Random Thoughts

« June 2008 | Main | August 2008 »

July 31, 2008

Time to Worry?

When I wrote my previous entry about how Steve Park's team might be showing interest in another driver was thinking about it in terms of them talking about something for next season. But someone on SPC raised the possibility of Steve getting replaced this season. If I felt bad before about reading that finally when Steve found a team that he could race up front with that he seemed happy with they were talking with another driver, now I really feel unsettled by it. Steve has raced well for this team and he's definitely helped them improve from last season so I would be kind of surprised if they replaced him before the end of the season. However, there's always the possibility there's something going on that isn't yet known that would led to a parting of the ways before the end of the season. The timing of this information coming out, when the East Series has a break until August 16 worries me because they could test Payea in a car during the off-time. But it's entirely possible that nothing will happen before next season... or maybe not at all. At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself. It wouldn't bode well for Steve to lose an East Series ride.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:41 PM | Comments (2)

Steve Park Getting a Teammate... or Getting Replaced?

Apparently ACT driver Scott Payea, the current points leader of that series, is in talks with a team to possibly race in the East Series in the near future. According to one source the team he's talking with is NDS Motorpsorts, the team Steve Park is currently racing with, and it's unknown whether it would be as a teammate to Steve or to replace him in the #35. To be clear before anyone freaks out the source is completely anonymous and could be completely off-base - it's entirely possible that the deal is with a different team or that he is speaking with NDS but nothing will come of it. If there is truth to this NDS might want to add a second team, assuming they can find sponsorship since even in the lower series, the model for success seems to be to have multiple teams. Also, Steve has raced very well for this team. I'd also think that the team might want to keep a driver with as much experience as Steve around to help mentor a young driver like Payea.

That said - and it's unfortunate that I have to resort to putting the rest of this entry behind a cut to try to cut down on problems - but I also wouldn't be surprised if Payea replaced Steve in the #35. He's a young driver and there's no question that the direction this series has gone in the past few years is towards young drivers just like most of the other series in Nascar. Sponsors like youth and a lot of teams do too. Putting Steve in the #35 this season has made the team better and it would be a good situation to put a young driver in where they know they have competitive cars. In addition, the reality is that while there's still races left Steve hasn't won yet - nor has he finished in the top five. Some of that is due to bad luck but I wonder what the team's expectations were when they signed Steve?

Also, in light of Steve's comments prior to this season about how the only teams he wanted to race for were top five teams that contended for wins I wonder whether he would feel satisfied at the end of the season and would want to stick around if there are no top fives or wins. I think he's raced very competitively this season, done very well and shown that he can contend for wins. A lot of drivers would be very happy with the situation that Steve's in (except perhaps that it's on a lower level) but but I just wonder whether it's going to end up being enough for him.

I just felt real bad for Steve when I read this. Maybe nothing will come of it at all or maybe it'll just be a teammate situation and everything will work out fine. But there's also a chance that yet again things aren't going to turn out the way that Steve envisioned and I really wish that they would for once. Steve has definitely had a lot of good moments in Nascar such as winning on every level, but there's been a lot of disappointments too. I would really like him to have found a team that he could enjoy racing with for a long time to come, and I hope that's what happens. Sure hope he ends up in Victory Lane before the end of the season!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

Waltrip Regrets Tire Fiasco

That's the headline of an article from the Times & Transcript, a Canadian newspaper that interviewed Michael Waltrip about the tire debacle at Indy. (I believe did an appearance in Canada in advance of the Nationwide race in Montreal that NAPA is sponsoring.) I was happy to read in this article that Michael didn't try to sell the Indy race as a good one like he did on This Week in Nascar the other night. As I said in my other entry, while I understood Michael's reasons for doing so, and in general I think it's a good thing for the sport that there's someone who is willing to openly defend and support Nascar, I thought it wasn't really the right direction to go in with this situation, particularly since a lot of fans, including some of his own, had a negative reaction to his comments. In this article Michael acknowledged that the race was frustrating and that there are things that could have been done to prevent the tires from having been an issue.

In the article Michael said,

"It was one of the best events of the whole year, so you hate to see it tainted in any way by anything."

That might be one of the most unfortunate things about this whole mess is that a race which was previously considered one of the biggest and most prestigious races that Nascar has each season is now tainted. I think it might have been David Poole who said on Sirius the other day that it might be difficult for fans and others to ever look at this race in the same way. There's probably some truth to that. Although the talk about Indy will eventually die down this season as other things happen in other races and fans move on, this will be a subject of discussion by fans and the media when Indy rolls around next season. In addition, this mess could also hurt ticket sales for Indy next season since despite assurances from Nascar that it won't happen again, some may still be leery of spending hundreds of dollars on tickets, hotel and travel to go. In fact, I think what happened at Indy could damage ticket sales for all races which isn't a good thing since ticket sales were already down due to the poor economy. Of course there's always a risk of weather issues, that a race won't be very exciting or that the driver who wins might not be who a fan wants to see win no matter what, but some fans may think that what happened at Indy could end up happening at another track.

Michael also said,

"If you think about 60 years of NASCAR, they've done a pretty good job. Very rarely does anything like that happen, and I will guarantee it won't happen again. In this case, they could have done a better job of testing more vigorously beforehand."

I'm not sure that there's any absolute guarantees that there won't be another race where things go bad with tires or something else but I agree with him - and I'm probably in the minority among my fellow fans - that for the most part Nascar has done a pretty good job. To be clear, that doesn't mean that I agree with every decision they make, or everything that that they say or do. There's also plenty of things that I wish were different. However, the sport is still here and moving forward. Those that run any sport have a very difficult job and the direction that they take isn't always as clear cut as some fans think.

I very definitely agree with Michael that Goodyear could have done a better job of testing before Indy and before every race for that matter. There are so many unknowns with the COT still and it seems to me that there should be a lot more tire testing than there was with the old car until it's known exactly how the COT reacts to different kinds of tires on different tracks. Assuming that certain things are going to happen because they did in the past - like assuming that the track was going to rubber up at Indy - is a mistake. Goodyear needs to be sure they have as much data as possible to not only be sure that they're bringing the right tires to the track but also so that they're prepared in case an issue does crop up so they can immediately react to it. Nascar also needs to recognize when Goodyear (or another partner) isn't doing all that they could be and encourage them to collect more data and test more. It's not just important so that they're prepared so they can address problems that come up but also so that they can try to keep them from happening in the first place.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/30)

*DEI and Doug Richert are in court over a lawsuit DEI filed to show they had cause to fire him and don't owe him any money as he claims they do. Richert's contract with DEI was entered as evidence in the suit and it contains not only a clause that Richert had to endorse and support the Dale Earnhardt Foundation over other (non-religious) charities, but a confidentiality agreement that covered not only technical information that Richert might have access to at DEI but also information about Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt and the Earnhardt family. A confidentiality clause is pretty standard at most companies but what is apparently unusual, at least in the garage area, is that this one covers the Earnhardt family. Some fans seem to think it's outrageous but I have to say that I wish more teams had confidentiality agreements that covered more than just the technical aspect of employees jobs. There's quite a bit of gossip - some of it that could be damaging - that circulates about the teams as it relates to business and performance issues and the drivers, owners and their families that relates not only to what happens on the track but to their personal lives. I've often wondered about confidentiality agreements and whether anyone is held to them.

*Jimmie Johnson is going to race in the Nationwide race at Watkins Glen for JR Motorsports and the truck race at Bristol for Randy Moss Motorsports. Johnson has never raced in a truck race before so I think it's going to be pretty interesting to see how he does - if he has as much fun as most seem to when they race in the Truck Series it might not be the last time he's in a truck! Johnson's sponsor for the truck race will be Kolbalt Tools who are rumored to be the leading candidate to take over sponsorship of the Truck Series from Craftsman so there's some speculation that Johnson racing in that race is going to be tied into an announcement by Kolbalt about that sponsorship.

*Due to the post-race rules infractions found after the race at Adirondack Speedway this past weekend, Austin Dillon was penalized by Nascar yesterday. His third place finish was taken away and he was given a 25th place finish instead. In addition, his crew chief Lance Deiters has been suspended for the next three races and was placed on probation through the end of the season. Some are all but celebrating this penalty. To some Dillon represents everything they don't like about the East Series these days - young driver who is touted as the next big thing who has connections and is backed by a Cup organization. A lot of fans seem to think that he's nothing more than an over-hyped, spoiled brat. Having not met him and also not having heard much from him in interviews I really have no clue what Dillon's attitude is like. But it seems to follow the pattern that is seen in just about every series - there's a segment of fans who take issue with young drivers who are with well-funded, top-tier teams and think that they get everything handed to them on a silver platter when they've done nothing to deserve it. Problem is the drivers these fans seem to take issue with the most such as Kyle Busch, Joey Logano or even Dillon all seem to be drivers with talent so in my mind that makes them deserving of opportunities to race in good cars.

*There seems to be resentment among some fans that the East Series has turned into a driver development series but fans seem resistant to young drivers getting chances in just about every series - where are young drivers supposed to get experience and learn about racing on Nascar's highest levels if no one wants them to race in any series? Young drivers are getting experience at local tracks younger and younger these days and if they've learned all they can on the lower levels I don't see why they shouldn't be able to race on higher levels if they're capable of it. I would also much rather see Dillon and other young drivers get experience in the East Series or other lower levels rather than just being thrown into a Nationwide or Cup ride with little to no Nascar experience at all.

*Great article on another young driver in the East Series in the New York Times the other day - they did a profile of Jeffrey Earnhardt and how he could continue the Earnhardt legacy if he continues to progress and develop as a driver. Earnhardt is just 19 so he's got plenty of time to develop but I was surprised to find out that he only started racing about four years ago. These days that's late for a lot of drivers since they're starting younger and younger as time goes on. The article included a nice quote from Steve Park, who has known the Earnhardt family for a long time and raced for DEI himself. Steve indicated that Earnhardt is the "whole package" in terms of not only being able to driver but also that he has some of the qualities that teams are looking for in that he's attractive, young and well-spoken. If that's all true I would say that he definitely has a good chance of continuing to advance and that it probably won't be too long before we see him in the Nationwide Series.

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

July 29, 2008

In the News: Michael Waltrip - New NAPA Commericials and More

I've been remiss in mentioning that there are two new and very funny NAPA Auto Parts commercials that Michael Waltrip is in with NHRA funny car driver Ron Capps is also in. Ron is also sponsored by NAPA and I guess that must be a new thing because in the commercials Michael is welcoming him to the NAPA family, naturally in his own unique and humorous way. I love the way NAPA has supported Michael through the years but perhaps the best thing about them sponsoring Michael is that it's resulted in some very creative and very hysterical commercials. From NAPA's standpoint perhaps the best thing about these commericals is that they're so memorable - fans still talk about classic NAPA commercials with Michael from years ago just as much as they talk about how much they love the NAPA commercials with him from today. The great thing is that these days most of the current batch of NAPA commericals are available on YouTube here and here.

In other entries I've discussed a variety of other things about the Indy race but there's one thing that I haven't yet mentioned - Michael's unfortunate lap four wreck that occurred when he was racing Sam Hornish, Jr. for position, got loose, spun and then got run over by Paul Menard who really couldn't avoid getting into him. That meant that Michael had to spend almost 70 laps behind the wall while his team made repairs which is very unfortunate not only because there isn't much margin for error for Michael in relation to owner's points but also because he had been so excited about the new car with the lower center of gravity that he was going to be racing this weekend. Michael took the blame for the wreck on TWiN last night and I was impressed with how much restraint he showed in relation to his comments about Paul - based on what he said over his radio during the race I think he was pretty upset that Paul got into him since he probably would have been able to drive away without significant damage if not for that. But perhaps seeing a replay made him re-think that incident - there really wasn't much that Paul could have done since the #96 probably blocked much of his view. I can't say I was overly thrilled with the way some fans placed blame on Michael for spinning himself - as noted Michael did say he made a mistake but I guess I just saw it the way I see many racing incidents - two guys racing each other and sometimes it just doesn't work out. Unlike a lot of fans I don't always feel the need to place blame - wrecks are going to happen. I hate to see it happen on lap four and especially to Michael but at the same time the drivers have to race each other and there's always the risk that it might result in a wreck. I would much rather Michael be trying to race his way forward and have things go bad then just race around in back never making any effort to gain position out of fear of what might happen if he races certain drivers or puts himself in certain positions.

Neither of Michael's drivers had a good race at Indy either. David Reutimann scrapped the wall and had a flat tire so he finished 30th. Michael McDowell finished 39th, which was very costly because it dropped him out of the top 35 in owner's points something that has to be very disappointing not just for McD but for all at MWR who had made getting and keeping all three teams in the top 35 one of their biggest goals this season. I have to admit it's pretty disappointing to me too. I had higher hopes for McD. Not that I thought he was going to race up front of anything, not by a long shot, not for a rookie with zero Cup experience before this season racing cars that even his more experienced teammates are struggling with. But I really thought that he would be able to race well enough to stay in the top 35. I thought his aggressive style of racing and his confidence in his abilities would help him make the most of the cars he was given. But that didn't happen.

Although McD is less than 20 points out of the top 35 it might not be easy to get back in. His average result is 31.9 in Cup and I haven't seen much to make me think that's going to change. Of course a driver can only race the cars that he's given and if the cars he gets to race aren't very competitive he can't finish very well but I really expected to see something from McD, at least at Sonoma. On the surface his 21st place finish there seems good but he raced around behind Michael for the majority of the race and a top 25 is a lot less than the top five finish that he predicted he would get. Although McD seems like a good guy with a lot of personality who is very media savvy, from the start I've been concerned that he might be a little over-confident about racing Cup - he certainly admitted he was over-confident about Sonoma afterwards. So I'm just wondering how much that kind of an attitude and having to readjust his expectations might be effecting him. I'm also wondering if he isn't able to get back into the top 35 whether MWR might consider pulling the #00 before the end of the season since it's not fully sponsored. Especially if there's any truth to the rumors that his future at MWR is in doubt - he has acknowledged that while he's signed to a multi-year deal there is a performance clause in his contract. I highly doubt that 36th in the owner's points is the performance MWR was looking for.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/29)

*Tony Stewart was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for "unsportsmanlike conduct" during a USAC race where acting as owner he grabbed the headset off one official, and shoved another, after getting upset with a call that went against a team he owns. Jason Smith, USAC's vice president for racing operations deemed Tony's actions to be "unacceptable behavior" but based on the penalty it doesn't seem like it was really all that unacceptable to USAC. The fine is pocket change to Stewart and probation is meaningless. Stewart is very lucky that he's not in another sport because he would be serving a suspension right now for any kind of physical contact with an official. To his credit Stewart apologized for his actions and spoke of how it came out of his passion for his race team but one can be passionate and demand an explanation for a decision without roughing up the officials.

*Is Martin Truex, Jr. signed to a multi-year deal by DEI or not? ESPN.com reported that Truex had agreed in principle to a deal that would keep him at DEI through 2010, but the following day Truex angrily denied that the story was true saying, "It's [expletive]. I don't know what the hell [the reporter] is talking about. He doesn't know what he's talking about." Which is curious considering the story contained a quote from Truex himself which he acknowledges making to the reporter that says (supposedly in response to being asked about the agreement), "We're getting there, yeah. Things are going well right now. I'm pretty happy." So just exactly why is Truex so upset - if he's asked about the agreement which the reporter was told was agreed to in principle and Truex tells him that they're getting there which seems to confirm that they're close to an agreement, what else is the reporter supposed to write? A Jayski item today says that Truex angrily confronted Max Siegel from DEI and accused him of leaking the story, but again, if a reporter goes to Truex and asks him to comment on it and he does maybe he should be angrier with himself for not saying something different in the initial story. I just don't understand why this is such a mess - first DEI has an option on Truex, then they don't, then they do but maybe he can get out of it, then he wants to leave DEI, then he wants to stay, then he was asking for too much money from other teams so he's staying at DEI even though he doesn't want to, then he has an agreement in principle, but wait no he doesn't. I know contract negotiations can be complicated but just get this mess sorted out already!

*One has to wonder what's going on with Petty Enterprises and the #45. Kyle Petty was supposed to return to the car after a six-race hiatus but instead he's found himself on the sidelines for even longer. Although Petty will race the #45 at Watkins Glen, Chad McCumbee will be in the car this weekend at Pocono and Terry Labonte will race the #45 at Michigan. The revolving door in the #45 certainly adds to the speculation that Petty won't be back in the #45 next season.

*The #88 hauler of Brad Keselowski was robbed at ORP over the weekend and many valuable items were taken including driver's uniforms, driver's shoes, Keselowski's hard card and passport, as well as $600 from various crew member's wallets. If I'm understanding correctly the team haulers were parked out in a parking lot outside the track because if they were parked in the infield they would block the fan's view of the race. I assume there must have been some sort of track security in the area, but odds are it was a much less secure area than the teams are normally used to in the garage area. Perhaps the team had all their valuables locked up and a thief broke into a locked drawer or something, but it's a little surprising to me that Keselowski and his team had so many important items in the hauler and then left it unattended. I guess the teams are used to the security of the garage area where they routinely leave the haulers unlocked and people come and go without incident.

*The Nationwide Series is dropping Mexico City from the schedule citing that they're achieved their goal of making stock car racing more popular in Mexico. Many of the teams are probably thrilled about this since it was a complicated undertaking to get to Mexico City and it cost a lot of money as well. However, I'm disappointed. I always like road course races to begin with and I enjoyed the races at Mexico City. In addition, I think it was good for the sport to race in another country besides Canada.

*Not surprisingly the rules change didn't hurt Kyle Busch one bit in the Nationwide Series as he won his 6th race of the season in that series. Is Nascar going to come up with some other rules change now just for Busch to appease those who can't stand to see him in Victory Lane?

Posted by silverdsl at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip the Spin Doctor

One quality about Michael Waltrip that some find infuriating but I tend to like is that he has a knack for putting the best face on just about everything that happens. He almost always opts to talk about things optimistically and as positively as he can in public If that's true for his own team and organization, it's even more so when Michael talks about the sport that he loves so much and its governing body. If there's anyone in the garage area who will fiercely defend Nascar and the decisions they make it's Michael. Unlike some fans who only want to hear the opinions they agree with, I don't have a problem with Michael more often than not taking Nascar's side - in a lot of cases that's likely how he truly feels. Beyond that drivers and owners have an obligation to represent their sport well and particularly in the media. A driver can be critical but there's lines that can't be crossed otherwise they run the risk of getting called into the Nascar hauler for a chat. That is even more-so when they're a "name" driver like Michael is who makes frequent appearances in the media.

Most of the time I'm on the same page as Michael regarding what he says in interviews, on This Week in Nascar, or on his XM show but that most definitely wasn't the case on TWiN last night when Michael tried to spin the race at Indy as a good and exciting race rather than as the debacle that it was. I think what made Michael's comments so hard for me to swallow is that anyone listening to his radio communication during the race itself know that his true feelings are a lot different than what he said last night. During the race he said that it was "the worst race ever", called it "a disappointment" and said that Nascar should red flag the race and let the teams change tires so that fans could actually see a race. He also added (paraphrasing) that "you wouldn't want to be the genius who assumed the track would just rubber up and be fine." Like I said above I totally understand why Michael would feel like he has to put the best possible spin on this race but it's not really reality to say this was a good race and his comments during the race indicate that he knows it. I certainly wouldn't expect - or want - him or Greg Biffle, who was also on the show, to start laying blame or ripping Nascar or Goodyear - that would be inappropriate. Michael was also completely correct in saying that Nascar, Goodyear, the drivers and everyone involved did everything they could to make the best out of a bad situation. However, I think last night Michael went a little too far in his "spin doctor" role, perhaps because he realized all the criticism that was going to be leveled at Nascar and Goodyear and felt that someone had to stick up for them. Unfortunately the result is that he's getting ripped by fans who aren't buying what he was selling last night. That's unfortunate because in a round-about-way I think Michael did make it known that he wasn't all that thrilled with the tire situation like everyone else and brought up a couple of good points that will likely go unnoticed in the fuss about his comments about how great the race was.

For one thing Michael mentioned the need for more tire testing and I couldn't agree with him more. Yes, Goodyear conducts tire tests but they do so with a limited amount of drivers. It also seems to me that since there's a new car this year that hasn't been raced on a number of the tracks there should be a lot more testing of the tires than there was in the past since there's so many unknowns. From what I understand they also grind the track at Indy and that might have been done after the tire tests were conducted there. In light of that it seems to me that Goodyear should have gone back and done additional testing just to be sure they had the right tire.

Something else Michael brought up is how one time years ago at Dover they discovered there was a problem with the tires so different tires were brought in for race day. The teams tested those tires the morning before the race and then presumably they raced with those tires. I think he was implying that maybe Goodyear and Nascar should have considered doing something like that - maybe they did and it was rejected as being impractical. However, the tire issues were known before the first practice ended on Friday. It seems to me that when a problem is discovered that early in a race weekend it should be possible to address it in a way that doesn't involve making the race unenjoyable to watch (and take part in for the teams and competitors).

Also lost in the shuffle are some comments that Michael made regarding hard wrecks of the past and how safety innovations have changed things, very much for the better. Speed opted to promote Pocono by showing video of some of the hard wrecks that have occured there and in the course of the conversation Steve Byrnes asked Michael about whether he had endured any hard wrecks at Pocono. Michael said that he had, including one time many years ago when they took him out of the car after he wrecked, got strapped down to a backboard and put in an old Chevy converted into an ambulance. He said that the ride to the hospital almost killed him. Having once got strapped down to a very uncomfortable backboard myself after a car accident I have no idea how he survived the ride in an old Chevy let alone a real ambulance. I think I felt worse after being put on that backboard than before! But on a more serious note Michael said that back in the day when you wrecked hard you got a mouthful of concrete and that after some of those hits "you'd be eating with a straw for a week" and said that he was glad that some of the young drivers don't have memories like that. The way Michael said it and the look on his face... well, I think he had some specific hard wrecks and the aftermath in mind. When I saw Steve Park and his wreck with Junior in the video, I have to admit I thought of Steve's other wreck, the one that left him with a brain injury, and perhaps that was one of those that Michael was thinking of as well. Most drivers seem to feel more comfortable thinking about safety and the risks of the sport as little as possible but Michael, perhaps because of all that's he's seen and experienced, takes safety very seriously and doesn't shy away from speaking about safety issues on TWiN and elsewhere.

I think his point about the young drivers was an interesting one in that many of them have been racing post-2001, after all the changes that Nascar mandated after Dale Earnhardt's death. Some of them may not have raced without safer barriers on Nascar's highest levels. So some of them might not have experienced a truly hard, bone jarring wreck into a concrete wall like some of the older drivers - I wonder if that's part of why many of the younger drivers are so aggressive because the risk doesn't seem as great to them as to the older drivers?

Back to the original topic of this entry, on Sunday night after the race I had sent an email into Michael's XM show asking (in a much wordier way) what Nascar and the drivers were going to do to smooth things over with fans after this race, particularly since many of them were already unhappy about the quality of the racing overall this season. I think my question was answered based on what Michael did last night - he and others in the garage area are going to do damage control and try to spin things in the best way they can. Of course as a former PR person I understand all that and I think it's necessary in light of the ill will a lot of fans have. However, it's going to take a lot more than some spin on TWiN to erase the mess that was Indy from most fan's memories.

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

July 27, 2008

Photo of the Day - Big Blocks

Fort McClary, Kittery, Maine, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

Josh Wise Finishes 5th at ORP!

I just realized I forgot to mention something that I was really excited and happy about from this weekend - Josh Wise finished 5th in the Nationwide Race this weekend at O'Reilly Raceway Park! That's a career best for Josh and comes in just his 11th Nationwide start. When Josh first started racing the #22 this season the results weren't all that great, no surprise considering the financial issues facing Fitz Motorsports due to their sponsorship woes - hard to be competitive when there's no money coming in. However, things have slowly improved and have really seemed to get better the past two weeks when Michael Waltrip Racing stepped up their support for the #22. Fitz is providing the cars but MWR is providing the crew chief and crew and that seems to be making a difference - the past two weeks Josh has seemed to qualify better and has also seemed to be able to race more competitively, finishing 16th at Gateway and 5th this past weekend.

I guess it's because I met Josh last year at Pocono, but I so want him to have a long and successful Nascar career. There's something about him that I like a lot - at least when I saw him he was on the quiet side but that didn't mean he had any less of a desire to race and win than any other driver. He was extremely nice as well. I was extremely disappointed when MWR wasn't able to secure sponsorship to put him in a second Nationwide car this season so I'm really happy that they were able to work something out with Fitz for the #22. Hope this 5th place finish is just the first of many top five's (and better) for Josh!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

Debacle at Indy

I'm not one to complain about the COT or the tires or think that a race is a bad one just because my favorite driver wrecks like Michael Waltrip did on lap four of today's race but I have to say that today's debacle at Indy was one of the worst races I've ever seen. What I saw today is unacceptable to me as a race fan. I don't know who is to blame whether it's Goodyear for the tire they choose to bring to the track, the track itself for diamond grinding it as one person mentioned might be the cause of today's issues, or Nascar for not doing enough to be sure that the race was going to be run under the best possible conditions, there is no excuse for what fans sat through today. Competition cautions flew for safety reasons so that the teams could change tires due to tire wear that it meant that the longest amount of green flag racing lasted just 12 laps - ridiculous! I don't want to see caution lap after caution lap, I want to see actual racing and for a lot longer than 12 laps!

If Nascar is wondering why it's so hard to get fans to buy tickets to races it's because in this poor economy fans don't want to spend money on tickets, travel and hotels and risk seeing a disaster of race like today's. They don't even want to spend four or five hours at home watching that kind of a mess. It used to be that as long as they had a favorite driver in or involved with the race, fans would watch. That's not true anymore even though I think more than a few in the garage area operate under the assumption that it doesn't matter what happens because fans are so blindly loyal to the drivers they like that they'll keep going to races and watching. That's a bad assumption to make - there are definitely fans who will watch no matter what like me, but there's a growing segment of fans who perceive the racing to be boring and the COT to be bad for the sport. Whatever the reality is, there is that perception and races like today only make matters worse. Nascar, the teams and the drivers need to do some damage control and find a way to smooth things over with fans and change the negative perception that some fans have. But most of all they need to find a way to make sure that we never see awful races like we saw today.

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

Matt Kobyluck Wins at Adirondack Speedway, Steve Park Finishes 15th

For the second week in a row Matt Kobyluck and the #40 team ended up in Victory Lane in the Camping World East Series, this time at Adirondack Speedway. Sure wish I could have watched this one since it was described as "a fiasco" by eastseries.com. Apparently there were many cautions and problems and drivers who were mad at each other. Unfortunately for Steve Park, although he was able to race his way into the top ten after qualifying not-so-great, he was spun by Peyton Sellers, who was penalized by being sent to the back for aggressive driving. Once more Steve raced his way forward, only to get caught up in a last lap wreck which resulted in a 15th place finish.

Peyton was involved in some controversy earlier in the race as well, only in that instance he was the victim. On lap 87 Peyton was spun by Austin Dillon who didn't get any kind of penalty at all. It's hard to say for sure since I don't have HDNet and thus couldn't see exactly what happened but my guess is that Peyton was livid after getting spun and that probably led to him driving more aggressively than he usually does which resulted in Steve getting spun. Emotions run high and when a driver's upset that can led to them not making as good choices on the track as they should.

Austin went on to finish 3rd but he may not end up keeping his finish so it might become a moot point that he wasn't penalized for getting into Peyton. After the race Nascar confiscated all four of his shocks which could led to a penalty since earlier in the season Peyton had a win taken away for having just one illegal shock. So it'll be interesting to see that plays out. If Peyton loses his 3rd place finish it would move Matt into the lead in the overall points - I can't say I'd be disappointed about that. Sure would be cool to see a veteran like Matt win the Championship!

Sure wish there was more I could say about this race but not being able to watch due to not having HDNet really limits me. There's some good information to be found on eastseries.com but not much race analysis, and there's really only one or two forums that I've come across where these races are discussed. It's unfortunate but it appears the interest in this series really isn't that great which is probably why there's so little coverage to be had.

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

July 26, 2008

Rusty Wallace Claims Penske Told Ryan Newman They No Longer Wanted Him

It's well known that there's bad blood between Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman that dates back to when they were teammates at Penske Racing. For the most part Newman seems to keep whatever ill will he has to himself but the same isn't true for Wallace. While speaking with the media yesterday in relation to ESPN taking over broadcasting duties for Cup races starting Sunday, Wallace decided to address Newman leaving Penske. Wallace wanted it known that contrary to what's been reported in the media, that Newman didn't make the decision to leave, nor was it a mutual parting of the ways, instead Penske informed Newman that they weren't going to re-sign him because they were unhappy with his criticism of the organization because the performance hasn't been so great this season.

Newman later denied that way the case saying,

“I don’t know what Rusty’s grounds are, or what he’s trying to prove by saying that. That wasn’t the case - point blank. Roger and I decided mutually to not continue and it was more my decision than it was his, I would say. I’ve said our goals didn’t align and for that reason and for that reason alone we decided not to continue after 2008.”

From everything that's been said it doesn't sound like either Penske or Newman were interested in continuing working together beyond this season so a mutual decision to part ways seems to be an accurate way to describe what happened. Even if that's not the case and that Newman wanted to return and Penske made the decision that they no longer had a need for his services, it's none of Wallace's business to comment on. And particularly since he has a major bias against Newman since he clearly doesn't like him. Newman questioned Wallace's motives for saying what he did and I do too - was it just an effort to make Newman look bad?

What bothers me the most is that it's not just that Wallace made these comments yesterday but he's also taken digs at Newman on the air during broadcasts. Wallace has the right to dislike Newman and the right to his opinions in general but if he's unable to discuss Newman objectively without letting his biases show then he needs to opt to keep his thoughts to himself.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

Tony Stewart Involved in Altercation with USAC Official

I guess because it didn't happen during a Nascar race and he wasn't actually racing this has gotten almost no attention but Tony Stewart was involved with an altercation on Thursday night with a USAC official during a race when he questioned a call that was made on the team that he owns. Allegedly when Stewart went to get an explanation for the call he knocked a head-set off an official's head and then shoved him. At a press conference on Friday to announce his new Cup number and sponsor Stewart acknowledged the incident and that if he had to do it all over again he wouldn't have confronted the official, particularly since it could cost his driver, Tracy Hines the championship if he's penalized as a result of Stewart's actions.

I hope this isn't an indication of what we can expect from Stewart as a Cup owner. Some fans love it when the drivers (or in this case an owner) get into it physically with each other or someone else but I sure don't. Emotions run high in this sport but the officials need to be respected, no matter how much one might be upset with a decision they made and if it's important that a driver respects series officials, it's even more important that an owner does. Over the years it's been said how much Stewart has matured but it still seems from time to time there are these incidents that show that he still has just as much of a temper and inability to control himself as ever. A lot of fans excuse it away because of all the charity work he does or because they say it's a reflection of how much passion he has for the sport, but I don't think think there's anything acceptable about a physical confrontation and especially when it involves someone putting their hands on an official.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2008

Dale Trail Signs Removed in Kannapolis

There's great outrage among Dale Earnhardt fans because Earnhardt's hometown of Kannapolis is removing banners that are around town that promote The Dale Trail, which guides fans to various landmarks around the city and beyond that relate to Earnhardt. Part of what's behind taking down the banners appears to be a visit from an unknown but supposedly major VIP, rumored to be Oprah Winfrey, and an email asking that the banners be removed to "put the best face on the city." But there appears to be more to it than just the visit as it seems as if Kannapolis would like to expand beyond just being known as the hometown of Dale Earnhardt.

I can't really fault Kannapolis for what they're doing. For one thing apparently some of the banners are in poor condition so I can understand why some would want them to come down before a VIP comes to town. It seems to me that this is part of Kannapolis looking to make changes to their overall marketing rather than trying to eliminate any connection to Earnhardt or even The Dale Trail. Apparently there is talk about including motorsports as one of the themes of their marketing strategy and having banners that changes seasonally, one of which would have a motorsports theme. In addition, the Visitor's Bureau indicated that they would like to maintain markers for the Dale Trail or offer some sort of audio tour for those that are interested. Some in Kannapolis are concerned that promoting the Dale Trail isn't necessarily a good thing because those that follow it would be directed out of the city to head to DEI - that's a valid concern since most towns and cities want to try and keep visitors there as long as possible.

I just don't see the great insult here to Dale Earnhardt that some others do - it's not like they're tearing down the statue of him in town or trying to erase everything that relates to him.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)

Tony Stewart to Race the #14 With Sponsorship from Office Depot, Old Spice

Maybe there's a few fans somewhere who have been somewhere for the past few weeks without radio, TV or internet and didn't know that Tony Stewart is going to race the #14 next season with sponsorship from Office Depot and Old Spice, so for those fans it was made official today. The only other new piece of news that wasn't previously revealed through the rumor mill (and maybe it was as well but I missed it) is that the second Stewart-Haas Racing car next season will be the #4, which is the number that Stewart raced with when he was in go-karts.

In some ways it's disappointing that Office Depot is going to be sponsoring the #14 next season since it had been rumored they were talking with Michael Waltrip Racing about sponsoring the #00 next season. So I had hoped that somehow they might end up at MWR, though as much as I wanted that to happen I can understand why a sponsor would jump at the opportunity to be affiliated with a high-profile driver like Stewart. However, even though MWR needs sponsors for their cars for next season my disappointment is lessened by Office Depot's financial woes. Apparently sales and profit, and as a result the stock prices for Office Depot have dropped significantly in recent months. Of course all companies have experienced problems like that in light of the poor economy but Office Depot's main rival, Staples hasn't seen the same kind of losses. So I wonder if the financial issues continue to mount how Office Depot is going to be able to justify to stock holders spending millions to sponsor the #14 and be an official Nascar sponsor. The sponsorship of the #14 is split with Old Spice but given the caliber of driver that Stewart is they could still be spending more than $10 million a season to sponsor the car plus whatever they pay Nascar to be an official sponsor. Of course given the state of the economy teams have to go with whatever sponsors they can find but I just wonder what the future is going to hold for Office Depot.

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

Michael Waltrip Out Loud (7/24)

Michael started off by talking about how he went on the internet via his "computer machine" to watch the NAPA commercial he did with Ron Capps and then how he ended up looking at a bunch of other videos of himself including his win at Talladega. Based on what Michael says on this show he's quite the YouTube addict! Also, pretty slick of him to slip in there where fans can find that commercial since I think it's only showed up during NHRA broadcasts and not during Nascar broadcasts.

There was a lot of discussion about what Michael did during his time off - sounds like it was actually a pretty busy weekend for him between going to Kentucky for the truck race broadcast and then to Mississippi to watch Macy barrel race! Tony asked Michael about whether he went home to Owensboro (his hometown) while he was in Kentucky and Michael responded in a rather curious way. I don't know if he was joking or what but he said that no, he didn't go home and that he has no desire to do so, that he has bad memories of home and that he got into trouble there! He then went on to say something about killing someone there or something which made me think that maybe he was trying to make some sort of joke or move reference that just sailed completely over my head but it was hard to tell.

After some discussion about Greg Norman and the horse show, Tony asked Michael for a status report on Michael Waltrip Racing now that they're at the mid-point of the season. What Michael said next is one reason why I love this show so much - he went into detail about some things related to the cars and how MWR develops the cars that no one would know about unless they listened to this show.

Michael said he's very jazzed up about the new car he'll be racing this weekend at Indy. He said that everyone thinks that the cars are all the same but they're not. The new car is the future of MWR, its' a third generation COT and it's lighter with a lower center of gravity which is very important. Jeff Gordon's center of gravity is lower than his so his car can get around the track better. So with the third generation car they've been able to accomplished lowering the center of gravity. They have twelve in the pipeline and his is the first. I have to admit that until Michael started talking about it, I had no idea that the center of gravity is so important. Nor did I know that it's possible to make the car lighter. I'm suddenly starting to understand one reason why so many of the drivers are so tiny. We hear so much about how the rules package for the COT is so tight that there isn't much that the teams can play around with but apparently there actually are some things they can do.

Apparently they started working on the third generation COT three months ago as soon as they rolled out the second generation COT. They had to start from scratch with a new chassis since they felt that the ones they were getting were too heavy. They had to figure out where to get the parts and pieces from and how to make it light. It took a couple of months to develop and a month to test. I wish that every fan who thinks that fielding a competitive car is simple would have heard Michael talk about that process and how it takes months. Not only that but before they can build the cars they first have to figure out how to address issues like weight and center of gravity. Every team must have a different approach and as Michael alluded to a little later in the show it takes money to make all of this happen.

In the next month MWR is going to have their own carbon fiber body shop so they won't have to send the cars out anymore. Apparently this will help them take another 10-15 lbs. of in weight. Michael said that they're "all in" which I presume refers to how they're doing all these things to move forward. He said that it's very expensive to do everything like have a shaker rig or a carbon fiber body shop. That's something else that I'm not sure some fans understand. Some seem to think that every team should instantly be able to do everything that every other team does or have the same equipment and if they don't it means that they're incompetent. But the reality is that every team can't afford the same resources and equipment. MWR didn't have the financial ability to spend money on all these things right away which is what's so good about Rob Kauffman coming on-board because he gives them the ability to get the equipment and do the things that they are necessary to become more competitive.

Michael credited Dr. Eric Warren and his group, along with help from Toyota as the key to moving the third generation car from paper to reality. He said it's all about roles and integrating the new people they've hired at MWR with the people who are already there. They've made a lot of personnel changes in the fab shop (and I suspect some of the negative rumors about MWR are coming from those who were let go from that area and aren't happy), but they've still retained key people. Michael can get excited now because he can see it, he's wanted to see the needle move, wanted it to come together for him and now it is!

The third segment kicked off with an awesome classic Pink Floyd song, "Another Brick in the Wall" which led into a discussion about Indy. From the sounds of it, Michael and Tony are just as excited about getting shrimp cocktail at a place in Indianapolis, St. Elmo's as they are about being at the track! Michael said he always goes a day early to Indy so he can hang out and relax in Indianapolis, specifically by getting shrimp cocktail and wine at St. Elmo's. I always enjoy hearing about good places to eat in the different cities they travel to - I'm always on the hunt for places with good food that aren't necessarily the fanciest place, just somewhere that has good food. I love to eat and try new restaurants so it's a very good thing that I have a fast metabolism that keeps me thin otherwise I'd be in trouble! At any rate, after relaxing on Wednesday, Michael will wake up on Thursday and start to get focused for Friday.

Tony brought up how there's always a Chevy golf tournament at the golf course at Indy which Michael used to play in but obviously doesn't anymore since he's no longer a Chevy driver. Claire B. Lang did her XM show live from that golf tournament yesterday and without even knowing that Michael always used to play in it, I immediately thought of him! Apparently one year he played with Tico Torres from Bon Jovi which led into Michael telling an embarrassing story that involved Bon Jovi. One time he and Buffy went out to eat with some of the guys from Bon Jovi after a concert. So he's sitting there chatting with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora (and at this point let me say that I'm very jealous that Michael got to eat dinner with Jon Bon Jovi because I think he's a very intelligent and fascinating person that I'd love to have the opportunity to talk to some day), and somehow his glass of wine dropped right out of his hand and into his lap. Well, Michael just crossed his arms and pretended it didn't happen. So the next night they saw the guys from Bon Jovi again and he told them that he knew that they all saw him drop his glass of wine but that he didn't know what to say so he just keep on going as if it didn't happen, and apparently they all got a big laugh at his expense. I totally cracked up when Michael told that story because I thought of how often I embarrass myself by spilling things. I'm very clumsy and I seem to do okay in public because I'm extra careful but at home when I'm more relaxed... well, let's just say I'm surprised no one has got me a sippy cup!

The email question was from Ben in Denver and he asked a great question about how it seems like retirement isn't what it used to be and wondered what Michael thought about guys like Brett Farve or Mark Martin who announce their retirement but end up coming back. Michael said that it's different in Nascar than in the NFL and he can't really speak about Farve's thought process. However, with guys like Terry Labonte or Bill Elliott they come back because teams need them. They need them to help them out of a bind. But not only that, Racing's fun! It's like a hobby for them. Plus, if they're able to race well they get to passing people and it gets the competitive juices flowing again and they think "darn, I'm pretty good!" I have to admit that I've never been a fan of the champion's provisional or the way teams put certain drivers in their cars just because it'll guarantee that their car will make races, even though I understand why they go that route. I think Michael had a very good explanation from the driver's view point that I'm not sure that I had ever really fully considered before. I've never agreed with those fans who think that a driver should just retire and then never race again - to me not only do drivers have the right to change their minds, I think that it must be very hard for those who are so competitive to not get back into a car or truck. But I think Michael laid things out in a way that no one really ever has about how it benefits both the teams and the drivers involved.

As for Mark Martin, Michael thinks that he was "bummed" about how close he came to winning the Daytona 500 in 2007 and just coming up short. He also came close to winning at Phoenix. Mark can taste victory and he still thinks he can win. So you can't quit when you think you can still win. Michael said he's asked all the time when he's going to retire and his answer is that he's not going to retire until he feels like someone can get into his car and do better. I thought that was a pretty interesting comment considering there's been some rumors that MWR will only be a two-car operation next season and that Michael won't be racing Cup anymore. That remark seems to indicate that retirement isn't imminent. Whether it's Mark, Michael, Terry, Kyle Petty or some other driver I think they should race as long and as much as they want - it's not up to the fans, no matter what some seem to think, to decide how long a driver's career should be.

Finally, the show closed with a plea to keep the emails coming (michaelwaltripoutloud@xmradio.com). They love getting them and they send the emails they get to the folks at XM to show how many people are listening in the hopes that they'll get renewed for next year since they love doing the show. They love doing the show and I love listening! I really look forward to listening to this show each week not only because I often laugh myself silly at some of what gets said but because of how much insight Michael and Tony give into the sport that I couldn't get elsewhere such as about the process of developing the COT.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:33 AM | Comments (2)

July 24, 2008

Photo of the Day - Driftwood Beach

Posted by silverdsl at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/24)

*Not only will Terry Labonte race in the Cup race this weekend at Indy, but he'll also race the following weekend at Pocono, only it won't be for the same team. This weekend he'll be in the #45 for Petty Enterprises and at Pocono he'll race the #10 for Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, so that the regular driver of that car, Patrick Carpentier, can concentrate on racing a Nationwide car in Montreal. Although Labonte is an accomplished racer it's really his champion's provisional that's of interest to both teams - having him in the car means that each team is guaranteed to race.

*When Rusty Wallace first started working for ESPN, he wasn't allowed by the network to own a Cup team. However, since Ray Evernham started doing some work for ESPN and Brad Daugherty bought into JTG Racing, which will field a Cup team next season, if Wallace wants to, ESPN will now allow him to field a car on the Cup level. I never really understood why ESPN allowed Wallace to own a Nationwide car but not a Cup car, and especially since he was in the booth for Nationwide races where his cars were not only on the track but one of them was being raced by his son. Since they had no problems with that situation it's hard for me to understand the reasoning why they wouldn't want him to have a Cup car. It'll be interesting to see whether Wallace actually makes the move to Cup or not. Racing Cup is even more challenging than racing in the Nationwide Series as Daugherty will soon find out and it's not easy to secure sponsorships right now on the Cup level (or any level) given the way the economy is. So it might be best for Wallace to wait a couple of seasons, particularly if he has any intention of putting his son behind the wheel - Steve seems to still have room to grow as a Nationwide driver let alone as a Cup driver.

*Naturally Toyota wasn't happy with yesterday's rule change directed towards their Nationwide teams. In the statement by Lee White, Toyota Racing Development's President, he said that Toyota doesn't feel that there's any technical justification to penalize the Toyota teams. Although I don't like the rule chance at all, it seems to me there is a technical justification since the dyno results showed that the Toyota engines had a horsepower advantage, as small as it might be, over some of the other teams. It's also my understanding that since Toyota just developed this engine recently they had access to parts and other things that the other manufacturers didn't at the time they developed their engines. So it's not like Nascar is making a rule for no reason at all. I just don't agree that there should be a rule - if a team works hard with the resources they have available to them then I see no reason for them to be penalized just because they happen to build a better engine. That means the other teams and manufacturers have to get to work to make sure they're as good.

*There's a lot of racing this weekend - the Cup Series will race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Nationwide and Truck teams will be in action at ORP which is nearby. In addition, the East Series will race at Adirondack International Speedway in upstate New York. Steve Park has never raced at Adirondack before so it'll be interesting to see how he does. I think it's also pretty interesting that after all these years of racing, and especially racing in the Northeast, that there's a track that has Nascar sanctioned events that Steve hasn't raced at. As for the Cup Series that race will feature something new for Michael Waltrip as well - he'll be racing a newly built car that apparently has a lower center of gravity. Originally I thought I wasn't going to be able to watch the Cup race this weekend which was disappointing since there was no Cup racing last weekend, but my plans changed so it looks like I'll be able to watch after all which makes me happy! Hopefully in addition to racing Michael will also be in the booth for the truck race!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)

What's So Wrong With a Little Controversy?

Recently I was accused of always causing controversy (among other misdeeds) because of things that I post on a particular driver's (not Michael Waltrip's) fan forum. What it seems to come down to is that some of my opinions, even though they are completely appropriate (within the forum's community standards, no bashing, name-calling, etc...), are so objectionable and intolerable to some that disagree that they can't stand to read them and thus lash out. But I was thinking about the statement that was made about causing controversy and I wondered - just exactly what's wrong with a little controversy? Of course ugly arguments where people throw around personal insults are never productive, but controversies often involve a debate where people have different opinions and disagree with each other and it's hard for me to see what's so horrible about that. I never post with the intention of upsetting people or causing an argument, I simply post what I'm thinking about - problem for me is that's often a lot different than what others are thinking. But just exactly what's wrong with that?

To me differences of opinion are a good thing. I know full well I often see things differently than other people do. I don't think I'm always right so I want to know what other people think and I want to think about things from a different point-of-view than I might have considered previously because I know I might learn something. On this same forum it was once said that I should pick and opinion and stick to it since I sometimes changed my mind or saw both the positive and negative about this driver and other situations. Well, I do change my mind on some things and that's exactly why I think it's important for there to be debate, discussion and differing opinions - by leaning and thinking about things my opinions evolve. Unfortunately though (speaking generally as opposed to this particular situation) some are too set in their own opinions to consider different opinions or even be able to tolerate opinions other than their own, others see opposing opinions as something threatening or bad and still others see differences of opinion as something that needs to be avoided at all costs, for a variety of reasons from thinking that fans should only have certain opinions to thinking that things aren't "right" unless everyone agrees all the time. That's not realistic though - everyone has a different perspective on life, and isn't going to view any situation, including a driver, in the exact same way as someone else.

The English writer William Hazlitt once said, "When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest." There's a lot of truth to that statement. When no one can be bothered to agree or disagree then no one cares. That there continues to be discussion about this particular driver reflects that just how passionately some continue to care about his career and what happens to him. It's that passion of course that drives the "controversy." Fans feel an emotional connection to those that they cheer for that they can't help but care, and care greatly.

There's another quote which is applicable and ironically this particular driver once said it to some fans. It's by Dr. Seuss and it's a long-time favorite of mine. It goes, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” At the core of who I am is a deep-seeded belief in saying what I think even if it's an unpopular opinion and even if some don't like it. I also believe that as long as it's expressed appropriately others should also state their opinions freely. And I also think that everyone should feel to disagree and debate each other as they wish, yes, even if it's "controversial." I will always speak my mind and I won't allow myself to be bullied into silence. Things that are said online are usually meaningless in the grand scheme of things - what's said about a race car driver is certainly inconsequential, as are the personal insults that have been flung my way. But in the "real" world away from the computer there is great importance to speaking one's mind. Experiences in my past have very much shown me the importance of not staying silent, and especially not because of what someone else might think.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2008

Photo of the Day

Chatham, MA. 2007.

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

Nascar Makes a Rules Change for the Nationwide Engines

Responding to the complaints of various Nationwide teams in the garage area that the Toyota teams had an unfair horsepower advantage, Nascar confiscated ten Nationwide engines after the race at Chicagoland two weeks ago, and has made a rules change to the engine package, which is aimed at the Toyota teams, as a result. Dyno tests showed that the Toyota engines had a 3% advantage in horsepower over other manufacturers engines which works out to about 20-25 more horsepower, which supposedly is a big advantage, though not being technically minded I really don't know. What I do know is that I'm wondering if the advantage of those horsepower is so great why hasn't David Reutimann, whose #99 had the engine with the most horsepower, won any races this season? In fact, the car that's won the most that the most are so concerned with, the #20 driven by Kyle Busch and other Joe Gibbs Racing drivers was 5th on the list. But Nascar made the change to "level the playing field" and the teams will have to deal with it.

I don't like the idea that the playing field has to be perfectly level. Teams should be able to have some room to find an advantage over other teams though hard work. Racing is about competition and the teams aren't just competing with each other in terms of the results but in terms of who can build the best and fastest car. Why should teams be punished for being good or for been better than other teams? On a larger level the idea that everything needs to be the same, that being better or different is bad troubles me. People should be encouraged to strive to be the best they can possibly be, not told that being better than the rest is bad.

What I'm wondering is what happens if Kyle and other JGR drivers continue winning even after the rules change? Will the other teams and drivers continue to cry and whine about an advantage? Will Nascar make more rules changes? What if the main advantage the #20 car has is the talent level of the drivers behind the wheel - will Nascar not let them race? If the playing field needs to be level, maybe someday some will want that to extend to the drivers as well.

I also wonder if this is going to effect the Cup Series as well. There is no end to the complaining about Kyle winning races in Cup - will Nascar look to make a rules change to address the advantage he seems to have over the rest of the cars in the field? It would seem to be hard for Nascar to justify a rules change in Cup considering it's only the JGR Toyota teams on that level who have ended up in Victory Lane, but I'm sure that won't stop some from trying to lobby to have something done about Kyle winning so much.

Having success shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing. It's something to be admired and it's something that should motivate the other teams to try to find the same kind of advantage.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

Ryan Newman Questions Penske Racing's Effort

Yesterday Ryan Newman talked about leaving Penske Racing, what might have contributed to the results not being as good for him at Penske as they once were, and about his search for a new ride. While Newman made mention of the success he achieved while at Penske he said that the organization is no longer dominant and offered up a theory as to why that might be - lack of effort. He said,

"[Roger has said], ‘Effort equals results. If you’re not getting the results then, you know, you question the effort.”

I think that's a pretty outrageous comment to made for a number of reasons. I've always thought on this level of racing where the garage area is comprised of the best of the best every not only does work exceptionally hard to get the best results possible, but has to out of necessity otherwise they'll be replaced by someone who will work harder and do their job better. But let's say that for some odd reason everyone at Penske decided that they didn't feel like putting in 100% effort anymore - since Newman still has to race at Penske for the rest of the season it seems to me it's not exactly a wise idea to openly question the amount of effort that those around him put in. That can't make for a comfortable working environment to discover that your driver doesn't think you've been putting in as much effort as you could be.

In addition, as an engineering major of all people I'd think Newman would have an understanding for the intricacies of the technical side of the sport and how hard it is to not only get competitive but remain that way. It's not just that Penske Racing is trying to be competitive, all the other teams are doing research and development and everything they can to make advances. So maybe it's not that the effort is lacking at Penske as much as other teams have made gains.

The other thing is that racing is a team effort. No driver can be successful without a strong team and competitive cars but the driver behind the wheel plays a role too. Newman has shown that without a doubt he's a talented race car driver but if one can question the effort his team puts in because the results aren't as good as they could be then one has to also question the effort the driver's putting in. Especially considering Newman seems to have soured on Penske - an unhappy driver with a poor attitude isn't a good recipe for success.

It's not that Newman isn't entitled to his opinion - he most definitely is. He's there at Penske to see what's going on first hand. However, it seems these days drivers and others in the garage area think nothing of voicing complaints and negativity to the media that might be better left unsaid. The other day on XM Lee White from Toyota said that the Toyota teams in the Nationwide garage aren't having success because the engines have more horsepower it's because their teams "keep their toolboxes open longer" than other teams i.e. work harder. I think that's a ridiculous comment to make in an interview - all the teams work hard from the smallest of teams without resources that plans on parking it on lap ten to the most successful of teams. If they didn't work hard they wouldn't last in the sport. I always want to know what the drivers (and others) think but I don't need to know every detail of what they don't like about their team or the sport. I think there are some things that can be kept out of the media - such as accusing others of a lack or effort or not working hard. I'm glad that Newman talked about all the good things that happened while he was at Penske because sometimes it seems as if some are in such a rush to talk about all the things they don't like that they forget the positives. And there were plenty of positives at Penske for Newman - 43 poles, 13 wins, 63 top fives, 105 top tens and four top ten points finishes in the nine years he's been in Cup.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2008

Photo of the Day - Infrared Oregon

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

Like Ripples in a Pond...

The other day someone mentioned to me that a popular Cup driver had been visiting campers at the Victory Junction Gang Camp earlier that day. Since they made their visit like so many other drivers do without any fanfare or publicity, I won't name which driver it was and it doesn't really matter anyway. But it reminded me about something wonderful about this sport and that's how much giving there is, not just in terms of monetary donations to charity but in terms of time. Of course there are many athletes in other sports who have foundations and work with charities. However, it seems to me that there is far more giving in Nascar than there is in any other sport, and not just with the drivers but with the teams, sponsors and fans.

Many of the drivers have foundations and I know some fans believe that's because the drivers are looking for tax write-offs or good publicity. For some that might be part of the motivation for why they get involved in charitable efforts. However, regardless of the reason there is still a tremendous amount of good that's done whenever a driver gets involved with a charitable effort. There's the monetary donations of course, but a driver can help a charity get a tremendous amount of attention and publicity for their cause. But sometimes - often I suspect - there are charitable efforts that take place that no one knows about. The visits to the VJGC, the meetings with Make-a-Wish children, hospital visits, encouraging notes sent to ill fans and so much more. Sometimes fans seem so surprised to hear about particular drivers and their charitable efforts. I guess some villanize the drivers so much that they can't imagine them doing anything good. Finding out about how much Kurt Busch had done for the VJGC and for years without anyone knowing was a shock to some fans. But often the drivers feel blessed with what they have and just want an opportunity to give back and help others, no need for media attention, no need to get anything out of it other than a sense of satisfaction from doing something good. And they do a lot of good.

To me a charitable effort is like a pebble being dropped in a pond. A driver might start things off with an event or other fundraising effort, and the good that they do is like the ripples that radiate out after that pebble is dropped in the water. Sometimes that driver's sponsors might also get involved and almost always fans rally to support the driver's efforts as well. I always think of what Michael Waltrip did with Operation Marathon when he raised $1 million for the VJGC and how that effected me. I'll probably never forget in 2004 standing with Michael's PR person at the time while we were waiting for him to finish talking with a sponsor rep. She told me about how the previous day after Michael got done racing in the then-Busch Series, they spent hours selling shirts and signing autographs to raise money for OM. I remember thinking to myself that if they can do all that they were doing with OM in spite of having countless obligations and responsibilities in Busch and Cup then surely I can do something - and I did and have ever since. I'm quite sure there are many other fans who have been inspired just like I was by various drivers to get involved whether it's by organizing fundraising efforts of their own or by volunteering, which in turn could motivate even more people. So the ripples continue to spread.

Truly something amazing and special what so many in the sport do.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)

Tony Stewart Will Likely Have #14 as His Number Next Season

Joe Custer has submitted a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the rights to the #14, presumably for Tony Stewart to race at Stewart-Haas Racing next season. Speculation is that Stewart wants that number because it's the number that A.J. Foyt raced. This morning on Sirius David Poole brought up a column by an internet journalist whose name I didn't catch in which this person said that Joe Gibbs Racing should let Stewart take the #20 with him to his new team next season. I can understand why some fans might wish for that to happen since Tony has always raced the #20 so it's probably hard to picture him with another number. Plus there's the whole issue of how all the merchandise and memorabilia has the #20 on it. But unlike the situation last season when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wanted to take the #8 with him from DEI to Hendrick Motorsports, it may be that Stewart doesn't mind having to get the #14 since it might have meaning to him.

In Jim Utter's article about Stewart's number on thatsracin.com he says that contrary to what most believe it's not a done deal yet that Ryan Newman is going to race the second car at Stewart-Haas, even though that's where he might very well end up. Apparently he's being courted by other teams including Gillett-Evernham Motorsports since Dodge wants to try to keep Newman. That GEM is talking with available drivers is interesting - would it be for a forth car or for one of their existing cars? Patrick Carpentier hasn't had too much luck in the #10 this season, but it seems too soon to give up on him. Kasey Kahne isn't going anywhere and Elliott Sadler was just re-signed to a contract extension. So it would seem likely that it would be for a forth car.

However, I can't help but think of an incident that happened on Sirius Speedway a few weeks ago. A caller to the show had heard a Dodge commercial that featured all the Dodge drivers other than Sadler and Carpentier and wondered whether it meant anything. Sadler, who had been listening to the show, also called in and made a big joke of it with Dave Moody, the host. A little while later, Ray Evernham, who was making his regular weekly appearance on the show, indicated that he was upset about Sadler and Carpentier being left out of the commercial, that it didn't mean anything and that he intended on letting Dodge know that they had made a mistake. Odds are it really was just an oversight or that they didn't have time in the commercial to feature everyone, but it does make one wonder.

There's also the possibility that Stewart-Haas will go in a different direction than Newman. Maybe they'll decide that another driver is a better fit. Martin Truex, Jr. has been rumored to also be a candidate for a ride at Stewart-Haas but between the two (Stewart said on his Sirius show last night there will only be two cars at his organization next season), I think Newman is probably the better choice. Unless one of the Haas cars gets back into the top 35 or they find a way to get points from another team whoever the second driver is will have to qualify for the first five races on time. Newman is an excellent qualifier and that skill could end up being important.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)

Penalties for the #1 Team Upheld

There aren't too many penalties that are reduced or overturned so it's not surprising that the National Stock Car Commission upheld the penalties assessed to the #1 team for the car not meeting the templates at Daytona because the roof was too low. What did surprise me was that when DEI argued their case that the penalties were too severe they said that they didn't know why the roof was too low and didn't fit the templates. Back when the penalty was first announced DEI said that the templates they were using at the shop were slightly off from that of the templates that the inspectors used and that's why the roof of the car was too low. In fact, I heard John Story, DEI's general manager give an interview on XM in which he talked about the templates they used and how the car fit very tightly which made the team happy because they thought they built a car that was perfect. But now suddenly they don't know why the roof of the car was too low? Perhaps they realized that the templates story was implausible, particularly since their other cars didn't have a problem fitting Nascar's templates or passing inspection. Or perhaps they just didn't think that was a good argument. But I'm surprised they didn't come up with some other explanation. Saying that they don't know why the roof was low isn't a very good excuse - it's a team's responsibility to make sure that they know what's going on with their cars when they're being built and that when they come to the track they fit the templates.

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

July 21, 2008

Photo of the Day - Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens, 2008.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

Something Else that Will Likely Interest No One But Me

Periodically I visit Ken Schrader's fan forum in hopes that there will be some news of him racing in the Truck, Nationwide or Cup Series since Ken has always been among my favorite drivers. I didn't see anything about him racing in one of Nascar's three highest series in my most recent visit but I did come across an interesting piece of information that I didn't know. One of the sponsors of the #21 this season, Little Debbie, who will be moving to JTG Daugherty Racing next season only sponsors the car for 18 races a season because the McKee family who owns the company that makes Little Debbie snack cakes are Seventh Day Adventists. What that means is that they observe Sabbath from sundown on Friday through sundown on Saturday and as such don't believe in promoting their products during that time (though they may still be sold). So Little Debbie isn't on the car for Saturday practices and the Wood Brothers have to find other sponsors for Saturday races. It shows the need for teams to be flexible and willing to tailor sponsorship programs to meet sponsors needs, even if some of those needs aren't just advertising, marketing or sales based.

We hear all the time about some others in the garage area who are guided by deeply felt morals, values and beliefs such as Morgan Shepherd and Victory in Jesus Racing or how Petty Enterprises has never had an alcohol sponsor because of a promise Richard Petty made to his mother, but I don't recall ever hearing anything about Little Debbie and their convictions until now. That may very well be the way they want it since religion can be such a touchy subject. Of course these days Nascar like all sports are big business and usually profit and business are what guides most decisions. But it's interesting to think that for some there may be other things at play such as the need to be true to themselves and their beliefs.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)

Just a Bit Taller Than Me...

I just discovered that Camping World East Series driver Matt Kobyluck is 6'5"! What's so special about that other than that he's real tall? Well, for one thing a lot of drivers are really tiny both in height and weight. Tall drivers really stand out. But I always seem to gravitate towards being a fan of tall, non-basketball athletes. I have no idea why but my favorite driver is Michael Waltrip at 6'5" and one of my favorite former Yankees is Randy Johnson at 6' 10". Richie Sexson who is 6'8" was just signed by the Yankees and I found myself giving an internal "yay!" when I first saw him in pinstripes. Even Steve Park and Mike Mussina are also both over 6 feet tall. It's funny because I'm barely 5'3" myself and weigh less than 100lbs so I'm sure I look ridiculous on the occasions I've gotten to take photos with a few of them. Of course being a fan is dependent on so many other factors besides height - I've definitely never been one to become a fan of someone just because of the way they look. But Matt definitely has some talent behind the wheel considering he won this past weekend so he might be another tall guy to add to the list of those that I'm a fan of.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

More Random Thoughts

Two other random thoughts from this weekend...

*I had the yummiest lobster roll at this cute little restaurant Toast on Saturday. I love, love, love lobster rolls and always try to eat as many as I can when I'm in Maine. Unfortunately I haven't been to Maine for a couple of years and lobster rolls aren't a standard item on the menus of most restaurants in New Jersey. So I was delighted to read in a review of Toast a while back that they served a lobster roll. I finally got around to going there this weekend and it was so good! Big chunks of lobster, not too much mayo, with hot butter on the side. Delicious! Great fries too! Toast serves breakfast and lunch only and the entire menu looked really good. I'll be making a return visit sometime soon for sure!

*In previous entires I've talked about my fascination for canyons, arches and all kinds of neat rock formations and phenomena including potholes, which are basically holes worn into rock by water. What I found really intriguing this weekend as I was reading about different classifications of arches is that there are some that are pothole arches, which according to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society (yes, there is such a thing!) is a natural arch that "occurs when part of the wall or floor of a pothole ruptures, leaving a section of its rim suspended above the new opening." Window Rock seems like a pretty dramatic example of that kind of arch.

I don't know what it is about all these non-Nascar thoughts I feel compelled to get down in this space which I usually just keep to myself - must be all that coffee I had earlier!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)

Random Thoughts on Other Sports on Random Thoughts

*I don't know much about golf nor is it something I watch regularly but I enjoy watching just about anything other than competitive eating in which at least two people are competing against each other for something. So at times I've found myself drawn into watching golf. Aside from the competitive aspect I find the intricacies of the different courses interesting and I'm impressed by the skill of the competitors. I was in awe of them playing and making shots this weekend at the British Open in crazy wind! It was also pretty cool to see Greg Norman at 53 and only a part-time golfer be a contender - he came up short of the win, but still neat to see.

*The New York Yankees swept the Oakland A's this weekend, something which I'm very happy about! What I found myself really loving aside from the Yankees wins, was David Cone in the YES broadcast booth. Of course I'm biased since David is my all-time favorite baseball player and I'd probably like him doing just about anything but I think he's really come into his own in the booth. At first he was a little stiff but he's become much more relaxed. He's very insightful and funny, and he's very enthusiastic, which is one of the things I like so much about Michael Waltrip being in the booth during truck races. There's actually more than a few similarities between Michael and David, which is probably why I like them both so much, such as that they've both got dynamic personalities, they both have a presence that commands attention, they've both very media savvy and they're both extremely fan-friendly among other similarities. This season there hasn't always been a lot to be happy about with the Yankees, but David joining the TV broadcast team is definitely one thing I'm thrilled about!

*Speaking of David, hard to believe that Friday was the 9th anniversary of his perfect game! I remember that day like it was yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch the game on TV since I was driving home from Connecticut but I still remember hearing the call on the radio - baseball immortality for David Cone! He was never the same pitcher after that game but oh, what an incredible day, and on Yogi Berra Day no less!

*Danica Patrick didn't take too well to the way the only other female Indy car racer in the series, Milka Duno was racing her during a practice so she went over to confront Duno after the practice concluded. Some seem horrified by Danica's behavior. I'm not a fan of drivers confronting each other, nor do I particularly like Danica, however, if a male driver can confront another driver, without being considered a whiny bitch, and have it excused because of the emotional nature of the sport, then why isn't the same true for Danica?

Posted by silverdsl at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2008

Photo of the Day - Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, 2005. It's not Utah or Arizona but it's still a beautiful place filled with incredible, otherworldy rock formations!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

Desert Solitaire

That's the name of the book I'm reading right now. It's by Edward Abbey and it's about his time in Arches National Park back when it was "just" a National Monument. Oh, how awesome this book is! To read the words of someone who reveres not just the natural wonder around him but the beauty of the rock formations specifically is incredible. I've always loved rocks and especially rock formations but of late I've been more obsessed than ever with the Canyon Country of Arizona and Utah despite having never been there (other than a brief day trip to the Grand Canyon which doesn't really count). I can't stop reading everything I can get my hands on about slot canyons and arches and hoodoos and the adventures of those who have explored these areas, both in the past and present. The more remote the better! If someday there are no new entries in this blog for an extended period of time perhaps I've run off to Canyon Country to spend the rest of my life taking photos and obsessing over the rocks in person.

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

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/20)

*Michael Waltrip had the observation of the race during yesterday's broadcast following a wreck that was caused by Ted Musgrave getting into Kyle Busch. Michael said that if the roles were reversed and it was Kyle who had caused the wreck, everyone would be freaking about but because it was Ted the reaction will be much different. And that's very true. I haven't seen anyone outraged about Ted running Kyle over which resulted in multiple wrecked race cars. Yet fans are quick to make everything that Kyle does into a high crime against humanity.

*After two poor finishes in a row, Steve Park and his team rebounded with a sixth place finish at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville. With just six races left to go in the East Series schedule, hopefully this will kick off another streak of strong finishes for Steve. Sure would be great to see Steve win a race or two before the season's over - he certainly has the talent behind the wheel to make it happen! I was happy that Matt Kobyluck won last night's race - the East Series is very much a developmental series for young and inexperienced drivers so it's always nice to see a veteran end up in Victory Lane. I also very much liked Matt's attitude in the article from the other day - he was realistic yet optimistic and expressed confidence in his abilities. As much as drivers need competitive cars, well-financed teams, a good pit crew and a talented crew chief calling the shots, intangibles like attitude, determination and confidence are also important in this sport given how demanding and competitive it is.

*Speaking of attitude, ESPN.com has an interesting article about Jeremy Mayfield in which he admits that he made some mistakes over the course of his career that might have cost him opportunities. In the article he acknowledges that maybe he said too much about Penske Racing when he was looking to leave that organization or spoke out too much about Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker. Fact is - and this is what I'm getting at in relation to some of the comments that Steve Park has made - what a driver says publically can have an impact on their career. I think Jeremy is entitled to his opinions about his former organization and he may very well have been on target regarding what was going on with Ray but there's sometimes a price to be paid for speaking one's mind openly. Sometimes it's better for a driver to keep some opinions to themselves and particularly in a sport that's so image conscious. I think Jeremy gets a bad rap from a lot of fans - while talent levels may vary somewhat, if a driver doesn't have competitive cars to race then they're going to have a hard time getting good results. I think what's also unfortunate is that a lot of fans think Jeremy was released from Haas-CNC Racing earlier this season when the reality, as per this article, is that Jeremy opted to leave the team.

*David Reutimann looked like he was going to contend for the win in last night's Nationwide race but any shot at the win was ended by a tangle with Brad Keselowski. David and his team are competitive in just about every race which is awesome but they have so much bad luck - sure would love to see David in Victory Lane at least once this season! David's MWR teammate, Josh Wise had a better night - he finished 16th, one of his best finishes of the season, with his new crew chief Paul Wolfe.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2008

Steve Park Won't Be Making a Return to the Cup Series

The Norwich Bulletin interviewed Steve Park and Matt Kobyluck last weekend at the Thompson Speedway about racing in the Cup Series and the attitude of each man couldn't be any more different. Matt, who has never raced Cup, expressed the desire to do, even though he was realistic that the odds weren't good of him being able to achieve his dream. On the other hand, Steve who raced in the Cup Series from 1997-2003, has no desire to go back. Matt has confidence in himself and his ability to succeed on Nascar's highest level, Steve seems to think racing Cup would be a waste of his time. Matt is positive, Steve could scarcely be more negative about the Cup Series. Well, Steve doesn't have to worry about wasting his time turning down offers from Cup teams that he's not interested in anyway - there aren't likely to be too many teams who are interested in a driver with his sour attitude towards Cup racing.

Steve said,

"I don’t (want to go back). Heck, I’m 40 years old and they’re not looking for the next 40-year-old. Harry Gant was the last 50-year-old to win a race, but I would like to run in the truck or the Nationwide Series. I’m not the oldest guy in the world, but I don’t want to do a 38-race schedule and never see my home again for the next 10 years.”

Of course no team is looking to start from scratch with a 40-year old - the teams are - and rightfully so - looking for drivers who they can develop into winning drivers who will have success for them for years to come. However, contrary to what some people think older drivers can be in demand and have success as well. Jeff Burton and Mark Martin seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. Greg Biffle is just two years younger than Steve and Roush-Fenway Racing didn't hesitate to re-sign him. David Reutimann is only three years younger and he's a player in silly season. There's also been an influx of open wheel drivers into the sport and while they aren't as "old" as Steve is, they aren't 20 year olds either. There's plenty of other veterans and older drivers in the sport too but a driver has to be willing to change their expectations and adjust to the changes in the sport, something Steve isn't willing to do. Which of course is his right, but there should be no complaints about not getting offers for the kind of ride that he wants when there's a degree of inflexibility in his attitude.

I have to laugh when Steve says he doesn't want to race Cup because he doesn't want to race a 38-race schedule - so why would he want to race a 35 race schedule in the Nationwide Series? Or even 25 races in the Truck Series? It's definitely easier to race on a lower level with less races, less pressure and less obligations and I can see why that has some appeal but as Michael Waltrip said recently anything worthwhile is hard. There's plenty of drivers who are more than willing - including Matt Kobyluck - to put up with the demands of the Cup schedule. And they probably wouldn't complain about it either.

Steve continued,

“Racing has changed so much over the last few years. I see more racing in the truck series than I do in the Sprint Series. To sit in front of the television or sit in a race car, or in the stands for four hours, to me, that’s not racing, it’s passing the time.”

It's true that the sport and the racing has changed over the years. There's truth to the idea that at times the racing isn't all that great, a lot of which relates to the difficulties that the teams are having with the COT right now. But there's also still plenty of exciting racing as well. There's been times that I've jumped out of my chair in excitement this season such as when Michael qualified on the outside pole for the Daytona 500 or when he battled for the lead at Talladega. I was thrilled when he finished 2nd at Michigan and in just about every race there's something that holds my interest whether it's with one of his teams or with other teams and drivers. Maybe part of it is having an open mind and being reasonable in my expectations - I know that my favorite driver isn't going to race up front all the time, I know that the racing isn't going to be exciting every single lap of every single race and I'm not going to freak out if Kyle Busch or another driver that isn't among my favorites does well. Maybe it's really hard for Steve to enjoy watching or being at a Cup race when he's not participating and things went so badly for him the last few years he raced in the Series.

It kind of boggles my mind that a Nascar driver would speak publically of racing or watching the races at home or in person as little more than a waste of time, but then again a lot of things that Steve says these days is puzzling. I wonder if all the teams and drivers in the Cup Series who are working their asses off every week to make a living in a Series where it's unbelievably hard to have succeed would see what they're doing as just "passing the time?" That's also a terrible message to send to fans - if their favorite drivers doesn't see any worth in attending races or even watching of TV, why should they? I think that Steve is entitled to his opinions but to express that kind of negativity about the Cup Series in an interview? Well, that's something else. I don't think a driver just has an obligation to represent their team and sponsor well but also their sport as well. It's one thing to say that Cup racing isn't for him, but to say that it's not for anyone? Maybe it's not just the Cup drivers that Nascar needs to have a chat with regarding negativity and the message it sends to the fans.

In the past I've been accused by my fellow fans of being too negative when it comes to Steve but it seems to me that he can be pretty negative himself. Of course when Steve says something he's just telling it like it is, and a fan who dares to have a different opinion is a no-nothing idiot. Sometimes I wish I could just cut the cord with Steve because his attitude at times drives me nuts, but I guess once a fan, always a fan. The way I view him has changed considerably over the years but I guess in the end I'm too loyal and as long as he's racing I'll be cheering for him and wishing him well even if I wish his attitude was different.

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

July 18, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/18)

With it being an off-week for the Cup teams a lot of people in the Cup garage are on vacation so there's not been too much news of note. It's not an off-week for everyone though since there's Nationwide, Truck and East Series racing this weekend. I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow's truck race in Kentucky since Michael Waltrip will be in the booth! I love the truck series to begin with and having Michael and his enthusiasm in the booth only makes it better! Even though there's not been much going on there's been a few bits of news that have surfaced...

*Jacques Villeneuve has secured a ride for the Nationwide race in Montreal in a few weeks but it's not with Robby Gordon Motorsports as rumored. Instead Villeneuve will race for Braun Racing. All the talk was that it was pretty much a done deal that Villeneuve would race for RGM and that he was bringing sponsorship with him that might translate into a full-time ride with RGM in 2009, but Villeneuve is taking whatever sponsorship he has to Braun. I don't know why Villeneuve ended up at Braun instead of RGM but it's likely he'll get a more competitive car to race from Braun than from RGM so this is probably a good move for him. Villeneuve hasn't given up on his hope of racing Cup but I really doubt that we'll see him full-time in Cup any time soon even if he does really well in this race.

*Josh Wise has a new crew chief at Fitz Motorsports and it's the former crew chief of the #22, Paul Wolfe, who Wise has apparently wanted to work with for a while. However, Wolfe isn't actually an employee of Fitz, no surprise given that Fitz sued him after he left the team earlier this season, but is instead employed by Michael Waltrip Racing, who will also be providing a pit crew to the team. Some have wondered why MWR doesn't just field a car of their own for Wise but given the lack of sponsorship for a second Nationwide car it's probably cheaper to pay Fitz to field one for Wise then to put one together themselves. Given the strength of MWR's Nationwide program Wise would probably get a better car from MWR than he gets from Fitz but it's better to behind the wheel of a car getting seat time than sitting on the sidelines as he was doing earlier in the season. I also think there's some benefits for a young driver when they have to race a less than perfect car because they can learn how to work with their team on making it better, how to give good feedback, how to deal with racing an ill-handling car, how to deal with challenges, etc... I can't help but wonder if Wise's development is being stepped up because of the recent rumors that have been circulating about David Reutimann and Michael McDowell possibly not being at MWR next season.

*A few times recently I've seen some comments attributed to team members in which they complain about or mock fans. I'm the first one to be dismayed at some of the behavior of my fellow fans as it seems like there's an increasingly large percentage of fans who don't know how to behave appropriately when they're around the drivers or team members and think that they're entitled to say and do whatever they want. However, there's also plenty of fans who do know how to behave appropriately and are simply excited fans who are hoping to get an autograph from their favorite driver or just catch a glimpse of them. As annoying as it may be when there's a bunch of fans hanging around I also think there needs to be some understanding for the fact that without the fans the sport wouldn't be as successful as it is. The fans are the people who buy the tickets to races, buy the merchandise, support the sponsors and cheer for the teams. Some of these team members act like they would prefer it if there were no fans at all at the track - be careful what you wish for. Michael Waltrip said on his XM show recently that he treats every fan and every moment like it's his last. There's a reason for that - it can all go away in the blink of an eye. Some teams and drivers may think that being popular, having success and being on top of the world will last forever but things can change very quickly.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/16)

*A few days ago Bob Dillner reported on Speed that Colin Braun would be making his Cup debut for Yates Racing at Watkins Glen in August, something that was denied the following day. The report really didn't make much sense considering Yates doesn't have sponsorship for their existing two cars let alone a third and there's really no reason to replace one of their drivers with a ringer considering they're both comfortably in the top 35. So I have to wonder where did Dillner get his information from? Of course this isn't the first time that he's been burned by reporting bad information that his sources tell him - in 2006 Dillner reported that sources told him that Nascar found issues with the #29 and #31, something which appears to have been a complete fabrication though Dillner insisted that the story was legitimate in spite of there not being a single shred of evidence to support what he reported other than what his anonymous source told him. One would think after that incident Speed would have made Dillner be more diligent about throughly checking out what his sources tell him before he reports it on-air. Of course it's possible that no one wants to confirm that Braun will be in a Cup car because they aren't ready to announce anything yet but given that he'll be racing at Nashville in the Truck Race that weekend it doesn't seem too likely that he'll be at Watkins Glen.

*As part of the pre-race festivities prior to the Cup race on Saturday there was a tribute to Richard Petty and his 50 years in racing in which all the Cup drivers were given hats like his to wear and then they all posed for a photo. I was amazed to discover that not all 43 drivers took part. Apparently Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards (as well as one other driver) were a no-show for that part of the driver introductions and only showed for the actual introductions themselves. I don't want to completely throw those drivers under a bus because they might have had a good reason why they weren't there but all the teams and drivers are given a schedule of events listing specific times for things and there was surely some discussion of recognizing Petty during the driver's meeting so I kind of doubt it was a case of them not knowing that it was happening. I couldn't help but think of the conversation between Bill Engvall and Michael Waltrip on Michael's XM show recently regarding how some drivers had an attitude at Michigan during driver introductions and didn't bother to acknowledge Bobby Allison who was standing next to him on stage. Ingvall felt that some of the drivers had no respect for Allison and others, and again, barring a good excuse for why there weren't present it seems to me that those four drivers who didn't take part in the tribute to Petty weren't really showing much respect either. It seems to me that it should have been a priority to be sure they were there to pay tribute to someone who paved the way for them and has had a major impact on the sport.

*Speaking of Michael, he'll be no less busy even though it's an off-week for the Cup series. I was very happy to find out that Michael will be going to Kentucky to be a part of Speed's broadcast team for the Truck Race at Kentucky Speedway. Michael is outstanding in the booth during the truck races and really adds to my enjoyment of watching! His excitement about the series, its driver and the racing is infectious. I'm also glad that he'll be in the booth during the practices and qualifying as well, something that he often can't do because of his responsibilities to his team(s) on normal race weekends. However, he won't have any teams to worry about in Kentucky so he can just have fun broadcasting the race. Michael will also be making an appearance of a different kind next week, an autograph signing in Madison, AL on Tuesday, July 22, to support a longtime friend of his, Paul Finley, who he graduated high school with who is running for Mayor of that city. Finley helped Michael with Operation Marathon in 2005, and I think it's pretty cool that Michael is returning the favor now. It says something about Michael that he's still in touch with someone that he was friends with before he became a Nascar driver - I would guess that isn't the case for all the drivers.

*Marcos Ambrose and JTG Racing are going to move to the Cup Series next season with help from current ESPN Nascar analyst Brad Daugherty. The team will change its name to JTG Daugherty Racing, and in addition to fielding the #47 in Cup for Ambrose will field two Nationwide cars as well. I have to wonder how well this is going to work out for them. Although having sponsorship in the form of Little Debbie gives them a leg up in comparison to other teams that are struggling to find sponsorship dollars, it's very difficult for one-car teams to be successful in Cup and it's probably going to be even more of a challenge for a driver with just one race's worth of experience on the Cup level, particularly since the team will start the season outside the top 35 in owner's points.

*What troubles me a little is that Daugherty will be the third member of ESPN's Nascar broadcast team who is an owner since Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham also own teams. I think it's a problem in general that most members of Nascar's broadcast teams whether they work for FOX, Speed, ESPN or another station have some sort of ties to teams or other entities in the garage area that aren't always completely spelled out for viewers so they know when there might be a possible bias on the part of a particular announcer or analyst. I think for the most part all of them do a very good job of being fair and objective but it's human nature that at times their biases might come through. I think most people are well aware that Michael Waltrip is an owner, that Kenny Wallace drives a Nationwide car and that Rusty is a team owner. However, how many people know that Jeff Hammond owns a truck team or that Phil Parsons owns a Nationwide team and also is on the board at Michael Waltrip Racing? Where I'm especially bothered is with Rusty - he never got along with Ryan Newman when they were teammates at Penske Racing and Rusty seemingly doesn't miss an opportunity to take a dig at him on-air. In addition, as they were discussing the other morning on Sirius at times Rusty seems to use his position as a media member to advocate for changes that would benefit his Nationwide team and other Chevy teams. David Poole pointed out that Rusty will talk about the Toyota teams having an advantage over other teams as if it's a proven fact without presenting any evidence it's true other than his opinion (like so many others). Then he pushes for Nascar to do something about it. I have no problem with Rusty giving his opinion but it should be clear that he's speaking as a Nationwide owner who would benefit if Nascar made a change regarding the Toyota teams.

*Someone wondered on SPC whether Steve Park could end up racing for DEI again given that all their drivers seem to be leaving (or at least trying to leave). I think the odds of Steve racing Cup again are slim to none, and the odds of him racing Nationwide or trucks aren't much better but since he's seemed to have maintained a relationship with those at DEI given that he spends time with DEI employees when he's in the garage area, seems to be pretty friendly with Kerry and Jeffry Earnhardt at East Series races and participates in Dale Earnhardt Day alongside Teresa Earnhardt at DEI each year, I'd say if there's any organization on one of Nascar's three highest levels that might consider giving Steve a ride it's DEI. However, in light of DEI's sponsorship woes he would likely have to bring a sponsor with him. Steve had trouble finding a sponsor to bring with him to a team when the economy is good so the chances of him finding a sponsor now that the economy is bad seem even worse now. Of course Steve would also have to get over his insistence that the only ride he'll take is one that races regularly in the top five and contends for wins which isn't any of the DEI cars right now.

*It would certainly be interesting to see how fans would react if Steve ended up back at DEI. Some would surely be extremely unhappy about it. I was just as upset as anyone when DEI released Steve but the more time that's passed the more I understand some of the reasons why they might have felt they needed to make that move. It's been five years since Steve was released from DEI in 2003 and it seems to me it's time to get past the anger over the way that situation played out - Steve certainly seems to have. Some also hate Teresa Earnhardt passionately and while I understand the reasons why some have issues with her, as it relates to Steve I think he should be the guide - that he has no problem appearing at Dale Earnhardt Day with her tells me he probably doesn't have any issues with her.

*Speaking of DEI whenever there's discussion of Martin Truex, Jr's contract situation there's mention about how there's some sort of option that DEI has on him for next season so he's not truly a free agent like some other drivers despite how most refer to him as being completely available to sign with another team. Apparently DEI picked up that option on Truex for 2009 back in April, but there's some confusion over whether there's an "out" for Truex or not. It was said somewhere that Truex really wants to leave DEI and that lawyers might get involved to find a way for him to negate that option in his contact so he can go elsewhere. On one had if a driver is that unhappy that they make it known they want to leave and consider getting their legal team involved it seems to me that an organization is better off releasing them and moving on. However, there's something to be said for being held to the terms of one's contract. More and more these days it seems like contracts are meaningless because there are so many "out" clauses that allow drivers and sponsors to leave their teams or for teams to make a driver change before whatever deal is in place expires. Even when there's not an "out" clause it seems like all a driver has to do is make a big issue of wanting to leave like Tony Stewart did and they're granted their release. It's often in everyone's best interests to make changes and move on but there almost doesn't seem to be any point in signing long-term contracts anymore.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2008

Photo of the Day - Gorilla!

Bronx Zoo, 2002. It's been a really long time since I've been to the Bronx Zoo but I'm really anxious to go back. I got some really great shots of the gorillas that day. They seem to enjoy watching the humans just as much as the humans seem to enjoy watching them.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Ryan Newman Will Not Return to Penske Racing in 2009

Just days after he said that re-signing with Penske Racing was still a possibility for him in 2009, Penske made it official that is no longer an option for Ryan Newman so he will be racing for a new team next season. When he said that returning to Penske could still happen Newman also indicated that he was talking with several different teams but one has to wonder if this announcement signifies that Newman has signed with Stewart-Haas Racing as has been widely rumored. It may also be that Penske decided to cut off negotiations with Newman since they're rumored to have already been talking with a variety of drivers to take his place in the #12. So they may have also decided to go in a different direction. I think that was pretty much inevitable once Newman started talking openly about how unhappy he was with his team's performance and wanting to see some improvement before he re-signed.

A couple of the teams that Newman is talking with including Stewart-Haas have cars outside the top 35 in owner's points but he's shown over the course of his career that he's a very good qualifier so unless the cars are very bad, Newman shouldn't have too many problems as a go-or-go-homer. I'm not sure he'll ever recapture the magic of 2003 when he won eight races but when he has a good car to race he can race well and win so he the results will probably be at least as good at his next team as they have been for him at Penske.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2008

Photo of the Day - Waterfall

Oregon, 2006.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park Finishes 22nd at Thompson

Pretty disappointing night for Steve Park at Thompson International Speedway on Saturday. After seeing how well Steve practiced and qualified I really thought that he might end up in Victory Lane and for a while it looked like that might be the case as he took the lead at one point but it was not to be. While leading the field to a re-start, Steve going going rather slow and ended up getting spun which put him back in the field. All wasn't lost since he was able to race his way back up front as the laps wound down but he ended up spinning again. Poor Steve - apparently he spun four times between practice (twice) and the race (twice) in the same corner!

What's very confusing to me is that when Steve got spun on the re-start apparently he and his team thought that he should be put back in the lead on the subsequent re-start - why? When he was leading the field to the re-start the #11 had gotten a jump on him that some felt he should have been black-flagged for. Okay, so let's say that the #11 jumped the re-start (though in all fairness Nascar didn't give him a penalty) wouldn't he just be black-flagged or otherwise penalized and the race would go on? Maybe I'm just not remembering right but in past instances when drivers have gotten a penalty for jumping a re-start I don't remember them having a do-over on the re-start. So surely that couldn't have been why the team thought they deserved the lead back. Beyond that Steve spun to bring out the caution - that's why he lost positions. Why would he be given the lead back when he spun to bring out the caution? I wish that was the way things worked that a driver involved in an incident kept their positions - Michael Waltrip would have finished a lot better at Daytona! (Nascar certainly made it clear in that situation how they handled giving positions to drivers involved in an incident to bring out a caution.) There had to be some reason why the team was as upset as it's been said that they were, I'm just missing it. Of course that's very easy to happen since no one saw fit to broadcast this race (not that I have HDNet anyway) so it's impossible to really know exactly what happened.

Steve's 22nd place finish, which follows a 28th place finish at New Hampshire drops him two spots in the points to 10th. It's unfortunate because in the first four races he had four top tens and a top five, and has raced up front in every race, so the results don't full reflect how well Steve has raced. In a 36 race schedule a handful of poor finishes can be overcome fairly easily but there's much less margin for error when there's only 13 races. In addition, there are some other good teams and drivers that Steve is racing against. So while it's not impossible for Steve to get back into the Championship hunt it might not be so easy. But Steve has definitely been racing extremely well so hopefully there will be no other problems and luck will be on his side so the rest of his finishes this season will be more top fives and top tens and even better, maybe some wins!

Hopefully the post-race notes (if they ever get posted to Steve's site) will shed some light on what happened during the race for Steve.

ETA: The more I hear the less it sounds like Steve was screwed by Nascar as he and his team seem to think. For one thing apparently Nascar didn't have a chance to make a call on the #11 jumping the start because Steve spun. Also, it's sounding like Steve's spotter might have said something to Steve about the #11 jumping the re-start which might be why he slowed up thinking that Nascar was going to throw a caution and re-do the start. So when the caution was thrown Steve and his team thought it was for the #11 jumping the re-start, not for their spin. Well, if Steve slowed up under the assumption that Nascar was going to re-do the re-start, that's a mistake right there because you can't assume anything. Second, Steve spinning changes everything. Maybe at first they thought the caution was for the #11 but once it was clear that it was for them they should know that there's no way they were going to be able to keep their position. No car that brings out the caution or is involved in an incident to bring out the caution is going to be able to keep their position.

Apparently last year there was a situation (presumably at Dover since that's the only race that Steve raced) in which Steve jumped a re-start and was sent to the back so the team is upset because they feel like there was a bias in this situation because the rules weren't applied in the same way. It's unfortunate if Steve was sent back for jumping a re-start last season and someone else wasn't this season but given the circumstances in which Nascar didn't have time to call a penalty on the #11 because of Steve's spin, which additionally changes things, I don't think there's a bias in which Nascar is showing one team favoritism over another. Especially when one considers that later in the race the #11 was warned about jumping the gun on another re-start so it's not like they ignored him completely. Not to mention another DEI car was threatened with a black-flag at the end of the race for the way he lined up for the re-start.

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

Disappointing Night for Michael Waltrip at Chicagoland

David Reutimann finished 14th in yesterday's Cup race at Chicagoland but it was a dismal night for the other two Michael Waltrip Racing teams. Michael McDowell had a brush with the wall within the first few laps of the race that resulted in damage that led to a 43rd place finish, nine laps down, and Michael Waltrip had an ill-handling car and a loose splitter so he was only able to finish 36th, three laps down. However, all three cars remain in the top 35 in owner's points heading to the race at Indy, which is one of the biggest races of the season.

It had to have been difficult for not just the MWR teams, but all the teams to figure out a set-up for Saturday night's race. For one thing they had never raced at Chicago at night and never raced there in the COT. But what complicated things even more was that the conditions under which they practiced on Thursday and Friday weren't anything like the conditions under which they raced. So it was a complete guessing game - unfortunately the #55 team guessed wrong. From the sounds of it they made the changes that Michael thought they should in the last practice since that made the car feel the best to him but they hadn't even turned one lap - literally they were still on the parade laps - when Michael said that the car didn't feel right. I have to wonder whether there was an issue with the splitter from the start, but regardless the spin he took through the infield grass really ruined his night. It wasn't his fault either - Patrick Carpentier got loose in front of him and although Michael slowed up Jeff Burton who was right behind him couldn't get stopped in time and the contact sent Michael for a spin. The team had to spent every pit stop for the rest of the race making repairs to the splitter braces and trying to make sure it was on tight enough - at one point it even started dragging and throwing off sparks. Michael is probably lucky that his team was able to keep him in the race thanks to all the hard work they put into working on that splitter. Unfortunately all the time they had to take with the splitter probably took away from time they might have spent on making the car more competitive which is a shame because at one point he was turning some fast laps that were comparative with those of drivers in the top ten. But by that point Michael was already trapped several laps down.

Michael was extremely unhappy during the race. He took full blame for having the team set the car up in the wrong way so that probably kept him from getting quite as angry as he has in the past when he's had a bad car. However, he was no less frustrated. One thing that was bothering him was that he felt that Bobby Kennedy wasn't listening to him or wasn't acknowledging the things that Michael was saying over the radio about his car. This is the second race in a row in which there's been some communication problems between Michael and Bobby in which each doesn't seem to be hearing what the other is saying. Bobby often does acknowledge Michael with a "10-4, we'll get the car fixed up for you on the next stop" but I guess Michael wanted to hear more than that. Bobby said that one reason why he wasn't saying much was because they were figuring out their plan of action in relation to the splitter but even after Michael said that he wanted to hear more, there wasn't much more communication from Bobby. Michael can be very difficult and I think he has his issues when it comes to communication - even Ty Norris sounded annoyed with him on Saturday which is rare - but it's a two-way street. As crew chief, Bobby also has to be responsive to Michael and especially when there's issues like there was on Saturday.

There are fans wondering why David was able to finish in the top 15 but not Michael or McD and as per usual there are questions about why MWR can't make all three cars as competitive. But if you look at other organizations during any given race usually they don't have all their teams racing up front even though that's certainly the goal. Even though each team may come to the track with a similar set-up they will make adjustments to suit each individual driver and what works for one driver might not work for another. You look at Hendrick Motorsports where Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is up front in every race but the other three teams haven't performed as well as expected, or how Kyle Busch is winning race after race for Joe Gibbs Racing but his teammates haven't enjoyed the same kind of success. So it's not just MWR that has trouble getting all of their teams right, it's just magnified for them since their overall struggles are greater.

I'm starting to be a little concerned about Michael McDowell. There have been rumors recently that he's fallen out of favor at MWR and he apparently acknowledged on Sirius that although he's signed with MWR for the next three years there is some sort of performance clause. What's becoming increasingly clear to me is that as much talent as McD might have and as much potential as he might have, they probably put him in a Cup car too soon. Any number of people raved about how much talent he has and how he was going to surprise people and maybe even make a run at Rookie of the Year. Maybe the expectations should have been keep a wee bit more reasonable given the level of competition in Cup and McD's lack of experience not just in Cup but in Nascar overall. That McD didn't even do much at Sonoma, a track where Ty, Michael and McD himself predicted he would contend for the win reflects just how much out of his element he is right now. I really wish that it had been possible for MWR to either have him race the Nationwide Series for a full year before they promoted him to Cup or at least have him race most if not all of the Nationwide races at the same time he was racing Cup - the extra seat time would likely have helped him a lot. I just hope they have patience with him and don't give up on him without giving him time to gain experience and develop.

Over the past few weeks it seemed like the #55 team and MWR had been making some progress - I hope the struggles in yesterday's race doesn't derail that progress.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2008

Vote for Steve Park for Camping World East Most Popular Driver

In the past I've not been a fan of the Most Popular Driver polls that Steve Park has been eligible for in the Nationwide and Truck Series because they were pretty much meaningless to anyone other than the fans voting in them and they also seemed to create a great deal of animosity between various fanbases who would accuse each other of cheating and other misdeeds in relation to the polls. However, this year Steve is eligible for a Most Popular Driver poll that the fans can vote on that actually means something. Fans can vote for Steve for Most Popular Driver of the Camping World East Series on Nascar.com. The winner of the MPD will be announced at the Camping World East Series banquet at the end of the year which means that it's pretty much a Nascar sanctioned poll like the Cup Series Most Popular Driver award (keep voting for Michael Waltrip #55 fans!). It would look really good for Steve to have him get this award in front of all his peers in the East Series and maybe get a little publicity for it too. It would probably also make his team and maybe most important, his sponsor pretty happy too.

In other Steve related news, he's racing tonight in the East Series race at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. Steve was second in the first practice and seventh in the second practice so it appears he has a pretty good car for the race. Hopefully qualifying will go well and he's start up front. Barring any mechanical issues or other things out of his control I expect another finish up front for Steve. Sure would love to see him in Victory Lane and especially at that track because it's one of his hometown tracks having lived in Connecticut for a while early in his racing career.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)

Obama Won't Sponsor the #49 After All

Turns out that Barack Obama won't be sponsoring the #49 at Pocono contrary to a report yesterday by SI.com. Apparently BAM Racing sent sponsorship proposals to each of the presidential candidates (including one third party candidate) but no agreements are in place with any of them to sponsor the car. Although a spokesperson for the Obama campaign has said they won't be sponsoring a car I wonder if they did give it some consideration - the SI reporter included some pretty detailed information in his article, including a date for a press conference to announce it. Seems to me that perhaps someone leaked the sponsorship idea to the media to see what the reaction would be - anyone who is the least bit familiar with Nascar could have told them this was a bad idea, and not just for Obama but for any candidate.

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

July 11, 2008

Denials Abound

Yesterday Yahoo! Sports reported that David Reutimann was expected to be named as the driver of the #45 at Petty Enterprises to replace Kyle Petty. Today David and PE both denied that rumor with David saying that Michael Waltrip Racing has an option on him for next season and that he expected to be back with them next season, and PE denying that they've talked to David. I don't consider Yahoo! Sports a particularly good source of information so they might be totally off-base with this rumor but on the other hand drivers and teams deny things all the time that eventually end up coming to pass. Usually drivers are contractually prohibited from talking to other teams while they're still under contract with their current teams. So to get around that problem they have a representative talk to teams on their behalf. Then, a driver can say they haven't talked to other teams and still be telling the truth - they haven't directly spoken with another team but indirectly, that's a different story. Usually teams are also careful about giving too much away about exactly who they might or might not be speaking with as well. So maybe David hasn't been speaking with other teams but with things seemingly still up in the air regarding whether he's going to have a sponsor for his car at MWR next season I wouldn't be surprised if he was exploring his options just in case things didn't work out for him at MWR.

In addition, as I mentioned in my entry yesterday there's also the possibility that MWR will decide to go in a different direction next season. I doubt that would be because they weren't happy with David's performance since I think he's done very well for them but a different driver might attract more interest from sponsors and MWR needs to do whatever they must to sign sponsors for next season. I just hope David's status for next season doesn't get dragged out until seemingly the last minute like last season. It took so long for the deal to be finalized that if things had fallen through David might have had a hard time finding another ride, particularly one that was in any way competitive.

The other thing that's been denied is the rumor that DEI is for sale. I never really thought there was anything to the rumor that Teresa Earnhardt wanted to sell DEI - why would she suddenly want to give up something that is a piece of and ties her to her late husband? What I do believe is that DEI might be exploring the idea of selling an ownership stake in the company to an outside investor like so many other organizations have done. It seems to me that would bring DEI a much needed influx of money that could help them become more competitive. It might also help them re-sign Martin Truex, Jr. who is said to want some assurances about the financial stability of DEI before he re-signs (if he re-signs). So I have to wonder whether someone affiliated with DEI is spreading the rumor that Teresa is selling of they're looking for outside investors as a way to make Truex think that they're giving serious consideration to improving the financial situation that the company's in.

Then there's Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who denied that he would have any interest in buying DEI if it were for sale. He said,

"I don't mean this in a bad way, but I would not have any interest in purchasing. I would not have any interest in purchasing any race team, just to have the ownership."

Well, that's curious because just last year Junior asked for a 51% ownership stake in DEI as one of the conditions for re-signing. So he would have wanted to buy it last year but not now? Let's just say that the company was actually for sale - although he and Teresa don't exactly see eye-to-eye at least now the company is still in the Earnhardt family. How would he feel about an owner who wasn't a member of the family? Or maybe Junior wasn't all that serious last year when he asked for 51% of DEI. Maybe he knew that his request would be denied and that would help give him a way to say that he was leaving DEI because he couldn't come to terms with Teresa for staying at DEI.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)

Obama to Sponsor #49 at Pocono?

SI.com is reporting that presidential candidate Barack Obama is in talks to be the primary sponsor for BAM Racing's #49 car at Pocono in August. Apparently individual donors to the Obama campaign will be able to get their names on the car for $100 and there will be a large fundraising event in Miami with several celebrities to raise additional money to pay for the sponsorship. Although it would be a one-race deal to start with, if it's successful there's the possibility that it would continue. Ken Schrader would be the driver of the car at Pocono.

I think this isn't a very well-thought out idea and I don't think much good is going to come out of this for Obama. Yes, sponsoring a race car does bring with it the potential of a lot of exposure but even though the car will be seen by lots of fans at the track, I question whether the #49 will get the kind of exposure for Obama to make the backlash worthwhile. For one thing Schrader will first have to qualify the car into the race but beyond that I have to wonder if this car will present a problem for Nascar's TV partners in terms of whether they'll have to give equal time to John McCain in some form if they show an Obama car.

A bigger issue is that the reality is that the majority of Nascar fans and those in the garage area are Rebublicans and fairly conservative. Is Obama really going to reach his target audience by sponsoring a car? Is there some sort of plan as to how he's going to appeal to Nascar fans in an effort to get their votes? One thing that isn't going to work and will likely work against him is that if this happens he'll be sponsoring a Toyota car. Regardless of the fact that more Toyotas are made in this country than cars from some American manufacturers, Toyota is perceived as a foreign company that doesn't belong in Nascar. There are more than a few fans who have a big problem with Toyota being a Japanese company. Why would Obama want to get in the middle of that? Why would he want to open himself up to criticism for sponsoring a "foreign" car? How is that going to gain him any votes?

Sometimes I wonder whether there's any Democrats among the drivers or others in the garage area. If there are they'd probably be afraid to say so out of fear of alienating their fans or their peers. Unfortunately politics (and religion) is a hot-button topic that can be very divisive which is why as much as I speak my mind I keep my opinions on politics and religion to myself for the most part publically, and especially around my fellow Nascar fans since some don't have a tremendous amount of tolerance for diversity of opinion.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud on XM (7/10)

Comedian Bill Engvall was the guest on last night's show which was pre-taped last week so there was no discussion of Daytona or anything else racing related that was current. I have to admit that I've never watched The Bill Engvall Show and I really don't know anything about him besides that he's friends with Michael. I guess he's a big-time comedian so I'm sure a lot of people were really excited about him being a guest but to me it was just some guy who is a comedian who they were talking to. So I also have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that there was to be no discussion of Daytona or anything much Michael or MWR related (and that will apparently be the case next week as well). That said, there were some interesting comments and observations because Bill was the grand marshal for the race at Michigan and he was paying close attention to what was going on around him.

One thing that Bill got to do was take a ride around the track with Wally Dallanbach - Bill said he thought his life was over. The g-forces were incredible and he was amazed by what the drivers deal with in a race based on the small taste of it that he experienced in his ride around. Michael said that he was glad that Bill brought that up and he went on to say something very interesting - when Bill gets on stage he exposes himself and puts himself out there. It's just him and after seeing him do his show people say they could never do what he does. However, with the drivers they aren't as exposed and it's not just them - they're in the car. Also, since everyone drives they think that everyone can race too. I think there's a lot of truth to what Michael said - fans can see exactly what Bill is doing or in other sports they can see the hitter at the plate in baseball or the player going for a jump shot in basketball. But in racing fans only see the cars not the people inside them so they don't realize how much physical and mental ability it takes for the drivers to race like they do. The reality is that as much as a lot of fans think they could jump into a car right this minute and have more success than some of the drivers who they think are lacking in talent, they would get a pretty big surprise - it's definitely not as easy as some drivers make it look.

During driver introductions Bill was standing on stage next to Bobby Allison and he made some observations about the young drivers that he found "depressing." He said that the drivers who have been around for a while are very cool but the young drivers have an attitude and that they didn't show any respect at all. Michael agreed with him and said that he tries to treat every fan and every moment like it's his last one - that's one reason why I like Michael so much is because he doesn't take racing in Nascar for granted. He realizes that he has a lot to be thankful for and that it could all go away in the blink of an eye. Michael then went into his rant again about how seemingly every driver besides himself whines about how hot it is in the new car. Meanwhile, it's a sporting event and it's going to get hot sometimes. Michael said that back in the day the drivers raced without insulation and technology, meaning that today's drivers don't know how good they got it, and that they did it because of how much they cared and how much passion they had for racing, so much so that they sacrificed their bodies and sometimes even their lives.

What absolutely astonished me is that Bill said that while all the older drivers acknowledged Bobby Allison (and presumably him as well) a lot of the younger drivers walked right on by. Bill said that you can't do that and that Bobby is the reason why they're there, meaning that he paved the way for them. I understand that by the time it gets to driver's introductions a lot of times the drivers are getting very focused on the race ahead of them. However, there's no excuse for not acknowledging the people who are on the stage during driver introductions whether it's the celebrity grand marshal, sponsor representatives, fans who have won a contest and especially a legendary driver like Bobby. It's completely disrespectful to walk by without even the smallest of acknowledgments. Of course every driver is going to have their good and bad days but I suspect some drivers don't have any idea why it's so important to show respect to everyone. Fact is, there's no telling when someone you encounter might end up being someone whose help you'll need down the road and especially when it's a legend in the sport like Bobby Allison. I think there's some drivers who think that they'll never need anyone's help that they'll always be at the top of their game and racing for a top-tier team but things can change very quickly in this sport.

The other topic that Bill brought up is something that I've complained about in the past - basically fans who behave badly. He told a story about how he signed for a crowd of people at a festival but how some guy screamed an insult at him because he wasn't able to sign an autograph for that man's daughter due to having to have to get off the stage so Leeann Rhimes could perform. Michael said that when he has to walk by a crowd of fans without signing it's because he has to be somewhere else whether it's because he has to be in the car or go to a meeting. Also, there are times that he rushes off because he needs time with his daughter (or for his personal life in general). I would also add that the reality is that the drivers have good days and bad days and sometimes they don't stop to sign because they aren't feeling good, aren't in a bad mood or their minds are elsewhere, same as happens to anyone else. There's a percentage of fans who simply aren't understanding of these things. Bill said that 90% of fans are great, but there's 10% of fans who are very vocal who aren't as great. Unfortunately I think the percentage of fans who are difficult might be even more than that. Yes, there are still more wonderful fans than there are fans who behave inappropriately, but it seems to me as time goes on the amount of fans with bad attitudes is on the increase.

I actually think that both issues, drivers with poor attitudes and fans with bad attitudes, comes from an inflated sense of entitlement. More and more people - and not just those that are young - seem to think that they're entitled to behave in any way that they choose, that everything should be exactly as they want it because they deserve to have everything they want, that they are deserving of the best without having to do much for it, and have a very hard time dealing with or accepting when things don't go their way. I think there's some general attitude problems in society as a whole that seem to be on the increase and that contributes to the things that Bill and Michael talked about on this show. It bothers me when some drivers - and not just the young ones - talk as if a top-tier ride should be handed to them because they deserve it without them having to do anything to earn it. (Anyone who has read this space for the past two or three years will know exactly who one of those drivers is that I'm referring to.) It also bothers me that some fans feel that they're entitled to not only have their favorite drivers do all sorts of things for them but also how no matter how much some drivers do it's never enough. Above all, it bothers me how little respect some have for each other - whether it's the drivers who ignore dignitaries on the stage or don't think much of their fans or the fans who don't have any respect for the drivers or their fellow fans in a variety of ways. I could speak at length on the entitlement issue but I think I'll end things here.

Apparently next week's show will be the second half of the conversation with Bill so it'll be interesting to see if they continue discussing some more about Bill's experiences at the track.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:05 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2008

Photo of the Day - Longwood Gardens

Posted by silverdsl at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

Tony Stewart To Haas-CNC Racing; Will Be Owner/Driver

There wasn't much of a surprise about what Tony Stewart would be announcing at his press conference this afternoon - as widely reported for quite some time Tony has acquired a 50% ownership stake in Haas-CNC Racing, which will be renamed Stewart-Haas Racing, and will race for that organization along with a yet unnamed second driver next season. Tony said,

“This is a once of a lifetime opportunity. I don’t think an offer like this has even been made to a driver in this series. This allows me to race competitively in NASCAR’s top division while carving out a place in this sport long after my driving career is over. I’ve won races and I’ve won championships and I know I could’ve continued to do that at Joe Gibbs Racing, but to attempt to do those things as a car owner is something that really appeals to me.There’s a whole new sense of appreciation and satisfaction that comes with success when you’re both a driver and an owner.”

While some think that Tony is out of his mind for leaving Joe Gibbs Racing where he's had so much success for Haas, I can understand why Tony would want to do it. The challenge of making Haas into a competitive organization has to has to have a lot of appeal for him but as he said there's an extra sense of satisfaction when the success in the form of strong results on the track come as both an owner and a driver. Tony will not only be putting in hard work behind the wheel but behind the scenes as well. There's also a sense of control that I can see appealing to Tony - although he won't have sole ownership of Stewart-Haas Racing he will have significant input into the decision-making. I applaud Tony for having the courage like Robby Gordon, Michael Waltrip and others to do something very risky that many would never even consider doing.

That said, I wonder if Tony is truly prepared for the challenges that are in front of him. There's no doubt that Stewart-Haas Racing will be a well-financed team which will help them to be competitive. I expect that they will hire good personnel and getting equipment from Hendrick Motorsports will be a help as well when it comes to trying to achieve success. Tony also has an advantage over Robby and Michael in that he's not starting his organization from scratch since there's already a infrastructure in place at Haas. However, Tony said in today's press conference that he's excited about going to Daytona next season and contending for the Daytona 500 in his own car. As Michael Waltrip found out last year, just because that's what you want to do and that's what you think you can do, doesn't mean that's going to happen.

The reality is that Haas hasn't contended for anything much less raced competitively for quite some time. I have no doubt that Tony joining the organization will make the organization much better next season but I have my doubts about them going from an organization with neither car in the top 35 to one that fields cars that contends for wins on a consistent basis. Progress takes time and sometimes even a lot of money can't make a team be competitive right away. Tony is a car owner in the World of Outlaws Series and he also owns a dirt track so he certainly has experience on the business side and with some of the issues that he'll face. But the same is true for Michael and Robby - they had experience going into what they took on and ownership on the Cup level still hasn't worked out so well for them so far.

The other issue for Tony is that he's going to have a lot to adjust to as a driver. For the past ten years he's had Greg Zippadelli as his crew chief and it's been reported that one of the conditions of him being granted an early release from his contract at Joe Gibbs Racing is that he can't take any current JGR employees with him. So that means he'll have to get used to working with a different crew chief and it may not be so easy to develop good communication and a good rapport with someone else, particularly considering how emotional Tony is. At least at first even if he hires the best over-the-wall- guys in the garage area there's going to be a period of time in which they have to get used to working with each other and with him. In addition, as much effort as is going to go into making the cars as competitive as possible right away that might not happen. Tony's not been happy this season because he hasn't won any races but at least he's raced up front in most races - how is he going to handle it if he has to race less than competitive cars next season?

There's probably a lot of mixed feelings for Tony's fans about this move. A lot of fans didn't want to see him leave JGR since he's had so much success for them over the years. However, many of his fans were extremely unhappy with JGR's move to Toyota, so much so that Tony lost fans when JGR announced they were switching manufacturers prior to this season. He will likely gain those fans back now that he's going to be a Chevy driver once more. But Tony's fans are used to him racing up front and contending for wins so not all of them are happy with the idea of him taking on the challenge of being a driver/owner and the possibility of Tony not racing competitively. While there are a lot of fans who support their driver no matter what they do, there are also some fans who don't stick around when their driver does something they don't agree with or isn't racing up front so it'll be interesting to see how Tony's fanbase reacts if he struggles at all next season.

Two things Tony didn't address in today's press conference is who the second driver for Stewart-Hass will be as well as who the sponsors of the cars will be. It's widely rumored that Ryan Newman will drive the second car and I suspect there's at least some discussion between Haas and Ryan, though Tony said that Scott Riggs who currently races for Haas hasn't been ruled out. I would be surprised if Scott is still with Haas next season though - I think Tony is going to be looking for a bigger name driver who has had more past success than Scott. As for sponsors it's been said that Office Depot and Old Spice will sponsor Tony with Jack Daniels leaving Richard Childress Racing to sponsor the second car. However, RCR today said that they have a contract with JD that goes through 2009 so unless there's some sort of "out" clause that JD can take advantage of it appears that rumor may not be true. I continue to wonder about whether Office Depot really is going to sponsor Tony in light of reports that their profits continue to take a major tumble - in light of that how can Office Deport afford to spend millions to sponsor Tony, even if they split the sponsorship with another company?

At any rate, all of this will likely continue to be a major topic of discussion for fans and the media for the rest of the season.

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

July 09, 2008

Peter Sospenzo to Become Crew Chief For Michael McDowell

Rumors continue to swirl about the future of Michael Waltrip Racing and its drivers but one change was confirmed today - Peter Sospenzo will take over as crew chief for Michael McDowell and the #00 starting at Indy. The current crew chief for the #00, Bill Pappas will become head of engineering for MWR. Sospenzo, who has also been a crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports and Penske Racing, said,

"Walking into Michael Waltrip Racing for the first time [Tuesday] night, I was surprised by how beautiful the facility is and how efficient the operation has become and I am really looking forward to working here. When I heard there may be a change, I started talking to Dr. Eric Warren and Cal Wells. I worked with Ryan Pemberton at Ginn Racing and stayed in touch with him. It's going to be nice to work with him again and also work with Bobby Kennedy."

I guess because of all those rumors, particularly as it relates to MWR's financial stability, even those in the garage area are surprised when they find a nice looking facility that's professionally run. I'm glad that MWR is making this change. Pappas is obviously an intelligent person if he's going to become head of engineering for MWR, and I have no doubt that he's a hard worker but I was never crazy about him as crew chief given his lack of experience with stock cars and especially since he was going to be paired with Michael McDowell who had very little experience in Nascar himself. So I'm glad that MWR is bringing someone on-board to work with McD who has a lot more experience as a crew chief in Cup and is very familiar and comfortable with Nascar overall. I suspect McD will still struggle as it's a lot to expect him to race up front against drivers who are much more experience but hopefully Sospenzo will be able to help make the #00 more competitive and help McD develop into a solid Cup driver.

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

Michael Waltrip Racing and Ganassi Racing to Merge?

I had been ignoring this article because it's mostly wild speculation regarding a breakfast meeting between Felix Sabates and Chip Ganassi from Ganassi Racing and Cal Wells and Rob Kauffman from Michael Waltrip Racing. At first it seemed to me that talk about a merger or partnership was completely ridiculous considering both organizations are with different manufacturers and in light of Felix Sabates's anti-Toyota remarks on XM last week. However, while I still think there's likely not much going on there other than a reporter connecting dots and starting rumors, the more I think about the more I'm warming to the idea of a Ganassi-MWR merger or partnership since there might be benefits to both organizations.

Of course the biggest roadblock is that Ganassi is with Dodge and MWR is with Toyota but teams do change manufacturers. I can see where MWR might be getting tired of some of the struggles that come with being with a manufacturer new to Cup which complicate their own struggles as a new organization and might find the idea of joining with an established manufacturer to be very appealing. I would think Dodge would certainly like having a driver/owner as good with sponsors as Michael is aligned with their brand. Or Ganassi could move to Toyota - in spite of Felix's comments on XM Ganassi has worked with Toyota on the open-wheel side.

I think the biggest reason why I started to think this isn't as much of a crazy idea as it seemed at first was when I saw someone note on one of the forums that a big benefit to these two organizations developing a relationship relates to sponsorship. Right now Ganassi only has sponsorship for two teams which is what led them to close the #40 and MWR is possibly in need of sponsorship for all three of their teams, but a merger could potentially give MWR/Ganassi sponsorship for four teams in the form of Target, Havoline, NAPA (assuming they re-sign with MWR) and Aaron's (if they step up to Cup from the Nationwide Series). The model for success in Cup is that bigger teams with three or more teams do better but the way things are looking now it might be difficult for either organization to field more than two teams but together they could potentially field three.

In addition, one of the problems for both of these teams that has prevented them from being more competitive is a lack of the same resources financially and otherwise as compared to the top-tier team. Both organizations have major sponsors but both likely don't have the money coming in that a Hendrick Motorsports or a Joe Gibbs Racing do which means that they don't have the same kind of funding available for equipment and personnel. Combining their resources would make them both stronger together than are separately in terms of having more money available from more sources, a deeper talent pool in terms of personnel and more physical resources in terms of equipment. Even though they've not been among the most successful organizations in the garage area, Ganassi also has years more experience in Cup than MWR does and I think the lack of experience is something that's hurt MWR in the past.

If the two organizations merged they'd have a solid driver line-up as well. Juan Pablo Montoya is a "name" driver who has shown he can win races in Cup. Michael McDowell is a promising young driver who would appeal to sponsors. Michael Waltrip is another "name" driver who also knows how to win on the Cup level and is outstanding with sponsors. Both David Reutimann and Reed Sorenson are free agents, and I think David is the better driver of the two, but if one of them didn't drive the 4th car there are other available drivers that Ganassi/Waltrip could possibly go with.

Odds are there isn't much going on besides some people in the garage area with common interests getting together for breakfast but it seems to me that maybe there's some intriguing possibilities there. I guess I'm just in favor of anything that makes it possible for MWR to survive and Michael himself to continue as owner and driver. My biggest problem with all of this is Felix Sabates's anti-Toyota comments - to me what he said about Toyota as a Japanese company having no respect for the American dollar or the American people are comments that are offensive and unacceptable. I have a hard time with MWR being affiliated with Toyota partnering with an organization that has an owner with that attitude.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:33 PM | Comments (0)

David Reutimann to Petty Enterprises?

I've not been paying more than casual attention to a lot of the silly season rumors that are making the rounds because a lot of them are likely not going to happen - Casey Mears for example can't possibly race the #12, #33 and an IRL car all at once, and some are just flatout ridiculous. However, I do pay slightly closer attention to some of the rumors that involve Michael Waltrip Racing. Like the one Yahoo! Sports is reporting, that David Reutimann may be announced soon as Kyle Petty's replacement in the #45 at Petty Enterprises. Although I take this rumor with a major grain of salt because this is the same writer that claimed that Bobby LaBonte racing for Richard Childress Racing in 2009 was a done deal and Bobby ended up re-signing with PE, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some truth to this rumor.

For one thing David's contract apparently runs out at the end of this season as does the contract that UPS has with MWR, and it's likely that UPS will opt to sign with another team for next season. Drivers who find themselves in that situation with no contract and with questions about sponsorship for their current car are going to look around at what other opportunities might be available to them. I can see David being very attractive to PE. He has a lot of talent behind the wheel, the #45 is going to be outside the top 35 in owner's points and he knows how to qualify for races and finish well enough to get the car into the top 35, plus he's fan-friendly and personable. David is an asset to MWR and he would be an asset to any other organization as well. PE may look attractive to David because Boston Ventures came on-board and they may have sponsorship lined up for the #45 but it's also possible that given his age he might not have many options other than PE or MWR in Cup since most teams are looking for drivers younger than him.

As much as I'd like David to stay at MWR if he left for PE it might solve some problems for MWR. The reality is that they don't have much, if any, sponsorship locked up for any of their three cars next season. If they don't have a driver or a sponsor for the #44 they could opt to go to just two cars in 2009. Although I think teams need to grown, not shrink if they're going to be successful, given the difficulties for all teams to find sponsors these days and the poor economy overall, combined with rising costs for things like fuel, MWR might be better off financially and otherwise with just two teams. It seems more realistic to think that they could re-sign NAPA and find a sponsor for the #00 than to have to nail down sponsorship for three teams.

The other thing to consider is that it's unknown what MWR's plan is regarding their driver line-up for next season. They may have told David that they'd like to go in a different direction with the #44. It's clear that Michael thinks highly of David and I think they will always be personal friends, but MWR is a business and they may need to make some difficult decisions to attract sponsors. The reality is that as terrific as David is he may not be as marketable as other drivers, he's viewed as somewhat "goofy" and his age may also be a factor for some sponsors. MWR may feel they might have better luck attracting sponsorship for that car with a younger driver or one who might have more appeal to a wider range of sponsors.

I would really like David to continue to race for MWR. I'm a big fan of his and I think he's been great for MWR. However, I also understand that David and MWR both have to make the decisions that they feel are in their best interest for the future. If David ends up at PE or another organization I'll still support him and cheer for him as much as ever.

The person I feel sorry for is Kyle if this rumor is true. He's hinted at times this season that he's being pushed out at his own family's organization and that he's not happy about it. While many think he should just retire because the results haven't been very good in recent years, Kyle has expressed that he still has the desire to race and would like to do so in the future even if it's not at PE. However, it might be hard for him to find another ride given the poor results but that might have as much to do with the #45 being non-competitive as anything else. It just seems to me that it must be difficult for a driver to not race to begin with and even harder if they aren't in control of the decision.

Another MWR related item mentioned in the Yahoo! column is that Michael McDowell is a candidate for the #12 at Penske Racing because he's fallen out of favor at MWR. I'm a little skeptical about that. For one thing Michael has always spoken very highly of McD, including recently but beyond that it seems to me that MWR is investing a lot of their own money in McD since they don't have full sponsorship for the #00 and it doesn't make sense to me that they would waste millions out of their (Rob Kauffman's) own pockets on a driver who had no future at the organization. It's certainly possible that something major happened behind the scenes that no one knows about but after less than a year it seems way too early to give up on a promising young driver. In addition, why would Penske go with McD over other available drivers like Casey Mears or David Stremme? Just doesn't make sense to me.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

Confirmed: Tony Stewart Will Leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the End of the Season

Today a rumor that some thought would never come to pass was confirmed as being true - Tony Stewart has been given a release from the last year of his contract and will leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of this season. There is a press conference scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at which it's expected that Stewart will confirm another long-rumored move - that he will buy a ownership stake in Haas-CNC Racing and will race one of that organization's two cars next season. Leaving JGR means that Stewart will have to find a new crew chief - apparently part of the conditions under which JGR granted Stewart's release is that he can't take anyone from that organization with him to Haas. Stewart has worked with Greg Zippadelli for the past ten years and working with a new crew chief will be a major adjustment for him but it's just one big change among many for him in 2009. JGR hasn't announced a replacement for Stewart in the #20 but it's widely thought that they'll opt to go with Joey Logano.

Although I have plenty of thoughts about all of this I'd rather wait until tomorrow after Stewart's press conference because I'd like to hear all of what he announces as well as his thoughts on his future before I comment at length.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2008

Martin Truex, Jr. Fined 150 Points; Kevin "Bono" Manion Suspended Six Races

Martin Truex, Jr.'s chances of making the Chase just got significantly harder. He's been penalized 150 driver points, his car owner Teresa Earnhardt 150 owner points and both his crew chief, Kevin "Bono" Manion, and car chief, Gary Putnam, have been suspended for six races each because the roof of the #1 didn't meet the templates during inspection last weekend at Daytona. In addition, Bono has been fined $100,000. Of course the team insists that the infraction was unintentional. DEI's excuse is that the templates they used in the shop to build the car off of was slightly off from the templates that Nascar uses at the track. Well, if that's the case why haven't other cars they've built using the templates at the shop failed too? John Story, DEI's general manager, said the other day on XM that the team knew when they built the car that it fit the templates very tightly and that actually made them happy because they thought they had build a car that fit Nascar's templates perfectly - as it turned out that definitely wasn't the case!

DEI hasn't decided yet whether to appeal but even if they do I don't think they'd win an appeal. There's no way for Nascar to know whether it was an honest mistake and the templates they have at the shop are truly slightly off or whether there was some intent to gain an advantage over other teams. So they just have to penalize based on the fact that there was a rules infraction, not what the intent might have been.

It's just very unfortunate for Truex - regardless of whether there was a deliberate attempt to get around the rules or not, he likely had no idea that his car didn't fit the templates until he found out that it had failed inspection. So because of the actions or mistakes of others he's going to end up dropping to 18th in points which likely takes him out of the Chase hunt.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:51 PM | Comments (0)

Nascar's Reasoning for Why Michael Waltrip Finished 27th at Daytona is Ridiculous

I'm not usually one of those fans who finds fault with everything that Nascar does. I understand that they have a tough job to do and that it's not always easy to run the races and enforce the rules. However, after hearing Ty Norris, Michael Waltrip Racing's Vice President and General Manager, as well as Michael Waltrip's spotter, talk about Nascar's explanation for the finishing order from Saturday's race, I have to say I don't agree with Nascar's thinking in relation to the finish of the race.

Ty said that as MWR understood the rules regarding what happens when the caution comes out on the white flag lap, everyone is locked into the position they're in at the time the caution comes out and you can't be passed. Apparently according to Nascar that's actually not the case. Michael had been 12 at the time the caution came out but he wasn't locked into that position. For one thing he got wrecked so he lost some spots because he had to come back down from the wall and then get going in the right direction. Once he did since the caution flag was out Michael got going at "reasonable speed" which was 30-40 mph. However, he ended up getting passed by four or five cars going 100 mph and instead of finishing 20th or 21st like Michael and his team thought they should have, he ended up being given 27th. Essentially for doing what he thought he was supposed to since the race was under caution he ended up losing positions for it.

Apparently Nascar's way of looking at it is that if a driver is involved in a last lap accident then they're given the position that they get when they get themselves going and blend back in with traffic coming to the checkers so Nascar gave cars that passed Michael on the apron positions. In addition, MWR also disputed the finish for the #00 because Michael McDowell got slowed down when the wreck happened like he thought he was supposed to but three or four cars went around him for position so McD lost position for not driving full speed into the wreck. Ty said that there were seven or eight teams that were arguing that their finishing position should have been different and Nascar gave them all the same explanation - everyone got the impression that when there's an accident on the last lap the drivers have to hustle through to save their positions since it's given to them based on where they blend into traffic. Nascar also admitted that it's a subjective call - they have all sorts of video and everything but nothing to tell them exactly who should be where in a situation like that where there's cars all over the place.

Ty also brought up the issue of reasonable speed - Michael had been going a reasonable caution speed but others who had slowed for the wrecked but weren't involved then sped up to 100 mph and to them that was a reasonable speed. So what exactly is reasonable speed - to each driver depending on their circumstances it might be something different. In addition, Ty said that Nascar told them that part of the field is locked in when the caution flies in that situation - those who are ahead of the wreck but those who are involved in the wreck or behind it don't have their positions frozen. He also said that their understanding was that the spirit of the rules was that you don't race back into the accident for safety reasons and to let the safety equipment get to the cars that are involved in the wreck but it's almost like Nascar is saying that when there's a white flag accident the drivers have to race back to the checkers, though that's wrong too. Ty emphasized that Nascar was consistent in their explanation to each of the seven or eight teams who felt they should be given a different finish than they got but that it perhaps wasn't consistent with the spirit of the rules as the teams had understood them to be prior.

While I understand that the way things played out on Saturday night on the last lap wasn't an easy situation for Nascar, I think their explanations to the teams is ridiculous. First of all, either the field is frozen at the time the caution comes out or it isn't. You can't have half the field keep their positions and half the field lose their positions. That really doesn't seem fair to the teams. But more importantly than that Nascar seems to be sending the message that when there's a wreck on the last lap that racing back to the checkers is not only acceptable, but a must if drivers want to keep their positions. That shouldn't be. Racing through a wreck presents a major safety issue, particularly to those drivers who were involved in the wreck and might not be able to get going as quickly as some of the other drivers are going or at all. I would assume that even with this in mind Nascar would still penalize a driver for racing full-speed back to the checkers under caution but it certainly seems like they're not only going to tolerate a certain degree of racing back under "reasonable speed" but they're also almost forcing the drivers to do it so they don't lose positions.

Of course all of this could have been avoided had Nascar thrown the caution when Jeff Gordon got spun. The race would have ended then with the same winner and with far fewer wrecked race cars - if I was one of the teams that got wrecked I wouldn't be too happy with Nascar for not throwing the caution for Gordon's spin. Nascar felt that Jeff was out of the way of traffic and was able to get going quick enough to where there was no danger to him or the other drivers if the race stayed green. However, I don't think that's an assumption that Nascar should have made. Sometimes crazy and unexpected things happen and when it comes to safety I think it's important that Nascar errs on the side of abundant caution.

Given how many green/white/checkers there's been this season and how many times it's resulted in a last lap wreck, I don't think this will be the last time this season that drivers will find themselves in this kind of a situation and I just hope that it doesn't play out in a disastrous way.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:20 AM | Comments (2)

July 07, 2008

Photo of the Day

Epcot, Walt Disney World, Florida, 2004.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Out Loud (7/3)

I'm a little late in getting my thoughts on last week's Michael Waltrip Out Loud up but better late than never...

I admit that I had a little bit of a hard time following some parts of this past week's show. Okay, yes I did have an adult beverage or two prior to listening to the show since I didn't have to work the next day but I swear they also jumped around from topic to topic rather quickly! From the sounds of it Michael and Tony were having a lot of fun doing this week's show - I actually wondered if they too had gotten into some adult beverages! Probably not but the show was very lively and entertaining. No, I really don't think that Tony's wet vac is going to be of much use to help with the floods in the Mid-West!

The best part of the show was the absolutely hysterical story that Michael told about his first visit to the grocery store for many years. He was having a cookout and he needed to get hamburger meat for 15 people, only problem is that he had no clue how much meat to get for that many people and was freaking out wondering how he's going to get his meat! He was figuring it was just going to be one big pile of meat so he thought it was the coolest thing when he discovered that hamburger meat comes in patties these days! I literally couldn't stop laughing picturing Michael, who has no fear going around the track in a big pack at high speed during races, all anxious about buying meat at the grocery store! That led me to picture Michael in all sorts of other unfamiliar circumstances that are routine to the average fan - doing the laundry, going to the dry cleaner's, etc... I suppose some might think Michael's not too swift for not knowing that hamburger meat comes in patties but the reality is that someone likely has always done the grocery shopping for him and his fellow drivers. Either they have a significant other who can shop for them or their motorcoach driver shops for what they need at the track in the coach or they might have a housekeeper, nanny or assistant who shops for them. So Michael probably isn't the only driver who might be a little thrown off by a trip to the grocery store!

The other two main topics for discussion was David "Reuty" Reutimann, who was the guest and the race at New Hampshire. As far as his second place finish at Loudon, Michael said when you finish second there's never any greater distance than between first and second. Of course to all of us fans we think finishing second is just about as good as a win but as competitive as Michael is (and all the other drivers) nothing less than a win is truly going to satisfy him! He thinks he's finished second more than any other four-time winner and proceeded to list some of those times such as his other 2nd place finish to Kurt in 2005, a time he finished second to Junior, etc... He thinks he's maybe finished second eight times which is twice as many times as he's won. In reality in looking up Michael's finishes unless I counted wrong Michael has finished second seven times including at New Hampshire.

He said that when you win it's huge. Second feels good and you're happy for the team, and happy to get the points but it's not the same as winning. Rain had nothing to do with why he finished second. He wished it hadn't rained so he could have shown the people who don't know, the people who think he finished second only because of the rain. In reality he finished second because of great strategy, great planning and because he had a great car! That is so true, and just like I said in my prior entry I really wish that more people than those of us who listen to Michael over his radio each week via Trackpass would know the reality of the way that he races, how hard he and his team work and that often the finish doesn't tell the whole story of the race for Michael and his team. The same is true for many of the teams I think. It must be really frustrating for Michael that people assume that the only reason he finished second is because of the rain and that he had no chance to beat Kurt if the race had re-started.

David talked about how his team and Michael Waltrip Racing as a whole have made slow gains, but that they are making progress. So Michael started talking about New Hampshire a year ago. He didn't have a garage because he was so low in the points and the car wouldn't do anything. So he ended up missing the race. He felt bad watching David struggle during that race a year ago. But things have changed since then. He forgets how much progress they've made. Because he's a competitor he wants to go from last to first. When the race was over this past Sunday he was happy not only with finishing second but the way they ran. They're definitely better this year than they were last year at this time!

Of course it's not just Michael who wants them to have immediate success - the fans do as well. A lot of fans don't have patience for the Michael and his teams struggle and they don't understand why MWR isn't racing up front with the Joe Gibbs Racing teams. It's something I find frustrating at times. There are things that I wish would get addressed but I also understand that it's not as easy as some think to resolve problems and race competitively. I think there are some in the media and elsewhere who also have higher expectations than they should for what the results for MWR and some other teams should be, even though anyone in the garage area should be aware of how hard it is to compete and build success, particularly for new teams, as well as smaller or independent teams that may not have the same resources, experience and personnel that an established team like JGR has.

There was an email question submitted that was perfect for David to answer which was in relation to the COT in the Nationwide Series. David said that from a driver's point of view he wishes that they'd leave it alone, that it's a good car now and he thinks that if it's not broke then don't fix it. In addition, he said it sounds like it'll be a huge hit for the teams on the economic side. (Which is likely why it appears Nascar may delay the Nationwide COT for at least a year). David added that doing what he's doing is his dream job and he's doing what he loves.

Tony made sure to remind everyone to vote for Michael for Directv Hotpass each week. Tony also mentioned that he was going to be working Jeff Burton's channel at Daytona to which Michael responded "it's all about you Tony, isn't it?" Little does Michael know that Tony had his own fanbase thanks to doing the XM show! Those folks appreciate knowing ahead of time what channel Tony will be on so they don't have to go looking for him.

For the second week in a row Michael let someone else pick the song they closed with so David got to pick the song (I missed which song it was). Michael said that David is this quiet guy who likes to rock. That cracked me up because the same is true with me - over the years a lot of people have been very surprised by the kind of music I like!

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

Random Thoughts on Daytona and Some Other Things

I only got to watch the last third or so of the race on Saturday night so I'm not going to do my usual driver-by-driver run down but a few thoughts about this past weekend's events at Daytona...

*J.J. Yeley and Scott Riggs failed to qualify for Saturday's Cup race. Yeley already didn't have much of a chance of getting back into the top 35 in owner's points but Riggs still had a very good chance of being able to race his way back in since he was only out by a few points. Not anymore. It's not impossible for them to make it back in, particularly if other teams on the bubble continue to race poorly but it won't be easy, particularly since they're racing with a great deal of uncertainly about what the future might hold in light of the rumors that are circulating about Tony Stewart buying into Haas-CNC Racing.

*Kyle Busch won his sixth race of the season and once more there were re-newed cries that Nascar needs to do something about Toyota's "advantage." Just exactly what kind of a horsepower or other advantage can Toyota possibly have if only the Joe Gibbs Racing cars are the ones that regularly race up front and contend for wins? Sure, the Red Bull Racing cars have been more competitive but neither of their cars have ended up in Victory Lane this season, and the other Toyota teams seem to still be trying to get a handle on the COT. JGR was already a strong organization that fielded competitive cars and it has to be expected that they're going to continue to race up front. A big reason for JGR's success this season is Busch's talent behind the wheel - that's Toyota's advantage right now. I don't think it's too likely that Nascar is going to park Busch because he's too good and wins too many races as compared to the competition as much as a lot of fans might like that to happen.

*I have no doubt that Tony Stewart was feeling pretty sick when he turned his car over mid-race to J.J. Yeley. But I'm a little puzzled by his decision to get out of the car. In the past we've seen Stewart not let illness get the best of him - his win at Watkins Glen in 2005 in spite of having a stomach virus is the best example of that - and in general drivers are very reluctant to get out of the car even when they aren't feeling well or are feeling pain from an injury. So it's a little curious to me that Stewart opted to get out on Saturday and particularly when he appeared to have a competitive car. I was also surprised to find out that Stewart spent some time on top of the pit box after he got out of the car. I would have thought that if he was so sick that he had to ask for a relief driver that he would have felt the need to go to the in-field care center for an I.V. of fluids immediately. I have to wonder if this is yet another sign that Stewart's time at JGR is coming to an end and that if he thought he was going to be in the car past this season he might have been more willing to tough it out and stay in the car.

*There's been a lot of Silly Season rumors making the rounds the past week or so such as the rumor that John Menard might be looking to take the Menard's sponsorship and presumably his son, Paul, from DEI to another organization. However, a lot of these rumors come from Mike Mulhern columns and it's hard to take anything Mulhern reports seriously since so much of it often turns out to be fiction. I guess his newspaper loves the hits they get on their website because of what he writes but his reputation among fans - and even some of his colleagues in the media - has gotten so bad that you'd think that his editors would encourage him to work on the accuracy of what he reports.

*Another reporter under some scrutiny lately is Bob Dillner. Apparently he made some comments during a radio appearance that some found offensive. Dillner joked that the hosts were "limp-wristed" in reference to their choice of music and also referred to woman as "broads." The feeling was that those comments were extremely inappropriate in light of the Marcia Grant lawsuit. I'm usually the first to point out when someone should have used a better choice of words but I think it's a stretch to say that Dillner did anything inappropriate in this instance. People need to be able to joke around and that's what Dillner was doing. It's important to note that the two reporters who wrote blog entries critical of Dillner for his comments have both been in disputes with him. In light of that I have to wonder if they would have even given a second thought to those comments if someone else had said them. I'm no fan of Dillner - when he claimed that Jeff Burton's team was cheating and then provided no proof of his allegations or even a source as to where the information came from was terrible reporting - but in this instance I think some are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

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

Disappointment at Daytona for Michael Waltrip

Coming off a second place finish at Loudon the week before, Michael Waltrip headed to Daytona with high hopes for being able to race up front and contend for the win on Saturday night. However, that was not to be. Michael's car was a piece of junk and he was extremely unhappy about it. In spite of how bad his car was he raced it into the top ten at the end of the race, only to end up with a wrecked race car when he got caught up in a multi-car wreck on the last lap. Michael was credited with a 27th place finish and that's a shame because it doesn't properly reflect what Michael did on Saturday. Putting that car up front at the end of the race was amazing considering how Michael said he had "nothing" to race with - that was all driver and speaks to Michael's ability not only at Daytona but overall as a driver that he was able to get that much out of such a non-competitive car. Michael was determined to get a good finish and he did everything he could to try to make it happen! It's very unfortunate that unless someone was listening to Michael's radio that night they would have no idea of the amount of effort that Michael put into racing that car and trying to get the best finish he possibly could with such a poor car.

I'm bothered by the way the end of the race played out especially since it resulted in a wrecked race car for Michael. I don't understand why Nascar didn't throw the caution for Jeff Gordon's spin. Had they thrown the caution there the race would have ended under caution - with the same winner - and there would have been a lot less wrecked race cars. It seems to me that if they're going to throw the caution earlier in the race for Ryan Newman's single-car spin then they should also throw the caution for Jeff's spin. Sure, he might have been out of the way but there's a variety of "what if" scenarios that might not have played out so well. The whole point of a caution is to ensure the safety of the competitors and to me it seemed like Nascar was more concerned with the race finishing dramatically under green as opposed to erring on the side of caution. This isn't the first time this season that Nascar hasn't thrown the caution for late-race spins and I don't like it - it may seem like a driver's going to be able to get going and stay out of the way of the other cars when they come around again but what if they don't?

The other thing I don't understand is why if the field is frozen when the caution comes out how a number of cars were able to pass Michael for position under the caution? Yes, he was involved in the wreck but if they went back to the video or the loops to determine that Kyle Busch was ahead of Carl Edwards when the caution flew then wouldn't the rest of the field be given the positions they were in at that point as well? Michael and his team seemed confused about this as well since Michael asked over the radio what happened to reasonable speed and how they needed to go to the Nascar trailer to lobby for why they should be given some positions back. This isn't the first time that I've wondering how drivers gain positions at the end of a race under caution. I may very well be missing something key as to why this happens but it seems to me that in that situation it's almost as if the drivers are racing back to the caution something that I thought they weren't supposed to do. Of course that Michael was involved in the wreck is likely a factor but it's just puzzling to me how the field could possibly be frozen if drivers are still able to pass each other for position.

Naturally fans are trying to figure out which driver was to blame for the big wreck but I don't think there's any one driver who is to blame. In that situation every driver is racing as hard as they can to gain as much as they can in a short period of time and as result they're bouncing off of each other in a big jumble. I got the feeling that Michael sensed that a big wreck was about to happen and backed off a little but he got swept up in it anyway. It's almost inevitable on a track like that and really under green/white/checkers anywhere that there's going to be a wreck coming to the checked flag. Maybe Nascar thinks that's what most fans want to see but I don't. I would much rather have seen Michael continue to work his magic and get the finished he deserved rather than end up with a torn up car.

The other thing that bothers me about this race is that none of the Michael Waltrip Racing cars seemed to be very good at this track. David Reutimann's issue was a loose plug wire which is likely not a MWR issue since TRD provides all the engines to MWR - his lead lap finish was only possible because he got the lucky dog an amazing four or five times. But none of the MWR cars really seemed to have much and Michael's was certainly horrible. Michael had a good chance of winning Talladega only to have his engine give up the ghost so I'm sure he came to Daytona very motivated to have things play out differently - it had to have been a huge disappointment to have such a poor car. The expectation by NAPA Auto Parts and Michael's other sponsors is that Michael is going to race up front and contend for wins at restrictor plate tracks, and it's not a good thing in light of the need to re-sign those sponsors that he didn't race up front at one of his best tracks. Knowing that this track presents one of MWR's best chances for a win I think it should have been a priority to make sure they came to the track with a competitive car. I'm not saying that everyone at MWR didn't work hard or put effort into preparing the cars for this weekend, just that of all the tracks that they go to MWR should be on their game even more at restrictor plate tracks because their chances for success and strong finishes are even better than at other tracks thanks to Michael's skill at these kinds of tracks.

Overall, the #55 team had seemed to make some gains over the past few races even if the results didn't fully reflect it. Michael had decent cars to race at Michigan, Sonoma and Loudon, and everything came together in the right way in terms of strategy so that Michael was able to finish second at New Hampshire. Had he not gotten wrecked Michael might have gotten a decent race so I don't want to say that no momentum carried over - Michael was certainly determined to finish up front. I just hope that Daytona doesn't signal a return to slow and ill-handling cars. MWR has made a ton of progress since last season - all three cars are in the top 35 and made every single race since the start of the season. Although the results haven't been all that great there's been less mechanical issues and as noted, lately they've seemed to be on the right track in terms of getting a better handle on the COT. So I very hope that progress continues.

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

July 06, 2008

Photo of the Day - Longwood Gardens

Posted by silverdsl at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2008

Mark Martin Will Race the #5 For HMS in 2009

In a news conference today it was made official that Mark Martin will race the #5 for Hendrick Motorsports full-time in 2009. The following season Martin will go back to a part-time schedule like he's done the past few seasons for Ginn Racing and DEI, sharing time in the #5 with an as yet to be named young driver, likely either Brad Keselowski or Landon Cassill. Apparently Martin's first choice when he found out that there was no longer going to be a ride for him at DEI due to that organization's desire to have Aric Almirola race full-time, he looked for another part-time ride but there was nothing available that was competitive. The #5 is an opportunity for Martin to not only race up front but contend for wins.

There are more than a few fans who don't like it that Martin announced his retirement a few years ago and not only has continued to race but is now going to be doing so full-time. At first I didn't care for Martin un-retiring either since there had been such a huge fuss made over his retirement with all sorts of merchandise. But I've since come to think that there really isn't anything wrong with what Martin is doing. For one thing it's hard for a competitor to walk away and I'd think even more so when they're still racing well like Martin. Also, Martin is entitled to change his mind as his situation changes - his son deciding he doesn't want to race any more changed a lot of things for Martin. Above all Martin needs to do what's best for himself, not what the fans think he should do.

What's interesting about this is that it shows that for some drivers age doesn't matter - Martin is 49 but neither Kellogg's nor HMS had any qualms about having him race the #5. Although the 4th car at HMS has never enjoyed the success that the other three cars have, Martin will still get some very competitive cars to race. I would expect Martin will be a strong candidate for the Chase next season.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/4)

*Robby Gordon and Camping World have settled their lawsuit. Gordon had alleged that Camping World broke an agreement to sponsor four races for $800,000, money that Robby Gordon Motorsports is in desperate need of. Apparently the suit was settled just before the Sonoma race which is likely why the Camping World logos appeared on the #7 at Sonoma and also at New Hampshire. I would think that RGM must be getting some money from them as part of the settlement so that helps the organization in the short-term but getting sued isn't likely to convince a sponsor to stick around so in the long-term Gordon will probably need to find another sponsor for next season to take Camping World's place.

*NFL star Randy Moss from the New England Patriots has bought 50% ownership in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, which will be renamed Randy Moss Motorsports. Although the team need to secure sponsorship, Willie Allen will race for the team at Kentucky. Moss is wise to invest in a truck team. Although it's just as difficult to be competitive in the Truck Series as it is in the Nationwide or Cup Series, the costs from sponsorship to fielding a team are less. Of course that means the potential return on his investment is also less but the risk is probably less than looking to invest in a Nationwide or Cup team at a time when the economy has made it very tough going for all the teams. Moss was also smart to buy into an existing team instead of trying to start a completely new team from scratch on his own. Moss is used to a lot of success in the NFL so he may need to show some more patience in Nascar where racing competitively and winning races isn't easy given the level of competition.

*Mike Skinner has finished in the top ten in ten out twelve races so far this season with his only two poor finishes coming at Daytona when he wrecked and at Martinsville when he ran out of fuel two laps from the end. Many teams would be very happy if they consistently raced up front that much. However, given that Skinner had already won three races by this point last season, those results are apparently considered a disappointment since Jeff Hensley, Skinner's crew chief for more than three years has been replaced. I find it a little curious that this move was made. For one thing Skinner and Hensley have enjoyed quite a bit of success together including eight wins and 26 poles. Is Joe Lax, who most recently was the crew chief on Bill Davis Racing's now-defunct ARCA team really going to be an improvement? Perhaps the issue is that Skinner isn't all that happy that his teammate Johnny Benson, has already won a race and is higher in the points than he is, but Skinner has actually raced more consistently than Benson. Just seems strange for there to be a shake-up with this team. With how often they race up front it would seem to me that they would win a race or maybe several races sooner rather than later. Now Skinner and his team will have to get used to working with a new crew chief something that might not be as smooth of a transition as they would like considering how long Hensley was on top of the pit box.

*There continues to be rumors circulating about Tony Stewart buying into Haas-CNC, what his potential sponsors might be and who his second driver might be. Supposedly an announcement could come as soon as at Indy and that the only hold-up is Stewart getting out of his current contract at Joe Gibbs Racing. I think this needs to be resolved as quickly as possible for quite a few reasons. Other teams that are negotiating with the same sponsors that Stewart is need to know whether theyneed to explore other avenues for sponsorship, drivers who might be effected like Scott Riggs need to know so they can make their plans for next season and a team like Penske Racing who might need a driver for the #12 need to be able to move forward as well. So I'm hoping that any negotiations that need to take place between Stewart and JGR, which are likely about how much money it's going to take to buy out the final year of his contract get done sooner rather than later. I don't see any way that JGR could hold Stewart to his contract if he wants to leave so badly.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

Nascar Seizes #1 Car, Truex Unhappy

Looks like there's a good chance that Martin Truex, Jr's hopes of making the Chase just got a lot harder after Nascar confiscated the #1 car after it failed inspection on Thursday because the roof didn't fit the templates. Apparently the areodynamics of the car could be effected by modifications to the roof so I would expect that the team may receive a harsh penalty next week. Of course the team claimed that the infraction was accidental. John Story, DEI's vice president of motorsports said,

“Certainly it was nothing intentional. It fit our templates at the shop; it just didn’t fit NASCAR’s templates here, apparently... The templates the teams have in the shop and the templates that are here [at the track], they have a slight, slight difference.”

So if there's differences, however slight they might be, between the templates the teams have at their shops and the templates that Nascar uses at the track during inspection, how come there aren't cars failing inspection on a regular basis? I believe Nascar does give teams the opportunity to work on the car if it doesn't pass an initial inspection due to a template violation so perhaps that's their way of taking the differences between the two templates into account, but it seems to me that there would be a lot more cars being seized if there really was such a difference between the two templates. In addition, why would Nascar give the teams templates that are different? It seems to me that they would want to do everything to make sure the teams are in compliance before they get to the track.

Truex was not pleased that his car got taken by Nascar which resulted in him missing practice. He said,

“Somebody made a big mistake. That shouldn’t happen at this level of auto racing, but people make mistakes. We’ll go on. Hopefully we’ll make the second practice.”

It's true that the car not fitting the template to the point where the team couldn't resolve the issue so that it would pass inspection and the car ended up getting taken by Nascar is a pretty big mistake. However, even on this level of racing mistakes do indeed happen. Truex has surely made costly mistakes himself. I can understand why he's not happy but it might be nice if he stood by his team and kept his feelings to himself. There are rumors that Truex is on the verge of leaving DEI for another team at the end of this season and that he's venting his frustrations publically like this makes me think there might be some truth there.

Odds are Truex will lose 100 driver points at least (and the team will likely lose 100-150 owners points, plus there will likely be fines and a suspension for Kevin "Bono" Manion). That's going to cause him to lose four or five spots in the overall points standings and would likely end his chances of making the Chase this season. The only way that Truex will be able to make up those points is by going on a major tear and winning some races but to do that he's going to have to make sure he's on the same page as his team and given his comments I'm not so sure he is.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/2)

*Nascar has fined JR Motorsports crew chief Chad Walter $10,000 for use of "improper" language during a TV interview that took place during the Nationwide race at New Hampshire this past weekend. Apparently Walter said "shit happens." In addition, the team will lose 25 owner points and Landon Cassill will lose 25 driver points.Nascar wants everyone in the garage area to be professional in their TV interviews and they also don't want to run the risk of the FCC handing out fines so I can understand their reasoning in giving out penalties for cursing on TV. However, I think the only one that should be penalized is the person who says the offending words. Cassill has no control over what his crew chief says in an interview so I think it's ridiculous that he's being punished for something someone else said.

*Yesterday it was confirmed that Aric Almirola will race the #8 for DEI full-time next season. Aside from the fact that DEI believes he's ready to race the full season, it sounds like sponsorship may play a role in this decision. Almirola is Cuban and apparently that makes him attractive to some sponsors who are looking to market to a diverse audience. Although there had been rumors that the U.S. Army was looking to move to another organization next season Almirola indicated in an interview on XM yesterday that DEI was continuing to talk with the Army and that there was a good chance they would stay on as his sponsor for next season.

*DEI has fielded ARCA cars for him in the past, but for the first time in his career Kerry Earnhardt is going to make an appearance in a DEI car on one of Nascar's highest levels when he attempts to qualify for the Nationwide race at Daytona this weekend in the #8. Earnhardt started working for DEI behind-the-scenes last year and from what he said at that time it didn't sound like we'd be seeing much of him on the track again. I wonder why DEI suddenly decided to field a car for him now?

*Nascar may amend the testing policy to allow teams to test at any track they want, anytime they want. I really hope Nascar doesn't go that route. One reason for restricting where the teams could test was to cut costs for teams and to try to help some of the smaller teams with less resources keep pace with the larger, well-funded teams. I don't think it helped any. If Nascar allows "wide-open" testing as they call it, the divide between the big teams and the small teams will only grow larger. For one thing, every time a team goes to test it costs money. Sometimes there's a track rental fee but there's always costs associated with travel, meal money, and other expenses. Large well-funded teams like Joe Gibbs Racing or Hendrick Motorsports could afford to test every single week at every single track whereas smaller teams with less financial support like the Wood Brothers or Robby Gordon Motorsports would have a hard time being able to afford testing as much as the bigger teams. That would put the smaller teams at an even greater disadvantage. Michael Waltrip had a great idea on This Week in Nascar the other night in which he suggested that the tracks open up a day early and that the teams be allowed to test on that day. It would cut down on some of the extra costs since the teams have to travel to the tracks anyway. All I know is that it's essential for Nascar to work with the teams to find ways to help the smaller teams survive and to cut costs overall.

*Speaking of Robby Gordon very abruptly closed Robby's Uprising, a social networking site specifically for his fans. Not only were fans able to have profiles, blogs, upload photos and interact with other fans via a forum, members of Robby's team posted news, information, videos, photos and responded to posts. Many of the members were some of the most dedicated when it came to voting for Robby for the All-Star race and when he needed vocal fan support when he was challenging Nascar's penalty for the illegal nose at the start of the season. Yet without any warning at all the site was taken down completely, with links to it removed from Robby's own site, and no explanation as of yet has been given to anyone. From what I understand there was some drama and negativity, especially recently as things haven't gone well on the track for Robby but those things have to be expected. It's surprising that a driver who hasn't seemed to ever care in the past what people thought about him would suddenly care now what fans were saying, unless there was some concern that posts there might negatively influence potential sponsors. A lot of fans scoff at the thought that anything that they post could matter but the reality is that while companies don't use fan forums or blogs as the sole way to make decisions they definitely do actively seek fan opinions and consider them in the decision-making process. After alll, fans are who they are trying to reach when they sponsor a car.

The other thought I had was whether there was a cost issue. Although Robby's Uprising was outsourced to a company/site that specialized in hosting social networking sites, there likely were some expenses - I would guess that with as many photos and videos they had they were paying for extra bandwidth and that can get expensive. There could also be a cost associated with personnel who were working on the site. Unfortunately for RGM they don't have a lot of extra money these days and while I'd think that the money they spent on Robby's Uprising wouldn't make much of a difference in the budget it's possible that they have to cut costs anywhere they can. It just seems like a curious move from a driver who has always been exceptionally fan-friendly, and particularly to take the site down without any warning or explanation.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2008

Photo of the Day - Grounds for Sculpture

Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ

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

Unbelievable Comment From Felix Sabates About Toyota

This evening Claire B. Lang had Felix Sabates, from Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates on her XM show to talk about the closing of the #40 team. He had plenty to say about that including about how dire the situation is in Nascar in relation to sponsorship because of the poor economy. However, what got my attention the most is what he said about Toyota. Sabates started out by saying that he didn't think Toyota coming into the sport was a good thing, that they could pour an endless amount of money into their teams (something that's be refuted many times by everyone associated with Toyota). But it's what he said next that was really shocking he said that (paraphrasing) Toyota is a Japanese company with no respect for the American dollar and no respect for the American people. How is this an acceptable statement for a team owner to make in an interview? At no time did Sabates cite any examples as to why it was his opinion that Toyota has no respect for the American dollar or the American people, simply stated it as if that they are a Japanese company is proof enough that they have no respect for anything American. That's the kind of statement that I'd expect to hear from the segment of fans who are ill-informed with backwards attitudes, not from a team owner who has been involved in the sport for years.

Sabates said that Coors had promised them last year that they would continue sponsoring the #40 though at least 2009 then informed them in October that they had changed their minds and that they were going to sponsor the Pole Award. That left Ganassi scrambling to find a sponsor for the car for 2008. They figured that putting Dario Franchitti in the car might attract sponsors but that didn't help. So without a sponsor they had no choice but to shut the car down because they were spending as much as $1 million a week of their own money to field the car. I guess Sabates is looking for someone to blame but it's not Toyota's fault that Coors decided to go a different route. Sabates painted a very dire picture of the situation regarding sponsors in the sport due to the poor economy - that's not Toyota's fault either.

There's so much more I could say on this topic but I just won't.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)

Ganassi Racing Shuts Down #40 Team Effective Immediately

Effective immediately Chip Ganassi Racing has shut down the #40 team. A lack of sponsorship and "no money" was cited as the reason why. In addition to driver Dario Franchitti being out of a ride, Jayski is reporting that he's heard that an additional 70 employees may have lost their jobs at Ganassi as a result. My guess is that most fans are going to write this off as Ganassi being a sinking ship that's mis-managed and that it's partially Franchitti's fault for not finishing better. However, this speaks to deeper issues in the sport and should be a major wake-up call to anyone in the garage area who has their heads in the sand about the effect that the poor economy might have on the sport.

Although Franchitti is new to Nascar he's a "name" driver with a super-star wife. Yet Ganassi was unable to find a primary sponsor for him. If Ganassi is having trouble finding sponsors for one of their cars with a "name" driver what does it say about the chances for smaller teams with more anonymous drivers to find primary sponsors? In addition, Ganassi has always been thought of as a well-funded organization with a lot of resources but they're not able to afford to continue to field this team without sponsorship. If Ganassi can't field the #40 without sponsorship how long is Yates Racing going to be able to continue to field the #29 and #38 without sponsorship?

The fact of the matter is that the poor economy means that sponsors are thinking twice about their involvement in the sport. Companies are re-thinking what the best use of their marketing and advertising dollars are and spending $20-25 million on sponsoring a car might not make sense given the current state of the economy anymore. I think some fans think that the difficulties in finding sponsors are only for teams that aren't racing well like the #40, the Michael Waltrip Racing teams or Robby Gordon Motorsports but both of those Yates teams are firmly in the top 35 in owner's points and while they might not race up front every week they're shown they can be competitive. In addition, there are top-tier teams like Roush-Fenway Racing and Penske Racing who are still looking for sponsors for next season. Also, the problem may get worse as time goes on - many of the teams are in the midst of multi-year deals with their current sponsors but if the economy continues in the direction that it's going in some of those companies may opt not to renew their deals. What companies are going to replace them? And if Ganassi can't afford to keep the #40 team going without sponsorship other organizations might not be able to either.

The other issue to consider is that the rise in fuel costs is causing costs to rise considerably not just in terms of fans getting to the races but also for the teams. Obviously travel expenses are going up tremendously but likely a lot of the vendors that the teams use for various things are also increasing their prices as well. Some teams may have the ability to absorb those costs but there are teams that are already struggling - where are they going to get the money to pay for everything if costs continue to rise?

As I mentioned above I think a lot of fans think that if teams have financial issues it's because of mis-management but teams can do everything right and still struggle financially and otherwise. In addition, there are fans who celebrate when these teams struggle or shut down because some fans believe that these teams deserve the problems that they're experiencing for a variety of reasons. But those fans are looking at things in a very short-sighted way. It's not just a matter of a car that isn't on the track anymore. There are people who lose their jobs, vendors who get less business, disappointed fans who might not be able to see their driver race anymore, dreams that are dashed and so many other effects of a team closing it's doors. There is nothing good about a team shutting down - nothing.

I have to wonder what the long-term future is for Ganassi Racing. Although the overall performance hasn't been horrible they've not been among the better organizations in the garage area for a while. Organizations usually want to grow, not shrink. It may be very hard for them to bring that third team back and that could make things even more difficult for them on the performance side. In addition, Juan Pablo Montoya hasn't been happy this season and Reed Sorenson isn't signed for next season. Overall the results haven't been very impressive for them this season and I have a feeling that things aren't going to get better for Ganassi anytime in the near future.

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