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June 30, 2008

Driver by Driver: Loudon I

1. Kurt Busch - Sure Kurt and his team used strategy to win, just as other teams used strategy to finish up front in this race, but that doesn't make this win count any less. Strategy is an important piece of the puzzle just as much as speed and competitiveness are. This team also had to race well enough to where they were in a position to use that strategy to win. Kurt's last win was at Michigan in August of last year.

2. Michael Waltrip - As I said in a previous entry all about Michael finishing second I'm thrilled for him and his team! Like Kurt they might have used strategy to finish this well but Michael also had a good car. I'm very happy that everything finally went Michael's way for a change. This is his best finish since he finished second at Phoenix in 2005. The winner of that race was also Kurt Busch. In that race Michael battled Kurt very hard for the win and just came up short - had the race gone back to green I have no doubt Michael would have battled Kurt equally as hard as he did a few years ago only maybe the result would have been different with Michael coming out on top.

3. J.J. Yeley - If Michael was happy about his top five finish then J.J. had to be positively ecstatic! J.J. went from failing to qualify for the two races prior to not only making this race but finishing 3rd - outstanding job by him and his team! Fact is, since J.J. and Michael raced each other almost the whole race I can say that J.J. also had a pretty good car. This is J.J.'s best finish since he finished 2nd at Charlotte in May last year.

4. Martin Truex Jr. - Another team that used good strategy to finish up front. Martin said after the race he wasn't ashamed to get a good finish that way nor should he be.

5. Elliott Sadler - Finally luck was on Elliott's side and it allowed him to get his first top five since the 2006 Daytona 500 when he finished 4th.

6. Reed Sorenson - Another driver very much in need of a good finish considering his precarious position in the owner's points. This finish moved Reed up to 31st in owner's points.

7. Casey Mears - Second strong finish in a row for Casey. Not only did he finish in the top ten in this race he also led 53 laps. It would certainly be something if Casey continued to finish well considering he was informed that he was going to need to look for a different ride for next season. Usually that doesn't make for a comfortable situation when a driver and team knows they won't be working together the following season and it's reflected in the results.

8. Denny Hamlin - Lately Denny's been pretty inconsistent - he races well one week then follows it up with a couple of so-so finishes. This race worked out pretty well for him though.

9. Jimmie Johnson - Apparently Jimmie didn't care for the way his teammate Jeff Gordon raced him and vice versa. Drivers are constantly complaining these days about the way they get raced whether it's by a teammate or someone else. I'm sure in the heat of the moment it's easy to get frustrated but I'm tired of hearing so many complaints. This is racing and the expectation is that everyone is going to race each other hard for position but it seems like an increasing number of drivers can't deal with anyone actually racing them. Is it something to do with the COT changing the racing? A sense of entitlement?

10. Bobby Labonte - Bobby's finished 11th three times this season but this is his first top ten.

11. Jeff Gordon - Not a terrible finish but probably short of the expectations that Jeff and his team had for this race. Although Jeff has finished in the top five seven times this season he hasn't really been a factor when it comes to contending for wins all that much this season. Jeff has won multiple races every season since 1994 but his team seems to have some work to do if they want to do that this season as well.

12. Jeff Burton - 17 races this season, 17 finishes in the top 15 or better for Jeff.

13. Tony Stewart - Tony led 132 laps and looked like he was going to cruise to the victory but then everything changed towards the end of the race when he had to pit for fuel and others didn't. There's been some controversy over Greg Zippadelli's call to take four tires instead of two to gain track position but I'm not sure it was going to make much of a difference at that point. Besides the fact that the rains were on their way, even if the race had gone all the way Tony might not have had enough time to get back up front even with four tires. When Tony was interviewed in his car before the race was called due to rain I thought Tony looked like he was on the verge of crying he seemed so disappointed and frustrated.

14. Kevin Harvick - Also looked to be a strong contender for the win and led 54 laps but was only able to finish 14th. Kevin finished well enough to move up one spot in the points into the final spot in the Chase but he's going to need to start finishing even better on a more consistent basis if he wants to stay in Chase contention.

15. Ryan Newman - Ryan was extremely critical of the way Roy McCauley called this race and overall he's expressed quite a bit of frustration about the performance of his team this season. Since he's making these comments publically I have a feeling he won't be with this team next year.

16. Brian Vickers - Felt he had a top five car but had to pit for fuel and couldn't get back up to the front because the race was called due to rain.

17. Carl Edwards - Had an ill-handling car for most of the race.

18. Matt Kenseth - Never had a very good car and never could get the track position he needed. The 18th place finish dropped him out of last place in the Chase standings.

19. David Reutimann - Like so many others David raced much better during this race but lost track position when he had to pit for fuel.

20. Joe Nemechek - No one noticed but Joe got his best finish of the season and best finish since he finished 15th at Pocono last June in this race. A top 20 is a really solid finish for this team considering they've missed races and often struggle to finish in even the top 30 let alone the top 20.

21. Greg Biffle - Had handling problems but the team was following a pit strategy that could have allowed them to stay out like many of the others who finished in the top ten did. However, Greg ended up getting caught a lap down just as a caution came out. Although he got the lucky dog he had to re-start at the tail end of the lead lap cars and couldn't gain much ground.

22. Clint Bowyer - Brought out the last caution when he tangled with the #77.

23. Aric Almirola - Not sure exactly what happened but he got spun by Kasey, and then retaliated.

24. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Got wrecked by Jamie McMuarray as he was trying to pit. Some fans have bent over backwards trying to find a reason to blame Junior for this wreck but it's hard to see how getting run into from behind while he's clearly trying to pit was his fault.

25. Kyle Busch - Juan didn't take too kindly to Kyle bumping him so Juan spun him under caution. Not really too much of a surprise that this might happen when two headstrong and aggressive drivers get to racing each other hard.

26 . Robby Gordon - Robby had one of the better cars in all three practices but it was a different story on raceday - what happened? This is actually Robby's best finish in the last four races and it enabled him to move up to 32nd in owner's points but things still aren't looking too good for Robby and his team.

27. Regan Smith - Hearing that his team might not be around next season due to a lack of sponsorship can't be a confidence booster for Regan.

28. David Gilliland

29. Paul Menard - The past two races have been less than impressive for Paul but overall his time in Cup hasn't been very impressive. Is the problem the cars he's getting from DEI? Or is he never going to develop into a driver that races up front regularly no matter who he races for? He may need a change of scenery so he can find out.

30. Kasey Kahne - Got spun by Aric Armirola because Kasey had spun him earlier in the race. No idea whether that was intentional or accidental. TNT didn't have footage of Kasey getting spun, no one was talking after the race and the incident was overshadowed by what happened between Juan and Kyle so it's hard to know exactly what went on.

31. Patrick Carpentier - Started on the pole and had to have had high hopes for his finish. Unfortunately it was not to be.

32. Juan Montoya - Would have had a better finish but he was penalized two laps after the race due to admitting to intentionally spinning Kyle Busch under caution. He's a hero to many fans for his actions but I think Nascar was right to penalize him - drivers can't be going after each other under caution even if they think the other driver went after them first which is what Juan thought in relation to Kyle. There's also a big difference between bumping a guy and turning him.

33. Dave Blaney

34. Scott Riggs - There definitely seems to be a difference in the results before and after the penalty this team got for rules violations found at Charlotte. I have to wonder if what they were doing to the car did give them an advantage that made a difference in the results or whether being a go-or-go-homer means that they have to concentrate so much on qualifying that it's hard to be prepared for raceday. It may also be that the rumors about Tony Stewart buying into Haas which would mean that Scott would likely be out of a ride is taking a toll on morale. Whatever the reason might be at one point it was assumed by many that Scott would easily get back into the top 35 in owner's points once he dropped out but given that in his last four races he has four finishes of 34th or worse, plus Max Papis didn't fare well in the #66 at Sonoma either, Haas may end up with two cars outside the top 35 at the end of the season.

35. Terry Labonte

36. Travis Kvapil - Not sure exactly why the result was so bad for Travis other than that he wasn't involved in an incident or anything. Matches his previous worst finish of the season which came at Fontana. Although Travis usually doesn't contend for the win, he usually finishes a lot better than this.

37. Johnny Sauter

38. Dario Franchitti

39. Sam Hornish Jr. - In light of his situation in relation to the top 35 in owner's points Sam really needed a better finish in this race.

40. David Ragan - An innocent victim in the Jamie McMurray/Dale Earnhardt, Jr. incident.

41. Jamie McMurray - Ran over Junior as he (Junior) was pitting. Every driver makes mistakes but that was a pretty big one and particularly since it drew the wrath of Junior Nation.

42. Michael McDowell - McD really needed to follow-up his 21st place finish at Sonoma with another strong finish to gain some spots in the owner's standings. But a mistake in shifting on a re-start led to a blown engine. He probably wouldn't have finished too well anyway even if he hadn't made the mistake but at least he would have finished.

43. A.J. Allmendinger - Also lost an engine.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

Jamie McMurray vs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

By now I shouldn't be amazed that every incident that involves Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets blown up into a much bigger deal than it really was, but I'm still a little astonished by some of the reactions in relation to Jamie McMurray wrecking Junior (and David Ragan) in yesterday's race. Yes, Jamie wrecked him and I completely understand why fans were upset about that - no one likes to see their favorite driver get wrecked, and particularly when he's been racing as well as Junior has this season. However, I don't really understand the animosity that's being directed towards Jamie. Some fans actually seem to think that Jamie deliberately ran Junior over for some reason. But why would he do that? Aside for there being no reason for Jamie to deliberately wreck Junior, Jamie needs all the good finishes he can since he may be racing for his ride so he's not going to deliberately do anything to jeopardize a good finish. All that happened is that Jamie made a mistake. A costly mistake, yes, but a mistake all the same. Not only that but unlike some drivers who have trouble taking the blame when they wreck another driver Jamie immediately took full responsibility. Jamie will likely apologize directly to Junior and by next weekend all will be forgiven, though some fans seem to think that Junior will try to retaliate against Jamie. That's unlikely to happen and certainly not at Daytona.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:14 PM | Comments (0)

Juan Pablo Montoyta vs. Kyle Busch

Most fans are celebrating the way Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked Kyle Busch under caution to let him know that he didn't appreciate the way that Kyle was racing him. I'm in the vast minority that thinks that Juan was completely out-of-line and that Nascar was right to penalize him two laps post-race, particularly since he admitted that he did it deliberately in an interview. I really don't know who did who wrong first - to me it seemed like it was two headstrong drivers racing each other hard for position and neither of them was willing to give an inch to the other one. I don't have a problem with that. What I don't like to see is a driver retaliating or sending a message to another driver under caution no matter how justified they might be in doing so. Actually, I don't like it much under green flag race conditions either but I understand that's part of the sport. But I don't think it should ever happen under caution. There's too much of a chance of other drivers getting caught up in the ensuing mess.

Juan wasn't particularly well-liked by fans but suddenly now that he wrecked Kyle he's everyone's favorite driver. Fans who would usually call for a driver's head if they did what Juan did are celebrating his actions. I understand that Kyle is disliked - I don't like him much myself. But what I don't understand is why it's acceptable for Juan to wreck him under caution just because Kyle is unpopular. Most fans seem to think that Nascar was wrong to penalize him and that instead Kyle should have been penalized - for what exactly? Racing another driver hard? A lot of fans think that Kyle deserved what he got because he's wrecked other drivers this season but there's a big difference between many of the previous incidents that Kyle's been involved with and what Juan did - intent. The majority of the time I don't think Kyle is looking to wreck those he's racing against but Juan deliberately wrecked Kyle (and under caution).

Of course if it was Tony Stewart or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who was in Kyle's shoes Juan would be public enemy #1 right now.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

Even When Michael Waltrip Finishes Well Some Can't Give Credit Where Credit is Due

Dave Moody was just on Sirius this morning saying that Michael Waltrip's second place finish isn't anything that the team is going to get excited about and that it's not going to give them any momentum to carry over to Daytona because Michael spent the entire race in 30th-40th place. Is he for real? First of all, Michael most certainly didn't race in 30th-40th in this race. In fact, Michael (and J.J. Yeley) spent a good chunk of the race in the top 25. If Michael (and J.J.) had really raced in 30th-40th all day they would have been at least a lap down, if not two laps down, but Michael was on the lead lap for the entire race. Moody said that Michael and all those who finished up front had bad cars - wrong!! No one is going to claim that Michael had a top five car when he started the race but both he and J.J. had good cars yesterday. Had Moody been paying attention he might have seen how Michael and J.J. were both faster than Kevin Harvick who was leading the race on lap 80 and were able to hold him off for 8-10 laps until the caution came out to stay on the lead lap. The problem for Michael and J.J. (and likely many other drivers) is that both started at the back on a track where track position is very important but they both had decent cars and their speed/lap times during the race reflected that. I don't expect Moody to know all that but I think he should give credit where credit is due - those teams that finished up front might not have had the best cars in the field but they did race well enough to put themselves in a position to where they could use strategy to put themselves up front when it counted.

What really boggles my mind is the idea that the #55 isn't or shouldn't be excited about finishing second. Finishing second is like a win to this team! This team has struggled so much and has had bad luck spoil what could have been some other good finishes for them this season like at Talladega when Michael was poised to contend for the win when his engine blew. Of course they're going to be excited and happy about finishing second! Sure if they had raced their way to a second place finish it would have made the finish sweeter, but with all the struggles not only this season but last as well, I would think they'd be pretty happy about finishing up front. I don't think any of them are going to be thinking that they're going to be racing up front in every race now since that would be unrealistic but they have to be feeling pretty good about themselves and I'd think that this finish gives the team hope that things will fall into place in other races in such a way that will enable them to finish well. In addition, they're heading to Daytona which is one of Michael's best tracks, where he is always a threat to win - this team is going to be more optimistic about Daytona than they would other races to begin with but I would think even more so after a good finish the previous week. In addition, what Moody probably isn't aware of is that this is actually the third week that the #55 team has had a good car, it's just that this was the first week in which fuel mileage/pit strategy worked in their favor.

I was also very much bothered by some of the comments by the hosts on the Jack Daniels post-race show on Nascar.com. They mocked and insulted not only Michael but the other drivers who finished up front. I certainly don't expect them to be kissing up to Michael or ignoring the reality that good strategy helped Michael and others finish up front. However, there was no credit given to these teams for doing what they needed to do to finish well and even worse there was a complete lack of respect to these drivers overall. Kurt Busch is a former series champion. I understand that he's still not very well-liked but he's a former Champion, not to mention the winner of the race. Michael is a two-time Daytona 500 champion. But regardless of their accomplishments if a driver finishes up front for one day at least I think they deserve respect enough not to be insulted.

Of course the mindset that a lot of drivers aren't worthy of respect is nothing new. There's a significant amount of fans - and apparently some in the media - who believe that the only way to evaluate a driver is on the basis of their current results and if they aren't racing well it must mean they don't belong in the sport even if the issue is that the cars that the driver is racing aren't very good. Whether the driver is Jeff Gordon or Michael Waltrip if they don't have a competitive car they aren't going to be able to race up front. The reality is that the drivers in Cup are the most elite drivers in all of Nascar. Michael has raced Cup for 24-years and while his stats might not be as impressive as Tony Stewart's that he's won four times, including two Daytona 500's shows that he belongs.

It seems like these days no matter who finishes up front or wins there's people who have to tear that driver and team down, and prove that their win or fine finish wasn't so great after all. I'm all for being realistic and for people to call things as they see them - I certainly do. But it just seems like there's a growing percentage of people who are unable to see the good in anything.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2008

Photo of the Day - Michael Waltrip

Pocono, PA, August, 2007. Because he finished second today had to use a photo of Michael as photo of the day. I bet Michael's smiling even bigger than that after today's race and will be all week!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Finishes Second at Loudon!!!

I am so excited and happy right now! Michael Waltrip raced his way from a 42nd place starting position to finish 2nd today in New Hampshire! Make no mistake - although strategy played a role in why Michael finished 2nd, it was also because he raced hard all day to be in a position where a call to stay out put him in 2nd when the race ended due to rain! Words can't even begin to describe how thrilled I am for Michael and his team. This is the third or fourth week in a row that they've had a good car but prior to this week the other pieces they need for success haven't been there. But this weekend everything fell into place in exactly the right way! Michael really did have a great car today and had the race gone back to green I have no doubt we would have seen a great battle between Michael and Kurt Busch for the win! Interestingly enough the last time Michael finished 2nd was in 2005 at Phoenix and the winner of that race was also Kurt. Had they finished racing this race maybe the outcome would have been different and it would have been Michael in Victory Lane!

There's no doubt that the team made a great call to stay out when other teams pitted during the caution for the Jamie McMurray/Dale Earnhardt, Jr. incident. However, to me a key moment that made everything that followed for the #55 team possible happened much earlier in the race. Around lap 80 or so Kevin Harvick was leading the race and as happens so often at this track he was catching the tail end of the field and lapping cars. Although Michael was racing fairly well in the top 25-30, he was still in danger of going a lap down. But he wasn't going to give up without a fight. Michael raced Kevin hard - and held him off for quite some time. I suspect Kevin, and probably more than a few fans, got pretty frustrated with Michael that he wouldn't pull over and let Kevin go by. But the reality is that Michael had as good of a car as Kevin did and at times he was even faster which is why Kevin had so much trouble passing him. In fact, what ended up happening is that the caution came out due to Dario Franchitti spinning on lap 86 and because Michael raced Kevin so hard he was able to stay on the lead lap. That was huge! Michael was never in danger of going a lap down for the rest of the race and that enabled him and his team to be in a position to make the call to stay out which paid off big time!!

Today's finish shows that anything is possible. Just because a team struggles one week doesn't mean that something magical can't happen the next week - it sure did for the #55 team this week! It also shows that Michael Waltrip Racing is very much capable of fielding competitive cars that can finish up front! Some are saying that this will be Michael's only good finish of the season but I wouldn't be so sure of that. I don't expect that they're suddenly going to be racing up front every week just because Michael got a top five this week but they have definitely made progress over the past three weeks or so which means that they can make even more progress as the season goes along. Contrary to what some believe Michael is a terrific driver who can race up front when he has a competitive car so if he has a car in other races as good as his car was today, I have no doubt we'll be seeing more of him racing up front! This is so good for MWR - it should show NAPA and other sponsors what Michael and his drivers can do!

Of course there are more than a few fans - and some in the media - who are downing Kurt's win and the fine finishes for Michael, J.J. Yeley and some others who finished up front because they used good pit strategy by staying out when others didn't to gain track position. However, that those teams used good strategy to finish as well as they did shouldn't make their accomplishment any less of something to celebrate. Like it or not, strategy is a part of the sport. Always has been and always will be. It's why racing isn't just an individual sport where the decisions that the driver makes on the track and the way they race are the only things that matter. That the crew chief makes good decisions on the pit box - like the call to stay out - and that the team does their job well on pit road is necessarily for success as well. These teams also had to have good cars to be able to have raced as well as they did on the lead lap to be in a position to stay out and finish up front. Kurt, Michael, J.J. and the others should be very happy with the way they and their teams performed today!

It wasn't quite as good of a day for Michael's teammates. David Reutimann raced well for most of the day - in fact he was ahead of Michael for much of the race including being in the top ten at one point. However, the pit strategy didn't work out quite as well for the #44 team as it did for the #55 team. In addition, David was the one who spun Dario to bring out the caution on lap 86. As it turned out that caution was very beneficial to Michael and luckily David escaped without any damage. Unfortunately it was a very bad day for Michael McDowell - he went a lap down early and then lost an engine. That really hurt him in the points but he's still hanging on in the top 35 in owner's points. Thankfully Sam Hornish, Jr. and Scott Riggs both had bad days as well. Scott wasn't able to race his way back into the top 35 and Sam wasn't able to gain any ground either. But it's absolutely essential that McD races well next weekend at Daytona.

Speaking of owner's points what's great about today's finish for Michael is that he moved up to 28th in owner's points. Things are still tight down to 36th or 37th but Michael put some room between himself and some of the other drivers since some of the others who he was racing against to stay in the top 35 had bad days. The best part is that next weekend is Daytona - that's a track where Michael is always a threat to win at and I think we'll definitely be seeing him race up front! A 2nd place finish this week, maybe a win next week? Call me a dreamer, say I have my rose-colored glasses on, but I definitely think it's possible!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:09 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 28th at New Hampshire

Mechanical issues doomed Steve Park and his team to a 28th place finish at New Hampshire last night. As he's done all season Steve was able to race up front but towards the end of the race things fell apart - reports from the track indicate that there was a problem with the sway bar and repairs put Steve nine laps down. Since many of those who were around Steve in the points finished better than he did he's definitely going to lose some positions in the points. However, every driver and team has a couple of bad races where things don't go their way. In this case it was a mechanical issue and that's out of Steve's control and more than likely out of his team's control as well. Sometimes things break or come loose no matter how many times the team checks to be sure that everything is okay with the car. The East Series schedules is just 13 races so there's not as many races to make points up in but Steve has raced consistently well all season including in this race before the problem so I have no doubt that he'll pick up where he left off next race with another top ten and this race won't hurt him too bad.

This was yet another race in which there was no live TV coverage. Of course I wouldn't have been able to watch anyway since I don't have HDNet but I think it's a major disservice to this series that all the races aren't shown live. It's good that the races are shown eventually on Speed but they're shown so much after the fact that my interest in watching is very little since the results are known and in some cases other races have already been run. I think that's the same for other people as well. Seems like the interest in Steve racing has really dropped off even though he's racing well. Of course the same core group is just as enthusiastic as ever but I'm really surprised that Steve racing again and particularly him racing up front hasn't been a source of more excitement. A lot of it may very well have to do with how hard it is to watch the races and follow this series in general.

There may be more to it as well. I know that my feelings towards Steve have changed over the years and in talking with other fans of his others feel the same way. It's not that anyone stops being a fan of his per say, it's just that things happen that cause a change in how we feel or the way that we view him. As much as I still cheer for Steve and support him I know that I likely won't ever go back to feeling about him the way I once did - Steve is a really great person and a talented driver but there are certain things that are hard for me to overlook even though I try. But I really figured that consistently racing in the top ten might invigorate some others who had lost some of their enthusiasm - apparently not. I guess once some people move on, they move on for good.

Some people view that as being a "bad" fan or that those people weren't "real" fans but that's a bunch of nonsense. As time goes on people's interests and attitudes may change and things that seemed really important at one time become less important. Or we find other things to be passionate about. I don't think it's a matter of people not being a fan of Steve's anymore - I think people still wish him well just as much as ever. It's just that being a fan of Steve's might be on the back-burner a little in comparison to the way they feel about other drivers or even other things outside of racing. I think that's really hard for some people to understand because they feel so passionately about Steve that they don't know why others don't feel the same way. But the reality is that each person has different beliefs and different ways of looking at things and we can't all think or feel the same ways about the drivers we like or anything else.

The next race in Thompson, Connecticut on July 12 and hopefully Steve will finish in the top ten or even better!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2008

Things I'm a Fan of... aka Things I Like

Someone posted a thread asking this on NYYFans and I figure it would be good to talk about some of the things I like a lot to off-set the sourness of my post earlier today on something I don't like too much. Of course Jim, family, friends and the dog come before all.

*Nascar - I love racing in general and have since I was a little girl. My favorite drivers are Michael Waltrip and Steve Park but I also like David Reutimann, Josh Wise, Michael McDowell, Elliott Sadler, Ken Schrader, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and many others.

*The sound of the engines being started on pit road. Watching a pit stop from pit road. The busyness of the garage area and the teams at work. Close finishes. Exciting racing. First time winners.

*Baseball - New York Yankees fan now and always. My all time favorite players are David Cone, Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill, John Olerud and Robin Ventura (even though the last two were only Yankees for a short time). Current favorites are Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina and Alex Rodriguez.

*The excitement of walking into Yankee Stadium. A great pitching duel. Grand slams. Walk-off home-runs. Small ball that wins games.

*Photography - I'm constantly looking around me and seeing opportunities for photos. If I could spend all day, every day taking photos I would be very happy. One day I'd love to go from National Park to National Park exploring and taking photos. I'd love to go from race to race (with hot passes of course) doing the same. Not only do I love taking photos myself I very much enjoy seeing other people's photography, particularly landscapes and nature as well as aerial photography. Ansel Adams and David Muench are my favorite photographers.

*Speaking of National Parks - love 'em! I've not been to many National Parks but I'm in awe of the beauty of within them. I'm very interested in the history of National Parks and I also love to read everything I can get my hands on about National Parks from the history of individual parks to search and rescue accounts to journals of people who explore remote areas of the parks. Particular favorites include two that I've actually visited - Crater Lake, Grand Canyon and Acadia as well as a whole host of others that I haven't - Yellowstone, Yosemite, Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, and Bryce Canyon. A new favorite that I've started getting into reading about is Olympic National Park.

*Rocks - Since I was a little girl I've been fascinated by rocks. I have a collection of rocks and minerals and I love going to gem and mineral shows. My favorite rock is rutilated quartz but I like pretty much anything that has inclusions in it.

*Rock formations that have been eroded by wind, water or sand. Canyons, particularly slot canyons - never been to one but I love reading about them and seeing photos of them. The arches, hoodoos and other formation in Utah and other parts of the Southwest are particularly beautiful to me. I got a small taste of all of that in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada and I hope one day to visit Utah and do some exploring there. I also love sea stacks and wave smoothed rocks and stones.

*The ocean. I could sit all day on the beach, not sunning myself but watching the waves. I love the sound of waves crashing to shore. I love picking up stones, shells and sea glass along the edge of the water. Seagulls. Tide pools. Starfish, sea urchins and horseshoe crabs. Minus tides. Rocky coast of Maine. Big waves. The beach at sunrise or sunset. Driftwood.

*Magazines - I love to read in general but I especially love magazines! I like reading about places so I have subscriptions to magazines about New Jersey, Maine and Arizona and also pick up magazines about Cape Cod and Cape May regularly. I also subscribe to Nascar Scene, Food Arts, Outside, Rock & Gem, Popular Photography, Shutterbug, Photo District News, Outdoor Photographer and Entertainment Weekly. When I visit a bookstore I almost always leave with other magazines from Rolling Stone to climbing magazines, basically whatever catches my eye.

*Books - I almost exclusively only read non-fiction particularly books about nature, the outdoors, national parks and photography. I used to be very into reading mysteries, African-American literature and literature of the Holocaust and will sometimes still read books in that genre.

*Going online - aside from being a admin and moderator for NYYFans, and I'm also the moderator of a Nascar related forum. There's good and bad things about moderating forums but mostly I like it. Besides that I enjoy discussing racing on a handful of racing forums. I'm a news junkie so I like to visit a bunch of news sites. I just like information in general so I'm always visiting sites related to all the things I'm interested in.

*Music - I love anything that rocks from classic rock to alternative to hair bands to heavy metal. I also like some pop and dance music as well as jazz. I have way too many favorite bands and musicians to list them all but a few are Simon & Garfunkel, old Metallica, Poison, Bon Jovi, old Skid Row, old Motley Crue, Scorpions, John Mellencamp, James Blunt, Three Doors Down, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Satriani, Pink Floyd, Scorpions, The Police, U2, Tom Petty and Santana. Also way too many favorite songs but a few are Ozzy's "Crazy Train," "Fly Me Courageous" by Drivin 'n Cryin', "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie, "Patterns" and "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel, "Tusk" and "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac, "Here Comes the Rain Again" by the Eurthymics, "Rain on the Scarecrow" by John Mellencamp and "No One Like You" and "The Zoo" by the Scorpions. I love listening to everything via Rhapsody on my computer or by using my IPod.

*Satellite Radio - "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" and Claire B. Lang. Plus having a channel for every kind of music imaginable is awesome!

*TV - favorite shows include This Week in Nascar, Top Chef, Project Runway, The Simpsons, Family Guy, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Rock of Love. Favorite shows of the past that I miss dearly are Arrested Development and Homicide: Life on the Street.

*Places - anywhere on the ocean or near a beautiful landscape. Cape May, NJ. Ogunguit, Maine. Jekyll Island, GA, particularly Driftwood Beach. Cannon Beach, Oregon. I also love Las Vegas. Cape Porpoise, Maine. Island Beach State Park in NJ. The wild side of Aruba.

*Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, streams - anywhere that there's running/moving water.

*The Paulinskill Viaduct. A huge abandoned (for now) railroad viaduct, beautiful and in the middle of the woods of New Jersey.

*Longwood Gardens - beautiful gardens and fountains on the old Dupont estate in Pennsylvania.

*Grounds for Sculpture.

*Walt Disney World, especially Epcot. Not just for the rides but for the photography.

*Going out to eat at great restaurants. Been to way too many to pick a favorite or mention them all. Expensive or a cheap hole-in-the-wall, as long as the food is good I'm happy.

*I love food. It's a good thing I have a fast metabolism and I've always been thin because I love to eat! Some of my favorite foods include cheese, pizza, french fries, bread, sushi, smoked fish, seafood, anything Asian, dumplings, Spaetzle, matzo ball soup, potato pancakes, perogies, and pasta.

*Porches. Especially rocking chairs on porches on Victorian houses by the sea.

*Hammocks.

*Pugs. Dogs and cats of all kinds but especially when they have smooshy faces.

*Patterns. In nature or otherwise. Love to draw my own. I've got a design I've been working on variations of for probably 15 years now. Every one is similar yet different in the way it's drawn and the colors I use.

*Spirals.

*Lighthouses

*Climbing. I've never climbed anything in my life and likely won't but I like reading about mountain climbing (Everest and some of the mountains in the Northwest especially) and big wall climbing (particularly in Yosemite).

*Anything purple. Colors and things that are colorful.

*Sparkles.

*Silver

*Getting bargains when I'm clothes shopping (not that I go shopping often anymore). Century 21. TJ Maxx. Marshall's. Betsey Johnson. Boots.

*Symbols and symbolism. The meanings to things.

*Learning. Thinking about things. Ideas. Being creative.

*Writing in this blog... obviously.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)

It's Official: Mears Out at HMS; Biffle Staying at Roush

Today it was confirmed that Casey Mears is in fact leaving Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this season as it had been previously rumored. Although no replacement for Mears has been announced, one has to think it's likely that the other part of the rumor that Mark Martin will take his place on a full- or part-time basis is likely true as well. I feel bad for Casey. When he left Chip Ganassi Racing for HMS he probably thought that it was the chance of a lifetime to race in top-notch equipment with good friends as his teammates, but I'd say getting released before his contract is up isn't how he pictured his time at HMS ending.I think some of the talk about how Casey was a disappointment at HMS is ridiculous - last season he had one win, a pole, five top five's, ten top ten's and finished 14th in the points. I think those results are very good - problem is that the expectations for Casey at HMS were much higher than a 14th place points. Had Casey started off this season well he'd probably still have his ride but he's mired 24th in points with just one top five and three top tens. I also have to wonder whether the issues in Casey's personal life were a problem for his sponsor - it would be very unfortunate if that were the case since I don't think things like that should matter but the reality is that everyone is very image conscious in this sport.

The good news for Casey is that there are several teams who are interested in him. Thatsracin.com reports that Gillett-Evernham Motorsports (to replace Patrick Carpentier or for a 4th team?), Richard Childress Racing and Red Bull Racing are at least three of the teams that have shown interest. I think like Brian Vickers, who also left HMS after he was deemed to be underperforming (Casey replaced him), I think Casey might blossom with RBR. For one thing as a very young organization that hasn't experienced a lot of success yet, the expectations for performance would likely be less there. In addition, Casey would likely have more freedom to let loose a little and show some more personality like Brian has been able to. Lastly, I really doubt there would be too many concerns about his personal life unless he did something that might interfere with his ability to race. Casey's a proven winner in the Cup Series and if he gets competitive cars, from RBR or another team, he should be able to do at least as well as he did last season.

As for Greg Biffle, I admit to being surprised that he's staying at Roush-Fenway Racing. Given his complaints about his results and how it seemed like there was something that would go wrong mechanically or otherwise in every race I had thought that he might seriously look at leaving Roush for another organization. And maybe he did consider other offers more seriously than he might admit since it took quite a while for this deal to be finalized and announced even though Greg kept saying that it was done. But the thing is Greg has been part of the Roush organization for the past ten years and even though the results might not be quite as good as he's like recently, he has enjoyed a lot of success over the years at Roush. In addition, it's not like he's been given bad cars to race - in fact they're quite competitive and Greg has led a lot of laps. So the team just needs to work on making sure there are no mistakes in the pits, figuring out how to cut down on the mechanical issues and hoping for good luck might help too.

One thing about Greg that always surprises me is his age. He's 38. I always think of him as being much younger than that, maybe only about 30 or 32 at the most. Of course in the outside world 38 isn't old at all but in Nascar 38 is ancient these days.So I also have to wonder if Greg's age meant that some of the rides that would have been available to him if he had left Roush weren't as good as what might have been available to a younger driver.

The Silly Season pieces are starting to fall into place - I'm quite sure there's going to be lots more to come, not just this summer but into the fall.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)

Intolerant of Intolerance

I've always said that even after Michael Waltrip retires that I would continue being a Nascar fan, not only because I would want to support the drivers who are racing for him but also because I love racing. And I still love racing as much as I ever did and I would still want to support anything that Michael's involved with now and in the future. However, I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to be as enthusiastic of a fan in the years to come as I am now. Unlike many of my fellow fans my issues aren't with the governing body of the sport or with which drivers are successful right now. As anyone who has read this space regularly might have noticed my issues are with many of my fellow fans.

I've always had a problem with prejudice and intolerance. This comes from my experiences growing up in a small town where being Jewish and thinking different didn't go over very well with some. The small-mindedness and intolerance of some of my fellow Nascar fans is bothering me more and more. There is a distrubingly large amount of fans who are intolerant of differences in race, religion, ethnicity sexual preference, part of the country someone is from, opinions, etc.. For this second time this week I've seen things expressed that are hateful and disgusting. While I realize this doesn't reflect the belief of all fans, it appears to be acceptable to way too many of my fellow fans to hate on anything and anyone that thinks, behaves or looks different from the way that some people think is "right." Maybe those fans are just more vocal about what they think and others are afraid to disagree with them but it's alarming the kinds of comments that are made.

I know that not everyone can have the same opinions as I do, and a lot of times I either state my differing opinion as part of a discussion or just ignore things all together. But I find myself getting angry lately. There's some comments that are made that are ignorant of fact and there's some that are just flatout hateful. There's a lot of hate in some of my fellow fans. I've never understood how it was possible for fans to hate people they've never met before and only know through interviews or from watching them on TV. The fact of the matter is that doesn't give a true picture - positive or negative - about who someone is. That a driver wrecked another driver isn't reflective of the totality of who someone is as a person either though some fans sure seem to think so. Don't get me wrong, there's drivers I don't like and there are things that go on that I don't agree with but hate? I barely hate anyone or anything in my day-to-day life I'm certainly not going to hate anyone in Nascar. But a lot of fans are completely intolerant of any driver making a mistake or otherwise doing or saying anything "wrong" and that intolerance is so ingrained that it turns into hate for some fans. Sad.

The thing is that as much as Nascar has a diversity program and everyone in the sport talks about the importance of diversity the reality is that it's going to be a tough sell to get a lot of fans to accept those people, ideas and things they perceive to be different and therefore "wrong." With some attitudes and beliefs I see things getting worse as time goes on, not better. Of course there's nothing I can do about any of this - arguing with people with certain beliefs is a waste of time since one other thing that I've found is that more than a few of my fellow fans aren't open to considering different opinions. So all I can do is continue to grit my teeth and try to ignore it which isn't always easy. I try to not let other people ruin my enjoyment of something or someone but sometimes it just hard.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud (6/26)

Never thought I'd hear someone say that as a kid they were traumatized by "Hotel California" by The Eagles (great song!) but that's exactly what Tony Rizutti said on last night's show - apparently there was a line in it that scared him when he was a kid! I get the feeling that might be something he's not going to hear the end of for a while. I guess everyone has something when they're a kid - for some it's clowns, for me it was "The Towering Inferno" which led to a fear of tall buildings for a while and for Tony it was "Hotel California."

This weekend at Loudon Michael is going to pay tribute to the Bahre family who played such a big role in his racing career - Michael was driving Dick Bahre's car when he made his first Cup start in 1985. Apparently Dick is fighting an illness now and I would imagine that's why Michael wants to do something for him. There's going to be a large decal on the TV panel of the #00 car and a smaller decal somewhere on his own car. I guess they had to put it on the #00 car in addition to his own car since the TV panel was available on that car to increase the chances that it would make it on-air. It says something about Michael that he doesn't forget the people who helped him and that he has Dick in his thoughts while he's ill. Michael has a big heart and that's just one more reason why we all adore him so much!

Last weekend most fans assumed that the engine change that forced the #55 to the back of the field was due to a mechanical failure but unfortunately it was due to driver error. Michael said that normally the driver has nothing to do with it when an engine goes but in this case he literally broke the engine. Apparently he shifted incorrectly and that broke the engine. He said that there was a silver lining in that it forced him to focus more on shifting right on Sunday but I felt bad for him. Given that it led to the team having to make an engine change that's not a small mistake and he had to have been kind of embarrassed about it. However, every driver makes mistakes some of them even bigger and more embarrassing - at least Michael didn't do what Sterling Marlin did a few years ago when he looked down for a second during a caution and ended up running into the back of another car, wrecking himself and maybe the other guy too. Now that's embarrassing and even more so since he had to give an interview about it afterwards!

Michael also mentioned that his team failed when it came to fuel mileage. I have to agree with him there and I hope fuel mileage and the strategy they use is something they're working hard to address. Seems like fuel mileage is a part of more and more races so it's an area in which they need to be on top of.

Jim Aust from Toyota who is retiring was the guest on last night's show. Michael seems to really like him a lot and talked about what a great heart he has. A lot of what Jim said during the interview was very much what we've heard before from people from Toyota regarding their acceptance in the sport and fan misconceptions about Toyota. In light of how he's retiring and that he's been involved with Toyota's efforts in Nascar for the past ten years I admit that I would have preferred to have heard a little more about some of his memories from the past ten years or ways in which he helped bring Toyota to the Cup Series. They talked about how the fans have come to accept Toyota's presence in the Cup Series and how fans are always coming up to them and thanking him at races. That may very well be true and for PR purposes I know that's what Jim is going to say regardless of what the case may be but I encounter anti-Toyota sentiment every single day whether it's on forums that I visit, comments from fans in blogs that I read, or when I'm listening to calls from fans on XM and Sirius. Jim credited Michael being a great ambassador for Toyota as part of the reason why Toyota has been accepted and that I have to agree with since Michael is outstanding at being an ambassador for whoever he's representing whether it's Toyota, his sponsors or the sport itself. However, I cringed when Jim said that Michael is in "lockstep" with Toyota I understand what he was getting at there but that term is sometimes used to refer to people who mindlessly do as they're told without thinking for themselves and Michael most definitely thinks for himself!

As for the biggest misconception it was about how a lot of fans believed that Toyota is outspending the other manufacturers. Honestly, I think after last season when the performance for the Toyota teams was so putrid I think most fans stopped thinking that Toyota was pouring an endless amount of money into their teams because if they did the results would have been better. Sad to say but the conspiracy theorists and anti-Toyota crowd seem to have moved on to thinking ridiculous things like either the Toyota teams are cheating or that Toyota is using their money to pay off Nascar.

Michael and Jim are going to play golf at Pebble Beach soon - apparently Michael knows someone who can get them in. I sure hope we hear about that on the show! Pebble Beach looks gorgeous and I would think that it has to be incredible to play there!

In the last segment Tony and Michael had a spirited disagreement about the Sonoma race, fuel mileage, the length of the race, etc... Tony said that in other road course racing series the fastest car is the one that wins but if I understood right in Cup good fuel mileage is what helps a team win. I don't think he likes that too much and I have to say that I don't really either. I'm not like some other fans who think that fuel mileage wins don't count as "real" wins - to me strategy is a part of the sport, an important part, and if a team wins that way it doesn't take away from their accomplishment. However, it seems like there's more and more races where getting good fuel mileage and the strategy that a team uses in regards to pitting and fuel is what gets them success rather than how fast their car is. I was really bothered at Michigan by the fact that Michael seemed to have the fastest and best car he's had for quite some time and he still wasn't able to finish up front because the fuel mileage didn't work out so well for his team. I especially didn't like that Michael had to slow down to a ridiculous degree in an effort to save fuel. Drivers should be racing hard with everything they've got, especially at the end of a race and particularly when they've got a good car like Michael had.

Michael surprised Tony by letting him pick the song they closed with. Apparently Traci, Michael's PR rep had tattled on Tony and told Michael that Tony says that he's bossy and likes his way all the time so Michael wanted to show that he didn't have to have his way. I cracked up when I heard that because if I had a dime for every time I've heard some version of how Michael likes his way, he does what he wants, he likes to be in control or he's stubborn I'd be a very rich woman right now! I think some see how head-strong and stubborn Michael is as a negative (and I can see how it can be difficult for those around him at times) but it's that stubbornness and determination which is what has helped him to be a part of this sport for as long as he has.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2008

Photo of the Day - Rock on Rock

It looks like nothing but it's something to me...

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

Silly Season is Silly

There's so many rumors floating around about where drivers and sponsors are going to end up now that Silly Season has kicked into high gear (as if it ever really ends anymore) that it's really impossible to keep up with everything. I definitely won't be mentioning a lot of things in this space - some of the rumors are so outlandish and unlikely that I don't even think it's worth the time I would spend writing an entry about it. If it relates to Michael Waltrip Racing, potentially major news or something I find interesting I'll probably cover it, but seems like for a lot of Silly Season rumors I'm better off waiting until it becomes reality. Part of the problem is what Jim Utter talked about the other day on XM - people in the business float rumors that might not be true to fulfill some kind of agenda, whether it's to put something in motion, see how fans and others might react to certain things, cause trouble, etc... In fact the U.S. Army to Bill Davis Racing rumor that was circulating last week might be one of that kind of rumor - speculation is that the Army has no interest in BDR but someone affiliated with BDR is spreading that rumor to make it seem as if sponsors are interested in BDR when in reality there are no sponsors who are interested in either of their teams.

Unfortunately what happens according to Utter is that some journalists will print every single rumor they hear (I though of Mike Mulhern immediately) while others like himself will double- and triple- check with sources to be sure that what they're being told has some truth to it. The problem that they can run into though is that they really don't have much choice but to believe an official source who is authorized to speak on behalf of a driver, team or sponsor. In addition things can change very quickly - at one time it seemed certain that Martin Truex, Jr. was going to leave DEI for another team but according to Utter recent signs point to him staying.

So basically on a lot of things I'm just going to wait and see rather than fill space here - I could have a whole separate blog on the various scenarios that have been floated as to what Tony Stewart might end up doing!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)

700th Start Trophy Given to Michael Waltrip

Back in February when I noticed that Michael Waltrip was going to be making his 700th Cup start later in the season I brought up to my fellow fans on the forum on his site (aka the Wal-Nutz) that maybe we should do a project for him to recognize that accomplishment since 700 Cup starts is pretty impressive! A lot of brainstorming later and we ended up getting him a nice trophy from Successories with an inspirational quote on it and everyone wrote messages of congratulations that also included some memories of which of those 700 starts were particularly memorable to them. Due to his busy schedule it was difficult for those who were going to be presenting him the trophy and messages to catch up with him but finally they were given to Michael yesterday at Raceworld. From what I understand he was very happy about getting it and said that it meant a lot to him, which really makes me happy to hear! Apparently no one else had really acknowledged his 700th start and it wasn't even mentioned in the driver's meeting prior to the race at Darlington, his actual 700th start. That just boggled my mind that us mere fans, including a lowly fan like me with a bad memory, thought enough of Michael's achievement in making his 700th start to want to do something to recognize it back in February but the sport and his fellow competitors didn't even mention it on the day that it actually happened.

In all fairness leading up to his 700th start Michael made a couple of comments about being sad about his 700th start because he hadn't won more so maybe people were afraid of making too much of a fuss over his 700th start because they didn't want to make him sad. I even had some of those concerns when I read his interview in which he talked about it. However, it's a pretty huge milestone that I think it about a lot more than just the number of wins he has. With accomplishments and milestones like that I think it's kind of like a birthday or anniversary - even if someone says they don't want a gift or an acknowledgment of it, inside they really do. I really don't know the circumstances as to how it ended up that Michael's 700th start was never mentioned at the driver's meeting but if I were in Michael's shoes I might have felt a little hurt by that, particularly since I would think that milestones like that for other drivers are often mentioned. In addition, there was a big fuss over Kenny Wallace making his 400th Nationwide start this past weekend - I wonder how Michael felt about all the attention given to that in light of how no one was interested in him making 700 starts on a higher level?

Maybe there are some who think like Michael does that making 700 Cup starts isn't all that great when you only have four wins. Of course to the drivers who are so competitive they're never going to truly be satisfied unless they end up in Victory Lane on a regular basis. But the fact of the matter is that Michael has made his mark on the Cup Series and he will always be a part of the history of the series - and the sport - whether he goes on to win more races or finishes his career with just those four Cup wins. Two of those 700 starts that Michael made are Daytona 500 wins. That's the most prestigious race that Nascar races each season. Drivers are thrilled to win even once let alone twice. And Michael's got two more wins besides.

But beyond that those 700 starts represent Michael's determination to keep racing for 24-years even when it's been a struggle. He's survived in this sport where so many others haven't and contrary to what some may think he's shown he belongs by winning multiple races. It's also about the ways he's helped changed the series from helping Toyota make their entry into Cup to suggesting that the cars have weights in them to compensate for the different weights of the drivers so that larger drivers weren't at a disadvantage to more recently when he advocated for changes to qualifying so that all the go-or-go-homers could qualify together. It's about all the exciting moments of great, hard racing he's been a part of that have thrilled so many of his fans - the times like at Phoenix in 2005 when he finished 2nd to Kurt Busch and came so close to winning his first non-restrictor plate race.

Those 700 starts are also about Michael's fans and how wonderful he's been to so many of us when we've encountered him at the track (and elsewhere). Not just the autographs he's signed or the photos he's posed for but the way he's gone out of his way to talk to and joke with us, or when he's pressed for time made sure to smile and wave when he's seen one of us wearing a shirt of his. It's the ways that he's gone above and beyond other drivers and made us feel like we were important.

Michael told someone yesterday that the trophy meant so much to him that he was going to put it on display at Raceworld - how many other drivers would do that with something given to them by fans? Not just put it where they can see it but where others can too. It makes me happy to think that myself and everyone else who participated in this project whether it was contributing money, writing a message or just cheering Michael on in his 700th start did something that meant a lot to him and made him smile. I just wish some of those around Michael in the garage area had also seen fit to recognize his 700th start - as much as it might have made him feel good to get the trophy from us fans, it might have felt even better to have his fellow competitors recognize his accomplishment as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2008

Driver by Driver: Infineon

1. Kyle Busch - The #18 team seemed to struggle for most of the weekend so on Sunday morning no one would have picked Kyle to win - but he did. There's always fans who try to discredit wins no matter the driver, but especially with Kyle and it was no different with this win. However, Kyle's team worked hard for this win and they really earned it. Kyle is showing that he can race - and win - on any kind of track. He is truly an outstanding talent.

2. David Gilliland - I'm not sure why so many are so surprised by David's fine finish at Infineon since I believe he has prior experience racing at this track and is a decent road course racer even though his previous results haven't shown it. Good to see him and his team get some attention for a great finish.

3. Jeff Gordon - Never contended for the win but no surprise that Jeff was up front on a road course.

4. Clint Bowyer - Clint is a very good road course racer having never finished worse than 16th in Cup at either this track or Watkins Glen.

5. Casey Mears - Amid rumors that he's already lost his ride at Hendrick Motorsports, Casey gets his best finish since September of last year at Kansas.

6. Juan Montoya

7. Ryan Newman

8. Matt Kenseth - First top ten for Ryan since early May at Richmond - a sign that things are turning around for him and his team or is this finish only a result of good fuel mileage and being able to pit at the right time to get track position?

9. Carl Edwards

10. Tony Stewart - Tony was unhappy about getting turned via a mistake by Kevin Harvick towards the end of the race so he started driving like a madman to get back up front. I'd like to know why there's been no attention given to the fact that he turned Scott Pruett, ruining a good run for a team that desperately needed one? It's hard to see the way he got into Pruett as anything other than Tony deliberately running over a car he thought was in his way - why is that acceptable? Because it's Tony and everyone knew the circumstances and the victim was a guy who rarely races Cup? Instead of asking him about the Harvick incident, I wish someone would have asked him about this incident.

11. Greg Biffle - This is a good finish for Greg but this was yet another race in which Greg suffered bad luck while leading a race - this time he spun completely by himself while leading on lap 33. He was able to gather himself back up and get back in line but he was never able to get back out front.

12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - A good finish at a track that Junior has never raced all that well at.

13. Jeff Burton - Has still finished in the top fifteen or better in every single race this season.

14. Brian Vickers - A top fifteen finish moves Brian one spot up in the points standings to 15th. I would love to see him make the Chase and he's not all that far off.

15. Jimmie Johnson

16. Martin Truex Jr. - Here's a driver that I don't think was mentioned all race but he finished pretty well.

17. Terry Labonte - Nice job by Terry in a car that probably wasn't all that great.

18. Jamie McMurray - Poor Jamie. He was racing as high as 2nd at one point and seemed poised to finish in the top ten when he was spun by Kevin Harvick which caused him to get into Tony Stewart.

19. Elliott Sadler - Would have finished better if not for the flat tire he got on the last lap. He's probably lucky he finished this well.

20. Dave Blaney

21. Michael McDowell - Top finishing rookie of the race. This was McD's best finish of his career but it might be a disappointment to him since he had gone into the weekend thinking he might be able to race up front given all his road course experience including at this track.

22. Travis Kvapil

23. Patrick Carpentier - Since the points don't matter for Patrick he won't be racing the car at Pocono so he can concentrate on the Nationwide race in Montreal, which is also that weekend, since he has a good chance of finishing well there. So the question is, who is going to race the #10 at Pocono?

24. David Ragan - Probably a better finish than he thought he'd get after getting wrecked on lap 30.

25. Michael Waltrip - Michael really should have finished better than this considering he had a decent car. However, MWR has work to do when it comes to fuel mileage - the pit strategy they had to go with kept them pinned towards the back on a track where it's very hard to pass.

26. Joe Nemechek - One of Joe's best finishes of the season.

27. Denny Hamlin - Had to be a disappointing finish for Denny since he's raced well at this track i the past.

28. Aric Almirola - Aric is slated to race this car full-time next season and it'll be interesting to see how much success he has.

29. Ron Fellows - Ron was racing in the top ten when he became an innocent victim in the Harvick/McMurray/Stewart incident. Really a shame since he was racing so well and this team really needed a good finish to improve their standings in the owner's points.

30. Kevin Harvick - His mistake on lap 105 resulted in four top ten cars getting wrecked.

31. Sam Hornish Jr. - I'm surprised that Sam didn't do better at this track.

32. Kurt Busch - Got into Robby Gordon on lap 70.

33. Kasey Kahne - Started on the pole but problems with his clutch doomed him to a poor finish.

34. Paul Menard

35. Max Papis - This team put Max behind the wheel hoping that he'd be able to get a better finish than regular driver Scott Riggs since Max has so much road course experience. But the car was never good enough for Max to do anything with it and then he got caught in the lap 70 incident between Kurt Busch and Robby Gordon.

36. Robby Gordon - Robby was racing up front as he normally does on road course tracks when he got spun by Kurt Busch. He might have been able to recover from that but he also ran out of gas and then got a flat tire. A poor finish on one of his better tracks doesn't bode well for the rest of the season for Robby.

37. A.J. Allmendinger - Stalled on pit road and lost a lot of time while his team tried to get him started again.

38. Scott Pruett - Was on his way to a much better finish which the team dearly needs when he got run over and spun by Tony Stewart.

39. Bobby Labonte - Mechanical issues did him in.

40. David Reutimann - David had a lot of trouble on this track. He really struggled with his car and with the track but also got a flat which put him in the wall on lap 101.

41. Boris Said - His race was just about over when it started due to mechanical issues.

42. Marcos Ambrose - Impressed a lot of people by racing up front in his Cup debut. Unfortunately he ended up with a DNF when he lost his transmission and then got turned by Elliott Sadler.

43. Brian Simo - Out with a mechanical problem on lap 34.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2008

Photo of the Day - Cape May

The Abbey, Cape May, NJ, July, 2007.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip and Michael McDowell Do Well at Sonoma... David Reutimann, Not So Much

Going into this weekend at Sonoma Michael Waltrip Racing had two cars in danger of slipping out of the top 35 in owner's points. But while many fans were predicting that doom and gloom for both Michael Waltrip and Michael McDowell, I had confidence that both would be able to race well enough to not only stay in the top 35 but make gains. I'm happy that's exactly what both did! The news wasn't as good for David Reutimann who struggled all weekend on the Cup side, though he finished 4th in the Nationwide race at Milwaukee. Overall, I'd have to say that this past weekend was a positive one for MWR since two out of their three cars raced well at Sonoma, all three cars are still in the top 35 in owner's points and David did so well in Milwaukee.

Michael has always been a good road course racer and he was able to hold his own this past weekend. I'd like to say he was able to race competitively but there wasn't all that much actual passing for anyone - it seemed like being able to make a pass and advance positions was a matter of luck. And Michael did have some luck in passing and ultimately ended up finishing 25th which is more or less around where he raced for a good portion of the race. He did lose some spots at the end of the race, but I think he was better off racing conservatively and letting a few cars get by rather than trying to fight hard to hold on to his position - that could have resulted in getting bumped out of the way which would not have been a good thing considering where he is in the owner's points. Finishing 25th allowed the #55 to move into 32nd in owner's points and a few more solid finishes will move the team up even higher. I was happy that Michael seemed calm on the radio and satisfied with his car - so many times this season he's been frustrated and miserable at having to race a poor car. Although it's sometimes more interesting when he has a lot to say over the radio, I'll definitely take the silence if it means that he has a decent car that he can race with! Even a pit road speeding penalty didn't doom him to a poor finish as might have happened in the past when his car wasn't very good - Michael simply re-grouped and eventually got the spots back he had lost due to the penalty.

The one area in which the #55 team (and maybe MWR as a whole) continues to need to work on is with fuel mileage. Seems like fuel mileage strategy has crossed them up a few times this season and it almost happened in this race as well. The caution flew on the lap that Michael was about to come in for a pit stop and there was concern that Michael was going to run out of fuel before the pits were opened and Michael could make it around the track to stop. What bothered me is that as he's done a time or two before in the recent past Bobby Kennedy totally lost his cool and started cursing about how they were "f**ked!" Much panic ensued as they thought that Michael had run out of gas and that they had to get the #44 or the #45 who was just behind Michael to push him to pit road until Michael told them that he wasn't actually out of gas he was deliberately coasting in an effort to save fuel. I understand that everyone is on edge given the top 35 situation and that there's a lot of pressure for the results to improve to increase the chances of the sponsors re-signing but the crew chief needs to stay calm and in control of the situation. He needs to know for sure if Michael's out of fuel before he starts freaking out and regardless of whether they have fuel or not he needs to be prepared. That the crew chief is so quick to wig out when there's a problem can't be a morale booster for the team, but at least it's better than Michael screaming and cursing all the time as was happening earlier in the season.

As for McD, his 21st place finish is a career best in Cup and I think it's something that he and his team should be very happy about considering how poor his finishes have been previously this season. But a 21st place finish is well short of the top five or win that McD, Ty Norris and Michael had been predicting for him. I was actually surprised that McD wasn't able to race more competitively considering how much experience he has at Infineon. I had thought he would qualify better but just like the rest of the MWR cars he started from the back and never really seemed to make much forward progress. In fact, for much of the race Michael, not McD as predicted, was the top MWR driver - it was only on the last lap that McD was able to get around Michael. What was interested was that Michael actually told Ty to warn McD about not running him over on the last re-start, and Ty said that he had already spoken with McD's spotter about it. I had heard that McD has a reputation for racing very aggressively and running people over so I guess there must be some truth to it. One would think that a driver wouldn't have to be reminded that punting his owner isn't a wise idea but better to remind him then have things turn into a mess because McD makes a mistake.

As well as the weekend went for Michael and McD at Infineon it was a complete disaster for David, who had never raced at the track before since he was taken out of his car last season for both road course races. I kind of suspected it might be a tough weekend for David given that he didn't race there last year but since he seems to adjust well to any kind of circumstances and he's finished fairly well on road courses in Nationwide, I was hoping that he might be okay. But things started out bad when he crashed his primary car in practice and had to go to a back-up and didn't improve any during the race. David started at the back and that's pretty much were he was all race long until he cut a tire and wrecked towards the end of the race. No driver wants to wreck but David was probably glad to be out of the car. His struggles this weekend may not bode well for how he's going to do at Watkins Glen. This weekend he was coached by road course expert Chris Cook, who I'd think will help him at Watkins Glen as well, but based on what was said during the broadcast about David lacking confidence he needs a change in mindset as well because going into it thinking he's not going to do well isn't going to be conducive to good results.

Next weekend the Cup Series heads to Loudon which is another track Michael seems to like going to so I think we should see a decent result for him, as well as David. Unfortunately I have a feeling McD won't be able to carry his momentum from this past weekend to New Hampshire and he could fall out of the top 35, but hopefully I'll be wrong.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)

Woes Continue for Robby Gordon

Heading into this weekend Robby Gordon had to have had high hopes for a strong finish since he's an outstanding road course racers. Unfortunately even though he was able to race up front just like has happened so many times recently, things eventually fell apart for Robby. Not only was he spun by Kurt Busch but on the same lap he ran out of gas which put him a lap down. By the time the race was over Robby had finished 36th, his fifth finish of 33rd or worse in the last six races. Robby is now in danger of falling out of the top 35 in owner's points and that he didn't have any success on a track that he's normally good on doesn't bode well. Loudon has been a good track for him - he won there in 2001 - so he may not fall out of the top 35 next weekend but with how much his team has struggled to race competitively this season I suspect it will happen eventually. That will make things even harder for Robby and his team since he's not always a strong qualifier so there would have to be some concern about missed races if Robby were to become a go-or-go-homer.

If the on-track struggles weren't bad enough Robby has had any number of off-track distractions to deal with as well from Dakar being canceled post-poned/renamed/whatever) to sponsorship woes. In fact he showed up this weekend with a black car, only to put sponsor decals on at the last minute from Camping World, King Taco and DLP, the last of which is because the #96 who DLP normally sponsors DNQ'd on Friday. The situation with Camping World is curious since Robby Gordon Motorsports is currently suing Camping World, alleging that they agreed to sponsor four races at $200,000 each this season and then reneged, while Camping World says there was no agreement. That lawsuit is the second lawsuit involving RGM and a sponsor since RGM was sued a few months ago by Vanguard Integrity Professionals. Camping World being on the car this weekend may signal a settlement or agreement in that suit but I'm wondering whether their logos ended up on the car so that Robby can say that he upheld his side of the deal if the court finds that there was an agreement between Camping World and RGM for this season. Multiple lawsuits involving sponsors isn't a good thing as it could scare off other potential sponsors which RGM is in desperate need of.

The biggest problem for RGM is that they appear to be in dire straits financially, so much so that they skipped the Pocono test a few weeks ago in an effort to save some money. Turns out that might have been a mistake since they were non-competitive during the actual race, though one has to wonder how much better they would have been even if they tested since a lack of financial resources really hurts a team's ability to field competitive cars. Robby is currently paying himself out of the RGM "slush fund" and one has to wonder how long that can continue and what other expenses Robby will need to dip into that fund to cover. The financial issues on RGM are so bad that Mike Mulhern predicted on XM last week that RGM would be the next Cup team to fold. I don't consider Mulhern to be a reliable source of information but unless RGM's financial situation improves radically I don't see how they can continue to operate.

It's funny because most fans of Robby are rejoicing in the woes at Michael Waltrip Racing but their own driver is having virtually the same issues. Not only are both owner/drivers but both are having trouble getting a handle on the COT (their complains about their cars are virtually the same), both are having problems finding a crew chief they can work with, both are having sponsorship woes at their organizations, and both have off-the-track distractions to contend with in addition to dealing with the struggles of their respective teams. Robby and Michael are also similar in that they are both very stubborn people who like to be in control. They also each have the reputation for only being good at one kind of track, though each has shown they can race competitively at other tracks too. Each time a fan of Robby takes a dig at Michael for a poor race or issues at MWR I just shake my head because in a lot of cases they could be talking about their own driver and his organization as well. It's kind of amazing that they would get down on a driver who is chasing his dream of being an owner/driver when their own driver is doing the same.

I'm probably one of the few fans of Michael who wouldn't be happy if RGM closed their doors. I don't care for Robby too much but I do respect what he's trying to do with RGM. Just like Michael, Robby dared to go out on his own and do something that a lot of others wouldn't have the courage to do - field his own team on the Cup level. I also think that it wouldn't be a good thing if RGM closed because this sport needs new, smaller and/or independent teams to be able to have success. The sport needs to grow, not shrink and success, both financially and competitively needs to be shared among many teams not just a few.

Robby is likely racing for the survival of his team right now - I wouldn't be surprised if his team was absorbed by Gillett-Evernham Motorsports or another organization next season if things don't improve soon.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

Mark Martin to Replace Casey Mears at Hendrick Motorsports?

Rumors have swirled for months that Casey Mears is on his way out at Hendrick Motorsports despite being signed through next season with much speculation as to who might replace him. A leading candidate emerged this weekend with sources telling ESPN.com that not only has Mears been informed that he's out of the #5 at the end of this season for sure, but that he'll be replaced by Mark Martin who wants one more opportunity to race for a championship. All of this might have been put in motion by DEI deciding that they wanted to put Aric Almirola in the #8 full-time next season which would leave Martin without a ride since he had been sharing the #8 with Almirola. Of course it remains to be seen how much of this will actually end up happening but if accurate it's pretty major news.

For one thing one has to wonder where Mears will end up. I'd have to think that he would immediately become a candidate for the #12 at Penske Racing if Ryan Newman were to leave that ride or the #33 at Richard Childress Racing. While Mears isn't an elite driver in terms of wins like Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, he's a solid driver who has shown he can race up front and win races when he has a competitive car. While he's struggled more this season, the past two years he's finished in the top fifteen in points which is really pretty good. These days it seems as if fans, the media and maybe even the teams as well are down on any driver who isn't competing for wins on a weekly basis but the reality is that there's only a handful of teams and drivers who can race on that level every race of every season. To me there's no shame in just being a solid driver who races well more often than not and contends for wins at times. Sometimes those kinds of drivers don't get a huge amount of exposure but Mears is a "name" driver who has a large fanbase and is pretty marketable. The only area of concern might be whether some sponsors would have an issue with what's going on in his personal life but hopefully times have changed enough to where unless it's a sponsor that markets specifically to families or is very conservative that won't end up being an issue for him.

As for Martin, he's raced extremely well on a part-time basis so I can see why he might want to see what happens if he races a full season for one of the best organizations in the garage area. As to be expected there's some grumbling from some fans about how he's continuing to race even after he announced his retirement a few years ago. I wasn't a big fan of how his not-retirement was handled but on the other hand I think if he still has the desire to race, and particularly since he's shown he can still race competitively, he should continue to do so if he wants to. Martin's son opting not to continue racing may have changed things for him. But beyond that what driver wouldn't jump at the opportunity to race for HMS? They've certainly struggled more this season than last and the #5 team in particular but overall HMS is a top-tier organization with a lot of financial and other resources.

Another question has to be what's going to happen at DEI next season? Martin appears to be on his way out, there's rumors that Martin Truex, Jr. won't be back, and Regan Smith may lose his ride due to a lack of sponsorship. Sponsor woes in general seem to be an issue at DEI since the U.S. Army is rumored to be in talks with other teams. The only driver at the moment who seems to be set is Paul Menard but his performance over the course of his Cup career has been less than impressive so there's no telling how long his father is going to be willing to continue sponsoring him at DEI without the results improving. One reason why DEI wants to go with Almirola full-time it appears is because there's interest from sponsors in being associated with him - I really can't blame DEI for doing what they think will attract a primary sponsor for the #8 if the U.S. Army won't be back on the car next season.

Somehow I suspect this won't be the last potential surprise in the 2008 Silly Season.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2008

Twice the NAPA Goodness at Sonoma!

As a way of saying thank-you to NAPA Auto Parts (and I would guess to woo them to re-sign) there will be two Michael Waltrip Racing cars sporting a NAPA paint scheme this weekend at Sonoma. NAPA will be on the #55 as usual but also be on the #00 driven by Michael McDowell. This is a great move by Michael to put NAPA on the #00, the reason being that there's a good chance that McD will finish well this weekend. So since Michael is also an excellent road course racer, much better than many people realize, there's a chance that NAPA could get a lot of exposure this weekend which would be awesome!

I've seen more than a few fans say that Michael should have gotten a road course ringer for the #00 because of how close that car is to falling out of the top 35 in owner's points and that he's showing how bad of an owner he is by not doing so. Well, what these self-proclaimed experts don't know is that McD has enough road course experience to where he practically qualifies as a ringer! McD is very familiar with Sonoma having both raced and tested there frequently. So while he doesn't have any Cup experience at Sonoma he definitely knows the track well. I have a feeling that McD could end up opening some eyes this weekend about what he's capable of and why MWR put him in a Cup car this season despite how little experience he has in Nascar. I don't know if McD will still be in the top 35 at the end of the season but I don't think he's going to drop out this weekend.

That said, my one concern is that everyone from Ty Norris to McD himself have been talking in terms of poles and wins regarding the expectations for McD this weekend. While I think there's reason to be confident, I can't help but think of what Michael has said a few times this season about how one lesson he learned from last year was about the importance of under-promising and over-performing instead of over-promising and under-performing. The level of competition in the Cup Series is very high and there are a lot of drivers who excel at road course racing. I'd love to see McD contend for a pole or a win but I think it's a little more realistic to expect that he'll race competitively and might be able to finish in the top 15. So I guess I'm just a little worried that the pressure of trying to live up to the expectations that have been set for him could get to McD. He does seem to realize this though. Yesterday he did an interview on XM in which he talked about the need to be careful about how he raced and that he planned on being "aggressively cautious."

I'm really looking forward to the race this weekend. Some fans hate road course racing but I love it! I love that it's something different and a challenge for the drivers. I also like road course racing because Michael (Waltrip) is actually an excellent road course racer himself. One of my biggest disappointments last season was that he took himself out of the car for the road course races as I'm very confident in his abilities at those kinds of tracks. One of my favorite races is the 2004 race at this track when Michael started 40th and finished 4th - I really thought he had a chance to win that race and I loved how he battled some of the best road course racers in Cup up front in that race! If he's got a good car this weekend I have no doubt he's going to finish well this year too!

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

June 18, 2008

Photo of the Day - Kisses

Pocono, June, 2007.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

New York Yankees Sign Sidney Ponson to a Minor League Deal

I was just joking with Jim the other day when I heard that Sidney Ponson got released by the Texas Rangers that the New York Yankees were going to sign him since they've always been fond of brining back players who have been with them previously. Well, that's exactly what the Yankees did and even though I understand it was just a minor league deal and that they are very much in need of more pitching, I'm not too happy about it. Ponson was signed today to a minor league deal and given that he was pitching well with the Rangers I'd guess we'll be seeing him on the mound in the Bronx sooner rather than later. Some might be wondering what the problem is, after all he was pitching well for the Rangers. That's exactly it - teams almost never get rid of players who are playing well so it speaks volumes that the Rangers released him even though he was pitching well for them. The quote from Rangers general manager Jon Daniels says it all - "We don't feel Sidney deserves to be here or wants to be here."

Apparently Ponson was warned about his behavior but that still didn't stop him from getting into a "serious" disturbance in a bar on a road trip or being disruptive after he didn't agree with being taken out of a game or getting a start pushed back. This on top of Ponson's problems in the past from punching a judge in his native Aruba to the two DUIs he got when he was with the Orioles, at least one of which he tried to hide from the team. My issue with Ponson isn't that he might have a drinking problem - I have a lot of sympathy for people who have issues. My problem is that Ponson's behavior was extremely disruptive. If Ponson acted out with the Rangers in spite of being warned, what makes the Yankees think he'll be any better behaved for them? I try to cheer for every player who plays for the Yankees even when I don't like their attitude (Gary Sheffield, Chuck Knoblauch) or just don't like them at all (Roger Clemens). But it's going to be hard with Ponson - I just don't like that someone who has been such a problem thoughout the course of his career - and didn't work out in his first go-around with the Yankees - has been brought back.

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

Bill Davis Racing Puts an Optimistic Spin on Their Future in Cup

According to Bill Davis Racing they're far from done in the Cup Series in spite of losing the primary sponsor of the #22 car to Richard Childress Racing. In fact BDR says that they'll be making an announcement about a second Cup car for 2009 soon. So many questions. First, though the press release speaks glowingly about the #22 team, it doesn't mention whether they have a sponsor to replace CAT and the current driver of the #22, Dave Blaney, isn't mentioned at all. Does that they don't mention that they're looking for a replacement sponsor for CAT mean that they already have one lined up? Does Blaney not being mentioned in the press release mean that he won't be in the #22 after this season? Do they have a sponsor and driver for the second team? Considering trying to field a second team has been a disaster for BDR the past couple of years will this team actually make it to the track next season and if so, will it make it to the end of the year as a full-time team?

BDR may very well have all their ducks in a row for next season but it's hard to know how much to believe when it comes to this organization. In 2005 they claimed that Scott Wimmer would be racing for them the next year but Wimmer found out a couple of weeks later they were actually releasing him. Around the same time the team denied speaking with Michael Waltrip about a ride, then shortly afterwards announced that they would be fielding a Cup car for him the following season. There's the debacle with 360OTC, the mess with Jaques Villeneuve, the mysterious situation with the truck ride that never materialized for Steve Park, the revolving door in terms of seemingly constant driver changes with their third team, etc... It's really impossible to know what the reality of their situation actually is... but it seems like that's true of a lot of teams.

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

Catepillar Will Sponsor Jeff Burton in 2009

Although there had been rumors for a while that Caterpillar (CAT) was looking around at other teams, most assumed that CAT would stick with Dave Blaney and the #22 team at Bill Davis Racing particularly since a multi-year contract extension between CAT and BDR had been announced just last season. However, it was made official today that CAT will be moving their sponsorship to Richard Childress Racing in 2009 to sponsor Jeff Burton and the #31 car.

I had heard in the past that CAT really liked Blaney and also that they weren't too concerned with performance or exposure because the goal of their sponsorship lay more in hospitality and entertaining clients than in anything else, so I thought that might keep them at BDR, particularly since it's also been said that the amount they pay to sponsor the #22 is less than they'd pay for a primary sponsorship with another team. But BDR has had quite a few issues the past few years on the Cup level - the performance of the #22 has been decent at times but overall the results haven't been anywhere near what they were when Ward Burton was in the car. In addition, when there's an opportunity for a sponsor to align themselves with a team that races up front on an almost weekly basis and with a driver who is a much bigger media presence than Blaney ever will be, I can't blame them for taking advantage of it. Things change and maybe CAT decided that they wanted to get more exposure for their brand after all. If Blaney had a dynamic personality like Michael Waltrip or Brendan Gaughan, who are drivers who are able to draw attention and get exposure for their sponsors no matter what the on-track performance is like, maybe CAT might have been more inclined to stick around, but since Blaney is barely mentioned during TV broadcasts and almost never interviewed by any media outlet, CAT may have started to think they could get more out of their money elsewhere.

What I'm curious about is how CAT got out of their deal with BDR. I thought that maybe I didn't remember correctly when I was thinking that CAT had re-signed just last year to a multi-year deal with BDR but in looking back at Jayski's archives there's a story that appeared in the Peoria Journal Star in which Caterpillar director of racing operations Greg Towles said that it was a multi-year deal. So I assume that there was some sort of very liberal "out" clause which allowed CAT to be released from that deal. Although the performance for the #22 team has improved recently they struggled a lot to start the season to the point where the #22 was outside the top 35 in owner's points for a while and missed a race. I have to wonder whether missing that race was what gave CAT the ability to start talking to other teams about next season?

One also has to wonder what the future of BDR's Cup program is going to be. The reason they don't have a second car this season is that they couldn't afford to field one without a primary sponsor. So I have my doubts about whether they'd be able to field the #22 without sponsorship. With this announcement being made now BDR can look around for a replacement sponsor - the U.S. Army is rumored to be talking with a Toyota team - so they may very well find a company to replace CAT. However, it might not be easy for them. It's a tough sell to begin with in this economy but the performance issues are also a deterrent. But some companies are willing to overlook so-so results. The reality is that these companies are spending millions of dollars to advertise their product or company, create brand-awareness and develop relationships with potential or current customers. It's all about getting exposure. So the biggest problem might very well be Blaney. He's a solid driver and a nice guy but as noted above he's not a "personality" like some drivers are, nor is he young and marketable. Which may be fine with some sponsors depending on their goals and what audience they're marketing to but it may limit what sponsors will have interest in the #22. BDR has been very loyal to Blaney, but if a different driver might attract a sponsor they may be forced to go that route.

Some are thinking this could be the death-keel for BDR. I don't agree. While it may mean that they don't field a Cup car next season they have one of the best truck programs in the garage area and I'd have to think that program will continue regardless of what happens on the Cup side. They could also return the #22 to the track in the future even if they don't field it next season. However, depending on how things play out this could spell the end for Blaney's Cup career. Unfortunately given his age and aforementioned somewhat bland personality (not a knock on Blaney, just that he's a different kind of a personality than some of the drivers who are more of a presence), he may have trouble finding a quality Cup team to race for. If he loses his ride in the #22 - and he may not - I could see him doing well in a Truck or maybe he'll decide that the time is right for him to take a step back from racing and spend more time with his family.

What's interesting is that one of CAT's former drivers, Scott Wimmer, currently races in the Nationwide Series for RCR and Ward Burton, Jeff's brother, was a winning driver for them. That might not have been a factor in them deciding to sponsor the #31 car but I wonder if we might see Ward appear in some commercials with Jeff or do some signings and hospitality with him?

Posted by silverdsl at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008

Photo of the Day - Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach, Oregon, 2006. Another place I'd love to go back to especially right now since they're experiencing a minus tide, so there are lots of tide pools that are exposed!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)

New York Mets Fire Willie Randolph

I don't usually write about baseball too much anymore in this space even though I continue to watch the New York Yankees as much as ever. However, I'm so astonished by the way that the New York Mets fired Willie Randolph that I couldn't let it go without comment. Teams have to make tough decisions and since it's often hard to get rid of players who are underperforming when a team isn't winning a lot of times the manager is the first one to go. So it's no surprise that Randolph got fired, particularly since there had been rumors for quite some time that was what was going to happen. But to do it after midnight after the first game of a West Coast road trip? (A game that the Mets won by the way.) Pathetic.

I can understand why the Mets might not have wanted to fire Randolph on Sunday since it was Father's Day, so since they were thinking of making this move couldn't they have either fired him on Saturday or waited until the team came back from the West Coast? Now Randolph (and the other coaches who were also fired) who flew out on the team plane will have to find their own way back to the East Coast. I wonder if the Mets let them stay in the team hotel until the next morning or whether they informed them that they'd have to find other accommodations at the same time they were informed they were no longer employed by the team? The way that the Mets handled this could hardly be more classless.

There's some speculation that the announcement came in the form of a press release at 3 a.m. (EST) because the Mets knew it would be past the deadline for all the New York papers and thus would avoid some of the media circus that this would surely generate. That was foolishness if that was their thinking. For one thing they would have been better off getting it in the paper today when Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open would take some of the attention away from the mess that the Mets made. In addition, it's 2008, not 1988. The internet makes it impossible for teams to keep things quiet. In fact there might be twice as much coverage this way since every reporter who covers the Mets has a story for their respective newspaper/TV/radio station's websites and they'll likely file a second story to appear in hard copies of the paper or on news broadcasts for later today or tomorrow. Not surprisingly almost every article and analysis is almost universally negative, not necessarily with that the Mets fired Randolph but with the way it was handled.

Apparently the players were shocked. Although they had to know this was coming sooner or later, none of them probably thought it would happen in this way. It can't be good for team morale, particularly since it wasn't just Randolph who got canned but two other coaches as well. Some teams respond with a win streak when the manager is fired, but I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't happen here.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (6/17)

*As per usual a number of road course specialists that aren't normally part of the Cup Series will be racing or attempting to race this weekend, either with their own teams or as substitute drivers for teams attempting to improve their standings in the owner's points. I have to wonder whether those teams are going to get the results they're looking for. We've seen some road course ringers finish well at times but often the results aren't all that impressive. A lot of times the ringers are replacement drivers for teams that are either outside or near the bottom of the top 35 in owner's points. Well, there's a reason those teams are struggling and as much as some blame the driver of those cars entirely, there's usually more to the story such as that the cars that they get to race aren't all that competitive. We'll likely see a few of those ringers up front but odds are the top finishers will be the usual Cup Series regulars who are strong on road courses.

*Haas-CNC Racing is going to put Max Papis in the #66 and move Scott Riggs, the usual driver of that car over to the #70. The hope is that Papis will get the #66 back into the top 35. I wonder about this move. While Papis has a lot of road course experience I can't help but notice he has no Cup experience. So not only has he never raced Cup he's never raced the COT either. Maybe that's not going to be a big deal for a driver who is as experienced on road courses as Papis is but it would certainly be ironic if Riggs got the #70 into the race and Papis wasn't able to get the #66 in.

*Other teams making changes include Ron Fellows in the #01 in place of Regan Smith, and Scott Pruett (likely) in the #41 in place of Reed Sorenson. Marcos Ambrose will race the #21, Brian Simo the #34, Terry Labonte the #45 and Boris Said will attempt to qualify his own #60. I would guess that Fellows, Said and Labonte have the best chance of finishing up front out of the ringers, though Labonte is also racing additional races for Petty Enterprises so he's not really a ringer.

*Usually Infineon is a track that Robby Gordon is considered a threat to win on but I have to wonder what we'll see from him this year. For one thing the recent results for Robby and his team have been extremely unimpressive and they're really struggling to field competitive cars. One would think that would change on a road course track where Robby is so good but I'm not so sure given that his team seems to not have the COT figured out. Another concern has to be that Robby doesn't have a primary sponsor for this race. In his pre-race notes he indicates that in the past sponsors on his car have gotten $3 million worth of exposure out of sponsoring him - in light of that I wonder how much Robby is looking to get from a sponsor for this race and whether that plays any role in why the car is going to be sponsorless this weekend? Robby has acknowledged having financial issues at Robby Gordon Motorsports so they likely need the money but it might be in his best interest to lower his asking price to make sponsoring him as attractive as possible. Racing without a sponsor doesn't look good and it especially won't look good at Infineon because potential sponsors may wonder why they should sponsor him at other tracks if no one wants to sponsor him at a track he can win on. The other thing is that since he won at this track in 2003, the results haven't been too great since. He's finished 16th twice which is okay, but he's also finished 34th and 40th so that doesn't look good to sponsors either. A win this weekend could very well save RGM, which I think is in some trouble, but I suspect it's not going to happen.

*Interesting item from Dave Moody's blog that sources are telling him that the U.S. Army might be thinking of leaving DEI for another team. Apparently one of the teams that they're talking to is a Toyota team. I have to wonder if that team is Michael Waltrip Racing, which might be in need of sponsors for the #44 and #00 next season. The #44 seems like it might be a good fit for the Army. For one thing David Reutimann is a veteran driver which seems to be what the Army wants in their driver. It would probably cost them less to sponsor the #44 than it would cost them to sponsor a car at a top-tier organization. And they're also familiar with Ryan Pemberton who was the crew chief for their team at DEI and Ginn Racing. Some people seem to be certain that MWR will fold next season due to a lack of sponsorship but despite what some people think there are things that make MWR attractive to sponsors. One thing about the Army is that they use their sponsorship as a recruitment tool and I suspect MWR could come up with some creative ways to help them with that on race day and otherwise. David would represent any sponsor well whether it's UPS, the U.S. Army or another sponsor.

*Apparently Joe Gibbs Racing wants to put Joey Logano in a Cup car for some races this season. One has to wonder if that's because they're thinking about him as a back-up plan in case Tony Stewart leaves for another organization. JGR insists that they'd like to put Logano in a 4th car but I can see why it might be tempting for them to put Logano in the #20 if it becomes open after this season. However, no matter his talent level I think they might be better off resisting the temptation and letting him race at least another full year in the Nationwide Series. He's very young and there's plenty of time for him to make an impact and win races so it might be a good thing for his development as a driver, even if it seems like he could handle himself in Cup right now, to let him get more experience before putting him in a Cup ride full-time.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)

Driver by Driver: Michigan I

I haven't done one of these for a while both because of time constraints but also because I haven't gotten to watch as many races in their entirety as they're being raced as I'd like recently. Anyway, here goes...

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Any of the conspiracy theorists who think that Junior doesn't deserve this win or somehow got it through wrong-doing on the part of his team or Nascar just need to give it a rest. Junior was out front when it counted and the #88 team got better fuel mileage than others did. Junior is in the midst of an outstanding season in which he's finished in the top ten or better in eleven out of fifteen races so far. If he continues racing this well he will be a major threat to win the Championship.

2. Kasey Kahne - Did anyone notice that Kasey came close to winning his third race in the last four? If not for the last lap caution Junior might have run out of gas and Kasey would have been celebrating in Victory Lane once more. Outstanding job by Kasey, his team and Gillett-Evernham Motorsports to improve their performance in a major way.

3. Matt Kenseth - Matt questioned the outcome of the race after it was over and why Junior was allowed to pass the pace car under caution. Well, some questioned why he wasn't given a penalty for nearly running over an official who stepped in front of his car on a pit stop.

4. Brian Vickers - Brian was also unhappy after the race because he didn't like that Nascar put him behind the #8 car on the last re-start. But there's really a lot for Brian and his team to be happy about after Sunday considering he led 44 laps and got his second top five in a row. While some wrote Brian off after he went to Toyota and struggled last season I knew once Red Bull Racing started fielding more competitive cars we'd be seeing a lot more of Brian up front. I wouldn't be surprised to see him win a race before too long.

5. Tony Stewart - I covered it in another entry - even though he finished in the top five Tony made it clear after the race he wasn't happy, not only about his car but about being told by Nascar to keep his thoughts to himself.

6. Jimmie Johnson - At one point when Jimmie was leading the field to a re-start it seemed like he might have a transmission issue but whatever the problem was, if there even was one, seemed to work itself out and Jimmie was able to race his way to his third top ten in a row.

7. Carl Edwards - Carl hasn't won a race lately but over his last six races he's not finished outside the top ten once and during that time he's finished second twice. That kind of consistency should he be able to keep it up - and especially if he can win some races during the Chase - could make him a strong contender for the Championship.

8. David Ragan - Although he put Robby Gordon into the wall -something he took responsibility for - David had another good race. This is his fourth top ten of the season and he continues to show why Roush-Fenway Racing had so much patience with his struggles last season.

9. Elliott Sadler - A two-tire stop on the last round of pit stops helped Elliott get track position and finish as well as he did. Although Elliott has seemed to have a strong car at times he's not been able to have as much success as his teammate, Kasey Kahne, who has been on fire. Part of that is definitely due to Elliott being bit by some bad luck but somehow I have a feeling we don't be seeing Elliott win multiple races this season. It would be nice to see him in Victory Lane again soon though.

10. Jamie McMurray - This is Jamie's third top ten this season. Nothing more's been said about his future at Roush but I think he's going to need a lot more than a few top tens to ensure he keeps his ride.

11. Paul Menard - Hard to believe but this is actually Paul's best finish as a full-time Cup driver and best finish in Cup overall since 2006 when he finished in the top ten at Atlanta when he was racing a part-time schedule. If not for the fact that his father's company is his sponsor I'd think Paul would have to worry about losing his ride.

12. Kevin Harvick - Kevin and his team were counting on the race staying green and others needing to stop for gas when they didn't in the hopes of getting a top five, but then had to pit for gas on the last caution which put them back in the field. That's the strategy the #55 team was going with too and I'm just not sure it would have worked out for either team the way they were anticipating even if the race had stayed green.

13. Kyle Busch - Took only two tires when others took four and lost some positions, then tried to make up for it by taking four on the last stop but didn't have enough time to regain the spots he lost.

14. Denny Hamlin - Battled a loose condition all day. His team also was playing the fuel mileage game but it didn't work out as well as they had hoped.

15. Jeff Burton - This is actually Jeff's worst finish all season. He's been incredibly consistent which is why he's second in points.

16. Travis Kvapil - Another decent finish for Travis. Problem is that since his team still needs a full-time primary sponsor, he probably needs to be finishing even better on a regular basis.

17. Martin Truex Jr. - Got out of sorts when a car ran out of gas ahead of him (his teammate?) and got into Michael Waltrip a little which sent him into Patrick Carpentier and caused the race to finish under caution.

18. Jeff Gordon - Never seemed to have a very good car in this race. The #24 team also tried to stretch the fuel but it didn't seem to work out all that well for them.

19. A.J. Allmendinger - Hasn't raced quite as well as his teammate but has put himself in a position where he has a chance to get into the top 35 in owner's points. That's

20. Greg Biffle - Another race, another missed opportunity for a top five or a win. Every week it seems like Greg has a fine finish spoiled by mechanical issues, pit road penalties or just plain bad luck. Michigan was no different. With just 20 or so laps left in the race Greg ran over the air gun hose leaving his pit stall and had to return to pit road for a pass through penalty. Although he was able to pick up a few spots before the race was over his finish should have been much better than this.

21. Kurt Busch - Spun on lap 102. It's hard to believe how poor this season has been for Kurt - just one top five, a 2nd place finish to start the season at Daytona and just a lone top ten, last week at Pocono.

22. Sam Hornish Jr. - Raced very well at Michigan and even led some laps but his car got so loose towards the end of the race that he ended up spinning which ruined his changes for a finish up front.

23. Michael Waltrip - Ties his best finish of the season and gets him back into the top 35 in owner's points. Still, as I noted in a previous entry it had to be a disappointing finish for Michael considering he spent a good portion of the race in the top 15.

24. Patrick Carpentier - An innocent victim on the last lap when Martin Truex, Jr. touched Michael which caused him to get into Patrick.

25. Mark Martin - Took a gamble on fuel and lost.

26. Clint Bowyer - Since he won at Richmond five races ago Clint's best finish is 15th. Wonder why he's suddenly trailed off after a long string of strong finishes that culminated with the win?

27. David Gilliland

28. Joe Nemechek - This is Joe's best finish of the season since Talladega when he finished 25th.

29. Terry Labonte - The finishes have gotten only slightly better with Terry behind the wheel.

30. Casey Mears - Had to contend with handling problems. Casey had started to turn his season around with a few top tens but he's gone back to struggling to finish within the top 30, let alone race up front.

31. Bobby Labonte

32. Regan Smith - Needs to finish better if he's going to stick in the top 35.

33. Scott Riggs - A bad race was exactly what this team didn't need, but that's what they ended up with. The #66 is now outside the top 35 and it might not be easy to get back in at Infineon.

34. Reed Sorenson - If not for his top five to start the season at Daytona Reed would likely already be out of the top 35, something I wouldn't be surprised to see happen fairly soon since he and his team have shown little signs of getting better. The worst part for Chip Ganassi Racing is that Reed was actually the highest finishing Ganassi car.

35. David Reutimann - Usually David is the best of the Michael Waltrip Racing drivers so I'm a little surprised that he didn't finish better in this race. David had handling issues for most of the race.

36. Bill Elliott

37. Michael McDowell - Another poor finish puts Michael on the verge of falling out of the top 35 in owner's points. I think that will likely happen, not because he's lacking in talent but because he's lacking in Cup experience. But it probably won't be next weekend since Michael has a lot of road course experience so he might be able to race better than a lot of people are expecting in Sonoma.

38. Juan Montoya - Finishes 38th for the second week in a row, this time because he never had a good car.

39. Dave Blaney - Mechanical issues caused a spin early on which sent Dave to the garage for a while.

40. Robby Gordon - Got into the wall with help from David Ragan but likely wasn't going to finish very well anyway due to an ill-handling car. Robby is now in the danger zone in terms of the top 35 in owner's points and needs a good finish in his next race to ensure that he doesn't fall out. The good news for Robby is that it's a road course and he's capable of racing up front and winning at road course tracks. The bad news is that the results haven't been all that impressive for Robby at Sonoma since he won in 2003. That he has no sponsor thus far for Sonoma - which means no money coming in - might complicate matters even more.

41. J.J. Yeley - Lost an engine and lost more ground on the top 35.

42. Ryan Newman - Engine woes for Ryan ended his day early...

43. Dario Franchitti - ...and the same was true for Dario.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

Tony Stewart Not Happy... As Usual

Tony Stewart finished 5th yesterday but in spite of that finish garnering a nice chunk of money for flood victims in his native state of Indiana, Tony still wasn't happy. But in light of the meeting that Nascar had with all the drivers and owners on Friday he didn't let loose in quite the same way that he might have in the past, though he made it clear in his own way he wasn't too happy. David Poole wrote in the Charlotte Observer,

Tony Stewart finished fifth Sunday and then indicated he had paid attention during a meeting for drivers and car owners that NASCAR called on Friday.

"Ask Mike Helton. I don't know what we're allowed to say and what we're not," Stewart said.

Helton, NASCAR's president, admonished drivers in Friday's meeting to be more "fan friendly."

"I'm just thankful we're allowed to be here and be a part of this," Stewart said, apparently mirroring what Helton said.

"It's just a privilege for us to be here and, according to Friday, we've all got it a lot better than a lot of us think.

"We're not allowed to have opinions now. We've all got it made here. We've all got it great.

"At least that is what we've all been told."

I understand Tony's frustration with being told that Nascar doesn't want him or the other drivers to openly say what they think if it's negative. Although I frequently disagree with what Tony says and wish he would get his message across in a different way I still respect his right to his opinions. There's no question he's one of the most honest and open drivers when it comes to giving his opinions so it must be particularly difficult for him to be told to keep some of his thoughts to himself.

However, maybe Tony is missing part of the point in what Nascar was trying to convey to the drivers.

The fact of the matter is that it is something of a privilege for Tony and his fellow competitors to be racing in the Cup Series. The Cup Series is an elite series, full of immensely talented drivers who are some of the best racers not just in this country but in the world. In addition, while the drivers have their struggles and problems on the track and off, just like anyone else, they also earn millions of dollars, life a lifestyle and engage in a sport that many can only dream of. That's part of what Nascar was trying to get across to the drivers, that things really aren't that terrible, particularly in comparison to some of the problems that face the average fan who has to deal with making ends meet financially and how they're going to afford to go to races in the face of rising gas prices and a difficult economy. Tony and many of his fellow drivers are millionaires many times over who will likely never have to worry about how they're going to pay their bills. But beyond that why would a fan want to spend their hard earned cash on race tickets after their favorite drivers like Tony or Junior said how much the cars and the racing stinks?

After driving around his home state and seeing the flood damage maybe that should have put things in a little perspective for Tony. Is being unhappy with the COT and struggling to get the finishes he wants really so bad in comparison to what the flood victims in the Midwest are going through? Is finishing 5th really so bad in light of how it benefited those flood victims? I understand how competitive Tony is and that he's not going to be satisfied with anything less than a win in every race but I also don't think things are all that bad for him either. I'm sure Tony has his own problems - like figuring out who he's going to race for next season and beyond - but he'll never have to worry about figuring out how to make ends meet like a lot of people.

Tony should be thankful for the opportunities he's had to race. It's not just a matter of getting to race Cup but getting to race in some of the best equipment in the garage area. There are so many drivers who would love to be unhappy about a top five finish. There are many drivers who would be very happy to deal with his kind of "struggles" in the COT - Tony's struggling to win races, some drivers are struggling to finish in the top 25. In addition, given some of the ways that Tony had acted out in the past maybe he should also consider himself lucky to have been blessed with as much talent that he has that has caused people to overlook some of those issues of the past.

I feel a similar way about some other drivers too when they whine and complain. We all have things we don't like and we all have things that we feel we have to complain about. But at some point if things are as bad as some make it seem then maybe they have to make a change - like leave the sport - if some find racing the COT (or other things) as unbearable as some of them make it seem at times.

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

Good Race for Michael Waltrip at Michigan!

I'm sure Michael Waltrip is somewhat disappointed in his finish at Michigan considering it seemed as if he was on his way to a top twenty or even a top fifteen. In addition, Michael has said in the past that being in the top 35 in owner's points isn't something that he thinks he should be congratulated on since the expectation should be that's where he and his teams should be. However, this fan can't help but be thrilled about most of what happened for Michael during yesterday's race!! Best of all, and perhaps most important is that Michael's back in the top 35. It might not be much but he's still in and that means he won't have to worry about qualifying next weekend at Sonoma. Michael is a very good road course racer but anything can happen during qualifying and especially on a road course so it's good that he won't have to worry about potentially missing the race if something goes wrong.

Someone said recently on Steve Park Central that seeing Steve race as well as he has made racing exciting for them in a way that it hasn't been for a long time. Racing for me has been plenty exciting even though Steve hasn't done much of it until recently and one of those exciting moments was yesterday. I was so excited, thrilled and happy with how well Michael was racing. Hearing them say over his radio that he was the second fastest car a couple of times during the race made me smile so big! I loved watching Michael make his way through the field! Even though the results haven't been too good for Michael in recent times I've never lost faith in his ability behind the wheel. When he has a good car I know that Michael can race up front with the best - if anyone has any doubt while he was racing in the top 15 Michael was racing his way past drivers like Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and others yesterday! It was really great as a fan to feel that excitement about the way the race was playing out!

Heading into Michigan I was pretty worried. Not only was Michael outside the top 35 in points meaning that he was going to have to qualify for the race on speed/time, but he even said himself on his XM show that Michigan was the kind of track that has been a struggle for all three Michael Waltrip Racing teams this season. So I was pretty nervous as to how things were going to turn out. But on Friday qualifying got rained out which mean that Michael was guaranteed to start the race, and as it turned out Michael had an outstanding car, maybe the most competitive car he's had to race in a long time - or at least it seemed that way. At times Michael was among the top five fastest cars on the track, he was able to actually race for position as opposed to just hanging on as he's had to do a lot this season, and he spent a considerable amount of the race in the top fifteen. Definitely a big change from other races where due to a ill-handling, slow and non-competitive car he's ended up laps down and racing at the back. It must have felt really good to Michael to be racing towards the front and have such a strong car!

Michael's crew also seemed to have a good day in the pits. At times his crew has seemed to struggle but yesterday they were definitely on their game and pulled off some fast stops that enabled Michael to get out of the pits without losing any positions. I don't think there have been major changes to Michael's pit crew so my guess is that seeing how competitive the car was really motivated them to have a strong day in the pits. It's not that the team doesn't always work hard but when the car is obviously bad it's got to be discouraging to the crew because they know that no matter how good the pit stop is the finish probably isn't going to be too good. So I was really happy that the crew showed what they can do when things are going right for the team.

What wasn't so great and was confusing to a lot of people was what happened towards the end of the race. Like many teams the #55 had a strategy in terms of fuel mileage. Bobby Kennedy decided that he would take a gamble and keep Michael out when others pitted towards the end of the race, presumably in the hope that he would gain positions as people pitted or ran out of gas for those teams that were gambling like the #55 did. Well, Bobby also had Michael back off and slow down so much that he lost a considerable amount of positions. So when cars were pitting they were all coming back out onto the track ahead of him. In addition, so many cars pitted for gas ahead of him there wasn't going to be much to be gained by staying out in terms of cars potentially running out. Bobby's strategy just didn't seem to make sense and some wondered why he didn't have Michael come in for gas once he saw so many others pitting. However, a late caution for a spin by Sam Hornish, Jr. negated all of that since everyone was able to come in to pit if they wanted. Bobby had Michael come in and he made a good call to have Michael take just gas as opposed to tires as they had originally planned. That got Michael out in 16th and had he finished that well he would have gained even more spots in the top 35.

But as per usual Michael once again he got bit by bad luck. On the last lap Martin Truex, Jr. got loose and apparently got into Michael which caused him to get into Patrick Carpentier, sending them both for a spin which is what caused Nascar to throw the caution which enabled Junior to win without running out of gas. Michael still finished 24th in spite of the wreck at the end, but it was a little disappointing since it had seemed like a sure thing at one point that he was going to finish in the top 15 or top 20 at one point.

The other disappointment for Michael was probably that his other two cars didn't finish very well. David Reutimann battled a tight and then a loose condition during the race so he was only able to finish 35th. Michael McDowell was never competitive and he finished 37th which dropped him to 35th in the owner's points. So now Michael has to worry about the top 35 status of two of his three cars. McD has a lot of road course experience so he may very well get a solid finish at Sonoma which would keep him in the top 35, but after that the results may go back to being not very impressive so I suspect he may fall out of the top 35. That's not because McD is lacking in talent, just that he's got so little experience in Cup and at some of these tracks that he's still learning what he's doing.

Still, it was a good day for Michael. It's a really good sign that he had a competitive car at this track. That tells me that MWR can get things figured out with the COT and can race competitively. I'm definitely not expecting that Michael's going to be racing up front in every race from here on out but I'm hoping this is a sign that things are starting to come together for him and his team and that we'll start seeing a lot more positive results on race weekends than we've seen so far!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Two Firsts This Weekend...

There were two firsts this weekend - Joey Logano won his first Nationwide race of his young career, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won his first Cup race for Hendrick Motorsports. Both drivers accomplished something but as per usual these days there are fans coming out of the woodwork with all sorts of conspiracy theories as to why their success is due to something other than their talent behind the wheel and strength of their respective teams.

With his win Logano became the youngest driver to ever win a Nationwide race. He also did it in just his third start. Over the course of those three races Logano has two poles, including this past weekend at Kentucky where he won, and finished 6th in his first Nationwide start ever at Dover. Logano is showing that he's worthy of all the hype and if there's anyone who doubts he's the real deal then I'd say that's just sour grapes from fans who resent any driver who does well. Of course it still remains to be seen whether Logano will develop into a Championship driver but right now he's certainly looking like a driver who can handle himself on the Nationwide level. Those fans who are claiming that the only reason he won is because of the car he's racing are off-base - a competitive car helps a lot but a driver still has to have the talent to race up front and particularly when he has next to no Nationwide experience. There's also no conspiracies to give Toyota wins or anything like that at work. It's simply a matter of Logano racing well enough to win.

Yesterday Junior broke a streak of 76-races without a win because he had luck on his site in the form of a caution flag waving on the final lap which is probably the only thing that prevented him from running out of gas. I knew that it was only a matter of time before Junior finally won a race because he was racing up front in just about every race so eventually things were going to fall into place for him in such a way that he ended up in Victory Lane. Hopefully this will quiet the segment of Junior Nation who whined and complained about absolutely everything this season as if Junior was racing in the back every week. In reality Junior is having an outstanding season. In the first 15 races Junior has a win, a pole, seven top five's and 11 top ten's which has put him third in points. I can't imagine where there is to be unhappy about with that! Junior is racing extremely well and I expect this won't be the last time he wins a race this season.

Some - including some of his fellow competitors - took issue with Junior not being penalized for passing the pace car under caution. Nascar warned him several times but never sent him to the back of the longest line which is the penalty for that kind of a rules violations. So some believe that Nascar deliberately ignored what Junior was doing because they wanted him to win the race. However, as it was explained on Sirius this morning by David Poole Nascar didn't do anything different with Junior than they've done in the past. The drivers know that Nascar doesn't penalize for passing the pace car like that right away, they only give a warning. So it's not until Nascar tells a driver that if they do it again that they'll get sent back that they'll stop.

Another issue for some fans was the caution flag on the last lap since that pretty much is what got Junior the win since he didn't have to worry about running out of gas after that. Some have questioned why Nascar didn't throw the caution on the last lap of the truck race when Ron Hornaday spun but did throw the caution for the last lap wreck yesterday. I think Nascar got it wrong on Saturday but did the right thing yesterday - just because they make a mistake once doesn't mean that they should repeat that mistake again just to be consistent. I also think fans need to take into account that sometimes there might be different people who are involved in the decision making as well as different factors that are being taken into account.

What's really ridiculous though are those who are saying that maybe Martin Truex, Jr. deliberately got himself loose to cause the last lap wreck to help Junior win or that Michael Waltrip was paid by Nascar to wreck. Truly laughable. As good of friends as they might be why would Truex help Junior since they're no longer teammates, and why would he take the chance of ruining a good finish for himself. As for Michael, how could Nascar know that he would be in a position to wreck on the last lap? It also makes no sense that he would deliberately wreck considering that he was racing yesterday to get back into the top 35. At least have a conspiracy theory that makes sense!

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

June 15, 2008

Photo of the Day - Aruba

Aruba, 2005. Not a special photo by any means but I sure would love to be on a Caribbean beach - or any beach - right about now!

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

June 14, 2008

Re-Thinking Things...

I've re-thought things a little in terms of the message that Nascar gave their drivers during a closed door meeting yesterday. I still don't like the idea of the governing body implying to their drivers that they shouldn't speak their minds freely but on the other hand I think there's some truth to the idea that the drivers could influence the fans in a negative way if they're always complaining about things. Just as the drivers have a responsibility to represent their sponsor and teams well, I think maybe they also have a responsibility to represent their sport well too. A driver would never rip into their sponsor and rarely openly criticize their team or crew members so then I think they need to also proceed with caution when being negative about the sport as well. That doesn't mean that the drivers should always have to be positive and "flowers and rainbows" about everything but there's a way to express being unhappy or wishing that things were different without being excessively negative about it.

I suppose one reason why I've changed my mind a little is because of Michael Waltrip. I think he's mindful of his responsibilities to represent the sport well without being told, something that irritates some fans because they feel that he's a Nascar "yes" man. Michael truly loves this sport so I think that's a big reason why he always is so pro-Nascar but he's entitled to his opinions regardless even if they aren't what the fans want to hear. But beyond that Michael is a presence on Speed and XM - would it really be appropriate for a driver to constantly be slagging Nascar in his many media appearances?

On one of the forums that I visit some of the fans said that they agreed with Nascar and that instead of complaining all the time the drivers just needed to "shut up and drive." I think there's some truth there. There's a lot of drivers who are having problems adjusting to the handling of the COT and I don't think they should ignore that reality and their frustrations. But on the other hand if things aren't likely to change anytime in the near future are they really going to achieve anything by whining about it on a weekly basis? I think there are some definite issues that need to be addressed and the drivers have legitimate reasons to wish that some things were different but maybe it's true that there would be less fan negativity if they felt that the drivers were happier.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:35 PM | Comments (3)

June 13, 2008

Nascar Holds Closed Door Meeting With Drivers

Today at Michigan Nascar held a closed-door meeting with all the drivers in reference to the mounting criticism that's being directed towards the COT by the drivers. Nascar described the meeting as "a reminder that drivers and NASCAR should focus on all the good things about the sport." Also, Nascar wanted to remind the drivers about the hardships that fans endure in getting to races in terms of gas prices and that they should focus on the positives about the sport so as to not discourage fans. Although John Darby, the director of the Cup Series, said that the drivers weren't told to stop criticizing the car, it sounds like that's exactly what they were told. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said,

"I was pretty critical and overly critical at times, and the only reason why the drivers are like that is because they want, we feel like our best avenue is through the media because it's very effective. But at the same time, not only NASCAR reads those opinions, and it's not good for the sport."

What's troubling to me is that Nascar seems to be discouraging the drivers from speaking their minds. This after saying at the start of the season that they wanted to give the drivers more freedom to be themselves and show personality - how is that possible if the drivers can't say how they really feel about things? I don't enjoy when there's a continual focus on the negative - that's one of my issues with some of my fellow fans is that some people seem to enjoy bashing and insulting the people and things they don't like more than they enjoy cheering for the things they do like. I also think that some drivers have a tendency to complain even when they're racing fairly well. However, I don't like ignoring reality. The reality is that some drivers are unhappy with the COT. Nascar telling the drivers to stop complaining about it isn't going to solve the problems that many drivers are experiencing with the handling of the cars or help their teams solve their issues with the COT.

What's not good for the sport besides the drivers making comments that might cause fans to be discouraged is the rising cost of going to a race, poor TV coverage, unexciting racing and a rising dissatisfaction by many fans with the state of the sport. Fan negativity about the COT is only a very small part of the problem in my mind.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud on XM (6/12)

Since Pocono was so disappointing for Michael since he both had a bad race and also dropped out of the top 35 in owner's points, I wasn't sure what to expect this week's show to be like. But Michael sounded like he was good spirits and made a lot of optimistic comments about being focus on the future and getting better. I'm glad he said some of what he did because I think his fans really needed to hear him be positive about the future instead of being down about the present.

Michael and Tony cracked me up at the beginning of the show. Apparently Michael spends a lot of time looking at old music videos on YouTube and he ended up singing an old Chicago song "Saturday in the Park." That's a great song and Michael really sang it well too! That led into them joking about Phil Parsons, who loves Chicago, and Rick Allen, who are in the booth for Truck Races for Speed along with Michael. When I was at the August Pocono race last year I noticed that Phil and Rick were always together each time I saw them but I didn't think too much of it. However, according to Michael and Tony they're always together so much so that some people joke about them being the same person! Michael calls them the Allen Parsons Project. So when he's in the booth with them what are they all three of them known as? The Allen Parsons Wal-Project?

Michael didn't say anything about Pocono that hadn't already been said before. The team worked hard all race long but things just didn't go their way - had that last pit stop played out different they might have gotten a top 20. I admit to being a little confused as I know other fans were as to exactly how Michael lost a lap. No one seems to remember him getting lapped and it's not clear from his comments whether the last pit stop that was so long cost them the lap or just prevented them from getting their lap back. It's really unfortunate because at times they seemed to be headed in the right direction but it never came together for them. Michael said that anything worthwhile is hard and there's a lot of truth there. Building successful race teams isn't something that happens over night nor is it easy but when that success comes it will be very satisfying for Michael and everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing!

This week's guest was Denny Hamlin and Michael noted how other drivers are getting a lot of attention while Denny is just quietly doing his thing and racing well. He said that Denny is letting Kyle take the flack for all of them. I guess Michael doesn't know that Denny is catching his own share of heat from fans these days too - many of them seem to feel that Denny is just as much of a punk as Kyle is. I don't really see it myself - fans seem to be getting more and more sensitive and jump to take offense at just about anything a driver says or does. Denny said that his team hasn't been setting the world on fire but they've been solid every week. I'll say - a win, five top five's and eight top ten's is very solid!

Later in the show Michael brought up how Tony was quiet while Denny was on - I guess that doesn't happen too often! Apparently Tony was working Denny's Directv Hotpass at Pocono and he made a bit of an error in judgment. After the race he was with the rest of the media who was interviewing Denny just after he got out of his car. He could see how hot and tired Denny was, as were all the drivers since it was a scorcher of a day. Tony asked him the first question but then couldn't remember the second question he wanted to ask. So he asked Denny about his pit crew and as he was asking that question he thought of the question he forgot and asked it. Which meant he asked Denny three questions which is a breach in protocol to ask that many just after a driver's gotten out of the car and even more so since Denny was so hot and tired.

As he's asking the question Denny rolls his eyes at him, glares and then when he was done Tony heard him tell his PR guy that Tony will never interview him again! Yikes! Denny then went to the in-field care center. Tony said that he knows better than to ask that many questions after a long race and he called Denny's PR guy to apologize. On her own show Claire B. Lang actually brought up, not Tony specifically, but the drivers being chased by the media after the race when so many of them them were clearly feeling the effects of the heat. She said that she opted to back away from drivers like Denny (who said said was actually vomiting he was so sick from the heat) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to give them time to collect themselves.

Situations like this is why I wish Nascar had a cooldown period for the drivers after they get out of their cars before they had to speak with the media like they do in other sports. I guess it's not really practical since the drivers are all in a rush to leave the track and they wouldn't want to have to stick around for an extra 15 minutes but it seems to me that it would solve a lot of problems if the drivers had the time to collect their thoughts and on hot days like Sunday had some time to re-hydrate before having to give interviews. Maybe Tony could have asked less questions but on the other hand the media has a job to do too and they know if they don't ask their questions right then they'll never get to ask them. It seems to me that if Denny was that sick then his PR person should have intervened (but less interviews equals less exposure for the sponsor so that probably wouldn't happen).

There was some talk about how David Reutimann almost won at Nashville and how it was a great effort by David and his team. They've been together for ten years and it shows the importance of chemistry - the team knows what each other are thinking and that helps them race for the championship. What they see with the Nationwide team is what they're striving for on the Cup side but they need time to build it. It's easy to get down after races like Sunday but Michael sees everyone working so hard on Monday and it makes him happy to be a part of it. He feels like it's an honor for him to have a chance to do this. He's always wanted to be a part of the Cup Series in every form or fashion that he could whether it's by racing, ownership, TV, etc... It's an honor and a privilege. He doesn't wish it was back in the day when the team was small and it was based back behind his house. He can't wait "'til tomorrow" and every day that goes by they get stronger. I hope that Michael is sincere in saying that he looks forward to each day - with all that he's had to deal with the past few years I can see how it might really wear him down after a while. However, I can also see how despite the problems it's still exciting to see his teams develop and MWR as a whole grow. MWR really has come a long way since it was just the one Nationwide car in his backyard, and even though they've had some struggles, Michael should still be proud of taking MWR to the level that they're on now!

Tony then brought up the rumor that was on Jayski (which originated on another blog) about MWR possibly having financial issues. Michael said that he's always been a friend of Jayski, who has always been fair to him. He and Jayski have emailed back and forth. Which cracked me up because with the way that Michael has talked about Jayski in the past and how Jayski has handled Michael/MWR related items I've wondered a time or two whether Michael is one of Jayski's sources. Michael said that one of the most ridiculous Jayski rumors he's ever read - about him maybe, but I seem to remember a few other really out there rumors that Jayski has posted. Michael clarified that MWR has no debt, they're on as good financial ground as anyone. There will always be some turnover that will continue to go on until they hit their stride - which is exactly how it should be. No organization should stand pat when they think they have an opportunity to get better and that's true when it comes to their personnel too. MWR isn't in any peril and they aren't worried about how they're going to pay their bills. They're focused on the future. Again, that's how it should be - no matter what the reality of MWR's financial status is they have to be forward-thinking and focused on building a solid foundation that will lead to success for many years to come.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2008

Boston Ventures Buys Majority Share of Petty Enterprises

As widely rumored Petty Enterprises announced yesterday that a majority share of ownership in the company has been sold to Boston Ventures, an investment company that is invested in companies such as Motown Records, Six Flags Entertainment and American Media Inc. Barry Baker, managing director of Boston Ventures, will take over as the Chairman of PE and David Zucker will become the CEO, the position most recently held by Kyle Petty. That Kyle no longer seems to have a managerial position at PE may explain some of the remarks that he made a while back in regards to his dissatisfaction with being taken out of the #45. Richard Petty will continue to be involved in the day-to-day operations.

In addition, it was announced that Bobby Labonte had re-signed with PE for another four years. I think that came as a surprise to some people since the #43 is losing their primary sponsor, General Mills, at the end of the season and Labonte had been heavily rumored to be following them to Richard Childress Racing, where the cars would likely be more competitive than what Labonte gets to race currently at PE. However, it might be that Boston Ventures buying into PE is what convinced Labonte to stay. They have a lot of connections to companies that could potentially sponsor the #43. But more importantly they are surely bringing with them an influex of money that will help PE get more competitive.

I've seen some fans questioning why PE that has always been a very conservative and family-friendly organization would get involved with Zucker who was formerly the CEO of Playboy Enterprises, among many other companies he was an executive at. The key is "former." If I'm understanding correctly Zucker isn't at Playboy anymore. It's hard for me to understand what the big deal is anyway. It's not like he was involved with hardcore porn or something. In addition, times change. Maybe the conservative nature of PE both on the business side and if that was the approach on the racing side as well doesn't work as well in 2008 as it did years ago.

I think this is a good move for PE. I had some doubts about how long PE would be able to survive, particularly in light of their sponsor issues but I think this will help them improve in all areas. It would be good to see PE, an organization with a long history in Nascar, regain some of their prior success.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)

Former Nationwide Official Alleges Racial and Sexual Harassment in Lawsuit

It's hard to know exactly what to say about the lawsuit that was filed by Mauricia Grant, a former Nationwide official. If her allegations are true - and they've been denied by Nascar - it would be a very sad commentary on the culture and attitudes of the garage area. The problem is that there's no way of knowing how much in the lawsuit is true, and unless she has witnesses and documentation of everything that she's alleging, we may never know where the truth lies. I do have to say though that I wouldn't be surprised if there was some truth there.

I really can't speak to the attitudes of those in the garage area but I can say that while I've encountered many wonderful fans, there's a segment of fans who are close-minded and intolerant. Unfortunately that group of fans is larger than I would like. At times I'm really not comfortable with some of the attitudes regarding gender, race, ethnicity, religion or sexual preference. Diversity is important to me, not just in terms of someone's background or where they come from but also in terms of diversity of opinion.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:59 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2008

Michael Waltrip Racing Denies They're in Financial Trouble

As I mentioned in a prior entry last week a blog, that is run by anonymous (isn't that convenient?) bloggers who say they're garage insiders, claimed that Michael Waltrip Racing was letting employees go and telling them that the reason they were being let go was due to financial reasons. Thus, this blog claimed, MWR was on shaky ground financially. When I first read this item I didn't even bother to address it here given the iffy sourcing and that there was very little that gave it any credence - not many others took it seriously either until it showed up on Jayski's yesterday and the team was forced to address it today. My first thought was that if people were let go from MWR they were told that it was for financial reasons as an excuse because MWR didn't want to tell them that they didn't think they were doing a very good job. I also wondered whether a disgruntled employee who was let go might be spreading that rumor, something that Cal Wells, MWR's vice president of operations also wondered about when he strongly denied the rumor on XM this afternoon.

Before I get to what Cal said - and he said plenty starting with that the rumor is completely false - here's Michael's statement from Jayski:

"I fancy myself as being a friend to one of the Web sites that is reporting that. But I have to say that the rumor is probably one of the most ridiculous things I have read on the internet. We are probably on as good of footing financially as anyone in the garage area. We are focused on the future. When you are a new team, a lot of times there is turnover. There is reorganization. That is what is going on at MWR and will continue to happen until we hit our stride. We are not in any peril as being reported. We are very into what we are doing and what we need to do to be successful."

I have to say that I've read a lot more ridiculous things on the internet - sad to say but Michael would probably be horrified if he knew some of the laughable and false things that have been said about him and other drivers online. But I have to agree that there is a degree of ridiculousness to anonymous bloggers claiming to be in the know from other anonymous sources about the inner workings at MWR. Even people in the garage area don't always know the real story about what might be going on at an organization. When Robby Gordon got into trouble in Montreal with Nascar I was in the garage the following day for the Cup race at Pocono. One rumor that some crew members were talking about was that Nascar was going to suspend Robby for eight races when in reality they only suspended him for a single race. Sometimes even people within that organization, and especially when it comes to sensitive topics like finances, might not know everything. Then you have to add in whether there's an agenda from the people who are spreading the rumor. I'm much more comfortable with a source who is willing to go on record - or who is at least identified in some way - rather than people who are completely anonymous. When you're completely anonymous you can say anything at anytime and you can't be held accountable. I'm supposed to believe someone who claims to be a tire changer for a team and someone who claims to be a young motorsports journalist but won't even go on record with their names?

Cal couldn't have denied the rumor in more stronger terms. He said that it's completely false, that MWR has let people go but that it's in an effort to get better, not due to financial reasons. He said that they have 238 people and that those numbers have stayed consistent. When they let someone go they replace them with one or even two people. Cal also said that MWR is in the best shape that they've ever been financially and otherwise, and that Rob Kauffman coming on-board assured the team's financial future. According to Cal MWR is debt free and are even spending $1 million on upgrades to their facilities including creating a new paint shop. He also just signed paperwork for new technology and tools for the engineering department. That doesn't really sound like an organization in dire straits financially if they're spending money on new technology and upgrades to their shop.

Of course teams are going to spin and do damage control for image reasons - it looks bad to potential sponsors and others when there's rumors that they're in bad shape financially and it can be demoralizing internally as well. However, usually teams don't completely lie either. It's hard for me to believe that Cal is completely making things up. If he was it would be a huge risk since that usually works out badly - fans and the media hate to be lied to and it makes everyone with the organization look like they can't be trusted.

Cal also addressed the future. According to Cal, MWR will be fielding three Cup cars and one Nationwide car next season. He had confidence in their partnerships with NAPA and Aaron's but as for UPS he has no idea what they're going to end up doing. However, if UPS leaves that doesn't mean that MWR is going to shut down - they've been negotiating with multiple sponsors as a back-up for David if needed but also potentially for Michael McDowell. Some seem to be assuming that if UPS and/or NAPA leaves then MWR is done, but it seems to me if they're talking to other sponsors they could find replacements sponsors. Would it be easy? No, not with performance being poor and with the way the economy is. But MWR isn't just standing by - they're working hard on the competition side and the business side to build the organization both for this season and for the future. Things can very much change in this sport very quickly, particularly when sponsors are involved, but it very much sounded like MWR is continuing to move forward.

Cal closed the interview by saying, "hand on heart" MWR is debt-free with good sponsorships and in good shape. Could everything he said all be a bunch of nonsense to cover the truth? It's possible but I can't help but think back a number of races ago. Michael had a particularly difficult race and the car was really horrible. I remember him saying to Bobby Kennedy something along the lines about how they were going to have to "make changes." I thought he was referring to the cars and in terms of what they did during races. But it also occured to me that he might have been referring to personnel changes. If that was the case it seems to me that people likely were in fact let go in an effort to get some new people in who might better help them improve performance rather that there were financial issues at play.

Since the denial was posted on Jayski, the blog has come back with an entry about how they stand by their story, how they know multiple people who were let go with financial reasons being cited, that they never said that MWR was going to close their doors just that they were in trouble financially, etc, etc... Again, it's really hard to take them seriously since they're completely anonymous - how do we know how good their sources are, whether they've checked what their sources are saying to be sure it's accurate, or that they don't have an ax to grind with MWR? For all we know those that are writing the blog is someone who was recently let go from MWR. The thing is that MWR might very well have some financial issues, if not now, then in the future depending on performance and what happens with their sponsors, but it seems to me that this blog is making a lot out of very little. They don't even state how many employees were let go - they could be talking about two people for all we know!

I don't have as much of a problem with rumors as some do since they can give hints as to what might happen. Teams, drivers and sponsors may also float rumors as a way to test the waters to see what the fan reaction might be to some things or as a way to put things in motion. So it's interesting sometimes to consider rumors from the perspective of who might have an agenda that they might be trying to serve. However, the downside is that rumors like this one about MWR can be very damaging to a company's reputation and also internally to employee morale. I'm glad that MWR so strongly denied this rumor. No matter where the truth may lie - and I tend to believe Cal and Michael over anonymous bloggers - they're better off addressing it head-on. Problem is that a lot of fans don't have XM so they didn't hear what Cal Wells said, won't see the denial by MWR on Jayski or if they do see it they won't believe it. That's what's so unfortunate about rumors is that some take them to be absolute fact even when they're only partially true or even completely false like Cal and Michael say this one is.

ETA: Someone just brought up a good point to me that they believe if people are told that they're being let go for financial reasons they can collect unemployment but if they're outright fired for performance reasons they probably can't collect unemployment. I also wonder what employment laws might be at play and whether MWR might be careful about what reasons they give so as to not set themselves up for a lawsuit for unlawful termination.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)

Kyle Busch Conspiracy Theories Continue to Swirl

Just like many of my fellow fans I like to discuss, speculate and wonder about various things in Nascar. However, I've never been one for conspiracy theories. Most of the popular ones involve too many people and too many variables for them to be plausible to me. Not to mention conspiracy theories often don't match up with the known facts. But that doesn't stop a distrubingly large percentage of fans from believing in some really wild theories and particularly now in relation to Kyle Busch and his success. David Caraviello had a great column on Nascar.com about the ridiculousness of it and Michael Waltrip also discussed on his XM show how off-base those are who believe that Kyle's success is due to anything other than Kyle's talent and the cars he's getting from Joe Gibbs Racing. Of course fans who believe that Kyle's success this season is due to cheating or Toyota paying off Nascar simply dismiss the comments of anyone or anything that doesn't support their theories - in their mind those people must also be part of the conspiracy.

It happens every season. Whatever team, driver and manufacturer is having success can't possibly be doing so on their own merits. To a lot of fans it can't be because the driver is talented, their cars are competitive or simply that all the pieces fell into place in the right way during a particular race. Some fans are simply unable to recognize anything good about drivers, teams or manufacturers they don't like so they have to explain things away with such ridiculousness as manufacturers paying off Nascar, that teams are cheating to win and Nascar is looking the other way or that the outcome of races is predetermined and that everything that happens in the sport is fixed. Then there's the conspiracy theories that relate to individual drivers such as that their sponsor paid off Nascar so they could win at certain tracks or that Nascar is out to get certain drivers and does everything they can to drive them out of the sport. All nonsense.

Some fans hold tight to these conspiracy theories even when the facts prove them wrong. In relation to the belief by many fans that Toyota has a significant advantage when it comes to horsepower over other manufacturers (and that Nascar is allowing it because they've been paid off by Toyota), Robin Pemberton, Nascar's Vice President of Competition said,

"We take 'em home and dyno 'em. We have the results. There is nothing that shows us that anybody has got anybody by a significant advantage ... [Series director] John [Darby] and all his guys have evaluated all that, and there is not anything that we've seen that points to an advantage by anybody. Everybody has their opinion. But everybody has the same opportunity with parts and pieces in all three garage areas."

Yet there are fans who insist that Toyota has an advantage. In their minds Pemberton is simply covering up what's really going in. What really gets me is that fans will dismiss or explain away the facts that show that they're wrong - such as Pemberton's comments - but when pressed can't come up with any concrete facts to support their own theories. That Toyota is having more success than last season is a fact, but it's certainly not fact that that reason is because they're cheating. Rather that they signed Joe Gibbs Racing and that their other teams have made progress from where they were last season is a more likely explanation.

What makes all these conspiracies theories so unlikely is that most of them would involve many people acting together. Let's take a common conspiracy theories that Nascar fixes races and that the outcome is known before the races are even run. That would take the cooperation of all 43 drivers in the field, plus their teams, plus the owners, plus the sponsors. By now someone would have tattled about what was going on, yet not a single person has come forward to say that anything even remotely like this is happening. Not to mention there are media who cover the sport on a daily and weekly basis - if there was anything to any of these theories wouldn't they do some investigating and reporting on it? There are some fans who believe the media and everyone else in the garage area are either paid off or too afraid of Nascar to speak out. What is this the mafia? Fact of the matter is that human nature is such that it would be impossible to keep a secret of this magnitude without someone finding out about it.

The smaller conspiracy theories are silly too. It seems to be in vogue these days for some fans to accuse drivers of deliberately causing cautions or racing other drivers a certain way because they're looking to create an advantage for a teammate. Yes, teammates try to work with each other and help each other out but it's hard for me to believe that every other caution is because a driver was told to create one to help a teammate. In addition, drivers race each other hard for position at times and it's usually because they're trying to advance their own position - that's what's racing is all about.

I have no doubt that there are all sorts of things going on in Nascar that fans don't know about. There are people with agendas and people who are working to make things happen to benefit themselves, their teams, drivers and sponsors. That happens everywhere. What I don't buy is that everything that happens in the sport is due to manipulations and vendettas. Drivers win races because they have talent behind the wheel. Teams have success because they field competitive cars and then the manufacturer they're aligned with has success as a result as well. Kyle Busch isn't winning races because money is changing hands or Nascar thinks it's good for the sport, he's winning races because he's an outstanding driver who is racing for an extremely strong organization.

The worst part about all these conspiracy theories is that often the people who believe in them are incredibly close-minded. They'll refuse to consider anything - fact or opinion - that doesn't fit with what they believe. If it's frustrating for me, a mere fan, I can only imagine how frustrating it must be at times for those in the garage area, though I'm sure it provides a lot of amusement at times.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:42 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2008

Photo of the Day - Ogunquit Sunrise

Ogunquit, Maine, 2004. It's been way too long since I've been in Maine, especially in Ogunquit. I'd really love to walk on the beach at sunrise, wonder at the beauty of it all and take some more photos like this. Then again, there's so many places I'd love to go to where it's beautiful all the time.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*There's a lot of debate over whether Kyle Busch should have raced all three races this weekend. I say why not? If he wanted to and both Joe Gibbs Racing and his sponsors were on-board I don't see what the problem is. Sure he didn't win any of those races but he was competitive in the Truck and Nationwide races. Had he actually won one - or all three - of the races it would have created a huge amount of exposure for his sponsors. Even just racing all three created a lot of attention and probably drew additional viewers to the Truck and Nationwide races from those fans who were curious to see how he'd do. Also, from what Kyle said in an interview on XM a while back he's very involved with trying to build Billy Ballew Motorsports so he's doing more than just jumping in the truck. I just don't see this as being as much of a big deal as some are making of it - he could still have finished last in the Cup race even if he didn't race any other races.

*Jayski has a rumor that Michael Waltrip Racing has been laying people off due to financial issues. I had seen the blog item that this comes from last week and didn't even bother to mention it in this space. For one thing someone had been to MWR the day that this rumor was reported and said that everything seemed to be business as usual. But also if MWR really was laying off lots of employees due to major financial issues wouldn't something be said in the mainstream media before now even in passing? So I'm a little skeptical as to how true this rumor is. What I can believe is that MWR is letting people go in an effort to make personnel changes to improve performance. They could be telling people it's due to financial reasons or some of the people who have left could be disgruntled and be spreading this rumor. Or there could be no truth to it at all. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if MWR isn't on as good of financial footing as other organizations. After all, it takes a lot of money to start a three-car Cup organization and even more money to try to be competitive. Missing races last season and a lack of strong results this season has to hurt. Increased costs due to the increase in gas prices and for other things has to hurt too. But since MWR still has money coming in from at least two major sponsors - UPS and NAPA - I don't think they're likely as close to closing their doors at the moment as some are trying to use this rumor to make it seem.

*Kasey Kahne won yesterday's Cup race. That makes wins in two of the last three points races, plus his All-Star race win. Kasey and his team have definitely found something major the past few weeks - quite a turn-around from his struggles last season. It's good to see and it should give teams that are struggling now hope. One never knows when a team might suddenly hit on something that makes all the difference when it comes to racing competitively.

*Robby Gordon continues to sink like a stone in the points. Just like MWR, Robby Gordon Motorsports is struggling to get a handle on the COT and Robby's complaints every race are just like Michael's regarding the handling of his cars. What's a very troubling sign for the future of Robby's team is that when he was on Trackside on Friday he apparently said that he doesn't have a sponsor for Sonoma. I don't understand how Robby doesn't have sponsorship at a track that's one of his best, where he usually contends for the win, and where he will likely get a lot of attention so it's a good opportunity for a sponsor to get some exposure. Between now and then he may very well find sponsorship but if he can't get a sponsor at a road course race what are his chances of having sponsorship for all of the other races this season. It's surprising that Jim Beam was willing to spend the money to put together an elaborate "Vote for Robby" campaign for the All-Star Race, as well as a campaign to get fans to put pressure on Nascar to overturn the early season penalties, that they wouldn't step up to spend the money to sponsor him at Sonoma. If all else fails, I wonder if a Gillett-Evernham Motorsports sponsor will end up on the car since Robby has that partnership with them? Speaking of that partnership how exactly is Robby benefiting from it? Certainly not in performance.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)

This Week in Nascar vs. Michael Waltrip Out Loud

Regular visitors here have probably noticed that I frequently talk about Michael Waltrip's XM show "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" but unless I'm referring to a specific comment that Michael makes I don't give the same attention to "This Week on Nascar" on Speed. The show formerly known as "Inside Nextel Cup" used to be one of my favorite shows and I would look forward to watching it every week but as the years went on Speed made more and more tweaks to the panel, the host and the format and ever since Michael started doing the XM show I look forward to that far more than I do the Monday night show.

Of course I still watch TWiN every week - Michael still cracks me up on that show all the time and he still often has some interesting things to say but I think the format of the show doesn't allow Michael or the other panelists that much freedom to be themselves and discuss the happenings in each race or in the sport. There's been improvements as the season has gone on but I still don't enjoy the format all that much, particularly the way the first half of each show is taken up with a lengthy preview for the next race. I used to make a point of being in front of the TV every Monday night when the show was on but now I record it and watch later in the evening so I can fast-forward through the taped pieces and pretty much everything that doesn't involve discussion among the panelists.

So I don't really give as much attention to TWiN in this space because I suspect I would bitch and moan about the format all the time and I don't want to be negative about the same issues that probably won't ever change with the show over and over. I also know that Michael very much enjoys doing the show and I don't feel quite right about being down on something he enjoys doing out of the car, though the odds of Michael coming across this space is somewhere between slim and none and even if he did it's very unlikely that he would care what this no-nothing fan thinks.

The thing is that on the XM show Michael can really be himself with much fewer constraints than on TWiN. He and Tony are on the same page about most things including what they find funny so it makes for a really entertaining - and informative - show. There's just so much more personality on "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" these days than on TWiN.

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

Steve Park Finishes 5th at Watkins Glen

Steve Park had his fourth straight finish of top ten or better in the Camping World East Series at Watkins Glen yesterday. However, his fifth place finish might be a little disappointing to Steve considering he won at that track in the Cup Series in 2000. However, to finish as well as he did Steve had to battle back from a cut tire and it's a finish good enough to move him up to third in the overall points which is excellent! I'm very happy for Steve that he's racing competitively and that he's in the Championship hunt! I just wish I was able to watch these races live since not being able to see them as they're run really takes away from some of the excitement.

It was particularly hard to follow what was going on at Watkins Glen this weekend since HDNet didn't even broadcast the race. So fans who wanted know what was happening in the race had to depend on updates from eastseries.com. While that site did a great job of updating frequently as they got new information, text updates on a website aren't the same as watching the racing unfold on TV. In fact some of the most interesting things that came from eastseries.com's coverage wasn't the run-down of who was racing where but what was apparently said at the driver's meeting on Sunday morning.

From eastseries.com:

11:45 a.m. - The drivers meeting is over and the biggest point of contention is that there will only be one scoring loop in use for this race, at the start/finish line. It's possible that someone could complete a pass - or many passes - on a lap but if caution comes out before that lap is completed, he'll have to give all those spots back. This was not a popular revelation. Matt Kobyluck lectured the drivers present about what a terrible show South Boston was and how the series should be putting on better races than that. Here's hoping this will sink in before we return to another short track. Driver's introductions are about fifteen minutes away and then we'll settle in for 51 laps of fun.

It absolutely boggles my mind that there was only one scoring loop used during this race. How can that be? If there was only one scoring loop used during Cup and Nationwide races that are run at Watkins Glen I'd think the drivers in those series would be raising holy hell since they'd be losing positions all the time. So I have to think that when the Cup and Nationwide series use this track they use multiple scoring loops. If that's the case, then why can't the Camping World Series as well? Fans have all these complaints and conspiracy theories about Nascar supposedly manipulating races but if there's one thing that changes the outcome of a race it would be something like this where a driver might lose positions to drivers they've already raced past, maybe even multiple times, because there's only one scoring loop in use.

In addition, the racing must have been really horrible at South Boston for Matt Kubyluck, the eventual winner at Watkins Glen, to get up and say something to his fellow drivers about it. Naturally my fellow Steve Park fans thought the racing was great at South Boston because Steve finished so well in spite of having a damaged race car. However, from what I've seen elsewhere they are in the minority. Most others were unhappy with how many cautions there were because that resulted in a lack of a lot of racing under green. In addition, there were scoring loop issues at South Boston as well with drivers having positions taken away under caution. Only Nascar can resolve the scoring loop issues but the quality of the racing may relate to this being a driver development series where the young drivers out number the experienced veterans like Steve or Matt. The young drivers are still learning for one but they may also have an aggressive style of racing, particularly since these races aren't very long, that makes for a lot of incidents.

I sense there are other issues in this series besides the quality of the racing. The series director, Lee Roy, was just replaced by an interim director for reasons that weren't really explained. Also, there's been a rash of teams being busted for rules violations. Two drivers have had wins taken away due to rules violations and Brain Ickler's team had parts taken from them by Nascar after his win at South Boston, though there ended up not being any penalties given to his team. Is it that the teams don't fully understand the rules? Are they deliberately doing things that are in violation of the rules and hoping that they'll be lucky enough to get away with it? Whatever the situation is there seems to be quite a few rules issues in this series.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2008

Photo of the Day - Longwood Gardens

May, 2008

Posted by silverdsl at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

Bad Day for Michael Waltrip at Pocono

Michael Waltrip had a great test at Pocono - his speeds were top ten or top fifteen. So I was pretty optimistic that he would have a strong finish exactly when he needed one most. But it was not to be. The car seemed to be no where close to what it was at the test when they unloaded it on Friday and the #55 team never seemed to be able to get it right. The team made changes during the race and at times the car seemed better but a spin set the team back. Even after that it seemed like Michael might be able to use pit strategy to gain track position towards the end of the race but their gamble not only didn't pay off but put them a lap down. So Michael ended up finishing 37th and even a DNF by Sam Hornish, Jr. wasn't enough to keep Michael in the top 35 in owner's points.

To say I'm sad, disappointed and disheartened about that is an understatement, though it's certainly not Michael that I'm disappointed in since I know he gives 110 percent towards racing hard and making the best decisions as owner that he can. It's the situation that is disappointing because I so badly want it to be different. Michael and his team worked to hard to race their way into the top 35 to start the season and I thought that Michael would be able to stay there. I really thought that this season was going to be so much better than last - and to some degree it is since he's raced in every race so far this season. But he's right back where he started - as a go-or-go-homer. And if I'm upset about it, Michael must be beside himself, particularly since this happened at a track that he loves so much. His team - and not just his but all three Michael Waltrip Racing teams - struggling so much is difficult enough but dropping out of the top 35 has to be like a stake though the heart. Being a go-or-go-homer is incredibly stressful and I hate it that Michael has to go through it again. Michael has said before that he feels like he's letting down his fans when he doesn't finish well and I don't feel let down, I just feel sad for him. I so badly want him to be able to race as well as I know he can when he has a good car!

It's hard to understand why they had such a good test yet the car was so different today. Was it the heat? Did they set the car up differently for this weekend then they did for the test? Were the tires they got from Goodyear different? Of course tests aren't always a perfect indicator of who is going to do good or bad at a particular track since teams are all on different agendas and might try things they wouldn't or can't do during actual races but often a good test translates into decent results at that track and other similar tracks. Not this time. Why? Certainly not for lack of effort since I know Michael and everyone at MWR is working hard to get better.

When Bobby Kennedy took over as crew chief many thought that he would be the magic fix to all the #55's problems but it almost seems like if anything things have gotten worse. With Paul Andrews Michael was able to get into the top 35 but with Bobby he's fallen out. Sure Michael yells less over the radio but if the results aren't any better is it really an improvement? I also didn't like too much the way Bobby yelled at the crew when Michael spun - seemed like Ty Norris was the one who stepped in and took control when it was Bobby's responsibility as crew chief to direct the crew and handle the situation, though to be fair Michael wasn't really saying anything about how the car was. Overall the biggest problem that has plagued this team all season hasn't been fixed - the cars aren't handling right, not just for Michael but for all three MWR drivers. Of course it takes time. MWR is working hard to improve the competitiveness of the cars and it's really difficult for them because they don't have the same knowledge base that teams that have been around for a long time can draw on. But Red Bull Racing is a new organization too and they've certainly made tremendous advances since last season. Things aren't going to get any easier for MWR either since next weekend they head to Michigan and those kinds of tracks have given them a lot of problems.

I'd just like to see Michael be able to actually race instead of just trying not to wreck. He's a much better driver than the results have shown so far this season. And I especially hate it for him that he's outside the top 35 again. It hurts my heart because I know how bad Michael wants to do well. His heart and soul is in MWR and racing is in his blood. No matter what happens whether Michael's in the top 35 or not, whether he finishes first or last, he's still my driver. I'll support him no matter what. For his sake I just wish that things were going better for him and his teams. As a fan it's frustrating because as much as I wish there was something I could do there isn't. I just have to hope for the best and have confidence that things will turn around for Michael soon.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)

Brad Keselowski Wins His First Nationwide Race

Last night at Nashville Brad Keselowski won the first Nationwide race of his career - it's always great to see a first-time winner in Victory Lane! I had had no doubt that Brad would eventually win a race and probably not before too long considering he's been racing very well this season. Part of that is because the cars that JR Motorsports are fielding appear to be more competitive than they were last season but there's no doubt that Brad has a tremendous amount of talent behind the wheel. It's very obvious why Junior wanted him in his car and why others took note of him even when he wasn't in cars that were very good. Fans are always complaining that the only drivers who get rides are those who "buy" their rides by bringing sponsorship or other money with them, or being young and "pretty" to please the sponsors as opposed to having talent. Well, to my knowledge Brad brought nothing but talent with him to the #88 and while he's young, he's not traditionally "cute." I'm very happy that Brad won last night and hopefully it will be the first of many wins for him!

Since I didn't put the race on until the last few laps because I was out I didn't see whatever happened with David Reutimann, Clint Bowyer and David Stremme that might have cost David a chance at the win. A third place finish is still very good, and particularly since it moved David up into second in the overall points standings! Clint, who is leading the points, has been very strong this season but I sure would love to see David - and Michael Waltrip Racing - win the Nationwide Championship!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)

UPS Takes a Gamble on Big Brown...

... and I wonder if they're satisfied with the outcome? UPS likely paid a huge amount of money to sponsor Big Brown this weekend at the Belmont in the hopes that Big Brown would win the Triple Crown and they'd get a lot of exposure as a result. UPS certainly did get plenty of exposure before the race started since their logo was splashed absolutely everywhere but since Big Brown ended up coming in last the amount of exposure they ended up with is probably a lot less overall than they were counting on.

Why am I talking about horse racing some might be wondering. Well, that's because I can't help but be reminded of the situation that UPS finds themselves in with Michael Waltrip Racing and David Reutimann, in relation to whether or not to renew their sponsorship of the #44 or go to another team. Rumors have circulated that UPS wants to align themselves with a "rock star" type driver and some of the names they've been connected to are drivers who have had more success so far than David in Cup. But what happened with Big Brown is a lesson that no outcome is guaranteed and even what seems like a sure-thing might not end up happening. So just because it seems like UPS might get more exposure with another driver and team other than David and Michael Waltrip Racing doesn't mean that's what's actually going to happen. If they stick with David and believe in him just like all those who put down money on Da’ Tara, the horse that won at the Belmont yesterday, believed in him, it could pay big dividends for them.

I wonder if Michael got to go to Belmont yesterday to watch Big Brown like he said last week he was hoping to do? Michael seems to love horses, and has some of his own, so he would probably be interested in the race regardless, but it was probably also a good opportunity to chat with the folks from UPS in an effort to try to get them to re-sign with UPS. I'm not sure they'd be in the mood to hear a pitch though after the race.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2008

That silverdsl is not this silverdsl

Since I've been getting a lot of continuing traffic from NoMaas let me just say that the silverdsl over there isn't this silverdsl, though someone would like people to think that. Of course that's kind of obvious given the avatar (which I actually find hysterical) and a few other things. It's pretty funny that someone finds me and this blog worthy of so much attention that they copy and paste stuff from here to post there and created a sock puppet to pretend to be me.

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

Photo of the Day - Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park, NV, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Penske Racing has a problem. Alltel, the sponsor of Ryan Newman's #12 car has been bought by Verizon and Nascar's contract with Sprint, the title sponsor of the Cup Series, doesn't allow Alltel to re-brand. The situation that Penske faces is similar to that of Richard Childress Racing with Cingular when that company was bought by AT&T. It was only because of a lawsuit, which Nascar settled with AT&T, that RCR is allowed to have AT&T on the #31 car, but only though the end of this season. Ryan Newman is a free agent at the end of this season and I have to wonder how potentially losing the sponsor of his car will effect whether he re-signs with Penske or not.

*Jamie McMurray again denied today that he's out at Roush-Fenway Racing or that he's been talking with other teams. However, Jim Utter who wrote the original story that McMurray was looking around for another ride for next season again indicated that sources are telling him that McMurray has put feelers out to at least two Cup teams and that Roush is still looking at moving McMurray's Crown Royal sponsorship to Greg Biffle. If it's true that McMurray is in search of a ride for next season, I have to wonder if one reason he's denying it is because he has a clause in his contract like so many drivers do that prohibits him from talking to other teams while he's under contract to Roush. Of course drivers get around it all the time by having a representative act as a go-between but McMurray might be trying to avoid giving Roush anything that they can use to release him before the season is over.

*According to eastseries.com the Camping World East Series cars didn't even hit the track at Watkins Glen before an issue was found with one of the competitor's cars. For the second week in a row something from Brian Ickler's car was seized by Nascar, in this case the rear end from the car. You'd think after last weekend in which there was some question as to whether Ickler would get to keep his win after Nascar found something they didn't like with his car in post-race inspection at South Boston that the team would be sure that everything was exactly perfect as far as the rulebook goes this week. Teams are always going to try to get away with something to gain an advantage in every series, on every level, but I think it speaks to a problem in this series that in the first four races there have been these kinds of issues every weekend. It's kind of amazing that even after two wins were taken away that there still might be teams that haven't gotten the message that Nascar is serious about making sure all the teams follow the rules.

*Speaking of Watkins Glen, Steve Park is a winner of a Cup race there and after having tested his East Series car there recently he had high hopes that he might be able to win in that series. However, based on the first practice results Steve and his team have some work to do if they hope to get their fourth top ten in a row (or better). Steve was 26th in the first practice which isn't very good considering there are only 30 cars and two of them didn't practice! Of course there's still plenty of time between now and Sunday when the race will be run... at the same time as the Cup race which is probably why HDNet isn't bothering to carry the race live. It's not too likely that many people would choose the East Series race over the Cup race.

*Robby Gordon was 41st out of 44 cars in the first practice - I wonder if he and his team still think that skipping testing at this track was a good idea? The car is also unsponsored which isn't good considering how Robby had talked about how Robby Gordon Motorsports had some financial issues earlier in the season.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

Man in Black Diecast

I don't normally have much to say about diecasts, memorabilia or other merchandise because other than a few of Michael Waltrip's diecasts and a few signed items I'm not too big on collecting a lot of driver's "stuff" that isn't clothing or photos I've taken. So I don't usually take notice of announcements about diecasts and all. However, yesterday I heard Taylor Earnhardt give an interview on XM about a special diecast that pays tribute to her father Dale Earnhardt and Johnny Cash. The "Man in Black" car is apparently the first in a series of diecasts that will feature paint schemes pairing Dale with other iconic personalities. There will also be t-shirts and other apparel to go along with the diecasts.

Some fans have reacted badly to this announcement as they seem to do with anything that even vaguely relates to DEI or Teresa Earnhardt these days. Some feel that it's nothing more than one in a long line of crass attempts by Teresa to take advantage of fans and make money off of the Dale Earnhardt name. I wish that those fans who think that way were listening when Taylor talked about her father yesterday. I'm sure there is an aspect of this which relates to making money, not just for Teresa and DEI but also for Richard Childress Racing who holds the rights to the #3, because that's the whole point of selling diecasts and other merchandise. But based on what Taylor, who helped design the die-cast was saying, it's also about paying tribute to her father, a man she thinks about every single day. When people lose a loved one they want to keep their memory alive and everyone has a different way of doing so. Maybe this is Taylor and Teresa's way. When fans look at this diecast they'll be remembering Dale right along with Taylor and Teresa.

Taylor told a story about flying into Nashville and how her father always used to go in the cockpit and take the controls of the plane. He would do all these maneuvers that freaked out Teresa and everyone else on the plane. So one time he put Taylor at the controls while they were landing at Nashville and everyone really got scared until they got on the ground safely but Taylor loved it. She also talked about going deep sea fishing with her father.

Later in the show Claire B. had on one of Johnny Cash's brothers who is also a singer (with a new album to promote of course). He made an interesting comment about how their mother knew that Johnny was different from the time he was a baby and something along the lines about how God had made him special. Interesting how his mother knew from that early on.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)

Going to Have to Make a Trip to the Paulinskill Viaduct Soon

I love going to the Paulinskill Viaduct not only to take photos but to marvel at its immenseness - photos don't do justice to just how big the viaduct is looming over the wood, the river the road and everything around. Trains haven't run over the viaduct since the rails were taken up around 1985 but I've known for a while that New Jersey Transit would like to make the line active again for commuters between the Poconos and Manhattan. The last time I went to the viaduct there were more signs and fences up, and I'd guess that NJ Transit will step up trying to deter people from exploring the viaduct since the plan took a step forward this week. So I'm going to have to pay a visit or two to the viaduct soon before they really restrict access even more.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s "Unrestricted" (6/5)

Great night for us Michael Waltrip fans on XM since not only did he do his own show but immediately following he was also a guest on Dale Earnhardt, Jr's show Unrestricted! Even though I don't normally like Junior's show too much I really enjoyed Michael being on the show and it seemed like he had fun with it too. Unrestricted is more casual than Michael Waltrip Out Loud so at times last night I found it a little confusing to follow but the deeper into the show the more they seemed to find their rhythm so I was kind of disappointed when it was over. Michael said that he was learning from being on their show where they "wing it" and that he might tweak his show as a result - oy, please not too much!

Some of the best discussion they had was about the Nationwide Series, probably because both Junior and Michael are Nationwide owners. At Dover during the Nationwide race Michael was on David's pitbox. Junior is sometimes on the pit box but often in his motorcoach. Michael said that one time he was nice and comfortable in his coach, with the air conditioning on to about 40 degrees, with the remote in his hand ready to watch the Nationwide race when he sees Junior on his pit box. So he gets up and gets dressed so he can go out on his pit box so he looks like he cares like Junior. Junior joked that Michael probably passed him on the way back to the coach from the pit box. Junior said that he gets mad up there on the box and Michael said he does too but they can't do anything. Someone who was at the Richmond Nationwide race in the pits took photos of both Michael and Junior up on their respective team's pitboxes. What was funny was that Michael was writing notes on his hands to show to Jerry Baxter and others. Only Michael would write on his hands (and what large hands they are so there's plenty of space to write on!) instead of finding a piece of paper!

Michael told a story about how one time at Rockingham he was running up front in one of Dale, Sr's cars and Dale had been quiet on the radio all race long. So towards the end of the race Michael wanted to come in and get just two tires because he thought he could win with just two. Dale gets on the radio and says no, he's getting four tires. So then Michael says that he's not a camel so he at least wants some water. Dale gets back on the radio and says that no, he can't have any water, there's only 30 laps to go, he needs to focus, not have water and he just needs to shut up and drive! So Michael did and he ended up finishing second to Mark Martin. It's kind of funny to picture what would happen these days if someone told Michael to "shut up and drive" over the radio! I'm thinking that person might be looking for a new job but sometimes every driver, whether they're an owner or not need to hear something along those lines.

In light of some of the rumors that are floating around Michael said something that was pretty big news - he wants to race some Nationwide races next year. He wanted to this year as well but they felt that they needed to focus on David and his team. He misses racing Nationwide races and wants to get back out there. So it sounds like fans of Michael can look forward to continuing to watch him race in the future which is a good thing, not just for us fans but for him too I think considering how much he loves racing.

Very interesting comments from Michael in regards to being an owner. He very candidly said that he underestimated how hard it would be. He had confidence in how they would do because of Toyota, because of the technical support they would be getting. I really have to wonder just exactly what Toyota promised Michael and the other owners who aligned themselves with them and how they tried to help their teams when things didn't go as planned. Michael said you can't put a price tag or even put into words the importance of chemistry or history. At established organizations people can come and go and it doesn't make any difference but at Michael Waltrip Racing someone leaves and it makes a huge difference. It's like they have to start over and re-invent the whole process. I hate to say it but I've experienced this with them myself on the non-competition side that when someone leaves there's a void and the next person doesn't necessarily pick up where the person before them was because there's not a history of doing things there a certain way or doing certain projects for years and years like there is at other organizations. With the Nationwide team they've been together 12 years and that's why they race so well - they're trying to build the rest of MWR to be like that - I hope that MWR's sponsors and others are willing to have the patience to stick around and give MWR the opportunity to build their teams into successful ones.

Junior agreed with what Michael said. He said that at first they were "jumping to conclusions" at JR Motorsports and moving people around constantly. So they had to slow down. Junior said they lose credibility when they make personnel changes too often and people don't have anything good to say about you either. Those were interesting comments because for a while Junior seemed very quick to make driver changes. He didn't seem to have any patience and it didn't look too good, particularly when the results for some of the drivers that came before Brad Keselowski weren't that bad.

Michael said that unlike Junior who realized right away that the top drivers wouldn't want to drive for him that he could get the best right away. He was way too naïve. He thought they would have good cars, really believed it and that's what he told NAPA and UPS. I felt bad for Michael hearing him say that because to have things turn out so differently than he thought last year must have been devastating and it must have been really difficult having promised people that they would have good cars to feel like he let them down. It has to have been hard to have believed in something so much and to have things go so wrong. It might make it hard to believe that things will go better in the future.

Next they got to talking about the COT in the Nationwide Series. Both Michael and Junior agreed that it's going to be a challenge for their teams and expensive too. Michael said that in terms of safety it's needed - he got stuck after wrecks in his Nationwide car a few times. However, neither he nor Junior knows how they're going to afford it and I ask yet again, if they who have good Nationwide programs that race competitively and sponsors don't know how they're going to afford it, how are smaller teams with less sponsorship going to be able to make the switch to the COT? It may be needed in terms of driver safety but how is Nascar going to make sure that the teams are able to do it?

I have to admit that I didn't listen too closely to most of the last segment. It was Snider's News, which is when Josh Snider, who does the show with Junior, reads some weird/funny/unusual news stores. Problem is it's really obvious he's reading directly word-for-word and as funny and wacky as they might be I had heard them all before and they didn't relate to racing or Michael.

Overall, it was a really fun show, for us listeners and from what it seemed for those on the show. Maybe Michael will return the favor and have Junior on his show sometime.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud (6/5)

Not only did Michael Waltrip have his own XM show last night, he also was a guest on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s show "Unrestricted" that's on right after (which will have it's own entry otherwise this one will be too long). So it was an entire hour of Michael! It doesn't get much better than that!

On "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" Michael was on the phone because he and Michael McDowell were at VIR testing along with a bunch of other teams in preparation for the road course race at Infineon coming up in a couple of weeks. There was also someone from Car and Driver magazine there with them doing an article - hope that's going to come out soon! Apparently McD is very familiar with VIR so he was coaching Michael as to what the track was like. Unfortunately Michael had an encounter with a retaining wall that ended the test early. I really hope that he's going to have a good car at Infineon. In the past Michael had done very well on road courses which is one reason why I look forward to those races.

One thing that came up was how some are saying that Toyota has an advantage over other manufacturers and that Nascar should do something about it because they've won five races. Michael said that those people don't know what they're talking about - I bet he wishes Toyota had some sort of advantage! He also said that last season no one called out Chevy when they won so many races but actually the same fans who are now saying that Toyota is paying off Nascar to let them have an advantage were the same ones last season who were convinced that the Chevy teams were only winning because they were cheating and that Nascar knew about it and was looking the other way. I could say a whole lot more about all of that and all the ridiculous conspiracy theories in general but I'll save it for another entry since I've been thinking about doing something on that topic for a while. Michael said that Kyle Busch's success this season has more to do with him and Joe Gibbs Racing than it does Toyota. I have to agree - if Toyota truly had an advantage all the other Toyota teams would be contending for wins on a weekly basis too like Kyle and his teammates are.

Michael was much less harsh about the big wreck at Dover than some others have been. A lot of people find it really puzzling as to why Denny Hamlin plowed into that mess seemingly at full speed, despite his spotter warning him to slow down. Even Jeremy Mayfield said on XM the other day that it was an unusual kind of accident because usually there's enough experience there that the drivers can either get slowed up in time or avoid it. Michael said that it's much harder to get these cars slowed down than in the past and that where the wreck happened made it hard to see.

Tony brought up Joey Lagano doing well in his Nationwide debut and wondered whether Michael can relate to the pressure that's on Joey to deliver since as DW's brother he came into the sport with a lot of hype himself. Michael said that it must be difficult to be Joey because of what he has to live up to. Joey's just 18 and he could become cocky and brash or he could just take it all in and not let it affect him. Michael feels sorry for Joey with how everyone is talking about how he's the greatest thing because if he isn't people will wonder what went wrong. I also think that's one of Joey's biggest challenges is how he's going to handle the pressure. It's asking a lot for an 18-year old to deal with it perfectly but if he doesn't fans and the media will show no mercy.

Michael also talked about how times have changed, how it used to be that drivers didn't get good cars to race until they were in their 40's and 50's and had proven themselves, something that was often a struggle to do. Now 18-year olds like Joey get into winning cars right away, and he hopes Joey realizes how lucky he is. Sometimes I wonder how much resentment there is from some of the veteran drivers about young drivers getting to race competitive cars a lot sooner than they did when they were that age. Steve Park has certainly made some comments that make it clear that he doesn't like it too much. There's certainly a lot of fans who don't like it either, particularly because a lot of times it means that veteran drivers have to take lesser rides. But it seems to me that the way drivers develop these days overall even before they come to Nascar is different and the sport has to adjust accordingly. If a driver has a lot of talent and is ready to handle racing good cars in the upper levels then I don't think they should have to ride around in lousy cars on lower levels just because that was how drivers in the past proved themselves.

This weekend they'll be racing at Pocono and Michael sounded very optimistic about his chances for doing well which was good to hear. He was top ten in speed, liked his car and felt he could race aggressively with it - I loved hearing that! Way too often this season it's seemed like Michael is racing just to hang on and not wreck due to how poor his car is handling as opposed to actually being able to race for position. I know how much he loves Pocono so I think it would be a very good thing for him and his team to get a strong finish there. Michael sounded much less optimistic about Michigan which makes it even more important to finish well at Pocono in light of the precarious position he's in with the top 35.

Apparently Michael is going to try to go to Belmont on Saturday to see Big Brown try to win the Triple Crown. He said he wants to pet Big Brown which just kind of cracked me up - most everyone is talking about Big Brown like he's a machine but Michael hasn't forgotten that he's a living, breathing animal, a horse just like any other. I suppose that comes from Michael having horses himself. If he goes to Belmont Michael is going to be nearby - I work pretty close to Belmont and don't live all that far either. However, knowing what the traffic is going to be like on Saturday I won't be anywhere near Belmont! I hope that sometime Michael will do an appearance up in the Northeast for fans. Seems like even when the drivers are up here for races like this weekend at Pocono they don't do too many appearances. I guess some feel that there aren't enough Nascar fans up this way or something but we are definitely here!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)

June 05, 2008

Casey Mears is Going to be a Father

I usually avoid discussing the driver's personal lives like the plague in this space. However, there are times when a driver makes something known publically or there's something that's newsworthy and I feel more comfortable discussing it, which is the case in regards to Casey Mears whose girlfriend is pregnant. It's not my place to pass judgment on the rightness or wrongness of Casey's situation (he isn't married). What interests me is how Casey's fans and his sponsor is going to react to this piece of news. Times are changing but there are still many who have very conservative views when it comes to family and that could really present a problem for Casey given that his sponsor is Kellogg's, a brand that markets to families.

Practically since the start of the season rumors have circulated that Casey might be replaced in the #5 even though his deal with Hendrick Motorsports goes through 2009 at least. I haven't really understood where those rumors were coming from because even though Casey hasn't won multiple races while at HMS like some thought he would, he certainly hasn't been awful and some of his poor results have been due to issues out of his control like getting caught in wrecks. However, in light of this news I'm wondering whether there's speculation about Casey losing his ride because his sponsor might not be all that happy about his situation.

Robby Gordon, another single driver, is also rumored to have a pregnant girlfriend. Normally I wouldn't touch a rumor about a driver like that with a ten-foot-flaming pole but it obviously relates to this topic. If that rumor is true, there might be more fans who accept Robby's situation than Casey's. Robby is older, he races for himself, and most significantly Robby has a far less clean-cut image than a driver like Casey. So both Robby's fans and his sponsors are probably less likely to take issue with that kind of thing.

I'd like to think that except in extreme cases like with criminal behavior or drug use that sponsors wouldn't make decisions based on morals or personal behavior but image is very important to the sponsors. It's unfortunate because a lot of things that some fans think is such horrifying behavior from the drivers are things that go on every day in the real world. But some fans hold the drivers up to such a high standard for the way they want them to behave that they can't accept when they act differently. It's kind of unfortunate because most of the time even if the circumstances are non-traditional or difficult a new baby is an event that brings with it a lot of joy.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2008

Photo of the Day

Longwood Gardens, 2008.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park Finishes 8th at South Boston Speedway

While I'm thinking about Steve Park I should mention he finished 8th in the Camping World East Series race at South Boston this past weekend, his third top ten in a row which puts him in 3rd in the points which is awesome! From what I understand Steve got tangled up in a few incidents, including one late in the race which caused significant damage to his car, but that didn't stop him from racing his way to a great finish! I'm very happy that Steve has been having so much success so far this season in the East Series and he must be very excited that he's racing competitively and in the hunt for the series championship.

However, it's really hard to follow this series and have as much enthusiasm as I'd like. Problem is that I can't watch any of these races. Okay, I could watch most of after they've been run on Speed but my interest in watching races from weeks before in which I know the outcome is somewhere between slim and none, even when it's races in which Steve goes well. Sure, if he won I'd make a point of watching but for an 8th place finish when some have said that the race was a real stinker due to all the cautions? Eh. I've been depending on those with HDNet who can watch races live for updates on race day but this past race from South Boston wasn't televised and from what I understand the next race at Watkins Glen isn't televised either which is ridiculous. For the South Boston race at least a couple of people from SPC went to the race and reported back as to what happened but I'm not sure anyone will be at the Watkins Glen race. Eastseries.com does a good job of covering the series as much as they can as do some others, but it's just really tough to find the same kind of coverage for this series as for higher levels so that makes it tough for those of us who can't watch the races live either at the track or on TV.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Steve Park a Red Sox Fan!?

So I came across some photos of Steve Park working on his #35 East Series car while wearing a Boston Red Sox hat. As a die-hard New York Yankees fan this was a bit of a shock. To be clear I have a great deal of tolerance for Red Sox fans - I respect everyone's right to be a fan of the team that they choose and unlike some of my fellow Yankee fans I don't hate those who cheer for the team up North. That we allow Red Sox fan to post on NYYFans has caused us no small amount of aggrivation as there are some who are quite vocal about disagreeing with our philosophy that we won't discriminate against users just because of the team that they cheer for. So one would think that would mean that it wouldn't bother me to see Steve wearing a Red Sox hat. But it did - it wasn't just a shock, it was like a knife through the heart - the driver I cheer for is a Red Sox fan?!

The worst thing is that Steve is actually from Long Island - I could understand if he was a Mets fan, but the Red Sox? Years ago back when Steve was still racing the #1 car for DEI there was a commercial FOX did to promote their baseball coverage in which they had various drivers wearing hats for the teams they supposedly were fans of. In Steve's case the hat he was wearing was a Yankees hat. Subsequently he said in an interview that he wasn't much of a baseball fan so I would guess that the producers of the commercial gave him that hat to wear because he's from New York. So he may not actually even be a fan of the Red Sox either. Since he's with a team based in the Northeast that may seem like the thing to do to wear a Red Sox hat (jump on the bandwagon).

I'm sure someone, somewhere is thinking "bad fan!" - you're going to stop being a fan of Steve's because he was wearing a Red Sox hat? But I didn't say that did I? It's like how a lot of Nascar fans take issue with fans of other drivers. When you see another fan wearing a hat or shirt of a driver you don't like - Kyle Busch for instance - I would guess that a lot of people wonder why that fan likes Kyle. Some might even think less of that fan because they cheer for Kyle. Conversely if you see another fan who is also wearing something that reflects that they're also a fan of the same driver that you like, particularly if it's your favorite driver, you might smile, give them a thumb's up or even stop to chat. People tend to be drawn to others who have the same interests.

Of course there are some fans who take the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry so seriously that they might stop being a fan of Steve's because he wore a Red Sox hat or in the case of Red Sox fans if he wore a Yankees hat. I suspect Steve might not have any idea just how intense the rivalry is - kind of the way Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans feel about Kyle Busch these days only multiplied by about a hundred.

Why, Steve why?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2008

Champion Mortgage to Sponsor Michael McDowell for Ten Races

Starting this weekend at Pocono Champion Mortgage will be the primary sponsor for Michael McDowell and the #00 car at Michael Waltrip Racing for at least ten races. That's outstanding news for MWR and for McD! The best part is that the release says "a minimum of ten races" so there's a possibility that Champion could sponsor McD for more races, presumably depending on the results and the kind of exposure they get through their partnership with MWR and McD. Apparently Champion is a presence in the Northeast and would like to expand to other parts of the country so they're going to use their sponsorship of the #00 to help them do that. They'll surely have a lot of success - even the smallest of sponsors with the tiniest of decals on the least successful teams seems to get exposure and become known to fans. Sponsors who make the most of their associations with drivers and teams through promotions at the track and beyond can increase fan's awareness of their brand even more.

Champion definitely made a good choice in a driver to be associated with and hopefully McD will get them a good finish at Pocono!

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

Jamie McMurray Out at Roush-Fenway Racing?

Jim Utter from thatsracin.com reported over the weekend that multiple sources have told him that Jamie McMurray won't be back in the #26 car at Roush-Fenway Racing next season and that McMurray's representatives have begun shopping him around to other organizations. McMurray claimed to Lee Spencer from Foxsports.com that there was no truth to Utter's story, but given that Utter is usually a reliable source of accurate news, I would guess that there's at least some degree of truth to his story. My guess is that McMurray is likely gone from Roush but he just might not know it yet. I can see Roush not wanting to formally let him go until they're completely sure that they have Greg Biffle re-signed and particularly since Utter also reported that Crown Royal, McMurray's current sponsor might become Biffle's sponsor next season. So it seems that there are still some things that need to be finalized. I can see where McMurray might want to leak the news before a formal announcement is made to make sure all the teams know that he's available and Roush might want it known that McMurray won't be with them after this season for their own purposes as well. It's also a good way to prepare the fans for an official announcement since a lot of fans have difficulty with change.

I can't say I'm surprised that Jamie might be out at Roush since he never lived up to the hype that came with him when he left Chip Ganassi Racing for Roush in 2006. However, contrary to what some fans believe McMurray isn't a bad driver - no driver who wins in Cup is lacking in talent. But McMurray will likely never be a serious Chase contender or win as many races as the elite drivers in Cup but there's no shame in that. He is still a driver who is capable of contending for wins with the right team and given a competitive car. Some think he'll have a hard time finding another ride but given that he's only 32 and his last win was just last season I think there will be some teams that will be interested in him, it just might not be the top-tier teams that he might want to race for.

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

June 02, 2008

Could Have Been Worse

So things didn't turn out quite as bad as I feared they might for Michael Waltrip and his drivers at Dover on Sunday, though it certainly wasn't a great day. The highlight was probably that Michael McDowell led the first laps of his career. All three Michael Waltrip Racing teams left Dover in the top 35 in owner's points so that's a good thing as well. Of course that wasn't because they finished well, rather because Scott Riggs got wrecked so he was the one to drop out of the top 35. Michael was also lucky he didn't get wrecked himself when he tangled with Joe Nemechek. That incident was costly to Nemechek who ended up in the wall but Michael escaped with little or no damage.

I didn't get to watch the race live - I watched today on DVR - so I didn't get to listen to Michael over his radio via Trackpass. That's probably a good thing as I've heard that Michael did a lot of yelling and cursing. Not too good for building good communication or team morale but not entirely unexpected given how bad his car and that of his drivers was all weekend. I sure hope the results are better next weekend at Pocono because they can't depend on other driver's bad luck to stay in the top 35. They did have a good test there last week so maybe things will finally come together in a way that will allow all three MWR teams to all finish well. I know all three MWR drivers are much better than the results they've gotten so far this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)