Random Thoughts

September 15, 2009

Ty Norris on Sirius Talking About Pat Tryson, Truex, etc...

Ty Norris, general manager of Michael Waltrip Racing, was on Sirius this morning. He started off talking about hiring Pat Tryson as crew chief for the #56 next season. They felt like Martin Truex, Jr. coming on-board was an opportunity to upgrade the program with every piece of ammunition they could get. Steve Hallam and Cal Wells put together a list of what they were looking for in a crew chief to make Truex a Chase contender. They looked at who had the best on-track record and who was interested and Tryson was at the top of the list. He told them that he really wanted to make a change.

Martin and Michael were involved in the discussions about who would be crew chief of the #56. The process was very deep. They interviewed four different candidates. It was difficult for Martin to be part of the process because he has such a good relationship with Bono Manion and that's the only crew chief he's ever worked with on this level. However, it appeared to them (MWR) that it was time to go in a different direction for Martin. Sounds to me like Martin would have liked to have brought Bono with him to MWR but MWR had other ideas.

They looked at leadership qualities for one. Pat commands his guys and they respect him. He doesn't get flustered and doesn't have a temper, though Ty was quick to note (probably with Michael in mind) that he loves a temper because it shows passion (I agree!). Pat is a good motivator and has a good track record. He listens to everything presented to him from the driver and engineers.

Pat owes it to Penske Racing and to Kurt Busch to try to win a Championship and that's where his focus will be for the rest of the year. They won't be talking to him about race cars. Same thing with Truex, he has races to win. They've been doing data analysis since last May about where they needed to be to get the cars in the Chase and since then they've been addressing their gaps and fixing their woes. When they all get together in December and January (with Pat and Truex) they'll be ready for next year.

MWR has reinvented themselves as an organization. They have a bright future under their roof.

They talked to Michael last year about his future and knew that Martin would be a free agent this year. They talked with NAPA in December and January about going after Truex.

Michael is at the shop every day. He works out there and his office is right there so they see him walking around in his underwear! He goes to all the competition meetings and is very involved. This is Michael's passion and it's all he has (compared to some owners who have dealerships or other business interests). Michael spends a tremendous amount of time there and has dedicated his life to racing.

Words can't describe David Reutimann. They've watched him grow since DW's truck team and it's like watching a child grow up even though he's just a few years younger than Ty. Watching him mature as a driver is remarkable. They've never run well at Atlanta but David finished top five and it put a smile on his face. JTG invested a lot in Marcos Ambrose and Marcos has been loyal. Tad G. just smiles when someone tells him how amazing it is how well Marcos is doing because he knew how good Marcos would be. It's a pleasure to have Marcos around because he smiles all the time and it just like he seems to be on TV.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

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)

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 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)

June 23, 2009

Good Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Infineon and Other Sonoma Thoughts

Although I had high hopes for Marcos Ambrose at Infineon, I wasn't looking forward to watching the road course race at Sonoma this weekend, which is a big change for me about how I usually feel about road course races - normally they are a highlight of the season for me. But this weekend Michael Waltrip had replaced himself with Patrick Carpentier and I knew David Reutimann was going to struggle. So as much as I like Patrick, I considered skipping this race like many other fans of Michael's did. But I ended up watching and I'm glad I did because I turned out to be one of the better races all season mostly because there actually was some racing, and good, hard, exciting racing at that, particularly during the second half of the race. That Marcos raced his way through the field, not just once but twice, and was up front and in contention for the win also helped. Though Marcos didn't end up winning, I'm not too disappointed. I like Kasey Kahne and I was happy to see him win since he hadn't been in Victory Lane for a while. I was particularly impressed with the way he handled all the restarts and hopefully this win is the momentum boost his team needs to race up front more regularly.

As for the Michael Waltrip Racing teams, Marcos finished third which may be disappointing to him but is an excellent finish, particularly considering all the problems he had to deal with earlier in the weekend which included a blown engine which caused him to have to start from the back of the field for Sunday's race. Marcos has shown the ability to race well on every kind of track but he is particularly skilled on road course tracks and I have no doubt that he will contend for the win at Watkins Glen too - sure would be awesome to see him win! Patrick raced the #55 to a terrific 11th place finish - he did a good job with a car that he complained wasn't all that great - gee, wonder if it's really Michael that's the problem with the #55 if his replacement doesn't exactly rave about the car? At times he struggled at the back of the pack but the team as a whole did a good job with pit and fuel strategy and also on the pit stops to put Patrick in a position to get that top 15.

Then there's David. I think it should be considered a successful race for David that he made it through the entire race. He did go off track twice but I believe he got help both times. He just isn't very good on road course races and as many times as MWR sends him to test or get coaching from those who are more skilled then he is on road courses he seems to not be able to master racing on those kinds of tracks in Cup. Which is a problem - his 31st place finish dropped him to 14th in the points, and while he's not far out of 12th and Chase contention, there is another road course race coming up so it may be important how he races there.

MWR has a technical alliance with Germain Racing which makes Max Papis part of the MWR family in a way. I really like him and I knew he'd likely have good race at Infineon which he did. Max was actually on the verge of his first career top ten in Cup when someone - reportedly Patrick - got into him and caused a flat which led to him losing a few spots on the last lap which is unfortunate. He finished 12th which is still a career best for Max in Cup and it's still a very solid finish. I would love to see him get more successful on all kinds of tracks as he gains more experience in Cup so it was good to see him do well on Sunday.

Two other drivers who were in line for strong finishes until misfortune struck were Robby Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. With Robby the same thing always seems to happen - a great run is ruined by mistake, poor decision-making or just bad luck. On Sunday Robby stayed out one lap too long, taking the lead on lap 76 only to see the caution flag come out just as he was about to pit. Word is that Robby's crew chief actually told him to pit the lap before but Robby didn't listen so he has no one to blame but himself for the outcome. Robby attempted to race his way through the field but a late race tangle with Jeff Burton and another driver resulted in a 36th place finish. Although Robby is perpetually still considered by many to be a favorite to win on road courses, he really hasn't done much of note on those kinds of tracks in Cup for a few years and in light of that I'm not really expecting much from him at Watkins Glen either. He clearly is very skilled at this kind of track but these days so are many other drivers and his team doesn't have anywhere near the kind of resources that some of the larger teams do. Robby Gordon Motorsports fielded a second car for P.J. Jones this weekend and it appears - though it's not confirmed - that it was a start and park since it dropped out of the race so early. While I understand that Robby may have seen it as a good opportunity to make some extra money, I never would have thought that start and parking one of his cars would be his style and especially with a road course racer as good as P.J. behind the wheel.

Junior was on his way to a much needed top ten finish until he got swept up in a wreck and ended up finishing 26th. One of his PR reps, Mike Davis said the following on Twitter after the race,

"Just disgusted, b/c next wk Jr will face same Qs about god-awful season. Solid run was 2 quiet 2 b noticed by results-driven expectations."

I'm getting disgusted too - disgusted by the idea that I'm supposed to feel sorry for Junior or Davis for that matter. There are any number of drivers who get next to no media attention no matter how good or bad their finishes are. Sure, it has to be a pain-in-the-rear to have to field the same questions every week and have to talk about how bad his season has been. But that's part of what a driver - and his PR rep - has to deal with. There could come a day - yes, even for Junior - where there won't be this kind of media attention, and they'll be wishing they were in a position to have to answer the same questions over and over.

In addition, even though I get sick of hearing about Junior, the fact is that the most popular driver in the sport having a poor season is a storyline worthy of media attention. That Junior was racing in the top ten was most definitely noticed but the reality is that people pay attention to the end result. Michael has had countless strong finishes ruined by flat tires, blown engines or getting swept up in other driver's messes, as has every other driver on the track. That's part of the sport as is results-based expectations - should we be patting Junior on the head for his effort? Things don't work that way and if he can't take the heat - and based on his comment to Jenna Fryer about not having the mental strength to put up with a season like this again, maybe he doesn't - then he needs to get out of the kitchen. No driver is guaranteed that they will race up front in every race, nor are they guaranteed that they will have successful, Chase contending seasons, not even the most popular driver in the sport. And when expectations aren't met there may very well be questions that need to be answered.

There were more than a few drivers who seemed to run over and spin just about every driver they raced around - Boris Said, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson were just three of those who seemed to get into a lot of other cars on Sunday but they weren't alone. Even Patrick spun Casey Mears in an attempt to pass him. I think that just speaks to the aggressive style of racing that's necessary at Infineon and how competitive it is. What I was impressed by is that immediately after the race Jimmie approached Kurt Busch to apologize to him face-to-face for spinning him. So often these days drivers don't take the time to apologize in person and leave a voicemail, send a text message, wait until they see the other driver the following week, or in some cases don't bother to make an effort to talk to the other driver at all. So I liked that Jimmie went over to Kurt and spoke with him in person right away - that probably went a long way towards smoothing things over with Kurt.

This weekend the Cup Series will be racing in New Hampshire and while I don't think we'll end up seeing a race as good as we did at Sonoma, I'm looking forward to it because Michael will be back in the #55.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2009

Problems Mount for Jeremy Mayfield

There are a lot of fans who are still under the impression that NASCAR is out to get Jeremy Mayfield and that the positive drug test is complete fiction. As it turns out what might be fictional is the credentials of the expert whose testimony forms the basis of the lawsuit that Mayfield filed against NASCAR. According to a motion filed this week, NASCAR can't find any record of any of the degrees or certifications that Harvey MacFenerstein claims to have. While Mayfield's lawyer claims that NASCAR's motion will be easy to refute I'm not so sure of that. Just exactly how are they going to refute a sworn affidavit from the registrar at Mid Western State University of Texas where MacFenerstein claims he got a B.S. that no one with that name ever received a degree? Or that officials in Mexico say that there's no record that MacFenderstein ever got a medical doctor degree from CETED University as he claimed?

In some ways it's astonishing that Mayfield's lawyer apparently never checked MacFenerstein's credentials himself, but given that MacFenderstein has apparently testified as an expert in other cases, he probably assumed that at some point someone else had verified his credentials. But apparently no one did since these issues likely would have surfaced well before now. The ramifications are significant, not only for Mayfield's case since MacFenerstein's testimony forms the backbone of his lawsuit, but likely for any other case he testified in. A lot of fans seemed to think that NASCAR had a weak case and no reason to suspend Mayfield, that they would be unable to defend themselves in court and would quickly roll over and settle with him. I knew that was unlikely to happen, not when there's a positive drug test for an illegal substance. NASCAR is playing hardball and likely will through the conclusion of this case.

I have to wonder how much longer Mayfield's suit will continue. Not only is NASCAR poking holes in much of his suit but it seems that at some point Mayfield will probably run out of money. Mayfield Motorsports has stopped showing up for races and now comes word that they're being sued by Triad Racing Technologies and BDR Acquisition for non-payment for parts, pieces and chassis worth more than $86,000. Something tells me that may not be the only company that hasn't been paid by Mayfield Motorsports. I've wondered from the start where they were going to get their money from. Sure, Allsport was on the car as a sponsor and bought into the organization, but Mayfield Motorsports seemed to be a shoe-string operation that didn't have much resources, financially or otherwise. And they certainly weren't bringing in much money from winnings since they were struggling to qualify for races and finish well in those races they made.

Controversy has plagued Mayfield throughout his career but in recent years I've rooted for him because he's an underdog and I always pull for underdogs. But it's really hard to support him now. Between the positive drug test and what may be some big financial problems, he has some pretty serious issues to deal with. Some of his fans seem to think that this is all one big conspiracy against him by NASCAR but I think those people have their heads in the sand about the reality of Mayfield's situation. I hope he's able to get everything straightened out and one day return to NASCAR in some role but right now it appears he has a pretty big hole he needs to climb out of before that happens.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2009

Not Much I Want to Say Right Now

I've been a bit neglectful of this blog of late, not because I don't have anything to say but instead because I don't have the heart to do entries about some of what's on my mind right now. If there's anyone who is still stopping in on a regular basis they may have noticed I haven't at all addressed other than in a passing way the rumors about Martin Truex, Jr. going to Michael Waltrip Racing to take over the #55 and the likelihood that Michael will only be racing a few races next season. I have a lot of thoughts about all that but I've decided that I want to wait until the announcement is officially made before I blog about it. The fact of the matter is while I understand all the reasons why all of this is happening, like many other fans of Michael, I'm sad about it and having a difficult time like many other of Michael's fans. The rumor mill says that the announcement is coming by the Daytona race in early July and after that a lot of things will be very different for many of us.

I'm also disappointed in the results for MWR at Michigan this past weekend and I just didn't feel like writing a negative entry about their poor performance. Yes, David Reutimann finished 19th which isn't terrible but that finished dropped him out of the top 12 in points. With Juan Pablo Montoya on the rise, other top teams performing well, and the series racing at a road course this weekend which isn't the kind of track where David excels it may not be so easy to get back into Chase contention, though I very much hope that happens. It's also a downer that Michael continues to struggle. I very much want him in what's likely his last full-time season to have some races in which he races competitively up-front, and maybe even contends for a win. At the start of the season it had seemed like that was going to happen and it's disappointing that things went in another direction. I feel really bad for Michael because it has to be hard on him.

If I'm being honest the Michigan race overall didn't do anything for me. While some fans and media members have been falling all over themselves to say how exciting the race was I can't agree. The race was incredibly boring for 198 of 200 laps and not just because the MWR teams were struggling. Sure, there was some drama on the last two laps not knowing who was going to have enough fuel to make it to the end and who was going to run out. But to me exciting racing is watching drivers racing each other hard. I understand that strategy, fuel mileage and otherwise, is a part of racing and I don't think Mark Martin's win is any less of a win because he won based on getting better fuel mileage than others did. But I think it's a sad commentary on the state of things that fuel mileage, not good hard racing, is what passes for exciting racing these days.

There's other things on my mind as well. Michael said at the Wal-Nutz gathering in May that the sport is changing and it's true that it is. To some fans and those in the sport it's changing too fast and too much but to me in some ways the sport hasn't changed enough. Because of how much of a fan of Michael and MWR I am, as well as my long-time love of racing, I've continued to be a NASCAR fan, but sometimes I wonder whether there's going to come a time when like so many other fans I find other things to do on race day. Which is pretty sad considering I've always been the kind of fan to find something positive and fun in everything.

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

June 12, 2009

Brendan Gaughan's Crew Chief Suspended Indefiniately For Use of Racial Slur

A few days ago I took issue with the comments that Brendan Gaughan made towards Marc Davis after they were involved in an incident on pit road during the Nationwide race at Nashville but it turns out that a comment that his crew chief, Brian Berry made is even worse. Berry has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for directing a racial slur at Davis who is African-American. No matter how upset Berry was about the wrecked race car there is no excuse for using a racial slur. I applaud NASCAR for having zero tolerance and taking strong action against Berry.

There are some fans who think that Berry shouldn't have been suspended, that what he said wasn't a big deal. That somehow it's Davis's fault. That he's a spoiled brat with no talent so he somehow deserves what he gets. That somehow he's playing the race card or making things up. That even though his only public statement made no reference to the racial slur that it was somehow inappropriate and that he should stay silent. No one, whether they're to blame for a racing incident, are a spoiled brat, have all the talent in the world, or none, should have to put up with or stay silent about racism and a racial slur. The blame the victim mentality is disturbing, as is hearing stories from other fans about how Davis and others like Juan Pablo Montoya routinely get offensive slurs directed at them. Behavior like Berry's shouldn't be tolerated whether it comes from a crew chief or a fan.

The outrage about Kyle Busch smashing a guitar in Victory Lane should pale in comparison to the outrage about this incident. One thing that has long bothered me about NASCAR is the lack of diversity, not just in terms of race but also when it comes to religion (I don't know of any other Jewish NASCAR fans besides myself), gender, place of origin, opinion, etc... There are attitudes in this sport that have been expressed by fans and by some in the garage area as highlighted by this incident that are unacceptable to me. A core value of mine for my entire life is the importance of diversity and tolerance for others no matter how different they may be from me. If there's one thing that could stop me from being a fan of this sport, it's that at times it seems that there's not only not much tolerance for others who are different or have different opinions but also that there's a resistance to diversity both when it comes to the Drive for Diversity program and otherwise.

It seems to me that NASCAR must become more diverse even if some are resistant to it. I don't see how they can make in-rounds in major markets like New York or California if the sport isn't going to appeal to a diverse audience. Incidents like this make some fans feel like they may not be welcome. In addition, big sponsors aren't just looking to appeal to one type of person, they want to reach all kinds of fans - if I'm a sponsor who has to be concerned with where I'm spending my money due to the economy, I might have second thoughts about spending it in NASCAR if I'm not going to race a wide audience. But more than that this is 2009 and the kinds of beliefs and attitudes that were acceptable 50 or 60 years ago aren't anymore. Racism and prejudice of any kind shouldn't be tolerated.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2009

Sources Tell ESPN: The Magazine That Jeremy Mayfield Tested Positive For Meth

Not surprisingly the mystery third drug that Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for that NASCAR has said is an illegal substance has been leaked. Two separate sources have told ESPN: The Magazine's Ryan McGhee that Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamine. If it turns out that Mayfield did indeed test positive for Meth I think NASCAR was being pretty charitable by offering him the chance to be re-instated after he completed a rehab program considering they've alleged in their own lawsuit that he was racing after having used Meth. If that's the case I think he should never be allowed back on the track.

I'm sure there are going to be quite a few people who will say that the combination of Claritin-D and Adderall caused a false positive for meth but something tells me that after being informed by Mayfield that he used those two substances that Aegis ruled out a false positive. Which is likely why NASCAR has stated in their own lawsuit that there aren't just two drugs in question, but three, the third being the meth according to McGhee's sources.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:09 PM | Comments (1)

Patrick Carpentier in the #55 in Place of Michael Waltrip at Infineon

I guess if I'm really a good Michael Waltrip fan I'm supposed to be excited about this but instead I'm sad and disappointed. Today it was announced that Patrick Carpentier is going to race the #55 instead of Michael at Infineon. Michael has to make decisions as owner based on what he thinks is best for MWR, the #55 team and the business overall, but I can't say I fully understand this decision. Infineon is actually one of Michael's best tracks and his average finish over the course of his career is 16.4. Meanwhile in the one race he raced at Infineon in Cup, he finished 23rd, just two spots in front of Michael. In fact, in the limited amount of road course races that Patrick has raced in Cup, he's not exactly been spectacular. Which I think is the problem. If we were talking about Boris Said racing the #55 I might be more enthusiastic, but we're talking about a driver who thus far really hasn't been any better than Michael on these tracks.

The other thing is that overall as hyped as the road course ringers are for the most part they never seem to do much. Yes, occassionally a road course ringer has a nice run but that seems to be more of the exception than the rule. In the press release Michael talks about getting a win for NAPA, but when was the last time a road course ringer ended up winning on the Cup level? I'd love for Patrick to be the one to do it, but I think the odds of seeing the #55 in Victory Lane probably aren't too good. Hopefully he'll at least be able to finish in the top ten and move the #55 up in the owner's points but that won't be easy given how many other talented road course racers he'll be racing against.

It's funny because it's often said that these decisions are made for business reasons to please the sponsor, which in this case is NAPA, that those sponsors want a better chance for their cars to be up front in front of an audience in a major market like California . Meanwhile, a lot of the fans of the driver who is getting replaced - and Michael has a huge fanbase - opt not to watch because they won't be seeing their favorite driver. After all, as someone said to me recently in reference to Michael not racing much next season - fans don't cheer for the car or the sponsor, they cheer for the driver. Luckily in this case the driver is also the owner so Michael's fans will be more supportive of this than they might be otherwise.

Hopefully Patrick will finish up front in the #55 at Infineon.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

Johnny Benson Loses His Ride

Last year's Truck Series champion, Johnny Benson, has lost his truck ride after Red Horse Racing was forced to lose the #1 team due to a lack of sponsorship. Not only did Benson lose his ride but his crew chief, Trip Bruce, and other members of the #1 team are also out of jobs. Yesterday Benson questioned why RHR eliminated his team despite them being 7th in the points and kept T.J. Bell and the #11 team who are 20th in points. The answer of course is money - although the #11 also doesn't have much if any sponsorship apparently Bell's family pays some of the bills. Benson also said,

“Tom had talked a good deal about trying to bring us over there. He’s the one that came over and courted us to come over there to try to help out and make a championship-contender race team. It was plans in the making; he just changed his mind on moving forward, and I’m sure sponsorship had a lot to do with it. I find it hard to believe there’s a lot of teams out there getting sponsorship and things of this nature and us not being able to get one, being the defending champions, so that lies back in his hands.”

There are financial and sponsorship woes for many teams in the Truck Series. Some of the teams getting sponsorship may have been willing to take less money or make deals that RHR wasn't willing to do. It seems to me it wasn't such a great decision for RHR to sign Benson without having a sponsor lined up nor was it a good decision for Benson to race for a team without sponsorship. Though there may not have been much choice for Benson given how few quality, well-funded trucks there are. Past champions like Ted Musgrave and Jack Sprague are also sitting on the sidelines right now. So it may have been either go to RHR or not race.

Bruce had harsh words for RHR owner Tom DeLoach.

“We were told it was a lack of sponsorship. He was just going to shut it down and fire me and Johnny and the core of our group, so he did, and that’s about all I know. I just walked out. … I work in a forward pace, and that’s tough for some people. Everybody wants to win, but some people don’t really want to win that bad, you know, and it’s tough. I don’t know. It may have been overwhelming for him - what it actually takes to win.”

I'd say that DeLoach wants to win, every owner does. I don't think RHR would have fielded a truck without sponsorship for Benson for this long if they didn't want to win. But I don't blame him or Benson for being upset either. Drivers and crew chiefs want to be in a stable situation where they can race competitively and where they have full support from their organization and it sounds like they weren't fully getting that from RHR. I think the timing of this is particularly unfortunate in that the race this weekend is at Benson's hometown track since he's from Michigan. It's too bad that RHR wasn't able to field the truck for one more week at least since there are likely many fans who bought tickets specifically to see Benson race.

There's been some talk that Toyota is trying to help Benson find another ride and I hope it works out so that we'll see him back on the track soon. However, it may not be so easy given the state of things in the Truck Series.

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

Sam Bass Changes His Tune

On Saturday Sam Bass said that while he was shocked at first in the spirit of rock and roll he understood why Kyle Busch smashed the guitar he created in Victory Lane after winning the race at Nashville, that he was okay with it and that it was a great show. Yesterday he sung a different tune, saying that he was heartbroken and that if he knew about it in advance he would have asked him not to do it. Bass said that he's taking the high road on all of this but is he really? As one who does artwork myself I understand why Bass would be upset to see something he put many hours into be destroyed but how fair is it to Busch for Bass to act like he's fine with it one day, then turn around and say the opposite another day? And how am I supposed to know if I'm hearing how he truly feels about it even now if he's going to say different things to different members of the media on different days?

This morning on Sirius, Nate Ryan of USA Today wondered how upset Bass could truly have been if on Saturday he posed for photos with Busch and the guitar and said that he was fine with what Busch did. I have to wonder the same. Maybe Bass just didn't want to cause a fuss on Saturday in Victory Lane but he spoke with Busch one-on-one and I think that would have been the time to express that he was upset. In addition, Bass went to the media center to speak with the media later that night. It seems to me that was another opportunity to say how he really felt but instead he called it "a great show."

I guess it bothers me that Bass seem to be throwing fuel on the fire and for what? To drag the controversy out longer? One thing that I'm sure he's not heartbroken about is the huge amount of attention and exposure, as well as possible increased sales of his work he's getting from this.

I think people really need to put things in perspective. Yes, Bass put a lot of work into making a unique trophy. Yes, it was a piece of art. But the fact is Sam Bass isn't Pablo Picasso. This is a trophy guitar, not the Mona Lisa. It's an object that can be replaced. People are upset about Kyle smashing a guitar like he hurt someone or did something illegal. He didn't. There are more pressing issues in NASCAR and far more serious issues to worry about in the world than Kyle Busch smashing a guitar.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2009

Brendan Gaughan vs. Marc Davis

Admittedly I didn't see the incident between Brendan Gaughan and Marc Davis during Saturday's Nationwide race so I can't say who was at fault but the basics are that Gaughan ran into Davis on pit road causing significant damage to the #62 as Davis was trying to pull into the garage and it may have been because Davis didn't signal as drivers normally do. Of course Gaughan was upset about his wrecked race car. I can understand that he wasn't happy with Davis but what I don't understand and don't like are the comments that Gaughan made. He said,

"I don't know if (Davis) is dumb, his crew chief is dumb or his spotter is dumb, but in the middle of the race when you end up turning left while people are coming onto pit road for green-flag pit stops is asinine. Maybe he needs to look that word up."

Gaughan then continued, "...apparently you get a better education at Georgetown than Howard University." I think Gaughan is lucky that Kyle Busch smashed the trophy guitar in Victory Lane which guaranteed that everyone would forget about what he said. There are countless fans slamming Busch for acting immaturely and inappropriately, saying that he acted with disrespect, well, what about Gaughan? Insulting the intelligence of a fellow competitor and then following it up with a shot at his sponsor is pretty immature and disrespectful in my opinion. Meanwhile Davis is just 18, almost 19, years old and very inexperienced in the series. It would have been more productive for Gaughan to speak with Davis one-on-one and explain to him what he thought he did wrong. Perhaps Davis could learn from it - I really doubt he's going to gain anything from being ripped publically on TV.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2009

Yet Again Kyle Busch Causes Controversy

Last night after winning the Nationwide race in Nashville, Kyle Busch smashed the trophy guitar given to him in Victory Lane that was specially designed by Sam Bass and made by Gibson Guitars. Fans and some members of the media were outraged, calling for Busch to be penalized by NASCAR for actions detrimental to the sport because of the disrespect that in their opinion he showed to Bass, the track, the sport and everyone else. On the other hand I fail to see anything wrong with what Busch did and especially since Bass said that while he was shocked at first he was okay with it,

"...when I went to Victory Lane to take a picture with Kyle, he said there was no disrespect to me, the speedway or the sponsors. He just said he was going to give each one of his guys a piece of the trophy. In the spirit of rock and roll and, as someone who appreciates rock and roll, he put on a show."

So if Bass doesn't have a problem with it, then why does everyone else? Gibson guitars are probably thrilled because there's more discussion of their guitars today than there would be otherwise. The track will almost certainly use footage of Busch smashing the guitar as a way to promote next year's race. And don't hold your breath waiting for NASCAR to penalize Busch. Not only can he do as he chooses with a trophy that belongs to him, they also will have no complaints about Busch putting on a show that generates attention.

Perhaps it's because many of my favorite bands of the past like Guns 'n' Roses and Motley Crue were known for doing crazy things, which sometimes included destroying guitars and other equipment, but I had no problem with Busch smashing that guitar. Busch is a bad boy and it seems as if that's very much in keeping with his bad boy image. I wish there were 20 more like Busch who were willing to be true to themselves and say and do exactly what they want instead of acting like a corporate robot and worrying about whether they might offend or upset someone.

The reactions of some fans are disturbing. As Michael Waltrip said on Twitter, it's only a guitar that can be replaced - and will be since Busch has said he plans on ordering two more to replace the one he smashed. Yet fans are acting as if it was a person he attacked in Victory Lane, with some saying that they hope he wrecks in every race he's in that follows and others even going so far as to wish injury on him. Those reactions are extreme and over-the-top. I don't think Busch smashing a trophy guitar or anything else he's done is so bad that fans should be wishing bad things on him. It seems totally out of proportion to what he's done.

Meanwhile Jeremy Mayfield has been accused by NASCAR in their lawsuit of racing while under the influence of drugs that would make him a danger to his fellow competitors - where's the outrage about that? There are fans bending over backwards to excuse Mayfield and blame NASCAR, yet if it's true that he was using an illegal drug and was on the track potentially impaired, what he did was way worse than anything Busch has ever done. No driver in this sport is without their flaws - they are individuals who make mistakes and sometimes even behave badly.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:23 PM | Comments (1)

Ryan Truex Wins at Watkins Glen!

Another winner for Michael Waltrip Racing! Ryan Truex followed up his pole and 3rd place finish last week in last week's East Series race at South Boston in a very big way yesterday at Watkins Glen by winning the race with a last-lap pass of Patrick Long. Ryan becomes the third member of his family to win in the East Series following his father Martin, Sr. and his brother, Martin, Jr. Ryan won in just his 6th East Series race of his career and one has to think it may not be the last time he ends up in Victory Lane this season. Given that Ryan has previous road course experience I had a feeling he was going to do well, I just didn't expect that he was going to do that well! I think it's pretty cool that he can say that he beat Steve Park, a former winner in Cup at Watkins Glen.

In the short time he's been racing for MWR, I've come to be a big fan of Ryan's so I'm thrilled that he won this race! I admit that I didn't know much about him prior to when he joined MWR, but I was impressed by what I found out, particularly that he's already a Champion having won the Legends Championship at Wall Stadium when he was just 15. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to interview him for a fan newsletter and speak with him again at MWR's Fan Appreciation Day and even though he's very quiet, he's not only very nice but intelligent too. So I'm really hoping he races for MWR for years to come and continues to win races as he moves to higher levels - sure would love to see him race in the Nationwide Series for MWR if not next season then in 2011!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2009

This Week in NASCAR With Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus (6/1)

Since there was no show last week, This Week in NASCAR with Steve Byrnes, Chad Knaus and Michael Waltrip, started off with a discussion of David Reutimann's Coca-Cola 600 win. I thought it was kind of neat how both Chad and Michael are part of teams that have won the last two races and both of them won in very different but equally as good ways.

Michael said that it was a great day for Michael Waltrip Racing last Monday in just the beginning of their third season. He's real proud. David's not a good hugger, if you look at the way he hugs, he's a sideways hugger according to Michael, who joked that David wasn't apprehensive about the rain, he was thinking about how Michael said that if he wins he wanted it all, that he wanted to feel the love from David in a real hug. All joking aside but with Michael's comments last week about how important it was for him to hug David because he never got a hug from his owner when he won his first Cup race and how touched he was to see David and Buzzie hugging that hugging David had quite a bit of significance to Michael?

The conversation turned to Jimmie Johnson's win and Michael said that if the fastest car or truck had won all the races lately Kyle Busch would have won them all but it's so hard to win. What Chad and the #48 team accomplished racing to the front with the fastest car was almost an anomaly. Which I think highlights a problem that some fans have with the racing these days is that even though strategy of various kinds has always been a part of the sport, a lot of fans are bothered that a driver can have an extremely fast car but things are often determined by how they come out of the pits, fuel mileage strategy or other things besides racing their way up front.

Chad said that a cool thing about Michael's win is that it shows that this is a team sport. A driver can go out and do their job, the pit crew does their job but if they don't have the right crew chief they won't be able to win. The #00 was running well, the pit crew did good and Rodney Childers made the right call to win the race. Chad made an outstanding point - as much as some fans believe that racing is an individual sport where only what the driver does behind the wheel matters, it's very much a team sport where the driver needs help from their pit crew, crew chief and other team personnel to be successful and win races. Some seem to think that the only reason David won the race is because it got rained out but David still had to race well enough and the pit crew had to do good enough pit stops to where the team was in a position for Rodney to make the call that he did that ultimately won them the race.

Back to Jimmie's win, Chad said that Tony raced them clean. Jimmie led close to 300 laps but they had trouble on the last pit stop which is why they came out 9th. Chad said that they had a great race car and Jimmie was still fresh because he hadn't had to race a whole lot so he had a lot of energy left. So Chad told Jimmie that he had a shot at a top five. Michael asked what I thought was a great question about whether Chad thought they could still win and Chad said that he though they had a shot at it but he wanted to first get into the top five and then reassess from there. The top five was the initial goal. Of course as it turned out they were able to win. I thought it was interesting that Chad set the goal as the getting a top five, at least at first. What he was doing was making sure to keep the goal reasonable instead of shooting for the moon right away and potentially being disappointed if they couldn't get the lead back.

Unfortunately MWR didn't fare so well at Dover. The #55 lost its 2nd engine in three races and Michael said that shouldn't happen these days and that it's unacceptable. Of course MWR gets their engines from Toyota Racing Development and I believe there have been other engine problems even prior to now. I was surprised that Michael had such strong words openly about how unacceptable it is to blow so many engines but I'm glad that he did because it should be known that the poor results recently aren't the fault of Michael or MWR when they've had engine issues to deal with. Michael said that his car wasn't great but in the middle of the race it wasn't bad, that they got it tuned up and he was pleased with the way it was running. Um, what?! Michael complained from start to finish about how bad the car was and at no time did he indicate that he was okay with the way it was running.

Michael said that David started out with a great car but it eventually went away. The cars are really difficult to keep on target. It's easier when you start out with a good car and then you either not touch it or just tweak it a little. But if you have one like he or David did then it makes for a hard day. David is still in great shape to make the Chase though and that's where the focus of MWR is, making sure he has all the resources, parts and pieces to make the Chase. Hopefully that will happen! Chad said David has momentum with the win and the pole. It's fun to see when things start to click for guys like David. The whole team has smiles on their faces and it's fun to see. I think it's especially fun to see all those smiles considering all the struggles all at MWR had to endure since 2007. Michael said that everyday that goes by he loves Rodney more and more. He analyzes and dissects the cars. Michael better be careful because the last crew chief whose praises he started singing was Ryan Pemberton who became a hot commodity in the garage area and eventually ended up over at Red Bull Racing. Pemberton reportedly had concerns about how competitive the #00 would able to be since the team didn't have full sponsorship at the time that he was still there, now that David is outracing his driver, I wonder if Pemberton regrets his decision to leave at all?

Some video of Greg Biffle talking about how his race went was played and Greg talked about his 3rd place finish as well as how he didn't understand what happened when the caution flew during the green flag pit stops. (He was put a lap down but eventually got it back). Chad explained that Jimmie was able to stay on the lead lap because they were able to get Jimmie back to the start/finish line before the leaders came around. Michael said that drivers shouldn't judge NASCAR for when the caution came out because they have it all figured out. They should just accept that they're a lap down and there's a lot of racing left. NASCAR has computerized scoring and timing so they don't mess up often. Well, I can't say I blame some drivers for being a little unhappy given how many of them got trapped a lap or more down and especially since the #34 (or #37) supposedly bounced off the wall and NASCAR didn't call a caution just prior to the pit stops but for some reason didn't wait until the pit stops were over as they often do to throw the caution for a piece of debris.

Steve Byrnes asked Chad whether the #88 crew chief change was a distraction and of course Chad said that it wasn't. He said that the change worked out well for him because he was able to send Tony Eury, Jr. to go testing with his team so he could focus on getting the car ready for the next race. Michael, who of course had Eury, Jr. as his crew chief in 2005 and has made no secret of how much he adored working with him said that any time you can free up someone like Eury, Jr. with all the knowledge he has it helps the organization since now he's going to contribute to every team. Michael said that he knows him well and would see him walk by and look unhappy. Now he's been able to unbridle himself from all "that." Michael continued by saying that Tony, Jr. is a "good dude," he's smart and he "doesn't deserve all the crap that he's been going through." I got the impression that Michael was saying something that wasn't all that different from Kyle Busch's "it's never Junior, it's always the crew chief" comment and that he felt Tony, Jr. was being unfairly blamed for the woes of the #88 team. Sure would love to see Michael and Tony, Jr. work together again but I don't think that's too likely to happen.

A lot of people were a-buzz after this show that Michael let the cat out of the bag about double-file restarts at Pocono but there was an article about it on thatsracin.com and it was a topic of discussion on Sirius before the show even aired. I don't think NASCAR can expect anything to stay a secret that they hand out to the drivers and teams at a drivers meeting where there's media members and others in attendance. But maybe that was the point - maybe NASCAR wanted to float the idea and see how it was received before they made it official. If it helps make for more exciting and compelling racing I'm all for it.

Michael mentioned that he's been getting rides with other drivers to the track and back, presumably because like so many of them he's trying to save money by not flying his own plane separately when he can catch a ride with someone else. Apparently he flew to Dover with Kurt Busch and back with Denny Hamlin, whose race also ended early. I thought it was interesting that he and Kurt flew together. Some have floated the rumor - which I never believed - that Michael hates Kurt with a raging passion for some unknown reason. I really doubt that he would be flying to Dover with him if there was ill will between them. It's been said that Kurt might be a free agent at the end of the season. I would love to have him go to MWR, much more than Martin Truex, Jr. but that probably won't happen.

When Michael flew back on "Ham-air" he got to listen to the MRN call of the race because Denny has Sirius on his plane. He doesn't usually get to listen to the race like that but really enjoyed it because he grew up listening to races on the radio. He got so into it listening to they they painted the picture of what was happening in the race and it was very dramatic.

One of the questions of the week was "what is the minimum speed?" Michael said that there's a mathematical equation that's used to figure out the minimum speed based on happy hour speeds and normal fall off. So I guess that means it varies from track to track. NASCAR gives drivers a chance to make the minimum speed then they have to go to pit road to work on it if they can't make that speed. NASCAR wants the teams to be able to finish races if they can so they'll work with them and give them more than once chance. However, if a team keeps not being able to make minimum speed eventually they'll be told to park it.

Good show as always!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2009

Trevor Bayne to Race the #99 for Michael Waltrip Racing in Eight Natiowide Races

Michael Waltrip Racing has signed another talented young driver to race for them - 18-year old Trevor Bayne, who finished 4th in points and won a race in the East Series last season, will race the #99 in the Nationwide Series for eight races. Trevor's first race will be this weekend at Nashville, a race Michael Waltrip was originally scheduled to race but since the Cup Series is racing at Pocono, and I would guess in light of the struggles of his team, they must have decided that it was better for another driver to be behind the wheel of the #99 so Michael could concentrate on the #55. Trevor will also race the #99 June 13 race at Kentucky Speedway, June 20 at the Milwaukee Mile, July 18 at Gateway, July 25 at O’Reilly Raceway Park, August 1 at Iowa Speedway, August 21 at Bristol and November 14 in Phoenix. Although nothing was mentioned in the press release about sponsorship I would guess that there must be some sort of sponsorship or at least money changing hands to make this deal possible since it had been said at the start of the season that MWR would only field the #99 in races they had sponsorship for.

I'm really happy that Trevor is going to race for MWR! I think he's a promising young driver and I'm excited to see what he'll be able to do in the #99. I think it's also good that MWR is going to be able to field the car for some races that perhaps they were unsure about earlier in the season. It would be good if MWR could field the car in every race this season and preserve a lock-in spot in the field via owner's points, not just for this season but for the first five races next season, assuming they'll be fielding the #99 car next season as well. I think some fans are disappointed that Michael isn't going to race these races but since many of them aren't companion races it makes sense to have someone else behind the wheel. I hope Trevor has a lot of success for MWR - maybe he'll end up racing more than just these eight races for them!

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

Another Mediocre Finish For Steve Park at South Boston

I haven't had much to say in this space about Steve Park recently and that's because there hasn't been much of note to talk about. After starting off the season in fine fashion with a top ten finish in the East Series race at Greenville-Pickens and a third place finish at Phoenix, a non-points race for Steve since it was a West Series race, it's been downhill since. At Tri-County Steve finished 15th, at Iowa 31st, and South Boston 13th. On the surface two top fifteens in three races might not seem so bad except when one considers that these are shorter fields than on higher levels so that's 15th out of 26 cars and 13th out of 23, which really isn't very impressive. Even less so when one considers that there is no other driver in this series with as much experience on higher levels as Steve has and some of the drivers who are beating him are half his age.

I expected that after last season when Steve was competitive and raced up front in just about every race that he would be even better this season now that he had a year of working with the #35 team under his belt. I really figured that he would contend for wins and maybe even the Championship, especially since there are fewer Cup backed teams in the Series this year. While he's still in the top ten in points and could end up salvaging the season with some finishes up front in the remaining races, it's a big disappointment that Steve has been a non-factor in the last three races. And the problem is that there's only 11 races this season so as Steve said on Sirius at the start of the season, every race is important.

What's really frustrating is that there's no way of knowing why the performance hasn't been that great. The East Series races aren't broadcast live and the series in general gets very little media coverage. In addition, the #35 team doesn't have a website and Steve's own site hasn't been updated with any kind of pre- or post-race reports or results since Steve's third place finish at Phoenix. That means fans are completely in the dark about why the results aren't very good and in general about what's going on with Steve and his team.

Steve's site was never updated promptly to begin with - the site is almost useless as a source of current information about Steve - but it may be that they aren't in any rush to post post-race reports when there's not much positive news to talk about. Of course to be fair Steve may not have a PR person and he may have to pay his webmaster every time there's an update done to the site, but it's extremely frustrating. But if there are issues related to updating the website Steve could do a fan page on Facebook like a number of other teams have done. That's free and easy. But there's absolutely nothing. Which is pretty incredible at a time when almost every team and driver has embraced all kinds of online means to inform and engage their fans.

So it's not really surprising that there isn't much interest beyond a core group of fans in what Steve's doing these days. As one person once said to me in regards to Steve not updating his website - if it seems like he doesn't care about the races he's in, why should I? I went into this season feeling really optimistic and enthusiastic about Steve in spite of how difficult it was going to be to follow the races. Not anymore. Admittedly part of that is because Michael Waltrip Racing is fielding an East Series car for Ryan Truex and a lot of my excitement has shifted to Ryan. But hopefully Steve will have a strong finish at Watkins Glen - he's won there in Cup so he's certainly capable of great things at that track.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)

End of the Weekend Not as Good as the Start for Michael Waltrip Racing at Dover

The weekend started off on a very positive note for Michael Waltrip Racing in Dover when David Reutimann won the pole for yesterday's Cup race but the race itself was a disappointment for the organization. Although David was able to lead 25 laps, he got caught a lap down due to an ill-timed caution during green flag pit stops. Even after he got back on the lead lap his car wasn't the same as it was in the beginning of the race and he was able to finish no better than 18th. Not terrible but not as good as had been expected after he won the pole. Marcos Ambrose also had a car that wasn't all that great and he finished 20th.

But if the race wasn't very good for David and Marcos, it was a disaster for Michael Waltrip. The #55 didn't seem to be very good from the time they unloaded on Friday and Michael complained about how bad the car was from the start of the race. Still, things might have improved had they gotten the opportunity to make changes to the car but Michael was forced to pit under green due to a flat tire and he ended up going three laps down. To add insult to injury on lap 272 the engine in the #55 blew, sending Michael to the garage and out of the race.

To say that Michael was unhappy was an understatement - he complained that he was tired of getting crappy cars and crappy engines and I don't blame him. The cars he was given to race were pretty competitive to start the season but as the season has gone on the handling and performance of those cars has gotten pretty bad. In addition, there's been multiple engine issues, including two blown engines out of the last three points races. What bothers me is that Michael is going to be judged on these poor finishes pretty harshly, meanwhile ill-handling cars, cut tires, and blown engines are all things out of his hands. I understand Michael's frustration and I think he has every right to be upset with what's going on.

Some fans think that there should be a crew chief change. Maybe there will be but I have a feeling that Bootie Barker isn't going anywhere. For one thing it's likely that Michael won't be racing full-time after this season so they may feel like there isn't much point in making a lot of changes and spending money on another crew chief for a driver who won't be back. In addition, as someone pointed out on the MWR forum, it sometimes seems like Michael has lost confidence in himself - who wouldn't when the rumor is that NAPA wants a different driver and the results haven't been very good the past few years? So if Michael believes that the problem is at least partially with him then we may not see a crew chief or any other change. It's really unfortunate because I really want Michael to have fun in his last full season and go out on a high note. Hopefully that will still happen since he's a talented driver who is capable of winning when he has a competitive car and especially on restrictor plate tracks.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:25 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2009

David Reutimann and Ryan Truex Make it Two Pole Wins in One Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing!

Great start to the weekend so far for Michael Waltrip Racing! On Friday David Reutimann followed up his Coca-Cola 600 win by winning the pole for today's Cup race at Dover and yesterday Ryan Truex won the pole for the Camping World East Series race in South Boston. David's pole win was perhaps one of the best things that could happen for the #00 team besides another win because it shows that the Charlotte Victory wasn't a fluke - this is an extremely competitive team that races in the top ten - or better - just about every week. As evidenced by their pole win on Friday, they are fast and they will likely win at least one more race, if not multiple races, before the season is over.

As for Ryan, it was his first career pole award in the East Series and it comes in just his fifth race ever in the series. Ryan backed up his pole win by leading quite a few laps and finishing third. His third place finish moves him up to eight in the overall points. The results in the first three races have been somewhat uneven for Ryan so I'm really happy that things came together for him at South Boston and he was able to finish so well! Probably because I've been lucky enough to interview him for a fan newsletter and then speak with him briefly again recently at Michael Waltrip Racing's fan appreciation day, he's becoming my favorite MWR driver after Michael. So I'm really excited that South Boston was such a great race for him and I hope that success will continue at Watkins Glen!

Sure hope David, Michael and Marcos Ambrose have are able to race up front at Dover this afternoon as much as Ryan was at South Boston!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2009

Jeremy Mayfield Files Suit... But Does He Really Have a Case?

Jeremy Mayfield filed a lawsuit against NASCAR yesterday and while many fans have focused on the allegations by his lawyer that the case is about Mayfield's use of Adderall and Claritin-D what jumped out at me from an article at thatsracin.com is the following:

Attorneys for Mayfield said NASCAR told him he tested positive for amphetamines. They told a judge the driver had been taking medication for allergies and an attention deficit disorder drug, Adderall.

But Hendrick , the NASCAR attorney, said Mayfield tested positive for three drugs. Hendrick said officials threw out two because Mayfield had an explanation.

Hendrick said the third drug is “a dangerous illegal substance,” but did not name it. At one point, Hendrick said, “This case is not about amphetamines.”

Test results show high levels of the drug, he said. “Use of it represents one the most serious violations possible,” Hendrick said.

If it's true that Mayfield tested positive for a recreational drug - and we may never know because supposedly the suit is also asking the court from prohibiting NASCAR from revealing the third drug that Mayfield allegedly tested positive for besides the Claritin and Adderall - then he doesn't have a leg to stand on with this lawsuit. Even if he didn't use a recreational drug, I think NASCAR still has the right to be concerned about his use of Adderall. Amphetamines are not only used as performance enhancers but they're also commonly abused. They're on the banned list in other sports for a reason. In addition, a driver who used Adderall could potentially be impaired. It's astonishing to me how many fans believe that if Mayfield was using a legal, prescribed drug then it's okay, meanwhile if he's impaired while he's driving whether it's because of a legal or illegal drug, prescribed, OTC or otherwise, he could still be a safety risk to his fellow competitors.

Part of the suit also takes issue with NASCAR's testing policies but I think that - and all the talk about Adderall and Claritin - is a lot of smoke and mirrors on the part of his lawyer. NASCAR isn't a governmental agency and I would guess they have the right to enforce their drug policy and conduct the testing in the way that they want.

What I'm wondering about is why Mayfield Motorsports didn't field a car this weekend at Dover. As part of the suit they're asking for an injunction to lift the suspension so that Mayfield could continue to race. That was denied on Friday and I don't understand why they even asked for it in the first place since Mayfield wouldn't have had anything to race if it had been granted. Are they planning on racing next weekend at Pocono with or without Mayfield? No explanations appear to be forthcoming from anyone associated with Mayfield Motorsports and in fact the way that it came to light that they weren't showing up at Dover was via J.J. Yeley's website and based on what was posted there he appears to be just as much in the dark as anyone else as to why he's suddenly not racing again.

There's another hearing on Wednesday in which the injunction could be granted to allow Mayfield to race but if it's true that he tested positive for recreational drugs it's hard for me to see how that will happen.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)

Kyle Busch Speaks, Fans Get Upset

There's a lot of fans who are freaking out about Kyle Busch's comments about Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the crew chief change that was made. It's really hard for me to understand what's so wrong with what Kyle said. For one thing, I think he has the right to state his opinions as he sees them, and particularly when he's asked by the media. Second, I also think there's a lot of truth to what he said. There are quite a few fans who bend over backwards to find every reason they can to excuse Junior for sharing in any responsibility for the woes of #88 team so Lance McGrew - and any other crew chief Junior works with - is in a bad position because if the results aren't good they're going to get blamed. Had another driver been the one to point out that reality there would probably be a lot more people willing to agree but because Kyle said it the immediate reaction by many is that he was wrong and out-of-line for saying anything.

Meanwhile, it's not like Kyle offered up his opinion on Junior on his own. When he came into the media center he got multiple questions about Junior. What's he supposed to do, not answer? He's been criticized in the recent past for brushing off the media so if he declines to answer the questions he would get slammed for that too. Fans always complain that the drivers are too vanilla but when a driver speaks their mind fans don't like that either. I would much rather a driver state their honest opinions, be true to themselves and show some emotion than be corporate robots who never offer up a real opinion and hide how they feel about things out of fear of offending someone. That's boring to me. I want to know what the drivers truly think even if I don't agree with their opinion. It appears I'm in the minority though which is too bad because I think it makes things a lot less interesting if everyone in the garage area is afraid to speak their mind out of fear of a fan backlash.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:10 PM | Comments (1)

May 28, 2009

Tony Eury, Jr. Out as Crew Chief for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

After a miserable performance in the Coca-Cola 600 Rick Hendrick couldn't wait any longer to make a change that was probably inevitable - Tony Eury, Jr. is out as crew chief for his cousin Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He'll be replaced this weekend at Dover by Brian Whitesell and then Lance McGrew will take over at Pocono as interim crew chief. Eury, Jr. will remain at Hendrick Motorsports in the Research and Development Department but I have to think there will be a lot of teams who will make some very generous offers to try to get him to leave to crew chief for them.

The big question of course becomes whether this will improve the performance of the #88 team. Maybe it will. Though it seemed as if the team struggled to find the right set-ups for Junior, I'm not convinced that Eury, Jr. was entirely to blame for the woes of the team. Fact is, as much as I think Junior is a talented driver - no driver wins 18 Cup races unless they have a lot of talent behind the wheel - the odds are that he has some things to work on as well. It's likely that nothing will ever be said publically but I have to wonder whether there were any discussions with Junior about what he might have to change to help make the results better.

I also wonder what happens if the results don't improve immediately... or at all for that matter. What can HMS do next and who will be blamed? They certainly aren't going to make a driver change, nor should they considering Junior is a good driver and is also a major source of revenue for them. But what happens if McGrew doesn't work out either? Do they just keep going through crew chiefs until they find one that works? Or if Junior doesn't get back to racing up front on a regular basis will HMS eventually accept that? Because it is possible that Junior just isn't a good fit at HMS or that as hard as this may be for many of his fans to accept that his best years of racing are behind him. Junior is being given some of the most competitive cars in the garage area to race and is getting the best of the best in general when it comes to resources so many of the pieces are there for Junior to win more races and maybe even a Championship. But it's possible that won't happen.

What's unfortunate for those of us whose favorite drivers are someone other than Junior is that the vast majority of the media attention is going to be on Junior this weekend. I guess it's a good time for teams to announce bad news because no one will notice. I feel sorry for whoever wins the race in Dover or really any team that has good things happen to them because there will likely be very little attention given to them since the focus will be on Junior, the crew chief change and how he does. Almost makes me not want to watch much of the TV coverage of the race this weekend.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2009

Robby Gordon Penalized 50 Driver and Owner Points

Robby Gordon finished 3rd in the Coca-Cola 600 by following the same strategy as eventual race winner David Reutimann but he's not going to get to keep all the points he earned with that finish. During a post-race inspection NASCAR seized the rear end housing of the #7 to take back to the R&D center for further inspection and today penalties were announced for a "rear axle housing that exceeded the maximum specified toe of plus or minus one degree." Gordon will lose 50 driver points as well as 50 owner points and his crew chief Kirk Almquist was fined $50,000 and placed on probation through December.

Some of Robby's fans are freaking out but for right now at least these penalties aren't a big deal. Robby remains 34th in both driver and owner's points and there's a comfortable 131 point cushion between where he is in the owner's points and 36th. Almquist being put on probation is certainly a nothing penalty. What likely hurts the most is the fine since Almquist likely isn't making as much at Robby Gordon Motorsports given their lesser resources as he would with a larger team. Sometimes the team pays the fine for the crew chief and I doubt RGM has a lot of spare funds sitting around either. The other way that this penalty could be costly is if for some reason Robby's results aren't very good over the course of the rest of the season and he's in danger of falling out of the top 35 - at that point the 50 points could loom large. But right now - what's the big deal? Lesson learned and the team moves on.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

NASCAR Needs to Listen to the Fans Not Just Drivers and Owners

Yesterday NASCAR held two closed-door town hall style meetings with drivers and owners to address concerns and discuss the state of the sport. Topics that were discussed included the drug policy in the wake of Jeremy Mayfield's positive drug test and the COT. The meetings are a step in the right direction assuming NASCAR is truly open to hearing honest feedback responding to it, something that some have doubts about. But I don't think it's just the owners and drivers that NASCAR needs to listen to, particularly if it's true that one reason they held the meetings were to seek ways to reverse the continuing decline in ticket sales and ratings. NASCAR - as well as the teams, drivers and sponsors - need to be sure that they're paying attention to what the fans are saying too. In some ways that's difficult because there are a lot of fans who are overly negative and unrealistic in their expectations. But there are also a lot of fans who truly still love NASCAR but are frustrated and disheartened by the direction the sport is going in.

At times I'm alarmed because I get the sense that there are a lot of people who dismiss the fans completely and don't see much reason to pay attention to what they think. So how exactly are they going to get fans to buy tickets and watch races on TV again if they aren't willing to take the time to find out why they're upset? I'm also troubled because at a time when every single person in the garage area should be bending over backwards to reach out to the fans, there are still some drivers and others who can't be bothered. If not for the fans themselves, the drivers and others should want to make the fans feel important for the sake of their sponsors. Without the fans, there is no one for the sponsors to promote their brand and products to and they are less likely to remain in the sport.

Michael Waltrip understands these things and not only did Michael Waltrip Racing have a Fan Appreciation Day last week, Michael had a separate event just for his own fans, the Wal-Nutz. There are others who clearly understand why it's important to do these things as well. But does the governing body of the sport? Do they understand that they need to listen to fans and make them feel like they're being heard? At times they say the right things about wanting to be responsive to the fans but I'm not convinced they - or some of the drivers, teams and sponsors - truly understand what some of the issues are.

I also think that there are more than a few people in the garage area who are holding on to some outdated ideas about fan attitudes. Times have very much changed and a lot of fans aren't as inclined to be as loyal to drivers, teams, sponsors or even the sport as they once were. If anyone in this sport thinks that they can do anything and fans will blindly accept it as long as the drivers tell them to, they're mistaken - it hasn't been that way for a very long time otherwise there would be a lot less unhappy fans right now. The governing body of the sport, as well as everyone else who is involved, needs to listen with open minds to the fans. If they are truly wiling to do so then maybe they can address some of the problems and fans will be more willing to buy tickets and watch races.

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

May 25, 2009

David Reutimann Wins the Coca-Cola 600!!!!

Whooohoooooooo!!!! Thanks to a great gamble by his crew chief Rodney Childers to stay out when others were pitting, David Reutimann won the Coca-Cola 600 today, his first career Cup win! It's also Michael Waltrip Racing's first win on the Cup level! I'm so happy for David, the #00 team, Michael and everyone at MWR! A lot of people never thought they'd make it past their first season in Cup and now in just their third year of racing on the Cup level they've won a race! I'm so happy and excited!!!!

As I continue this entry on Tuesday I'm still smiling from ear-to-ear when I think about David winning yesterday! But before I discuss how excited I am about David's win any further I have to address the complaints by some fans that this wasn't a "real" win. Get real! A win is a win no matter how it comes! As I've said before in this space, I'm so tired of all the reasons that some fans come up with to dismiss or demean wins - they came because of rain, it was only a result of pit strategy, it was a gamble on fuel mileage, etc... or all the crazy conspiracy theories like the person who said that NASCAR gave David the win because they want to help keep Michael Waltrip in the spotlight. Oh please! Strategy has always been and always will be a part of this sport. This is also a team sport and it's not just the actions of the driver behind the wheel that determines the outcome of a race. In this case David and the #00 team won the race because of a terrific decision David's crew chief made, a decision that every other crew chief could also have made. So I think it's a little unfortunate that David felt like he needed to apologize for his win afterwards. There is nothing to apologize for. I totally understand that some fans are disappointed when races are decided by rain but David won fair and square and so would any other driver who had ended up in his position.

I'm not going to let sour and negative fans take anything away from David's win though! As happy as I am for David, I'm even happier for Michael - the past few years have really been a struggle for him and to get to the point where he has a Cup car in Victory Lane has to feel so good! Michael should be so proud of what he built with MWR - I was just at Raceworld last week and it was an incredible sight to see! There was so much enthusiasm and excitement in the air, and I would imagine even more so today! Everyone at MWR works so hard including Michael and it's awesome to see that hard work paying off!

Michael spoke after the race at length about David's win and said how meaningful it was to see David's father, Buzzie hug him after he won and also how much it meant to be able to hug his driver himself. Apparently Michael teared up when he was talking about that - when he won his first Cup race neither his father nor his owner was there to hug him since his father had passed away a year or two before and unbeknown to Michael on that day as he celebrated his win in Victory Lane, his owner and good friend, Dale Earnhardt, had died in a last lap wreck as Michael was winning the race. So what a rush of emotions it must have been for Michael yesterday to feel so happy about David's win but at the same time be reminded of the hugs that never were to be with his own first Cup win. There are some drivers who seem to take winning for granted and don't get very emotional about it - I loved the fact that Michael showed some true emotion and David and the entire MWR organization was clearly excited to win!

Some seem to think this will be MWR's only win and those people need to get the idea that MWR is a fly-by-night organization on the verge of collapse out of their head - this is a professionally run organization with talented employees that is continuing to grow and develop. They have an extremely impressive facility and anyone who sees it in person as I did has to take them seriously. But I didn't have to go there in person to know that MWR has been making progress. David has raced up front consistently this season and even though the results haven't been as good recently as they were earlier in the season Michael has still raced better than he did the past few years. It was only a matter of time before David ended up in Victory Lane and this won't be his - or MWR's - last win! It's just the first of many trips to Victory Lane for MWR that will come in the future and hopefully one day they'll be celebrating a Championship too!

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

May 16, 2009

Jeremy Mayfield Says He Plans on Pursuing Legal Action, Denies Taking Illegal Drugs

In a stunning show of defiance, Jeremy Mayfield showed up at the track tonight to watch the race as a spectator even though he's indefinitely suspended from racing or owning a car due to having failed a drug test. From the sounds of it he's not likely to return as a competitor any time soon either. Not only is Mayfield planning on pursuing legal action, he says he has no intention on following the rehabilitation plan set out for him by Dr. David Black and NASCAR because he says he tested positive for Claritin-D and an unnamed prescription drug, not illegal drugs. Give me a break. First of all, Claritin-D is on the banned list for other sports and both that and the prescription drug depending on what it was could have the potential to impair him behind the wheel. Second, Brian France said yesterday that they don't suspend drivers for taking OTC and prescription drugs. So Mayfield is basically saying that it was a false positive - I'm supposed to believe that there was a false positive when they tested both his A and B samples?

In addition, Mayfield says he was never informed by NASCAR what he tested positive for even though NASCAR says he received paperwork that specified what it was. So when Mayfield spoke with Dr. Black or representatives of Aegis, they never told him and he never asked? He never asked anyone else either? I'm supposed to believe that he accepted a suspension without knowing what he was being suspended for? Well, not to worry because if Mayfield's threatened legal action amounts to anything every detail of what he tested positive for - and why it's not a false positive - will be revealed not only to him but everyone.

What's most incredible to me is that Mayfield says he has no plans on going through the rehabilitation process to be reinstated. "Why would I?" he said to reporters tonight. Why would he? Well, he would if he wants to race or own his car again. Unless he proves without a doubt that it was a false positive - and I'm very skeptical he'll be able to - there is no way that NASCAR is reinstating a driver who fails a drug test and then refuses to follow their directives.

It's also astonishing that Mayfield insists on blaming Claritin-D. He's pretty much alleging that an allergy medication that happens to also be a major sponsor of a Cup car contributed to a false positive drug test. That's potentially damaging to Claritin-D because some may hesitate to use Claritin thinking that they might test positive on their own drug tests. I have to wonder what Claritin is going to do now that Mayfield has gone on the record saying that he used their produce. Seems to me that they may consider their own legal action if he continues to insist they were at fault.

It'll be interesting to see where things go. I may be wrong but something tells me that much like with Roger Clemens in the end it will turn out that Mayfield misremembered just exactly what he took to cause him to test positive.

Update: An updated version of the ESPN article has more quotes from Mayfield and from NASCAR. Ramsey Poston from NASCAR claims that Mayfield was told three times by NASCAR's medical review officer what he tested positive for. Mayfield also received paperwork that detailed the substance as well. Poston also said that Mayfield wasn't supposed to be at the track because of his suspension and apparently a camera crew following Mayfield was nearly removed from the track because they didn't have the proper credentialing. If you were Mayfield and you were already in trouble, wouldn't you do everything in your power to ensure that followed all the rules and didn't get yourself into any more trouble? Mayfield also says he got independent drug testing, though he declined to say what the results of those tests were and said something about hair samples. Mayfield also accused NASCAR of backtracking regarding the possibility that Claritin could have caused him to fail the drug test because they're a sponsor. Maybe his quotes were taken out of context or not repeated in full but half of what he said didn't make much sense to me particularly the part about hair samples. I also don't understand why he said that no one told him what he tested positive for but says someone told him "you tested positive for a certain whatever they call it" - did he just not understand what the substance was he tested positive for?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:34 PM | Comments (2)

May 15, 2009

NASCAR Says Jeremy Mayfield Tested Positive for Either a Performance Enhancer or Recreational Drugs

Jeremy Mayfield should feel extremely lucky that NASCAR is so resistant about releasing information about the specific drug he tested positive for because NASCAR Chairman Brian France today said that he either tested positive for a performance enhancer or a recreational drug. Since the Associated Press's Jenna Fryer is reporting that a source has told her that Mayfield didn't test positive for PEDs, it appears likely that Mayfield tested positive not for Clairtin-D or another allergy medication but for a recreational drug. France said that violations in the past that involve prescription or over-the-counter medications,

"...most of the time, in that circumstance, it’s resolved and … would not invoke an indefinite suspension that Jeremy and others have gotten. On the other hand, if you fall into the other category, as we say ‘a serious infraction,’ which a number of people have in either one of the areas – performance-enhancing or recreational at levels that Dr. Black believes violate the policy – that’s the end of the road at that point. They’ll be notified and the process will then begin as it has for Jeremy.”

Not much of a surprise that Mayfield's excuse, like the excuses of most athletes who test positive, has fallen apart - it was extremely hard to believe that NASCAR would suspend a driver for legitimately using a perscription or OTC drug. Instead of admitting to making a mistake and accepting the consequences, Mayfield opted to blame prescription and over-the-counter medications, with people around him spreading the rumor that he had been using Claritin-D. That's astonishing because it appears that Mayfield and/or his "people" dragged a NASCAR sponsor through the mud when it reality Claritin likely had nothing to do with the failed drug test and suspension. In addition, he made his fellow competitors fear that if they took medications for legitimate reasons, even if by prescription and as directed that they could fail a drug test and get suspended, something that doesn't seem like it would be likely to happen based on what France said.

I'm sure some are still going to claim that it was a false positive, that Mayfield is being set-up by NASCAR or stubbornly insist that it was only allergy medications that caused Mayfield to fail the drug test. But all of that is extremely unlikely. For one thing if NASCAR falsely accused a driver of testing positive for PEDs or a recreational drug they'd be setting themselves up for a lawsuit. I'm sure there are going to be some who will say that Mayfield's silence is an indication that he's consulting his lawyers and will eventually take legal action to clear his name but that's also very unlikely. During the course of a lawsuit the specific drug that Mayfield tested positive for would be revealed and there's no way that he's going to want that if the violation is as serious as France is saying.

No matter how much some may want to keep their heads in the sand and come up with implausible conspiracy theories and blame others, the fact is that the only person to blame for the situation that Mayfield is in is Mayfield himself. It doesn't appear likely that we'll see him back at the track anytime in the near future either.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

Drivers Want NASCAR to Give Them List of Banned Substances

The hysteria over NASCAR not giving the drivers a list of banned substances continues with the drivers themselves now getting into the act. While I continue to think that a driver shouldn't need a list to know that they shouldn't be taking anything that might impair them behind the wheel, I can understand their concern. For one thing, fans and the media have been carrying on about false positives and all the legal drugs that might cause a driver to test positive. So it's understandable that some of them are getting nervous. At last night's Pit Crew Challenge Brian Vickers said,

"I’m afraid to take my multiivitamin. Because you call them [at NASCAR] and you ask them, ‘Is this multivitamin OK?’ And their response is ‘Well, I think it is. but if it tests positive, there’s nothing we can do about it.’ What am I supposed to do with that? And then all they tell you is, 'Just remember we had this conversation.’ OK. Well, what does that mean? To me, it’s extremely gray, it’s extremely vague. I don’t know what happened to Mayfield. No one knows. They haven’t released it.”

It's hard for me to believe that multivitamins would be a banned substance, that they would cause a positive drug test or that a driver would be suspended for taking them. In addition, just exactly who is he calling? If he really is calling NASCAR then I don't blame them for telling him that there's nothing they can do if he tests positive since it's not NASCAR who administers the testing. The drivers need to make sure that they're checking with the right people which would be the medical liaison and/or Dr. David Black from Aegis who are the people who are qualified to give an opinion on whether it might create an issue to take certain drugs. In addition, it is known what happened to Mayfield - he tested positive for a drug "of great concern" to NASCAR because of the possibility that it would cause Mayfield to be impaired behind the wheel. The drivers need to take some responsibility for what goes into their own bodies and not take any substances whether it's something that's legal, illegal, available by perscription, OTC or even homemade that has the potential to cause them to be impaired.

It'll be interesting to see how NASCAR responds to the concerns of Vickers and the other drivers. In the past they've sometimes made changes when drivers have been vocal about an issue but at other times the concerns seem to fall on deaf ears. NASCAR's stance that they don't want to distribute a list because they don't want to be locked in what they can test for isn't that crazy but they may be forced to tweak their policy and develop some sort of list to appease the competitors.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2009

Mayfield Didn't Test Positive for Steroids

An anonymous source tells the Associated Press's Jenny Fryer that that substance that Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for wasn't steroids. Can't say I'm surprised about that considering some of the comments that have been made by Dr. David Black from Aegis Sciences Corp., the company that conducts NASCAR's drug testing, about testing for substances that might impair a driver. Problem is for all the concern about keeping drivers and pit crew members who might be impaired off the track, even after Mayfield failed a drug test he was allowed to take to the track for practice and qualifying at Darlington because of the way the testing process is set up. Mayfield was informed on Tuesday, May 5 that he failed a drug test and was asked to provide an explanation as to why he tested positive, which he did. Aegis investigated his claim, rejected his explanation, and then informed NASCAR of the failed drug test on Thursday, May 7. The following day, May 8, Mayfield asked for his B sample to be tested and NASCAR told Aegis to rush the results so they would have them prior to the start of Saturday's race in Darlington, which Mayfield failed to qualify for which had to be a relief to NASCAR officials considering what was going on.

Some are taking issue with NASCAR's decision to let Mayfield practice and qualify at Darlington despite knowing that he had tested positive. That was something I took issue with originally as well as it seems to me if the governing body knows they have a driver that may have taken a substance that might cause them to be impaired they can't let them back on the track. However, after thinking about things it seems to me that NASCAR didn't have much choice once Mayfield asked for the B sample to be tested just be sure. Had they told Mayfield that he couldn't participate on Friday they likely would have had to announce at that time that he had failed a drug test and then if the B sample came back clean they would have needlessly labeled him a possible drug user and kept him out of practice and qualifying for no reason. So it seems to me that NASCAR had to wait until the B sample results came back to be sure that the first test wasn't a false positive.

A lot of fans have assumed that NASCAR didn't give Mayfield the opportunity to provide a reasonable explanation as to why he tested positive but it appears that did in fact happen. Only Aegis investigated and didn't find his explanation to be plausible. Which takes me back to what I posted a few entries ago - most are assuming that Mayfield took Claritin-D but would NASCAR really suspend Mayfield for an allergy medicine he had a perscription for or an over-the-counter drug that he took as directed? In addition, if Mayfield was legitimately taking allergy medications as prescribed wouldn't that explanation be plausible as to why he tested positive? It's hard for me to believe that they would ruin Mayfield's reputation and subject themselves to all this negative publicity because he took a dose of allergy medication.

Supposedly Mayfield is going to release another statement at the end of the week. It'll be interesting to see whether he sticks to his explanation that a combination of prescription and over-the-counter medications caused him to test positive now that Aegis has said multiple times that explanation isn't plausible. In addition, will he try to blame Claritin and question how they can sponsor a car if they (allegedly) might have led to him testing positive? Seems to me that's an extremely risky course of action - a lot of people think that Mayfield is going to sue NASCAR but he could set himself up for being sued by Claritin. Maybe Mayfield plans on announcing that he's going to pursue legal action. I think that's another risky idea as the specific substance and how much was present would be revealed and that might not be so good for Mayfield. In addition, I have to think he doesn't have much grounds to sue since he tested positive not just once but twice (A and B samples) so NASCAR is probably perfectly within their rights to take any action they so choose against him after that happens.

Mayfield also needs to be careful not to anger the governing body. He should be making every effort to work with them to follow their directives as to how he can be reinstated. I think that any driver who tests positive for a substance that might impair them on the track should be prohibited from ever racing again but luckily for Mayfield NASCAR is more forgiving than I would be. We've seen other drivers who have failed drug tests return to racing so Mayfield could do the same. If he wasn't abusing whatever it was he tested positive for I would think that he would return to the track fairly soon. However if he's resistant to following the guidelines set out for reinstatement or blames NASCAR or Aegis instead of taking responsibility for his situation - after all, he's the one who made the decision to take the substance that caused him to fail the drug test - he may find himself on the sidelines for a long time.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2009

NASCAR Looking Into Why Ratings Are Down

Finally NASCAR is admitting that ratings for TV broadcasts of Cup races being in a dramatic decline might be a problem and have said that they plan to look into some of the reasons and whether there's anything that can be done about it. Unfortunately after reading the comments by Paul Brooks, president of NASCAR's media group, I have zero confidence that they're going to really do anything to address the problems because Brooks seems to be completely out-of-touch with what the real issues are for fans. He said,

“The biggest impact is with our TV partners and their commercial sales. We’re mindful of that. The flip side is that we hear great things, that it’s not a NASCAR issue. It’s a broader economy and advertising issue.”

While it's true that one complaint that a lot of fans have is about how many commercials it couldn't be father from the truth to say that it's not a NASCAR issue. It most certainly is because fans are extremely unhappy with everything from the quality of the racing that the COT produces to the domination of a select group of teams who are the ones who contend for wins almost every week to the Chase for the Championship which has never caught on with fans. There are numerous fans who have lost interest not just in watching races on TV but in following the sport all together because of their unhappiness with some of these issues.

In addition, Brooks cites pit stops as being a key issue for fans in that they don't like when TV goes to commerical during pit stops. Is he kidding? Not once have I ever seen any fans complain about not getting to see pit stops. What they complain about is missed restarts and TV not coming back from a break when there's an incident on the track. They complain about how boring the races are to watch. And most of all, fans complain that there's too much attention given to a handful of drivers and teams. While it's impossible for every team and driver to be covered in-depth in every race, I believe very strongly that a big issue is that many drivers go virtually ignored during races or if they are mentioned it's only in the briefest of ways. Whenever that issue comes up it's said that if a driver and team want coverage then they need to race up front but the fact of the matter is that even when drivers race in the top ten or top fifteen they often get very little coverage. Marcos Ambrose is a good example of this - seems like every week he races in the top ten yet he gets very little attention for it. In addition, it's said that drivers need to make themselves part of the story of the race to get coverage - well, if a team has a problem or is racing extremely well it seems like that's part of the story of the race yet there's no guarantee that those things will be noticed or mentioned.

I've seen it said that fans aren't watching because Dale Earnhardt, Jr. isn't racing well so all his fans are losing interest - really? First of all, most die-hard fans don't stop watching just because their driver isn't racing well. Secondly, there are quite a few fans who don't care what Junior is doing including this fan. No matter what the surveys may say and no matter how hard it is for some to believe every single driver in the field has fans. And those fans are interested in their driver whether he's racing for the lead or racing in 35th. I would guess that if you add up all the fans of other drivers you would end up with a fairly significant amount of fans. But why are these fans going to watch if they know that they'll never see or hear much about their favorite driver? This sport has a massive problem if success or failure is dependent on one driver because even if Junior starts winning races this season one day he's going to retire - what does NASCAR do then?

I think an additional problem is that there have been quite a few veteran drivers retiring or racing in lesser rides over the past few years like Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett and Sterling Marlin. Many of the fans of those drivers have struggled to find another driver to cheer for and have just stopped watching. Michael Waltrip could end up retiring after this season - while some of his fans will cheer for the Michael Waltrip Racing drivers, the reality is that even with those drivers the passion that Michael's fans have for him won't be there and odds are unless they find another driver they feel the same way about they too many not have as much interest as they once did. NASCAR needs to find a way to have fans be interested and passionate about the overall sport and the racing regardless of whether their favorite driver is racing or not.

NASCAR should be extremely concerned about the drop in TV ratings. One would think that since ticket sales are in a decline due to the economy fans would just watch at home but they aren't and it reflects a larger problem that the sport has - the increasing dissatisfaction that many fans have about the direction the sport is going in. It's already extremely difficult for teams to find and keep sponsors - just exactly how are they going to convince sponsors to spend millions of dollars when they may no longer be reaching the audience they want to? It's not just the teams that are going to run into a problem since sponsors may start to hesitate to spend money on buying commercials and other ad time during broadcasts if they feel no one's paying attention.

Unfortunately since I think NASCAR is somewhat out of touch with what the fans really think I don't have much confidence in NASCAR's ability to address the problems that they're facing and reverse the TV ratings slide but I hope to be wrong - as a long time fan I want to see the sport success but NASCAR has a lot of challenges they need to overcome right now.

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

J.J. Yeley to Replace Jeremy Mayfield in the #41

Although he hasn't raced in a Cup race since last August when he was released by Hall of Fame Racing, J.J. Yeley was selected by Mayfield Motorsports to replace the suspended Jeremy Mayfield in the #41. Yeley doesn't know how many races he'll be behind of the #41 for as that depends on how long Mayfield's suspension lasts (something tells me Mayfield won't be back all that soon), but he's looking forward to making the most of the opportunity. He said,

“These guys here, it’s probably more of a throwback to what I’ve been used to most of my racing career – an underdog team with a handful of guys that have the heart to win championships and win races. … It’s been too long since I’ve been in something, and I’m ready to get back at it.”

In addition, Shana Mayfield has been named interim owner of the #41 since Mayfield was suspended not only as driver but also as owner. In my prior entry I said that I thought that given that Dr. David Black described the substance that Mayfield tested positive for as a drug of "great concern" that I found it hard to believe that it was allergy medication that caused Mayfield to fail his drug test. However, I've since found out that Clairtin-D, which is what Mayfield is taking is on the banned list of most other major sports because it contains pseudoephedrine so odds are it's also on NASCAR's banned substance list because it could impair a driver who took it. So it's possible that is what caused Mayfield to test positive though I'm still kind of skeptical given Dr. Black's comment about how he's never seen prescription and OTC drugs combine for the result that he saw with Mayfield's test which makes me think there was something else going on there even if he was really taking Claritin.

But the fact of the matter is that whether it was Claritin or something else, Mayfield failed a drug test. If he took a substance on the banned list NASCAR needs to take action on that. There's been a lot of criticism of NASCAR's drug policy because they don't give the drivers a clear list of what substances are on the banned list because they don't want to limit what they test for. I don't think Mayfield has a leg to stand on if his defense is going to be that he didn't know he wasn't supposed to take Claritin or whatever it was that he tested positive for. A driver shouldn't have to be told that he shouldn't take a medication that might impair him on the track. In addition, if there's any question at all, the driver can check with the medical liaison or Dr. Black, something Mayfield apparently never did.

There are many fans who are ripping NASCAR for suspending Mayfield. Some think it's unfair if he tested positive for Claritin, even though it's on the banned list of every other major sport. Others think it could have been a false positive or that NASCAR is out to get Mayfield. Nonsense. There was both an A and a B sample that were tested and Mayfield came up positive on both so it's not likely it's a false positive. NASCAR also doesn't have some sort of vendetta against Mayfield. They simply want to ensure that none of the competitors or crew members are impaired while they're on the track because the consequences could be deadly. I applaud NASCAR for having zero tolerance when it comes to drugs.

Many are saying that NASCAR should release the details of exactly what it was that Mayfield tested positive for - um, doesn't anyone realize that there are privacy laws that prohibit what NASCAR can say? I think because what players in other sports test for leaks so readily people assume that the governing bodies automatically release information about what substance an athlete tested positive for when they're announcing their suspension but at least in MLB that's not the case. While I understand the argument that it's not right for Mayfield to be branded as someone with a drug problem if the issue is that one time he used legal medication when he shouldn't have been I also don't think that NASCAR should ignore Mayfield's privacy - and the law. Mayfield has already said that his positive drug test was due to prescription and OTC drugs and those around him have said it's because of Clairtin. He could probably give more details but something tells me he won't be inclined to do so.

There's also quite a few fans who believe that the reason that no one has heard anything from Mayfield beyond his original statement is because he's currently negotiating with NASCAR to get his suspension reversed. That won't be happening. NASCAR isn't going to make a deal when it comes to a positive drug test. If there are any discussions between NASCAR and Mayfield it's about what steps he's going to need to take to get reinstated. Mayfield has been silent because there's nothing he can say to help his case. Even questions about Claritin-D considering that it's on the banned list for all other sports won't make him look too good. So odds are we won't be hearing much from Mayfield any time in the near future.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2009

A Drug of Great Concern

Would an allergy medication or an over-the-counter medication be "a drug of great concern" to NASCAR? Because according to Dr. David Black from Aegis Sciences Corporation, the company that administers NASCAR's drug testing, that's what the substance that Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for is. According to Black, who is a forensic toxicologist,

"We had a drug of great concern to NASCAR. In all my experience, a combination of over-the-counter drug plus a prescription drug would not have necessarily caused this positive test result. I’m very confident and comfortable with the action taken.”

Black also made it clear that NASCAR would only move to suspend a driver if the substance they were taking would impair them.

“There is a review for any test result to determine any legitimate medical need on the part of a participant. We’re not dealing with a very difficult issue here with regard to what might affect someone’s driving and certainly would be a concern for NASCAR. We would only take action if indeed we found the presence of a drug that would adversely affect someone’s performance.”

Given Black's comments I find it extremely hard to believe that Mayfield tested positive because of Claritin or another allergy medication as he's claimed.

In addition Jim Hunter, NASCAR's Vice President of Communications, was a guest on Sirius's "Morning Drive" to talk about the Mayfield suspension among other topics. One of the questions that Mike Bagley specifically posed to him was whether there was a way for drivers to check with or clear any medications they were taking with NASCAR prior to testing. Hunter said that there was, that there are drivers who are on different medications and they discuss it with the medical liaison or they can talk to Dr. Black directly so that he (Dr. Black) knows what medications the drivers might be taking prior to when they're tested. So even if allergy medications were involved with Mayfield's positive drug test he should have consulted with the medical liaison and/or Dr. Black to ensure that they were aware of what he was using.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)

Kyle Busch Only Says 15 Words; The Media Freaks Out

Why is it still news when Kyle Busch doesn't speak to reporters when things don't go well for him in a race? By now every reporter who regularly covers NASCAR should know that when Busch has a bad race he's unlikely to stop to talk, yet it's still being made into a big issue by some members of the media. Jeff Gluck, who comes off as if he was personally insulted by Busch, has a lengthy opinion piece written in the form of an open letter to Kyle in which he all but calls Busch a jackass. It's astonishing to me that Gluck seems so surprised and offended by Kyle's behavior when it's nothing new and that he even took issue with it when Busch had gotten into a wreck and was being asked for a comment on his way to get back into his repaired race car so he could limp around the track and finish the race - is it any wonder that Busch wasn't in the mood to speak with reporters?

Here's the other thing - unless he finishes in the top five Busch isn't even required by NASCAR to speak with the media. If he so chooses, Busch would be well within his rights to blow off the media after every single race as long as he's not one of the top-finishers. That wouldn't be in the best interest of himself, his team or his sponsor but he could do it. Many drivers do. In fact, Claire B. Lang said that Clint Bowyer blew off the media after he wrecked and there were media members who wanted to speak with Clint since that wreck ended his no-DNF streak. Why isn't anyone writing an open letter to Clint? Why isn't anyone saying that the media should boycott Clint for a month as Pat Patterson reportedly advocated for on Sirius.

What is especially galling to me about Gluck's column is that he wrote it less than 48 hours after one of the biggest news stories this season in NASCAR broke. You mean to tell me that Gluck was more offended about the way Kyle Busch blew off the media than he was about Jeremy Mayfield failing a drug test and getting suspended for it? It's a sad commentary on the way things are but I would guess a commentary on how much Kyle sucks probably gets far more hits than one on Mayfield even though that's a much more important and newsworthy topic.

Of course I think that more often than not drivers should make the effort to speak with the media. It's not only how they communicate with the fans and get their message out but also how they get exposure for their sponsor which is their obligation to do. But I also think there needs to be some understanding that not every driver is going to be willing to talk all the time. I'm quite sure that all media members know when they can approach Tony Stewart and when they're better off leaving him alone lest he lashes out at someone. So why can't that same courtesy be extended to Busch? The worst part is that Busch actually did say something to the media, only apparently those 15 words weren't good enough for Gluck. Busch is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. If he speaks with the media and says the wrong thing out of emotion he gets ripped for it but if he opts to keep his thoughts to himself he gets ripped for that too.

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

Dr. David Black Disputes Jeremy Mayfield's Allergy Medication Claims

One thing that inevitably happens when an athlete tests positive for a banned substance is that they always have some sort of excuse - they took the drug unknowingly, they took a legal drug that caused them to test positive, they were being treated for a medical condition, it was a false positive, etc... So it was no surprise that Jeremy Mayfield claimed that his positive drug test was a result of a combination of perscription and over-the-counter drugs, more specifically allergy medication. But the other thing that often happens is that the excuses that the athletes offer up quickly fall apart under closer scrutiny. Which is - no surprise - what appears to be happening with Mayfield.

Dr. David Black from Aegis Labs, the company that administers NASCAR's drug testing told USA Today that Mayfield's claims aren't plausible. In addition to saying that Mayfield tested positive for "a drug of concern", Dr. Black said, "What we have is a clear violation of policy. In my many years of experience, I have never seen a violation like this due to the combination of over-the-counter or prescription products." Later in the article Dr. Black makes what I think is a pretty damning statement when he says that there's "no way that a driver would be in violation" for using cold and allergy medications as directed. It seems to me that Dr. Black is implying that maybe it wasn't allergy medications that Mayfield tested positive for.

What some fans seem to be having trouble understanding is that NASCAR doesn't administer the drug testing themselves - Aegis is a professional drug testing company who have presumably done hundred and likely thousands of drug tests. Do fans really think that Aegis didn't follow proper protocol, that they didn't rule out the possibility of a false positive and that they didn't fully investigate exactly what Mayfield tested positive for? Do fans really think that NASCAR didn't speak with Mayfield and didn't investigate whether it was plausible that allergy medications caused a false positive?

There's quite a few fans who are saying that NASCAR should specify what Mayfield tested positive for - something they're likely prohibited from doing due to privacy laws as it relates to medical records. I think those fans who want more details to be released about what substance Mayfield is accused of taking should be careful what they wish for because I suspect finding out more may not clear Mayfield as some are hoping for.

Update: Even more damning information: Truck Series driver T.J. Bell told Speedfreaks in an interview last night that after abnormalities showed up in a drug test that he took, NASCAR gave him the opportunity to get documentation from a doctor that proved that those abnormalities were due to medication he took during a dental visit. I would guess the same courtesy was extended to Mayfield after he tested positive. Perhaps Mayfield is still gathering documentation that shows that his positive test was due to perscription medication but if Mayfield was given the same opportunity to clear himself as Bell was and he was suspended anyway it's an indication that he couldn't provide the proof NASCAR needed or it wasn't perscription medications that caused his positive drug test.

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

May 10, 2009

More on Jeremy Mayfield

Quite a few fans believe that there's been a rush to judgment about Jeremy Mayfield and are expecting that NASCAR is going to reserve the indefinite suspension they gave him. That's not likely to happen. For one thing suspensions for failed drug tests aren't subject to an appeal. Second, Mayfield didn't just fail one drug test, he failed two since NASCAR tested both an A and a B sample which means that they did their due diligence to be sure they weren't making a mistake. In addition, I find it hard to believe that the first time Mayfield found out he was getting suspended was on Saturday - odds are he spoke with NASCAR regarding those positive tests and gave them the same excuse that he made in the statement he released regarding the positive results being from a combination of a prescription and and over-the-counter drug. If NASCAR was going to buy that excuse and let him off the hook they would have already done. There's no way that NASCAR is going to subject themselves to bad publicity or ruin a driver/owner's career and reputation if they weren't 100% sure that Mayfield took a banned substance and that there was something that needed to be addressed.

I also saw one fan say that Mayfield should and will be cleared like Ron Hornaday, Jr. was. Well, the only reason why Hornaday, Jr. was "cleared" was because NASCAR only instituted a stricter drug policy at the start of this season. Had Hornaday, Jr. been caught using testosterone cream, steroids, HGH or anything else on the banned substance list that he may have used without getting clearance from NASCAR first he too would likely have been suspended indefinitely, even if he was taking those things to treat a medical condition. Drivers and pit crew members simply can't take drugs on the banned list even if they have what to them and their fans is a good reason for doing so. As I said last year I also think Hornaday, Jr. is lucky he's in motorsports and not MLB because in my opinion there were numerous questions and truck-sized holes in his story that media that cover other sports would have jumped on a lot more readily than those in the motorsports media were willing to.

It seems to me that a lot of fans are having trouble wrapping their mind around the concept that Mayfield might actually have used a drug on the banned list. To a degree I can understand - for Mayfield's fans the idea that their hero did something wrong, something that could end his career must be something difficult to come to terms with. Everyone wants to think the best of their favorite driver but the reality is that they are just as prone to making mistakes and have just as many flaws as any other human being. In addition, some are saying that Mayfield doesn't seem like the type to use drugs - it may very well be that this was a one-time mistake in which he used a legal drug by accident when he shouldn't have. But it may also be something else, something more serious. Anyone can become addicted to drugs, no matter what kind of person they seem to be.

Instead of directing their anger towards NASCAR for doing what they should be doing and ensuring that none of the competitors and pit crew members are under the influence of anything, perhaps some of these fans should direct their outrage towards Mayfield. After all, he's the one who made the choice to use something - legal or not - that was on the banned substance list.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:39 PM | Comments (0)

Jeremy Mayfield Suspended Indefinitely for Violating NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy

Jeremy Mayfield was suspended indefinitely today, along with crew members from two other teams, for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy. All three failed random drug tests administered last weekend at Richmond. Besides Jeremy, the other two violators are a crew member from John Andretti's #34 Cup team and a crew member from Roush Fenway Racing's #16 Nationwide team. Of course the big news is Mayfield - this is the first time that a driver has been suspended under NASCAR's stricter drug policy that went into effect prior to the start of the season.

Mayfield released a statement this evening that stated that the issue was a combination of a prescribed drug along with an over-the-counter drug, which is essentially the Manny Ramirez defense from earlier this week in baseball. But no matter - a banned substance is a banned substance and there isn't any excuse for failing a drug test due to having taken a substance on the banned list. Like in the Ramirez case it's the obligation of the athlete in question to ensure that everything they take is allowed under the rules of the sport they participate in.

NASCAR has long touted their sport for being family-friendly and seemingly immune to the problems that other sports have faced particularly in regards to drugs. Of course that's all smoke and mirrors since the drivers are just as human as any other athlete or any other human being and thus have just as many flaws and weaknesses as anyone else so the odds were good that contrary to the belief of many fans the drivers weren't sitting at home every night reading the bible and drinking nothing stronger than milk and cookies. I've long thought that the only reason why NASCAR hasn't had many issues with drivers or others testing positive for drugs is because they haven't looked hard enough, mostly because they haven't wanted to. There were a few drivers who were suspended after testing positive but that came only after those individuals gave them reason to test them - it was only after Aaron Fike admitted to using heroin before racing and Ron Hornaday, Jr. was found to have been using performance enhancers (allegedly to treat a medical condition) that NASCAR was pushed into strengthening their drug testing police. Although I hoped that everyone in the garage area would be smart enough to straighten up their acts once it was announced that there would be random drug testing every single weekend, I suspected that it was only a matter of time before a driver was busted. It's a sad day for the sport that's what's happened.

What's even sadder is that there were three people who failed drug tests last weekend. That means that multiple people - and there could have been more people than those that were caught last weekend - took the risk of using a banned substance. Sad, sad, sad. There are countless people who would love the chance that Jeremy and these crew members had to work in the Nationwide or Cup Series and who would do so clean. What's unbelievable to me is that Jeremy isn't just a driver but an owner as well who has been struggling to make races and find some sort of success as a new Cup team. So there are others who are dependent on him for their livelihood, not to mention his team had a sponsor who is also a part-owner - wonder what all those people are thinking?

I'm also not very impressed with the way NASCAR handled this situation. News broke at around 5 p.m. that an unidentified Cup driver had failed a drug test and would be suspended indefinitely but that details wouldn't be announced until a 6 p.m. press conference. So for the next hour rumors spread about which driver was suspended which was extremely unfair and potentially damaging to the reputations of those drivers. Since it was said that NASCAR was aware that both of Jeremy's A and B tests were positive at noon, NASCAR should have had a statement ready to go as soon as the news broke so that no other driver came under suspicion. In addition, Jeremy was allowed to attempt to qualify yesterday for tonight's race - what if he qualified for the race? Would they have delayed the announcement and let him race? Would they have put the team in the position of having to scramble to find a replacement driver an hour before the race? It's hard for me to believe that NASCAR wasn't aware that Jeremy failed a drug test pretty quickly and if that was the case it seems to me that they should have tested the B sample and gotten the result prior to the start of this weekend, if only to ensure that there wasn't a driver on the track who had tested positive for a banned substance.

Sad to say but much like how in baseball I doubt Manny will be the last (foolish) high -profile player to be suspended for using performance enhancers or another banned substance, I doubt Jeremy and those crew members will be the last to be busted under NASCAR's stricter drug testing policy. And just like in baseball every time it happens it's a black mark on the sport and a sad commentary on the way things are.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2009

Rusty Wallace Gives Brendan Gaughan's Pit Crew a "Time Out"

What is this kindergarten? Rusty Wallace decided that he was so unhappy with the performance of Brendan Gaughan's pit crew that he's replaced them for the Nationwide race tonight. Instead, the #62 will be pitted by the #33 Cup crew on loan from Richard Childress Racing. Wallace said,

“We’ve had so much problems with our team [that] this particular race, Brendan Gaughan’s team, I said, ‘You guys are having so much problems that we’re going to have a timeout for one week. We’re going to have practice for the next two weeks. I lost confidence in what we were getting done.”

I don't know what the issues were with the pit crew that made Wallace so unhappy but Gaughan is 11th in points so the performance this season hasn't been that bad. Thing is just exactly how is sitting them for a week going to help them get better? In fact, it may make matters worse to have their boss say publically that he has no confidence in them. I also don't understand how they're supposed to get better if they're sitting at home instead of honing their skills in tonight's race. In addition, I have to wonder how Gaughan feels about all of this since at least one and possibly more members of his crew are people who have been with him for years in the Truck Series and whom he considers friends of his. Just doesn't seem like a move that's likely to motivate the crew to do better and it may create issues with Gaughan as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 07, 2009

Brad Keselowski Won't be Replacing Junior

I'm listening to "The Morning Drive" on Sirius and one of the topics of discussion is what Hendrick Motorsports should do now that Mark Martin is going to be back full-time in the #5 next season which appears to leave "no room at the inn" for Brad Keselowski. A few callers have suggested, some in jest, some seriously, that perhaps in light of the woes that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been experiencing this season that's led to less than stellar results at times that perhaps HMS should replace Junior with Keselowski. I'd think this should be obvious but there is no way that HMS is releasing or replacing Junior in the #88. None! Not even if the results continue to be less than what's expected from Junior. HMS will change the crew chief, the crew and everything else before they change drivers! The fact of the matter is that Junior is the sport's most popular driver who draws sponsors and a huge amount of revenue. He isn't going anywhere, at least not until his contract with HMS ends and when that happens unless something radically changes they will likely make a push to re-sign him.

In addition, even though Junior hasn't been too impressive this season and is just 18th in points, with three top tens and a top five he hasn't been that terrible either. Unless there are other issues, a team isn't going to give up on a superstar driver who is still racing pretty well and especially not for a young and still relatively unproven driver like Keselowski. Yes, he's already won a Cup race after just five starts but that win came at Talladega where the racing is very different than it is on the majority of tracks where he'd be racing on. So while I think Keselowski has a lot of potential and will likely develop into a very successful driver, he isn't about to unseat Junior.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)

Kevin Grubb Found Dead

On the heels of the sudden death of David Poole last week, comes more sad news for the NASCAR community. Nationwide driver, Kevin Grubb, who may be best known to many for being indefinitely suspended by NASCAR in 2006 for violating the substance abuse policy for the second time, was found dead in a hotel in Virginia yesterday. Grubb was just 31. Besides the substance abuse problems, I had heard that he had been struggling with some issues for quite some time. It shows that just because someone is a NASCAR driver doesn't mean that they're immune from problems and struggles just like any other person. I think some fans forget that and hold the drivers to a standard regarding their actions and who they are as people that's often impossible for them to live up to. Just a sad end to a sad story.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2009

Mark Martin Will Race Full-Time Again for Hendrick Motorsports in 2010

Ending speculation as to whether he would return to race full or part-time, Hendrick Motorsports announced today that Mark Martin would return in 2010 to race the #5 full-time, even though the original agreed upon contract was that Martin would only race part-time for the organization next season. I think this is a good move by HMS, not only expanding Martin's schedule for 2010 but also making it definite so early. Although the season started out slow for him due to two engine failures, Martin has shown that he's still very much capable of having success on the Cup level as evidenced by his win at Phoenix. What team wouldn't want a driver back on a full-time basis that has only one finish worse than 7th in his last six races?

In addition, today's announcement makes clear that the #5 won't be an open ride for next season. Of course that leads to speculation as to what that means for Brad Keselowski's future at HMS since it had previously been thought that he was going to split time in the #5 with Martin in 2010 and then take that ride over full-time in 2011. I don't think it would be a bad thing for Keselowski to spend another season in the Nationwide Series, especially if he knew for sure a Cup ride with HMS was going to be available to him in the near future but he's already said that he'd like to race Cup full-time next season. Which means that HMS could lose him to another organization since there will surely be other suitors for his services after his surprise win at Talladega.

There will surely be another round of negativity directed towards Martin for once again deciding to keep racing instead of retiring as he had said he was going to do a few years ago. But I think those fans need to get over it. At the time that Martin first considering retirement his son was pursuing a career in racing himself and Martin thought he was going to be spending a lot of time helping him but his son has since decided to stop racing. So things have changed in Martin's life since then and even if they hadn't I think he's entitled to change his mind just like anyone else. In addition, I think it would be hard for anyone in Martin's shoes to walk away - he's racing for one of the best organizations in the garage area, he races competitively every week, he's already won a race for HMS, he's probably being well-compensated and on top of that he seems to really be enjoying himself. I can't blame Martin for wanting to continue racing the #5 - he'll likely win some more races and could even contend for a Championship as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2009

This Week in NASCAR With Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus (5/4)

Last night's panel on This Week in NASCAR in NASCAR was comprised of the always entertaining Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus along with master-of-ceremonies Steve Byrnes. While I've become more and more of a fan of Greg Biffle as the years have gone on, I still prefer the shows when it's just Michael and Chad as they have a great rapport. They also bring different points-of-view and ways of thinking to the panel. When the show was first made over into TWiN I wasn't too impressed but last year and particularly this season the show has gone back to what it used to be - must see TV! Some highlights...

Michael's been working out a lot so he kicked off the show by joking about how he was looking at himself in the mirror thinking about how you get a six-pack when you work out and now he has his first pack - go Michael! He was also happy with the performance and progression of his car on Saturday night at Richmond. He started at the back, got lapped, got his lap back and then felt like he could run with "them." His team improved the car all night. However, at the end when it came time to "get with it" his car was too loose. I can't help but notice that when talking about how the race went for him, Michael left out the part about how his team didn't have the sticker tires he needed at the end of the race and that's apparently why his car was loose and he lost positions. I've seen talk elsewhere that kind of thing is usually the result of a miscalculation by the crew chief or someone else with the team regarding how many sets of tires to order from Goodyear so maybe if that's true Michael didn't want to throw Bootie Barker or someone else from his team under a bus. Michael said that they had a competition meeting at Michael Waltrip Racing earlier that day and that he likes where they are as a team and that they're heading in a good direction.

It was a rough night for the #48 team - as Chad joked they literally had no brakes. He said it's rare to have mechanical issues at Hendrick Motorsports but on Saturday night they had a brake line that got severed and was leaking fluid. They came in to make repairs and only lost three laps doing so which might have still allowed them to get a decent finish if things had fallen right for them but it didn't work out. Michael asked whether it was a piece of debris that kicked up and severed the brake line or an actual mechanical failure and Chad said that the brake line had been improperly placed in the shop and ended up getting pinched between two suspension parts - oops! Michael deadpanned that "every now and then you just pinch one off."

Of course there was a lot of discussion about Kyle Busch since he won both the Nationwide and Cup races at Richmond this weekend. Steve asked Michael if he had his Busch sayings ready and while Michael said that he would see where the show goes, I'm quite sure he had some in mind, only I'm guessing not all of them were appropriate for air! Chad joked that Michael was "beating around the bush." Ha!

Michael said that he's never seen anyone with the desire or enthusiasm that Kyle has for running every lap. Kyle won't settle for running behind someone and he's genuinely special. Whether you like him or not, you enjoy what you're watching, or at least Michael does. I hate to break it to Michael but there are quite a few fans who can't stand watching Kyle, resent his success and think he's undeserving of all the praise that's being given to him. Michael said that watching "that cat" makes him want to try harder. He appreciates what Kyle does. I'm not always sure how much Michael likes Kyle as a person but he can still appreciate his talent - too bad some others can't be like that because I think they're missing out on seeing something take place that could potentially be historical if Kyle keeps winning at the rate he has been. (50 wins between Cup, Nationwide and Trucks and he just turned 24.)

There was plenty of discussion about the events of the race and Michael was sure to point out all the times that other drivers got themselves into trouble like he had when he wrecked Robby Gordon by mistake a few weeks ago - and it's very true that Michael is far from alone when it comes to making a mistake or otherwise wrecking one's self or another driver. When commenting on a driver getting into the wall, Michael said that one time he hit the wall and then later told his crew chief at the time that his car was racing terrible. So his crew chief's response was that Michael was the one who adjusted it last!

Chad noted the importance of the pit crews and how more than ever a determining factor in races is the consistency of the crews. According to him if a team doesn't have a pit crew that can give them solid stops all race long there's not any chance of them staying up front all race long. The problems for the pit crews started this season with the longer stud length that was mandated by NASCAR - it's twice as long as it used to be. Chad feels that part of the issue is also psychological in that the tire carriers and changers are going over the wall thinking there's going to be a problem. So they try to go faster and when you go faster you make more mistakes. In addition, Michael said that preparation is key as well. There are issues with the glue and figuring out the best way to glue the lugnuts on so they don't fall off - should they glue them on an hour before? What can they do to make sure they don't fall off? So odds are just like with everything else, the teams are testing and experimenting with various options to try to make sure things go right or that they can do their pit stops better and faster than the other teams.

Later in the show Michael told a story about how he was racing at Darlington in 1985 just minding his own business and Dale Earnhardt pulls up next to him, points at him and tells him that he cut him off. Michael said he wanted to go back to Kentucky so he wouldn't get beat up by Earnhardt after the race! Of course Michael and Dale went on to be close friends so I guess Dale forgave him for that incident!

One of the questions of the week was about what drivers eat before races. Michael said that it depends on the individual. He likes to eat pasta. Benito, his motorcoach driver, is very European and chic (I've met Benito and I didn't get a European or chic vibe from him at all but he is a cool guy) and Benito cooks him pasta. He also loves turkey sandwiches - turkey on a bagel. From what I've heard of the way other drivers answer this question I think a lot of them eat similar things before races.

Good show as always!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

Lowes Food to Sponsor Michael Waltrip Racing Entires in Three Races

Yesterday Michael Waltrip Racing announced a partnership with Lowes Foods, a chain of 109 grocery stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Lowes Foods will be an associate sponsor on both the #00 of David Reutimann and the #55 of Michael Waltrip for the Sprint Showdown/All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 this month and will also be the primary sponsor of the #99 for the Nationwide race at Charlotte in October with David behind the wheel. Lowes won't just be on the MWR cars, they'll also be doing some promotions including a sweepstakes in which winners will get a trip to the October Cup race in Charlotte or a shopping cart race for $500 worth of groceries against David. Lowes customers who show a receipt for $25 or more worth of groceries will also receive one free entry to Raceworld during October. Michael said,

“It’s great to have Lowes Foods as a Michael Waltrip Racing partner. Lowes Foods is where I do my grocery shopping and I want my fans to know about the quality and variety they offer at affordable prices.”

It's definitely great that Lowes is partnering with MWR! Love that MWR was able to secure additional sponsorship and therefore additional money coming in which can only help make the cars even more competitive!! Another good thing is that this deal will put David behind the wheel of the #99 for a race - some fans were upset when it was announced that Michael and Scott Speed would be splitting time in the #99 but not David. So this way David will get to race the car at least once. I also love that Lowes is doing the promotions, particularly the sweepstakes. It's hard for the sponsors these days to do as many promotions and marketing campaigns as they once did because there is less in the budget to pay for these things but I think the companies that are willing to be creative and do these kinds of promotions are the ones that make the most of their sponsorships and are the ones that reach the most fans.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2009

This Week in NASCAR With Michael Waltrip, Chad Knaus and Greg Biffle (4/27)

Yesterday I had started writing this entry about This Week in NASCAR when I heard the news about David Poole passing away. In some ways it was fitting that I was about to blog about a discussion regarding the issues at Talladega since David had been particularly worked up about what happened and had made his strong opinions known both on The Morning Drive and on thatsracin.com. He felt so strongly about the wrongness of it all that he said more than once that they should go in with bulldozers and rip up the track. Perhaps their opinions weren't as strong as David's were but the discussion between Chad Knaus, Greg Biffle and Michael Waltrip was just as passionate...

So much to discuss after the events at Talladega that This Week in NASCAR had to expand the panel for last night's show! Michael Waltrip, Greg Biffle and Chad Knaus all took part in a spirited discussion of the issues surrounding what took place at Talladega this weekend and I thought it made for an outstanding and interesting show. Each panel member had different opinions about what was seen at Talladega and each also had different ideas about how to address the issues. That made for a fascinating discussion and exchange of ideas that I wish could have gone for even longer than it did. In fact I thought it was one of the best editions of TWiN that I've seen in a long time.

So it was with much surprise that I discovered this morning that many fans strongly disliked the discussion so much so that few seemed to have paid much attention to it. Apparently a lot of people thought that Michael talked too much and that he interrupted too much as well. Of course as a die-hard fan of Michael's there's admittedly a bias there - I wouldn't mind if Michael talked for the entire hour just himself! However, I'm a little puzzled about why so many people had such a problem with Michael last night. For one thing, it seemed to me that Steve Byrnes and the panel had prepared some before the show and that Steve directed questions at each one based on what he knew of what their opinion was - should Michael have not answered those questions? In addition, the reality is that Michael has a lot of experience and knowledge about Talladega and that style of racing so that may be why he talked so much. It's true that a time or two Michael did interrupt but I think it's unfortunate that some are choosing to focus on that rather than the content of what was being said by Michael, Greg and Chad, all of whom had excellent points and interesting opinions.

Michael kicked things off by saying that what happened had nothing to do with the yellow line as many believe and everything to do with the way the leaders were racing. His belief is that if Carl didn't get wrecked where he did it would have happened somewhere else once Carl decided to block. He feels that you can't expect to not get run over if you're going to cut off another driver. While I don't think that was the only reason why the wreck happened I tend to agree that the actions of the drivers involved and the style of racing overall right now in the sport lends itself towards incidents like this. While I don't really think either Carl or Brad did anything wrong since both were simply doing what they felt they needed to do to try to win, I also think there needs to be some sense of responsibility on the part of those involved in terms of what role they played if wrecks like that are going to be avoided in the future.

The next panelist to comment was Chad who said that a car flying through the air and into the catch fence with the possibility of fans getting injured - which is exactly what happened - is their biggest fear. Chad said that's the most terrifying thing that you can see. He said he hopes that those who were injured get well soon, that he apologizes on behalf of those in the sport and that they appreciate all that the fans do. I have to admit that I wondered how much of what he said was suggested to the producers by NASCAR. That may not have happened but I felt like Chad had been asked to convey a message to the audience.

Steve then noted that they needed to have a "big-boy" discussion about what took place, which I guess meant that they were going to discuss things in a more serious and more in-depth way than they usually do. I'm very glad that they did so! Michael said that he was disappointed with Carl's comments following the race in which he said that NASCAR's going to get someone killed ad only then will they change something. But in Michael's opinion, the drivers sign up to race the cars and no one was forced to start the race. In addition, when you cut someone off, you sign up for the other driver to hit him if he wants and that's what Brad did. Besides not racing at Talladega, Michael doesn't know how to change the racing there - you can't slow the cars down anymore, you can't make it any easier to drive on the track, they're racing a safe car. In these tough times, he said, with everyone talking about ticket sales and TV ratings being down wasn't it refreshing to look up and see over 170,000 people in the stands who were anxious to see what would take place? He feels they owe that (exciting racing at Talladega) to their fans. It's true that fans want to see exciting racing and one reason why fans go in such numbers to Talladega is because the racing is very unpredictable and exciting there. However, there are a lot of fans who don't need there to be wrecking for them to find the racing exciting and most certainly don't want to see cars flying through the air and almost over the catch fence and into the stands.

Next TWiN made a terrific decision and replayed a clip of comments that Greg made on the show last year following the controversy over Tony Stewart being awarded the win over Regan Smith in the Fall Talladega race. At the time Greg said that what he (Regan) needed to do was wreck Tony in front of the entire field in the tri-oval and collect all the cars, that was the message sent (by NASCAR in relation to the yellow line rule) - don't give him position, turn him sideways and make him go on his roof. Greg continued by saying that's what's going to happen from now on, that if he was in that situation he was going to wreck him (the driver in Tony's position) if NASCAR's not going to do what they say they're going to do.

On Monday night's show Greg picked up right where he left off last year. He said that not many times have we seen the guy forcing the block be penalized. NASCAR says if you force a guy below the yellow line you may be penalized but if you go below the yellow line you will be penalized. There's a difference there. If you go below the yellow line to to advance your position you'll be penalized. Greg said that Michael said it wasn't about the yellow line but it was going to be about the yellow line if he (Brad) went as low as he could go and held his ground. In spite of Carl being his teammate, Greg said that the reality is that you can't block and that Michael had it exactly right. Which makes the second week in a row in which Greg didn't exactly defend his teammate or stick up for him.

Michael then continued the discussion by clarifying his earlier comments by saying that he doesn't like blaming the wreck on the yellow line because even if the yellow line wasn't there Brad was eventually going to have all he could take, hook Carl and they were going to crash. Michael feels that Brad understood where his boundaries were and that Brad decided it was the end of the road. The yellow line is the end of the road, you can't go over it. If you're there and there's no choice you're going to get crashed.

Steve then asked Chad about how there were a lot of torn up race cars. Chad said that it's great for the drivers how safe the cars have become. However, in his opinion the problem is with superspeedway racing is that the more you slow the cars down the more they're going to run in a pack. When they were running unrestricted they were strung out more but obviously they can't go back to that. But somehow they need to separate the cars. He said no one wants to hear knock the banking down or put a chicane in but that's the only way to do it. Obviously, Chad said, they aren't going to knock the banking down but they could easily put a chicane in on the backstretch. It will help the racing because it would separate the field but the catch is that it's not going to be as fun for the fans. Which in my opinion is why nothing like that will ever happen. As Michael said earlier in the show there were 170,000 fans in the stands at a time when most tracks are struggling to sell tickets. NASCAR isn't going to do anything that may lead to a reduction of ticket sales and interest in the racing at Talladega. Michael said that it's a tough question to answer - it's fun racing for the fans and the drivers enjoy it... until something goes wrong that is. What happened to Carl is a reality check.

Steven then asked Michael about why he took issue with Carl's comments after the race. I'm surprised that of all the things that people have gotten upset about so far I've not seen a single person get on Michael's case for being critical of Carl. I have to wonder if anyone actually listened to what he had to say or whether they simply dismissed him - and maybe the entire discussion - before even listening? At any rate, Michael said if you've got a suggestion or something you want to tell people, tell them. Michael feels that until there's someone who has an answer or suggestion that makes sense they should leave the racing like it is. In his opinion the racing at Daytona is fine, it's a different animal at Talladega a little because the track is so smooth and the cars run so close together but the last lap was a choice that Carl made. Carl choose to try to block the guy who was trying to win his first race. In hindsight, according to Michael, it might not have been the best idea that Carl ever had. Which may be true, but how many drivers would do the exact same thing as Carl? We see blocking by drivers all the time and not just at Talladega.

Unlike Carl, Greg did have a suggestion to change something and make things better. He feels that NASCAR should more aggressively penalize guys for aggressive driving. That if they see one driver touch another in a corner where they shouldn't or if they see a driver force another below the yellow line that they need to send them to pit road. I agree with Greg 100% - NASCAR needs to police aggressive driving more, particularly in situations where they've warned drivers they're going to do exactly that such as in regards to bump-drafting or with the yellow line. In response to the events at Talladega NASCAR said they're going to do exactly that but I tend to believe it when it see it. After all, some of these rules are already in place and warnings have been given but NASCAR only seems to follow through selectively when it comes to enforcement.

Michael also offered up an idea that he's mentioned in the past which involves modifying the bumpers of the cars so that if the drivers run into each other it would break the cars. He said he made this suggestion two years ago and they looked at him like he had two heads - I wonder why? One of the many reasons I like Michael so much is because he has a lot of ideas but that one doesn't sound like it's as well-thought out as some of his other ideas. Chad's suggestion was that the cars can't take gas under caution which would force the cars to pit under green and thus separate the field. Sorry Chad but that idea doesn't sound any better than Michael's idea that he disliked so much. I think Greg's idea was the best and most realistic. Michael ended up finishing off the discussion by joking that his other idea is that they should put spikes on the car and that would really fix the problem of the drivers running into each other.

It was cool to see that Michael's awesome save was selected as the Castrol Smart Move of the Race, though Michael commented that it wasn't very smart to get in that position in the first place. I think he's being a wee bit too hard on himself considering driver make mistakes all the time - at least he was able to correct his mistake in fine fashion. He said that you never give up when you're driving and you always think you're going to save it the whole time and sometimes it works out. But when Chad asked him if he thought he was going to hit, Michael responded that he did because in the past when he's been in that kind of situation before he's always wound up hitting something. So glad he saved it! He got himself some nice airtime, showed off his driving ability and almost ensured that he could continue racing.

Some of the fans who take issue with Michael complains that he never criticizes NASCAR but if they were paying attention to Monday's show you would have heard him do exactly that, though it was more that he was questioning their decision-making as opposed to being critical. He said that two cars shoving each other around the track can get out front, away from the pack. It's new and they've never seen it before. Now they need to figure out to deal with it and is it okay? There's a no-bump zone all the way around the track (as per NASCAR) but everyone bumps each other anyway. But that's how they get out front - what should be done about that? Both Chad and Michael pointed out that NASCAR tells them in the driver's meeting that there's a no-bump zone. Michael said that he's a big fan of everything they're doing except understanding when bump drafting is okay since he got bump drafted into the wall on Saturday during the Nationwide race. Which I think goes back to what Greg brought up earlier in the show in that NASCAR says that they might penalize drivers for aggressive driving or forcing other drivers below the yellow line but they don't always follow through. And they apparently also don't follow through on enforcing the no-bump zone either.

The rest of the show was mostly a preview of Richmond and some email questions were answered but what they said was far less interesting than what they said in the rest of the show. Overall, it was a great show and I hope they have other serious "big boy" discussions on future editions of TWiN!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2009

RIP David Poole

I was in the midst of working on an entry about last night's episode of This Week in NASCAR but I've just heard the shocking and extremely sad news that David Poole, the veteran motorsports reporter, who covered NASCAR for The Charlotte Observer and who was the co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius has passed away from a heart attack at 50. Apparently he was found this morning in his home by his wife just after he completed this morning's edition of TMD. It's almost impossible to believe. I listened to the TMD today as I did every day - he was still fired up about the events this past weekend at Talladega as well as having seen way too many manfeet (men in sandals) on his way back to North Carolina from Talladega. I can still hear him saying "Hooves to the left of me, hooves to the right of me!"

Poole was highly opinionated and said exactly what he thought all the time in his own way. He loved to debate with his callers, those who emailed with him and apparently just about everyone he encountered. I didn't always agree with him, and at times I felt he complained too much but I always enjoyed hearing his opinions. I learned from him and he made me think. It's a major loss to the motorsports community in so many ways - I will very much miss hearing his opinions every morning on my way to work and reading his articles. Thoughts and prayers to his friends and family. RIP.

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

April 27, 2009

Michael Waltrip Survives a Wild Talladega Race to Finish 21st

I suppose I should be upset that Michael Waltrip got swept up in the second "Big One" at Talladega yesterday and could finish no better than 21st due to the damage to his car. But I'm not. I guess it makes me a bad fan but after seeing Carl Edwards go flying through the air at the end of the race I'm glad that Michael wasn't up front at the end of the race because that could have been him. Michael said something about karma during the race and as much as he surely wishes that his finish was better, maybe it was good karma that kept him from being a part of that mess on the last lap. What I am happy about is that Michael did get to spend some time up front - he got NAPA a lot of great airtime and he also made an outstanding save - that save was probably the highlight of the race for me.

Before I discuss the way the race went for Michael any further I have to express just how disturbed I was at the events on the last lap that saw a car nearly go over the fence and into the stands. I agree completely with what David Poole said this morning on Sirius - that crossed a line. I've seen fans say that yesterday's race was one of the best and most exciting races they've seen in a long time and I feel completely the opposite - to me yesterday's race was one of the worst we've seen because there were eight injured fans and a major disaster was only narrowly averted. Had Carl gone over the fence it would have not only been the end of racing at Talladega, but quite possibly the end to NASCAR racing as we know it. I also don't like the attitude that some seem to have that because the worst injury is "only" a broken jaw and "only" two people got airlifted out that the injuries aren't a big deal. Even one injury, significant or not, from a piece of debris flying over the fence into the stands is one injury too many.

Some fans want to see big wrecks but this fan wants to see racing, not wrecking. I want to see the race decided because a driver outraced their competitors not because they were one of the few who managed not to get caught in a wreck. I don't need to see cars flying through the air to be entertained and I think it's pretty sad that some fans think seeing that and a bunch of wrecks makes for a great race. There will always be an element of risk involved in racing and I don't know what the solution is to prevent situations like yesterday but it's essential that NASCAR looks at making changes and that they do it before someone, either a fan or a driver, gets killed because a car went over the fence into the stands.

As for Michael, although he wasn't happy with his car and said that it hadn't been very good from the time they unloaded, it was still good enough for him to be able to race it into the top five. It was really awesome to see him mix it up with the leaders and that he was able to do so with a car that may not have been as good as some of the cars he's raced at Talladega in the past shows that he's just as good at restrictor plate racing as he's ever been. However, what was really a testament to Michael's ability, not just at plate racing but as a driver overall was the save he made after he came across the front of Marcos Ambrose's car. That was an incredible piece of driving! I think anyone who doubts Michael's ability as a driver should be shown that video - it's a clear indication that he very much still has ever bit of skill behind the wheel as he ever did. Michael's save, and that of Kurt Busch not long afterward show how amazing the driver's reflexes and reaction time is that at in mere seconds while traveling at such a high rate of speed they're able to take evasive action to save themselves and their cars. I hope that whoever is going to be involved in the decision-making process about whether Michael continues racing next season or not was paying attention to that save and to what Michael did yesterday overall - he not only raced up front as is expected at Talladega, he got NAPA Auto Parts a significant amount of airtime.

One of the most interesting conversations over Michael's radio during yesterday's race was early on when Clint Bowyer was involved in the "Big One" on lap seven. On Saturday Michael had gotten bumped by Joey Logano during the Nationwide race which sent him into Clint Bowyer, wrecking them both. Clint's response over the radio was to yet again blame Michael, who was a completely innocent victim just like Clint was. So after yesterday's wreck happened Michael wondered who Clint was going to blame since he (Michael) wasn't in the wreck, to which Bootie Barker, Michael's crew chief responded by saying that Clint would probably find a way to blame it on him anyway. Michael continued by saying that he believes in karma and that good things happen to good people. He knows, he said, that he's a good person but that Clint's a prick, so he was basically saying that Clint got wrecked because karma bit him in the rear end for being a jerk. Bootie replied that Clint is indeed a prick. Based on what Michael said next about how one day he was going to "lose his mental focus" it sounds like if the opportunity presents itself there's going to be a little payback for the way Clint has treated him. Which is exactly why Clint and others who are so quick to lash out at their fellow competitors should put a sock in it - ripping on each other only creates animosity that can lead to problems on- and off-the-track. Michael isn't just a driver, he's also a car owner and maybe Clint won't be at Richard Childress Racing forever - I doubt that Michael would be inclined to ever offer him a ride. What I loved hearing was Bootie say that the team will fight with him if need be and how he clearly has Michael's back. Maybe the results haven't been quite as good as they'd like but I think Bootie and Michael make a great team and I really hope that they can work together past this season!

Unfortunately later in the race, just as he was starting to race his way forward again, Michael got swept up in the second "Big One." He was actually luckier than some others who were wrecked out completely since after his team made some repairs he was able to stay on the lead lap and continue to race but the damage to the car was enough to prevent him from being able to race his way back up front. If not for being caught in that wreck there no doubt in my mind Michael would have been up front with Marcos racing for the win. However, as I said above as happy as I would have been if Michael had finished in the top five like Marcos, part of me is glad that he wasn't up there at the end because I would have been beside myself if he had ended up being the one to go flying through the air instead of Carl. So maybe it was that karma thing at play in that karma dictated that Michael was an innocent victim of that wreck so that he wasn't involved in what happened on the last lap. That's a good thing in my opinion.

As for the other Michael Waltrip Racing teams as noted Marcos finished 4th which is awesome! However, Marcos may as well not have been on the track since from what I could tell he was almost never mentioned or shown during the TV broadcast. It's said time and time again that if a driver wants to get exposure and be shown on TV then they need to race up front - well, Marcos did race up front and he still got as far as I can tell very little attention during the broadcast. Just exactly what are teams and drivers supposed to do when they race up front and still get no exposure for it?

David Reutimann also appeared to be in line for a finish up front but a flat tire that led to NASCAR scoring him a lap down resulted in a 26th place finish. I still have no idea exactly what happened to David because the TV broadcast chose not to mention it. So here we have a driver who races up front for virtually the entire race but when they experience a problem it's not worthy of being discussed? It seems to me that's part of the story of the race, especially for David's fans who had no idea why he was suddenly at the back. If I understand correctly the team was upset about them being scored a lap down and tried to argue it with NASCAR to no avail. However, since TV never mentioned it I have no clue how David came to be a lap down and why the team felt that it was the wrong call.

By the way, speaking of invisible teams - did anyone notice that Max Papis finished 18th? Did anyone even know he was in the race? If you knew that Max was in the race it wasn't by watching the TV broadcast which barely or never mentioned quite a few drivers which actually makes it all the more impressive that Michael was able to get so much TV time for NAPA.

Talladega was certainly an eventful race but was it really a good race? Is any race in which numerous cars are taken out of contention by big wrecks and where a car goes flying through the air a good race? Not in my opinion. Sad to say I doubt I'll see much of anything different at the next race at Talladega though hopefully all the cars will stay on the ground and there will be no injuries.

Update: I didn't know until I read Michael's post-race report that by finishing 21st Michael moved up a spot in the points to 24th. Still not where he wants to be in the points I'm sure but any gain in the points is definitely a positive!

Update 2: Michael was among the many drivers who commented on the last lap in yesterday's race. In his opinion what happened was a result of Carl's decision to block Brad, which comes from a difference in the way the drivers race each other as compared to the past. He said,

“Back in the day, if somebody was faster than you, you didn’t cut them off. Nowadays you’ve got to fight for every inch. Don’t blame it on the yellow line, blame it on the two guys racing. It’s Carl’s fault. There was a time in history when you could protect your area, but those days are over. If you want to block, that’s fine. But be willing to pay the price. We went through this time when you respected each other. Now we’re more like daredevils.”

Some of Carl's fans are furious that Michael said it was Carl's fault but Carl himself pretty much said the same thing that he put himself in that position by the way he raced Brad. I think Michael has an excellent point that the style of racing has changed over the years and that the drivers have less respect for each other which contributes to some of these incidents.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2009

Eventful Talladega Race

Haven't had much of a chance to write in this space for a few days because of how busy I've been so there's a lot to catch up on but I did have to comment that I was really disturbed by the events on the last lap of today's Cup race at Talladega. It's not because I think Carl Edwards or Brad Keselowski did anything wrong, it's because Carl's car nearly went over the catch fence and into the stands which would have been a disaster of epic proportions. As it is debris flew into the stands and eight people were injured, including one woman who apparently suffered a broken jaw. I've seen some fans refer to this race as the best and most exciting race they've seen in a long time but to me an incident like that in which multiple fans are injured by parts off a car and/or pieces of the catch fence takes all the excitement out of it for me. More to come...

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

April 22, 2009

Richard Childress Racing Swaps #07 and #29 Crews and Crew Chiefs

Reportedly after this past weekend's race in Phoenix Kevin Harvick was extremely upset with his teams. I don't know why Kevin was so upset but apparently his owner, Richard Childress, indicated that they would meet on Monday and talk about things. Well, Richard Childress Racing didn't just talk, they took action. After this weekend's race in Talladega, Kevin's entire team and crew chief will be swapped with that of Casey Mears, who has struggled even more than Kevin so far this season. So Kevin's crew chief since 2003, Todd Berrier will become Casey's crew chief, and Gil Martin, who was Kevin's crew chief in 2002, will work with Kevin once more.

I guess if you're a driver that's expected to make the Chase like Kevin then there's a rush to make changes before it gets too far in the season and it's too late but it seems to me that eight races into the season is too early to really know how the season is going to shake out. I guess there wasn't much choice but to change crew chiefs between the #07 and #29 because RCR wasn't about to do anything to shake up the #33 or #31 teams that are Chase contending teams right now, but it doesn't seem quite right that Casey, who is at a new organization this season to begin with, is going to have to start over from scratch when it comes to working with his crew chief. Maybe this change will end up benefiting both teams but there's going to be a period of adjustment during which the results may not be much better.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:26 PM | Comments (2)

This Week in NASCAR With Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle (4/20)

About time I got around to doing an entry on this episode! Ratings for Monday night's show were probably pretty high since a lot of people likely tuned in to hear what Michael Waltrip would say about the incident with Robby Gordon. Well, they wouldn't have been disappointed because Michael had a lot to say.

It didn't take long for that incident to come up - Steve Byrnes asked Michael about how the race went for him right away and Michael said that it's really hard as an owner/driver, more difficult than he thought it would be - David Reutimann is continuing to race for wins or in the top five, Marcos Ambrose is racing in the top ten and his night was bad. Thing is as much as Michael may not like when it happens it's not unusual that even when an multi-car organization seems to have a track figured out for one of their teams to miss on set-up or otherwise have issues. Those who think Bootie gave him a bad car take note - Michael said that he had a good car and that they were running well until he got loose under Robby and wrecked them both.

Michael said that he saw Robby after the race but gave no details about what they talked about - wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation? Said he heard Robby made some comments about him on TV, a reference to Robby's comment about how he looked forward to a new driver in the #55 next season. Turns out Steve was the one holding the mic and what I thought was pretty telling that Michael asked Steve why he didn't hit him with it and joked that he should have gone "boom" and bop him right in the head with the mic because Michael is his (Steve's) friend. To me, that sounds like for as apologetic as Michael was for the incident and for as much responsibility as he took for making the mistake that caused it he still didn't appreciate Robby's comment. Biffle said - and he's 100% right - like Robby's never wrecked anyone? Some of Robby's fans are ripping Greg for making that comment but what's the big deal? The reality is that Robby and every other driver on the track have wrecked other drivers, many of them in very similar ways as what Michael did. Robby has definitely made his share of mistakes on the track - as his fans are always quick to point out when things don't go well.

Michael continued by saying that Robby didn't deserve to get wrecked which is true - contrary to what some fans believe no driver deserves to get wrecked. That said, I wonder if he'd still feel that way if he knew that one of the comments Robby made after the incident on his radio was "he couldn't drive a nail into a frog's a**" and that wouldn't be the first time Robby has made a disparaging comment about Michael over his radio. Michael said that the wreck was his fault, that Robby is teetering on the line for the top 35 and he knows what the world is like and that he was sorry that it happened. Michael does indeed know exactly how difficult it is to race knowing that one small mistake or problem could result in a poor finish that would drop him out of the top 35. Thing is Phoenix is one race. Robby being so close to the top 35 cut-off isn't because of anything that Michael's done and staying in or falling out of the top 35 is entirely up to Robby and his team.

Apparently the incident with Robby changed Michael's attitude towards Carl Edwards in relation to how Carl wiped him out in Friday night's Nationwide race. Friday night he was racing up front and Carl wiped him out. He thought that was the dumbest thing he'd ever experienced at the time but on Saturday Robby's riding along (actually moving backwards at the time) and he's passing Robby and he wipes him out. So he can't be mad at Carl. Greg asked whether Michael ran into his back bumper (which is what Carl did) and Michael said that no, he ran into the side of Robby. IMO, Greg was pointing out that what Carl did was worse which was interesting considering Carl's his teammate. Michael said that he made a mistake and Carl made a mistake. It's so hard he said, it's a tough job and sometimes things don't go right and it makes him sad. It makes me sad too when things don't go right for Michael because at times he seems to get so down about it. Racing is his life and his passion and he wants to be successful at it as much as any other driver on the track.

Greg said he had a good car and ran a little better than where he finished (top five) but overall he was happy with his finish even though it wasn't quite where they needed to be. I'd say if they keep racing in the top five then eventually he's going to end up in Victory Lane so they aren't too far off from where they need to be! Michael asked him when he got his braces and Greg said he got them the Monday after Texas. They joked about Greg refining himself as he gets older and Greg noted that he was starting to wear makeup (the makeup they wear on the show). Greg said he has to impress the ladies and that there's a lot of girls out there - I wonder what his wife thought about that comment?

Mark Martin's 36th career win is Hendrick Motorsports 5th straight win at Phoenix. Greg said that Mark is an amazing driver and that he was excited to see him back in Victory Lane. Michael said it was so cool to see one for the old guys - since Michael is turning 46 in a week he probably considers himself among the "old" guys (they really aren't that old) and Mark's success probably makes him feel like he can be still win as well. For a while everyone was making such a big deal out of age in the sport but Michael never really saw it. There are good young guys in the sport who came along, guys in their 30's and 40's that could still do the job. Mark just took it to a new level. Greg noted that he didn't luck into that win, he had a good car.

There was some discussion about David continuing to race well. Michael said it's awesome to see, that David is so thankful and just wants to race his car. He joked about how he told David that not only was he "The Franchise" he was also "The F-Bomb." :lol: There was some joking about how being The bomb is good but not when the F is in front of it!

Steve made note of how Michael stayed out to lead a lap and Michael said that because they just avoided being the (un)lucky guy (avoided getting passed by the leader so they were the last car on the lead lap) and they were going to make a spring rubber adjustment on pit road and wouldn't be passing anyone on pit road there was no price to pay for staying out to get the five bonus points. Michael said it was a great call by Bootie and the guys because you never know how important those five points might be some day. Michael called Bootie "The Boot-meister." He seems to really like Bootie - there are some fans who are already calling for Bootie to be replaced but other than at Texas when he was a little testy with Bootie over the radio, Michael seems very happy with him and seems to work better with Bootie than he has with any crew chief since Tony Eury, Jr.

The #48 team had a slow pit stop due to a lugnut issue and Greg noted that the lugnuts have been a problem for all the teams. However with the #48 they were slow on that stop but fast when it counted. Even on the slow stop they took their time, got the lugnut secure and only lost nine spots. When it happens in the middle of the race it's fine but when there's a problem on the last pit stop you can't make it up. Michael said the #48 team made the slow pit stop a footnote. Which is why they've won the Championship so many times - the #48 team has shown the ability to minimize the damage from mistakes and overcome most challenges.

There was more discussion about the incident between Michael and Robby - Michael said it's a shame it had to happen. They were both on the lead lap and running well. He didn't have an excuse other than that he messed up and he hates that. When the #44 spun out (earlier in the race) he only hurt himself but he spun out and took out another guy. There's no excuse for it, that shouldn't happen and he's bothered by it. Michael said that Talladega's a big track and there's plenty of room there so he should be alright. While I think Michael said all the right things and handled himself really well on the show in relation to what he said about the incident I also think he was a little too hard on himself in that he kept saying that he made a mistake and how much it bothered him. Fact of the matter is that mistakes are going to happen. While it's unfortunate when it results in others getting wrecked no one is perfect, not as a driver and not overall. At times Michael seems to lose confidence in himself and it sounded as if this was one of those times. But he shouldn't. He didn't do anything that other drivers haven't done before - including Robby.

There was some brief discussion about Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s woes and the incident with Casey Mears. Once again it seemed to me that they kind of glossed over what happened to Junior, maybe because they don't see it as big of a deal as many fans and the media do. Michael said that what happened with Casey was kind of what happened with his car. Casey was on the inside and just couldn't hold it. Both Michael and Greg completely dismissed Junior spinning Casey and Casey bumping him back after the race as no big deal. Greg said that they kept it on the track and it wasn't on pit road where the pit crews are so it won't be an issue (with NASCAR). As it turns out they were right since NASCAR put Junior and Casey on probation for six races which is a meaningless, nothing penalty.

Next there was some discussion about Talladega. If you've heard one preview of Talladega, you've heard them all. Close racing, one wiggle, big one, yadda, yadda, etc, etc.... Greg joked that the only way to avoid the big one is to stay on pit road but something tells me that even that might not be a safe place if the "Big One" was big enough! Michael said he's been in second and been in the Big One and been in the back and been in the Big One. Steve brought up how one time Carl wrecked Greg and Michael said to him - "Carl hit you to?" To which Greg slyly said "He didn't mean to." Maybe I'm reading into things but I took that to refer to how Carl acts out and then smiles that big smile, apologizes and says that he didn't mean to do it which some drivers and fans are getting tired of.

The questions of the week - First, was what is a sealed engine? Greg gave a technical explanation but basically there's a wire in there that you can't cut so you can't take the engine apart. NASCAR wants them to use the engines for four races to save money. Greg said he couldn't do a burnout because of his sealed engine since they had to use it again. Next question was what is the entry fee? Michael said that the entry fee is $3650 and that's what each team has to pay (not sure if that's just Cup or the same amount in N'wide and Trucks as well). NASCAR calls it an inspection fee. If they go to a back-up car they have to pay that fee again - that must make some of these small teams with limited financial resources extremely careful during practice and qualifying because for them $3650 is a lot of money.

To wrap up the show, Greg promoted his online radio show that he's started doing each week on gregbiffle.com. Michael is going to Atlanta this week to sign autographs for NAPA employee appreciation day. He's taking Macy who just got a new dog, Darla that speaks freaky-deeky Dutch so you have to give it orders in a weird language. He said that him and Darla - and presumably Macy - are loading up in the Lexus and are heading to Atlanta. Something tells me that car ride from NC to Atlanta with a new dog that only takes orders in a foreign language might be an eventful one! Maybe the next video for Facebook?!

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

Michael McDowell in the #66 for Prism Motorsports at Talladega

Michael McDowell returns to the Cup Series this weekend at Talladega in the #66 car for Prism Motorsports taking the place of the usual driver, Dave Blaney, who apparently had a family event he wanted to attend (according to Jayski). With McD already going to be at the track anyway since he's racing the #47 for JTG-Daugherty Racing in the Nationwide race and both Prism and JTG being under the Michael Waltrip Racing umbrella - the organization McD raced for last season in Cup - it makes sense that he would be in the #66 this weekend. Since Prism has been purchasing old MWR cars to use this season McD could even end up driving a car he raced last year.

Of course the question is whether this will be a start and park or whether Prism will actually let McD race in this race if he's able to qualify for it. They did race the full Daytona 500 with Terry Labonte but they had a sponsor on the car for that race and I haven't heard anything about there being a sponsor on the car for this race. I'd hope that if they were going to put a young driver with talent behind the wheel they'd actually let him race but McD parked one of their Natiowide cars for them last season. Odds are given that it's so easy to get swept up in a wreck at this track and they may not want to risk losing a car, I'd think that Prism will probably have him park it by 60 laps in. It would be interesting to listen to the radio communication between McD and the team as to whether they'll let him go all out and race it as hard as he wants or whether they'll have him dial it down and just ride around.

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

April 21, 2009

NASCAR Decides to "Penalize" Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Casey Mears After All

After Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Casey Mears tangled post-race on Saturday night NASCAR immediately said that no penalties would be given to either driver. On Monday Mike Mulhern reported on his website that contrary to what was said over the weekend NASCAR would in fact be penalizing the two drivers. That report was denied by NASCAR's spokesperson Ramsey Poston in a Tweet which called Mulhern's story "irresponsible." Turns out Mulhern was onto something - today NASCAR announced that they were putting both Junior and Casey on probation through the next six Cup races so "the situation wouldn't escalate."

Apparently the decision to reverse course was reached during NASCAR's weekly competition meeting and I have to wonder how much of the discussion focused on a need to ensure that things between Junior and Casey didn't escalate as much as whether they needed to respond to the fans and the media, many of whom questioned why there were no penalties and whether it was because favoritism was being shown to Junior. Of course placing Junior and Casey on probation is just for show. Drivers on probation can seemingly race and act exactly as they did prior to being placed on probation without any fear of there being additional consequences though NASCAR has claimed that's not the case. I have to wonder whether NASCAR even knows what behavior would cause them to take action against a driver (or crew chief) already on probation and what further penalty they would give out?

What gets me is how ridiculous NASCAR made Ramsey look by having him twice deny that there would be any penalties handed out to the point only to have exactly what he denied happen. That makes it hard to know whether to trust what Ramsey says. A better course of action would have been to say on Saturday night that NASCAR wouldn't be making a decision until after they discussed it at their competition meeting today. Though perhaps they didn't plan on discussing it until they realized that it wasn't just going to blow over.

In addition, I think Ramsey would have been better off addressing the rumors without mentioning Mulhern specifically. I would consider some of Mulhern's past reporting irresponsible since in the past he's reporting things without much sourcing and doesn't appear to check with teams, drivers, sponsors or NASCAR to give them an opportunity to confirm or refute what he's reporting. I don't consider him to be a very reliable source of news about the sport. However, there are times when he does get the story right and this happens to be one of them.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:43 PM | Comments (2)

April 19, 2009

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s Woes Continue in Phoenix

Yet again Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the #88 team show that they're far from a Championship team. This time during last night's race in Phoenix there was a missed lugnut on a pit stop which put Junior deep in the pack unable to pass and in danger of being lapped due to a non-competitive car. During the caution for the Robby Gordon-Michael Waltrip incident Tony Eury, Jr. made the decision to keep Junior out when most of the rest of the field pitted, always a risky decision but for a while it worked out as Junior was able to twice lead laps for a total of 62 laps. After he was passed by teammate Mark Martin, what seemed like a good decision proved to be a very bad one - Junior rapidly dropped back and appeared to be in desperate need of a pit stop, which had it come under green would probably have put him a lap or more down.

But Junior never got a chance to pit - Casey Mears made himself public enemy #1 to the Junior Nation by running him over on lap 300 which put Junior into the wall. At the end of the race on the cool-down lap Junior made his displeasure known by spinning Casey, which appears to be completely acceptable to everyone including NASCAR who didn't even bother to call Junior in for a chat after the race, but is unacceptable to me. While I understand that drivers sometimes feel the need to send a message to each other or let their emotions get the best of them and lash out, I don't think there's ever an excuse for drivers to use their cars as weapons against each other. It's disappointing to me that NASCAR, likely in the spirit of trying to appease fans and encourage more emotion in the sport - didn't take issue with what Junior did.

Junior is lashing out at the wrong person - Casey isn't the cause of his woes this season. Neither Junior nor his team seems to have their heads in the game as there are constant mistakes and bad decisions. What's a bad sign to me about the #88 team is that there were changes made to his pit crew in an effort to improve their performance on pit stops and there was still a problem. And what makes their issues even more glaring is that the other three Hendrick Motorsports teams are performing at an extremely high level with all of them winning a race this season. If the performance of the #88 team continues to be as bad as it has been not only will they miss the Chase but I can't see them ending up in Victory Lane either.

There's a lot of speculation that Tony Eury, Jr. is going to be replaced as Junior's crew chief - if Rick Hendrick does that he would only be giving in to pressure from the fans and the media not necessarily doing what's best for the #88 team. Junior has stated over and over his preference to work with his cousin and crew chief changes haven't worked out well for for him in the past. So if a change is made and Junior's not in favor of it I can't see the performance of the #88 team improving much. Junior is a talented driver and the #88 team is made up of some of the best people in the garage area but I think they're letting the pressure get to them. So I think the only way for them to improve is going to come from within - they need to somehow block out the distractions and focus on their task at hand - eliminating mistakes, making better decisions, working together well as a team and getting the best possible results.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:28 PM | Comments (5)

Tough Weekend for Michael Waltrip in Phoenix

Really tough weekend for Michael Waltrip in Phoenix - first he gets run over by Carl Edwards in the Nationwide race on Friday night while he was battling to stay in the lead and then last night in the Cup race he got loose and wrecked both Robby Gordon and himself.

Last night Michael had complained about being loose for virtually the entire race but he had still been able to make forward progress which came to an abrupt halt when he got loose under Robby, the worst possible person to get into an incident with considering their past history. While Michael got enough damage to cause him to have to go to the pits for repairs and limp around the track for the remainder of the race, the damage was much worse for Robby and he spent significant time behind the wall before returning to the track. Naturally he was angry and said during an interview with FOX that he "couldn't wait until there was another driver in the #55 next season." Seems to me that Robby needs to spend more time worry about his own team than about whether Michael or someone else is going to be racing the #55 next year. For one thing Robby is a giant hypocrite to get on another driver for wrecking, when Robby has caused plenty of wrecks and otherwise brought out the caution numerous times himself. In addition, it's not like Robby has done anything impressive of late on the track himself. So maybe if Robby thinks that Michael shouldn't race anymore he should also consider replacing himself?

Michael took complete responsibility for wrecking Robby, not just once but twice over his radio. What was sad to hear was how upset and down he sounded at the end of the race. He said how he had screwed up and that he needed to "get my brain working," that he gets nervous and that it's overwhelming - I would assume that's a reference to the pressure he feels to finish well and how it gets to him sometimes. There are some who think that Michael's ready to retire but he said that he wants to be able to race hard and wants to be able to drive. So there's no doubt that Michael still very much feels the desire to race - if he didn't then what happened last night wouldn't have been so upsetting to him. He continued by telling Bootie that he was a good man and that he deserved better. Bootie's response was great - he told Michael that it was just a bump in the road and that there were a lot of positives in the race, and that he wasn't bullshitting him.

As strange as it may sound I have to agree with Bootie - the team was able to make the car better for Michael as the race went on and he was able to pass for position to the point where he had raced his way into the top 25. Had he not gotten into Robby he probably would have been able to keep moving forward. In addition, the team had at least one excellent pit stop so it was also a good day for the team on pit road which is important since these days a lot of drivers have good runs ruined by issues on pit road. Still, I can understand why Michael's so down about last night - if he doesn't finish well this season NAPA may opt to either ask for a new driver in the #55 next season or leave Michael Waltrip Racing all together. I think both options would be a mistake for NAPA right now but they may not see things the same way I do. Michael is a talented driver, if he wasn't he wouldn't have lasted in Cup this long no matter how well he can plug his sponsors and I hope starting next weekend at Talladega he can get back to the way he was racing at the start of the season.

What probably bothers me as much as anything is that the incident with Robby is going to set off a whole new round of bashing and negativity directed towards Michael, particularly by Robby's fans who seem to be some of the most negative fans around, some of them even about their own driver. That's what's so amazing about Robby's fans is that many of them believe that "keeping it real" involves insulting their own driver and giving the impression that he's incompetent as a driver and owner. So unfortunately this incident is going to give those fans reason to direct their negativity towards Michael - again. All because of what's nothing more than a racing incident. Yeah, it stinks when your driver gets wrecked but sometimes things happen - it's not like Michael intended on wrecking Robby. Of course if Robby was in Michael's position they'd not only defend him but celebrate him wrecking Michael. Odds are Robby's comment will be a big topic of discussion not only on the various fan forums but also on Sirius though it's lucky that Junior had such a bad race because that may take some of the focus away from the incident between Michael and Robby.

As for Friday night Michael had stayed out when everyone else went to pit road to get track position and lead laps. Unless there was a quick caution he was going to lose the lead because those behind him were on newer tires. Well, Carl Edwards apparently didn't have the patience to pass Michael cleanly he ran him over and wrecked him out of the race. Carl's excuse was that Michael ran him up into the wall and maybe from Carl's viewpoint that's what he thought but in watching replays it's hard to see anything that Michael did wrong - he got run over plain and simple. Which is really a shame since Michael not only seemed to have a good car that he was going to be able to race up front with but he was surely hoping to get Best Western a top finish or even a win since they're based in Phoenix.

During his post-wreck interview Michael commented how Carl would just say he's sorry like he always does. It's true - Carl always flashes that big smile of his and apologizes as if it makes it okay that he ran someone over or otherwise did something to anger another competitor. But I don't think only Carl should be singled out for insincere apologies. I really wonder how many of the drivers actually mean it when they say they're sorry. I'm sure some of them do feel bad when they wreck another driver but for some drivers they probably don't care all that much when there's no consequences for them, they're able to advance their position or they don't like the person they wreck. What says it all to me about the sincerity level of the apologies is that last year Michael said that these days many drivers don't bother to even pick up the phone to call to apologize, they just send a text message with an "I'm sorry." Seems to me that if a driver is really sorry that it would be important enough for them to call the other driver or even better apologize face-to-face.

The good news is that Talladega is next weekend. Michael's won on that track before and is capable of winning there again - he almost did last year if not for his engine blowing on the last lap. So it's the perfect track for Michael to jump start his season and get things going in the right direction again. Hope to see a great finish for him and all of MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:46 PM | Comments (2)

April 17, 2009

A.J. Allmendinger Extends Deal With Richard Petty Motorsports Through 2010

It had been rumored that Joe Gibbs Racing might be interested in A.J. Allmendinger for a possible 4th team in 2010, but if there was any truth to that rumor they'll have to look elsewhere for a driver - Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that they have signed Allmendinger to race for them in 2010. Tom Reddin, RPM's chief executive officer said,

“This was an easy decision for Richard Petty Motorsports. AJ has done a superb job, both on and off the track in 2009. We want to let everyone know that he’s going to be a vital part of Richard Petty Motorsports for what we believe will be a long-term, winning relationship.”

Allmendinger has indeed been very good for RPM. Although he's only 20th in the points, he's RPM's second best driver behind Kasey Kahne and will likely only improve as he continues to get additional experience in Cup. After being released by Red Bull Racing last season and having to worry about sponsorship and whether he'd be able to race past the first few races this season, it must be a relief to Allmendinger to have some long-term security.

The only problem for Allmendinger and RPM is like it is for so many teams, sponsorship. So far there's only sponsorship from a variety of companies for 26 races this season for Allmendinger so RPM still has ten races this season they need to find sponsorship for. It would be a shame for Allmendinger when he's racing well if he had to miss some races due to a lack of sponsorship. However, by signing Allmendinger so early, RPM has given themselves plenty of time to work on finding sponsorship for him for next season. If he continues to race well and I think he will, he likely will continue to attract sponsors.

If RPM can't find sponsorship for Allmendinger for 2010 both Reed Sorenson and Elliott Sadler should be extremely nervous about their long-term future at RPM because I suspect if the performance doesn't improve for both of those drivers one or both of them may find themselves out of a ride at RPM. That would mean that sponsorship from their cars could be shifted to Allmendinger. While Sorenson just signed with RPM prior to this season, the results for him so far this season have been just as poor as they've been for the rest of his Cup career and he's 30th in points. It would seem like a waste to release him after just one season but if he's not going to show any signs of getting better finishes his tenure at RPM might be short. That said, Sadler may be in an even more precarious position since he had to threaten to sue to keep his ride at RPM. I can't see them keeping him any longer than they have to so if there's a way for RPM to get out of his contract without getting sued I think they'll do it. I really don't expect the results to get any better for Sadler given the circumstances under which he's still racing for RPM which can't make for a very good working environment for anyone so I don't think he'll be racing for RPM for much longer.

Reddin said that he believes that Allmendinger will win for RPM and while it's hard for teams that aren't among the powerhouses in the Cup garage to visit Victory Lane I definitely think Allmendinger has the ability to win if he's given competitive cars to race. Sure would be great to see it happen!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park Finishes 3rd in Phoenix!

Steve Park raced extremely well in his Camping World West Series debut last night in Phoenix, finishing 3rd. For a while it appeared that Steve had a good chance to win the race as he was out front with just one lap to go. But ultimately a decision by the #35 team to not pit for tires when everyone else did, which put Steve in the lead, was costly as Jason Bowles and Eric Holmes, both with fresher tires were able to pass Steve on the last lap. Jason's win was the first of the season for him and his 7th overall in the West Series. It's hard to tell when the only way to follow the race is online but it seemed like there was some great racing in this race so I'll have to check out the edited version that SPEED will show next Thursday at 3 p.m.

I was interested in how Eric would race Steve since he had raced the #35 in 2007 and parted ways with the team on what seemed to be bad terms given his comments last year about the team in which he said the cars weren't very competitive and implied that the team didn't know what they were doing. But based on the comments Steve made in the post-race press conference both Eric and Jason raced him very cleanly and Steve seemed to enjoy racing with them and with the West Series drivers overall. Given the time constraints of having to go from Greenville-Pickens this past weekend to Phoenix for last night's race and then be in North Carolina to race next weekend, the team is surely putting in a lot of time and effort right now so it's good that Steve enjoyed himself and was able to finish so well!

In fact, perhaps Steve enjoyed racing with them even more than he does his fellow competitors in the East Series who apparently have a different style of racing. According to Steve instead of actually racing, they just "dive-bomb" each other on the last lap. He then proceeded to say how much he liked racing against "real" racers and I have to wonder just exactly what he meant by that? Is he referring to the style of racing being an old-school type of gentlemanly, clean at all times racing? Or is he making a commentary on the his fellow drivers in the East Series and that they are only pretenders when it comes to racing? That wouldn't be a very flattering assessment of the ability of some of those he races against. It may be true that some don't have the same kind of ability he does but seems to me that someone like Matt Kobyluck and some of the other drivers who finished ahead of Steve in the points and won races - which he didn't - last season are "real" racers.

In any event, Steve's next race is an East Series race on April 25 at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, NC. Hope he can match or even better his results from last night!

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

April 15, 2009

Patrick Carpentier To Race the #99 for Michael Waltrip Racing at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

Today it was confirmed as had been rumored in a Canadian newspaper a couple of weeks ago that Patrick Carpentier will race the #99 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota in the Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in August for Michael Waltrip Racing. Robert Hattem, the president and COO of UAP Inc., the Canadian arm of Genuine Parts Company, NAPA's parent company said,

"Patrick was our first choice and we are undoubtedly very happy with this agreement. Not only is he from the region but his name is synonymous with talent, perseverance and sportsmanship wherever he performs. It was a natural fit for us to offer Patrick the wheel for this event and allow the public to witness his unique know-how.”

Based on the announcement the decision to put Patrick in the #99 sounds like a decision that was completely NAPA's which isn't a surprise since not only are they sponsoring the #99 for that race but they're also the title sponsor of the race itself. Patrick is a good choice.

Patrick said,

"By being the official race sponsor, it is clear to me that NAPA wishes more than anything the success of this important event for the City of Montreal. It is an honour to partner with such a talented team like NAPA. My greatest desire is to give the spectators and viewers a great performance that meets their expectations.”

Although he only has 12 Nationwide starts and didn't have much success in his limited stint in Cup, Patrick excels at road course races. In fact, in last year's race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Patrick finished 2nd so if he has a competitive car he can most definitely give a great performance! Sure would be outstanding to see him better that this season and win this year's race for NAPA and MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park Finishes 7th at Greenville-Pickens; Michael Waltrip Finishes 15th in Nashville

I realized I never said anything in this space about either the Camping World East Series race at Greenville-Pickens or the Nationwide race in Nashville this past weekend even though Steve Park and Michael Waltrip raced, Steve in the East Series race and Michael in the Nationwide race. Fact is as much as I wish I could say different, neither race was particularly memorable for either driver even though their respective finishes were pretty good.

In the East Series race Steve finished 7th, a spot ahead of last year's Series Champion, Matt Kobyluck. Brian Ickler dominated the race, leading every lap except one. I had expected a top five finish or even a win from Steve since he had qualified 4th and practiced well but someone who was at the race said that he had some issue with his brakes. Ryan Truex was 15th in his debut for Michael Waltrip Racing - I'm not sure what happened to him since he had also qualified in the top five and raced up front during the first half of the race. Apparently both Ty Norris, MWR's general manager and Martin Truex, Jr., Ryan's brother were there to see how he did in his first race for MWR. In general, it's very hard to know much more than the basics about what happens with any team or driver during the race since there's no live coverage of the races on TV so the only way to follow along is via lap-by-lap coverage on NASCAR's website or eastseries.com for the few races they'll be covering, unless a team makes a post-race report available and many of them don't.

Even though Michael was able to finish 15th at Nashville it seemed like he had a difficult day. Aside from a late race spin into the grass, he was never able to race up front at all even though his last win in this series came at Nashville just a few years ago. As others have noted it seems like while MWR's Cup teams have made a lot of progress the past few years, their Nationwide program has regressed. I had expected David Reutimann to contend for the Championship in his second full year in the Nationwide Series and not only didn't he do that, he didn't really contend for any wins either. Things haven't improved this season with Michael and Scott Speed. Perhaps it's to be expected that while the focus has been on making the Cup teams more competitive that maybe more resources have gone towards that goal. An additional problem this season is likely that there isn't full sponsorship for the #99 for the entire season so far so that may mean that there are less financial resources to put into the team. It's unfortunate because a few years ago when the team was based out of Michael's backyard they were one of the best teams in the series. Hopefully they can get back to that level of competition.

Joey Logano won the Nationwide race and engaged in a good battle with his teammate Kyle Busch for the win. It was good to see Joey in Victory Lane and perhaps that will quiet some of his many critics who think he's lacking in talent because his results in Cup have been far from impressive so far. Joey does have a lot of ability behind the wheel otherwise he wouldn't have been able to beat Kyle or anyone else for the win on Saturday. It's a challenge to begin with to be a rookie with very little experience in Cup and even more so for Joey (and Scott Speed) this season since NASCAR won't let the teams test (on NASCAR sanctioned tracks) anymore.

Steve's next race is tomorrow in the Camping World West Series race in Phoenix. I admit I'm a little surprised that Steve and his team are making the trip to Phoenix. Other East Series teams have entered the race in the past but apparently some of those who raced in it in the past opted not to this season because there's been a change in the schedule that eliminated an off-week. With just ten races on the East Series schedule I can understand why Steve and his team might look to add races but they don't have much turn-around time to get to Phoenix and then on to the next race at Tri-County on the 25th. Michael is racing in both the Nationwide and Cup races in Phoenix (I wonder if they'll get together in Phoenix - they probably aren't at the track together too often anymore) - sure hope Michael and MWR has a great race weekend at Phoenix!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2009

Kyle Busch Not Happy With Fans at Nashville

Nashville Superspeedway had a promotion this weekend for the Nationwide race in which fans could purchase an all-access package which gave fans pre-race access to the garage area and the driver's meeting, which of course meant that they were able to get closer to the drivers than they might have been able to in the past. Kyle Busch wasn't too happy with all the fans who took advantage of the promotion. He said,

“There were a lot of people with a lot more access than typical. Some fans need to respect the drivers a little more because they’re bringing suitcases of diecasts for us to sign. Yeah, it’s our job to sign for the fans and to treat them nice, but when they have three suitcases, that’s a little ridiculous.”

Kyle's getting criticized for his comments on the SPEED forum and probably elsewhere but he's right - there are some things that fans do when they're around the drivers that are ridiculous, including having multiple items that they want them to sign. Odds are Kyle isn't the only driver who feels the way he does either.

Fact is, as I've said in this space many times, there are some fans who don't know how to act appropriately. Yes, the drivers have a responsibility to the fans. Yes, if they can they should sign some autographs and acknowledge the fans. And yes, the drivers should treat the fans with courtesy and respect. However, there is a segment of fans who take advantage of the access that they get, whether it's by bringing suitcases of things for the drivers to sign, asking for autographs at inappropriate times, being rude to the drivers, invading their personal space or otherwise behaving badly. The unfortunate thing is that every time a fan doesn't act the way they should, they ruin things for the majority of fans who do know how to act right because those fans that do ridiculous things sometimes stand out more than the fans who behave appropriately. Then fans wonder why some drivers run by without acknowledging the fans or seem to hide all together when they're at the track.

Kyle's also getting some criticism this morning on Sirius for his post-race comments. Apparently he didn't say anything about his teammate, Joey Logano, beating him to win in his TV interview after the race. For one thing ESPN was rushing to get off the air so the interview was probably very rushed but beyond that, it seems as if Kyle can't win. Instead of running off like he's done in the past, Kyle gives an interview. Not only that he didn't say anything controversial. But to some fans he still didn't say the right thing. For some fans no matter what Kyle says or does it's always going to be wrong. No wonder he says he doesn't care what the fans think and just acts the way he wants because even if he's on his best behavior some fans are still going to rip him.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2009

JTG-Daughtery Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing Benefit From Technical Alliance

Outstanding article on nascar.com that details the technical alliance between Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG-Daugherty Racing and how it came to be. The roots of the partnership were planted last July at Indianapolis as Michael Waltrip watched JTG attempt to make their first Cup race. Knowing how hard it could be to try to do what JTG was going to attempt, Michael decided that he was going to see if he could help them. He said that he sent Ty Norris to find Tad Geschickter because he could save him two years of trying to figure out how to survive in Cup. Michael said,

"I was a year and a half in at that point and I knew that when he started in '09 [as a Cup owner], we'd be two years ahead of where he was going to be if he tried to do it himself. My car was locked in the show and I had lived the hell of 2007 in missing race after race and just struggling to get our legs up under us as a team."

Of course Michael wasn't just thinking about how he could help JTG but about how an alliance could help MWR since the organization wanted to continue fielding three teams in 2009 but didn't have the necessary sponsorship to do so. Michael said,

"We didn't have sponsorship for our third car for '09, and definitely wanted to continue at a three-car level. We began talking right there, that day at Indy, about how we might partner, provide him cars, provide his equipment and he'd essentially be a part of MWR -- and that's exactly what we did. I think the benefits are endless for both groups. But I think for Tad, it gave him a chance to get up and running immediately. ... He has manufacturing support not only from MWR, but also Toyota support as well.

The benefits are indeed tremendous for both organizations. There's no question that the results for Marcos Ambrose and JTG are significantly better because of their alliance than MWR than if they were competing on their own. And MWR not only fulfills their desire to field three teams but are doing so with a driver who appears to have the potential to have a lot of success in the Cup Series.

What's interesting is that JTG had spoken with Ford about being affiliated with them but were told that there was no place for them on the Cup level even though Marcos had previously been associated with Ford. I wonder if Ford has any regrets about that decision? Toyota was more than open to having JTG become one of their teams which opened the door to the alliance between JTG and MWR. The other interesting thing which I think has led to some confusion among fans is that even though JTG's Cup operation is housed in the MWR shop and they share information and as the article notes even tools, even though Michael often talks about the #47 team as if it's one of his own, once they're at the track the JTG and MWR teams are separate entities. In the article Brad Daugherty says that sometimes these alliances don't work out, that an owner will just take a team's money but will provide them with inferior equipment. That's not the case here - JTG has access to everything that the MWR teams have access to from parts to engineering to personnel, which is why the alliance has been so successful.

Brad said of Michael,

"One thing about Michael, we all see him as the affable television character, kind of off the wall. But he really is a passionate, passionate racer. He loves racing. I think that gets overshadowed sometimes because we're always looking at some of the off-the-wall things he may say or do -- but he's a passionate racer. He thinks about things. I've really been impressed with Michael. When you sit down and have a conversation with him, he's got a lot of great ideas and has put a lot of thought into the business structure of his organization. I mean, they tried to eat an elephant here in a couple of bites and it was hard. But they learned a lot from it. That organization is going to survive and be a strong, strong operation going forward because of their resiliency. Michael's got a real passion for this sport. He's not just there, hanging out. He wants to run well and be successful. He wants to win and build a great organization. We're lucky to be a part of it."

I love it when people, especially those in the garage area, recognize that Michael is a lot more than just the goofball he sometimes portrays on TV. As I've detailed many times in this space before it irks me sometimes that some don't think Michael is serious about racing or dismiss him and his opinions because he plugs his sponsors a lot or like to be funny all the time. But the reality is that there is a very serious side to Michael that is, as Brad points out, that is passionate about racing and determined to be a success. Michael does indeed think about things and that's a very good thing because he's come up with some terrific ideas such as this alliance with JTG.

It's really wonderful to see Michael and MWR continue to get so much positive media attention!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2009

Steve Park on Sirius (4/8)

Seems like it's been a really long time since Steve Park has been on Sirius or given any kind of interview for that matter. So I was excited when I heard that he'd be on Tradin' Paint on Sirius today! It was good to hear Steve after so long!

The Camping World East Series kicks off their season this weekend at Greenville-Pickens so Steve started out talking about that track and how it's a great place to race. I had sent the show an email about Steve racing in Phoenix in a couple of week and if they could ask him about that, which they did - he said because the schedule is only 12 or 13 races they're going to go to Phoenix and they will also race in the West race in Iowa later in the season (I think that race is in September). It may come as a surprise to Steve to find out that the East Series schedule isn't even 12 or 13 races - they dropped two tracks so it's only ten races now. He and his team wanted to add a few races because they enjoy racing. Last year he and his team didn't have the success they wanted. He said that last year the team was new (I assume he meant there were new personnel because they weren't new to the series) but this year the team is the same (so hopefully after working together for a year they'll have more success).

Before Steve came on there was some discussion about Sam Hornish, Jr's struggles and that of the open-wheelers in general. Steve said that he raced his entire life in stock cars to get to Cup and he still found it tough to race Cup. The open wheel guys only have a couple of years to prove themselves. It's hard to learn a different car that you haven't really run - it's hard for Sam Hornish to adapt. Thing is though I think some drivers do adapt easier - Juan Pablo Montoya for one and also Marcos Ambrose.

A lot of young guys asked him for advice last season. There's an extreme amount of talent in the East Series. He never had a series coming up for drivers to be groomed. NASCAR has given 16,17, 18 year olds a great series to groom themselves. The competition level is great every week. There are a lot of fans who don't like that the East Series has turned into a developmental series but I agree with Steve that it's a great place for young drivers to groom themselves and gain experience. I think it's important that there are lower series for these young drivers to race in so that teams aren't throwing those 16, 17 and 18-year olds into a truck or Nationwide car without any experience on a lower level.

Last season was disappointing to Steve - I think a lot of people were pretty disappointed by the results for Steve in the East Series whether they'd admit it or not. I was just glad that he was racing and I wasn't too wrapped up in how he finished in the points as long as it was pretty good which it was. But the truth is that Steve has far more experience on higher levels and in racing overall that just about everyone he was racing against and the expectation from many was that he would win multiple races which didn't happen. I would guess that will happen this season given that he and his team are better used to racing together and a number of teams from last season that bested Steve in the points and in terms of contending for wins won't be back. So I expect not only some wins from Steve but also that he'll be in contention for the series Championship. Wouldn't that be cool if he won the Championship? Steve said the competition is so close in the East Series - he went into the last race 15-20 points out of 6th, dropped out of the race with brake issues and finished 8th in points. Because there's a limited amount of races every race is important. You have to race smart and finish every race. Earnhardt told him to get the best out of his car, put it on the trailer, go home and get better. The young drivers need to learn that if you have a 4th place car you take 4th place.

Earlier in the interview Steve was asked about his future in the sport and he gave his standard answer. Doesn't see himself back in Cup because he doesn't want to be away from home and have his whole life be racing. But when the economy turns around he hopes to find a Nationwide or Truck ride. Apparently someone had called in before Steve came on and wanted to know if he had turned down rides. Steve didn't say yes or no, just said that he had talked to numerous teams and that the economy is an issue for everyone. However, it's not doom & gloom and the world isn't going to end so the media needs to leave it alone. Companies will come back to NASCAR. When an opportunity comes he would love to go back to Nationwide or trucks. Will see what happens in the next few months.

As much as it pains me to say it because I would love to see him in Nationwide or Trucks I don't think the chances of Steve going back to Nationwide or Trucks, let alone Cup, aren't very good even if the economy gets better. There weren't any companies who wanted to sponsor him when the economy is good and now Steve is a few years older and more removed from having raced a Truck or Nationwide car. In addition, if given a competitive car or truck I think Steve could definitely win some races but I just don't see Steve being offered an opportunity with a competitive team given that it's been so long since he's been in either of those two series - I think there are quite a few drivers who have moved ahead of him on the list of drivers who would be in demand by the better teams that he would consider racing for. But I don't see why he can't continue racing in the East Series or some other series as long as it's still fun for him.

Steve ended the interview by saying that there would be an autograph session at Greenville-Pickens and that fans could come by to say "hi."

Posted by silverdsl at 03:39 PM | Comments (0)

Earnhardt-Ganassi to Suspend Operations of the #8; Future Uncertain for Aric Almirola

Due to a lack of sponsorship Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing has decided that they will suspend operations of the #8. That move was expected since EGR had said from the start of the season that they wouldn't be able to field the car for the entire season unless additional sponsorship was found. I feel bad for the EGR employees who were laid off as a result as well as for Aric Almirola who now finds himself without a ride at a time when there are many other opportunities available because virtually every organization is in the same position as EGR in that sponsorship is scarce these days. Aric said last week,

“I’ve put so much in my heart and soul and focus that I have going on right here, I don’t have a Plan B. I haven’t walked around and worked on a Plan B yet because I’m so focused on Plan A. That’s what I’m really worried about and concerning myself with."

Plan A hasn't worked out so unfortunately Aric's going to have to find himself a Plan B in a hurry which isn't going to be easy. Although Aric hasn't done much on the Cup level, I like him and I'd like to see him get another opportunity. Some don't think he'll ever amount to much in NASCAR but I doubt he's really ever had truly competitive cars on the Cup level to race. I was extremely impressed with him when he was a guest on This Week in NASCAR - he seemed to be very well-spoken and intelligent so I think he would represent any sponsor extremely well. I hope that EGR or another organization can find some sponsorship for him, if not in Cup then in Nationwide or the Truck Series because I'd hate to see him just disappear.

A lot of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans are freaking out over the fact that the #8 isn't going to be on the track anymore but this should come as no surprise. Many of them think that Junior should get the #8 from EGR and field it through JR Motorsports but that's pretty unrealistic. Junior had a hard time finding sponsorship for his Nationwide program this season, where is he going to find a sponsor willing to pony up $20 million for a brand-new Cup team in the middle of the season? I would also think that JR Motorsports isn't at all prepared to start racing on the Cup level yet - it kind of amazes me that some fans think it's easy to race Cup, as if JR Motorsports can just show up at the track and be successful because the team is associated with Junior. But the struggles of the #88 team shows that it's not always easy for established organizations let alone teams that are new on the Cup level.

I also think that some fans need to let go of the past. That's always been hard for fans to do - some seem to hold grudges over even the smallest of perceived injustices against their favorite drivers for years. But Junior raced the #8 when he was at DEI and those days are over. There's no way to undo Teresa Earnhardt not giving Junior the #8 or anything else that happened between them. Junior's moved on and started a new chapter of his life at Hendrick Motorsports but some of his fans seem stuck in the past. Some fans - and this goes for all fans, not just Junior fans - might enjoy their experience as a fan a little more if they weren't constantly getting upset over small issues and things that can't be changed.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2009

Michael Waltrip Racing Pairs With Ryan Truex in Camping World East Series

Today Michael Waltrip Racing announced what had been rumored among those in the Camping World East Series for a while that they would be partnering with Ryan Truex to field a car for him in the East Series this season with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts. When I heard about this I have to admit that I wasn't exactly jumping up and down about it because the person who first discussed it also speculated that this was because MWR hoped to sign Ryan's older brother, Martin Truex Jr., for next season to replace Michael Waltrip in the #55 - I'm not exactly thrilled to hear talk about Michael not racing past this season and if MWR is going to be looking at a replacement for Michael, Martin wouldn't be very high on my list of drivers that I'd want to see in the #55.

That said, I'm going to put that aside and be happy that MWR is going to be fielding an East Series car! For one thing it gives me another driver besides Steve Park to cheer for in the East Series. Beyond that I'm glad that MWR is working with another young driver since it's important for them to develop some young talent for the future. Sponsorship hasn't worked out for them to be able to field a Nationwide car for Josh Wise unfortunately and Michael McDowell lost his Cup ride with MWR due to a lack of sponsorship as well. It's also likely a lot cheaper to field an East Series car, particularly since it's only for ten races and the Truex's are bringing some resources of their own into the partnership. So this is very definitely a good thing for MWR and I certainly have no complaints about them giving a driver from New Jersey an opportunity!

Ty Norris said,

“In essence, Ryan was ready to move to the next level. The Truex's had the cars and the engines, but needed someone to house, employ the staff and operate the team. I've known the Truex's since we approached Truex Jr. about driving for DEI's nationwide team in 2003. Ryan has the bloodline and needed the opportunity, so we partnered in this entry. We heard he was aggressive and fast and we can’t wait to see him compete.”

I guess it surprises me that MWR is entering into this partnership without having seen Ryan race if I understand what Ty is saying correctly but maybe that's common when it's a partnership as opposed to putting a driver in a car that they're fielding for him completely as their own entry. Or maybe that happens with young drivers on lower levels where there isn't as much money being put in so there's not as much risk of losing a lot if things don't work out. Regardless I hope this works out great for MWR and that Ryan has a lot of success - sure would be great if he won a few East Series races for them this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:31 PM | Comments (0)

Camping World Denies Rumors That They're Leaving the Truck Series

Rumors recently surfaced that Camping World would be leaving the Truck Series after just one season as series sponsor and that NASCAR had already started the process of looking for a replacement. However, according to Camping World, the rumor is mostly false - they are staying the sponsor of the Truck Series but are helping to look for a replacement sponsor for the East and West Series which they currently also sponsor. This is very good news for the Truck Series that they aren't in need of a new series sponsor but terrible news for the East and West Series, though most knew that it was likely that Camping World wouldn't remain affiliated with those two series once they started sponsoring the Truck Series.

Although the East and West Series features some terrific young drivers who could be the future stars of the sport as well as some talented veteran drivers, I think NASCAR is going to have a very hard time finding another sponsor to take Camping World's place unless it's at a deeply discounted price. The poor economy is a big factor but there are other issues as well, the biggest one to me being that both series, and the East Series in particular, get next to no attention or exposure. A couple of weeks ago in Martinsville NASCAR held a press conference to promote the East Series opener in Greenville-Pickens, which is this weekend and from what I can tell there wasn't a single article or any kind of media coverage what-so-ever generated by this press conference. Not good. In addition, HDNet has dropped live coverage of the races so the only TV broadcast comes in the form of a condensed one-hour version that will air a week or more after the race is run on Thursday afternoons when most fans aren't around to watch. Reportedly ticket sales weren't always great for races last season and sales could be even worse this season due to the economy. Just exactly what sponsor is going to sign on as Series sponsor if no one is going see their logos?

Posted by silverdsl at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)

This Week in NASCAR with Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus (4/6)

Sure wish I was able to capture the humorous moments in my recaps since Chad Knaus, Michael Waltrip and Steve Byrnes joke around with each other a lot but sometimesyou just have to see and hear it to understand why it's funny. But they were definitely very entertaining last night!

Michael started out by talking about Michael Waltrip Racing's performance at Texas - he was a lot more positive about it during the show than many fans have been but I suppose that's to be expected, and to be fair David Reutimann winning the pole for the race was definitely something for the organization to celebrate! It was a big deal for David to be on the pole for himself and MWR. Michael said you have to be impressed by Marcos Ambrose - I know I am! Marcos just showed up and is doing it. Tad and Jodi Geschickter put their heart and souls into NASCAR for years and Michael is happy for them that they're delivering for their sponsors, it's a great story.

Michael then proceeded to whip out a drawing that I thought when I first looked at it was a pair of boobs and I wondered why he drew them and why SPEED didn't have a problem with showing it. Turns out it was meant to be a drawing of the eyes on the stack of money from the Geico commercial! I don't know whether that's a commentary on me thinking Michael's mind is in the gutter or whether I'm right there in the gutter with him! The drawing was shown several more times throughout the show and luckily the commercial was shown as well which made it make a lot more sense.

The #48 team finished second at Texas but Chad said it wasn't an easy day for them. The car was fast on Saturday but once the green flag dropped on Sunday the car wasn't handling right. At one point they were as far back as 25th, which to me isn't really that far back in comparison to some teams that find themselves mired back in 30-35th place when things aren't going well. Jimmie did a good job of hanging on to the car and keeping it off the wall and they just kept working on it. By the end of the race they started getting it and the car was fast. This is why the #48 team is one of the best in the garage area - they're able to make the right changes to make an ill-handling car into a good one and contend for wins even in races that look like it's going to be an off-day for them early on.

A lot of people weren't too thrilled with the racing at Texas but Michael seems to have liked it. Said that there always seems to be drama at Texas and you don't know how the race is going to play out until the end. Later in the show Michael said the great thing about the race was that you had guys that came out of no where and also guys who had been there all day and that the suspense of how the race is going to play out is as fun as anything. I think for me that's true for every race that one reason I watch as much of every race as I can is because anything can happen and you never know what you might end up seeing on any given race weekend. However, my sense is that many of my fellow fans don't feel that way and perhaps that's part of the problem facing the sport. Many fans don't feel that the racing is exciting and they feel that it's not very interesting to see the same handful of drivers who are mostly from the same four organizations win almost every week, sometimes in dominating fashion.

After Jeff Gordon's win at Texas Hendrick Motorsports now has 177 total wins. Chad said they have a wall at the team center with an "H" for every win, when the wall is completely covered they'll have 200 wins. There was some joking about whether Chad would let them see his notebook if they went to HMS to see the wall and how protective he is of it. Gee, I wonder why?

Michael said he had been optimistic about his car for Sunday and thought it had potential but at the wrong times they didn't have the car running right. Late in the going they made adjustments that didn't work but at the end of the race the car was fast and he was happy with it - um, really? To my ears Michael seemed pretty unhappy with his car the entire race but maybe he just didn't express it over the radio when he was happier about the car since he was so upset with how bad it was at other times during the race. Segments of the race the car wasn't very good. He said you can fall off the pace a couple of times if cautions fall right or if you get the free pass - like the previous weekend at Martinsville when he was able to rally to finish 13th - but other times you better be dead on or you can't make it up - like this past weekend at Texas.

Steve announced that Michael would be getting his wish, that they would be expanding the radioactive segment of the show, at least one time, and that Monday at 8 p.m. there would be a half hour show with Michael that was and expanded look at the radio chatter from Texas. How cool for Michael that SPEED liked his idea and that they're going to give it a try, at least for a week? Sure hope it goes well and that they get a lot of positive feedback about it so it can become a new series. Although some teams and drivers don't like what they say over their radios being made public, I think it gives a lot of insight into what happens for the teams during races in a more in-depth way than what's possible during a TV broadcast.

The panel reviewed the points standings and Chad said that he wouldn't think that his team would be second in points, I guess because they're had some weekends in which they've struggled somewhat, but he's not surprised that the #24 is leading the points since there was a big effort to restructure that team. I thought that was an interesting comment since I can't remember hearing about major changes to the #24 team. A lot of fans were calling for Steve Letarte's head going into this season but HMS stuck with him and it's definitely paying off! Chad's surprised that the #2 team is so high in points after the way they raced last season. Michael said it's good to see the #00 team up in the points, as well as Kasey Kahne, I guess because like with the #00 team, Kasey and his team aren't with one of the big four organizations in the garage area. With MWR they wanted to work their way up into the four superteams that are mainstays for the Chase. They wanted to wedge one or two of their teams in there - so far so good Michael said, they've made the progress they've needed to.

There was some discussion of the penalty given to the #00 team for pitting outside his box. There was traffic when he was coming in and he didn't see his box properly. Michael said the jack should never go up if the car's over the line but that's what happened and the team got penalized for it. As crew crew chief you try to choreograph with the teams around you about when to pit and make a decision about pitting based on that. Sometimes you can't work it out but you try to come down pit road when they aren't. It can save 2-3 seconds by not having to deal with the cars around you. Chad brought up how the pit crew can get their rhythm thrown off by the car being over the line, they get confused and it throws them off.

They showed some video of Sam Hornish, Jr's spin and Michael said that Sam gives you 110% on every lap and tries real hard but when you consistently put yourself on the edge eventually you're going to cross it. Same has to figure out how to keep something in reserve. I thought that Michael was taking great pains to be delicate and nice about it but was basically saying that even though Sam puts a lot of effort in, he's not very good right now and often wrecks because he has a lot to learn about when to race hard and when to dial it down a little. I think in his second season Sam should have learn that lesson to some degree and that he hasn't probably doesn't bode well for the chances of him sticking around in Cup long-term.

After all this time of being on TWiN Michael just got to wondering last night whether TWiN was an acronym for "This Week in NASCAR." :lol: Said that "acronym" was a big word for him and that growing up in Kentucky he never needed to use that word. Some thing tells me that if Michael had been paying attention in English class in high school he probably would have had to have used that word!

I was surprised that there wasn't much discussion of the woes of the #88 team since it's such a big story everywhere else but maybe they didn't want to say anything that could potentially set off a controversy particularly since Chad would have to give an opinion on another HMS team that wouldn't necessarily be positive. They did discuss when Kyle Busch got loose and bumped Junior on the re-start. Contrary to what a lot of fans think about it being deliberate the panel just thought he got loose. Michael thought he did a great job of not crashing. Junior was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was refreshing to listen to a race review that didn't focus mostly on Junior's issues.

I don't recall exactly how it came up but Michael said he had a girlfriend named Tonya in 2nd grade that he says he still thinks about. He got to hold her hand in 5th grade and he joked that he's slow with it and likes to take his time - yeah, right! Later in the show they joked about her calling him but how the rest of the panel who knew him would warn her off, that she was smart to have stayed away from him.

When they played some video of Stremme's spin it was said that he knew he had a flat tire and that he was trying to get to pit road. Michael speculated that maybe secretly Stremme had deliberately brought out the caution by spinning himself. I thought that was an interesting observation which makes me wonder just how many spins aren't as accidental as they may look to us fans.

I didn't pay much attention to the preview of the Phoenix race since I don't have much use for the previews of the upcoming races since they seem very repetitive to me. However, they did mention that awesome race in '05 was mentioned which was the race in which Michael battled Kurt for the win and ultimately finished second. That's probably one of my favorite races ever even though Michael didn't win!

The first fan question was how larger tires and wheels effect the cars. Chad said that the new car doesn't have as much downforce and that there's a lot of stress on the tires and wheels. Larger tires and wheels would give the cars more mechanical grip and could make the racing better. The wheels and tires are very pivotal. The second question was about forward bite. Michael said it's how well the back tires stick to the road when you put the gas down and it's different from being loose.

As usual it was a fun show to watch!

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

April 06, 2009

Patrick Carpentier to Race the #99 Nationwide Car for Michael Waltrip Racing?

Jayski has an interesting item that comes from RueFrontenac.com, that apparently (the original item is in French so what Jayski has is a translation) that Patrick Carpentier will race the #99 Nationwide car for Michael Waltrip Racing in the road course race in Montreal and possibly also in the race at Watkins Glen with sponsorship from NAPA Auto Parts. I had saw somewhere that MWR might possibly field the #99 for the race at Montreal which didn't surprise me since that race's title sponsor is NAPA, who of course sponsors Michael Waltrip's #55 Cup car at MWR but there was no indication as to who the driver might be.

I was thinking that driver would likely end up being one of the drivers that MWR is currently working with, maybe Marcos Ambrose or Max Papis since are known for their road course expertise. But I'm excited that Patrick might get a couple of races in the #99. Although he didn't have much success in the brief time he was in Cup he seemed like a good guy so I'm glad that he may get another opportunity in NASCAR with MWR even if it's just on a very limited basis.

I wish I remembered some of the French I learned in High School so that I could read the original article as it's possible that something is being lost in the translation between the article and what ended up on Jayski. I really hope it happens though - I think it would be really cool for Patrick to race for MWR!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

More Problems for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Texas

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sits 16th in the points after yesterday's 20th place finish at Texas and there are many drivers and teams who would love to be that high in the points. However, for Junior and his team it's far short of expectations. The reason he's not higher in the points is mostly because of dismal efforts like yesterday where mistakes on pit road and on the track prevented the team from finishing as well as they had raced. What makes Junior's 20th place finish yesterday look so bad is how well his teammates did - Jeff Gordon won the race, Jimmie Johnson overcame a car that was ill-handling early in the race to finish 2nd and even Mark Martin who had had a lot of bad luck this season finished 6th.

For a while it seemed like Junior would join his teammates in finishing in the top ten. He even led a few laps at one point. But on a pit stop a lugnut was left off and when Junior came back into the pits he inexplicably missed his pit stall - not the first time he's done that this season - and had to come back in. That dropped him out of the top ten to 22nd. Later in the race Junior got into the wall. Although the damage wasn't enough to take him out of the race and was able to be fixed quickly in the pits it was one more problem for a team that was already struggling.

There's some fans who are blaming Tony Eury, Jr. for making the wrong calls during the race or Kyle Busch for getting into Junior on a re-start but the fact is that neither Eury, Jr. nor Kyle were the ones who caused Junior to miss his pit or get into the wall. That Junior keeps missing his pit this season is truly puzzling. Yes, it happens to even the best of drivers occasionally that they lose track of where they are on pit road and miss their pit but it doesn't usually happen with the frequency that it's happening to Junior. Veteran drivers just don't make the kind of mistakes that Junior keeps making this season. Junior has raced under a microscope for a long time but I have to wonder whether the issues he's been having this season are a sign that he's having trouble handling the pressure that's been put on him by the lofty expectations that fans and the media have for him. I also wonder about whether Junior's focus isn't entirely where it should be - on the track.

Of course Junior wasn't the only driver who had issues on pit road yesterday - for some reason pit road problems seemed to be epidemic at Texas. But for most teams it was a rare miscue. With Junior and his team it seems like mistakes are a weekly event. Of course it's still early in the season. Junior and his team could turn things around in Phoenix make the Chase and win the Championship. But the longer they race like their heads aren't in the game, the less likely it is that's going to happen.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)

Disappointing Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Texas

Races like yesterday at Texas for Michael Waltrip Racing are hard for me to blog about. I'd much rather only write positive entries about how wonderful everything is for MWR and how much progress the organization continues to make but other than David Reutimann's 11th place finish yesterday really wasn't such a great day for MWR. The weekend started with a lot of promise when David won the pole for Sunday's race and I think a lot of people thought that this might be the weekend when David ended up in Victory Lane for the first time in his career but it wasn't to be. In addition, it wasn't a very good day for any of the other MWR teams, primary or affiliated.

Let's start with what went right - David won the pole and raced up front for much of the race. But on lap 154 when he was coming in for a pit stop David overshot his pit stall and instead of backing him up, the team started working on the car while it was still out of the box. That resulted in David being penalized a lap. The team was probably operating on instinct - the car's in the stall so they did what they always do and serviced it but Rodney Childers, David's crew chief, should have had the team back the car up. It would have cost them time but David probably wouldn't have lost a lap. While David was able to eventually get his lap back and finish 11th, odds are without that penalty he would have been in the hunt for the win at the end of the race. The #00 is still a young team that doesn't have any experience as a Chase contending team but if they want to remain in a position to be in the Chase at the end of the season they need to minimize costly mistakes like that.

David wasn't the only MWR driver who overshot his pit - apparently the same thing happened to Michael on lap 96. While Michael put the car in reverse so that his team didn't service it while he was out of the box, it cost him a lot of time - and positions. At the time he had been one of the first cars one lap down, a position he had raced very hard to put himself in, and had a good chance of getting his lap back on a subsequent caution, but losing all those positions put him behind quite a few other lapped cars and once the handling of his car went away Michael was unable to get back to where he needed to be to get the Lucky Dog. The car really wasn't to Michael's liking and the handling was particularly poor towards the end of the race so I suppose a top 25 should be considered a decent finish considering what Michael had to race, but Michael really needs to finish better than 24th on a regular basis.

The other issue is that for the first time this season Michael gave Bootie Barker, his crew chief, who he usually works very well with a hard time. Michael was argumentative and difficult and the old communication problems which I think were an issue in the past re-surfaced. I guess it's to be expected because Michael was frustrated that no matter what was done to the car they were never able to get the handling back to what it had been to start the race, and he was probably upset with himself on top of that for overshooting his pit at a particularly bad time. Some fans are concerned that the way Michael acted yesterday is going to chase Bootie away, but Bootie seems to be able to handle Michael very well - he doesn't back down from him, he calms him down and nothing seems to bother him. It's also no secret that Michael can be difficult to deal with at times so Bootie had to know what he was getting himself into when he accepted the job as Michael's crew chief. So I doubt that one race with poor communication is going to ruin things between them. I just hope that Michael doesn't let himself fall into some of the old patterns where it seemed like to those of us listening in that he would let his emotions get the best of him, lash out and try to crew chief from the car instead of focusing on racing. Yesterday wasn't that bad and he did seem to remain focused on what he was doing behind the wheel so hopefully this was just a minor blip on the radar due to frustration.

As for the teams that MWR has technical alliances with none of them fared very well either. Initially it looked like Marcos Ambrose was going to finish extremely well but mechanical issues ruined his race. First his throttle got stuck, then his engine lost a valve and then finally his engine gave up the ghost completely. It's very unfortunate because Marcos's 41st place finish doesn't reflect how well he raced and how until the mechanical issues it appeared he might finish in the top ten. For a driver with so little experience in Cup he continues to impress. Although Max Papis was able to qualify the #13 for Germain Racing into the show, he wasn't able to finish any better than 35th and that he finished that well was probably due to some other cars dropping out. I would guess that maybe that result was due to his inexperience at Texas - Michael said over the radio prior to the race that he had a discussion with Max about how to race on that track and told Ty Norris, his spotter, that Max might need to be reminded via his own spotter if he fell into bad habits. Then there's the #66 - Dave Blaney was in the garage with after less than 50 laps due to "brake" issues - more like Prism put a "brake" on the race for Dave and called him into the garage.

As for the rest of the race, as a fan of Jeff Gordon, I was very happy to see him get his first win since 2007! Unlike some who have written off Jeff as having lost something behind the wheel, I've never stopped believing that he could not only win again but that he would likely contend for a Championship again. That may very well happen this season - he leads in the points and I doubt that this will be his last win in 2009. As happy as i was that Jeff won I thought the overall race was pretty boring. Seemed like there were long stretches in which there wasn't much passing and that doesn't lead to a very compelling race to watch. Unfortunately seems like there's a lot of that this season.

This weekend is an off-weekend for the Cup Series but the Nationwide Series is in action on Saturday at Nashville. Michael is slated to be in the #99 and I hope he's able to erase some of the disappointment from Texas with a great finish in Nashville - sure would love to see him in Victory Lane!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)

Martin Truex, Jr. to Joe Gibbs Racing?

Last week, Jeff Dickerson, who is an agent for many of the drivers in addition to being Kyle Busch's spotter, was on Claire B. Lang's show on Sirius. One topic that came up was what might happen if by some chance the Chip Ganassi Racing drivers were available. Dickerson said that if Juan Pablo Montoya was available there would be a huge amount of interest in him from many teams - no surprise considering not only is JPM a "name" driver, he's also 13th in points. However, Dickerson said it would be a different story for Martin Truex, Jr. - according to Dickerson right now there is zero interest in Truex from any of the teams. Again, not a surprise since Truex hasn't done much of note on the track recently.

It's interesting to me that over the weekend rumors started circulating that if the #8 team was shut down Truex would become available and that Joe Gibbs Racing was very interested in signing him to replace Joey Logano in the #20. I'm pretty skeptical that there's much truth to the idea that JGR is going to give up on Logano just six races into the season. For one thing, once JGR committed to putting an 18-year old with no Cup experience behind the wheel of the #20 they had to also be committed to having patience and giving him time to develop. But more than that, it's hard for me to believe that Home Depot is going to be okay with a driver change in the #20 after they spent a lot of money on commercials and other things to activate their sponsorship with Logano.

I can believe that JGR might be interested in Truex for a potential 4th team, but I also can't help but wonder whether Truex's "people" might be floating the rumor that JGR is interested in him to try to make it seem like he's in demand so that teams would think they need to be talking to him because others were. I wouldn't be surprised if that might have happened to some degree last season when Truex's name was part of a lot of silly season rumors but in the end he stayed exactly where he was. I would like to be a fan of Truex because he's from New Jersey but I can't say I'm all that impressed with him so far in his Cup career even though he has won a race. Of course a driver can only make the most of the cars they're given to race and it's possible that Truex hasn't been given very competitive cars but it seems to me that he hasn't done much of anything to warrant him being as much of a hot property in the garage area as the rumor mill makes it seem.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2009

David Reutimann on the Pole at Texas!!

2009 continues to be a success for won the pole for Sunday's Cup race at Texas the second pole of his career! It sure is wonderful to see David and his team continue to do so well this season! It's only a matter of time before David is in Victory Lane. I'm not sure it'll be on Sunday but I'm certain it'll be soon - all the pieces are really coming together for David and his team! I'm not only very happy for David, I'm also very happy for Michael Waltrip and everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing -They went though so much the past few years, it's really terrific to see them finally have things to celebrate! The cars are competitive more often than not, the finishes are much better and overall the organization has made so much progress!

I can't help but think "ha-ha!" in the immortal words of Nelson Muntz from The Simpsons that David not only won the pole and out qualified David Ragan but did so on this particular weekend because apparently UPS is debuting a new ad campaign and series of commercials with their David this weekend. It's very fitting to me that "The Franchise" outshined Ragan for today at least as he has the entire season putting the exclamation point on what's becoming more and more obvious - that perhaps UPS made a mistake when they opted to leave MWR to sponsor Ragan at Roush-Fenway Racing. Perhaps youth doesn't always triumph over older veterans.

The other items of interest from qualifying involved the go-or-go-homers as this was the first weekend that the top 35 and thus the locked in spots were determined by this season's owner's points. It was the first race weekend that Scott Speed had to qualify on time this season and not surprisingly he failed to make the race. I have no idea why Red Bull Racing thinks that the outcome is going to be any different if they keep doing the same thing over and over again - Speed may have some additional experience than A.J. Allmendinger did when RBR threw him in a Cup car and expected him to be success but he still doesn't have enough seat time in my opinion to be able to keep the car in the top 35 and consistently make races when he has to qualify on time. Speed - and Joey Logano - would benefit from spending at least one full season, if not two, in a Nationwide car before being put in a Cup car full-time. I can't help but wonder if RBR would have more success over the long-term if they had given Allmendinger that multi-year contract he was looking for and kept Speed on a lower level for another couple of years, even if it meant that Speed didn't race Cup full-time as soon as they would have liked?

I'm also not surprised that Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield also missed the race. I'm sad for those two drivers and their teams because I'd like to see them make races and do well but I think the challenges of trying to compete at this level with very limited budgets and few resources are probably going to be difficult for them to overcome. Hopefully they'll have the money to keep showing up at the track and both teams will continue to try to make a go of it - if the trails and tribulations of MWR in 2007 showed anything it was that an organization can come back from the brink of disaster and build into a successful organization. But it's not going to be easy for either team since they don't have the resources that even MWR did. Regardless of how things turn out, I applaud both teams for attempting something that a lot of people would be too scared to try.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2009

Johnny Benson Loses a Potential Sponsor

The details are somewhat murky but apparently Johnny Benson lost a gun sponsor because either the sponsor wanted to buy an advertising package with SPEED who felt the sponsor violated their advertising standards and/or violated SPEED's standards in general and wouldn't be shown during races. Apparently the company is somehow different than gunbroker.com or Remington that sponsor teams without a problem. Originally this came to light on Monday when Johnny was a guest on Dave Moody's show on Sirius and during the interview he said that NASCAR wouldn't allow the sponsorship so fans were up in arms from the start thinking that NASCAR was at fault. However, Dave followed up with NASCAR who indicated that wasn't true, that they had never got a request to approve a sponsorship from the team, which is when it was revealed that the problem was with SPEED not NASCAR. The team could in fact likely have this sponsor on their truck, it's just that the sponsor may not be able to buy commercial time on SPEED or get exposure by being shown a lot during race broadcasts.

According to John Daly of the The Daly Planet blog, there have been other sponsors that have been on cars and trucks that were problematic to the TV partners in the past but chose to go ahead with their sponsorship deals anyway knowing that they might not be shown much during broadcasts and had limitations on the advertising they could do. That didn't stop them from being mentioned during broadcasts or otherwise getting exposure but it might come in a different way than with other sponsors. However, in this case the company chose not to go ahead with sponsoring Johnny's truck, unfortunately for Red Horse Racing.

Daly also said that other teams and drivers have lost sponsors in the past for similar reasons like Johnny did. I couldn't help but think of the situation with Steve Park a few years ago when (according to the rumor mill but never officially confirmed) he lost a truck ride with Bill Davis Racing because NASCAR wouldn't allow a sponsor. It was said at the time that supposedly this sponsor conflicted with one of NASCAR's official sponsors but what if there was more to it than that? Johnny thought that his sponsor was denied by NASCAR but that wasn't the case, could something like that have happened with Steve as well? There's no telling how many times fans hear that NASCAR is at fault when there's really more to the story and I'd think even more so when no one goes on record to give any details.

It's unfortunate for Johnny and his team that they lost a sponsor because of SPEED's standards but SPEED has the right to have those guidelines in place as well as decide what advertising they accept.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Hallam, Michael Waltrip Racing's Director of Competition on Sirius

Seems like it's been quite some time since there's been an interview on Sirius with someone from Michael Waltrip Racing to recap. David Reutimann is a guest on Dave Moody's show every Tuesday but as much as I like David it seems that he doesn't often have much to say of substance that's recap worthy. So I was happy to hear that Steve Hallam, MWR's Director of Competition, was going to be a guest on "The Morning Drive" on Sirius this morning, particularly since I've never heard an interview with him before.

One of the first questions for Steve was about the differences between F1 (where he worked for many years prior to joining MWR) and NASCAR. Steve seemed to be trying to show how it's similar - said racing is all about the people that make up the team and that no matter what form of racing it is, the cars are difficult and that there are no perfect cars. There's always limitations and it's up to the people to extract the maximum performance from the cars. How you go about that is dependent on the boundaries and regulations in that particular series. That led to him being asked about the differences between the boundaries - in F1 the material constraints are defined but less, they can have on-board data systems in F1 but can't in NASCAR. The challenge is still the same though. He didn't say it but I have to wonder whether the challenges are greater in NASCAR because they don't allow the on-board data systems and because they aren't as technologically advanced in some areas as they are in F1.

Steve said that the attention to detail at McLaren where he spent the last ten years was the key to their success. They had a really detailed approach to racing which became embedded in his DNA and that's what he brings to MWR. What he's been doing is looking at where at MWR that attention to detail can be applied. .He repeated that it's about the people, that if they have the will to win they'll be successful - Michael certainly has the will to win and so do his drivers!

David Poole brought up how the public perception of Michael is often that he's just a big goofball jokester but when you understand that he built a race team from the ground up and got it to this point you realize that he has to be very dedicated and that maybe not a lot of people see that part of him. Steve agreed and said that Michael is very charismatic. That he inspires a lot of loyalty from the people at MWR and that there's a lot of passion - people really want Michael to succeed. The way Michael is perceived as opposed to what the reality is (and the same for other drivers) is a topic I've touched on in this space before so I won't get into again other than to say that I think it's unfortunate that because Michael likes to entertain people he's often dismissed and not given the respect he deserves.

The next question was about whether there's a culture clash that Steve has to deal with coming to NASCAR. Steve said there can be. Basically he said it was about attitude. If you're arrogant and act like it's better somewhere else it won't work. So have to have a common sense approach. The focus is on the cars, finishing races, listening to the drivers and adjusting the cars to their needs, as well as on making the cars better, more consistent and marshaling the resources at MWR each week. Basically he's trying to work with everyone at MWR as a team and not impose himself and his way of doing things on them in a way that's going to rub people the wrong way because that wouldn't be productive.

He and his wife enjoy living in Charlotte - they used to live on the outskirts of London. He looks forward to going to work every day. They just got a rescue dog and his wife is spending a lot of time imposing the family will on the dog.

The interview ended with Steve saying that racing never stands still, what's good one day might not be the next and the important thing is to keep the development going. Which I have to think is one of the biggest challenges in racing is that your work is never done - the other teams are always trying to make gains so you have to as well to keep up. Those gains might be measured in the tiniest of fractions but they can end up making a big difference.

I'm glad that MWR was able to hire Steve - odds are that he's a big part of why they've made so much progress and are racing so well this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2009

New Forum and New Design For michaelwaltrip.com

For the past four or five years there's been a fan forum on michaelwaltrip.com that's been the online home for the Wal-Nutz, aka Michael Waltrip fans. But for the past two years even though many fans have wanted to join the forum, registration has been closed to new members - until now that is. A re-design of michaelwaltrip.com has brought with it a brand-new fan forum that is open to any fan who wants to be a part of the fun! The forum has been open for less than 24 hours and there's already been an influx of new and returning fans - not just Wal-Nutz but also fans of the other Michael Waltrip Racing drivers, and hopefully a lot more fans will join!

The Wal-Nutz are essentially Michael's fan club members. Really though any fan of Michael can be considered one of the Wal-Nutz since all of Michael's fans are Nuts about him! Sometimes people are surprised by just how many fans Michael has but he really has a huge fanbase. The Nutz are very active when it comes to supporting Michael - there are projects for his birthday, holidays, at other special times and sometimes just because. The Wal-Nutz write weekly messages for Michael that are delivered to him at the track. One of the Nutz puts together a monthly newsletter with news and information about Michael and MWR. In addition, over the past three years, the Nutz have raised a total of $10,000 for two different charitable causes that Michael supports. Of course the Nutz also cheer loudly and proudly for Michael and his drivers, buy merchandise and support NAPA Auto Parts and all of the MWR sponsors.

Prior to the formation of the Wal-Nutz I was never into organized groups of fans that named themselves. In some cases it seemed like some fans got a sense of elitism or entitlement as if those fans in some groups thought they were better than other fans or some would use it as an excuse to bully other fans. But that's none of that is the case with the Wal-Nutz. They're a fun group who welcome everyone! They are friends to each other and friends to Michael as well, never wavering in their loyalty even when times were tough. It's really a pleasure to be one of the Wal-Nutz and I hope that now that the forum is open to new members again, we'll gain a lot more Nutz!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)

This Week in NASCAR with Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle (3/30)

Not only was Michael Waltrip on This Week in NASCAR last night, he was also in the booth for the truck race earlier in the day on SPEED. Steve Byrnes called Michael a media animal, and I'd say it's just that Michael isn't about to turn down an opportunity to do something he very much enjoys - call the truck race, nor did he want to miss TWiN (nor would SPEED want him to miss TWiN since he is the show). Michael said that if they want him to talk about racing, sit him down, sign him up and he's in! Which is a very good thing for all of us fans of his! I liked that TWiN didn't ignore the fact that the Truck race just took place even though it's a lower series and started off with a brief discussion of that race - Michael thought it was awesome, a great race between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

After touching on the truck race they started talking about the Cup race. I've seen some criticism that this show doesn't cover the Nationwide or Truck Series enough and I agree somewhat since the title of the show is This Week in NASCAR, not This Week in Cup. However, the reality is that the majority of fans tuning in care far more about what happens in the Cup race and the panelists are either Cup drivers or crew chiefs. So focusing on the Cup race and then only briefly discussing the other race(s) each weekend seems appropriate to me.

Greg had another bad race. Though they tested a lot at Rockingham Greg felt that not having much practice really hurt his team and they were never able to get the car where they needed it to be. His brakes were great he's not sure he ever got going fast enough to use them! Some of Michael's fans were probably worried based on the first practice as to how he was going to do at Martinsville since he was slow but all the MWR cars felt the way they were supposed to feel when they unloaded. He said they never made any qualifying runs in practice (probably because they knew qualifying was going to get rained out), just focused on their race set-up and were confident that they would be where they needed to be for Sunday and they were.

Michael said it was a great battle between Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin for the lead and that Jimmie did an amazing job. He tried to stay off Denny, lost his car, hit the curb, hits Denny and still was able to drive off with the lead. Both Greg and Michael agreed that if you're going to hit someone you better make sure that you can drive away at least until they calm down. Michael thought it was an amazing display of car control and determination by both drivers. There was some video from Chad Knaus in which he said how things looked bleak for their team at the beginning and they had to make a bunch of pit stops to get the car where it needed to be which shows why a team, driver, and the fans should never give up because you never know what might happen. Michael brought up how it was the 25th anniversary of Rick Hendrick's first win at Martinsville and how everyone loves Mr. Hendrick because he's a special person. Everyone in the garage area that is - there are still quite a few fans who can't stand Rick Hendrick and probably never will like him.

Steve pointed out that organizationally Hendrick Motorsports has it figured out at Martinsville and Greg said that Michael's cars also ran well there. When an organization has it figured out they share among all the teams. Next week Michael said they're going somewhere - Texas - where Roush has it figured out. He thinks it's strange that Roush can't get short tracks figured out so far. During a discussion of the points standings the panel noted how well Clint Bowyer is doing in spite of being with what is essentially a brand-new race team and Michael said that again, it points to the organizational strength and how Clint is able to lean on his teammates. Maybe on Kevin Harvick, but (surprisingly to me) the results haven't been too good for Casey Mears at Richard Childress Racing so far. Michael said it's also because Clint is an awesome race car driver which is true, but I can't help but think Michael is way too charitable towards Clint no matter how true his comments may be considering what Clint's said about him in the past.

There was some discussion of the penalty give to Matt Kenseth when the tire got away and out of his pit box during a pit stop and how upset his crew chief was about it. I had a hard time following what they were saying but Greg and Michael were unsure of the rule so Steve clarified that the team was penalized because they lost control of the tire and that rule is in place so that guys don't run into tires on pit road. I was surprised that Greg and Michael seemed confused about the rule since I would have thought that the drivers would be familiar with everything in the rule book, even things that relate to pit stops.

Steve said that he had written down at that point in the race "Almirola spins again" and Michael commented that isn't what you want written by your name. He had told Macy before the race that he just wants to make sure he's not involved in any cautions all day long. So after the race Macy said that he brought out the first caution all on his own and that it was an example of 11 year olds brutal honesty. Maybe Michael didn't want to be involved in any cautions but as it turned out things worked out fine for the #55 team and he was able to race his way to a fine finish!

During the segment where they play the audio from the drivers, they played the heated discussion between Kurt Busch and Roger Penske that's gotten some attention. Kurt was complaining about how bad the car was, how the cars have regularly been bad and how nothing they do seems to make it any better. Roger basically didn't want to hear it, saying that "we don't need a lot of rhetoric that's always negative." I can't help but think that maybe if Roger doesn't want to hear so much negativity from his driver he should be sure he's doing everything he can to ensure he has competitive cars to race on a regular basis. Kurt is complaining because he's not going to be satisfied unless he's contending for and winning races every week. The panel agreed that it was heat of the battle emotion. Michael said that the team dominated at Atlanta so obviously they can get it right. The intensity at Martinsville is turned up more than at some other tracks. You're looking for 1/100th of a second to keep from people running you over. It's very hard to find and it's frustrating. Greg seemed to understand where Kurt was coming from (maybe because I've heard that he's also been known to lash out at his team/owner during bad races). He said that when it's a bad day sometimes there's no way to make it better and it's frustrating. You don't always want someone to be a cheerleader, especially when you're already giving 110% and you know it's not going to matter.

There was another brief review of the truck race and an explanation of why Kyle got penalized at the end of the race. The panel agreed that no matter why Kyle crossed the commitment line, he's deserved the penalty he got because a rule is a rule. It's like at a basketball game if you step out of bounds you can't claim that you didn't mean to do it and get away with it. I may have missed them talking about it but I was happy that TWiN kept the focus on the racing and didn't bring up Kyle's temper tantrum (which has been made into a bigger deal that it warrants, imo).

There was a preview of Texas but I usually don't pay attention to this part of the show as it often repeats whatever they've said in past previews for that track. I did hear Michael say that the fun thing about Texas is the fans, how they've started showing up already and how the teams feed off of the fans excitement.

One of the fans questions was whether drivers wear mouthpieces and Michael said no, but they showed some video of Kyle Busch taking out a mouthpiece. Michael referenced his wreck at Michigan in '92 that resulted in him getting eight stitches when he bit through his lip and then showed off his scar.The next question was what the blue flag with the yellow diagonal stripe means - Greg said that's the flag they were giving him at Martinsville and that it means you're too slow, faster cars are coming up behind you, get out of the way. Michael said that no one pays attention to it even though it's displayed all the time during the race.

Though I prefer when Chad's on, overall it was a good show!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:49 AM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2009

Fans Upset With Kyle Busch... Again

I can't really comment too much on the Truck race today since I only got to see bits and pieces of it via an online feed of the SPEED broadcast on justin.tv since I'm at work but I did get to see the last few laps of the race including what Kyle Busch did after the race was over. Some fans are freaking out like Kyle did some horrible misdeed and I'm wondering what I missed because I can't figure out what he did that was so horrible. Yes, he threw a temper tantrum and I'd always prefer that drivers handle things like the adults that they are but on the other hand all Kyle did was throw his helmet into his truck and storm off in a huff. Is that really that terrible? It's not like he threw a punch at another driver or a crew member - something some other drivers have been cheered for doing - nor did he lash out in an interview with a bunch of insults. Kyle was disappointed about the late penalty that might have cost him a win. He was angry and upset and let it show - what's so bad about that?

Fans say that they want the drivers to show more emotion but every time a driver does those same fans act like that driver did something criminal. I don't always agree with the things that the drivers say or do. I don't like when they insult each other or get into physical confrontations with each other. But I can't get too worked up about a self-contained temper tantrum that doesn't hurt anyone. Thing is if Kyle had stuck around and given SPEED an interview - something he was under no obligation to do given that he finished 17th - he might have said something inappropriate that would have upset the fans worse or given a PC interview that fans would find insincere. So really there's no winning for Kyle with the fans.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:08 PM | Comments (2)

March 29, 2009

Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann on Their Finishes at Martinsville

After the race both Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann commented on the way they finished at Martinsville. Not surprisingly Michael was a lot more positive and happy about his finish than David was.

Michael said about battling back to get the lucky dog three times after spinning on lap 21,

"[The team] did a great job. To battle back from being down a lap three times and race back on the lead lap was great. I am so proud of my team. They prepared a good car for me. That’s how this deal works – I want top-10 finishes bad."

The team from driver to crew chief to pit crew did indeed do a great job! The competitiveness of the cars that Michael is racing has improved a lot but so has the performance of the team as a whole. They work much better together and I think they are much stronger on pit stops than they used to be. A lot of that probably has to do with good leadership from Bobby Kennedy to Bootie Barker to Michael himself and others, the #55 team has really started to gel into a solid team that's capable of good results on a regular basis! I want to see Michael get those top ten finishes as badly as he wants them! He came close today!

Post-race David wasn't pleased with getting spun by David Stremme. He said,

“We just got run over by a lapped car that had his eyes rolled back in his head and ran over us for no reason. It’s disappointing when you run top-10 all day and you don’t really touch anybody all day for Martinsville and then have somebody spin you out. That’s hard to take, but we’ll just move on.”

The truth is that David did touch someone since contact between he and Carl Edwards much earlier in the race resulted in a cut tire for the #99 which sent him to the pits and ruined the race for him. But I can definitely understand being upset about getting run over by Stremme. I would still like to know why David lost so many spots after that pit stop since that was what put him in position to be racing Stremme there.

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

Good Day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Martinsville; All Three Teams Finish in the Top 20!

Solid day for Michael Waltrip Racing at Martinsville - all three teams finished in the top 20! It's funny how things turn out - in the first half of the race it looked like David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose were in line to finish in the top ten and that Michael Waltrip might have a poor finish but by the end of the race Michael was the top finishing MWR car in 13th!

Michael and the #55 team did a really outstanding job of rebounding from an early spin that put Michael as deep in the field as 42nd at one point to finish 13th! Michael was very down on himself when he spun, saying that he made a mistake, then after he got back on the lead lap he went down a lap, had to race his way into position for the lucky dog a second time, got a cut tire and still raced his way into the top 15! If I had to pick one word to sum up the day for Michael and his team it would be perseverance. No matter what happened Michael and his team didn't let it defer them from a good finish! Michael said after he spun that he was going to put it behind him and finish in the top ten, that's almost what he did, in fact if not for that late cut tire he probably would have had the time to race his way into the top ten. After a couple of weeks in which the #55 team struggled it was good to see even though there were a few problems that things came together for them. Michael had a competitive car with speed and was able to race with it and Bootie Barker and the rest of the team did a great job of making the right changes so that the car stayed good and even got better as the race went along. Bootie also did a terrific job of complimenting Michael and giving him encouragement. Although it might not be the top ten finish that Michael wanted, I still think it was a finish to be happy with!

David spent most of the day in the top ten but during a late pit stop he lost seven or eight spots, restarting the race in 17th. Not long afterwards he spun which put him a lap down. Ultimately though David made up a couple of spots he wasn't able to finish any better than 20th, a disappointing finish considering how well he had raced for the majority of the race. I'm interested in finding out what happened on that pit stop because there must have been something that caused him to lose so many spots. Even though David didn't finish as well as it looked like he was going to early on, I'm not that upset because yet again David raced up front and looked to have an extremely competitive car. It's only a matter of time before he wins a race!

Marcos also spent a lot of time in the top ten before losing some spots as the race went along. Even though he wasn't able to hang on for a top ten, finishing 14th is still a finish to be extremely satisfied with considering how limited his Cup experience is. I'm so impressed with Marcos! Seems like just about every week he shows he can race competitively at all kinds of tracks, including tracks like Martinsville, where as far as I can tell he's never raced on before in Cup or even in the Nationwide Series.

Today was a very good points day for the MWR teams. David remains in 11th in the points which means that he would be in the Chase if the season were to end now. By finishing 13th Michael moved himself up four spots in the points to 17th - might not seem very good to some but considering the way he's finished in the points the past few years I would be very happy if Michael finished the season in the top 20 in points. Marcos also moved up a few spots to 21st - that's very good for a driver in his first full season in Cup!

I'm not sure what to expect for MWR next weekend at Texas, but hopefully it'll be another good weekend where all three teams race competitively and finish well!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2009

Fans Will Be Able to Listen in to Driver's Meeting at Martinsville

For the first time fans with Sprint phones or who rent a FanView at the track will be able to listen in to the driver's meeting this weekend at Martinsville. Sprint is naturally hyping it like it's an earth-shattering event but in reality fans who listen may be disappointed by what they hear because the meetings are actually pretty boring. From what I've heard in the past the drivers used to cut up and joke around a little, particularly towards the end of meeting when the floor is opened to the drivers to ask questions. But as Michael Waltrip once said, as the years have gone on the meetings have become more formal and professional. I'd add stiff and uninteresting too. I've been to three driver's meetings and to me the best part is seeing all the drivers assembled in one place but unfortunately those who are listening via their phones probably won't get to see that. I applaud Sprint and NASCAR for trying to do something for the fans but I suspect some who listen in may be disappointed by what they hear.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:57 AM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2009

Kerry and Jeffrey Earnhardt Both Get a Ride with Rick Ware Racing

How often does it happen that a father and son both race for the same racing organization in the same series in the same season? I'd think not too often but that's exactly what's going to happen this season - Rick Ware Racing announced today that both Kerry Earnhardt, and his son Jeffrey, will race a limited Nationwide schedule for them this season. Kerry, who hasn't raced much the past few years and has instead worked on the management side for DEI, will make his first start for RWR at Texas on April 4. Jeffrey, who won't make his first start for the organization until May, will only race for them in seven races so that he will still be eligible for Rookie of the Year next season when he will presumably race the entire Nationwide schedule. There are already several other drivers who split time in RWR's two Nationwide cars including Stanton Barrett, Derricke Cope and Tim Andrews. Given that RWR isn't among the most competitive teams in the garage area I wouldn't expect that the results will be all that good for either Jeffrey or Kerry but it's neat that they'll both be racing for the same organization this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

"This Week in NASCAR" With Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus

Not a transcript of every comment that was made on the show or anything but a recap of some of the things that jumped out at me for those who weren't able to watch last night's This Week in NASCAR on SPEED. Tonight's panel featured Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus - they have evolved into a great team and as much as I like Greg Biffle, I look forward to the shows that Michael and Chad do together since those are usually the funniest, most informative and most fun. Last night's show definitely lived up to the promise!

As usual Steve Byrnes started out by asking the panel members about their race weekend and he specifically brought up the fine performance by Marcos Ambrose who spent the entire race up front, including quite a few laps in the top five. Michael said that he loved watching what Marcos did - so did all the Michael Waltrip Racing fans! Both Marcos and David Reutimann had cars they loved at Bristol, Michael not so much. He never had a car that handled right and he wiped one out - unfortunately the second car was even worse. He said that it's confusing as a driver-owner when he's out there battling and his car won't do what he wants it to do but then he has a couple of cars he owns in the top five and top ten. I'd think that must be confusing and frustrating for any driver, not just one who is also an owner, to see teammates racing well with a competitive car when they have an ill-handling car. Michael said that he wouldn't trade if if he could and that he's very proud of everyone at MWR. One thing Michael never mentioned unless I didn't hear it is the cut tire he got which put him a number of laps down. Maybe he didn't want to make any excuses for finishing 32nd but a lot of fans were wondering what happened since it was never mentioned during the broadcast of the race on TV and not everyone has Trackpass to listen in on the team's radio communications.

Jimmie Johnson finished 3rd at Bristol, his best finish of the season so far, so it was no surprise that Chad said that this past weekend was the best weekend they had all season from start to finish. They had a lot of fun all weekend - I guess that's what happens when a team has a great car that they know is going to be competitive and fast on race day. It was the first time at Bristol that they enjoyed the race. Chad was proud to take home second.

Next they went to some video of Greg Biffle in his hauler talking about his weekend which unfortunately didn't go as well as Chad's did. First Greg went fishing at night last weekend - and I too wonder like the panel what he was fishing for at night - and he slipped on the deck and hurt his ribs which meant he couldn't race in the Nationwide race. Then he was racing in the top ten or twelve all night in the Cup race and his engine failed. Greg said that in relation to his ribs at that point it was the best he felt all weekend but that the next morning it might be a different story. I like that they're checking in with the other panel members post-race even if they aren't on that week's show in the studio.

Chad commented that there's been quite a few engine failures like they haven't seen in the past and he thinks it has to do with how the teams haven't been testing. He said that the teams aren't able to take the engine packages they're using to the track and run miles on them. While I think he has a good point that the teams aren't fully able to test the engine packages they're using this season on the tracks where they'll be racing them, all the teams are still testing, they're just not doing it on NASCAR sanctioned tracks. Does it make that much of a difference when it comes to the engines what track they're testing them on?

Of course the discussion soon turned to Kyle Busch and they joked about how "Y'all better watch him because he has the potential to turn into something." Much to a lot of fans dismay, Kyle is definitely "something" all right! Michael said that Kyle showed up good. He said that you can't learn this stuff, it has to come natural, which to me is what makes Kyle so impressive (and may be part of why so many fans can't stand him) is that while there are many talented drivers, I think there's something a little extra special about Kyle's ability and how he often makes winning look easy. Michael remembers Kyle racing Joe Nemechek's Nationwide car at Darlington in one of his first starts in that series ever, how it was five laps to go and Kyle was in 2nd right in front of him and Michael couldn't do anything with him even though he had a competitive car (and Kyle was new).

Michael said that Marcos Ambrose also got to NASCAR and knew how to drive the cars meanwhile some from other forms of racing don't get it and never do. However, like Kyle, Marcos got it right from the start. Even the fans noticed pretty quick that Marcos in spite of limited Cup experience knows how to race the cars. What's impressive to me is that Marcos is able to race well on a variety of tracks, not just road course races. As he gains more experience we could see some great things from Marcos!

In the past some have felt that Michael doesn't like Kyle (or his brother Kurt) much but Michael was very complimentary of him last night saying that he's fun to watch, though it would be a lot funner if everyone wasn't getting beat by him. The panel pointed out that the Busch family is undefeated for like a month or as Michael put it no one's "beat the Busches."

Just about every week so far this season there's been some talk about how packed the stands have been despite the economy, even at tracks where ticket sales have been soft. Michael said that Bristol is an economy buster and that people need their Bristol. Steve Brynes pointed out that Bristol sold out for the 54th time in a row. I understand that they're trying to put a positive spin on things but let's get real. Bristol wasn't sold out until the day before the race which is in sharp contrast to previous years when it was impossible to get a ticket and fans put their season ticket rights in their wills. My guess is that the reason that Bristol was able to say that it was a sell out was due to giving away or offering deep discounts on their remaining tickets, just like every other track has been doing. What gets me is that I've seen it said that supposedly one problem for Bristol was that they had sold out for so long that they had no idea how to go about selling tickets. That really amazed me because it's essential whether it's a track or a retail company to be prepared not just for when things are going well and sales are strong but also for when things go bad, because eventually they will. I can't help but wonder how many others involved in the sport always assumed that because the money was flowing freely in the sport whether from fans or sponsors, it always would be and weren't prepared for the effects of the poor economy and other issues the sport is facing.

In relation to the incident between himself and Todd Bodine, Michael said that all he heard was "clear, clear." Oops! He said that he trusts Ty (Norris) his spotter because he's been his spotter for years and never lets him down. Well, usually doesn't let him down. Just like to race on the Cup level you have to have a lot of ability I think the same is true for the spotters in Cup as well but of course just like the drivers sometimes make mistakes, occasionally the spotters do as well. Michael said that Todd got his nose in there and he (Michael) wasn't aware of it, that if you're out there racing you better know that the guy you're passing knows you're there. Michael said he had his nose in several holes but realized he might not quite fit (why does that sound so dirty to me? LOL!) You have to be very defensive he said, especially early. Michael shouldn't feel too bad about wrecking Todd since Todd's done it to him. Chad said he noticed that there was no give during the race, that no one would give up a spot and that they were racing for every inch.

Something interesting that Michael mentioned is that apparently the Toyota engineers give their teams big reports with the history of the race which includes information about trends when it comes to cautions, the way times fall off, pit road strategy, etc... and that it's amazing how well they can predict what's going to happen. I would have thought that every manufacturer would do similar reports but according to Chad they don't get anything like that from GM and he jokingly asked Michael if he could get it. Michael's response naturally - "Can't work with you on that!"

They talked about how it was a tough day for the Roush-Fenway Racing teams which shows how set-up sensitive organizations can be as a whole.The Joe Gibbs Racing teams and Hendrick Motorsports teams mostly had their packages together but not Roush, who have had a lot of success at Bristol in the past, whose best driver on Sunday was Carl Edwards who finished 14th. So according to the panel when an organization gets on it they spread it among the other cars but it works the other way too - when they miss it, that too can spread among the other cars.

After some discussion about how important pit crews are and that there's so much emphasis these days on the pit crews because if they're off by even a 1/16th of a second on something it can throw everything off, they turned their attention to the photo of Kyle and his car behind them, specifically how it said "satisflying" on the side of his car. None of them had any idea what that meant. Michael being Michael got silly and stuck his face in the shot with a goofy smile on his face. Michael never misses an opportunity to try to get a laugh and that's one of the many reasons his fans love him! Later in the show Michael got a text from Kyle explaining that "satisflying" was part of a Snickers promotion and that it was hard to understand if you haven't seen the commercial - no kidding! On one hand if it gets people talking and prompts them to do a Google search for what satisflying means, it's a successful promotion, but if it just confuses people and they don't take the time to find out what it is or watch the commercial maybe it's not such a great promotion after all.

After they listened to the audio highlights from the radio communication, Michael once again said how much he enjoyed listening to that segment. He said that he lives in that world, where you push the button and can say all these words and no one can beat you up about it. It's like you're on an island so you feel pretty invincible. Gee, I wonder if he's read some of the criticism of late of Kyle and some of the other drivers for lashing out over their radios? Michael would love to see a whole show with highlights from the different drivers. He thinks it would be entertaining to hear the emotion and hear where the drivers are mentally. I think it would also give extra insight into what went on with the teams and drivers in a way we don't normally get during the TV broadcasts since they only play a limited amount of audio clips from the team communications.

Next there was a lot of discussion previewing Martinsville, about how important brakes are and all. I admit when they preview the next race, I often don't listen as closely as I do to other segments in the show since it seems like there often isn't any new information that's given since they've been down this road with previewing races at these tracks in the past.

The Legends race at Bristol was briefly discussed and Steve did a spot-on imitation of Sterling Marlin who won the race. Michael said that one thing he loves the most about the sport is that there's a lot of living history. He can go up to Richard Petty or Harry Gant and they race at a track like Martinsville. Thing is, sometimes I think NASCAR could do a better job when it comes to the history of the sport which might happen once the Hall of Fame opens. I think there are a lot of fans - and some of the young drivers - who don't really know anything about the history of the sport or of the accomplishments of the drivers who came before those who are currently racing. I couldn't help but think of last year's Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium and how cool it was to see all the former Yankees who came to put on the pinstripes in the old stadium one last time.

The panel answered a couple of questions from fans including one about the treaded tires that teams have in the garage area. Michael said those are used tires that Goodyear grooves and returns to the teams for them to tow the cars around on but that they can't race on them. I had no idea that there were special tires for that use - one cool thing about TWiN is learning things I never knew before!

Good show last night!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:00 AM | Comments (1)

March 23, 2009

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Blames the Media

After yesterday's race in which he finished a disappointing 14th Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said,

"It's not that hard to stay positive until you get around the media. You guys have got to take a little responsibility for being so hard on everybody. Some people are going to argue that you all are just calling out to the reality of a situation, but we're trying to work hard and trying to do our job and that's what we do every week."

As David Poole said this morning on Sirius, and I think it was an excellent point, (paraphrasing) it was Junior who said that now that he was at Hendrick Motorsports he was going to be able to win races and contend for Championships in a way that he wasn't able to do at DEI. It's Junior himself who set the bar pretty high for himself and his team, not the media. Fact is, Junior is now racing for the best organization in the garage area. There are no more excuses about non-competitive cars, subpar motors, or a step-mother who is supposedly out to get him. Of course it's hard to win races and even harder to win Championships because all the pieces have to fall in place perfectly in a very competitive environment where he's racing against some extremely talented competitors. But the results for Junior - and especially so far this season - while far from horrible, are less than impressive for a driver who is at a top-tier organization who is supposed to be one of the elite drivers in the garage. As negative as it may seem to Junior that is indeed the reality of the situation and his relative lack of success so far for HMS is a storyline worth reporting on.

There are countless fans and some members of the media who are calling for Rick Hendrick to make changes to Junior's team, that his crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury, Jr. should be replaced immediately. Something tells me that a crew chief change isn't going to magically make Junior into a Championship contender. In fact, given what a spectacular failure it was when Eury, Jr. was replaced with Pete Rondeau in 2005 when Junior was still at DEI, I'd say that it may even make matters worse.

Junior is a talented driver - any driver who has won 18 races on the Cup level has talent behind the wheel. But I can't help but wonder if there's some truth to what Kyle Busch said yesterday that upset so many of Junior's fans about how there's too much pressure on one driver's shoulders - seems to me that the belief by some that the sport's future is riding on Junior might be something that even the strongest person might have trouble dealing with well. I would also add to that something that Teresa Earnhardt was criticized for bringing up in the past, how many off-the-track distractions there are for Junior. Sure, Junior has his sister and a lot of other hard-working people to handle things for him, but there is still a lot of responsibility and time consuming decision-making no matter how many people he has helping him that comes with being the owner of multiple Nationwide teams, a nightclub, a part-owner of a racetrack, not to mention all the other business and media ventures he's involved with. Problem is that neither the pressure nor the responsibilities related to things beyond the #88 team aren't going away any time soon.

So it seems to me that there may not be quick or easy solutions to what's ailing the #88 team. The reality is that maybe this isn't going to be a good season for Junior. Maybe he won't win many races, or any at all. Maybe he won't make the Chase. In fact, even if he makes the Chase in the future, maybe he won't ever win a Championship. I think that might be very difficult for many of his fans to accept because to many not only is Junior their favorite driver but also the greatest driver in the world. But maybe he's not. Maybe Junior is just a very talented driver who has won 18 Cup races (and will likely win more) and has had a successful NASCAR career - it just may not be as much success as his fans envision for him.

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

Nationwide Team Found to have Fuel that Doesn't Meet NASCAR's Specifications

Benny Gordon and North South Motorsports were attempting to make their first Nationwide race at Bristol this weekend and not only didn't they get to race but they were found to have "irregular" fuel that didn't meet NASCAR's specifications. The team had their qualifying time disallowed which meant that they had to pack up and go home since they weren't in the top 30 in points which would have guaranteed them a spot to race. In addition, they may face further penalties. I would guess that not only might they face further penalties but they will most definitely receive additional penalties.

If there's one lesson that should have been learned by every team in NASCAR on every level from the fuel-gate mess at Daytona in 2007 that involved the #55 team it's that fuel irregularities are taken very seriously by the governing body of the sport. I've seen some say that NASCAR should let this team off easy since they're a small team for which a harsh penalty could deal a crushing blow and that NASCAR should do everything they can to encourage small teams to attempt races. I agree that encouraging teams to be involved in the sport is something that NASCAR should do but not at the expense of the rulebook. If NASCAR looks the other way for this team then they'll have to look the other way for other teams and they might as well toss out the rulebook entirely. Besides, NASCAR showed no sympathy for the #55 team when they were just starting out in Cup. They may not give this team as harsh of a penalty as they gave the #55 but I would still expect that the penalty will still be something severe to discourage other teams from getting any ideas.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2009

Michael Waltrip Finishes 32nd at Bristol Due to a Cut Tire; Other MWR Teams do Well

I always prefer to start out with something positive and there definitely were positives today for Michael Waltrip Racing but since the TV broadcast never mentioned why Michael Waltrip ended up six laps down and a lot of people were wondering, in case anyone stops by this space looking for an explanation, I'll start off by saying Michael finished 32nd because he had a tire go down and had to pit under green and then had to come back in because of a loose or missing lugnut. It was unfortunate timing because just after he got back on track for good the caution flew when Brian Vickers got a blown tire. Michael didn't have as good of a car as his teammates had and was a lap down when his tire went down so he wasn't going to finish up front but he did seem to be able to make forward progress so odds are his finish was going to be significantly better than it was.

Very disappointing that Michael struggled for the second race in a row after starting the season so well. He's 21st in points which is much better than he was at this time the past few seasons and he doesn't have to worry about having to race his way into races which is definitely something to be happy about but I'm sure he was still hoping to be able to continue his strong start to the season.

Before I get into talking about the other MWR teams I have to express my frustration that the TV broadcast never mentioned that Michael cut a tire. I think that does a tremendous disservice to the drivers, the teams and their fans when they have problems - or when things go right - and it's never mentioned. It's said that a teams needs to make themselves part of the story of the race to be talked about on the broadcast but it seems to me that when something happens like a cut tire and the driver ends up multiple laps down it's part of the story of the race. I knew what happened to Michael because I was listening to his radio via Trackpass but a lot of fans don't subscribe to Trackpass so many are probably still wondering what happened to him. Not only are some of Michael's fans in the dark but some of those who don't like Michael, who look for any excuse to insult him will make him finishing laps down to be about his lack of talent when in reality the issue was something completely out of his control, that had nothing to do with ability behind the wheel. As I've said a million times, not every team can be mentioned all the time, but maybe if the TV broadcasts made more of an issue to cover when something does happen to a team that's worthy of being discussed then more fans would be tuning in each week.

If the #55 team was disappointed, the #00 and #47 teams surely weren't! In a surprise to almost everyone Marcos Ambrose spent almost the entire race in the top ten, including quite a few laps in the top five. Finishing 10th isn't a career best for him since he finished 3rd at Watkins Glen last year but it's his best finish on a non-road course track and I think it's a sign that Marcos is going to be able to race well on a variety of tracks which means he may end up developing into a very good Cup driver once he gains more experience on this level. That would be outstanding for both JTG-Daugherty Racing and MWR - I'm very happy that so far their alliance is working out extremely well! With his 10th place finish Marcos moved into 24th in points.

David Reutimann also spent quite a bit of time in the top ten, only losing some positions towards the end of the race. I suspect he may be a little disappointed to "only" finish 12th but it's good enough to move him up to 11th in points. I can't help but notice that once again David Ragan was a non-factor in this race and his 27th place finish drops him to 26th in points. I wonder what UPS is thinking now? Sure, it's still early in the season and things can change in a hurry but the longer MWR's David stays in Chase contention and the longer Roush's David looks like he may not live up to the hype - this season at least - the more I have to wonder if UPS has any regrets. Aaron's has to be thrilled with the amount of exposure they're getting since the #00 has been shown and talked about in every single race. Meanwhile the #6 is almost invisible on broadcasts.

Hopefully next weekend in Martinsville the #00 and #47 teams will race as well as they did this weekend and the #55 team will be up front with them!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)

Travis Kvapil Out of a Ride After Bristol

Due to a lack of sponsorship Yates Racing has no choice but to suspend operations of the #28 team after this weekend at Bristol which means that Travis Kvapil is out of a ride. Although the organization, and Roush-Fenway Racing who work with Yates are trying to find positions for the members of the #28 team elsewhere within the organization(s) it sounds like some may also lose their jobs as a result. Really an unfortunate situation for Travis, who has done a terrific job for Yates even though the cars he's been given to race often haven't been among the most competitive on the track, and also for any others who lose their jobs. However, after fielding two cars that weren't fully sponsored all of last season, Yates couldn't afford to do the same this season.

A lot of fans, particularly Travis's fans, are blaming Paul Menard and/or Bobby Labonte, but both of those drivers are in cars that are fully sponsored. Yates isn't going to get rid of Paul no matter how poor the results might be at the moment when he brought sponsorship with him and all the bills for that team are paid. Maybe part of the "blame," and I'm not really sure there's blame to be placed as much as that it's just bad circumstances, goes to Roush who are apparently responsible for helping Yates with sponsorship. Seems to me some of those companies they're talking to about buying some of the races that AFLAC wants to sell off could end up on the #28, likely for less money. Though of course odds are companies would prefer to be affiliated with Carl Edwards than Travis - Travis is a nice guy and a talented driver but he doesn't seem to have the same appeal in terms of companies believing that he's marketable as some other drivers.

What's most unfortunate for Travis is that there doesn't seem to be any open rides right now and might not be for quite some time on any level since every organization is dealing with sponsorship and financial issues mostly due to the economy.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2009

NASCAR's Success Hinges on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.?

Long but interesting article on nascar.com entitled "Companies Clamor for Earnhardt's Magic Touch" that discusses how many entities, both within and outside of NASCAR, are anxious to use Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in promotions and to generate revenue. In fact, at a time when the sport is struggling due to the economy and other factors, some believe that Junior is key to the survival - and revival - of the sport. Eddie Gossage, President of Texas Motor Speedway said,

"He's the single most important icon in this business, and whoever is No. 2 -- and you could argue that about a few other guys -- the gap between them is long. He's it, and everybody else is eating his dust in a big way. That's why it's so important that he have a good year, that he win races, that he contend for the championship. The quickest fix for whatever ails our sport is Junior winning races."

I think this speaks to just how deep the problems are in NASCAR if the future of the sport and it's success rests on the shoulders of one driver. Maybe Junior isn't going to win any races this season or maybe he won't even make the Chase - the sport needs to be compelling even if he's a non-factor. What happens if something happens to Junior and he can't race anymore? What happens when he retires?The idea that Junior winning some races is going to magically fix all the problems in this sport is ridiculous. Junior ending up in Victory Lane is going to do nothing to solve the sponsorship woes that numerous teams face. It's going to do nothing to ease the frustration of the many fans who are unhappy with the direction the sport is taking, the displeasure with the quality of the racing or the decisions that the governing body has made. It's going to do nothing for the many fans who aren't part of the Junior Nation whose own favorite drivers may not have won a race for a long time.

Contrary to popular belief, while Junior is indisputably the sport's most popular driver, there are many fans who aren't part of the Junior Nation. Like me for example. Michael Waltrip is my favorite driver. I don't dislike Junior but I don't cheer for him either. Seeing Junior win a race won't encourage me to buy tickets or otherwise spend money on NASCAR. The article also talks about how tracks can use any of the driver's likenesses in any way they choose without their permission - something I didn't know - in promotions in an effort to sell tickets. Many of them opt to use Junior - no surprise there. But what about fans who don't like Junior or have other favorite drivers? Shouldn't there be more of an effort to target those fans?

Fact is that one reasons some fans are unhappy right now is because they feel that their own favorite drivers are ignored during race broadcasts and otherwise by the media, and that they as fans aren't valued unless they cheer for Junior or some of the other big-name drivers like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards or Jimmie Johnson. It's hard for some to believe but every single driver in the field has fans, sometimes very large fanbases and just as how Junior fans pay more attention to promotions that feature him, those fans would be more enthusiastic about things that featured the drivers they like the most. Maybe one way for NASCAR to keep their fanbase from dwindling any more than it has is if there was more of an effort to feature a wider variety of drivers in promotions, in the media, and in general, but at the same time still targeting the Junior Nation and the fans of the other popular drivers.

From a business standpoint it seems to me there's a danger in being so reliant on one driver because when he's not around anymore all these companies that are so interested in being affiliated with him may go away unless there's a reason for them to remain in the sport. These companies need to believe that there are other drivers that they can be successfully paired with beyond Junior. Sometimes it seems like even other top drivers like Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson are afterthoughts in comparison to Junior, this in-spite of both of them having won Championships that Junior has not, and also having large fanbases of their own.

To me, as much as I understand and expect a lot of the promotions, merchandising and media attention to be centered on Junior and a few other drivers, it gets tiresome after a while to see and hear about nothing but Junior, Kasey, Carl, Jeff and Jimmie all the time. Especially Junior - my world most certainly doesn't revolve around Junior even if this sport seems to at times.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:11 PM | Comments (2)

March 17, 2009

Random NASCAR Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/17)

There's still not much going on but I figured that if I don't post some new content anyone who drops in won't stop by again.

*Mark Martin, through markmartin.com, is going to be the first sponsor to take part in Tommy Baldwin Racing's sponsorship program, Support Small Businesses of America. Companies that participate in the program get a logo on the #36 car as well as two VIP passes for the race and TBR gets some sponsorship money. I would guess that they're hoping they'll be more successful getting sponsorship dollars from multiple small businesses rather than one big one. Martin said, “I just wanted to help a fellow racer. I think this is a great opportunity to get involved, and I encourage others to follow my lead, including other drivers.” It's pretty cool that he's helping out TBR and Scott Riggs and it'll be interesting to see whether other drivers follow his lead.

*If Germain Racing was going to field a truck for Todd Bodine at Martinsville, they were going to have to find sponsorship and according to Jayski they have. Reportedly Whelen will be on the truck and that's a good thing since it will allow Bodine to continue racing at least for one more week. Maybe Whelen will sponsor the #30 for multiple races or another company will step up.

*Another driver in need of sponsorship is Travis Kvapil and something tells me it's not too likely that Yates Racing is going to have the success that Germain Racing did in finding sponsorship for Bodine. This morning I visited Travis's official fan forum to see what the latest was on the sponsorship hunt and I saw that a number of fans had emailed Yates Racing to plead with them to continue to field a car for Travis. One fan got a lengthy reply from Jon Sands, Yates's Vice President of Business Development. Unfortunately the thread in which this email was posted appears to have been removed, but among other things Sands blamed his organizations failure to secure sponsorship for the #28 on President Obama, saying (paraphrasing) that companies throughout the world had been scared off from spending money by the Obama administration and because everyone was about to be taxed "to death."

I respect everyone's right to have whatever political beliefs they so choose, but just exactly how is that kind of political statement appropriate for an email to a fan? I would also guess that due to the poor economy (that started before Obama took office) it wouldn't matter if John McCain had won the election, companies still weren't going to have money available for multi-million dollar sponsorships. I found his comments so inappropriate that I emailed him and suggested that perhaps being openly critical of the Obama administration isn't such a wise idea considering as hard as it might be to believe some of those at the companies he's speaking with may in fact support Obama or may wish to target those who do. Perhaps Yates should consider looking at their own issues such as the fact that they haven't won a race since 2005, that their cars aren't among the most competitive on the track and that as talented as he might be Travis isn't as marketable as some other drivers before they start blaming others for their problems.

*Yesterday it was announced that Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Scott Wimmer, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. would split time in the #5 Nationwide car for JR Motorsports over the remainder of the season. For some reason instead of being happy for Junior that he was able to put together sponsorship and and an All-Star driver line-up for the #5 car, some fans are unhappy. Apparently for some reason a lot of Junior fans dislike Newman (likely due to some on-track incident between Junior and Newman that they likely got over long ago) and other fans are upset that Landon Cassill isn't getting time in the #5 car. At a time when even the good teams are having sponsorship issues, Junior needs to do what ever is going to get his team sponsorship and apparently this line-up is it. It's unfortunate that Cassill, a promising young driver, doesn't have a ride but teams can't afford to field cars without sponsorship.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2009

Nationwide Crew Member Suspended for Violating NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy

John Boyd, who most recently worked as a crew member for R3 Motorsports in the Nationwide Series until he was released, has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for violating their substance abuse policy. There are no details given as to whether he was busted via the random drug testing that NASCAR started doing this season each race weekend or whether they suspected there was a problem and tested him separately. So far since the stricter drug testing policies were put in place, two teams had crew members who tested positive, and NASCAR has caught two crew members using their own methods. One has to wonder just how many positive tests there might be if the testing wasn't random each weekend but instead everyone had to be tested.

When NASCAR announced the new drug testing policy some felt that it wasn't necessary, that everyone in NASCAR are such sainted angels that they would never touch any substance on the banned list - sure isn't looking like that's the case.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2009

Jimmy Watts from JTG-Daugherty Racing Suspended Four Races

During Sunday's race at Atlanta Jimmy Watts, the gasman for the #47 team of Marcos Ambrose at JTG-Daugherty Racing ran onto the front stretch grass while the race was under green in pursuit of a tire that had been knocked out of the #47 pit (reportedly either by a car or crew member from Yates Racing). NASCAR was forced to immediately throw a caution for safety reasons since a car spinning onto the grass towards Watts could have been a disaster. Although NASCAR would have thrown a caution anyway for the tire, had Watts not ran after it odds are they would have waited until the pit stops had cycled through so that most of the field didn't end up trapped a lap or more down, which is what happened when they had to throw the caution for Watts. To express how displeased they are with what he did, even though it was an honest mistake, Watts has been suspended for four races and the crew chief of the #47, Frank Kerr, has been placed on probation until December.

I think this penalty is ridiculous and excessive. I understand that NASCAR felt they had to send a message that crew members can't run onto the track or the grass for any reason, even if they aren't thinking and make a mistake like Watts. But four races? Placing Watts on probation or at most suspending him for a race seems appropriate, this seems overboard. Dave Moody from wondered on his Facebook page and on Sirius how NASCAR was supposed to prevent other crew members from doing what Watts did if they didn't penalize him. Well, considering I don't recall any crew member doing anything similar to what Watts did, it seems to me that the vast majority of crew members understood that they shouldn't run onto the track without Watts being used as an example. Moody also brought up the possibility of teams getting the idea to use their crew members to deliberately cause cautions by telling them to run onto the track - I think it's a stretch to think that a team would put a crew member in danger to draw a caution.

When NASCAR doesn't do anything when drivers deliberately cause cautions and only rarely penalize for drivers deliberately retaliating by using their cars as weapons against each other, a clear safety issue should something go wrong, it makes a four race penalty for being in the wrong part of the track seem over-the-top, as wrong as his actions might have been.

Update: Just saw that there's the possibility that the Yates Racing crew member who kicked the tire sending it into the grass might have did so deliberately. Where's his penalty? If NASCAR feels they need to send a message that crew members running onto the track won't be tolerated why don't they also want to send a message that deliberately trying to sabotage another teams is just as wrong?

Update Two: ESPN.com has a video interview with DJ Cobb from the #47 team in which he says that reportedly (he didn't see it himself but says that many others did) that a crew member from the #98 team that was pitted behind them actually pushed the tire off the wall where it had been placed by someone from the #47 team. From the sounds of it the #98 team was miffed because Marcos pitted in such a way that he was somewhat in their box. The actions by the #98 crew member should be immediately addressed by NASCAR as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:28 PM | Comments (0)

This Week in NASCAR on SPEED With Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle (2/9)

The best episodes of This Week in NASCAR on SPEED are those in which the panel spends a lot of time offering insights in the events of each race and discussing various issues that are raised by what happens each race weekend or in the sport in general as opposed to just recapping each race. Last night's show was a strong one and not only were there some interesting things said by both Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle but there were things that were talked about that I wouldn't have known about without watching the show.

There was a lot of good discussion and explanation about the issues that most teams faced in regards to handling. It definitely wasn't just Michael who was struggling with an ill-handling car, many of the other drivers were as well. Greg said that he had a "humbling day," that his car was very loose and that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Michael said that every driver out there was sideways other than Kurt and that his car was unmanageable. He sounded happy to have finished 25th, saying that they "minimized the damage." He said that he messed up at Vegas by "hopping the cushion" and getting into the wall when his car got tight so he told his guys that he was going to be smart this week and not screwup so I took that to mean he drove like a little old lady who can't see over the steering wheel to be sure he didn't wreck. I'm not sure that a lot of fans realized how many teams were struggling with handling issues during the race and that the time when drivers wiggled and got sideways wasn't a reflection of a lack of ability or a mistake on that driver's part but was a product of the conditions under which all the drivers were racing.

Greg said that the handling problems might be partially his fault because he took part in the tire test that Goodyear had at Atlanta and the tires during the test were great. However, they went back for the race and the first run off the truck and they couldn't drive it. It's difficult for Goodyear to do the tire tests under the right conditions. Steve pointed out that the test was done when it was 30 degrees out and it was the high 70's during the race. Michael said that no one should hop on Goodyear's back, the track's worn out (which I guess contributed to the issues). He likes a worn track but would have liked to have had more grip during the race. I had absolutely no idea that the tire test took place under such radically different conditions, and wouldn't have known if they hadn't talked about it last night. It highlights a problem with testing in that Goodyear may get great feedback from the drivers who take part in their tests and may develop the perfect tire on the basis of that information but if the track conditions are different when the race is run the "perfect" tire may not be so perfect anymore and there may not be much that can be done about it.

In relation to the incident with the crew member from the #47 running out to get the tire, NASCAR would have had to throw a caution for the tire regardless of whether the crew members chased it but they would have waited until the pits cycled through had the crew member not gone after it - him doing that meant they had to throw the caution immediately. Michael (who may be biased since this crew member is kind of a Michael Waltrip Racing employee given the close alliance between JTG-Daugerty Racing and MWR) said that incident didn't really matter as it was early enough that if you had a good car you could recover - there are many drivers and fans who would disagree with him on that! I also think that when there's only six cars on the lead lap and most of the field is one and two laps down, it's hard for a team to salvage a lead lap finish up front at that point, especially considering the handling issues many of them were dealing with.

There was some video shown of Tony Stewart getting into Joey Logano and to the credit of the panel no one harped on it or tried to portray it as Tony sending a message to the driver who replaced him in the #20 as I suspect some fans are thinking. Based on some of his comments in the past Tony doesn't seem to always have a lot of respect for rookies so I would guess that bumping Joey was more about not having much patience for a rookie racing in front of him rather than it being about the team he used to race for.

I thought it was interesting that Greg more than once brought up how he thought that David Ragan would give him a break and give a little more in light of them being teammates than he did. Greg excused him by saying how much the cars slide around and all but since Greg mentioned it more than once the way David raced him was clearly something that bothered him and I wonder if there's going to be a discussion at the shop about it between them?

There was some discussion about the pit crews and how much pressure they put on themselves, particularly in relation to trying to gain positions on pit road. That means they they're trying their hardest to be perfect on multiple stops during the race but anything can happen. Michael said that there are 20 lugnuts on every stop and that it's amazing that there aren't more lugnuts that fall off - that is amazing! Fans get upset and rip their favorite driver's pit crew when they leave a lugnut loose but in reality the vast majority of time more than a hundred lugnuts per team per race get put on the car perfectly.

Michael joked that Kurt's backwards victory lap was like his car felt going forward!

Every week on TWiN they play some of the audio from a variety of drivers and some of the audio they played this week was between Carl Edwards and his crew chief, Bob Osborne, when Carl took the lead out of the pits late in the race. Carl expressed some doubt that he could hang on for the win but Bob said something along the lines of "I believe you can do it, you're a wheel man, you'll make it happen." I was reminded of the way that "Bootie" Barker talks to Michael (and Tony Eury, Jr. in the past) and how much confidence Bootie always expresses in his driver. You don't hear that from every crew chief in relation to their driver but I think it's important for a driver to hear that kind of positive reenforcement and know that their crew chief believes in their ability behind the wheel.

I admit that I often don't pay close attention when they preview the next race on TWiN. It often comes off as a promo for that race and there often isn't a lot that's said that can't be found elsewhere. But Michael made note of how many interesting stories there are "back there" in relation to the top 35, how the #71 team is in, Mark Martin is just barely in, and how unless something really good happens for him at Bristol it looks like Scott Speed is going to start having to qualify for races on time. It's true that there are a lot of interesting stories to be told about those teams and I hope that FOX agrees with Michael about that and gives some of those teams some coverage.

Michael said that winning at Bristol is a big deal, that he won with his Nationwide team based out of his backyard there a few years ago and it meant more to the guys on the team than if they won the Daytona 500. Michael likes the changes that have been made to Bristol because he likes to race and doesn't like all the caution flags - I know a lot of my fellow fans feel that it makes for boring races, particularly since as Greg noted it's still hard to pass, but I also don't love all those caution flags. I don't watch racing to see carnage, I watch racing to see... racing!

Greg has a quiet off-week planned but it's going to be a busy week for Michael. He's testing at Rockingham (with David Reutimann, a test that's allowed because the Rock no longer hosts a NASCAR race), he's going to Washington D.C. (for something for NAPA which is apparently going to involve a reception with some members of Congress), and then he's going to California to tape My Name is Earl. Hope Michael gets to do some relaxing during his "off" week/weekend at some point!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip to Appear on "My Name is Earl"

I can't believe it took me this long to mention in this space that Michael Waltrip is going to be on My Name is Earl! That piece of news was posted on Michael's Facebook page recently and I immediately got very excited - it took me a while, but Earl has become one of my favorite sitcoms and it's crazy sense of humor is perfect for Michael! What's really great is that apparently Michael will be playing himself and will have a decent sized speaking role! According to what was posted in "his" (clearly not written by Michael but instead a reworked version of what he says on TWiN each week with some occasional extra material) blog on the NAPA Auto Parts site, the episode that Michael will be on will be shown on Thursday, April 30 - Michael's birthday! How cool is that? From what he said on TWiN last night he's going out to California at the end of the week to tape the show - good thing it's an off-weekend!

I wonder how often Michael gets asked to appear on non-NASCAR TV shows and especially on shows like this? I suspect he gets a lot of requests in general and that they only pick the ones that will create the biggest opportunity for exposure on a National level for NAPA. It's probably tough to fit a lot of appearances on TV shows into Michael's schedule particularly since many shows tape in California. Might not even be easy to get to a taping for a show that films in New York either depending on where he's racing that particular week.

I've always thought that Michael has good acting skills. He's naturally funny and seems to be able to slip into whatever role is required of him. If the Earl writers "get" Michael and write his lines to fit his personality and the way he normally is, I think his appearance on that show is going to be great! I can't wait!

Posted by silverdsl at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2009

Sponsor Woes May Sideline Two Drivers

Todd Bodine is second in points in the Truck Series, won the first race of the season at Daytona and is the 2006 series Champion but may not race in the next race in Martinsville because Germain Racing isn't likely to field a truck for him without sponsorship. Another former Truck Series Champion who is sitting on pins and needles hoping that some sponsorship is found for him is Travis Kvapil - if Yates Racing doesn't find a sponsor for his Cup car they will likely stop fielding it at the end of the month. Both are talented drivers but both may find themselves on the sidelines sooner rather than later.

It's particularly unfortunate for Bodine. He's a recent Champion of the series who has shown each week this season that he can still race competitively. Any sponsor that's aligned with him is almost guaranteed a trip to Victory Lane and a lot of exposure. Unfortunately the level of exposure for a sponsor in the Truck Series pales in comparison to the exposure on higher levels, particularly in Cup so in such difficult economic times it's hard for sponsors to commit to spending money to sponsor a truck. Apparently Germain is trying to convince The Tilted Kilt, a chain of sports restaurants, who were on the truck in Atlanta to sponsor the truck for Martinsville and beyond. Problem is, the Tilted Kilt doesn't have restaurants in all parts of the country and one area they don't have any is around Martinsville so it might be a tough sell. Perhaps they can make a sponsorship package for the truck more attractive by also offering an associate sponsor decal on Max Papis's car in Cup or figure out another creative way to lure The Tilted Kilt or another sponsor to sign on. It would definitely be a shame for Bodine to lose his ride when he's doing so well.

It may be harder for Yates to secure sponsorship for Kvapil. Last season he did a lot with a little and impressed a lot of people but this season Kvapil and the #28 team have struggled, failing to qualify for the race at Las Vegas and experiencing engine woes at Atlanta which has put them outside the top 35 in owner's points. Unfortunately the #28 had to be almost perfect in these first five races to really impress a company to sign on but after some early success the past two weekends have been dismal for the team. Add into that the fact that Kvapil isn't as marketable as other drivers and it may be difficult to convince a company to sponsor the #28. I wouldn't be surprised if Bristol was the last race for Kvapil and the #28, though maybe Yates would keep Kvapil on contract and field a car for him in selected races for the rest of the season if sponsorship turned up.

On the other side of the coin is Roush-Fenway Racing. They're also looking for additional sponsorship for their teams but not because they have unsponsored cars. Instead it's because the existing sponsors on their Cup cars would like to sell off some of their races for economic reasons. Since Roush is supposed to be helping Yates find sponsorship for their teams that means that Roush may take sponsorship for their own organization that if circumstances were different might go to Yates. That Roush is looking for sponsorship for their teams actually hurts any of the smaller teams that are also hunting for sponsorship themselves because if given the choice between sponsoring someone like Scott Riggs for a full season or a Roush driver for a handful of races a company is likely to choose Roush if they can afford it given that they'll get more exposure with Roush than with the smaller team.

Something tells me that the sponsorship picture may get worse in NASCAR before it gets better and that there may be other talented drivers on the sidelines due to a lack of sponsorship.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)

Not a Good Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing at Atlanta

Michael Waltrip Racing started off the season very strong but this weekend in Atlanta was the first weekend all season in which all three teams performed poorly. Both the #00 and #47 teams experienced engine woes, in the case of the #47 a terminal engine issue, a crew member from the #47 was involved in a pivotal race changing incident on pit road and the #55 was so ill-handling that Michael Waltrip could barely race it. Although every team and organization is going to experience problems and weekend when they're off-their-game, I was pretty disappointed that it happened to MWR in Atlanta since three of their sponsors - Aaron's, Coca-Cola and NAPA Auto Parts - are based there. It was particularly important for the #55 to have a good race considering that NAPA is only signed through the end of the season.

To their credit, the #55 team did the best they could with a bad car and rallied to finish 25th. In the past an ill-handling car meant that Michael would have spent the entire race riding around in 35th and would never have made any progress. Instead, with the help of some excellent pit stops, Michael was able to finish 25th - might not be great but could have been a lot worse. Even after Michael took a ride through the grass while avoiding a spinning car which caused damage to the splitter, the team did a great job of working together to make repairs and Michael never lost any positions. Still, it had to be a downer for Michael and the organization that his 25th place finish was the best of all three MWR teams.

Ill-handling race cars and missed set-ups can be fixed, but what concerns me is that there continues to be engine woes for the MWR teams. Since they don't build their own engines in-house MWR is completely dependent on the engines that Toyota Racing Development provides to them. It didn't seem like the engine issues in this race were related to the engine issues that the Toyota teams experienced in California and Las Vegas but it doesn't speak well for their reliability that one engine developed an issue that caused the #00 to have to spend time in the garage making repairs and the engine on the #47 went completely. There are always going to be mechanical problems and engine failures but TRD and MWR have to try to minimize them so that their finish is determined by how they race not whether the engines hold together.

What changed the course of the race for many of the teams was an unfortunate incident in which a tire got away from the #47 on pit road and Jimmy Watts, the gas man for the team, chased it all the way across pit road and into the grass. That resulted in a caution which trapped many teams - the #55 included - two laps down and earned Watts a suspension for the rest of the race from NASCAR for chasing the tire as far as he did. Being suspended and told to leave the track may not be Watts only punishment as NASCAR has indicated they may give him an additional penalty when they review the incident later in the week. I feel bad for Watts because many are blaming the way the race played out on him, not realizing that NASCAR was going to throw a caution for the tire regardless of whether Watts chased it or not.

Although it wasn't a good weekend for the MWR teams, things could have been worse. David remains in 12th in the points and Michael in 16th which is far better than than they've been after four races the past two years. Even Marcos Ambrose in 28th isn't bad considering his lack of experience in Cup. Although David, Michael and Marcos, are surely not very happy about the drop they've taken in the points, they still have to be relieved that there will surely be no worries about whether they're going to be in the top 35 after the first five races. This weekend is an off-weekend and then in two weeks they head to Bristol where they'll hopefully go back to racing as well as they did in the first three races.

What bugs me is that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 11th, a finish that any of the MWR teams, as well as many other teams, would be very happy with but the Junior fans are complaining as if Junior finished last. To be fair the #88 teams hasn't performed up to expectations this season and I don't blame fans for not being entirely happy with some of the issues that have plagued the team so far. However, the way some fans are complaining it's as if Junior's season is already a failure and the world is going to end because he hasn't won a race yet. Get a grip. There is room for improvement for sure but expecting that Junior is going to finish top five or win every race is expecting too much. Maybe this just isn't going to be Junior's year and he's going to miss the Chase - or maybe the #88 team will right themselves at Bristol and go on a tear which will put them back in the hunt for the Chase in a few weeks. It's understandable to be concerned and to wish things were going differently for Junior and his team but it's extreme to call for Tony Eury, Jr. to be fired immediately because Junior finished 11th.

Kurt Busch won the race which was well deserved considering how good his car was throughout the race. I was hoping that Brian Vickers was going to pull out the win, but I'm not upset that Kurt ended up winning. Kurt won a race last season but he and his team aren't usually among those that most pick to race up front and win on a regular basis these days so it's good to see someone who is perhaps a little unexpected end up in Victory Lane.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2009

Lots of Positive Media Attention for Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann and MWR!

Just about every day recently there's another positive article or commentary on Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann or how improved Michael Waltrip Racing is as as a whole and it's great! For the past few years either there hasn't been much media attention given to Michael and MWR or when there was it was often negative, dismissive of the improvements they were making or predicted that the organization was in such trouble that they wouldn't make it to the following season. Things have really changed! Instead of stories about tainted fuel, misplaced sway bars or poor results, the focus is on how competitive the MWR cars are this season and how Michael and David are both in Chase contention right now. Every time I read one of these articles or hear positive things being said about MWR on Sirius or elsewhere it makes me smile!

Today there was a great article by David Caraviello on nascar.com about how MWR wants to show their strong start to the season isn't a fluke. In the article, Ty Norris, MWR's Vice President and General Manager said,

”We have said as an organization that we think we will win three races this year. People look at us like, that's crazy with Kyle Busch winning all these races, you've got Jimmie Johnson, you've got Jeff Gordon back on his game. I said, look at the lap speeds. If you just watched the lap speeds at California, if you watched them at Las Vegas, even back to last year. We started gaining a tremendous amount of momentum last fall, and you started seeing David Reutimann in that mix all the time. We would make a mistake on pit road or make a mistake somewhere else, but the lap times were always there, very, very fast. So that's what tells us that we can win races, and what tells us that we're not a fluke. It shows us that David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip have a legitimate shot at the Chase this year."

I don't think it's crazy at all to think that MWR could win three races this season and I thought that even before they started the season so well. What I think is one of MWR's biggest assets is that they have drivers who are strong on different kinds of tracks - Michael is a master on restrictor plate tracks and has shown that he can race well on many other tracks, Marcos Ambrose will contend for wins in road course races and David is capable of winning at just about any track. That makes MWR a threat to win just about every race weekend as long as the cars they show up to the track with are fast. So far the cars have certainly had speed and been competitive so if the pieces fall into place in the right way, I definitely think MWR could have more than one win this season!

I agree with Ty that David and Michael have a legitimate shot at the Chase by starting out the season so well though I think making the Chase will perhaps be even harder than winning races since it will necessitate racing competitively on a weekly basis which may be a tall order for an organization in just their third year, as improved as they may be. But it sure would be awesome if David and/or Michael did it!

Another article by Monte Dutton highlights how it's David's time to shine. In the article David says, speaking of flukes,

"You're out there, and things are going well and you get that confidence built up, but you also want to know in your own heart that it's not a fluke. That we're not just 'lucking' into this deal. I think that's what some people think from time to time."

Although how well MWR has started the season has quieted many of their harshest critics, I think there are still some who are convinced that things are going to fall apart for MWR and that they're going to revert back to finishing poorly every weekend. Without question there are going to be problems, bad races and issues because there are for every single team and organization, even the best of the best, but MWR has made real progress since 2007 and it's not likely that they're going to go back to being an organization that struggles to qualify for races any time soon. My hope is that Michael, David and Marcos continue to race well and show that it's not just luck - it's that MWR has developed into a competitive organization that fields fast cars.

Yesterday, Michael and David were guests on NASCAR Now on ESPN to talk about their success so far. Surprisingly Michael was holding a bottle of Coke during the interview and not the Vemma Energy Drink he plugged numerous times on Facebook yesterday. What I liked hearing is that when Michael was asked about his retirement comments he made prior to the start of the season he seemed to back away saying that he was racing well and that he hoped to continue for a year or two more because racing "provides something to his soul that he needs" - which is something that I don't think many fans outside his own always understand.

Michael may play the clown a lot and make it seem as if plugging his sponsors is more important than anything else but the reality is that he's just as serious about racing as any other driver. Racing is all he's known for most of his life, it's a part of who he is and the competitive fire burns just as strongly in his blood as it does for any other driver. Michael said that he made the comments that he did so that people would pay attention to what he did this season - that definitely worked! In addition, he wanted it known to any "star" drivers that might be available that if things didn't work out and he didn't race well that there might be an open ride next season at MWR. Something tells me that if Michael keeps racing well there won't be an open ride in the #55 but MWR might add another car for a "star" driver if they were interested in joining the organization and sponsorship was available.

Last weekend at Las Vegas Michael met with the media and he said that he was committed to doing everything he could not just as an owner but as a driver as well to ensure that the results were the best they could possibly be. He said,

"I have also made sure I didn't leave anything on the table," Waltrip said. "I work out every day and I'm very dedicated. I pushed all in for 2009. I want to run well and I want to race my car. I'm going to put everything I can in from my end. When the owner was talking to the driver, the owner said, 'We need to go faster,' and the driver said, 'Well, you all need to give me better cars.' Luckily, I agreed with my driver and we have improved our team. Having those conversations with myself is something that is not unusual, by the way, and generally there's more than just two people having them with me."

Michael jokes a lot about his multiple personalities, the many voices in his head or the conversations he has with himself and many take it as a sign of how eccentric he is. I always find it interesting when he makes comments like that because I would guess that he might seriously talk to himself. Michael has always struck me as someone who is a lot more intelligent and creative than he's ever given credit for and sometimes those types of people have conversations with themselves as a way to work out problems and come up with ideas. Michael's definitely full of a lot of great ideas!

Michael credited having the right people in place at MWR for the improvements they've made. He said,

"The hardest thing is having a plan and getting people to follow along with your plan and influence the direction of the team by getting folks that will sign up and follow your road map of success that you feel is necessary. We've got a group of people now that are talented and driven and focused who are coming together and allowing us to build better cars."

Another thing that I think some fans - and some in the media - didn't really understand is that it takes time for an organization to find the right people who share in Michael's vision and even more so considering the difficulties for MWR in 2007. In addition, Toyota wouldn't let their Cup teams hire people away from other organizations when they were first starting out so that dramatically limited the talent pool they could hire from. But as time has passed MWR has been able to hire a terrific team of people who are helping MWR made even more progress every day.

I hope that Michael, David, Marcos and the MWR organization as a whole continues to give the media reasons to give them positive attention!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)

Camping World East Series Schedule Still in Flux

The first Camping World East Series race this year is just over a month away and the schedule of races for this season still isn't set due to the need for NASCAR to try to find a track to replace Nashville which was supposed to host an East Series race in July. However, track ownership changed and those who are running the track now no longer want to host any NASCAR sanctioned events. Apparently Joe Matiolli III, the owner of South Boston Speedway, who also promoted the East Series race at Nashville, would like to bring the race to Mansfield Motorsports Park, where he will be presenting an ARCA race. But nothing is set in stone and from the sounds of it the East Series schedule may only be 11 races this season.

Also still unknown is whether any of the races will be carried on TV. There's been conflicting information given with some affiliated with the series saying that races will be broadcast but others saying that NASCAR has been unable to find a TV partner willing to show the races, not even on tape delay. I really hope that NASCAR is able to secure a deal for the races to be broadcast since I'd love to be able to see Steve Park and Matt Kobyluck among others race this season.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if NASCAR isn't able to get the races broadcast or find a replacement race for Nashville. The East Series doesn't draw like some other series do, and it may be an even harder sell this year to get fans to buy tickets or be interested in the series given that there are less Cup-backed teams and less big names now that Ricky Carmichael has moved on to the Truck Series. If SPEED or another potential TV partner thinks there's no audience and that they might struggle to sell ads, it may take a lot of doing to convince them to show races. Even though Matiolli is interested in bringing an East Series race to Mansfield there's no telling if it will work out.

I just wonder what we're going to see from this series this season and what the future holds.

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

March 03, 2009

This Week in NASCAR on SPEED with Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus (3/2)

This week's panel on This Week in NASCAR featured was Michael Waltrip, Chad Knaus and Ralph Sheehan, filling in for Steve Byrnes who was still stuck in Las Vegas. Even without Steve this was a pretty good show, though there were audio problems for part of the show when they showed video in which the music was so loud that it was impossible to hear what the panel was saying. As always, this is by no means a full recap, simply some comments and discussion that I thought were highlights or found interesting.

First, Ralph asked MIchael about how the race weekend went for him. As all of us fans know, although Michael seemed to have a fast car he ended up going for a spin during the race which resulted in some damage when he got into the wall and he finished a disappointing 27th. Michael said that he was happy with the speed the car had but they had a lot of problems beginning on Friday. I didn't quite understand all of what he was saying but it sounded like even though it was a fast car there was some sort of issue that they couldn't quite figure out and as Michael said, it all went to pieces on Friday. It was all bad on Saturday but really good - at least in the first part of the race - on Sunday. However, Michael said he "jumped the cushion," which is a racing term I had never heard before but I assume means that he wrecked it or otherwise made a mistake. Instead of explaining what happened Michael then proceeded to go on a tangent and asked Chad if his driver had ever "jumped the cushion." Perhaps Michael was trying to illustrate that even the best of drivers like Jimmie Johnson have bad races or make mistakes which is very true.

Chad said that the race was similar for the #48 team as it was for the #55 team. They were fast, qualified well and got the car dialed in for Sunday and were fast during the race. However, it seemed like every time they came down pit road something happened and they got bunched up behind someone or there was some other issue. Michael said that people don't understand how circumstantial winning a race is, things happen and suddenly you can't overcome it. I definitely think a lot of fans don't understand that at all - some drivers and teams make it look easy because they're always racing up front and contending for wins - the #48 team is usually one of those teams like that. However, it's not easy by any means - one issue, even a small issue can ruin a race for a team even if they have a fast car.

Michael brought up how much doom and gloom there had been heading into California but the infield was filled and the stands looked good too. The stock market is in the toilet again but the racing in Vegas was over the top - Michael said it feels good to look up at the stands and see all the people. I think his point was that in spite of the problems that the economy has created for everyone - the sport and fans alike, there are still a lot of people attending races and they're seeing some great racing. He's right. Although the sport is being effected greatly by the economy and one of the biggest ways is that there's a decline in ticket sales, perhaps things aren't quite as bleak as they were made out to be by some heading into the season. I can't help but note despite predictions that the entry lists were going to shrink dramatically to the point where the fields would be very short after Daytona, that still hasn't happened.

Chad made what I thought was the comment of the show, at least from him, when he said that he wishes there were no rules and that they'd just get rid of them all. Gee, who would have ever guessed that? Given how many times Chad has been busted for rules violations because of his creative thinking that leads him to push the rules in an effort to gain a competitive advantage, it's no surprise that he wishes there were no rules. It's probably a good thing for the competition that there are so many rules otherwise the #48 team would probably be even more unbeatable than they are now.

Michael thinks the save Jamie McMurray made was amazing. If you're one of the 43 guys who make the race you have more skill than anyone in America because it's the pinnacle of racing but Michael thought that Jamie did a better job than anyone in the history of racing... at least since they started using radial tires. It's so true that contrary to what some fans think that if you make a race on the Cup level you have a considerable amount of talent, and Jamie showed just how much talent he has by making that great save on Sunday.

Everyone thought Jeff Gordon blew the whole race with the blown tire but he still finished in the top ten despite the fact that he was missing his right front fender. However, Chad said that Jeff benefited by a lot of good cars taking themselves out of contention and that's why he was able to finish so well. Had those cars not had problems he wouldn't have been able to finish as good as he did with that damage. I think the same is true for Robby Gordon who finished 15th but had a lousy car - he finished so well because other better cars had problems. It's great for Robby that he finished better than he had in the prior two races and it should give his team some much needed confidence that sometimes things will go their way, but it should be a concern for them that the car wasn't very good. Michael said that had he not "humped, hopped (or jumped) the cushion" he would have been up there too - considering how fast his car was he probably would have finished in the top 15 again if not for the spin.

Of course Michael was very complimentary of his driver, David Reutimann, for finishing as well as he did. He said they believe David can win for them - he sure can! Chad said that the whole Michael Waltrip Racing organization has elevated themselves - it's good to hear others in the garage area notice how well MWR is doing! Ralph brought up that it was David's birthday and asked whether Michael got him anything. Michael wished David a Happy Birthday and said that no one else probably wished David a happy birthday on TV.

One of the fan questions was whether the cars that go to the back are lined up in a certain order. Michael said that it's supposed to be that the car that qualifies first that has to go to the back lines up in front of those that have to go to the back that qualified worse but in reality they all just sort of work it out because they're all last anyway. That's probably very confusing to a lot of fans who can't figure out why their driver is starting in a particular spot when he gets sent to the back, but as Michael pointed out when they're all back there it really doesn't matter much exactly which spot they start from.

The other question was about the red stripe on new tires and Chad said it's where the stud penetrates, the stripe lines up with the hole so the tire changer gets a good visual for where it goes.

Usually I don't notice the sponsor plugs too much but if I'm being honest Michael was really pushing Geico hard, reading the voice-overs of their bit in his "TV-voice" - of course Geico is a sponsor that's affiliated with MWR via the alliance with Germain Racing so that may be one reason why he was over-emphasizing Geico as much as he did. Chad also got into the act emphasizing how the #48 team was bringing the Kobalt Impala to the Kobalt Tools 500. Of course it's understandable and to be expected that the panel members are going to plug their sponsors - and in Michael's case a lot since that's part of his shtick, however, it seemed to jump out at me more than usual last night.

Next week's panel will be Michael and Greg Biffle. As much as I like Greg in general I wish it was going to be Chad again since he and Michael are so good together on this show.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2009

David Reutimann Finishes a Career Best Fifth at Las Vegas!

Michael Waltrip had a tough race at Las Vegas but he was probably still happy at day's end because it was still an excellent day for his organization since for the third weekend in a row Michael Waltrip Racing fielded good cars that were able to race competitively. In fact the #00 was so fast that David Reutimann was able to finish fifth - a career best in Cup!! That finish came in spite of the #00 having to make an engine change which forced David to start the race from the back. Although there was some concern early on about an oil leak, his car ended up being so good that he was able to race his way though the field into the top five - outstanding! Not only did David finish fifth in the race, he's now fifth in the overall points standings. It may only be three races but it's still great to see an MWR driver so high in the points!

Unfortunately Michael's day didn't go as well as David's though in the first part of the race it seemed as if he was on his way to another strong finish as well. However, on lap 163 Michael spun and got into the wall causing damage to the back end of the car. The #55 team made repairs and Michael was able to keep racing but he ended up finishing 27th, two laps down which is kind of disappointing considering that he was racing pretty well prior to the spin. Still, as disappointing as the finish might be it was still great to see Michael qualify well this weekend and have a pretty good car. He dropped to 12th in the overall points but that's still light years ahead of where he was at this time the past couple of seasons so I continue to be optimistic about how Michael's going to do this season.

As for the teams that MWR is affiliated with Marcos Ambrose had a solid day for a driver with so little Cup experience, finishing 20th, one lap down. That moved him up a spot in the points to 20th which means that all three of MWR's primary drivers are in the top 20 in points. Sure hope that continues! Max Papis was the innocent victim of another driver's wreck early on which made for a difficult day since he was on and off the track and could finish no better than 36th. As much as Max must have been disappointed about how the race went for him I'm sure he was still thrilled just to be in the race since it was his first career Cup race ever. It definitely won't be his last and hopefully the results will only improve from here.

I'm hoping that next weekend in Atlanta MWR will continue to race as well as they have so far this season. NAPA Auto Parts is based in Atlanta and I believe Aaron's is as well so if David and Michael were able to race competitively up front next weekend it would look really good to both sponsors. It sure would be awesome if Michael or David won next weekend - I think that would convince both sponsors to stick around long term!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2009

Random NASCAR Thoughts on Random Thoughts (2/28)

*Toyota Racing Development's president Lee White described engine problems for the second weekend in a row that have led to five Toyota teams having to change engines as "embarrassing." I have to agree with that. What's troubling to me is that the engine problems at Fontana took TRD by surprise and based on what White said the continued issues also caught them off-guard because they thought they had addressed it after last week. There are always going to be engine failure and other mechanical issues no matter how well-prepared a manufacturer or team is but this seems like a pretty major issue that they should have had some idea might happen. While also said that the #55, #7 and #13 teams won't have to change engines because the problems usually show up after 75 miles of wear so if they haven't happened yet those teams should be safe. Well, what if they're wrong about that? Given that TRD hasn't seemed to have a very good handle on the problem thus far I would be pretty nervous if I was with one of the teams that hadn't changed engines.

*Besides how great Michael Waltrip Racing did in Cup qualifying yesterday, what caught my attention the most was that Travis Kvapil failed to qualify for the race. I'm not entirely surprised because the #28 still only has a few races worth of sponsorship so there's probably limited financial resources that can be put into this team. In addition, no matter how good Yates Racing's intentions are I would guess that their focus is on their fully sponsored, full-time teams. It's very unfortunate for Kvapil. He raced well enough last year to earn top 35 owner's points only to see them be given to a teammate. While it's understandable that Yates would want to be sure their fully sponsored cars are both locked into races, Kvapil got the short end of the stick. Now he's not going to be racing on Sunday and that hurts his chances of being in the top 35 after Bristol which in turns makes it more difficult for Yates to find additional sponsorship to continue fielding the car.

*Other drivers who failed to qualify for the race included Scott Riggs for Tommy Baldwin Racing and Jeremy Mayfield for his own team. Although both drivers and their teams did a terrific job of qualifying for the first two races one had to expect that their luck might not hold out forever. Both teams are racing on shoe-string budgets with very little resources. For those teams everything has to go perfectly and any issues are difficult to overcome. Hopefully both teams will continue to try to make races and build their teams but it may be hard if they miss more races. Dave Blaney also failed to qualify but given that Prism is going to start and park races other than the Blaniacs and the team themselves there probably aren't too many who are upset since most would prefer that teams that are going to race full races make the field rather than those who may not last even 50 laps.

*There's been a lot of talk about how drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or Ryan Newman need to start finishing better to get their season going in the right direction and there are other drivers that's true for as well. One of those drivers is Robby Gordon whose 2009 season has so far started off exactly where 2008 left off with poor results and mechanical issues. This has to be a big disappointment since there had to be high hopes after making the switch to Toyota for this season. However, Gordon is still resistant to forming a partnership with another team and I think that really hurts him. It's admirable that he's independent and wants to do things his way but I think his team would benefit from the resources that would be available from a larger team. Last season there had been some talk that Gordon was talking to MWR about a potential alliance. After seeing how well it's worked out at least early on for JTG-Daugherty Racing and Germain Racing I wonder if Gordon regrets not having pursued that alliance? At some point the results are going to have to get better for Gordon otherwise I have to think that he'd be in danger of losing his sponsors - even NAPA Auto Parts wants to see better results from the #55 team this season.

*Joey Logano is struggling yet again this weekend in Cup and I have to think contrary to what some fans think that it's not a lack of talent but because he has very little experience in a COT or on these tracks. This is where being able to test would really benefit a team because Joe Gibbs Racing could have been testing with Logano at tracks where he'll be racing so he's not hitting the track for the first time in a COT during the first practice. Some have written him off already which is ridiculous - his first season might not be very good but after he gains more experience I think he'll start getting things going in the right direction and could end up being successful in Cup.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:23 PM | Comments (1)

Scott Speed on the Pole for the Nationwide Race in a Michael Waltrip Racing car!

The good news for Michael Waltrip Racing continues - after an excellent Cup qualifying effort yesterday, Scott Speed put the #99 car on the pole for the Nationwide race today! What's impressive is that not only is Speed making his first start for MWR in the #99, it's his first-ever start in the Nationwide Series! Pretty good way to start out! In his first start I think it's a little too much to expect that he's going to win from the pole but given that he clearly has a fast car, if he stays out of trouble he should be able to race competitively and finish well.

The results for Speed in Cup haven't been good so far - although he finished 16th in the season-ending race at Homestead last year, in six other races his best finish is 30th, including finishes of 35th and 41st in the first two races this season. So being able to race up front and finish well in the Nationwide Series should give him confidence that he can do well in Cup even if the early results are poor. I'm glad that Red Bull Racing seems to have learned something from where they went wrong with A.J. Allmendinger and entered into the deal with MWR to put Speed in the #99 to get him some much needed experience that will surely benefit him in Cup.

Hope Speed and the #99 team have a great race today!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2009

Great Qualifying Results for Michael Waltrip Racing at Las Vegas But...

Michael Waltrip Racing continued to show that they are a much improved organization in 2009 by qualifying three cars in the top fifteen today for Sunday's Cup race at Las Vegas. David Reutimann, who was second fastest in the first practice, qualified fourth, Marcos Ambrose fifth and Michael Waltrip 15th. In addition, Max Papis, whose Germain Racing team gets cars and technical support from MWR, qualified 26th. That MWR had so much success in qualifying, just two years after they struggled to make races, is outstanding. I'm very happy for them!

However, the news from qualifying wasn't all good. Both MWR and Red Bull Racing get their engines from Toyota Racing Development since they don't build their engines themselves and for the second week in a row the teams got a bad batch of engines. David and Marcos, as well as Brian Vickers, Scott Speed and possibly Michael will have to start from the back on Sunday because their teams all have to change engines. Apparently the exact same part that was a problem last weekend at California which caused Vickers to have to change engines and start from the back after winning the pole is the same problem this weekend. Talk about disappointing!

These teams aren't building their own engines, they're completely dependent on TRD to provide engines to them. There are always going to be some engine failures but there shouldn't be the same parts issue two weekends in a row that's going to result in so many engines having to be changed. While I have no idea what the details are about how this happened, I don't think it reflects very well on TRD that this issue wasn't addressed after last weekend. It puts the teams at a real disadvantage because it means that they have to race their way from the back to the front which isn't always easy even when they have good cars as these teams seem to have this weekend. As much as I want Michael to be able to start where he qualified it might be better for the #55 team to be safe than sorry and also change engines so that they don't have to worry about an issue during the race unless they know for sure that there isn't a problem with the part in the engine in their car.

In addition to the engine woes for the teams that get their engines from TRD, there was also an engine failure for another Toyota team - for the second week in a row a pole-sitter will start from the back after an engine change since Kyle Busch lost his engine during practice. The issue with his engine might be totally unrelated since Joe Gibbs Racing builds their own engines but one has to wonder if JGR possibly got some parts from the same source as TRD did.

Even with the engine problems I'm still very happy! Max didn't have any luck last season when it came to trying to qualify for races so I'm really glad that he was able to make the show today! I really like him a lot and I'd like to see him do well even though he's only racing part-time in Cup. But I'm especially excited that MWR qualified two cars in the top five and overall three cars in the top 15! That's awesome! Of course the results on Sunday are more important than how they qualify but assuming there are no other problems I'm optimistic that MWR is going to have a very successful race as well!

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

February 26, 2009

Some Positive Media Attention for Michael Waltrip

One thing that's been nice recently is that instead of the usual gloomy predictions from the media about how Michael Waltrip Racing is going to fare this season, since they've gotten off to an excellent start there's been a lot of positive comments and optimism about how they might do this season. Yesterday Dave Rodman from nascar.com was on Dave Moody's show on Sirius and I was very pleased to hear during a discussion about which were the most likely drivers who were most likely to drop out of Chase contention as the season went on, Rodman didn't write off Michael Waltrip immediately. In fact, Rodman was very complimentary of Michael and spoke highly of his ability behind the wheel which was very good to hear since many don't think much of Michael as a driver.

Rodman said that a lot of people have probably forgotten how when Michael was with Tony Eury, Jr. at DEI and how during that time (2005) he was competitive everywhere, at every track and almost won at Phoenix. I definitely haven't forgotten 2005! It was awesome to see Michael be able to race up front competitively just about every week. Best of all was that Phoenix race - most believe that Michael can only contend for wins at restrictor plate tracks because all of his wins so far have come on those tracks. But Phoenix is a very different kind of track. I very badly wanted Michael to win that race so that he would be taken more seriously as a driver but unfortunately it wasn't to be.

Rodman said that everyone makes fun of Michael and says he can't drive but that's a crock! It most definitely is a crock - Michael can without question drive! However, since he's left DEI Michael hasn't been able to race as well as he's capable of because the cars he's been given to race haven't been very competitive. But this season might be different - if MWR fields fast cars that Michael can race up front with on a regular basis, with Bootie Barker's help it may very well be 2005 all over again. Michael actually has finished 12th in points twice (1994 and 1995) and in the top fifteen in points six times. While that may not be as impressive as the usual points finish for a Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, it reflects that Michael is very capable of putting together a good season and that it shouldn't be assumed that he's going to free-fall in the points.

I think some members of the media and a lot of fans forget very easily what Michael and other drivers have done in the past. So because Michael hasn't raced competitively very much the past two or three years most fans don't think he can race up front and contend for wins. Meanwhile the reality is for Michael and every other driver is that they can't race competitively if the cars they are given to race aren't very good. But as Rodman said, MWR has been on an uphill climb the past few years - the cars, and as a result the finishes, have been getting better. This morning, also on Sirius, David Poole said that he had been remiss last season in not doing an article on what an impressive accomplishment it was for MWR that they made 107 of 108 possible races last season as compared to all the races they missed in 2007. That right there should have served notice to some that MWR is making progress and that it should be expected that they will continue to improve this season as well.

Of course it's only two races into the season and anything can happen. Michael may not continue to finish as well as he has to start the season. But at least there's reason to be optimistic that it's possible that he will continue to race competitively and have a much better season than he has in years. I'm happy for Michael that some people besides his fans are taking notice of the potential and hopefully if he continues to have a good season even more people will take notice!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)

February 25, 2009

Dupont Cutting Back in NASCAR

Dupont is continuing to sponsor Jeff Gordon and the #24 team this season but it's no surprise that like so many other sponsors they've had to reduce their program this season as a result of the economy. What is a little surprising is just how much they've cut back. According to Sports Business Journal instead of hosting 17,000 guests at 37 events like they did in 2008, Dupont is only going to host 2,000 guests via hospitality packages at just six races. That's a huge reduction! Not only will that mean that Dupont has less of a presence at the track but it's also lost revenue for the tracks (and likely other vendors who provide services for hospitality) since Dupont paid $5,000-$10,000 for each hospitality tent, plus often rented a suite. In addition, those 17,000 guests each got race tickets so that's potentially 17,000 less people in the stands (spread out throughout the various different tracks). I would guess that just about every sponsor is also reducing the level of hospitality that they're doing this season as well but I wonder how many of them are reducing it by as much as Dupont is?

What's interesting is that because Dupont used Gordon at these hospitality events and there's only going to be six of them this season, they need to figure out different ways to use him to represent and promote their brand. That's probably a challenge for a lot of sponsors this season. Some fans have been complaining recently that it seems like a lot of drivers aren't making as many appearances as they used to but they don't realize that a lot of driver's appearances are because of their obligations to do so on behalf of their sponsor, but if their sponsor isn't able to spend money on hospitality, signings or other events, the amount of appearances is going to be reduced. That's not the fault of the driver or because they are less fan-friendly but that there's not the money to spend on events that feature the drivers like there was in the past. That's a problem for the sponsors in that these sponsorships are all about creating exposure, brand awareness and selling their product but if they can't spend money on events, it's hard to get that exposure outside of when their car is seen on the track.

Dupont has been Gordon's sponsor since 1993 which is the longest driver-sponsor partnership. Most probably assume that they will continue to sponsor him until he retires. But apparently Dupont's contract with Hendrick Motorsports only goes through 2010 and given how much they've reduced the money they're spending in the sport speculation is that's leading up to them leaving the sport when their current contract expires. Unless Gordon plans on retiring after 2010 and I'm skeptical about that if he continues racing as competitively as he has been, then that would mean that HMS will have to find a replacement sponsor which may not be as easy as some believe. As popular and as successful as Gordon is and as much exposure as a sponsor would get with him, HMS would likely be asking for as much as $25 million from a primary sponsor and in this economy there probably aren't too many companies with that much money laying around.

Some have said that when an organization needs sponsorship and can't find it that it must be their own fault for not being competitive enough. Well, HMS is among the most competitive and successful organizations in the garage area, yet one of their biggest sponsors may walk away. Not a good sign about the state of the sport when it comes to sponsorship if even HMS may have sponsorship woes. I hope that the economy turns around soon and that when it does companies are more inclined to spend money in NASCAR.

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

February 24, 2009

This Week in NASCAR on SPEED with Michael Waltrip and Aric Almirola (2/23)

Some observations and thoughts on last night's This Week in NASCAR...

I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard that Aric Almirola was going to be part of the panel on TWiN alongside Michael Waltrip but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Aric was terrific! Although Aric is much younger and has far less Cup experience than Michael, Aric didn't hesitate to give his opinions and he made some good contributions to the discussions. Some who appear on TWiN sometimes seem intimidated by Michael but not Aric - he was personable and charismatic. Aric talked about a new sponsor on last night's TWiN but if he is to race more than a limited schedule this season Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing needs to find additional sponsorship for him - I think there are sponsors who are missing out on a golden opportunity to align themselves with a driver with a lot of personalty and talent who could become a star in the sport in the future.

Of course Michael's fine finish at Fontana was one of the first topics of conversation. He said that he was nervous going into California because they were terrible there last year and the results at California are more indicative of what the results would be for the rest of the season but they passed the test. They sure did! I'm still extremely happy with what I saw not only from the #55 team but from Michael Waltrip Racing as a whole this past weekend and I hope it really is an indication of what we're going to see for the rest of the season from Michael and his teams! Michael joked at one point that he was going to talk to his owner (himself) about his strong performance so far this season and see about getting a bonus!

Steve Byrnes asked Michael and Aric about whether they notice when some cars are fast or whether they're so focused on their own race that they block everything out. According to Michael and Aric they do notice and both agreed that it's like a different world when you're with a team that is fast and races up front all the time as compared to being with a team that struggles which is a position that both of them have found themselves in. Michael said that he's made up so much ground from the world he was in to his new world now but it's still different than the other world of the teams like the #17 or #24, which is a really cool world. Hopefully some day Michael will get to that world with the #17 and #24 teams!

There was some discussion about how everything is so precise and technical with the new cars. One little change and everything can be thrown off. They can change the wedge and air in the same stop but if it's the wrong changes then they have to figure out which thing they changed was wrong. I think that's something that some fans don't really understand. First of all, the changes on the cars have to be very exact and they might be making changes in very small increments. To it's probably very difficult to get things just right. But once changes are made that don't work out it may not be so easy to go back to where they started from or know immediately exactly which of the changes they made aren't the right ones.

Later in the show there was some discussion about cars that are about to be lapped or are already lapped racing the leaders. Aric said that sometimes people don't understand why the drivers race the leaders so hard which is very true - fans are constantly complaining about drivers who race the leaders hard as if those drivers should simply pull over rather than fighting to stay on the lead lap, to be the lucky dog or to not go additional laps down. But as Aric pointed out what happens in that situation can change your whole day whether it's staying on the lead lap or staying in position to be the lucky dog if the caution comes out.

At various times Michael and Aric would mention different facts about the race or things that happened in the past so at one point Steve commented on it and Michael said he took lots of notes. He held up a sheet of paper with a lot of text typed on it so it's obvious that someone definitely did take a lot of notes though it's almost certainly the producers who then handed a sheet of notes to Michael for him to read in preparation for the show. There was also some discussion about their new set and about how there had been some changes to the way the chairs were based on feedback from Michael. However, he still wasn't completely happy - in the past he would get the attention of the other panel members when he had something to say by tapping them on the arm only Aric wasn't close enough so Michael in his own words was "swatting at Aric the whole show."

Being on TWiN is a great way for a driver to showcase their sponsor and Aric was very mindful of that. He talked about how a new sponsor, Tom-Tom, who makes GPS devices is going to be on his car this weekend at Las Vegas. Michael claimed to have never heard of Tom-Tom, saying that he thought Tom-Toms were drums. Later in the show when they were joking around Michael said they would have to head to Las Vegas on Thursday to leave enough time in case they got lost. So Aric said "No Michael that's why you have a Tom-Tom so you don't get lost!" The camera then panned to Michael and the mystified look on his face was hysterical! I have no idea if he really didn't know what a GPS device was used for or whether he was just joking but it was pretty funny!

One of the questions that was submitted by a listener was about the transponders that are on the cars since Michael had a problem with the transponder on his car at Daytona and Ryan Newman had a problem with the one on his car this past weekend. The fan who emailed wondered whether NASCAR would have started the race while Michael and Ryan were getting their transponder issues fixed and Michael said that no, the race wouldn't have started without them. Apparently the transponders belong to NASCAR and are their responsibility and at least in the case of the #55 one being missing was due to an oversight in inspection. I have to admit that when I heard that there was an oversight during inspection I couldn't help but wonder what else might get overlooked if a missing transponder can be.

Overall, I thought it was a really great show! The past couple of years I've not always enjoyed TWiN as much as I did when Alan Bestwick was hosting since the format seemed to get so much more formal after he was replaced. But the panel was pretty relaxed last night and they seemed to be enjoying themselves which makes for a good show. I like seeing Michael be so happy and joke around so much - so often the past few years he's been serious and unhappy even though when he was making an effort not to be due to all the challenges and problems he had to deal with. But things are finally going in the right direction for him and it's wonderful to see!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2009

New NAPA Auto Parts Commericals with Michael Waltrip and Ron Capps

One of Michael Waltrip's biggest assets is that he's a terrific spokesperson for NAPA Auto Parts, not just in interviews or at hospitality events at the track, but also in commericals. Every year fans, even those that aren't big fans of Michael, look forward to the new NAPA commericals because they're always creative and humorous. Even I, who doesn't pay much attention to commercials, looks up when the NAPA commericals (of any of the commericals Michael is in) comes on.

The new commericals that debuted during Speedweeks are no different. In the latest commercial Michael and Ron Capps (who just won two NHRA events in a row) are having tea with some fans in their living room while playing some sort of game. Michael and Ron demonstrate their impressive knowledge of auto parts and awe the fans who thought they were doing pretty well. As always, Michael's delivery is perfect. He really is as good of an actor - and comedian - as he is a driver! I'm looking forward to seeing the other commericals in the series and I hope there are a couple of commericals with just Michael!

It's been said by some that NAPA isn't happy with the results on the track the past few years and aren't going to continue their association with Michael past this season if he doesn't finish better on a more consistent basis. So far Michael's results have improved but even if Michael doesn't race up front in every race this season I think they'd be crazy to stop sponsoring him. Yes, results matter and I understand that in this kind of an economy it's hard for a company to justify spending millions of dollars to sponsor a car that isn't up front all the time. However, NAPA will never get the kind of exposure they get with Michael with another driver. Oh, there might be a driver with whom they'd get more TV time during races but there is no other driver who is as gifted when it comes to creating opportunities for his sponsor to get exposure not just at the track but everywhere he goes. And there will most definitely never be another driver who is so good in commericals that even fans who don't like him watch when those commericals come on because he's so funny in them. That really says something that whether fans like Michael or not they pay attention to him.

NAPA will never, no matter how much money they put in, be able to create as close of an association with another driver like they have with Michael - when fans think of Michael they think of NAPA and vice versa. That's rare these days given how often drivers and sponsors switch teams. I think even if they were to become affiliated with another popular driver and put him in their commericals it wouldn't likely be the same due to how much personality Michael has and how good he is in these commericals. Of course that creates a problem for NAPA since eventually even if they stick with Michael past this season one day he's going to retire but hopefully they'll stay with MWR even after Michael is no longer racing to sponsor the next generation at MWR. Then NAPA can continue using Michael in their commericals to sell auto parts for years to come - and he most definitely has sold a lot of auto parts and created a huge amount of brand awareness for them!

The NAPA commericals aren't the only ones that Michael's in this season. As I mentioned in a previous entry he's also in some really great commericals for Aarons, but there's also an extremely funny commercial that Michael's in along with all his fellow Toyota Cup drivers in which some robots go looking to get some autographs for some young fans from the drivers and are very persistent about it. The funniest two parts are when a robot pulls David Reutimann out from under his car, then rejects him because he's not Michael, and then Michael ends up fighting off the robot with a metal rod - the expression on Michael's face is pretty funny and it looks like something out of a comic book!

Really great stuff when it comes to the commericals Michael's in!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)

Good Weekend for Michael Waltrip Racing in California!

Although things started off rocky with engine problems with not only the Michael Waltrip Racing cars but their plane as well, the weekend finished very well with Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann finishing in the top 15 in Fontana and Marcos Ambrose finishing 21st. For some teams "only" finishing in the top 15 might be a disappointment but for the MWR teams it's another sign of how many strides they've made in the short time they've been in the Cup Series.

I'm particularly happy that Michael finished 15th! I wasn't sure how he was going to do, one, because the team had to change engines which meant that Michael was going to be starting from the back and two, because he wasn't all that fast in practice. However, much to my delight, Michael was able to race his way from the back into the top 15. Yes, it may come as a surprise to some of the doubters who are thinking that Michael finished in the top 15 because of pit strategy or for some other reason, he did in fact race his way up to the front. Michael's 15th place finish is his best finish at this track since 2005 and is ten spots better than his average finish at Fontana.

Even when Michael went a lap down at one point where in the past that might signal the start of a bad race, there was no panic. Michael simply keep racing as he had been, kept himself in position for the lucky dog and got it on the next caution which put him back on the lead lap where he stayed for the rest of the race. Later in the race there was some concern that his engine was overheating but removing some trash from the grill on a subsequent pit stop eliminated that issue. The communication between Michael and Bootie Barker continues to be excellent. Thus far even when Michael isn't happy he's remained calm and Bootie does a terrific job of handling him even when he's complaining. But the best thing is that Michael was actually able to race. So many times last season the handling on his cars was so bad that he couldn't actually race for position, but rather to just hang on and not wreck. But so far this season it's a much different story - even when the car isn't perfect Michael is able to pass for position. Of course it's only two races into the season but I love looking at the points standings and seeing Michael in 7th!

David finished one spot ahead of Michael in 14th and he also had to come from the back due to an engine change. David had been fast all weekend both in practice and in qualifying so he and his team probably weren't too happy that they had to change engines and start from the back. However, David quickly made his way forward and still ended up being able to race competitively. It's particularly impressive that David was able to finish in the top 15 considering he lost his brakes mid-way through the race which must have made pitting particularly challenging. David is currently 12th in points, and while just like with Michael's it's only two races and things can change a lot over the next few races, it sure is great to see him in the top 15 in points.

Even Marcos had a good day, spending most of the race in the top 20, though he lost a couple of positions at the end of the race and finished 21st. That's still pretty good considering he only has 13 races worth of Cup experience and he finished 32nd in his only other Cup start at California last season. I think a lot of people were expecting Marcos to struggle considering how little Cup experience he has but so far it's looking like he's making the adjustment to Cup pretty well. The season is still young so there may be some tracks he's going to struggle on, particularly if there are any that he's never raced on before, but I have a feeling he's going to have a decent season.

On the Nationwide side Michael also finished 15th and that may have been a little disappointing considering how fast of a car he had. Michael qualified 10th and I really thought he might be able to contend for the win - though no one really had anything for Kyle Busch as it turned out. However, Michael got hit on pit road by Brandon Whitt just as he was entering his pit, which resulted in Michael ending up backwards in his pit. He had the team pit him backwards and then spun around but that put him in 23rd, and if I understand the discussion over his radio during yesterday's race, there might have been a penalty. So he had some ground to make up which might have prevented him from finishing as well as he might have been able to without that incident. Michael had harsh words for Whitt yesterday, saying that he must be "retarded." As much as I hate it when drivers (or anyone) says things like that, I can't say I blame Michael for being upset - that was a pretty big mistake by Brandon.

All last week there were a lot of fans and the media dismissing Daytona, saying that the results there don't matter and how the "real" season starts at California because more tracks are like California than they are Daytona. So I don't think a lot of people thought much of MWR doing well at Daytona. But if California is a better measure of how teams are going to do this season, then MWR might end up having a very solid season. It's still only two races into the season but I think it's an extremely good sign that the finishes have been very good and the cars have been fairly fast and competitive at two different kinds of tracks. It was especially good to see MWR race well yesterday since they've struggled at tracks like that in the past and I'm hoping that it's an indication that they've made progress on getting a handle on those kinds of tracks. I know that there are still going to be bad races and tracks that the MWR teams struggle on but after the past two weekends I feel very optimistic about how MWR is going to do this season!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2009

Michael Waltrip Racing Plane Experiences Engine Problems, Lands Safely in Las Vegas

Probably some very nervous moments those aboard Michael Waltrip Racing's plane that was headed out to California for the races this weekend when the pilot had to shut an engine down and the flight was diverted to Las Vegas. Michael wasn't on the plane since he was already in California but 48 other people were. Thankfully the plane landed safely without incident and there were no injuries but it's still kind of upsetting to hear about an incident like this.

I wonder how they got everyone from Las Vegas to California and whether the plane will be repaired in time for them to use it to get everyone back from California to North Carolina at the end of the weekend?

Update: Michael commented on this incident today at the track and gave some additional details. Apparently the engine lost oil pressure which is why the pilot shut it down. Everyone got to California from Las Vegas via a bus and they believe that the plane will be fixed in time to go to California on Saturday and fly them back home to North Carolina.

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

Mayfield Motorsports Team Member Suspended Indefinitely for Violating the Substance Abuse Policy

Paul Chodora, a crew member from Mayfield Motorsports, has been suspended indefinitely for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy, which likely means that he tested positive for something when he was administered a drug test. Jeremy Mayfield said,

“Mayfield Motorsports respects the decision by NASCAR to indefinitely suspend Paul Chodora. We as an organization appreciate NASCAR's drug testing policies and policing efforts as it makes the sport stronger overall. If Paul doesn’t comply with NASCAR’s reinstatement process, then he will no longer be an employee of Mayfield Motorsports.”

Of course Chodora was just recently hired since Mayfield only assembled his team a couple of weeks before heading to Daytona. He previously worked for Haas-CNC Racing and was one of those laid off at the end of last season - pretty unbelievable that he got another opportunity, something that isn't easy these days given how few teams are hiring, and almost immediately threw it away by taking something that resulted in a positive test.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2009

No Short Fields at California

One thing that all the negative-nellies and doom and gloomers harped on during the off-season was how short the fields were going to be for the races at California. The predictions were particular dire for the Truck Series with some saying that less than 20 trucks might be entered for the race. But as it turns out all three series are going to have full fields. The Cup Series has 47 cars entered, the Nationwide Series 46, and the Truck Series 36. Of course some of the teams in all three series may be start and park teams or ones that aren't likely to race competitively even if they do race the full race but things definitely aren't looking as bleak as many thought they would after Daytona. Some of these teams may stop showing up to races if they don't have much success or run out of money but just as quite a few new teams formed during the off-season, some other teams may take their place.

Or there could end up being short fields at some tracks as the season goes on. But so what? There's been short fields on occasion in the Truck Series for years, why should it be any different this season? I don't recall any race being effected by there being a few less trucks. Whether there's a short field or not the races will go on in Cup, Nationwide and Trucks just as they always have. That may come as a disappointment to some who were not only predicting that the Truck Series and maybe NASCAR itself might fold before the end of the season but seemed to be hoping for it.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

This Week in NASCAR with Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle (2/16)

Last year I had a lot of fun doing weekly recaps of "Michael Waltrip Out Loud" on XM but unfortunately for me and the many other fans of the show, it won't be back along with the other driver's shows, a victim of the poor economy. But luckily Michael will still be appearing weekly on "This Week in NASCAR" on SPEED. Michael isn't able to give as many of his opinions in as detailed of a way as he did on Outloud and Tony Rizzuti isn't around to ask questions to draw out some of those interesting opinions, but it's still an opportunity to hear what Michael thinks about each race and the news of the week in the sport. So this season I'm going to do more commentary on TWiN than I have in the past, not a full recap by any means since then I'd pretty much just be recapping what happened in each race, but just whatever Michael (or the other panel members) say that interests me.

As I discussed in a previous entry one thing that always bugs me is when fans stay that rain-shortened wins aren't "real" wins. Michael had a great point last night on TWiN about this. He said that rain-shortened races are actually some of the hardest to win because you have to know exactly when to be in front when the race is called. That's very true - for a while it looked like Elliott Sadler was going to be this year's Daytona 500 winner but the rain didn't move in fast enough for the race to be called while he was leading and he lost the lead shortly afterwards which opened the door for Matt Kenseth to eventually take the lead. Whenever rain is in the forecast the teams have to use strategy not just in terms of how to put themselves in a position to be leading when the race is called but to hold whatever their current position is in general if they're up front or how to advance in what may be very few laps to gain as many positions as possible before the race is called. Although some fans don't like it, strategy has always been a part of racing and to me, as much as I'd like to see a race run it's full length and be decided based on some great racing, it adds an extra element of excitement to see which teams make the best decisions.

I was particularly interested to hear what Michael and Greg Biffle would have to say about the incident between Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. However, they didn't seem to spend much time on it, maybe because they and their producers were afraid of setting off a big controversy given how hotly debated that topic is among fans. One thing that Michael said is that while he didn't think that Junior intended on wrecking half the field, maybe he was thinking that he wanted to get Brian out of sorts. So basically Michael was saying that there was some intent on Junior's part rather than it being just a mistake - I'm sure there are some Junior fans who weren't happy to hear Michael say that but he may be right. After all, Junior and Brian were racing and Junior probably didn't appreciate getting blocked. But no driver sets out to start "The Big One" so it's more likely that if there was any intent there, as Michael said, it was just to send Brian a message and maybe move him out of the way.

I couldn't help but be reminded as Michael was talking about that incident is that in a way Michael has been in Brian's shoes. The circumstances were different but at Charlotte in 2005, Michael got put in the wall by Junior who was at that time his teammate. Although I don't think Junior's intent was to plant Michael into the wall, I do think it was possible he let some frustration get the best of him, which may be what happened on Sunday as well. Of course Junior wouldn't be alone when it comes to a driver letting their emotions gets the best of them. It's happened many times in the past and it'll happen many times in the future. However, Junior can't let this one incident dictate his season. He needs to learn from the mistakes he might have made on Sunday and avoid making them again to ensure that he's a part of the hunt for the Championship at the end of the season.

Another interesting comment that Michael made was in reference to an incident that a lot of people probably didn't even notice or think much of. At one point Michael had pulled out of line at the same time Clint Bowyer did and Clint got into him a little. I'm not really sure exactly what was going on there but Michael went to the back after that by design so it may just be that Michael took Clint by surprise in that Clint didn't expect him to get out of line and slow up. However, Michael said on TWiN that his "buddy" decided to run him over and that he'll be keeping a tab on that. Although it's been said multiple times that Michael and Clint have made up after Clint's "worst driver" comment about Michael from last season, I've been skeptical and even more so after Michael admitted recently how much that comment hurt him. I get the feeling that one day when Clint needs Michael to give a little or otherwise needs a favor it's not going to happen.

One thing about Michael that he never gets enough credit for is how many good ideas he has such as when he advocated for having all the go-or-go-homers qualify together. Last night he had two of them. One was something he's talked about before how he thinks there should be a TV show just about what's said by the drivers and their teams over their radios during the races. I agree that it could definitely make for an interesting show, though some drivers may not be too happy about having extra attention brought to some of what they say since so many things are said in the heat of the moment. But I think it would definitely add some extra insight into what happens with particular teams and with the races themselves. Michael used the example of how Tony Stewart said over his radio that he was tired of seeing Sam's Club which was a reference to him being tired of seeing Kyle Busch in front of him since Sam's Club was on the back of Kyle's car, and how no one would know about that unless they were listening to Tony's radio or the clip was played somewhere. Maybe Michael could even host the show as I think it would be useful for their to be a driver or crew chief on the show to explain what the driver and his crew chief were talking about.

Michael's other idea was that he thinks NASCAR should allow the drivers to use tinted tear offs on their front windshields. Apparently NASCAR wouldn't let them use them because of visibility concerns but Michael said that there are visibility issues anyway with the COTs. Either Greg or Michael said that it would cut down on incidents that were caused by the setting sun at tracks like the one they'll be racing at this weekend (California). Some drivers use tinted shields on their helmets but I've never really understood why NASCAR won't let them use tinted tear-offs since it seems like there are times when the drivers are racing blind as they go into certain corners when the angle of the setting sun is a certain way which seems like a safety issue.

I'm admittedly not a fan of California Speedway where they'll be racing this weekend - that they have to promote the track by using footage of wrecks as opposed to showing exciting racing says a lot to me - but hopefully Michael and the rest of the panel will have a lot to talk about next week as well!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2009

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (2/16)

*I'm still thrilled today about Michael Waltrip finishing in the top ten yesterday! I had realized that all three of Michael Waltrip Racing's cars finished in the top 20 but I also didn't realize that they were also the top finishing Toyotas .In addition, as someone on Michael's fan forum on his site pointed out, when you add Terry Labonte into the mix since he was racing one of David Reutimann's old cars from last season via Prism Motorsports's technical alliance with MWR, the organization actually had four cars they built in the top 25. That's really outstanding in comparison to where they were last year at this time and especially in comparison to where they were two years ago!

*A significant amount of fans are upset today about a lot of things in relation to the Daytona 500 but one of the biggest complaints is that NASCAR decided to call the rain so quickly. I'm in the minority because I don't have a problem with their decision at all. Reportedly it was still raining at Daytona at 10 p.m. and since the track needs three hours to dry, if it stopped raining then the race still wouldn't have gotten re-started until 1 a.m. Seems to me making people stay at the track in on-and-off rain with no guarantee that the race would get re-started and finish wasn't a very good scenario either. It's unfortunate when one of NASCAR's biggest races doesn't go the full distance but the weather is completely out of NASCAR's control.

*Another thing that a lot of fans are harping on is that Matt Kenseth didn't really deserve his Daytona 500 win because it came via a rainout. It's become popular to tear apart just about every win and show why it's not a "real" win, but it always happens with rainout wins that some believe the driver who wins those races doesn't really deserve that win. Well, Kenseth raced his way up front and put himself in position to be in the lead when the race was called. If he raced his way to first, just exactly what was undeserved about his win? Had the race gone the full distance the outcome might still have been the same. Kenseth was up-front when it counted and he and his team deserve to be congratulated.

*It was nice to see Kenseth get emotional when he was interviewed about winning. Sometimes it seems like some drivers have become so accustomed to winning that it's old hat to them and they don't get too emotional - or in some case excited - about it. So it was nice to see how much winning the Daytona 500 meant to him.

*I hope that Richard Petty Motorsports is able to find a sponsor for A.J. Allmendinger so he can race the entire season. Allmendinger finished 3rd and continued to look like a driver who could have major succe