« July 2009 | Main | September 2009 »
August 28, 2009
Michael Waltrip Racing Names Gene Nead Interim Crew Chief of the #55
Rumors surfaced this week that when the Cup Series returned to action at Atlanta in two weeks that there would be a new crew chief calling the shots for Michael Waltrip and the #55 team. Yesterday it was confirmed that Robert "Bootie" Barker was being replaced by Gene Nead, who had most recently been a crew chief for Michael McDowell at JTG-Daugherty Racing in the Nationwide Series, and has worked for Robby Gordon Motorsports and Bill Davis Racing among others. Michael has been unhappy for weeks now both with the cars he's been given to race and often with the calls that are made during races. Almost every week he complained bitterly over the radio during races about how terrible the cars were and how the changes that Bootie made never seemed to do anything to improve things. So it was pretty clear that as much as Michael seems to like Bootie on a personal level, things weren't working with Bootie as crew chief.
However, as upset and unhappy as Michael has been I'm still surprised that he got a new crew chief. I figured that given that Michael isn't going to be back full-time next season and the results don't really matter that much beyond making sure the #55 is in the top 35 in owner's points for Martin Truex, Jr. that Michael Waltrip Racing wasn't going to be inclined to make too many changes or put too much resources into the #55 team since they would probably want to do those things after Martin joins the team. But perhaps they were worried that if the results continued to be as poor as they've been that there was some danger of the #55 dropping out of the top 35 or Michael just couldn't stand to struggle as much as he has been.
Contrary to what some believe Michael most definitely does care about the results. If he didn't care anymore he wouldn't get as angry as he has been getting when the car isn't any good and things aren't going well. Michael feels just as much passion and competitive fire as any other driver even in his 25th season in Cup. He loves racing and loves NASCAR. But things have changed from the style in which a lot of the younger drivers race and also with the cars and I think that is contributing to why Michael - and some other drivers - are struggling. Perhaps a new crew chief will be able to set the cars up more to Michael's liking or at least help him adjust a little more to racing the COT if that's an issue. It sure would be great if Michael was able to race competitively and get some good finishes in his last few races as a full-time driver! Hope Gene Nead is the man who helps make that happen!
Posted by silverdsl at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2009
Brian Vickers Wins at Michigan!
Brian Vickers enjoyed a very successful weekend at Michigan, winning not only the pole but the race itself. The win was just the second of Brian's career and the first not only in Cup but in all of NASCAR for Red Bull Racing. I'm very happy for Brian that he won! Brian had to struggle through all the challenges that the other Toyota drivers had to deal with in Cup in 2007 and it's good to see him rewarded with a trip to Victory Lane. Some will surely try to dismiss Brian's win by saying that the only reason he won is because Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas but Brian had to race his way to second place and then hold onto the lead when Jimmie ran out of gas. This win is just as much of a win as any other.
This win makes the way RBR is dragging their feet when it comes to re-signing Brian even more curious. Brian has done everything right for RBR - he's helped them develop into a successful Cup organization, he's won poles for them, he's raced competitively on a regular basis and now he's even won a race for them. What more could they be looking for? It make no sense to me that they haven't re-signed him and if they aren't careful another organization may lure him away - it's hard to win races on the Cup level and winning this race may make Brian very attractive to other teams. The excuse that RBR may be thinking about switching manufacturers doesn't hold water for me since it seems to me that they can re-sign Brian regardless of whether they'll be a Toyota or Chevy team. If they're thinking about signing Brad Keselowski I hope it's not in place of Brian - as good as Brad may be I doubt he'll put himself in a position to make the Chase as Brian has done this season.
Other drivers who had good finishes at Michigan included Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who finished 3rd, Sam Hornish, Jr. who finished 5th, Casey Mears who finished 6th and David Reutimann who finished 9th. For Junior it was his first top five since Talladega where he finished 2nd, and renews the hopes of Junior Nation that their hero may contend for wins sometime in the near future. We'll see. For Sam it was his second top five in his last three races which is good but I'm not ready to say that he's turned the corner and is developing into a successful Cup driver like some others since he also has five finishes of 32nd or worse in his last eight races. For Casey Mears it was his best finish all season which will hopefully quiet some of the rumors that he may be replaced next season.
David was the top finishing Michael Waltrip Racing driver. While it was great that he got another top ten, David remains 16th in the points and the chances of him making back into Chase contention don't look very good which is unfortunate. But at least he fared better than his teammates at Michigan. Michael Waltrip struggled all day with an ill-handling car and finished 27th. I'll always be a fan of Michael's and I'll always support and cheer for him whether he's racing up front or near the back but it's hard to listen to him during races these days. He's always unhappy with the cars he's given to race which based on his description are pretty bad and it leads to him being very frustrated, angry and miserable. Marcos Ambrose also had a difficult day - he finished 35th, one lap down but I'm not sure what happened to him.
Next weekend is Bristol, a track that drivers look forward to racing on and a race that fans very much look forward to watching. Hopefully we'll see some great racing!
Posted by silverdsl at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)
Ryan Truex Wins at Lime Rock!
Ryan Truex continues to impress in his first season in the Camping World East Series! Not only did he win his third race of the season, his Lime Rock win meant that he swept both road course races this season! Winning one road course race as a rookie is no easy feat, winning both is incredible! Ryan credits Marcos Ambrose for coaching him on road course racing - Marcos certainly did a great job! In his first three races Ryan struggled a little but in his last six races Ryan's worst finish is third at South Boston and he hasn't finished out of the top two in his last five races. If the pattern keeps up Ryan will finish second in his next race at New Hampshire and then win the East Series's final race of the season at Dover.
The race may not be the only thing that Ryan wins at Dover - he's currently leading the points so he could very well win Michael Waltrip Racing their first ever Championship. When they signed him even though they knew he had talent I'm not sure anyone would have predicted that he would be in a position to win a Championship for them in his first season racing for them! In addition, Ryan is also leading the Rookie of the Year standings as well. Even if he doesn't win either - and I think there's a good chance he will - it will still be an outstanding season for Ryan!
In a recent article on nascar.com, Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan's bother, mentioned there was a possibility that he and Ryan could share a Nationwide ride next season, presumably for MWR. I'd like to see Ryan race some Nationwide races next season on a part-time basis if not a full-time basis since it's likely he has the ability behind the wheel to handle racing on a higher level given that he's beating more experienced veteran drivers like Matt Kobyluck and Steve Park on a regular basis. What would be even better to me than Martin and Ryan sharing a Nationwide ride would be both of MWR's young drivers - Ryan and Trevor Bayne - sharing the #99 next season. However, I'd guess that not only would sharing a ride have a lot of appeal to Ryan and Martin, it will probably be easier to find sponsorship if Martin is involved since most sponsors prefer to be associated with Cup drivers no matter how talented a young driver may be.
As for the previously mentioned veteran East Series drivers, Lime Rock wasn't kind to either Matt or Steve. Both had engine woes to deal with and Matt's were particularly costly since it made him a non-factor at a track where he's had a lot of success previously and likely eliminated him from Championship contention. The end result was better for Steve - though he couldn't repeat his win from Adirondack he ended up finishing 11th. Not the finish he and his team were looking for but good enough to move him up to 4th in the points.
Even though it continues to be difficult to follow the action in the East Series due to the lack of live TV coverage of the races and general lack of media attention given to the series, I'm very excited for the last two races of the season because I'm really hoping that Ryan can continue to race as well as he had been and win the Championship. Just wish the next race was sooner than mid-September!
Posted by silverdsl at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2009
Steve Park Wins at Adirondak!
Four years since his last NASCAR win, Steve Park ended up in Victory Lane again this past weekend after winning the Camping World East Series race at Adirondak International Speedway! It was 13 years since his last win in this series and it had to feel so good to Steve to finally end up with a win after coming close a few times. At Thompson Steve finished second to Ryan Truex, this time it was Ryan who was the runner-up. I would have no complaints if the top two was made up of Steve and Ryan for the rest of the season, with each of them taking turns in Victory Lane!
The win generated some good media attention for Steve and I was happy to hear him on The Morning Drive on Sirius this week. Steve sounded great in the interview and said that the win was a long time in coming - sure was!. He thought they would get a win last year but they struggled, then struggled to begin this season as well. I have to admit I had some doubts at the start of the season about whether Steve was going to be able to contend for wins since Steve really didn't seem to be able to race competitively. But as the results started to improve and Steve started to race up front more I got a lot more optimistic. As Steve said they got their act together - they sure did! and ended up in Victory Lane!
Next Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone, the hosts of TMD, asked him about how the win came together but Steve didn't answer exactly. He thanked all the fans. Last year was his first time at Adirondack so he didn't have a lot of experience there. They turned the most laps of any car in practice and had the car set-up for the race, then he qualified 7th. It was amazing to him how many fans came out for the race. In addition to signing autographs before the race, he sat in the stands after the race signing autographs for all the fans. I think that's great that Steve signed autographs after the race and essentially celebrated his win with the fans when he could have been celebrating with his team.
Steve said Adirondack reminds him of the old Clemson(?) track in NJ. It's unique to the cars they race. It's a challenge for any driver who races there. Hats off to the drivers who race there every week.
In the past Steve has occasionally in interviews and to fans seemed to question the talent level of some of those he races against in this series. But he's definitely singing a different tune now. Said that he can't even describe the amount of talent and competition in both the East and West Series. It amazes him the amount of talent that is being produced. Drivers in these series will more to the higher levels just like Joey Logano. I was very happy to hear him speak well about his fellow competitors because I've been less than impressed with his past comments as I don't think it's a wise idea to down those you're racing against even if there is some truth there about their lack of experience, ability or that he doesn't like their racing style. So it was great to hear him say such positive things in this interview.
As he's done previously Steve had very high praise for Ryan Truex and I suspect that one reason he's saying something different about those he's racing against is because he's impressed with Ryan and a couple of the other young drivers in the series this season. Steve said that Ryan has a good set-up at Michael Waltrip Racing that will help him further his career and that he's sure that Ryan will move up. Fans should make sure to get autographs from up-and-coming drivers like Ryan before they/he become superstars. With Ryan being so young he surprised a lot of people including him (Steve). He's got a good head on his shoulders and a lot of talent. He's a little shy (that's an understatement!). I agree with Steve about Ryan, that he's extremely talented and a driver on his way up. It's awesome to hear one of my long-time favorite drivers speak so highly of one of my newest favorite drivers!
Joey Lavendar is another that Steve said has a lot of talent. Said that there's not an untalented driver in the series. The list goes on and on. Good teams and good drivers.
Steve feels bad for the other drivers with Lime Rock coming up. He loves road course racing, his team is on a roll and morale is high. It's a beautiful place to race. Paul Newman who was one of his idols growing up raced there. Very obvious that Steve is very much looking forward to Lime Rock! I would guess we'll be seeing plenty of Steve racing up front at Lime Rock but I'm thinking Ryan will be right there with him!
The interview finished up with Steve saying that he listens to TMD every morning coffee in hand. Sure hope he's on again after he wins another one!
Posted by silverdsl at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)
Still Here...
It's pretty embarassing how much I've neglected this space as of late but that's what happens when I've been busy. I went to the track for the first time in two years this past weekend and it was pretty awesome so once I get caught up on some news stories, hopefully I'll be able to write an entry about that. Of course I'm going away this weekend too so it may have to wait until next week but I suppose better late than never right?
Posted by silverdsl at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)