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July 27, 2009
NASCAR Didn't Screw Juan Pablo Montoya
As someone who is a fan of Juan Pablo Montoya, I would have loved to have seen him win yesterday's race at Indy, particularly since he had dominated the majority of the race. I was both shocked and extremely disappointed when he was given a penalty for speeding on pit road but unlike a lot of fans I'm not angry at NASCAR nor do I believe in any of the many conspiracy theories currently making the rounds about how NASCAR created the pit road speeding penalty because they didn't want JPM to win.
The speeding penalties are determined by a computer not by a person and there's no judgment call involved as to whether a driver was speeding or not. According to Dave Moody from Sirius on his Facebook page after the race the teams can even see a computer printout to see how much they were speeding by. So if NASCAR says that JPM was speeding than he was no matter how hard it is to believe that a driver who is that close to a win wouldn't be extra-careful on pit road to be sure they are within the speed limit set by NASCAR.
Some fans believe that NASCAR didn't want JPM to win because he's from Columbia and they didn't want a foreigner winning at The Brickyard. Or that they wanted to give the win to a Hendrick Motorsports driver. Or that they just don't like JPM for some reason. All nonsense. NASCAR would have loved to have seen JPM win that race. For one thing it would have been a historical win because JPM would have become the first driver to have won both the Indy 500 and what's now known as the Allstate 400. That's the kind of positive publicity and attention that they very much need after so much negative coverage about Jeremy Mayfield and drugs. In addition, JPM's win would be popular with the Hispanic audience, a demographic that NASCAR surely wants to have further appeal to.
What may be fueling some of the conspiracy theorists other than that there are a disturbingly large amount of fans these days who seize on any opportunity to try to portray the sport in a negative light is that JPM was insistent when he was first busted for speeding that he wasn't. And given that he said that there were green lights on in his car which told him that he was within the parameters he had to be in, perhaps he truly though that he wasn't speeding - I think it was Felix Sabates who brought up the possibility that something was wrong with the car. But beyond that few drivers are going to admit to having done what they're accused of doing if they have as much to lose as JPM did and they're hoping to convince NASCAR to reconsider. What impressed me is that during his post-race interview JPM was surely still very upset but he handled himself extremely well and didn't rip into NASCAR. He acknowledged that if they said he was speeding he was and calmly talked about how he felt about it. Other team officials including his crew chief Brian Pattie accepted that he was speeding as well.
So my question is, if JPM and his team can accept that he was speeding then why can't fans?
Posted by silverdsl at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2009
DeWalt Won't Renew Sponsorship of Matt Kenseth
Today it was announced that after ten seasons of sponsoring Matt Kenseth, DeWalt was not only going to not renew their sponsorship, they were also leaving NASCAR completely at the end of this season. Many are shocked but I can't say I'm surprised. Aside from the obvious issues related to the economy that are effecting most sponsors and one that's involved in the construction industry in particular, some sponsors may also be wondering if they're really getting enough value from their sponsorships in light of the decline in ticket sales and TV ratings and the overall unhappiness of many fans when it comes to the state of the sport. It may be hard to justify spending millions of dollars in a difficult economy if they aren't going to be able to reach as much of their target audience as they might have in the past.
That a top organization like Roush and a successful driver like Kenseth is losing sponsorship - and especially in light of how closely aligned Kenseth and DeWalt are - doesn't bode well. Clearly sponsorship woes aren't just limited to non-competitive teams with issues that don't often race up front - Kenseth won 18 races for DeWalt including this year's Daytona 500 as well as a Championship with them. If that kind of success isn't enough to keep a sponsor then what is? I think this makes the fact that Michael Waltrip Racing was able to re-sign NAPA Auto Parts to a multi-year deal all the more impressive given that it's clearly extremely challenging for even the best teams to find and keep sponsorship.
The question now becomes what does this mean for Kenseth and Roush? It's well-known that Roush has to eliminate a team at the end of this season. Odds are that even though Kenseth has lost his sponsor he's not going to lose his ride so it's likely that unless Roush finds an outside sponsor for the #17, sponsorship from one of the other Roush teams will move to Kenseth. While David Ragan's performance has been extremely poor this season, it doesn't seem likely to me that UPS would want to drop him after just one season particularly since they spent money on commercials with him. While UPS could shift with Ragan to Yates Racing, I have to wonder if Crown Royal is going to move over to the #17 and Jamie McMurray is going to find himself as the odd man out as has been heavily rumored.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
Stop the Insanity!
One reason I haven't had much to say in this space for a couple of weeks is not only that last weekend was an off-weekend for the Cup Series but also that much of the news these days when it comes to NASCAR is dominated by Jeremy Mayfield and it's really tiresome to keep doing entry after entry about the circus this has become. The latest nonsense from Mayfield that comes from an interview he did with Dave Rodman from nascar.com is a prime example of why I have no desire to keep hearing from and about Mayfield - I literally laughed out loud when I read his comments. I have no idea how and why his legal team keeps letting him make such ridiculous and delusional statements as compared to virtually every other team of attorneys who tell their clients to keep their mouths shut lest they say something that might damage their case.
Mayfield claims he has a major sponsor who is ready and willing to sponsor him and that it's only a matter of time before he's back racing, this after just last week saying that he knows his career in NASCAR is done. I find it very hard to believe that Mayfield actually has a big-money sponsor - or any sponsor at all - at a time when top organizations like Roush-Fenway Racing and successful drivers like Matt Kenseth who have never tested positive are losing sponsorship. Not to mention what team is going to give him a ride? And he has no team of his own anymore to bring to the track. In addition, his claims that NASCAR is discriminating against him because he has ADD are ridiculous since reportedly there are other drivers with ADD who race. He doesn't understand why NASCAR won't let him back to the track - hello, there's those positive drug tests that you're suing them over!
In the interview Mayfield says that he continues to take Adderall every day to treat his ADD. Well, if that's the case how is it that the drug test that he and his attorneys submitted as proof that he's clean was negative not only for illegal meth but also for Adderall? I'm sure Mayfield will have some sort of excuse because he's full of them but that raises questions about the authenticity of that test in my mind, particularly in light of the fact that the test results don't have his name on them and that he may have given that sample without being observed. While I'm wondering about things, I'd also like to know what happened to the 15 or more other tests that Mayfield says he's taken that have all come back negative? Why haven't Mayfield or his attorneys presented those as proof of his innocence?
The media has a responsibility to report the news and they should do so fairly, giving each side an opportunity to tell their story. But how long can this continue? Mayfield gives interviews full of crazy talk on a seemingly daily basis and I'm starting to wonder about whether there's any ethical issues involved with giving a possible meth addict who may not be perceiving things as they really are a regular platform to speak. At the very least I think when they're interviewing him I think the media needs to be pressing him on the wild allegations he keeps making in terms of making him provide some proof of what he's saying. Because so far he hasn't presented one single shred of evidence to back up much of his accusations.
What's astonishing to me is how many fans are willing to believe every word that Mayfield says which may be why he continues to grant these interviews because he knows that he can make completely outlandish allegations about NASCAR and there are more than a few who will eat it all up. There is so much damage being done to the sport and the sad thing is that this circus could continue for months, if not years. Even after the court makes a ruling about whether to lift the injunction and in regards to the lawsuit as a whole, there's no guarantee that Mayfield will go away - in fact he may be even more determined to try to cause trouble. There are no winners in this situation and something tells me that there won't be any happy endings either.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2009
Jeremy Mayfield Tests Positive For Meth Again
Last Monday NASCAR administered another drug test to Jeremy Mayfield, though he didn't make it easy for them to collect a sample. After hearing how Mayfield delayed the testing for seven hours and offered up numerous excuses as to why he couldn't or shouldn't be tested even though he had agreed to allow NASCAR to test him as part of the injunction he was recently granted, I thought that it sounded like Mayfield was a man with something to hide. So it wasn't a surprise to find out that he once again tested positive for meth. While some wonder how anyone could be so dumb as to test positive again, the fact is that people with (alleged) drug problems often do stupid things.
NASCAR also filed an affidavit with the court from Lisa Mayfield, Jeremy's step-mother, in which she says she saw him making and using meth on numerous occasions dating back to 1998. While a witness stepping forward to state that she observed him using meth is damning, I don't give it as much weight as the test results since there's obvious ill will between herself and Mayfield. While some are still insistent that NASCAR is out to get Mayfield and that these are all false positives, the more often the tests show the same result, the less likely I think it is that the result is wrong.
Quite a few people are questioning why Mayfield would fight so hard in court if he was guilty but if he really does have a drug problem, I think he's not fighting as much to prove his innocence and that he was wronged by NASCAR as much as he's fighting to not have to acknowledge a problem and have to get clean. Drug addicts will often go to great lengths and do anything to be able to continue to use. They are also often in denial that they have a problem and Mayfield comes off as someone who is denying some things. There's always excuses - and Mayfield certainly has plenty of those to the point where he tried to discredit his step-mother by accusing her of shooting his father (his death was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner) in an interview last night on Sirius.
It's not just Mayfield who's in denial. While Mayfield's supporters get fewer and fewer as time goes on and more evidence surfaces that the may indeed have an issue with drugs, there are still quite a few fans who believe that this is all one big conspiracy against him. Nonsense. NASCAR has nothing to gain by falsely accusing Mayfield of using meth. It's very hard for me to believe that they would bring this sort of negative publicity on the sport by falsifying test results.
At times in the past I've felt that the NASCAR media doesn't always ask enough hard questions but I think many members of the motorsports media have been doing an outstanding job covering this story even though it has to be difficult given the issues involved and that many have known Mayfield for years. Nate Ryan from USA Today, Jenna Fryer from the Associated Press, Bob Pockrass from scenedaily.com and David Newton and others at ESPN.com are just a few of those who have worked hard to report this story from all angles.
More than a few would like this story to just go away, but that's unlikely to happen unless Mayfield admits a few truths to himself and to those around him. Until then Mayfield is likely to continue to make this into as much of a circus as possible and this sad story is likely to only get sadder.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2009
Ryan Truex Wins Thompson; Leads the East Series Points
While most of the attention lately when it comes to Michael Waltrip Racing has been focused on Martin Truex, Jr. signing with the organization or how David Reutimann is in the hunt for a spot in the Chase, there's another MWR driver making some noise. Martin's little brother, Ryan is on fire in the Camping World East Series! Ryan has won two of the last three races and the race that he didn't win, he came in second! As a result Ryan is currently leading in the points standings and if he keeps racing this well there's a very good chance that he could be the 2009 East Series Champion at just 17-years old!
What was so awesome about this past weekend's win at Thompson is that it was Steve Park who Ryan ended up battling for the win! Steve led the first 70 laps before giving up the lead to Ryan and the two raced each other for the remainder of the race. Steve ended up finishing second, his best finish of the season. It was really a dream top two for me - the driver who has been one of my favorites in NASCAR for the longest battling the driver who is one of my newest favorites! I would be in heaven if Steve and Ryan battled each other for the win in every race!
After the race Steve showed how much class he has, going over to Ryan in Victory Lane to congratulate him. In addition, Steve had nothing but high praise for Ryan, saying, "We were trying to pull every trick out of the bag and I thought Ryan, being as young as he is, would fall for one of them, but he's an extremely talented racecar driver. He's got a great future ahead of him." and that "You guys better get his autograph tonight because he ain't going to be around here much longer." I have to agree with Steve - Ryan is a driver with an immense amount of talent. While he started off the season slow, now that he's started to get used to racing in the East Series his ability is on display and it's clear he can race! What's most impressive to me is that Ryan is racing up front and winning poles and races on tracks he's never raced on before.
Ryan was on Sirius this morning and talked about how he'd like to race some Nationwide races next season.Although sponsorship is likely in short supply, if there's any way to make it happen MWR probably will try to get him some experience on higher levels as it's clear that Ryan is a driver on the rise with a very bright future. Sure hope that future includes winning a lot of races for MWR for many years to come!
Posted by silverdsl at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2009
Been a While...
Yes, it's been over a week since I've written in this space. There's a lot I'd like to say about Tuesday's announcement by Michael Waltrip Racing that Martin Truex, Jr. will be racing the #56 for them next season with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts and that Michael will only be racing a part-time schedule. A lot. But for now I think I'll just keep most of my thoughts to myself other than to say that I'm happy for Michael that MWR has developed into an organization where the top free-agent driver this season wanted to sign with them and that at a time when sponsors are cutting back or leaving the sport all together MWR was able to re-sign NAPA to a multi-year deal. I'm sad that Michael won't be racing full-time next season, but I'm glad that he might race as many as 12 races depending on how the sponsorship works out.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2009
Jeremy Mayfield Wins Injunction; Can Race at Daytona
U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen granted Jeremy Mayfield's request for a preliminary injunction today that will allow Mayfield to race at Daytona even though he tested positive for methamphetamines and used Adderall without informing NASCAR as he was required to do. In granting the injunction Judge Mullen said, "The harm to Mayfield substantially outweighs harm to NASCAR." As Jeff Gluck from scenedaily.com said on Twitter, it seems to me that there's a safety issue here when it comes to a driver who may have used illegal drugs that should outweigh everything. If it had been proven today that the three times that Mayfield tested positive for meth from two different drug labs were all false positives and that he hadn't in fact ever used meth, and that there was some misunderstanding about the Adderall, then let him race. But the judge didn't rule on whether the tests, testing process or anything else was valid. It seems to me that the harm to NASCAR and it's competitors via the potential of having a driver on the track who may have used meth is greater than the harm to Mayfield in him not being able to race.
Mayfield said,
“The main thing is to be able to go back and be able to do that. The truth came out, and now I can go back and say we’re clear of all this. I cleared my name, and now we can go racing again. That means more to me than anything.”
I'd like to know just exactly how Mayfield thinks he cleared his name. It seems to me he's still an accused meth user since there are multiple positive drug tests that show he used meth that weren't discredited today. And the fact of the matter is that even if it's shown that NASCAR's drug testing policy is flawed that doesn't mean that Mayfield didn't use meth. Nor does it mean that he's in the clear when it comes to the Adderall either.
Mayfield says he plans on trying to race this weekend but my question is in what? As part of his suit Mayfield said that he had to lay off ten employees and lost a sponsor. In addition, the team hasn't been showing up at the track to attempt races. So it seems to me that Mayfield isn't likely to have the money or personnel to field a car this weekend for himself. Apparently he hopes to race someone else's car if he can't race one of his own but I have to wonder who would be willing to give him a car to race? It's quite possible that Mayfield really did test positive for illegal meth and it seems to me that there aren't going to be many who will be willing to risk putting him in a car and having something go wrong.
The other issue raised by several members of the media is what happens when the next driver (or crew member) tests positive? This may set a precedent in which they can just go to court and get an injunction which would allow them to continue racing until various lawsuits are sorted through which could take a year or more. Seems to me that makes it very difficult for NASCAR to be able to administer their drug policy which isn't good because it's essential that they be able to test drivers and crew members for drug use.
It'll be very interesting to find out what the reaction of Mayfield's fellow competitors are, if any of them are willing to go on the record about this.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)
Strong Words From NASCAR's Jim Hunter About Mike Mulhern
More than once I've questioned in this space how Mike Hulhern, who covered NASCAR for years for the Winston Salem Journal and is now an independent blogger, has been able to get away with publishing stories containing rumors and speculation with very little sourcing or accuracy. While a lot of fans including myself almost immediately dismiss any rumor that comes from Mulhern, there are just as many fans who feel that he's a legitimate source of news and information - scary.Mulhern recently wrote a story on his website that stated that the situation in the Truck Series is so dire that NASCAR may fold the series after this season, a story which apparently doesn't have any truth to it according to Jim Hunter, NASCAR's Vice President of Communications, who had strong words about Mulhern, "There's no truth to it whatsoever," Hunter said.
"It's total B.S. The demise of the truck series is the figment of one person's imagination. (Mulhern) has a history of fabricating false stories and this is another example of it. We're very aware that (the Camping World Truck Series) is affected the hardest during this economic recession. We're currently looking at options. We've never given up on a series and we're not going to start now."
Good for Hunter for finally doing what was long overdue - calling Mulhern on the carpet for frequently publishing stories that appear to have very little truth to them. That rumor if taken seriously has the potential to be extremely damaging to a series already suffering due to the economy and sponsorship woes because it may cause sponsors and fans to be leery of spending money on the series if they think NASCAR is on the verge of shutting it down. That doesn't mean that the problems that the series - or the sport - is facing should be ignored but it's essential that a reporter strive for accuracy.
My biggest problem with Mulhern besides how inaccurate a lot of what he writes often seems to be is that he usually doesn't have much sourcing or quotes in his stories. I give him credit in the story about the Truck Series because he actually included a quote from Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's spokesperson, who says that the series won't be cut next season. But he has nothing to support the idea that the amount of races will be reduced next season or that the series will disappear all together. Yes, it's often difficult for a reporter because they are often working with sources who won't speak on the record. But there are ways to handle anonymous sources so that readers can put things in context and feel like information is coming from somewhere legitimate instead of being pulled out of thin air.
What's most unfortunate about Mulhern is that I think fans don't trust what other media members who cover NASCAR write because they think a lot of the reporters are as unreliable as he is. But there are many reporters who regularly cover this sport who take great pains to get things right even if it means they aren't the first to report a story - Bob Pockrass from scenedaily.com, Jim Utter from thatsracin.com and The Charlotte Observer, Nate Ryan from USA Today, Marty Smith from espn.com and Jenna Fryer from the Associated Press are a few that come to mind. These are the journalists who fans can depend on for accurate information about the sport and the people who are in it.
As someone else wondered on Facebook, now that NASCAR has called Mulhern out publicly for reporting false stories whether they'll continue to let him have a hard card and media access especially now that he's an independent and isn't working for a newspaper.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)