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March 13, 2008
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 March 13, 2008 04:09 PM