'd think it will make it much easier for them to give McD good cars if they have some additional financial resources.

Of course it's a complete unknown as to how McD is going to do in Cup. But I have a good feeling about him. His attitude is terrific and he seems willing to work hard. It's a big jump from ARCA to Cup but I have a feeling if anyone can handle it, McD can. That he's at least starting out at Martinsville with being locked in to the field because the #00 is in the top 35 in owner's points is going to be a big help to him. At least at first he won't have to deal with the pressure of trying to make races on time which is difficult for veterans to deal with, let alone a rookie who has never raced Cup before. Hopefully he'll be able to finish well enough at Martinsville and beyond to keep the #00 in the top 35. I'm going to keep my expectations reasonable though. As good as McD might be it's still quite a challenge to be a rookie in Cup and especially since he doesn't have a full season in the Nationwide or Truck Series under his belt. There may be torn up race cars and mistakes made but hopefully McD will develop into a solid driver who will eventually win a lot of races for MWR in the future.

One unknown at the moment in relation to McD getting into the #00 and David taking over the #44 is what the exact owner's points situation is going to be. On his XM show last week Michael indicated that MWR was going to ask Nascar to allow them to swap owner's points between the #00 and #44 so David could keep the owner's points that he earned while he was in the #00. I can understand why MWR is looking make that point swap since the #44 would then be 27th in owner's points instead of 34th which would give David a greater margin for error, and it's important to do everything possible to try to keep the fully sponsored cars in the top 35. However, I would have liked to have seen them let things play out for a week or two before making the points swap. What happens if the #55 falls out of the top 35? And now that the #00 has a sponsor for five more races is it really fair to Aaron's for their car to not be 27th in owner's points anymore? Hopefully everything will go as planned for MWR with all of this and all three of their cars will continue to be locked into races for the remainder of the season!

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

March 23, 2008

Photo of the Day

Leonard J. Buck Gardens, New Jersey. 2006. I can't wait for it to be warm out...

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

March 22, 2008

Random Thoughts on the Nationwide Race in Nashville

*It had to feel great for Scott Wimmer to show that when he has a competitive car he knows how to win with it. Before ending up with Richard Childress Racing, Wimmer had struggled in Cup for a few years, not only on the track but off-the-track as well. An embarassing incident when he was caught hiding under a bed in his house after wrecking his car while driving drunk didn't win him any fans, and he was released from Bill Davis Racing at the end of 2005 just weeks after being told that his ride with them was safe. Racing the #4 for Morgan-McClure Motorsports didn't work out too well and Wimmer found himself without a ride. Racing part-time in the Nationwide Series wasn't the ideal situation, but Wimmer wisely realized that he was better off racing some of the races in good equipment rather than racing all of the races in bad equipment. Considering it led to a win I think it worked out pretty well for him.

*The Kyle Busch bashing is getting ridiculous. Every little thing he does is wrong in some fan's eyes. How dare a driver express disappointment that they lost yet another chance to win a race? How dare a driver be upset that they made a mistake? I would always prefer if a driver is polite and professional but on the other I can also understand where Kyle is coming from. ESPN knows full well that Kyle doesn't react well when things go bad for him in races, yet they chase him down anyway because they know that it makes for much more interesting TV when he acts like a jerk, than if they say that he didn't make himself available for comment. Of course had it been Tony Stewart or another well-liked driver who acted like that there would be all sorts of excuses like how emotional they were about losing or how ESPN was out of line. But with Kyle he's automatically in the wrong - he could probably save a family from their burning house and some would probably still find fault with his actions.

*It was a disappointing day for David Reutimann as well. David spent most of the day racing up front but it turned out there was some sort of fuel miscalculation and he had to pit for gas with only six laps to go. He still finished 9th and moved up two spots in the points to 3rd, but he had an outstanding car that probably would have allowed him to contend for the win if not for the fuel issue. Since Jason Leffler also had to pit for gas with just a few laps to go it might not have been a team issue but rather a manufacturer issue. Whatever the case it needs to be resolved. Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer look like they're going to be just as strong as ever this season and issues like that could cost David and his team a shot at the championship.

*Mike Bliss did an outstanding job of bouncing back from a problem, not just once but twice. Bliss qualified on the front row but found trouble within the first few laps when he brushed the wall. On the first caution he pitted for repairs and re-started the race extremely deep in the field. However, since he had such a good car he was able to eventually race his way back up front. Unfortunately on a subsequent pit stop he ran into trouble again, which caused him to lose a lap and more positions. However, Bliss didn't give up. Once more he raced his way up through the field, finally finishing 11th. It was probably a disappointment considering how competitive his car was but he was still able to move up in the points to 5th. I'm not sure if he's going to be able to contend for a championship against the Cup-backed teams but the ability to make the most out of a bad day like he did is an asset for a team racing for a championship.

*Another driver who moved up in the points is Brad Keselowski, who is now in 6th thanks to a 4th place finish today. I'm pretty confident that he'll be visiting Victory Lane at least once this season. Everytime he does well I think of the "real driver" comment that was made in reference to Dale Earnhardt, Jr's search for a new driver for his Nationwide car last season. Junior found himself a "real" driver for sure.

*This has nothing to do with Nashville but does have to do with the "real" driver comment. After that driver's remarks over the years about young drivers getting rides who haven't paid their dues and are undeserving in his eyes, I hope that he doesn't get his arse handed to him in the East Series by all the young drivers he'll be racing against. I hope to see him racing up front and contenting for wins on a regular basis no matter what but especially after questioning the readiness of young drivers to be given opportunities. If he doesn't do well racing against them those comments are going to look pretty silly. Fact is, while some think that he'll be racing circles around everyone in the East Series no problem, the majority of those that he'll be racing against have done a significant amount more racing lately than he as - sad to say but that apparently includes inexperienced drivers like Ricky Carmichael. Not to mention the team he'll be racing for is apparently a very tiny team and there are a number of teams that are supported by Cup organizations. It'll be interesting to see how things play out for sure. If he doesn't do well he's probably done on any level, let alone in Trucks, Nationwide or Cup.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/20)

*It's pretty quiet since it's an off-week for all the Cup teams so there might not be too much posted in this space for a few days depending on what happens in the Nationwide race in Nashville.

*Scenedaily.com has an article on how Mike Bliss and Fitz Racing are racing competitively against all the Cup-backed teams even though they have a shoe-string budget. Bliss has raced so well so far that he's 6th in the points and could be even higher depending on how he finishes at Nashville since some of the Cup drivers ahead of him in points won't be racing this weekend. It's great to see this team get some positive press. Often the independent, Nationwide-only teams are overshadowed by the Cup drivers and their teams so it's nice to see the #22 team get some recognition for how well they've done so far.

*The only problem for Bliss and the #22 team is that they only have sponsorship for 25 of the 35 races this season so a lack of financial resources could end up being their undoing. I hope that if they continue to race well a company will step up to sponsor them. Bliss might not be racing Cup anymore and he might not be a "name" driver but he is a former truck series Champion who has shown he's capable of getting good results in the Nationwide (and Truck) Series.

*Chase Austin was supposed to take over the #64 from David Stremme for Rusty Wallace, Inc. for this weekend's race at Nashville but Stremme, who has been in the car for the first five races this season, will remain behind the wheel. The team says that Austin will eventually race the #64, but it's not a good sign that before he even raced one race in the #64 he's being replaced.

*Tony Raines has been named the driver of the #08 Cup car for Martinsville. One never knows what might happen but I can't say I have much confidence that he'll do any better than Carl Long or Burney Lamar when it comes to making a race. It's not that Raines is a bad driver, it's just that so far the #08 hasn't seemed to have anywhere near the horsepower or speed the team needs for them to make races.

*Boris Said is going to race the #25 Nationwide car for Team Rensi Motorsports in Mexico City and Montreal. Apparently Bobby Hamilton, Jr., the usual driver of the car, and the #25 team were going to skip those two races until an agreement was reached with Said. I assume that this came about because Said brought sponsorship in the form of No Fear with him to make this possible.

*Plans to honor Dale Jarrett at the All-Star race were unveiled yesterday at Lowe's Motorspeedway. Jarrett will race the #44 with a special, really nice looking paint scheme. However, if Jarrett's in the #44 that weekend, what car is David Reutimann going to race that weekend?

Posted by silverdsl at 02:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/18)

*As noted in the previous entry Johnny Sauter parted ways with Phoenix Racing and he wasn't the only driver to lose their ride yesterday. Due to a lack of sponsorship Kenny Wallace will no longer race the #36 for Fitz Motorsports. Apparently the sponsorship was tied to how much product Shark Energy Drink sold and sales hadn't been strong enough to enable them to continue to sponsor the car. Kenny wasn't out of a ride long though - apparently for at least this coming weekend he'll be in the #28 for Jay Robinson Racing at Nashville. The results probably won't be very good but at least he'll be racing.

*Others lost their jobs in the garage area as well yesterday. Slugger Labbe was released by Bill Davis Racing just hours after he was on Sirius talking about testing plans and denying rumors that he was leaving for another team. According to "The Morning Drive" on Sirius 11 or 12 others were also let go from BDR. There had been some talk that BDR might enter the #27 in some races later in the season if sponsorship could be found, but presumably those who were let go were the members of the #27 team like Slugger was. That's something that a lot of fans forget I think - when teams fold it's not just the driver or crew chief that loses their job, it's often the pit crews as well. Smaller organizations probably especially have a hard time keeping team members when they decide not to field a team since they may not have different positions for them within the organization or the financial resources to keep them on the payroll.

*It's awesome how Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart raised $125,000 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp with "Operation Wax Smoke," the campaign in which Tony said he would get his back waxed if Kevin could raise donations for the camp totaling $100,000 (some extra donations were kicked in later). One thing I love about Nascar is how much everyone associated with the sport from fans to sponsors to team to the drivers do to support a variety of charitable causes. But I didn't get the same kind of enjoyment about Tony's back waxing being broadcast on his show as some other fans did. I definitely laughed last night when I heard about some of the comments that were made by Tony, Kevin and others on the show. However, this morning when I listened to the replay of the show on my way into work I thought it was kind of creepy and gross to hear the sound of the hair being ripped off of him and know that it was painful to him. Even though it's not like he was really being seriously hurt or anything I guess I've never been able to find humor in someone else's pain no matter how inconsequential it might be.

*It's kind of funny how each week some fans predict doom and gloom for Michael Waltrip and Michael Waltrip Racing yet none of their dire predictions have come true. First it was that the team was going to fold before 2007 was over. That didn't happen. Then it was that just like last season they weren't going to be able to qualify for races this year. All three teams have made every race so far this season. Then it was that they weren't going to be able to get into the top 35 in owner's points and be locked in at Martinsville. All three teams are locked in. There's no doubt that the performance needs to improve considerably for all three MWR teams but the reality is that MWR has come a long way from where they were at this time last season. They're a completely different and much stronger organization. There's no telling what the future holds - any of the teams could still drop out of the top 35 if the resuls aren't good - but is an improved organization even if some fans can't admit it. I have my own biases and drivers that I don't care for but so fans are totally unable to acknowledge anything that doesn't fit into what they think reality is.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)

Johnny Sauter Released by Phoenix Racing

Johnny Sauter lost his Nationwide ride yesterday with Phoenix Racing and normally I wouldn't do a stand-alone entry on a driver like Johnny who I don't even like that much losing his ride. However, Johnny did an interview with Claire B. Lang on XM yesterday evening that I thought was interesting. One thing is that Johnny is clearly someone who Claire likes a lot. Normally Claire keeps her opinions to herself so as to let her listeners make up their own minds about people and events without what she thinks influencing their opinions. But sometimes you can tell when she does an interview when she's partial to someone and that seemed to be the case with Johnny which was interesting since a lot of fans don't care for him.

What jumped out at me the most about Johnny's interview though was his attitude. In the past one reason some fans have disliked Johnny is because they think he has a bad attitude, but it was completely the opposite in this interview. In fact, Johnny said all of the right things. Of course there's no telling how sincere he is but some fans wonder why he keeps getting rides and maybe one reason why is the kind of attitude he displayed in yesterday's interview. I suspect much like a lot of young drivers, Johnny has learned some things as he's gotten older and matured.

For one thing Johnny wouldn't bad-mouth Phoenix Racing. No driver likes to get released and generally I'd think no matter what they say publically they're pretty resentful of it. But Johnny said he understood that sometimes teams need to go in a different direction and he just didn't fit into Phoenix Racing's plans. Only after Claire brought up how slow the pit stops sometimes were did Johnny say that there were some issues in the pits but he was pretty careful. That's wise so as to not burn any bridges. While Johnny expressed some concern about finding another ride at this point in the season when a lot of teams are already set with their drivers for the time-being at least, I sensed that he might not have been so disappointed to have parted ways with this team. Still, one never knows what the future might hold so being professional and not talking bad about them could pay off down the road one day.

But more than that Johnny said all the right things in terms of what he's looking for in a new ride. Of course he said that he wants to find a ride that's competitive but he said that it doesn't matter to him what level it's on. He'll consider anything from Cup to Nationwide to Trucks to Late Model and beyond as long as it's reasonably competitive. In addition, Johnny said that he's willing to go to a team that might be struggling now but has potential to be more competitive because he thinks he has a lot to offer a team and he's willing to help them get better. All he wants he said is that there should be light at the end of the tunnel in that there's hope of being competitive and having success. I think that kind of an attitude probably appeals to a lot of owners. For one thing Johnny expressed a willingness to help a team build into more than they are now, plus he's confident in himself and his abilities that he can succeed. Those are qualities that I'd look for in a driver in addition to some of the more obvious things like talent, marketability, sponsor backing, etc...

I admit that I immediately thought of Steve Park as I often do when drivers who are looking opportunities talk about their rides searches since until he found a Camping World East ride Steve spent the last few years looking for a ride. Both Johnny and Steve want competitive rides but from there their attitudes seemingly couldn't be any more different. Steve has only been willing to consider rides in the Nationwide and Truck Series that he could race in the top five and top ten with regularly and he wasn't willing to help a team get better, he wanted to be racing up front immediately. Of course part of the reason for their different attitudes are factors like age, experience, etc... but in the past some fans have wondered why Johnny has gotten rides and Steve hasn't. Well, I'm guessing the differences in attitude might be one reason why.

These days it's hard for drivers to find rides unless they're a big name or bring sponsorship with them but I have a feeling if Johnny bides his time there will be some other teams that lose patience with a lack of results from their current drivers who might be willing to give Johnny a try. That he was able to qualify the #70 into races on time to start last season and then put it in and keep it in the top 35 in owner's points might make him attractive to one of the go-or-go-home teams. I can't say I'll be cheering for Johnny or anything but I'll be paying attention to where he ends up.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2008

Photo of the Day

Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia, July 2006.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Why, oh why, was DW in the booth yesterday when he could barely speak? He sounded horrible! While he's very knowledgeable about Bristol and it's admirable that he wanted to try to contribute even though he barely had a voice someone in production should have intervened. How awful he sounded really detracted from the broadcast.

*Silly season used to start mid to late in the season but now it's year round. First Jacques Villeneuve lost his ride after just one race (attempt) and A.J. Allmendinger was replaced in the #84. Now Johnny Sauter has already parted ways with Phoenix Racing in the Nationwide Series. Johnny was only 17th in points, but while the results weren't great, they weren't horrible either, especially considering how many Cup backed teams and Cup drivers he was racing against. In addition, there's plenty of races left to improve. James Finch has been known to get dissatisfied and make changes quickly but I also wonder whether Johnny wasn't so disappointed to leave since I suspect there may be some open Cup rides in the not too distant future if some drivers don't start showing some improvement.

*One organization that has some issues to address is Petty Enterprises. With the #45 outside the top 35 in owner's points Kyle Petty will have to qualify in on time at Martinsville unless PE does a points swap between the #43 and #45 since Bobby LaBonte has a past Champion's Provisional to fall back on if he can't make races on time. Another option being considered is putting Bobby's brother Terry behind the wheel since he also has a Champion's provisional he can use if need be. Even before the #45 dropped out of the top 35 apparently PE was considering Terry for the two road course races so they might just ask him to race the car for more races. Won't someone please stop the insanity? The top 35 rule has forced all these teams to resort to all sorts of crazy things to increase the chances of their cars making races. While I don't blame the teams for taking advantage of the rules and doing whatever they need to do to help themselves succeed, it gets a little ridiculous after a while. How many points swaps are there going to be this season? How many past champions are going to be lured back behind the wheel? I can't help but wonder how permanent Dale Jarrett's retirement will really be.

*Of course Kyle Petty isn't the only driver who finds himself outside the top 35 in owner's points and fans of a number of those drivers are livid, particularly those with lofty expectations for what their driver was going to be achieve this season. Naturally some fans are realistic about the circumstances their driver finds himself in and others find even the slightest hint of negativity to be intolerable. Dave Blaney's forum was shut for a while and may still get shut down again if the posts aren't supportive enough of Dave, his team and Bill Davis Racing. While excessive negativity is always a problem, and insults or bashing of anyone should never be acceptable, I think it's asking too much for fans to be all "flowers and rainbows" and positive all the time when Dave is outside the top 35, the cars he's been given to race are horrible and BDR as a whole seems to have issues. Based on what's been heard over the radio during races Dave isn't too happy with how things are going so why should his fans be? There's some similar issues on one of Jeremy Mayfield's fan forums too. Fans should always support their driver to the best of their ability and in the way they feel comfortable but they shouldn't have to stick their heads in the sand about reality to be considered a "real" or a "true" fan.

*Speaking of Jeremy, I have to wonder if Haas-CNC Racing will continue to field both cars without outside sponsorship and particularly if the #70 continues to struggle. Haas Automation is the sponsor of the #70 and is also partially paying the bills for the #66 too. Just because that company can afford to sponsor both cars doesn't mean they actually want to, particularly since they must be bankrolling Haas-CNC as an organization to some degree as well. The more money a team has at their disposal the easier it is to have the resources to be competitive but sponsorship money also pays the bills when it comes to team expenses like hotel and travel.

*Bob Dillner reported on Speed last night that several teams including the #40 and #01 might be in danger of shutting down now that they're outside the top 35 in owner's points. Although both the #40 and #01 are fielding by large organizations with a lot of resources, the performance by both teams has been very poor and neither has full sponsorship. The #40 team has underperformed for Ganassi Racing for quite some time but I have a feeling they'll keep it going. However, I can see DEI opting not to field the #01 since they've already got three other teams none of which are consistently performing well right now. It might make sense to put their resources into those three teams rather than spread themselves thin with a fourth team.

*This weekend Robby Gordon denied rumors that had been making the rounds that he sold his team. However, he didn't say that it would never happen, only that it wasn't true right now. Robby said he's gotten many phone calls and I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually took someone up on an offer to buy into his organization. Additional financial resources would definitely be a good thing for Robby Gordon Motorsports.

*Rumor has it that Slugger Labbe is on the move from BDR to another organization. Both Hall of Fame Racing and Red Bull Racing have been mentioned. I think Slugger and J.J. Yeley would be a terrible fit so I'm not sure how likely that is to happen but Jay Frye is familiar with Slugger from Ginn Racing and I could see them teaming up again. This morning on Sirius Slugger denied that he's talked with anyone or that he's leaving BDR - which could be true considering how close he is with Tommy Baldwin, Jr., but in this sport often a denial is quickly followed by the person doing exactly what they said they weren't going to do.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Bristol I

1. Jeff Burton - Jeff's win kind of puts a dent in the theory that drivers over 40 can't win in Cup doesn't it? Of course Burton ended up in Victory Lane because he was able to take advantage of the tangle between Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick, as well as Denny Hamlin's fuel pickup issue, but he still had to be in the right place at the right time - up front to win. Overall, it was an outstanding day for Richard Childress Racing as their cars finished 1-2-3.

2. Kevin Harvick - Kevin admitted to making a mistake and completely took the blame after the race for wrecking Tony Stewart while racing him for the lead. Since both drivers are good friends they should be able to work things out between them. However, apparently Tony's spotter was threatening to kick someone's ass over the incident and Kevin was understandably angry about that after the race. Yes, it's an emotional sport, even for those who aren't in the car but the spotters have a responsibility to stay under control and stay professional and they most certainly can't be threatening to beat people up.

3. Clint Bowyer - Bowyer started the season slow but he's really picked up the pace in his last two races.

4. Greg Biffle -His third top five in a row keeps Greg in second in the points.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - In a surprise to many, Junior has so far been the best of all the Hendrick drivers. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes him to get to Victory Lane - his recent results indicate it won't be long but it seems like the past few years he and his team have a hard time sealing the deal even when they're racing very well.

6. Denny Hamlin - Really bad day for Joe Gibbs Racing. The three JGR cars combined to lead 372 laps but each encountered problems while they were leading. In Denny's case a fuel pickup problem with just two laps to go cost him the win.

7. Kasey Kahne - What a difference from a year ago - Kasey has now finished in the top ten in four out of the first five races.

8. Aric Almirola - Outstanding race for Aric - in his first Cup start of the season and just the 6th of his career he finishes in the top ten at a challenging track.

9. David Gilliland - An excellent race for David and his first top ten since Talladega in April of last season. Yates Racing really needs a lot of good finishes from him and Travis Kvapil to attract sponsorship.

10. Matt Kenseth - Wasn't too happy with his car after the race but a top ten is pretty good for having a car he wasn't satisfied with.

11. Jeff Gordon - Jeff started on the front row thanks to qualifying being rained out but he was never much of a factor which had to be disappointing since this is a track where he's had so much success.

12. Kurt Busch - Third top 15 of the season for Kurt which isn't terrible but the expectations are more for him and his team.

13. Martin Truex Jr. - Not a terrible finish for Martin but the results have been pretty inconsistent for him so far this season.

14. Tony Stewart - Considering he got wrecked while he was leading the race, this is a disappointing but decent finish for Tony since it could have been much worse. Tony was restrained in his post-race interview. Although he was obviously upset he kept himself from unloading on Kevin Harvick, probably out of respect to their friendship. That Tony was able to keep himself under control post-race yesterday makes the times when he rips into various people even more glaring because he is clearly capable of choosing his words carefully - he just often chooses not to.

15. Juan Montoya

16. Carl Edwards - Would have probably finished in the top ten if not for a vapor lock problem on the last re-start which caused him to be unable to get going.

17. Kyle Busch - Like his teammates, Kyle probably isn't very happy today. A power steering problem while he was leading the race caused him to spin and get into the wall but the damage wasn't too bad and his team was able to get him back on track. However, Kyle had to race the remaining 200 laps with no power steering which probably wasn't very pleasant.

18. Jimmie Johnson - Although he started on the pole and led 14 laps, Jimmie and the #48 team continue to struggle. There's still plenty of time for Jimmie to get back on track but so far it's looking like one of the best teams in the garage area the past two years has lost their edge, at least for now.

19. Elliott Sadler - So far this season is looking like a repeat of last - a strong Daytona and then downhill from there.

20. David Reutimann - This isn't a terrible finish and it's good enough to keep the #00 in the top 35 in owner's points but I was expecting a better finish from David since he was very fast in all of the practices this past weekend. The pit road penalty hurt, but it seemed like he was having trouble moving forward even before then.

21. David Ragan - Battled handling problems.

22. Scott Riggs - He's racing better than his teammate and about as well as I expected.

23. Michael Waltrip - I discussed the race for Michael at-length in a previous entry. Although the team struggled with some issues in the pits it was actually a pretty decent race for them in comparison to others this season. Hopefully being in the top 35 in owner's points and not having to worry about qualifying so much will do this team a world of good and they'll be able to concentrate on having better cars on race day.

24. Robby Gordon - Spun with some help from Ken Schrader fairly early in the race. Robby finished great in Daytona but the results have been unimpressive since. I wondered prior to the start of the season whether switching to Dodge on such short notice would be a distraction to Robby and I'm still wondering especially since there's other off-track issues he's been dealing with too regarding settling the penalty mess, racing in the Dakar do-over and dealing with the rumors that he's selling his team.

25. J.J. Yeley - Finishes well enough to move up to 31st in owner's points but this 25th place finish ties his previous best this season and I wouldn't be surprised to see him fall out of the top 35 at some point.

26. Regan Smith - This was Regan's best race of the season but it wasn't good enough to get him into the top 35 in owner's points. Considering how much he's struggled this season him missing races now that he has to qualify in on time wouldn't be surprising. It also wouldn't be surprising to see this team become part-time or fold completely since I don't think they have full sponsorship.

27. Travis Kvapil - That one top ten gave his fans hope but the results besides that - and the cars - haven't been very good.

28. Kyle Petty - Sad to say but this is Kyle's best finish of the season. In the past Kyle has stepped it up when he's needed to with better results and good qualifying efforts to make races and get back into the top 35 but I'm not as confident now considering how bad he's been so far. Unless Petty Enterprises swaps points I wouldn't be surprised to see Kyle miss some races.

29. Sam Hornish Jr. - Finishes just well enough to squeak into the top 35 in owner's points so he won't have to worry about qualifying on time at Martinsville. However, the results are going to have to get better if he wants to stay there.

30. Jeremy Mayfield - Although Jeremy finished 16th at Las Vegas the results in three of the other four races have been pretty bad. Jeremy's barely hanging on in the top 35 and I think there's a good chance he'll fall out if Haas can't figure out how to give him cars to race that are more competitive and more to his liking.

31. Reed Sorenson - Finished in the top 5 at Daytona but the results haven't been pretty since.

32. Paul Menard - Was actually having a decent day until the lap 190 wreck.

33. Ryan Newman - Also got caught in the lap 190 wreck.

34. Dave Blaney - Yet another poor race for Dave. Last season Dave had a lot of bad luck, this season it's just bad cars. Dave's outside the top 35 in owner's points and I'm not confident that he's going to be ale to get back in. BDR has a lot of problems to overcome on the Cup level.

35. Joe Nemechek - Had made four of five races but the results have been really poor in the races he's been in.

36. Dario Franchitti - Got a flat, then got wrecked. The results have been very poor for Dario and as a result he's outside the top 35 with the challenge of having to qualify his way in at Martinsville.

37. Dale Jarrett - Lost several laps because he had to come in for a loose wheel - the same problem that teammate Michael Waltrip had. Definitely not the way he wanted his last points start to go.

38. Bobby Labonte - Was involved in the lap 190 wreck.

39. Brian Vickers - Didn't seem to be having such a great day to begin with but a flat tire towards the end of the race really ruined his day.

40. Mike Skinner - Contact with another car knocked an oil line loose and started a fire, but after repairs Mike was actually able to return to the track.

41. Ken Schrader

42. Casey Mears - Lots of bad luck for Casey this season - being involved in three wrecks in five races puts him way down in points.

43. Jamie McMurray - Getting wrecked and finishing so badly puts Jamie outside the top 35 in owner's points and he'll have to qualify in on speed at Martinsville. It'll be interesting to see how he responds. He's not been impressive this season - or in the second half of last season. Since Roush needs to eliminate a team Jamie may be racing to keep his ride.

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

March 16, 2008

Photo of the Day - Dale Jarrett

Dale Jarrett, Pocono, August, 2007. In honor of DJ retiring and making his last points start today. Thanks for all you did to help Michael Waltrip Racing!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

All Three MWR Teams in the Top 35!!!!

The results might not have been as good as they wanted, but today was an outstanding day for Michael Waltrip Racing! All three teams are in the top 35 in owner's points which means that they will all be locked in for the race at Martinsville and hopefully for the rest of the season! Whoo-hooo!!!! What an accomplishment for MWR, especially in comparison to last season when they didn't have any chance of being in the top 35 at this point in the season. I'm so happy for Michael and everyone at MWR!!! It's been a struggle this season but they're still so far ahead of where they were at this time last season!!!

This is so awesome for Michael! Finally he doesn't have to deal with the pressure and stress not only about worrying about qualifying for races himself, but he doesn't have to worry about it for his other two teams either! He should feel proud of what he and MWR accomplished today! After all that he's had to endure, Michael really deserved something going his way! So many fans were predicting that Michael would drop out of the top 35. Well, not only did he not drop out, he gained positions to give himself a little breathing room! Yay! Of course he's still not completely safe but I have a good feeling that Michael's going to be able to stick in the top 35 now that his team can concentrate more on the races than on qualifying.

When I think about it, the #55 team really did a terrific job of overcoming a lot of difficult challenges this weekend. For one thing Michael wrecked his primary car in practice on Friday. If not for qualifying being rained out it would have been a nail-biter as to whether he would have been able to make the race because he would have had to try to qualify with a back-up car that got no laps in practice. But things worked in the #55 team's favor and qualifying was rained out. I was pretty nervous because Michael was the slowest on the track during both practices yesterday and since he was starting at the rear of the field, I was afraid he would get trapped laps down early which would could prevent him from finishing well. But as it turned out the #55 was pretty good and thanks to staying out when no one else did they got a lot of track position which really helped them finish well even when a problem developed with the tires. It was hard to know exactly what the problem was but apparently an issue in the pits was causing a loose wheel(s) which made it very hard for Michael to race, let alone hold his position. But Michael and his team never gave up and they made some improvements to the car which enabled him to finish 23rd, his highest finish of the season. It's probably a little disappointing since he likely had a car better than that, but it was good enough to put him where he needs to be in owner's points!

David Reutimann and his team also did a good job of not giving up. The #00 was one of the fastest cars in practice but by race day it seemed like they had lost something. David was also hurt by a pit road penalty that caused him to lose an extra lap when he was already a lap down. However, David and his team kept at it and he ended up finishing 20th which puts the #00 23rd or 24th in owner's points. Of course at Martinsville David will be getting in the #44 which is lower in owner's points and there's some speculation that MWR might swap the points around so that David gets to keep what he earned. I think the only reason they were considering doing a points swap was if one of the fully sponsored cars dropped out of the top 35. David is a great driver and he should be able to get the #44 higher in owner's points.

It was Dale Jarrett's last race and I think everyone was hoping that he'd be able to finish up front but it was not to be. DJ struggled all day and ended up finishing 37th because a tire going down forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop. That dropped the #44 to 34th in owner's points but that team is still locked in for Martinsville so that's the most important thing right now.

I still can't stop smiling about all three teams being in the top 35!!! I was pretty nervous about this weekend but things turned out the way they needed to for MWR! I feel so good right now and I'm confident that MWR is going to keep heading in the right direction!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2008

Photo of the Day - Ogunquit

Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2004. So calm at sunrise. I would love to go back to Ogunquit.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud on XM 3/13

This was such a great show tonight - Lots of good info. on bump stopsfrom Michael and Dr. Eric Warren, Michael Waltrip Racing's technical director. I love each week's show because Michael and Tony do such an awesome job of entertaining and informing listeners but this show was one of the best yet because Eric Warren was a terrific guest and explained a lot of things about bump stops that I didn't know. Hope they have him back on at some point! Onto the show...

Michael was contacted by Country Weekly magazine and asked what his favorite country songs are. So the show opened with one of those songs – “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma” by David Frizzell. That was his first favorite country song, but the first country song he ever heard was “I Never Picked Cotton” by Roy Clark. He heard that song when he was driving with his parents to see DW race somewhere. Tony’s Dad raced and every time they heard the song “Satin Sheets” by Tammy Wynette on the way to a race his dad would win so that was their lucky song.

It was weird weather in Atlanta but there’s always weird weather there. It was an interesting race – some teams nailed it with the cars, some teams are still searching. It’s a tightrope with the new cars. The bump stops make it hard for Goodyear to figure out the tires because some teams use bump stops and some don’t (and as they went on to explain Nascar doesn’t regulate the bump stops so every team does something different).

Nascar tells the teams what specific parts they can use for everything but the bump stops – those the teams can get from anywhere in the world. Michael wants them to get rid of bump stops because it’s “ridiculous.” They should run on springs not bump stops.

Tony asked about the splitters. Michael said that the splitters are Nascar’s friend because it keeps the teams from spending endless money on springs. It used to be when MWR first got going that they had to spend $1,700-2,200 on each coil spring (as an aside last year Chris Carrier who used to be the crew chief for the #4 said that one reason that team struggled so much was because they couldn’t afford to spend that kind of money on fancy springs like the big teams could). The splitter keeps those costs down.

Nascar wants to do something to address the bump stop issue but they don’t want to make a mistake. The bump stops make it hard for Goodyear to make a good tire, it’s not good for competition and it’s not good for the economics of the sport, Michael said.

Tony wondered if a wider tire, maybe one inch wider might help the cars. Michael said there’s lots of things that they can do before asking Goodyear to build a different tire. They can use more wing or a different splitter. Michael thinks they need to get everyone running on springs so they all have the same feel. The new car almost feels like a sprint car. It lifts up. Michael said that the new car is fun to drive. (Okay, come on now – after all that cussing and complaining he’s done, just exactly how is it “fun?”) Michael feels sorry for Goodyear because they’re a wonderful company and it’s not fair that they’re getting trashed. The tires used to wear out at Atlanta, now everyone still complains even though they don’t wear out.

When they got back from break Michael said they had two guests in the studio, Jason and Traci who are My Coke Rewards winners – presumably that’s Jason, who is one of the Wal-Nutz who told us he was going down to Raceworld. They got to have lunch with Michael the day before, go with him to see him tape TWIN, tour the shop, see him do the XM show, etc…. (Lucky!!)

Michael said that he had a brain fart on the Monday night show. Dow Automotive builds the boards on the sides of the cars that absorb the energy from the impacts and it’s key to these cars. He got messed up and named another company (which is a major, major boo-boo because Dow is one of their sponsors).

Dr. Eric Warren was there to explain more about bump stops. They first got started using them in 1997 or 1998 on the speedway tracks to get the car as low to the ground as possible. It holds the car rigid. But things got so drastic with the bump stops that it was a really rough ride and parts where breaking so they were outlawed.

Things progressed to coil binding which also holds the cars down to the ground by the use of various soft springs. The teams were using all sorts of exotic materials since they were trying to hold it down longer and there was a risk of the springs collapsing. So they were using high quality steels. What was once a $100 part became a part costing $1,000s. So there was discussion between the teams and Nascar about bump stops. They looks like a hockey puck and they go over the shocks. The teams felt like they were in a box with the splitter so they figured out what to do.

Michael doesn’t like that the teams can put whatever they want in the bump stops. They can’t do that with the engine or other parts. But with bump stops they can call Malaysia if they want and spend any amount of money.

Dr. Warren said that the bump stops are made out of either silicone or rubber and they create a lot of friction. The car doesn’t come back up as well as it goes down so they get weird handling issues (sounds like he just explained why MWR is having so many handling issues with their cars). If things continue they may end up spending double on the bump stops than what they were on the springs.

Two more of Michael’s favorite country songs are “Montana Café” because it makes him feel comfortable and relaxed, and “Miami, Miami” because he sang it somewhere. Tony asked if they could start a band – he would play guitar and Michael would sing.

Dr. Warren would like to get away from the bump stops because they don’t answer the problems. I missed some stuff here about car heights what he’d like to do as it got a little confusing to me.

Tony did Carl Edward’s Hotpass at Atlanta – Carl had a little pop-up Prowler instead of a motorhome so they got a kick out of how little it was. (For those that don’t know Carl’s motorcoach got in a minor fender bender – I believe his coach driver was cut off in a construction zone and the side was heavily damaged, but the driver was unhurt. Carl is using the Prowler until his coach gets repaired. I have no idea why he doesn’t just rent a coach temporarily.)

Michael brushed the wall then made contact with David Gilliland at the start of the race but was “too scared” to say much about it over his radio (presumably because of who was listening – fans, his daughters, all the reps from his sponsors in Atlanta, etc…) Chris Tucker was on Jimmie Johnson’s pit box.

Toyota got their first win. Gibbs upped the ante. They know how to win. Now MWR has cars like that and they will win too. Gibbs will help MWR.

Tony asked how much not having an engine department like Gibbs does hurts MWR. I don’t know if Michael misheard what Tony asked or was avoiding answering or there was a edit made here but Michael said that MWR is working diligently and spending lots of money on their bump stop program. They brought in intelligent people who know how to make the cars go faster.

The email this week was how someone loved the new NAPA spot and it made them wonder what Michael remembers about his bad Bristol wreck. He remembers that it was very cold and that it had snowed that morning. The wreck didn’t hurt and he didn’t understand why everyone was so excited and panicked until he watched video of the wreck that night.

The show closed with what Michael said is his favorite country song of all time… at least for right now. It’s “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” because it tells a story near and dear to him.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/13)

*Tony Stewart is continuing to complain about Goodyear's tires. While I definitely think he's on target that Goodyear has to address the driver's concerns regarding the tires that were brought to Atlanta, I'm just wondering how long Tony is going to keep complaining like this? If Tony is so concerned with the safety of the tires and so dissatisfied with the tires that Goodyear brings to the track, why is he going to get in his car and race this weekend at Bristol?

*Until 2007 not only did Valvoline sponsor and have an ownership stake in the #10 car, but they also had technological partnerships with a number of other competing teams including Roush-Fenway Racing, Bill Davis Racing and Petty Enterprises. Concern about a conflict of interest where they were helping teams other than their own try to get to Victory Lane led to them giving up their ownership role. I've always wondered whether companies that are involved as sponsors or in other ways with a variety of teams have concerns like that. Back in 2004 when Wyler Racing started their own team they were also an associate sponsor on the #62 truck, and I always wondered how that worked considering they were giving money to another team that could have ended up helping the #62 beat their own truck. Perhaps Wyler had concerns like that too since if I remember correctly they stopped being an associate sponsor at South Point Racing once the #62 team folded and the season ended.

*The trucks tested at Martinsville the past two days and A.J. Allmendinger was testing for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, the team he raced for in the truck race at California. I hope this is a sign that A.J. will be racing that truck in the future since he's not going to gain any more experience that will help him in Cup if he's just sitting on the sidelines observing. Through Thursday morning A.J. was in the top ten cumulatively, but he was also fast in pre-season Cup testing and that apparently didn't translate when it came time to qualify.

*Dale Jarrett is racing his last points race this weekend at Bristol. I suppose I should be more upset about that since he's a Michael Waltrip Racing driver but I've never been a big fan of DJ and he hasn't grown on me any since he joined MWR. In fact, I think I might have come to like him even less for reasons that I'm not going to get into. Still, it's always a little sad when a veteran driver gets out of the car for good (though these days retirement doesn't seem to stick for a lot of drivers). DJ is a former Cup champion who won 32 races over the course of his career, including two Daytona 500s. Because the results haven't been too great for him the past few years I think it gets a little lost how much success DJ has had over the course of his career. Though I've never warmed to DJ, he's definitely accomplished a lot in Cup and he will be missed by many. He'll still be going to the track each week though as a broadcaster for ESPN where he'll be an asset in the booth.

*I didn't hear it myself but supposedly it was said on Nascar Now that if Sam Hornish, Jr. is outside the top 35 in owner's points after this weekend that Penske Racing might look to swap points between the #2 and the #77 again. What if Sam keeps dropping out of the top 35? How many times are they going to swap points and how many times is Nascar going to allow them to do it? It's a situation like that where a team takes advantage of the rules in an almost abusive way that might force Nascar to address points swapping in a way that will restrict the circumstances under which teams are allowed to do it.

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

March 12, 2008

Photo of the Day - Seaweed

Chatham, Cape Cod, MA, August, 2007.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/12)

*Steve Harwell from Smash Mouth was on XM this evening. Apparently he's always had an interest in motorsports and has done some racing. The passion to race has gotten so great that if he can find sponsorship he's going to race in the Camping World East Series this season for Fitz Motorsports. Harwell has a creative idea to secure sponsorship so I suspect he'll be successful - he's willing to write songs for companies that they can use in their commercials and also appear in their advertising campaigns. Harwell also talked about how excited he is about all the young talent being developed in the East Series, how great it is that Ricky Carmichael is also going to be racing in that series and how he's like to use his celebrity to help promote the series. He also said that he's working with a couple of young drivers to try to help them get their careers going. I really liked what I heard from Harwell. I'm sure some are going to be critical of him getting a ride while other drivers with more experience can't, but I can't fault him for using the resources available to him to make something happen. I think he could be good for the series and if he's going to give racing in Nascar a go, better he try on a lower level.

*Speaking of the Camping World East Series, while numerous other drivers have done publicity and interviews in advance of the season starting, Steve Park has been missing-in-action. Although Steve has pulled disappearing acts in the past where he hasn't been heard from for months at a time, I figured now that he finally had a ride, his first in several years, that he might do some interviews or at least have some more content on his site about racing in the East Series. I sure was wrong about that! If anything, Steve is even less visible than ever. I believe Steve still has his sights on returning to the Truck or Nationwide Series if he can find a sponsor - I'm not too sure it's going to impress sponsors much how invisible he is thus far, even in spite of having his first primary sponsor since 2004. He doesn't even have a Waste Management logo up on his site, though he has plenty of logos from companies and teams he hasn't been affiliated with in years. Steve is going to be another of the big names in the East Series and I hope that once the season starts he'll do more PR and media appearances. Like Harwell he could also help this series get more exposure.

*20-year old Chrissy Wallace, the daughter of Mike Wallace, and niece of Rusty and Kenny, is going to be racing five truck races for Germain Racing this season, including the upcoming race at Martinsville. I've heard quite a few good things about her so I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do in a truck. It would be awesome if she could find the success in Nascar that has so far eluded other female drivers. She has a very good support system since she has so many good racers in her family, plus she'll likely get pretty competitive trucks from Germain so I feel optimistic, particularly since they're starting her out slow, that we might see some good things from her.

*Over the weekend Mike Skinner indicated that the future of the #27 team is in doubt and Slugger Labbe confirmed on Sirius on Monday that the team is folding. Without sponsorship or a regular driver and with no chance to make the top 35 in owner's points there wasn't much point in continuing on. Bill Davis Racing is much better off putting all of their resources into the #22 team, particularly since right now Dave Blaney is outside the top 35. Although CAT seems content to stick around and sponsor the #22, I think BDR is struggling for their survival right now in Cup. I have to wonder if we'll ever see them bring back the second team on a full-time basis and what might happen if the #22 can't get in the top 35 and stay there.

*There's really no way to sugar coat how bad the performance for the #45 team has been this season. Although Kyle Petty has indicated that there have been some mechanical issues that they've had to deal with, Kyle has been slow as molasses in just about every practice, qualifying and on every lap of every race. Almost embarrassingly slow. As a result the #45 is outside the top 35 in owner's points. Kyle isn't worried though. If they find themselves outside the top 35 at Martinsville Petty Enterprises may swap points between the #45 and #43 since Bobby LaBonte has a champion's provisional he can make use of if need be. I'm not a big fan of points swaps like this, and it's not the only one we might see depending on how things shake out for Michael Waltrip Racing this weekend. However, I can't blame the teams for doing everything they can to ensure that their cars - and sponsors - race each week. Some fans have said that teams aren't allowed to do switches like this mid-season, but they must be able to otherwise PE wouldn't be thinking about it.

*A fan over on the Speed forum is insistent that Michael Waltrip is to blame for the ruin of the Truck Series because so many fans can't stand Michael in the booth that they all turn off the broadcasts of the races, thus the sponsors don't get exposure so they don't want to be involved in the series. Of course that's ridiculous for any number of reasons. The biggest one being that it's complete nonsense. Nielsen ratings for the broadcast of the Atlanta race were up 31% in comparison to last year - and that's with Michael in the booth. Ratings were also up for Speed for Daytona Speedweeks which Michael was a part of.

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

Rumors Abound About the Dodge Teams

There's been a lot of rumors swirling the past week or so involving the Dodge teams and some possibilities of mergers, sales or other changes. Petty Enterprises is rumored to be bringing on a financial partner, Robby Gordon Motorsports was rumored to be sold to Alex Gillett and BAM Racing was rumored to be on the verge of partnering or merging with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, PE, RGM or switching to Toyota and merging with Bill Davis Racing. So far there's been denials issued that there's anything going on with RGM or BAM, but it seems to me that there's been so many rumors about so many of the Dodge teams this week makes me think that something is in the works with one or more of these teams.

Bringing on a financial partner, merging or partnering with another organization would be a great benefit to all three of the organizations rumored to be looking in that direction. All three have struggled recently either on the track, with financial issues or both. I have a feeling that the likeliest organization to make a deal is PE, one, because it hasn't been denied yet, and two, because that organization has more attractive assets at the moment in terms of being a two-car team with sponsors, two well-known drivers, one of whom is a past Champion, and of course the Petty name. Bobby LaBonte has gotten off to a pretty good start this season, but he might be able to race even better if PE had the financial means to make the cars more competitive than they are now. That might help Kyle Petty too - he's had a horrible start to the season.

Although many of Robby's fans are resistant to the idea of Robby selling all or even a piece of RGM because he wouldn't be in control anymore I think it's almost a necessity for Robby to bring on a financial partner. He's said a few times that not racing in Dakar and losing $4.5 million or more has put his company in dire financial straights. That might have been helped some by the partnership with GEM, but it seems to me that Robby's going to need additional financial resources to make his team as competitive as it can be, particularly since he doesn't have full sponsorship this season, and also if he wants to grow the company into a multi-team organization. A good situation for Robby would be what Michael Waltrip did - he didn't sell all of Michael Waltrip Racing, he sold 50% and the way the company is set-up Michael retains the majority of control in terms of decision-making. I'm sure Michael would much rather have remained the sole owner of MWR but they needed help financially. He was lucky he was able to find someone who wanted to make an investment but didn't necessarily want to be involved on a day-to-day basis.

BAM Racing also needs help and has for a few years now. They're a one-car team that struggles to make races and doesn't have much sponsorship. The Morgentaus have been paying a lot of the costs to field the #49 out of their own pocket, and while it's been said that they have a tremendous amount of money at their disposal, it doesn't make good business sense to continue pouring money into the team like they have been without getting much back. A financial partner to help pay the bills would probably be a good thing for the team but even more than that some sort of merger or partnership that involved technological resources might be needed even more because it might help them improve performance and make more races.

It'll be interesting to see whether there ends up being any truth to any of these rumors.

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

March 11, 2008

New York Governor Spitzer in Hot Water

There are two subjects that I try to avoid discussing in this space - religion and politics. But I'm so astonished by the allegations against the Governor of New York Elliot Spitzer that I'm going to make an exception. I live in New Jersey but I work in New York state so obviously there's a tremendous amount of coverage in the local media about this. As hard as it is sometimes I try not to be too judgmental of people. After all, everyone is human and people make mistake and I can't expect that everyone is going to do things that way I would. In addition, I'm not privy to the details of what someone's life is like, what motivates them, what their personal relationships are like or why they might do the things they do. However, there are some things that are really extreme and it's hard not to be disgusted. This is one of those things.

It's not just that Governor Spitzer allegedly cheated on his wife. It's that he did so with a prostitute, and likely used their services multiple times. It's also that the encounter which led to his being found out came the day before Valentine's Day. And he shuffled money around to shell companies in an attempt to hide what it was being used for in a possibly illegal manner. But most of all this is a man who was involved in the prosecution of two prostitution rings when he was attorney general. But as it turns out he allegedly was a client of the very same kind of services he tried to break up just a few years ago. It's hard to believe and a sad commentary on how things aren't always what they seem and what people will do.

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

March 10, 2008

Driver by Driver: Atlanta I

1. Kyle Busch - Historic win for Kyle since he became the first driver to put a Toyota in Victory Lane in Cup. It was an outstanding weekend for Kyle overall - he won Friday night's truck race and would have won the Nationwide race if not for a blown tire on Saturday too. Kyle has gotten off to an incredible start to the season on all levels. His attitude may need work at times but as much as some fans try there's no denying his talent.

2. Tony Stewart - As noted in a previous entry Tony wasn't very happy after the race for a guy who finished 2nd. His complaints about the tires are valid but his way of getting his point across is a little extreme.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - led 62 laps but the car lost it's handling as the race went along. Junior continues to race extremely well but in spite of what a strong start to the season Junior's had his fans continue to complain about everything. I guess his fans have very high expectations and are disappointed that he hasn't won yet but with how well he's been racing it's only a matter of time.

4. Greg Biffle - Second top five in a row for Greg. In this first four races this season Greg hasn't finished worse than 15th.

5. Jeff Gordon - Jeff rebounds extremely well from a tough race at Las Vegas where he DNF'd with a pole and a top five.

6. Clint Bowyer - Clint and his team struggled a little in the first three races but they turned it around at Atlanta to finish 6th.

7. Kevin Harvick - I have a feeling it's going to be a very good season for Kevin - his worst finish so far is 14th at Daytona.

8. Matt Kenseth - Overcame qualifying poorly and major handling problems to finish solidly in the top ten. Won the Nationwide race on Saturday.

9. Brian Vickers - Brian, his team and Red Bull Racing have to be thrilled with the way the season has gone for him so far! With today's top ten Brian moves into 9th in the points and assuming there are no issues in qualifying next weekend, he's a virtual lock for the top 35, a huge difference from last season. Prior to the start of the season I wasn't sure whether RBR had made the changes necessary to be more competitive, but I never doubted that if Brian had good cars he could race well with them.

10. Jeff Burton - Another driver who is starting off the season extremely well. Jeff's worst fiish so far this season is 13th at Daytona.

11. Kurt Busch - Maybe not as good as he might have liked, but still a solid finish especially since he was a lap down at one point. One of many drivers who complained after the race that the tires made things difficult.

12. Bobby Labonte - Bobby's currently 14th in points and while it remains to be seen if he'll stay that high in the points, that he's started the season pretty well makes the struggles of his teammate all the more glaring.

13. Jimmie Johnson - A lot of teams would be very happy with a 13th place finish but this has to be a big disappointment for the #48 team at a track where they've won before and especially since they also finished poorly the week before at Las Vegas. Jimmie and his team seem to be having a hard time getting a handle on the COT, and while they certainly aren't alone, it's a little surprising that this team, one of the best in the garage area normally is struggling so much.

14. Ryan Newman - A tangle with Juan Pablo Montoya caused a tire rub that Ryan had to come into the pits to get fixed otherwise he might have finished better.

15. Denny Hamlin - Not a terrible start to the season for Denny - he has one top ten. But still it's not as good as one might expect from him and especially since his teammates have been racing up front regularly.

16. Juan Montoya - Battled a loose car for much of the race.

17. Casey Mears - Better than the first two races of the season where he wrecked, and it was enough to move him up in owner's points, but I think the expectations for Casey are a little more than what he's done so far this season.

18. Scott Riggs - Scott's racing about as well as I figured he would this season - top 20-25. There's nothing wrong with that since not every driver can race up front and particularly when they're not with a top team. I suspect he's going to have a much better season than his teammate unfortunately for Jeremy.

19. Paul Menard - Another driver who generally finishes top 20-25. Thing is as a young driver who is presumably still developing I think the expectations are a little more for Paul than for Scott. However, he was the highest finishing DEI driver in Atlanta.

20. David Reutimann - Considering how much his teammates struggled this is a really good finish for David. Barring a disaster during qualifying next weekend he'll likely be locked into the top 35 starting the following weekend which is awesome!

21. Martin Truex Jr. - Was racing in the top ten but a loose lugnut caused him to have to come in to the pits and he lost two laps as a result.

22. Mark Martin - Battled handling problems like so many others all day.

23. David Ragan

24. Robby Gordon - Not a terrible finish for Robby but just after having gotten back the points he lost, this finish drops him to 24th in owner's and driver's points. There are rumors that not only has Robby forged a technical and marketing partnership with Gillett-Evernham, but also that he sold completely to Alex Gillett. It'll be interesting to see which direction Robby goes in the points whether or not that rumor is true.

25. Sam Hornish Jr. - Sam is just outside the top 35 in owner's points and a good finish could get him in, but I think it's a tall order to expect a rookie with so little experience in Nascar to finish well at Bristol. My question is whether Penske is going to keep switching points between Kurt and Sam's team to ensure that Sam makes races?

26. Dale Jarrett - Had a tough time with his car all day but was able to finish well enough to stick in the top 35 in owner's points.

27. Mike Skinner - Mike was able to qualify for the race which is something A.J. struggled to do, but the finish wasn't all that great, but these days it seems like Mike is a much better Cup qualifier than driver.

28. Kasey Kahne - Really poor day for all the Evernham cars. Struggled with grip and handling like so many others did.

29. Travis Kvapil - Never had a good car and struggled all day.

30. Michael Waltrip - Also had a very bad car that didn't allow him to actually do much racing with.

31. Reed Sorenson - Brushed the wall and also had handling issues to deal with.

32. David Gilliland

33. Dario Franchitti - It's still possible that Dario could end up in the top 35 after Bristol it's not looking good right now. I have to wonder at the end of the season if Dario is really going to be an upgrade over David Stremme. After the race Dario seemed rather unconcerned about the prospects of not being in the top 35 and said that if they dropped out they'd just get back in but that's easier said than done, especially for someone with so little experience in Cup.

34. Dave Blaney - Another extremely poor race for Dave but there's not much he can do with a terrible car like what he's had the past three races. Dave was also sick with the flu and had Mike Bliss on standby in case he had to get out of the car.

35. Patrick Carpentier - Another open wheel driver, another driver who is struggling terribly. Not only has he missed a couple of races but he struggles in those races he's in.

36. Joe Nemechek

37. J.J. Yeley - I haven't been impressed with J.J. in Cup so far but I did expect him to be better than he has this season. This team is in danger of falling out of the top 35 in owner's points and I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

38. Regan Smith - His best finish is 31st and as a result it's looking like he's going to be among the go-or-go-homers after Bristol.

39. Jeremy Mayfield - Jeremy is among the drivers I was hoping would have a better season than they did last year but it's not looking like that's going to happen. He's also in danger of falling out of the top 35 in owner's points and even if he sticks for now it may be tough for this team to remain competitive since there's not an outside sponsor.

40. Jamie McMurray - Sinking like a stone in the points and I'm not entirely surprised. Since he won the second Daytona race last year the results haven't been all that great for Jamie and it appears that trend might be continuing this season. He could still turn things around, and with Roush equipment there's a good change he will, but Jamie is really going to have to pick up the pace since there really isn't all that many points separating him from 35th in points.

41. Kyle Petty - There's really no way to sugar-coat things - Kyle's season so far has been horrible. It's likely that after next weekend he'll be outside the top 35 in owner's points and unless Petty Enterprises swaps points between Kyle and Bobby, Kyle will be in danger of missing races since he's not been qualifying well either.

42. Carl Edwards - Looked like he was on his way to winning his third race in a row when he lost an engine.

43. Elliott Sadler - Brought out three of the eight cautions.

DNQ Ken Schrader - Ken very nearly made the race, but just came up short. Brian Vickers should thank him profusely since if Ken had made it Brian wouldn't have.

DNQ Bill Elliott - I have to wonder how much longer this team can keep going like this.

DNQ Johnny Benson - Was one of the fastest go-or-go-homers in practice but was among the slowest in qualifying.

DNQ Burney Lamar - This team may continue to show up but the chances of them making a race probably aren't all that good.

DNQ John Andretti - Did a great job to qualify for Daytona but now that they're starting to not be able to qualify for races the future is probably a little uncertain for this team.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)

Tony Stewart Rips Goodyear

Many drivers were upset this weekend over the tires that Goodyear brought for the Cup teams to use at Atlanta. Quite a few drivers were vocal about it including Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne. However, somehow in spite of how unhappy many of them were about how difficult the tires made it to drive the car due to the lack of grip, only one driver - Tony Stewart resorted to insults to get his point across. After the race Tony said,

"That's the worst tire I've ever been on in my life in any professional form of racing. If you do your homework and look at when they (Goodyear) exited Formula One and the IRL and CART and the World of Outlaws and USAC, you name it, all of the other professional (series) Goodyear has exited out of because they can't compete and they can't keep up and they don't have the technology and they don't have the people that are smart enough to build a tire. This was pathetic today to race like we raced today. The first thing I'm doing when I get home is dismounting anything I've got that's got Goodyears on it and putting Firestone or something else on it and I'll feel lot safer.''

Before I go any further let me be clear that I don't have a problem with Tony's opinion - it's pretty obvious that there's an issue with the tires if so many drivers complained about it after the race. I also think that the drivers should freely speak their minds even if it's to complain. However, while I don't have an issue with what Tony is saying, I do have an issue with the way he saying it. There is no reason for Tony to be taking digs at the intelligence level of the people that Goodyear has working for them, and I also think it's over the line to not only be questioning the tires that Goodyear brings to the track but also insinuate that Goodyear's tires in general aren't safe.

Goodyear doesn't have it easy because if they bring too soft of a tire that can create issues just as much as a tire that's too hard can cause problems for the drivers like they did yesterday. As Junior said, there should be a way for Goodyear to come up with something in the middle - not too hard and not too soft. However, that they haven't yet doesn't mean that everyone working for Goodyear is stupid as Tony suggests. I would guess that just as much research, data, analysis and discussion goes into making race tires as it does into making race cars and making a change probably isn't something that Goodyear can jump into blindly and without discussion with Nascar.

While I understand that Tony took a hard hit because of a tire failure at Las Vegas, I think he's out-of-line saying that he's going to take the Goodyears off all his vehicles at home because he doesn't think they're safe. Someone who is influential like Tony could really do some damage to Goodyear's reputation with comments like that, and could potentially hurt their business. After all if Tony won't put Goodyears on his cars, then some fans may think that they shouldn't too.

Some have speculated that Tony will get spoken to by Nascar about his remarks and I can't blame Nascar if they do speak with Tony. While many fans are applauding Tony for his comments, I don't think being insulting should ever be acceptable no matter how correct the opinions expressed might be.

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

March 08, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/8)

*As a Michael Waltrip fan watching qualifying was nerve-wracking yesterday. For one thing the Michael Waltrip Racing cars weren't too good in the first practice, though Michael gained speed and ended up 16th in first practice when it ended. But then when Michael took his qualifying lap and only qualified 25th that made me pretty nervous, particularly when they started talking in the booth about how his time was going to be borderline for making the race. Well, as it turned out most of the go-or-go-homers qualified poorly, and Michael ended up as the third fastest of all the drivers who needed to qualify in on time. It was pretty close for David Reutimann and Dale Jarrett until it became apparent that Kurt Busch was going to make the race on time. At that point DJ had a provisional available to him and the only question was whether David's time was going to be good enough. Well, DJ took care of that. Although no one knows for sure, the speculation is that DJ, knowing that he would make the race no matter what via the provisional if need be, purposely didn't go all out so that his lap would be really bad which would lock David into the show. So all three MWR cars will race on Sunday, which makes me very happy! Problem is they were still pretty bad in practice today which is unfortunate because they really need solid finishes tomorrow to stay in the top 35 in owner's points. I have my fingers crossed that they'll keeping working hard and that under different track conditions - sun and warmer temperatures - than there were the rest of the weekend, the MWR cars will be better.

*Mike Skinner was able to qualify the #84 for the race so that might not bode well for A.J. Allmendinger that Mike was able to do what he's struggled to do - make races on time. That's an indication that the problem isn't necessarily with the cars but with the driver. However, in all fairness to A.J., Mike is a veteran driver with much more experience behind the wheel and qualifying well has always been one of his strengths. What I don't really understand is why Red Bull Racing hasn't got another ride lined up for A.J. if they're really so committed to him. He's with the team and working with Mike but it seems to me that standing on the sidelines observing isn't really a good substitute for actually being behind the wheel racing.

*The future of the #27 team is very much in doubt according to Mike Skinner, and I'd think even more so after Johnny Benson wasn't able to qualify it for Sunday's race. The #27 was one of the fastest cars in practice but by the time qualifying came around, it was one of the slowest. Mike indicated that Bill Davis Racing might make the #27 only a part-time car, and I think they should consider not fielding it at all, except perhaps at the restrictor plate tracks where having a teammate would benefit Dave Blaney. The #22 hasn't been all that great this season so far so BDR is probably better off putting all their resources into that team. Right now the #22 is 36th in owner's points and if they can't get that car into the top 35 it could be disastrous for BDR if that team missed races too.

*Brad Keselowski is still angry with Mark Martin about what happened last weekend in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas. While I understand why he's upset, I think he needs to either deal with it directly like an adult and talk to Martin about it, or put it behind him. There are other races where Martin will be Keselowski's teammate and Martin got JR Motorsports their first win. Maybe that's part of the issue - Keselowski is upset because he thought he had a good chance of being the one to do it until he got wrecked. I think Keselowski's attitude, which understandable, is unfortunate because Martin seems to enjoy working with young drivers and there's a lot that could be learned from him.

*Roush-Fenway Racing announced the driver line-up for the #09. Travis Kvapil will be behind the wheel for ten races which is good for him since he has so much so success in the truck series. I wouldn't be surprised to see him put that truck in Victory Lane at least once. Bobby East will race the #09 for seven races and John Wes Townley will race it for the remaining six races. I had never heard of Townley before now but I saw elsewhere that his father is a big-wig at Zaxby's which is probably how he's getting the opportunity in the #09. When Joey Clanton lost his ride in this truck some a couple of fans wanted to email Roush to try to get them to put Steve Park behind the wheel. I literally laughed when I saw that. Why would Roush even consider Steve? If they wanted to go with a veteran driver who hasn't raced a thing on any of Nascar's three highest levels in years, they would go with a driver they've worked with before - Ricky Craven.

*Martin Truex, Jr. is going to drive the #5 for JR Motorsports next weekend at Bristol in the Nationwide Series and some of Junior's fans are upset I guess because Martin is still racing for DEI and they feel that Junior should be anti- anything that relates to DEI. Don't they realize that Martin and Junior are still good friends?

Posted by silverdsl at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)

Jack Roush Denies Cheating; No One Believes Him

Yesterday Jack Roush angrily denied that the #99 team of Carl Edwards intentionally cheated. Much of his press conference was in response to Lee White, the general manager of Toyota's comments, but it's not just White who doesn't believe Roush-Fenway Racing's claim that it was vibrations that caused the oil tank cap to come loose.

After hearing just how much downforce the car gained from having the oil tank cap up or off, it's really hard for me to believe that it was accidental. Roush claimed that they only use one bolt to hold the cap down, instead of multiple bolts like many teams do, and that Bob Osbourne, the crew chief of the #99 simply opted not to use tape to hold it down more securely - of course he didn't tape it down, because if he did then the cap wouldn't have come up and they wouldn't gain the extra downforce! Roush said he'll have everyone in the organization take lie detector tests if need be to prove their innocence - give me a break! He knows it will never come to that. It's almost an insult how Roush expects fans and everyone else to buy that this was completely accidental and how little responsibility they're willing to take for what happened.

Roush believes that Nascar should consider intent when handing out penalties. He said,

"I can prove that I was not culpable here and nobody on the team was culpable, and I think that should make a difference. It would make a difference anyplace else in the world. There would be a difference between first-degree murder and manslaughter based on culpability. NASCAR doesn't provide for that difference."

Just exactly how is he going to prove that no one on the team did anything intentional? Does he have a video of when the oil tank cover was put on to show that the bolt was tightened? The fact is that it's very hard to prove or disprove intent which is why Nascar doesn't consider intent when it comes to penalties. I agree with that approach. Owners, manufacturers, teams, drivers, etc.. always have a million excuses for why they aren't to blame and for why they didn't do anything intentional. And I'm getting sick of it. Yes, there are probably some cases where teams legitimately make mistakes or things happen that aren't due to any intent to cheat on the part of the team. However, it's almost an insult that I'm expected to believe some of these teams when they act like the idea of cheating is offensive to them and that it's something they would never consider. Please! How stupid do they think fans and the media are? Every team, manufacturer and driver is looking to do anything they can to get an advantage over the other teams, and some of what they do involves playing around in the grey areas of the rulebook or even breaking the rules completely.

Roush also leveled some accusations against Toyota.

"I wonder how many times they tested the rocket fuel on Michael Waltrip's car before they decided to take that chance at Daytona? By the way, that wasn't the only one that had stuff in it. There were other cars they found deposits of the same residue in the intake manifold."

I understand that he's upset about the comments that White made but there is zero evidence that Toyota had a hand in the substance getting into the #55 last year at Daytona. In fact, Michael took full responsibility and indicated that it originated within his own organization - which is exactly what Roush should be doing instead of trying to deflect attention elsewhere. What's truly ridiculous is the accusation that multiple cars had residue in their intake manifolds. If so, why did no other cars beside the #55 fail inspection? Not only is Roush accusing Toyota of cheating, he's actually also accusing Nascar of wrong-doing in that he's saying that they knew that there were other cars with a foreign substance in them that they let race. It's one thing to think nonsense like that but to get up at a press conference and say it publically? Where's his proof? Everyone saw the photos from just after the race where the oil tank cap was clearly up and Nascar penalized the #99 team for it, that's pretty clear evidence that something was amiss, but what does Roush have to back up his accusations? Maybe Roush should be more concerned about making sure his teams are in compliance with Nascar's rules instead of floating conspiracy theories and making accusations.

Roush may also want to consider doing some damage control in the garage area. Elliott Sadler said,

"I think that it insults my intelligence as a race car driver when you try and tell me that you accidentally left the oil tank lid off. If you go to any owner, any engineer, any driver, any crew chief and ask them is that an advantage, (they'll say) 'Heck yeah it's an advantage'. I've been doing that half of my career. When driving the 21 (Wood Brothers) and 38 (Yates) cars, we pulled the shifter boot off and the oil tank lid off until NASCAR started to tech it."

It's not only an insult to his intelligence as a race car driver, it's an insult to my intelligence as a fan. If the team didn't want the bolt to vibrate off during the race they would have made sure it was tight enough so that it didn't happen.

Lee White had said that Toyota had tested the effect of a loose oil tank cover in the windtunnel, and they're not the only ones as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. indicated that Hendrick Motorsports had conducted similar tests. Like Sadler, Junior isn't buying the excuse that it was something accidental. After hearing an explanation from Geoff Smith, Roush-Fenway Racing's general manager, about how the bolt failed, Junior said,

“Him saying that it was a mistake and the bolt was failing was ridiculous. It was comical. That was really comical actually. And they should not allow him to make those kind of comments. Instead the crew chief [should be] out there stating an honest answer. They would be better off. But I enjoyed reading his version. … Everybody knows the truth anyway.”

I agree with Junior. Take responsibility. Stop making excuses. If no one in the garage area believes that it was an accidental part failure then why would anyone else? Considering how blatant of an attempt to cheat this might have been by the #99 team, the penalties that Nascar gave this team are completely justified.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2008

Toyota's Lee White Says #99 Intentionally Caused Oil Tank Lid to Come Loose

Probably because Jack Roush has never hesitated to unload on Toyota, Lee White, Toyota Racing Development's general manager, came right out and said that the #99 team intentionally caused the oil tank lid to come loose to gain a performance advantage. Apparently Toyota's own tests in the windtunnel have shown that removing the cap on the oil tank causes 170 extra pounds of downforce. White said,

"If you have 21% more downforce, that's like having 50 (extra) horsepower. There's absolutely something going on there where someone knew what they were doing."

He continued,

"I guarantee you the cover bolts didn't fall out, because if they fall, the engine leaks and you can't run. If you want something to fall off, you fix it so it can."

And I'd guess contrary to what most Carl Edwards fans believe, the team likely did fix something to fall off. If Toyota ran tests with the oil tank cap off, then odds are every other manufacturer did too. More than a few fans are questioning why Toyota would test something they know that Nascar would consider cheating, and that it shows that they intend on cheating themselves, but it's standard for teams and manufacturers to test all kinds of things during tests at the track and in the windtunnel, including some things that they would be prohibited from doing on race day. It's all about seeing how different factors might influence performance, and being familiar with all aspects of the cars and what they might be able to do with them.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)

George Gillett Realizes Morale Makes a Difference

George Gillett made a comment this week that really surprised me. He said,

“I never realized how important it was. I always thought that, because it was very mechanical, there wouldn’t be as much of the personal aspects. What we’ve discovered is exactly the opposite.Morale affects performance. Ray put strong resources into the car of tomorrow last year, but the morale (problems) that hit us at the beginning of last year were hard for us to overcome.Morale has a huge impact in this sport, and I did not realize that.”

That's astonishing to me that Gillett didn't think that team morale has an impact on the performance of the team. For one thing Gillett doesn't just have an ownership stake in Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, he's also the owner of the Montreal Canadians\. Surely, he has to know that poor morale can effect the way his hockey team plays, so why would he think that morale would have no impact on the way his race teams perform?

Gillett probably isn't the only one who thinks this way. Sometimes I get the sense that a lot of fans think being a successful Cup driver is easy, that all a driver has to do is jump in the car and if they're any good they'll race up front every week, so those drivers who struggle or don't contend for wins on a weekly basis don't have any talent. However, the reality is that there's a tremendous amount of facts that influence whether a team does well or not. Of course the competitiveness of the cars and the overall resources of the team to improve performance made a big difference. But I've always thought that having the right mix of people who have the right attitude is very important as well.

Teams have to have drivers, pit crew members and other personnel who are willing to work hard to achieve success but if people are unhappy it's going to be hard for them to have the right kind of attitude to enable them to do their jobs the best that they possibly can. That's true in any work place environment not just in Nascar. Of course success tends to help eliminate any morale problems but teams need to make sure that they're providing a good working environment for their employees not just when things are going well, but also when there are problems to overcome and success is harder to come by. Good morale will help a team work together well to achieve the goals of the organization such as getting the best possible result on the track and will help the team overcome any challenges that come their way.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2008

Robby Gordon Wins His Appeal

Robby Gordon won his appeal today and had the 100 driver and owner point penalty that Nascar had given him for having the wrong nose on his car at Daytona rescinded. Frank Kerr's suspension was also rescinded. The $100,000 fine was increased to $150,000 but it's meaningless because Dodge will likely pay it for Robby. While I believe that there was no deliberate attempt to cheat and that it was just a mistake that the wrong nose got on the car, as I had said in previous entries, I'm in the small minority of fans who believe that Nascar was correct in giving Robby the penalties that they did for a variety of reasons ranging from that the team is responsible for the car they come to the track with even when they're getting parts from outside vendors to that someone at Robby Gordon Motorsports should have asked questions when the nose had a -A at the end of the serial number to that the penalties were consistent with others given out for COT violations. In the past Nascar has never excused teams for accidentally putting the wrong part on the car or because a mistake was made by whoever supplied them the part put on the car, and I don't see why that should make a difference now. Yes, this situation was caused in part by RGM having to rush to make the switch to Dodge but that was Robby's choice to switch manufacturers - and it was also his choice to be away at an off-road event at Parker and not be around to supervise his team for a good part of the time they were changing the cars over.

It seems to me that these penalties being overturned opens the door to manufacturers potentially being able to "accidentally" send their teams unapproved or altered parts and then if the teams are caught they can just blame the manufacturer for making, as Robby put it, a clerical error. Or the teams can claim that in the rush to get ready for the next weekend's race they made an innocent mistake, that they had no idea what that -A meant, or make up any number of other excuses to justify how they're completely innocent of all wrong-doing. After all, teams are always looking for loopholes and ways to take advantage of the system if they think there's a way to, and there's always ways to excuse away just about anything other than the most blatant attempts to cheat.

There's always going to be mistakes but I think teams need to be responsible for what happens in their shops and what goes on their cars.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

Carl Edwards Gets Harsh Penalties for Oil Tank Cover Not Being Attached

Nascar came down hard on Carl Edwards and the #99 team, for the infraction found during post-race inspection after the race this past weekend, penalizing Carl 100 driver points, Jack Roush 100 owner points and fining crew chief Bob Osborne $100,000. Osborne will also be suspended for the next six races. In addition, If Edwards makes the Chase, he won't receive the ten bonus points that would have been awarded for winning at Las Vegas. Naturally Roush-Fenway Racing is claiming that the oil tank cover wasn't attached not because they were deliberately looking to get an aerodynamic advantage, but because vibrations during the race caused a bolt holding the cover to come loose.

I've heard a lot of conflicting information about all of this. Edwards and Roush have both said it was one bolt that vibrated loose but I've seen it said that there might be as many as four bolts or screws that are supposed to hold these covers in place. Tony Eury, Sr. said on XM a couple of days ago that it would be possible for vibrations to cause something to come loose that would cause the cover to come off but that Nascar would likely be able to tell if something was deliberately done so that the cover would come off - I wonder if that's indeed what Nascar found at the R&D center? Meanwhile Todd Berrier, Kevin Harvick's crew chief, was on XM this evening saying that in addition to the bolt(s), Nascar makes the teams duct tape the oil tank covers down to prevent this kind of a situation and just leaving the duct tape off would be a big mistake. However, Gil Martin, another Richard Childress Racing crew chief said that Nascar used to make the teams duct tape the covers down but with the COT no longer make them do it. I sure would love someone to clarify exactly what the situation is with these oil tank covers because it seems like even the crew chiefs aren't sure!

Regardless I think Nascar made the right choice in giving the #99 team such a harsh penalty since it appears that there's a good chance that intentionally or not they might have gained an aero advantage that might have helped them win the race. It's unfortunate for Carl that his win is going to be tainted by something he likely had no knowledge of but at least he's going to get to keep the win - some believe that Nascar should start taking away wins when a winning car fails a post-race inspection or has some other major violation. I'm not sure that's a good road for Nascar to go down but I don't entirely disagree that it doesn't seem quite right for a team to keep a win that comes with help from a car that wasn't entirely legal by Nascar's standards. I think taking away the ten Chase bonus points that Carl would have gotten for this win is an attempt to step up the penalties and make it a further deterrent to cheating, but also address the issue of how some think it's unfair for a team to keep a win that it's perceived they got via cheating.

In the end losing the 100 points probably won't hurt Carl and his team all that much. They dropped to seven in the points but this early in the season it's fairly easy to make up those lost positions with one good finish.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2008

Photo of the Day - Cape May

Cape May, NJ, 2007. I really wish I was in a rocking chair on a porch on a warm summer's day...

Posted by silverdsl at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)

Allmendinger Out, Skinner In

Red Bull Racing confirmed last night that A.J. Allmendinger will be replaced in the #84 by Mike Skinner this weekend at Atlanta. They're saying it's a temporary move and that they brought Skinner in so they could better evaluate the team and what needs to be done to improve performance, but I wouldn't be surprised if temporary becomes something more permanent, particularly if they find that the problem wasn't with the cars but with the driver. It was said this morning on Sirius that A.J. has qualified 44th and been the last driver to DNQ each of the first three races so he hasn't been missing by much, and there was certainly nothing that he could do at California when qualifying was rained out and he didn't even get the opportunity to make an attempt.

I feel bad for A.J. - it's difficult for any driver to lose their ride even if it's really just going to be temporary. Last year at Pocono in August I observed A.J. with his team in the garage on the Friday of qualifying - despite all the pressure on him and his team, he was in good spirits prior to qualifying and seemed to have a positive attitude which is important. Unfortunately as happened so many times last year he DNQ'd and the look on his face walking through the garage area on his way back to his hauler afterwards was heartbreaking. I never really felt one way or the other about A.J. to that point but after seeing that I really began to pull for him and wish him well. Though I never wanted to see him make races at the expense of any of the Michael Waltrip Racing teams, I had been hoping he'd have more success in Cup this season - maybe that will eventually still happen. For now hopefully RBR will be able to find him a solid Nationwide or Truck ride so he can get some more experience behind the wheel that will help him in Cup.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2008

A.J. Allmendinger May be Replaced in the #84

A.J. Allmendinger failed to qualify for his third race in a row and it may cause him to lose his ride in the #84. Red Bull Racing general manager Jay Frye said,

"We can't keep missing races. It's just not an option. We're looking at several different ideas, all aimed at figuring out what's wrong with that program, how we can fix it and how we can get that car into races. But it can't continue the way it is. It just can't."

What's wrong with the program isn't that A.J. isn't capable of success on the Cup level, it's that they put him in a Cup car without any experience and it's been difficult to get the seat time he needs. RBR should have found a Nationwide or Truck ride for A.J. right from the start but instead they only had him make sporadic starts last season which really didn't help him develop as a Nascar driver in the way that he needed to so that he'd be able to better qualify for races this season.

Candidates to replace A.J. include Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson, Sterling Marlin and David Stremme. Both Mike and Johnny seem to have a knack for qualifying Cup cars, but whether they get an opportunity at RBR may depend on what the future of the #27 is since they're both taking turns in that ride. The best fit to me with RBR's image would probably be David but he wasn't impressive in Cup with Chip Ganassi Racing.

RBR says that they're still committed to A.J. Jay Frye said,

"We love A.J. and we're 100 percent committed to him and want to develop him. This is not at all giving up on A.J. But we just can't do nothing and risk having a season like that team had last year."

Apparently RBR is trying to find a Nationwide or Truck ride for A.J. but it may be hard to find a competitive ride for him, though if they're willing to sponsor him (pay for it) they'll probably have better luck. I tend to doubt we'll see A.J. back in the #84 - or in Cup at all - if RBR replaces him, particularly if whoever takes over for him has more success in the #84. It can be really hard for a driver to get back to Cup once they lose their ride if the results weren't very good for them.

It's unfortunate because A.J. seemed like a good guy who tried hard but sometimes things just don't work out. Hopefully he'll get at least one more chance this weekend at Atlanta and maybe something good will happen which will allow him to keep his ride, but RBR may not be willing to take the risk of the #84 missing a 4th race in a row if they're truly lost confidence in A.J.'s ability to get the car in the show.

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

Not a Very Good Weekend for MWR at Las Vegas

Usually I do some sort of commentary about how the race went for Michael Waltrip and his teams but I don't think I can bring myself to re-visit yesterday's race as far as how it went for Michael. Needless to say I really didn't like what I heard while listening to Michael's radio via Trackpass, and I can only hope that some of the communication, competitiveness and other issues are addressed before they go to Atlanta. As much as this is an individual sport, a driver can't succeed without their team so it's really important that Michael and his team are on the same page and able to work together well. There's a tremendous amount of pressure and stress on everyone because of how important it is to make the top 35 after the first five races and how little margin for error their is. While the race didn't go the way anyone would have liked for any of the three MWR teams, they all still left Las Vegas in the top 35, and hopefully they'll all three qualify for the race next weekend at Atlanta and have a more positive weekend.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Las Vegas I

1. Carl Edwards - Carl is now leading the points but it might not be fore long. As noted in the preceding entry, Nascar found an "issue" with the #99 car related to the lid on the oil tank box that could result in some penalties. Last week a fan of Carl's predicted that Carl might win his second in a row because the team had said they had an even better Las Vegas test than they did at California - that turned out to be a very accurate prediction.

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Excellent finish for Junior that should make his fans feel better about what this season holds for him.

3. Greg Biffle - In the first three races of the season Greg hasn't finished outside the top 15. I'd really like to see Greg do well this year so it's good to see him finishing up front.

4. Kevin Harvick - In each of the first three races Kevin has progressively finished better - could that mean a trip to Victory Lane soon?

5. Jeff Burton - Kevin's RCR teammate also finished very well at a track he's had a lot of success at previously.

6. David Ragan - Way too many fans assumed that 2008 was going to be a repeat of 2007 for David after he wrecked at Daytona. But he's rebounded nicely with a top 15 last week and a top ten this week. This isn't an easy track to finish well on, especially for a young driver so this may be an indication that David has matured as a driver.

7. Kasey Kahne - Kasey was so sick earlier in the weekend that Dario Franchitti had to take his place in the Nationwide race and that Jason Keller was on standby as a relief driver. But Kasey was able to stay in the car for the entire race and ended up getting his third top ten of the season in three races.

8. Travis Kvapil - Excellent finish for Travis. However, it's going to take a lot more than one top ten to attract a primary sponsor for this team, particularly since Travis is more laid-back personality wise than some of the other drivers.

9. Denny Hamlin - Denny was the highest finishing Toyota driver but based on his post-race comments he still seemed pretty unhappy since he and his team struggled with their car for most of the race.

10. Mark Martin - Great weekend for Mark - he won the Nationwide race on Saturday and finished in the top ten in yesterday's Cup race.

11. Kyle Busch - Heading into the weekend Kyle was most media member's pick to win, and he did start the race on the pole and lead 56 laps. However, as the race went along they lost track position, then had a tire issue that needed to be addressed which caused them to fall further behind.

12. Elliott Sadler - Good finish for Elliott. I'm not convinced Elliott is going to have a better season this year than last, particularly since he's started this season with very similar results to last but I like Elliott and he's another driver I'd like to see do well.

13. Casey Mears - A much needed solid finish for Casey puts him into the top 35 in owner's points but he really needs to continue finishing well over the next few races to move up in both the owner's and driver's points.

14. Ryan Newman - Ryan "only" finished 14th, but he's still off to a very good start to the season.

15. Martin Truex Jr. - Two of the four DEI cars finished in the top 15. I don't expect much from Regan Smith or Paul Menard this season, but I think Mark and Martin are going to be a lot more competitive than some fans are expecting.

16. Jeremy Mayfield - Overcame a tire problem on lap 171 to finish fairly well. Although Jeremy's not off to a stellar start to the season, it's still significantly better than last season was for him.

17. Bobby Labonte

18. Reed Sorenson - Not a great race for any of the Ganassi teams. Reed finished the best in 18th which isn't terrible, but it's not outstanding either.

19. Juan Montoya - Juan and his team really seemed to struggle for a lot of this race and spent a lot of time racing around 35th position. But they finally got things right and Juan was able to salvage an okay finish.

20. Matt Kenseth - Matt and Jeff Gordon tangled with Jeff ending up the worse for it. After having run up front for most of the race Matt and his team are probably pretty disappointed with this finish - but at least they finished.

21. Ken Schrader - Considering this team failed to qualify for the first two races, this is an outstanding finish for Ken and his team.

22. Paul Menard - Another race, another mediocre finish for Paul. I'd say that he would be in jeopardy of losing his ride if he doesn't step it up this season but with his father's company as the sponsor of the car I don't think he has that much to worry about.

23. David Gilliland - Didn't finish as well as his teammate but not a terrible finish either.

24. Brian Vickers - Spun on lap 224 after contact with Casey Mears but there was little damage and his team did a good job of getting him back on the track quickly.

25. Jamie McMurray - An early spin and slide through the grass made for a long day for Jamie.

26. Dave Blaney - Considering he didn't have a very good finish he's probably lucky to have finished 26th.

27. J.J. Yeley - J.J.'s been pretty consistent so far this season - though not necessarily in a good way - finishing around the same place in each race - 25th, 29th and now 27th.

28. Clint Bowyer - Had to go to a backup after wrecking in practice and never did much in this race.

29. Jimmie Johnson - A rare off day for the #48 team - no matter what he did Chad Knaus just couldn't make a bad car into a good one for his driver.

30. Mike Skinner - Since the #27 had DNQ'd for the first two races just being in this race was an accomplishment for the team. I think Johnny Benson will be in this car at Atlanta.

31. Michael Waltrip - Really bad day for Michael and his team. So bad that I'm not sure I want to re-visit it in a separate entry as I often do with Michael. Just a really bad car that Michael couldn't race with and his team couldn't get fixed for him.

32. Kyle Petty - Another race, another poor finish for Kyle. It's not looking too good for him being in the top 35 after the first five races unless he finishes really well in the next two.

33. Dario Franchitti - Another driver who's been consistent - consistently not very good. But that's what happens with so little experience in Cup. I think this team is going to have a hard time staying in the top 35 in owner's points.

34. Regan Smith - Regan is also really struggling and it's looking like he too may be forced to try to qualify in on time for races soon.

35. Jeff Gordon - Jeff looked like he was on his way to a strong finish until he tangled with Matt Kenseth and wrecked on the inside wall. Afterwards Jeff talked about how hard of a hit it was and how there should be soft walls on the inside walls just as there are on the outside walls - he's right.

36. Scott Riggs

37. David Reutimann - Poor David. He qualified in the top 15 and probably had high hopes of a good finish on his birthday but those hopes were dashed in the first few laps when he got into the wall and then got black flagged by Nascar. He returned to the track after repairs were made but he was multiple laps down. On top of that he was sick with the flu too.

38. Kurt Busch - Got into the wall with about ten laps left to go. Had to be disappointing since it's his home track.

39. Dale Jarrett - DJ spun towards the end of the race but he wouldn't have finished much better even if he hadn't spun.

40. Patrick Carpentier - Got wrecked in his first start of the season. It's looking likely that for the third year in a row the #10 team will have to worry about qualifying for races on time.

41. Sam Hornish Jr. - I can't say I'm surprised that it's looking like Sam might end up outside the top 35 even with the point swap. The only thing that still gives him a chance is that he finished 15th at Daytona, so a couple more good finishes might get him back in.

42. Robby Gordon - Go into the wall. If the penalties given to Robby aren't overturned, he could be in trouble.

43. Tony Stewart - Took a hard hit and complained of pains in his legs and back afterward. It wasn't enough to send him to the hospital and he's still slated to race at Atlanta but he certainly looked pretty shaken up after the wreck.

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

Carl Edwards Wins Again But Not Without Controversy

For the first time in his career Carl Edwards won two Cup races in a row by winning yesterday's race in Las Vegas. However, the win has been overshadowed by more than one controversy. First, the #99 team wasn't penalized as many thought they should have been when a tire got away on pit road because Nascar deemed that the team wasn't at fault because a camera person from Nascar's own media group had gotten in the way on the pit stop. The potentially more series problem happened after the race. While the #99 car didn't fail the post-race inspection, Nascar found an "issue" with the car, and they've taken it back to the R&D Center in Concord to see if the problem is something the team should be penalized for.

It was a tough day for the #99 team on pit road. They actually had a tire roll away twice, and the first time they were penalized for it so in that instance Carl had to restart the race at the tail end of the longest line and race his way back up front which he ultimately did. In the second instance a Nascar camera person got in the way of a crew member being able to catch the tire as it was rolled to him by the tire carrier. Nascar felt that the team didn't do anything wrong so they shouldn't be penalized for the tire rolling away. While I can understand Nascar's thinking, I do think the team bears some responsibility. Pit stops unfold quickly, but the team needs to have control over who is in their pit box and where they're standing. The person whose responsibility it was to catch the tire needs to be aware of who is around him and that he has enough room to do his job. There should also be an extra pair of eyes - the team's PR rep could help with maintaining control of who in the pit box, particularly when it comes to camera people, photographers and media members.

That said there is no excuse for the camera person getting in the way on a pit stop. Camera people and photographers need to be mindful of what's going on around them and not let the desire for the best possible angle override common sense that dictates that they not get in anyone's way. This morning on Sirius it was speculated that Nascar might get more specific with the guidelines for where the camera people can stand in the pit boxes and in light of this incident it seems like that would be a good idea since whatever instructions they give them in the pre-race meeting for camera people and photographers didn't seem to be enough for this camera person. It's unfortunate because the majority of camera people and photographers are probably very careful to stay out of the way of the teams and they may all end up having a harder time getting the shots they need because of this camera person.

As for the "issue" that Nascar is looking at with the #99, apparently the lid on the oil tank box was found to be off. As it was explained by Ramsey Poston last night on Sirius and replayed this morning, there are two concerns. One, that it's a safety issue in that oil could splash around inside the car. Two, there is a possibility that there's an aerodynamic advantage related to the flow of air that could effect downforce. I suspect there will be some sort of penalty, minimal if it's just a safety issue and harsh, perhaps as much as the loss of 100 driver and owner points, if there was an aero advantage. However, I don't think Nascar will take Carl's win away. I think if they ever go that far it will only be for something that is a blatant, undeniable attempt to cheat and there's no evidence of that here, at least so far.

More than a few fans are trying to compare both the pit road incident and the oil tank lid issue to the Robby Gordon situation. The feeling is that if the #99 team wasn't penalized for something that Nascar said wasn't there fault than Robby's penalty for accidentally putting the wrong nose on his car should be overturned. Other fans think that the issue with Carl's car in the post-race inspection should have caused the #99 to fail the post-race inspection and should be an automatic penalty. Personally, I don't see much of a comparison between either of these two things and what happened with Robby. For one thing, what does an incident on pit road have to do with an unapproved part being found on Robby's car? And with the #99 car it wasn't an unapproved part that was found on the car, it's either a safety issue or something being left off deliberately to gain an an advantage, and more importantly as it was said on Sirius, the issue with the #99 isn't considering a COT violation, while the issue on the #7 is considered a COT violation. I think Nascar is doing the right thing by checking the car out carefully to be sure of exactly what the issues are that are involved if they aren't sure instead of immediately talking about penalties for the #99 team. While there are some situations when it comes to penalties that are similar, I think fans often try too hard to compare violations and penalty situations to each other when there are often many different circumstances.

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

March 01, 2008

Eventful Nationwide Race at Las Vegas

Mark Martin got JR Motorsports their first Nationwide win today but it wasn't the way Mark or JR Motorsports would have liked it to happen since Mark ended up wrecking his teammate, Brad Keselowski just a few laps before the end of the race. Mark is one of the cleanest and most careful drivers in the garage, but even the best of drivers make mistakes sometimes and that's exactly what Mark did in this race. It was shaping up to be a great battle for the lead with the laps winding down between Mark, Brad and Carl Edwards, but with Brad and Carl racing side-by-side, Mark bumped Carl from behind which sent him into Brad. Carl was able to limp to a 14th place finish, but Brad ended up with a DNF, which is a real shame for him since if he didn't win he likely would have finished in the top five. Mark ended up in Victory Lane and of course the very first thing he did in his interview was apologize like crazy. I commend Mark for taking responsibility and apologizing, and unlike some drivers who just say what they think is the right thing to say, I think Mark really did mean it.

Naturally the Junior fans are freaking out. Many of them had developed a strong dislike for Mark to begin with because he replaced Junior in the #8 and they've found fault in virtually every thing he's said or done since it was announced that he would race the #8. But as disappointing as it is that Brad got wrecked there's really not much to be mad about. For one thing JR Motorsports got their first Nationwide Series, and yes, Mark was racing for JR Motorsports even though Rick Hendrick is listed as the owner of the #5. Secondly, it's really unlikely there was any intent on Mark's part to wreck Carl or his own teammate. He simply made a mistake. Junior has been known to make a few oopsie's of his own - the time he got into the back of then teammate Michael Waltrip at Charlotte in 2005 and sent him hard into the wall comes to mind. Just as Junior didn't mean to do that, I'm sure Mark didn't mean to cause the wreck that he did. But some fans find it impossible to put aside their dislike for a driver and see things for what they are. More than a few fans seemed to think that Junior should be angry with Mark but Junior knows better than any fan what can happen out there, and he's also known Mark since he was a little boy. I highly doubt he's anything but happy right now.

Overall the Nationwide race was a wreckfest and I hope it's not a sign of things to come in tomorrow's Cup race. Some fans really love to see the wrecks but I'd much rather see some great racing. Unfortunately David Reutimann was one of the cars that ended up getting wrecked when he and Tony Stewart tangled. It looked like Tony got into David a little, but it was mostly just one of those in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time, just racin' deals. David was on his way to a fine finish too if not for that. Although he still ended up finishing 25th because of how many other cars got wrecked, it dropped him to 7th in the points.

Another driver who wrecked unsurprisingly is Steven Wallace. Of course there are many other drivers who wrecked as well so that's not necessarily a reflection on Steven but in the first three races this season he's already wrecked twice. I really question the wisdom in keeping him in this car. Wrecking seemingly every week must be terribly damaging to his confidence and it's making him be perceived very negatively by fans. Even I who tries not to pass judgment on driver's ability behind the wheel based on poor finishes or wrecks since there are so many variables out of the driver's control that go into it, is wondering whether he's over his head.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)

All Three Michael Waltrip Racing Cars Make the Show!

Oh happy day! Yesterday all three Michael Waltrip Racing cars qualified for Sunday's race at Las Vegas. The best part was that all three qualified solidly on time and there was no need for provisionals! What a difference a year makes! Last season I would be anxious and upset about what was going to happen from practice where the MWR cars were usually among the slowest of the go-or-go-homers right through qualifying, where things often didn't work out so well for them. But from the start of practice yesterday it was clear that much has changed and I felt optimistic from the start that there was a pretty good chance that all three MWR would make the show! David Reutimann was not only the fastest of the go-or-go-homers in practice, he was one of the fastest overall cars in practice! Michael was also fast, finishing practice the fourth fastest of all those who needed to qualify on time. Dale Jarrett was the only one who didn't do so well, ending up at the bottom of the speed chart to the point where I was sure he would need to use a Champion's provisional to make the race, but I was wrong about that!

This was the first week that the new qualifying procedure for the go-or-go-home cars was used. I think it worked extremely well, though I didn't really like having to wait until the end to find out whether Michael and his teams were going to make the race. I was thrilled when David and Michael both locked themselves in, no waiting and hoping for other go-or-go-homers to do worse to enable them to make the show, this year they both made it right away. The only question was how DJ was going to do - very well as it turned out! DJ qualified 16th and there was no need to use a provisional! That his team was able to pick up so much speed between practice and qualifying really shows how far the entire MWR organization has come since last season. That simply wouldn't have happened last year. Make no mistake the teams worked just as hard last season as this season, but the resources, personnel and knowledge base wasn't there to enable them to get the cars right for qualifying when they were off in practice. But based on how they got DJ's car right for him, it seems like they've major advances in their ability to make changes to the cars at the track to improve their performance.

I'm so happy for Michael and all of MWR! I think they've still got a ways to go before they're going to be racing up front and contending for wins, but I think it's a huge first step that they're showing that they have the ability to qualify for these races on time and then finish the races in the top 35. Anything can happen in Sunday's race and during the next two race weekends so I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but if all three MWR cars can finish in the top 35 on Sunday, qualify for the next two races and finish those in the top 35 too, then they won't have to worry about having to qualify for races on time (as long as they stay in the top 35 in owner's points). That would be a major accomplishment for an organization that had such a terrible first season. After the cars are locked in, they'd be able to start working on improving the competitiveness of the cars during races and from there I think we'd start to see some really solid finishes, particularly from David and Michael.

So far this weekend lady luck has been on MWR's side - I hope it continues!

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

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/1)

*Only four cars DNQ'd this week at Las Vegas and I can't say there were too many surprises about who they were after the way things went in practice. Pretty much the teams that didn't do very well in practice were the ones who went home. John Andretti's team had an extremely hard time getting through inspection and it took them so long to fix the problem that he only got one lap of practice. When it came time to qualify he didn't even end up being able to make a full lap around the track - unlike at Daytona no fairy tale endings here. Joe Nemecheck was slow in practice and slow in qualifying. Johnny Sauter wrecked in his qualifying attempt, likely because he knew he had a poor car and he had to push the car and himself to the limit if they were going to make the show. A.J. Allmendinger wasn't good in practice and also failed to make the race. The teams that didn't make the race are probably those that will be among those that continue to struggle to make races going forward.

*Among the go-or-go-home teams that did make the race were all three Michael Waltrip Racing cars (which will be discussed in a separate entry), Brian Vickers, Patrick Carpentier, Ken Schrader, Mike Skinner and Kurt Busch. There was no doubt Kurt would race since he had the Champion's provisional but qualifying on speed was no problem for him. Brian, Ken and Mike were all fast in practice so barring an unexpected issue I figured they would probably make it in. It sure was good to see the #49 be good right off the hauler this weekend. Patrick was the only one who didn't practice very well but his team apparently made the right changes because he ended up qualifying 12th. I'm glad to see Brian continue to make races and do well - I'm sure that he's going to lock himself into the top 35 and have a decent season, particularly in comparison to last year.

*A driver I think is in trouble is A.J. Allmendinger. He's starting off this season just like last and this in spite of having been strong in pre-season testing. With his teammate making races and seeming to have an improved team and cars, it's not reflecting very well on A.J. that he doesn't seem to have made any progress from last season. To be fair, it's hard to get any better when he's not racing, but he has to make races to get the Cup experience he needs. With Red Bull Racing developing Scott Speed, I think A.J. may lose his ride before the end of the season if he doesn't start making races on a consistent basis. RBR got Scott a truck ride specifically because there are some similarities in feel between a truck and a COT which indicates to me they're preparing him to race Cup, maybe sooner than A.J. would like.

*In interviews on both Sirius and XM last week Jon Wood indicated that although he had been scheduled to be in the #21 this weekend, he had voluntarily pulled himself from the car because he wasn't confident about his ability to successful qualify the car and finish well in it because of his lack of experience in the COT. So the team went with Johnny Sauter because he was the best available driver with a lot of qualifying experience. Last season Johnny did a good job of qualifying the #70 on time in the first five races and getting it in the top 35, but he certainly didn't have as much luck yesterday. So ironically after Jon took himself out of the car because he didn't think he could qualify the car, his replacement not only couldn't make the race, but also wrecked the car trying. I don't think that's a reflection on Johnny - as I said above he was giving his all towards trying to get the most of a bad car and the margin between success and disaster isn't much. This is another team that's in major trouble and it's sad to see considering how long the Wood Brothers have been a part of the sport. I don't expect things to get much better for them this season no matter what driver is behind the wheel.

*Some teams had trouble passing inspection the first time around before qualifying. One of those teams was that of Robby Gordon leading to speculation that there was another issue that he might be penalized for. There were several big teams like the the #88 and #48 that also had inspection issues. A lot of fans are making a big deal about all of this but all of the issues might amount to nothing. While it's possible Nascar found some things that will eventually led to penalties, there are also things that relate to the templates or weight that Nascar just tells the teams to fix and then resubmit for inspection. It's not them favoring certain teams or ignoring violations, it's them working with the teams. The key thing is that there can't be an unapproved part or any kind of major violation, but if there's something that can be easily fixed so that the car fits the templates, Nascar will let them try to do it.

*Robby says that if the penalty stands he's going to try to do the double - race both the Indy 500 and Charlotte 600. I'm really not sure why the penalty standing would be the reason why he would do this. Robby isn't likely to make the Chase regardless of whether he loses 100 points or not, and this early in the season, a loss of points can be easily made up with several good races in a row. Full Throttle makes several excellent points about Robby attempting the double, the most important of which is that a failure on Robby's part to pay the proper attention to his Cup program to the point where he does something to hurt his chances of being in the top 35 wouldn't just hurt him in 2008, it could also severely hurt his program in 2009 as well. I can't help but wonder just what the situation is at Robby Gordon Motorsports and whether things are in such dire straits in terms of his Cup program (there is talk he doesn't have full sponsorship for this season) that he figures it doesn't much matter what he does the weekend of the 600.

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