Random Thoughts: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Archives

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)

May 30, 2009

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 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)

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)

April 08, 2009

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 06, 2009

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)

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 09, 2009

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)

February 15, 2009

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Has a Very Bad Daytona 500

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is a perennial favorite to win the Daytona 500 but today's race brought disaster instead of triumph and it was mostly Junior's own doing. Things started off badly with Junior missing his pit box during an early pit stop which caused him to have to come to pit road for a second time. A mistake, but one that could have been overcome. But on a subsequent pit stop Junior pitted outside his box and was penalized by being held in his pit for a lap. Not good but again he could have overcome it by putting himself in position for the lucky dog. But his next mistake was his biggest and costliest - while racing with Brian Vickers to put himself in a position to get his lap back, Brian blocked him and instead of letting up Junior got into him which resulted in "The Big One" which collected some of most competitive cars on the track including that of Kyle Busch who had led 88 laps.

What really bothers me isn't that Junior caused the wreck - every driver makes mistakes - it's his attitude afterward. Junior defiantly refused to take any responsibility what-so-ever for the wreck and then made excuse after excuse in a post-race interview not only for the wreck but for his prior pit road miscues. Junior actually had the audacity to tell his crew over his radio that he should relay a message to Brian's team that he would meet up with Brian after the race so he could kick his ass. Laughable. Junior's going to beat on Brian for a wreck he had a major part in causing? Junior should consider himself lucky if some of the drivers caught in that mess didn't come looking for him to whip his ass! It was also utterly ridiculous for Junior to start talking about how all the pit road signs look the same and how maybe NASCAR needs to re-evaluate the rules regarding drivers pitting out of their box. Maybe there were other factors that played into what happened but Junior is the only one behind the wheel of his car and though he doesn't seem to realize it his decision-making needs to be better.

Reportedly Junior's been sick with the flu all week and I can't help but wonder whether his illness might have been a distraction to him. Drivers race when they're ill and injured all the time and when it comes to the Dayona 500 a driver would practically have to be on their death bed to step out of their car. And maybe things would have played out exactly the same even if Junior had been 100% healthy. Still, I can't help but wonder if being sick with the flu might have made Junior a little less sharp than he normally was - not that he'd ever admit to that.

Although Junior is NASCAR's most popular driver he's never won a Championship. One race isn't enough to say for sure how his season is going to go. But the driver who wins the Championship is going to be the one who not only races the best this season but also the one who minimizes the mistakes they make. Junior can't have races like this if he wants to win a Championship.

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

February 03, 2009

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Blasts Track Owners for Wanting Drivers to do More

Recently Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, said that he thought that the drivers needed to do more to encourage fans to go to races and buy tickets. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. didn't take too kindly to those remarks. He said in an interview with Sports Illustrated,

"The race track owners want drivers to do more? Yeah, right. They need to go back to work. They forgot what it's like to sell tickets. That's their problem. They ain't had to sell tickets for a long time and none of them remember how or knew how or ever learned how. They need to get back to working hard and doing their promotions and putting packages together for race fans. They don't want to cut the ticket price but they probably should and get these hotels to quit gouging these people. They can dump that responsibility on drivers all they want but the responsibility really lies in their hands to sell race tickets and they have to get creative in doing it. We already do a lot. We do [bleeping] plenty and they are full of [bleep]."

I agree with Junior that the tracks have to put together packages, reduce ticket prices, try to work with area hotels to encourage them to reduce room rates and figure out other ways to make going to the track affordable - and enjoyable - for race fans. However, I think the drivers share some responsibility as well when it comes to making fans want to come to the track to see races.

Perhaps for a driver like Junior it doesn't seem as important to him because he has such a large fanbase, many of whom will be his fans and attend races regardless of how much it costs or what happens. But the sport overall is, in my opinion, has some serious issues when it comes to the fans in general in that a lot of fans are becoming disinterested and discouraged, and the reasons go beyond the economy - quite a few fans are so unhappy with the direction the sport is going in that they no longer want to invest time, money or effort into being a fan. I think all entities from NASCAR to the drivers, sponsors and teams all share some responsibility in changing that trend. However, one of the best ways to renew a fan's excitement about the sport beyond what happens on the track is if they have a positive experience with a driver.

Junior is completely correct that the drivers already do a lot. They do countless public and private appearances for sponsors and other entities. On race day they have hospitality and suite visits. There are numerous media obligations, commercial and photo shoots.In addition there are also many times when drivers spontaneously reach out to the fans by signing autographs on pit road or stopping to speak with a fan at the track. But I think at times there is still room for improvement and ways in which some drivers - Junior included - can do their part to engage and encourage fans. It doesn't mean that they have to spend every minute of their spare time with the fans, but there are drivers who seem to do everything they can to avoid the fans and when they do interact with the fans make it seem like it's the last thing they want to do - that shouldn't be happening. Even if it's just a smile and a wave when they pass some fans, a little extra effort can go a long way. When a fan comes away from meeting a driver with a memory that they'll treasure for a lifetime I think it goes a long way towards ensuring their loyalty not only to that driver but to the sport as well.

Virtually every time Junior does an autograph signing there are numerous stories about how he barely pays attention to the people he's signing for. He doesn't look up, doesn't smile, sometimes doesn't acknowledge them and some have said that at times he talks on the phone while he's signing. No driver is going to be able to have a conversation or acknowledge every fan at a signing, and there are going to be times when they might have to take an important phone call or speak with someone who is there. It's especially difficult for a driver like Junior who has so many fans who show up any time he does an appearance. But I also think there's something to be said for showing some common courtesy as much as possible towards people who may have traveled a great distance, spent money and waited in line for a long time. Saying "hi" or giving someone a smile as they hand something over to be signed at an appearance shouldn't be too much to ask, not just from Junior but from the other drivers as well. I'm sure that most drivers would rather do just about anything than sign autographs and deal with strangers, some of whom are strange or demanding, but there are definitely some drivers who are better than others about giving the appearance of wanting to interact with the fans.

Of course there's another side to things as David Poole brought up on The Morning Drive on Sirius this morning. There are a lot of fans who don't understand that when the drivers are at the track their focus is with their race teams. There can't always stop to sign autographs because they may have obligations to their team or somewhere to be. Just like anyone else the drivers also have bad days or get distracted. There are also fans who don't know how to behave appropriately whether it's asking for an autograph at a clearly inappropriate time or doing things like invading a driver's personal space. I've been lucky enough to have hot passes a few times and even when the garage is hot I've been appalled by how crowded it can be and how many fans will chase down drivers and crew members for autographs even when they're in the middle of working on the cars. Poole suggested that NASCAR enforce the policy of not letting drivers sign autographs in the garage area, and I guess because I've never been into autographs myself, I would have no problem if they reinstated that rule. As much as I think the drivers need to do their part to engage the fans, I also think there needs to be some boundaries.

The bottom line though, is that the drivers - Junior included - and the sport would be nothing without the fans. The sponsors pay the bills and are essential to the teams and drivers, but they are on the cars because they want to race the fans. The fans not only cheer for the drivers at home and at the track but also buy tickets and merchandise. If there are no fans there is no profit, not just for the tracks and the teams, but also for the drivers since they get a cut of merchandise sales. The sport really can't survive without the fans and it's not just the responsibility of the tracks to make sure that people remain fans of the sport and show up at the track.

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

December 18, 2008

Could Nascar Survive Without Dale Earnhardt, Jr.?

Although the writer of a blog who posed the question, "What Would Nascar Do Without Junior" seems to think that without Dale Earnhardt, Jr. the sport would crumble, I think the sport can and would survive without Junior. Nascar existed prior to when Junior became a part of the sport and it will exist after he's gone too. It's true that Junior is the most popular driver in the sport with a huge fanbase that generates a lot of revenue for a lot of different entities but if Nascar is dependent on one driver, whether that's Junior or another driver, for their survival, then the sport is in much worse shape than anyone thought. What would happen if something happened to Junior and he was no longer able to race? Or when he retires? Contrary to what some believe the races will continue to be held with or without Junior.

The author of this article wrote in his blog,

Once, while going into a race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, I asked a friend of mine if there was anyone attending the event who was not cheering for Earnhardt. Every fan was adorned with his then colors of red and white. The grandstands erupted with a cheer upon his introduction that far out did the cheers for any other driver.

That scenario is true of almost every race venue.

Love him or not, everyone almost certainly has to admit the sport of NASCAR racing is very much dependant on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for its survival. Imagine even more empty grandstands if he were not racing. Picture the nearly vacant souvenir lot without his multitude of trailers.

Again, yes, it's true that Junior has a huge amount of fans and the stands are filled with people who are wearing his gear. But I strongly disagree with the idea that every fan is a Junior fan. This fan, and many other fans that I know, cheer for other drivers. It may be hard for some to believe but I don't pay much attention to Junior during races unless he's doing something particularly noteworthy. There are a significant amount of fans who would never buy anything of Junior's, never buy tickets to races just to see him race, and would never cheer for him.

Maybe part of the problem in this sport is that it's not just the author of this article who believes that every fan is a Junior fan. Maybe if some were more aware of just how many fans cheer for drivers other than Junior, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, there would be a little less fan dissatisfaction because some of those fans who are unhappy wouldn't feel so ignored.

Someone in the comments section of that entry mentioned the word "narrow" and I think it's very applicable. There are some fans who have a very narrow view of the world around them. If they like Junior than everyone else does - or should. But that's not what the reality is.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:46 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2008

Michael Waltrip Finishes in the Top Ten in Most Popular Driver Voting!

For most fans the story is probably that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won his sixth Most Popular Driver Award but for me the big story is that Michael Waltrip finished in the top ten in voting! I'd love to know how many years in a row it's been that Michael has finished this high in the voting - seems like he does well in MPD voting every year which is awesome!

So far Chex hasn't made available where the drivers in the top ten other than Junior finished, just who they are, but I hope that Michael finished in the top five like last year! I'm really happy for Michael that in spite of the results on the track not being as good as he would like the past few years he's still just as popular with the fans. Michael has a huge fanbase, much bigger than many think, and he's outstanding with his fans, so it's no surprise that they all voted so enthusiastically for him. Great job to all those who voted for Michael!

Some dismiss the results of polls like this as being a test of which fanbase can vote the most as opposed to really showing which drivers are the most popular and I've not been a fan of internet polls like this in the past myself. However, it's clear that teams and sponsors take the results of these kinds of polls seriously and believe that they are an accurate gauge of how popular a driver is. So it looks good not only to Michael's current sponsors but more importantly potential future Michael Waltrip Racing sponsors that he finished so well in the MPD voting.

I've not been feeling too good about what's been going on in the sport lately so it's good to have some positive news to be happy about!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)

Whiskey River Employee Arrested for Selling Cocaine

That an employee of a bar was arrested for selling drugs is hardly earth-shattering news but when the owner of the bar is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. it makes it a little more newsworthy. Apparently the Charlotte police received reports that drugs were being sold in Whiskey River and during the investigation an employee who worked security at the front door of the bar sold cocaine to an undercover detective. Bob Durkin, the president of the management group that runs the bar for Junior said,

"We are definitely shocked by the whole thing. We go through extensive background checks on everyone we hire."

Maybe not extensive enough, though it might be hard to know whether someone is involved with drugs or drug dealing unless they've been arrested previously.

When I first heard that Junior was going to own a bar I wondered if it was a good idea for exactly this reason - the possibility of there being criminal activity or an incident that might reflect negatively on Junior. Not that Junior was involved in any wrong-doing himself, he might not have even met this employee and surely had no knowledge that there was drug dealing going on. But Nascar is a very image-conscious sport that prides itself on being above some of the problems found in other sports like drugs. Even the sport's most popular driver might not be immune to negative fallout from a serious incident so I'm not sure why Junior is taking the risk of owning a bar. (To be clear I don't think there's anything wrong with bars or drinking - I certainly enjoy my share of adult beverages. It's just that bars and trouble sometimes go hand and hand.)

Posted by silverdsl at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2008

Denials Abound

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

June 16, 2008

Two Firsts This Weekend...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

June 08, 2008

Brad Keselowski Wins His First Nationwide Race

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

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

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

June 06, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michael Waltrip Out Loud (6/5)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

May 29, 2008

JR Motorsports Crew Members Penalized for Post-Race Incident

I wasn't able to watch the Nationwide race this past weekend so I didn't get to see what led to the kerfluffle between Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or the ensuing shoving incident between Keselowski and Hamlin's crews. But Nascar has penalized three crew members from JR Motorsports for their roles in the post-race shoving match. The more severe penalty was given to Michael Sandlin, a one-race suspension plus a fine and being placed on probation through October for "failing to follow a NASCAR official’s directive and inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official." A second crew member, Jordan Allen, was fined and placed on probation for similar reasons. Tony Eury, Sr. the crew chief of the #88 was fined $1,500 and placed on probation until the end of June for being responsible for the actions of his crew members.

Nascar has said that they want to give the competitors more room to show emotion so they didn't penalize any of the three drivers even though they each bumped each other under caution. They've also looked the other way with other shoving matches this season between crew members so all of this would probably have faded away if not for the crew members having inappropriate contact with a Nascar official. That's something that wouldn't be tolerated under any circumstances in any sport. If a Nascar official tells a crew member - or even a driver - to do something they need to listen because they have the final authority. And no matter how angry a crew member might be they can't put their hands on an official which is what seems to have happened here. In baseball that's an automatic suspension. I agree with Nascar taking a strong stance here.

As for what sparked all of this it seems to have started with Keselowski and Hamlin taking exception to the way each was racing the other. Keselowski started things off by bumping Hamlin under caution to let him know that he didn't like the way Hamlin was racing him. So Hamlin retaliated by hitting him in the right fender. Junior was less than pleased to see Hamlin going after the car he owns so he proceeded to bump Hamlin - also under caution - to let him know not to mess with his driver. Having not seen any of this and only read about it, I could be wildly off-base, but my first reaction is to think that they all need to grow up. Drivers shouldn't be using their cars as weapons against each other to begin with but especially not under caution. I also think as much as it stinks to see one of his cars getting torn up Junior needs to let Keselowski fight his own battles, at least on the track.

Hamlin had a great line after the race. He said, "You throw a rock, I'm going to throw a concrete block back." While he's getting ripped by a lot of fans, I say good for him. If it's okay for Keselowski to race him hard and then bump him, then Hamlin should be able to do the same. Both drivers exchanged barbs in the media center after the race about the way they were racing each other. Hamlin felt that Keselowski breached racing etiquette, and Keselowski felt that as a Nationwide-only driver he has fewer laps than Hamlin each week to prove himself so he has to race as hard as he can on every lap. I'm really tired of drivers whining about how another driver raced them too hard or somehow broke racing etiquette. Whether a driver races both series or just one, I think they have the right to race each other, and especially if the other driver is racing that way. Racing isn't supposed to be easy and drivers shouldn't have to give in and let each other go by.

The fact that the crews got into a shoving match over it strikes me as a little ridiculous too. I understand what they were angry about is the bumping under caution and the retaliating and all but it seems to me since there were only damaged not wrecked races cars the drivers should have been left to settle it among themselves.

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

May 16, 2008

JR Motorsports to Field Cup Car in 2009?

It wasn't long ago that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was saying that he had no plans to field a Cup team at JR Motorsports but I've always thought that his plans would change sooner rather than later. The reality is that Cup is where the money's at and if a team has the resources to make it happen they're almost always looking at trying their hand at racing Cup. So I'm not surprised to find out that due to the costs that will be associated with the Nationwide Series move to a COT, that Junior is considering moving his Nationwide team to Cup, perhaps as soon as next season if he can find a sponsor and the right driver. I really doubt there will be any problem finding a sponsor - companies will likely fall all over themselves to be associated with Junior in the Cup Series, even if it's only through JR Motorsports. Partnering with Junior by becoming a sponsor at JR Motorsports is a great way for a sponsor to get a significant amount of exposure but the price tag would likely be a lot less than if they sponsored him directly at Hendrick Motorsports.

With Martin Truex, Jr.'s future at DEI in question, there have been rumors that HMS is going to release Casey Mears and Truex will take his place in the #5. So the same people floating that rumor will likely start whispering that Truex is a lock for JR Motorsports's possible Cup ride next season. However, Junior was quick to try to nip talk like that in the bud today saying,

“Why would he want to come drive for me? He’s in good stuff now and he’s going to have great opportunities with other people. I would never do that to him. The first year coming out of the box we’re going to struggle like hell. C’mon. I’d be at the bottom of that list, along with Haas (Haas-CNC Racing). … No way would I even do that to Martin, even if he wanted to.”

Give me a break. JR Motorsports might experience some struggles as a new team trying to break into Cup, particularly without owner's points but it's likely that they would get a significant amount of support from HMS and would probably have the financial resources to overcome some of the competition issues that have made getting a foothold in Cup difficult for other new teams. In addition, if Truex is the driver that whatever sponsor ends up on the car wants and the right fit overall, I find it hard to believe that Junior wouldn't give the ride to him because he doesn't want him to have to deal with the challenges that a new team brings.

Also, what's the deal with the comment about Haas-CNC Racing? Perhaps it refers to how they also get equipment and some support from HMS but they've had their own struggles to deal with as well. In fact the #70 is outside the top 35 in owner's points. However, Scott Riggs in the #66 is in 25th in points - not great by any means but considering that Haas isn't one of the powerhouse organizations it's not horrible either. And certainly not bottom of the list.

In relation to the financial issues in the Nationwide Series Junior said,

“It would cost the same amount of money as it does in the Busch (now Nationwide) Series. It’s harder to get (Nationwide) sponsorship and the COT program is going to be too expensive for me to justify creating a whole new program with COT stuff, so I’d just as soon go into the Cup Series.”

That doesn't bode well for the future of the Nationwide Series that the costs of the COT are going to be so expensive that even a well-funded organization like JR Motorsports feels it's too much. Particularly when one considers the immense costs of fielding a competitive Cup car. If JR Motorsports, who has a partnership with HMS on the Nationwide side, can't field a team once the Nationwide Series goes to COTs how are even smaller and less-funded teams going to be able to do it?

Posted by silverdsl at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2008

Kyle Busch vs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Yet again I find myself in the vast minority when it comes to Kyle Busch. It definitely stinks for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. that he got wrecked when he was so close to breaking a long winless streak, but I'm finding it hard to view Kyle as public enemy number one like most other fans. I want to see hard racing and I particularly want to see hard racing for the lead over the last few laps of the race. In the past fans have complained about how boring the racing has been and how uninteresting it is when a driver pulls away from the field and dominates at the end of the race. So last night we had two drivers battling each other to take the lead - to me that was pretty exciting. Unfortunately one problem with hard racing is that sometimes it doesn't work out well for one or both drivers, and that's what happened last night.

More than a few fans believe that Kyle intentionally wrecked Junior and I suppose that's possible, though Kyle denies it. It may very well be that he just got loose or made a mistake. I didn't really see anything that looked blatant to me, though most fans seem to assume these days that Kyle sets out to deliberately wreck every driver on the track. Would there be this much controversy over what happened last night if it had been different drivers who were involved? I tend to think not. There will always be some fans who will find reason to get upset about just about anything, but whenever Junior is involved, well, I pity the poor driver who his fans think did him wrong. It just wasn't Junior's night last night but eventually that win will come for him and there won't be anything or anyone who will be able to prevent it from happening.

What was troubling to me was that Denny Hamlin appeared to deliberately bring out a caution at the end of the race, maybe as a way to close up the field and put Kyle, his teammate, in a position to be racing Junior for the win there. Where's the outrage about that? Even Nascar thought he deliberately drew a caution and penalized him two laps. To me that's as bad as anything else because Denny was making a deliberate outcome to manipulate the outcome of the race.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)

April 30, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (4/30)

*Yesterday was Dale Earnhardt Day at DEI. Last weekend Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was asked by the media whether he would attend and he said that he wouldn't but didn't give any explanation. Of course Junior isn't obligated to attend now that he no longer works for DEI and he is entitled to remember his father in any way he chooses, privately or publically. However, it turns out that the reason that Junior only sent a video and wasn't there in person was because he was testing. In fact, his sister Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge attended and indicated that Junior would have been there had he not had to test. What I don't understand is why Junior didn't say up front when questioned that he wouldn't be there because he was testing because not giving a reason - even if it was an excuse - opened the door to speculation about whether there's still ill-will between himself and his step-mother, Teresa Earnhardt. Kelley said all the right things when she was interviewed about how Teresa and Taylor, as well as all the employees at DEI, are their family and how Junior leaving DEI was just business and nothing personal. But this isn't the first time when Junior has made a comment where he leaves room for speculation - I sometimes wonder if it's deliberate or not.

*Steve Park attended Dale Earnhardt Day like he did last year. Dave Moody from Sirius was broadcasting live and had Steve on as a guest. Steve told some stories about Dale and was also highly complimentary about Teresa, saying how instrumental she was in the development of DEI and what a wonderful job she's done to keep DEI going and to keep Dale's memory alive with things like Dale Earnhardt Day. Last year Michael Waltrip was one of the few to publically speak well of Teresa, and it's good to hear someone else echo his remarks. Steve also talked briefly about his Camping World East ride and once again I found myself perplexed by something Steve said. Steve said that given the level of the competition in the East Series it's an accomplishment to finish in the top ten like he did at Greenville-Pickens. I agree with him completely. But why is it an accomplishment to be proud of to finish in the top ten in the East Series but in his view, as per his recent comments in an XM interview, racing in the top ten in the Nationwide or Truck Series would be "just riding around?" I'd think finishing in the top ten in one of those series would be an even bigger accomplishment considering the competition only gets greater the higher the series is.

*One thing I've been wondering about in relation to Tony Stewart considering leaving Joe Gibbs Racing for another organization is how Joe Gibbs feels about his driver publically talking about listening to offers from other team when he still has almost two years left on his current contract with JGR. On Monday night's This Week in Nascar, Michael Waltrip "put on his owner's hat" as he called it and said that he wouldn't want any of his drivers publically talking about exploring their options, particularly this early, and that if he's doing "due diligence" in relation to his future that it should be done quietly, behind the scenes. I agree with Michael completely. If I were Joe Gibbs, I would be very uncomfortable with Tony making it known in a very public way not only that he's open to listening to offers from other teams but also making reference to some of what might lure him to another team, i.e. ownership. Of course Tony has to look out for his own interests but when he still has almost two years left on his existing contract it just doesn't seem right to be to publically be "exploring his options." What Tony and the teams he's talking to are doing would be highly frowned upon in other sports but of course Nascar is very different than other sports.

*Ken Schrader might have lost his ride with BAM Racing when that team suspended operations but it looks like he's still going to be doing a lot of Cup racing this season. In addition to the possibility of more races in the #70 for Haas-CNC Racing, Schrader is going to replace Dario Franchitti, who is recovering from a broken ankle, in the #40. One thing all of these teams have in common is that they're all outside the top 35 in owner's points - it'll be interesting to see if Ken can help any of them get back in. Dario will be evaluated each week and the goal seems to be to try to get him back behind the wheel by Charlotte. In some ways it might not be such a bad thing for Dario or the team to get other veteran drivers like Ken and David Stremme who raced the car at Talladega behind the wheel because their feedback could help the team - and Dario - improve their results.

*Chip Ganassi Racing will likely have to find a replacement driver for Dario at Darlington as well. It's quite possible that another former driver of the #40 will end up behind the wheel of that car - Sterling Marlin. Although nothing's set in stone apparently there have been some discussions. Sterling is racing some races - including this weekend at Richmond - for Phoenix Racing but he would be available to race for Ganassi at Darlington. It would be good to see Sterling back in that car since in spite of their struggles the #40 team is still likely more competitive than the #09.

*Lowe's Motorspeedway is installing additional SAFER barriers on the backstretch inside wall prior to the All-Star Race in May. Even though not too many cars end up in the area of the track where they're adding the SAFER barrier they felt it was better to be safe than sorry. I agree - I applaud anything that increases safety for the drivers.

*There continues to be a lot of attention given to the fact that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. hasn't won in 71 races - a stretch dating back to this weekend's race at Richmond two years ago. Somehow I suspect Junior won't be breaking his winless streak this weekend either. I have no doubt that he'll race well - he has in just about every race so far this season. It's just that the #88 team doesn't seem to be able to put all the pieces together to end up in Victory Lane and I doubt that the scrutiny from fans and the media is going to help any. The pressure on Junior and Tony Eury, Jr. not just from others from also from themselves has to be immense.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:28 AM | Comments (1)

March 01, 2008

Eventful Nationwide Race at Las Vegas

Mark Martin got JR Motorsports their first Nationwide win today but it wasn't the way Mark or JR Motorsports would have liked it to happen since Mark ended up wrecking his teammate, Brad Keselowski just a few laps before the end of the race. Mark is one of the cleanest and most careful drivers in the garage, but even the best of drivers make mistakes sometimes and that's exactly what Mark did in this race. It was shaping up to be a great battle for the lead with the laps winding down between Mark, Brad and Carl Edwards, but with Brad and Carl racing side-by-side, Mark bumped Carl from behind which sent him into Brad. Carl was able to limp to a 14th place finish, but Brad ended up with a DNF, which is a real shame for him since if he didn't win he likely would have finished in the top five. Mark ended up in Victory Lane and of course the very first thing he did in his interview was apologize like crazy. I commend Mark for taking responsibility and apologizing, and unlike some drivers who just say what they think is the right thing to say, I think Mark really did mean it.

Naturally the Junior fans are freaking out. Many of them had developed a strong dislike for Mark to begin with because he replaced Junior in the #8 and they've found fault in virtually every thing he's said or done since it was announced that he would race the #8. But as disappointing as it is that Brad got wrecked there's really not much to be mad about. For one thing JR Motorsports got their first Nationwide Series, and yes, Mark was racing for JR Motorsports even though Rick Hendrick is listed as the owner of the #5. Secondly, it's really unlikely there was any intent on Mark's part to wreck Carl or his own teammate. He simply made a mistake. Junior has been known to make a few oopsie's of his own - the time he got into the back of then teammate Michael Waltrip at Charlotte in 2005 and sent him hard into the wall comes to mind. Just as Junior didn't mean to do that, I'm sure Mark didn't mean to cause the wreck that he did. But some fans find it impossible to put aside their dislike for a driver and see things for what they are. More than a few fans seemed to think that Junior should be angry with Mark but Junior knows better than any fan what can happen out there, and he's also known Mark since he was a little boy. I highly doubt he's anything but happy right now.

Overall the Nationwide race was a wreckfest and I hope it's not a sign of things to come in tomorrow's Cup race. Some fans really love to see the wrecks but I'd much rather see some great racing. Unfortunately David Reutimann was one of the cars that ended up getting wrecked when he and Tony Stewart tangled. It looked like Tony got into David a little, but it was mostly just one of those in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time, just racin' deals. David was on his way to a fine finish too if not for that. Although he still ended up finishing 25th because of how many other cars got wrecked, it dropped him to 7th in the points.

Another driver who wrecked unsurprisingly is Steven Wallace. Of course there are many other drivers who wrecked as well so that's not necessarily a reflection on Steven but in the first three races this season he's already wrecked twice. I really question the wisdom in keeping him in this car. Wrecking seemingly every week must be terribly damaging to his confidence and it's making him be perceived very negatively by fans. Even I who tries not to pass judgment on driver's ability behind the wheel based on poor finishes or wrecks since there are so many variables out of the driver's control that go into it, is wondering whether he's over his head.

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

February 22, 2008

Michael Waltrip Out Loud (2/22)

Of course the big topic of discussion on this show was the Daytona 500. One thing that Tony Rizzuti, Michael's co-host brought up is the importance of teamwork in races like this. Michael said that you have to have a teammate or partner. That driver doesn't have to be from your team but has to treat you like they're an actual teammate. He cited Dale Earnhardt in 2000, how he won with Kenny Wallace's help and how they worked together like they were teammates. He said in 2001 Dale told him before the race about the importance of all three of them (Dale, Michael and Junior) working together and they did. Michael said that you have to have someone you can count on.

I'm always interested when Michael tells that story because at that time Steve Park was also racing for DEI in Cup but Dale apparently didn't cite Steve as one who would be working with them to help one of them win - I've always wondered why. Maybe it's because Steve wasn't standing with them or maybe Dale knew that the #1 car wouldn't be as competitive as the others, or maybe he didn't think that Steve was as good on restrictor plate tracks as they were or maybe there was some other reason. I'll never know. But it's always interested me. Dale believed in Steve of course otherwise he wouldn't have put him in one of his cars - that belief in his abilities was and still is important to Steve, and the same is true for Michael. Still, based on that story it seems as if Dale - correctly - sensed that Steve wouldn't be racing for the win at the end of the race.

Fans of both Steve and Michael often say that if Dale was still alive both would still be at DEI. I'm not sure about that. These days there's a lot more driver movement than there was in the past and as much loyalty as Dale had to both of them and vice versa, there's no telling what direction Dale might have taken DEI in. In addition, Michael and Steve could have moved on to other organizations by choice - Michael for instance might have joined with Toyota so he could become a car owner on the Cup level regardless. It's impossible to know how things would have played out and what would have been difference.

The email of the week was one that I had submitted about the gold wheels that were on the Michael Waltrip Racing cars in honor of the 50th running of the Daytona 500. I had wondered about whose idea they were. What made me smile is that Tony referred to me as "our good friend Deborah in New York" which made me smile. That's probably just because I try to send them an email with a question or comment just about every week or every other week just to give feedback and so they know that someone's always listening. I actually don't live in New York but I do work there.

Turns out the gold wheels were Ty Norris's idea. The first wheel was auctioned off for $6,100 (all proceeds go to charity) and another three will be offered to the next three highest underbidders. Several other wheels will be donated to the Autism Foundation presumable to be auctioned of by them.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2008

Penalties Announced For Robby Gordon, Dale, Jr. and Others

Kind of interesting the way things worked out - the infraction that was downplayed in the media as being accidental resulted in the biggest penalty and one of the infractions that was made out to be a big deal resulted in a minor penalty. The biggest first - for being found to have the wrong nose on the car Robby Gordon was penalized 100 driver and owner points and his crew chief, Frank Kerr, was fined $100,000 and suspended for the next six races. For the infractions found after inspection on the #5 Nationwide car, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was penalized 50 driver points, Rick Hendrick 50 owner points and the crew chief, Chad Walters was fined $25,000 and suspended for the next six Nationwide races. Five other Nationwide teams lost 25 driver and owner points and their crew chiefs for six races for having an oil reservoir tank cover that wasn't securely fastened. Lastly, Jerry Baxter, the crew chief of the #99 was fined $5,000 and placed on probation until July for an infraction with the carburetor, something many thought would result in a major penalty but didn't.

More than a few people thought that Robby would get off lightly because the team said that in changing the cars over from Fords to Dodges they simply put on the noses they were given from Gillett-Evernham Motorsports/Dodge and had no idea that they were the wrong ones. However, I suspected that Nascar wouldn't feel that was an acceptable excuse. For one thing the team and especially the crew chief is responsible to make sure that the car they show up with to the track meets the parameters set forth in Nascar's rule book even if they are changing manufacturers. If Nascar allowed Robby Gordon Motorsports to get off for accidentally and unknowingly putting the wrong parts on then any team could claim the same thing even if they were deliberately trying to get away with something. In addition, it was a COT violation and Nascar's made it clear that the penalties are going to be very harsh when it comes to COT violations.

Since Robby is locked into the field for the next four races because of the 2007 owner's points, there's no worries about him possibly missing races due to the loss of owner's points... right now. Odds are Robby will finish well enough over the next four races to be high enough in the 2008 owner's points to where he'll still be locked in when the 2008 points come into effect, but the team can't afford any mistakes. If they finish poorly in several races they could find themselves in trouble. Losing Frank Kerr for six races is probably what will hurt the team the most. Of course he can still work on the cars in the shop, but he won't be able to work with the team at the track, and Robby will have yet another crew chief just when he was starting to get used to working with Frank (again). Any failures to communicate as has sometimes been a problem for Robby with his crew chiefs could be costly if it effects performance.

As for the penalties for the #5 Nationwide team, the driver points are meaningless to Junior since he's racing only a few races. The owner's points are more costly but a few good finishes will take care of that. Losing the crew chief for that team for six races will hurt more but since Nascar talked about how blatant the violation was, they're probably lucky they didn't lose him for longer. Hendrick Motorsports has never penalized Chad Knaus (that we know of) for getting caught cheating numerous times on the Cup side but both Junior and Rick Hendrick had expressed their displeasure about Walters messing around with the spoiler so it will be interesting to see if they take any additional action against him.

Michael Waltrip Racing - and David Reutimann - must be breathing a major sigh of relief. After last year's mess at Daytona the last thing they needed was to be tagged again for a major rules violation even if it was on the Nationwide side. In addition, since David is racing for the Championship every point is important so a loss of points wouldn't be a good thing. Nor would losing Jerry Baxter be good either since he and David seem to work very well together. I'm not sure why the #99 team got off so lightly as it had been said that the infraction to the carburetor was considered a major violation that could give them an areodynamic advantage. But maybe it was determined that there wasn't actually as much of a rules violation as originally though. I'm just glad that the penalties were so little.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2008

Junior's Nationwide Team Busted for Cheating

This probably won't get as much attention as it might if it had happened on the Cup side, but Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s #5 Nationwide car, a joint effort between JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports, was impounded for a "blatant" offense yesterday. Apparently after inspection the team altered the spoiler in an effort to gain an aerodynamic advantage. The violation was considered so serious that Nascar almost sent crew chief Chad Walters home. It boggles my mind that the team took this kind of risk and for what - Junior is already one of the best drivers in the sport at Daytona and any car with HMS equipment is going to be very strong. So this team really didn't need more of an advantage.

Tony Eury, Sr., JR Motorsports Director of Competition says that his organization and HMS may take action against Walters on top of whatever penalties Nascar assesses. He said,

"That's not something either of them approve of. Neither side [NASCAR or Earnhardt] is happy about it."

Thing is every organization says things like that after one of their teams is busted for a violation of the rules but if they were really serious about making sure that their teams didn't cheat they would make it clear up front that violating the rules wouldn't be tolerated. Yet over and over again HMS teams are busted for rules violations.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (2/7)

*The much hyped "unique" announcement by Las Vegas Motorspeedway that involves Dale Earnhardt, Jr. turned out to not be very unique after all. The first 8,888 fans who renew their tickets for 2009 will get their tickets for free if Junior wins the Championship this season. Free tickets unique? Please. Also, while Junior could very well win the Championship it's certainly not a given so odds are Las Vegas Motor Speedway will come out ahead in this one by luring people to buy for next year when they might not even have bought tickets for this season yet. Unique might be if everyone who renewed their tickets would get a chance to win Junior coming to their house for dinner or the opportunity to be Junior's guest for a weekend at the track and see how a race weekend goes for him. Free tickets are nice but LVMS is hardly the first to (possibly) give tickets away.

*One interesting thing about LVMS's promotion is that it's sponsored by South Point Hotel. Of course the South Point Hotel is owned by Michael Gaughan, who used to also own South Point Racing. Maybe after South Point Racing closed they found themselves with a little extra money in the marketing and sponsorship budget.

*David Gilliland has a sponsor for seven races, Freecreditreport.com, but as of yet teammate Travis Kvapil still doesn't have a sponsor for his car. That was highlighted this morning as I was watching Nascar.com's coverage of media day and they spoke to both David and Travis at the same time. David was wearing a colorful uniform featuring his sponsor, but Travis was wearing a plain all-black uniform that had nothing more than the Yates Racing logo on it and some patches that all the drivers wear. I can't say that I'm all that surprised that David is getting sponsors over Travis as it seems to me that David might be viewed as being somewhat more marketable than Travis.

*In other sponsorship news, Boris Said has a pretty good sponsor for the Daytona 500 - 7-Eleven Slurpee. That's a company that has some money behind them and I wonder if Boris qualifies for the 500 and does well if they would sponsor him in other races.

*For the third year in a row Miller Lite has issued a challenge to their fellow beer sponsor, Budweiser. In past years Budweiser has been disinterested in challenges involving the losing team having to run a race with the winning team's sponsor and naming rights to each of their hometown baseball stadiums to the point where they haven't even responded. So this year Miller Lite is upping the ante by betting $25,000 that would go to the Kurt Busch Foundation if the #2 finishes ahead of the #9 in the points this season, and $2,500, which would also go to Kurt's foundation if the #2 finishes better than the #9 in the Daytona 500. Miller Lite's challenge to Budweiser is for them to bet money that their car will finish better than the #2 in the 500 and the season overall with their money also going to a charitable cause (of their choosing) should they win. I can understand why Bud might have not wanted to get involved in the past challenges, but I would hope that Bud would consider taking part in this wager since a charitable cause would benefit. Of course even if Bud opts not to participate Miller Lite has still achieved one of their goals - exposure and publicity leading up to Speedweeks.

*Bobby Hamilton, Jr. is taking after his late father and is becoming an owner in Nascar. Bobby has purchased half of the team owned by Earl Sadler, a team he used to race for. The team, now called Sadler Hamilton Racing, will race some Nationwide, ARCA and Camping World East races and hope to field a full-time truck or Nationwide team next year. They will start the season by fielding a Nationwide car for 2007 Truck Series Rookie of the Year Willie Allen in the Camping World 300 at Daytona. Danny Gill, who worked with Willie at Thorsport Racing last year, will act as Willie's crew chief. It's kind of unfortunate that things deteriorated so much between Bobby and his father's second wife that he wants nothing to do with Bobby Hamilton Racing, but it's good that Bobby found another way to pursue his ownership dreams. I have to admit I've never liked Bobby much but I have to admire someone who is determined and works hard to continue to be involved in the sport whether it's as a driver or otherwise. Bobby will also race full-time in the Nationwide Series this season for Rensi Racing and will also race in some Camping World East races.

*Something interesting this morning on Nascar.com's coverage of Media Day. J.J. Yeley showed off his new tattoo in honor of his daughter and separately Tony Stewart talked about how much he seriously wants to get a tattoo of his own. That was a little surprising because in the past it's been said that due to the conservative nature of the garage area that some sponsors and teams would have a problem with a driver with tattoos so very few, if any, drivers had or were willing to get tattoos. But that J.J. and Tony both openly talked about tattoos makes me wonder if the perception that they're unacceptable for drivers is changing a little. There sure are plenty of fans - and people in general - who have tattoos so it seems like being anti-tattoo is an outdated attitude.

*Morgan Shepherd plans to attempt to race a full Nationwide schedule this season but the question is how many of those races will he actually be around for at the end? Odds are not too many. In fact odds are he won't even make it to halfway. Morgan, who was once a driver that contended for wins (he has four Cup wins) is now notorious for starting and then parking, meaning that he starts races but then parks it with "mechanical issues" sometimes as little as 20 laps into the race. Essentially he's starting to collect last place money and has no plans to race competitively or until the end of the race. I don't blame Morgan for doing what he feels he needs to do to support something he believes in but at the same time I don't agree with drivers who are only there to start and park. That takes money - and sometimes starting spots - away from drivers and teams who are there to compete and race every lap.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:31 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2008

Junior Not Upset After All

Seems like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is having a hard time making up his mind how he feels about DEI having removed his memorabilia from where it had been on display when he was still driving for them. First, he was fine with it, then last week he was upset because he thought it wasn't properly recognizing the accomplishments of employees who are still with the company, now on his blog Junior says he's not upset afterall about "this non-issue."

Junior said,

"I feel there has been misunderstanding and misinterpretation regarding the removal of show cars and memorabilia at DEI to accommodate the media tour, and I think it’s proper to paint a clear picture of how the situation truly is. There is no anger or ill-feeling towards DEI, period. Nearly half the cars that were moved out of the showroom to accommodate the media tour consist of cars I’ve won races and championships with, and any fan of mine who wants a glimpse of my past can still and always will find it at DEI. I know that DEI is proud of its past. I know that they’re proud that they’ve won championships in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Busch Series, I know they’re proud of all the Daytona 500 wins with me and Michael, the All-Star victory, and all the other accomplishments we’ve had. In the name of success I made a lot of sacrifices, and DEI made those same sacrifices for me. Max Siegel has been nothing but honest, direct, and supportive. We both sincerely wish success for each other. We both want to move forward diligently with our individual futures in this sport. To continue to have to answer about the past makes it difficult for either one to achieve that. We’re both solidly entrenched in new chapters of our lives, and it’s a great feeling."

Color me confused.

If insignificant to him why did he say just a few days ago,

"It sort of hurt my feelings that it's sort of a hack at even the guys that are still there and have worked on that car. To not see the accolades or any sort of appreciation for the work that they did, and they're still there."

That doesn't sound like the words of someone who thinks that it's a non-issue, who believes that DEI is proud of their past or someone who is truly moving on from the past. I have to wonder whether someone told him that it wasn't such a wise idea to continue to make comments that rile fans and the media up as well as keep attention on his time at DEI as opposed to what he's doing now with Hendrick Motorsports where the focus should be.

It seems to me that Junior is doing an awful lot of thinking about what he claims is a "non-issue." While I understand that he's trying to calm his irate fans, this is what he should have said and stuck to, in the first place even if inside he truly was feeling slighted by DEI removing his memorablia. He poured fuel on the fire in the first place by talking about his hurt feelings and how he viewed his memorabilia being removed as a "hack" at his former team members who were still at DEI, and had he kept those thoughts to himself he might have saved himself - and DEI - some grief.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:10 PM | Comments (1)

January 28, 2008

Junior Speaks on his Missing Memorabilia

The season hasn't even started yet and I'm already sick of hearing about Dale Earnhardt, Jr. If the recent to-do over his memorabilia being removed from DEI is any indication the media and his fans are going to make a fuss over the smallest of issues this year, even more so than in the past. I totally agree with all those who feel that DEI should respect the history of their organization and those who helped to make them successful, particularly when it comes to the son of the late owner. However, let's have a little perspective here. DEI has never kept the trophies and a lot of other memorabilia of drivers who have left the organization on display after they're gone. Why would they do that with Junior, especially since when he left there was such ill-will between himself and Teresa? So why would anyone expect them to do something special with Junior's memorabilia?

Max Seigel from DEI was on XM this evening and explained that DEI only keeps memorabilia from their current drivers and Dale Earnhardt in the showcases up front, so when Junior left his things were removed, just as the items related to Steve Park and Michael Waltrip were removed when those drivers left DEI in recent years. However, DEI does have cars from Steve, Michael, Ron Hornaday, and even Junior on display in their showroom, but the reason why the media didn't see those cars was because they had to be taken out of the showroom since that was where the luncheon was on media day and they had to have room for tables and chairs for 200 journalists. Once the luncheon was over the cars were brought back into the showroom where fans can see them if they were to go visit. So contrary to the belief of some fans and members of the media, all traces of Junior have not been removed from DEI.

Apparently there are also some fans who are distressed that nothing of Junior's is for sale any more at DEI. But as Max explained DEI can't sell anything of Junior's anymore, not even on clearance to get rid of it. They no longer have the rights to use his image and they don't have a contract with Budweiser anymore either. So they can't sell anything related to Junior or Bud anymore.

What really gets me is that instead of continuing to take the high road like he did when he was first questioned about this topic, Junior threw fuel on the fire today by saying,

"It sort of hurt my feelings that it's sort of a hack at even the guys that are still there and have worked on that car. To not see the accolades or any sort of appreciation for the work that they did, and they're still there."

Junior was at DEI when memorabilia related to Steve and Michael were removed after those two drivers left the company, so what happened with his things shouldn't be any surprise to him. I'm just guessing that Junior didn't think anything of it when Michael and Steve's memorabilia was removed while he was still at DEI. He never spoke up for those who had been a part of those two driver's teams even though there were multiple employees still at DEI who had worked on their cars cars, including Michael's Daytona 500 win and Steve's memorable win at Rockingham. Why is it only his guys that should be shown some appreciation? While he was at DEI Junior was in a position to make sure that all the team members were properly acknowledged for their contributions. If he didn't make sure that happened while he was there, then it's a little too late to be saying something about it now.

Junior was asked the question so he answered it, but I can't help but think he would have been better off keeping his feelings about his memorabilia being removed to himself as he had done previously. What good does it do to get fans and the media stirred up about this? Unless of course Junior doesn't mind turning the heat up on Teresa and DEI. It just seems to me that there's a lot more important things to be worried about - like making the transition to Hendrick Motorsports as smooth and as successful as possible.

What's most ironic to me is that when DEI let Junior go, it was said that Teresa was turning DEI into nothing more than a museum. So now DEI is moving forward and fans are horrified and saying that DEI should be more like a museum. It seems to me that this is a situation in which Teresa and DEI can't win. No matter what they do it would be wrong to some. If they kept memorabilia related to Junior Teresa would probably be accused of trying to lure fans to DEI and make a profit off of him. I think it's best for both for them to make as clean a break as possible and more forward as separately as they can - though it appears that's going to be pretty difficult.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (1/24)

*There's been quite a fuss made by the media and some fans over all traces of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. being removed from DEI, including all of his race memorabilia and trophies that used to be on display. I think this is much ado over nothing. I'm not sure what people expected really. Yes, Junior won a lot of races for DEI, was a big part of their overall success while he raced for them and is the son of the late owner. But when drivers like Steve Park and Michael Waltrip left DEI everything of theirs was removed too so it seems to me that DEI is just doing what they've always done. In addition, it was a bitter parting of the ways between DEI and Junior so I'm not sure why so many thought that DEI would continue to pay tribute to someone who seemed to leave on such bad terms. Also, while many teams continue to display memorabilia from drivers who used to race for them to reflect the history of the organization, another way of looking at it is that DEI is choosing not to give exposure to a driver and sponsor who left for two different competing organizations.

*Obviously Teresa Earnhardt and others at DEI were paying attention to the criticism directed towards Teresa last year about how she was an absentee owner who wasn't involved enough in what was happening at her organization. After hosting a party for the media during Champion's Week in New York in December, Teresa also made a brief appearance at the event DEI had for the media yesterday as part of Nascar's media week. Naturally many criticized her for that too saying that she didn't speak for long enough or that it was only for show. Hello, everything that every team does during media weeks is for show! It's all about impressing the media and getting them to write positive stories about how each team and driver thinks they're going to do during the season. Teresa will never be a Richard Childress or a Rick Hendrick who attends most of the races and makes themselves available to the media at all times, but it does appear that she's trying to make an effort which is a good thing for her organization and it's drivers. Of course to many fans nothing she does will ever be right. I don't particularly care for Teresa's approach to her company, however, it's her's to run as she chooses.

*There was another round of testing this week that's gotten very little attention - the truck teams tested at Atlanta yesterday and Tuesday. Ron Hornaday was fastest on Tuesday and Terry Cook was fastest yesterday. Of course testing isn't always that exciting, especially since the results aren't always a true reflection of how the teams are going to do during season. Still, it says something that there's been next to no coverage of these test sessions anywhere. Of course there's tough competition with it being media week so most of the journalists are involved with that. But it seems to me that it's a problem for this series that sites like Scenedaily.com don't seem to have even a bare-bones article about how testing went. How can this series be expected to grow and attract much needed sponsors if there's not much coverage of what's going on in the series?

*ESPN is going to air a five-part series chronicling Junior's move to Hendrick Motorsports called Dale Jr. – Shifting Gears. It sounds very similar to what ESPN did with Michael Waltrip Racing - A New Era last season. Given that the show is produced by Hammerhead Entertainment, which is a division of JR Motorsports, and in cooperation with Hendrick Motorsports, I would guess that Junior and his "people" had complete editorial control over each episode. I'd probably be a lot more interested in watching if this was something independently produced by ESPN that I thought was an honest look at the process. I'm quite sure that anything that will make Junior look bad or doesn't fit with the message that they're trying to get across won't make it to air.

*Although John Andretti will take part in the Rolex 24 this weekend, he doesn't have a ride in Nascar after having parted ways with BAM Racing due to uncertainties related to sponsorship and direction. Andretti may participate in Cup testing next week for an unknown team but otherwise he's still looks for a ride, though it sounds like he may race some truck races. Andretti raced four races for Billy Ballew in 2005 and the results were good - two top tens and a top fifteen.

*Key Motorsports didn't test at Daytona with the rest of the truck teams but they are planning to field a truck for Chad Chaffin at Dayona next month and at a number of other early season races, after which the team will decide whether to continue or not. I would guess that whether they're in the top 30 and thus guaranteed a spot to race each week, as well as their sponsorship situation will determine how many more races they'll run. Chaffin isn't among the elite drivers in the truck garage, but he has won a truck race and shown that he can get decent results at times so I wouldn't be surprised to see him put the #40 in the top 30 if luck is on his side and the trucks he's given to race are decent.

*The media tour wrapped up today and I don't think the media ever paid a visit to Red Bull Racing or Bill Davis Racing unless I just missed the articles or discussion that was generated from those visits. According to Claire B. Lang on XM RBR pulled some sort of stunt where they had a street-legal version of one of their cars drive next to the media bus when they were on their way to one of the stops on the tour, but I don't think they had an official event where their drivers, crew chiefs and executives were present like most of the other teams had. I'm surprised. I assumed that all of the larger teams took part in media week but it appears that they don't. RBR traditionally doesn't do things the way other teams does when it comes to media and promotions so maybe it's not that surprising that they didn't host an event. But what about BDR? I'd think that with the sponsorship problems for BDR they'd want to do something that would generate some press and exposure for their organization. Maybe they didn't want to have to answer any hard questions about whether Bill Davis might sell BDR, the fiasco with 360OTC or their current lack of sponsorship for the #27 which could leave them as a one-car Cup operation after the first five races this season. ETA: Claire B. Lang just said that Robby Gordon was the only Ford owner to not take part in that manufacturer's event today - why? I don't understand why an owner would opt not to take part in something which usually results in positive media attention and added exposure for the team and their sponsors.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts On Random Thoughts (1/14)

*Not only is Ken Schrader testing for BAM Racing in the #49 this week at Daytona and racing for them during Speedweeks, he'll also be testing for them later this month at California and Las Vegas. Although Ken didn't say that he would be in the #49 for any races beyond the Daytona 500, if he makes it in, that he'll be participating in other test sessions for them beyond this one is an indication that they may put him behind the wheel for a few other races. Ken did say though that he plans on racing something somewhere every weekend this season and I have no doubt that's exactly what he'll do. I can see why BAM might want to put Ken in the #49 again since he might attract some sponsorship for them, but I have to wonder if Ken would want to race for them on a regular basis. While John Andretti was able to do a good job of getting the car in a lot of races towards the end of last season, I think that it might be even harder for this team to make races than it was last, especially if all the Toyota teams are improved.

*Whiskey River, the nightclub that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been planning for three years, is currently under construction in Charlotte. Apparently Junior couldn't build the club while he was sponsored by Budweiser - at least with the Whiskey River name - presumably because Bud would have objected to him seemingly promoting another kind of adult beverage over beer. There's so many things that Junior is involved with on top of adjusting to racing for a new team and sometimes I wonder if he's not spreading himself just a wee bit too thin in spite of having his sister, Kelley Earnhardt and others to help him.

*The Junior Nation will get to see Junior Super Bowl weekend in some commercials for AMP Energy Drink. One ad features Junior taking on a camel (huh?) and another a gorilla (double huh?). Supposedly the animals are meant to "represent the forces that drivers endure on a race track at 200 mph." (triple-huh?). Maybe I have to see the commercials to get it but I don't think of camels or gorillas when I think of Nascar. The whole thing sounds ridiculous. Apparently these commercials came about because viewers like commercials during the Super Bowl that feature celebrities and animal antics. For the amount of money that's probably being spent on these commercials Pepsi (they make AMP) better hope these commercials come out a lot better than they sound.

*In other Junior related news Tony Eury, Jr. said today that he'll be disappointed if Junior doesn't win at least four races this season. Well, I think Tony, Jr. should hold off on making any bold predictions or setting any lofty goals. I seem to remember Tony, Jr. making some big predictions about how many races they were going to win last year and they ended up not winning a single one. I think Junior is going to be very strong this season and will likely win at least one race, but the Cup series is extremely competitive. Maybe Tony, Jr. should worry about getting through testing and being prepared as possible for the start of the season before he makes any predictions. It would not be a good thing for Tony, Jr., Junior or this team as a whole to get overconfident before they even took to the track for a single race.

*During his session with the media today Kevin Harvick said that he has a new hobby - watching politics. He then proceeded to diss Hillary Clinton and endorse Mike Huckabee. While I respect Kevin's right to his opinions and I like that Kevin is willing to be open about what he thinks, I think he needs to be careful when it comes to politics as that (and religion) are two topics that generate strong feelings and can be very divisive. Kevin's sponsors would be less than pleased if some were turned off from him based on the comments he made on politics. Granted many of those in the garage area as well as many fans tend to be Republicans but I just don't think this is a good road for Kevin to go down.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2007

Unanswered Questions Heading Into 2008

As 2007 comes to an end there's lots of unanswered questions heading into the new year for a lot of teams, drivers and Nascar itself...

*Will Brendan Gaughan find a ride? I think the last thing that anyone expected was that Brendan would still be looking for a ride this late but then again it was also pretty surprising when the merger between South Point Racing and Wyler Racing fell apart which led to South Point Racing closing their doors.

*How many other teams might have to fold due to financial or other issues?

*What team will Ted Musgrave race for in 2008? At the end of the season there was a lot of talk that he had a deal in place but nothing's been announced yet.

*Will Morgan-McClure Motorsports field a Cup car next season? That they're heading into 2008 with no driver, no crew chief and no sponsor doesn't seem to bode well for them.

*A lot of fans have dug in their heels and are insistent that everything about the "new" Nascar is horrible as compared to the way things used to be. Any change, no matter how small is met with negativity, and more and more fans seem to like complaining and being negative about everything they hate about Nascar from some drivers to the governing body more than they enjoy watching good racing (yes, there is some of that!) and cheering for their favorite drivers. How is Nascar going to respond to these increasingly vocal fans?

*How long will Steve Park keep looking for a ride before the desire to race is greater than his desire to find an elite ride? And if he doesn't race next year either, how long before Steve acknowledges that he might be done?

*How many other talented drivers will have to sit on the sidelines next season for all or part of the season due to a lack of quality rides, sponsorship or other factors?

*Rumors circulated at the end of the season that all or part of Bill Davis Racing might be sold. Will that sale actually happen? More and more teams are finding that they need to bring on additional financial partners due to the ever increasing costs of racing so it wouldn't be surprising to see this sale go through at some point.

*How will switching manufacturers from Chevy to Toyota effect Joe Gibbs Racing? Some are predicting that JGR won't skip a beat and will be just as competitive as ever, while others are predicting that 2008 will be a disaster for them. I think 2008 will more likely be somewhere in the middle - an organization like JGR doesn't suddenly become non-competitive that quickly, but with how many problems Toyota had in Cup in 2007 I don't think it will be smooth sailing either.

*How will Dale Earnhardt, Jr. adjust to racing for a different organization for the first time in his Cup career? Many are already penciling him in as the 2008 Cup Champion but I think things won't be as easy for Junior in 2008 as some think. Aside from making the transition from DEI to Hendrick Motorsports, Junior will also be dealing with new teammates who are just as high-profile as he is, new major sponsors and new obligations that could be a distraction from what he's trying to accomplish on the track.

*Will HMS continue their dominant ways in the Cup Series next year? Will Jimmie Johnson win his third Cup championship in a row? I believe HMS will continue to be one of the best organizations in the garage, but I suspect that some of the other elite teams will close the gap a little. I expect Jimmie to contend for his third championship in a row.

*Will BDR, Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing improve in performance in 2008? MWR has made the most changes, bringing in a new financial partner, new upper management, a Director of Engineering, three new crew chiefs, as well as additional personnel and resources. However, BDR and RBR must also be working hard to ensure that they are more successful next season. Some believe that Dave Blaney is poised to have a breakout season but BDR has struggled so much the past few seasons I'm not convinced of that. I think Brian Vickers will likely have a much stronger 2008, assuming that RBR can give him more competitive cars than they did this season.

*Who's going to end up in the #00 for MWR after the first five races? It's expected that one or both MWR development drivers, Josh Wise or Michael McDowell, will end up in the #00, but MWR has been known to surprise - will a veteran end up in the mix?

*How will all the open wheel drivers fare in Cup in 2008? With two of them needing to qualify for races on speed to start the season, and a limited amount of experience in Nascar for all of them, the results might not be pretty.

*Will drivers who struggled such as Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip and Jeremy Mayfield rebound in 2008?

*What company will replace Craftsman as the sponsor of the Truck Series?

Posted by silverdsl at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2007

Junior to Drive #88

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s new number at Hendrick Motorsports will be #88 and his sponsors will be Mountain Dew, AMP Energy Drink and the National Guard. That's only a surprise to those who haven't visited Jayski's, ESPN or any other media outlet that covers Nascar recently. That Junior would be sponsored by a Pepsi product has been rumored since virtually the day he signed with Hendrick, and that it would specifically be Mountain Dew and AMP, as well as the National Guard has been heavily rumored for quite some time. Word that Junior would get the #88 also leaked out in the last week or so. Which is why it was so humorous to me that the folks from Hendrick were proudly crowing about how they had leaked incorrect information and did all sorts of things, including registering trademarks for multiple numbers to throw people off and keep everything a secret. Well, just exactly what did they keep a secret? Not Junior's new number, not his sponsors, and not even the paint schemes on the cars since Kevin King, the designer was telling at least one fan information that was posted in detail on the Junior pit board. Even this morning someone from Hendrick accidentally let a few pages of new Junior merchandise go live in their online store well before the press conference took place.

What I'm wondering about is what prompted Yates Racing to agree to hand over the #88 to Hendrick? Just a few weeks ago Doug Yates expressed outrage about being approached by Hendrick about the #38, and at that time he indicated they planned to use the #38 and #88 next season. When it was announced that Travis Kvapil would be replacing Ricky Rudd at Yates, it was said he would race the #88. So what happened in just a few weeks to change Yates outlook on giving the #88 up? Also, I have to wonder how Dale Jarrett feels. Supposedly when he left Yates for Michael Waltrip Racing he wanted to take the #88 with him but Yates wouldn't let him. Now Yates is perfectly willing to hand it over to another driver who has never even raced it.

In addition, it seems to me that the kerfuffle over Junior not being allowed to take the #8 from DEI was extremely overblown now that he's got the #88. Isn't two 8's better than just one? Not only is the #88 two of his current number, but Junior uses the #88 in the Busch Series for JR Motorsports. It's a very appropriate number and other than those who aren't too happy about having to buy all new merchandise, there shouldn't be too much disappointment over Junior's new number.

So can we get back to our lives now that the burning questions about Junior's new number and sponsor have finally been answered?

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

Kasey Kahne to be Sponsored by Budweiser

What's long been rumored was finally made official yesterday - Budweiser will be the primary sponsor of Kasey Kahne's #9 car at Gillett-Evernham Motorsports starting next season. Although fans have had months to get used to the idea of Kasey becoming the new face of Budweiser in Nascar, it's not going to be easy for some fans to accept Kasey being paired with Bud. For one thing, a significant amount of fans feel that Kasey isn't a good fit for Bud. Although I agree with those who think Kasey's teammate Elliott Sadler would have been a better choice to be sponsored by Budweiser, I think ultimately Kasey will work well with Budweiser. Some fans seem to think the idea of Kasey drinking beer is crazy - after all he's shy, delicate looking and doesn't have as much of a presence as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who Budweiser sponsored since he started racing in Cup. But don't quiet people drink beer too? I suppose it's because I've seen Kasey drinking beer before but it doesn't seem as outlandish to me that Budweiser wants to sponsor Kasey as it seems to a lot of other fans.

Odds are that during the off-season Budweiser will tweak Kasey's image to make it more suitable for their brand, much like how Brian Vickers whole look changed when he went from Hendrick Motorsports to Red Bull Racing. That doesn't mean Budweiser is going to make Kasey into a different person, just that they're going to accentuate parts of his personality and some of his interests that fit with their sponsorship program, as well as possibly encouraging him to change his look a little. If Budweiser didn't think Kasey was a good fit for their marketing/advertising/promotional goals, they wouldn't have opted to sponsor him.

Some fans, mostly Junior fans, are predicting that this will be a disastrous partnership and that Budweiser will regret signing on to be Kasey's sponsor. I don't think so. For one thing Budweiser isn't going to enter into a major sponsorship deal unless they think it's going to be successful. But beyond that do people realize just how popular Kasey is? Sure he's not the sport's most popular driver like Junior is, and he's not going to move as much merchandise as Junior, but there's no doubt that he's tremendously popular with fans in his own right. If Budweiser couldn't go with Junior to Hendrick they were going to want to align themselves with another extremely popular driver, and since Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are never going to be available, Kasey was an extremely good option. Kasey may be quiet but he's personable and very good with the fans. He never shies away from signing autographs and has a smile for everyone, even if he's not always as outgoing as some other drivers. Kasey's also extremely marketable and his TV commercials are very well-received. But beyond that, Kasey is an extremely talented driver. Although the results this season have been poor for Kasey and his teammates, Kasey knows how to win. A winner of multiple races in each of Nascar's three highest levels, Kasey won six races in Cup last season. Once Evernham gets their overall Cup program back on track there's no doubt Kasey will be back in Victory Lane. That he has a pole, two top tens and a second place finish in his last four races is an indication that he's still capable of strong results on the track.

It's incredible how offended some fans are that Budweiser is going to be sponsoring another driver next season, almost like some feel that Budweiser should have left the sport completely after it was announced that they were parting ways with Junior. It wasn't going to work for Bud to follow Junior to Hendrick because of the conflict with Pepsi, so from there they needed to do what they felt was best for their company, which is to continue their involvement in Cup, only with a different driver. What some fans seem to forget is that Budweiser sponsored other drivers before they sponsored Junior, and they'll probably sponsor other drivers after Kasey. Very few things stay the same forever and sometimes change is good. I think Budweiser, GEM and Kasey will all benefit from their association with each other.

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

September 10, 2007

A Nation Weeps

The Junior Nation that is. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. failed to make the Chase for the Championship, and it's a bitter pill for his fans to swallow. Don't get me wrong, I understand completely how disappointed Junior's fans are that he didn't make the Chase, but the earth is still rotating on it's axis and there will still be racing next weekend at New Hampshire even though Junior didn't make the Chase contrary to what some Junior fans seem to think. There's no conspiracy against Junior either, simply a season full of bad luck.

There's no doubt that DEI's engine program was a major achillies heel for the #8 team this season, but that shouldn't be a surprise since the engine program has been DEI's weakness for a few years now. Those five blown engines were definitely a big reason why Junior didn't make the Chase but I don't think it's a lock that Junior would have made the Chase if he hadn't had those engine issues. For one thing he could have had five DNFs due to wrecks or other mechanical issues. Maybe he wouldn't have raced as well if the season had played out differently. And there was still Tony Eury, Jr.'s boo-boo that cost Junior 100 points. One thing that's likely is that Junior's blown engines weren't sabatoge on the part of DEI or Teresa Earnhardt. DEI has more to gain from Junior being in the Chase and being successful than from keeping him out of the Chase.

The other thing that gets me is that in 2005 Michael Waltrip had four or five blown engines, including two to start the season, and a number of other mechanical and other issues out of his hands that ruined good runs in a number of races, particularly after he announced that he'd be leaving DEI. At the time some of Junior's fans blamed Michael saying that he must be doing something wrong because of how bad of a driver he is to cause all those blown engines since DEI is the bestest organization in Nascar. Yet now that it's Junior who has to deal with all the blown engines, it's poor Junior, DEI sucks, it must be a conspiracy by DEI to keep him out of the Chase. The reality is that the blown engines are neither driver's fault - it's something that needs to be resolved in DEI's engine department.

As expected many Junior fans are also turning on target="_blank"Martin Truex, Jr. Even though Junior continues to be close friends with Martin, that's not stopping many of Junior's fans from viewing Martin as the enemy. I suppose some of it is rooted in jealousy - Martin's having a better season than Junior and he made the Chase. They're also resentful that DEI is turning their focus from Junior towards doing everything they can to help Martin win the Championship. To that end Steve Hmiel is going to stop spotting for Junior so he can concentrate on his responsibilities as technical director, something that has gone over very poorly with Junior's fans. But the fact is that Junior is leaving DEI, Martin is staying and he has a chance to win a Championship. I don't blame DEI for doing everything they feel they need to do to improve Martin's ability to succeed in the Chase, particularly in light of the overall engine issues at DEI - seems to me they need some additional oversight on the technical end.

So what does Junior do now? Contrary to what some fans think Junior is still racing for something - wins. I've seen a few fans suggest that Junior should deliberately tank the rest of the races. Doing something like that will only hurt Junior's reputation and create ill-will with his team, DEI and others in the garage area, and I think Junior is too competitive as a driver to do anything like that. If he's out there racing, he wants to get the best possible finish he can. Not to mention he knows he has a good team that's capable of winning. They've certainly raced in the top five frequently this season. So I think we'll be seeing Junior race even harder than ever over these last ten races, looking to play spoiler in the Chase.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2007

Brad Keselowski Signed by JR Motorsports for Remainder of 2007

As expected Brad Keselowski has been signed by JR Motorsports to race the #88 in the Busch Series for the remainder of the season. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has to be happy with the way Brad has raced for him since he chose him to replace Shane Huffman. In just six races Brad has two top tens and two top fifteens, and I have a strong feeling the results will get even better for him as time goes along. I've been very impressed with Brad since his great run in the #9 truck at Memphis, and I'm glad that he's getting such a good opportunity with a solid race team that will likely be more competitive next season given their alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. Junior seems to have made a very wise choice in signing Brad, and I hope Brad will be able to continue racing for JR Motorsports or another good organization next season as well.

Last night Michael Waltrip had Brad on his XM show to discuss Brad's scary wreck in the Busch race at California. What was interesting was that it turns out that Michael was talking to Brad about a ride at Michael Waltrip Racing back in April and really wanted to sign him, but as it turned out they couldn't find a spot for Brad at MWR. Probably a wise move because it might have stretched their already thin resources even further to field an additional truck or Busch car full-time for Brad. Those discussions took place a few months before Brad filled in for Ted Musgrave in the #9, so it's an indication that Brad's been on the radar for more than a few in the garage area for a while now. Based on how complimentary Michael was towards Brad, I think that should he part ways with JR Motorsports and there's an opening at MWR, Michael won't hesitate in revisiting their discussions from earlier this season about a ride. As much as I like MWR's current drivers I would love to see Michael add Brad into the mix, though I would guess that Junior will be sure to hang onto him.

One of the things that Michael said last night was that it was great to see a deserving driver like Brad get an opportunity to race for JR Motorsports. When I heard that I couldn't help but think back a few months ago to when Shane had lost his ride in the #88 and Steve Park had expressed interest in being considered for that ride. So much interest that he said that fans should email JR Motorsports on his behalf and ask them to put him in the car. This was said to a fan in a phone conversation and when it was posted on Steve Park Central, Steve's request was immediately followed by a comment about how JR Motorsports needs a "real" driver. At the time I didn't know whether that was something that fan thought, or whether it was something that Steve himself had said, and I still don't know. However, should that be something that Steve actually said, well, it really makes me cringe. Brad had just been selected to race the #88 at least on a short-term basis, something Steve might or might not have been aware of, so there's no telling if he was referring to Brad (if he actually even made that comment). But if he did and he was referring to Brad, it seems to me that Steve's really out of the loop and out of touch with some of what's going on in the garage area.

In the past Steve has made comments about young drivers getting rides without having to pay their dues, and there's plenty of Steve's fans who believe that most young drivers are getting opportunities because of factors other than their talent behind the wheel. Well, with Brad it's all about talent. He didn't buy a ride in the #88, he didn't bring sponsorship with him, he's not "cute" and no one handed him a ride with a Cup backed team because they thought he could attract sponsors. Unlike some young drivers these days who don't know how to work on the cars they race, Brad knows how to build a race car from top to bottom, which probably came from racing for his family's race team, a team that was funded by his family's automotive business, not some huge corporate entity. He raced for small underfunded teams and made the most of the opportunities that were given to him, particularly the opportunity to race the #9 truck, which he said was the best car or truck he's ever raced. In short Brad is a "real" driver, and anyone who's paying the slightest bit of attention should recognize that. Not only do I hope that Steve never made that remark in the first place, I hope that no one of importance saw that remark on SPC or the couple of other places I saw it repeated. I would like to think that like Michael, Steve can also recognize and appreciate a young driver with talent.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2007

Casey Mears to the #5; Tony Eury, Jr. will go to HMS with Junior

Hendrick Motorsports announced today that Casey Mears will move from the #25 team to the #5 team starting next season. Kellogg's and Carquest will remain the primary sponsors, and Alan Gustafson will continue in his role as crew chief for the #5 team. Darian Grubb will finish the season as crew chief of the #25, then will move into a "senior competition position" at HMS, though I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave the organization at some point since an announcement that a crew chief is moving into a competition position sometimes seems to precede them taking a crew chief role with another team if they're not giving up crew chiefing voluntarily. Grubb's new position leaves a crew chief vacancy for 2008, which will be filled by Tony Eury, Jr. who will leave DEI as expected to continue working with Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Some of Casey's fans are extremely upset about him changing teams, because it means that he'll have a new sponsor, crew chief and car number. To a degree I can understand why they're upset because Casey has had quite a few different sponsors and car numbers the past few years so every season his fans have to buy new and updated merchandise. In addition, it's hard for a driver to be as successful as they're capable of if there's no consistency in terms of personnel and especially with the crew chief from year to year because it makes it hard to develop good communication and work well together as a team. However, Casey won't be working with just any team and crew chief, he'll be working with a group that has gotten four wins and 25 top fives since Gustafson came aboard as crew chief. In the past some of Casey's fans have complained that he's gotten the short end of the stick in comparison to teammates in terms of personnel, cars and resources - it appears that next season he'll be inheriting an excellent team that should give him every opportunity to race as well as he's capable of.

As for Tony Eury, Jr., that he opted to continue working with Junior is no surprise. However, I have to wonder if Junior might not have been better off with a different crew chief. Although things didn't work out so well when the two Juniors split up in 2005, that doesn't mean that there's not another top crew chief out there - such as Darian Grubb - who Junior might have clicked with. And obviously Tony, Jr. can work well with other drivers considering Michael Waltrip got some of the best results of his career on non-restrictor plate tracks when Tony, Jr. was his crew chief. It'll be interesting to see how this works out, how many others from target="_blank"DEI the Juniors bring with them to HMS, and how long it takes both Juniors to adapt to being at a new organization that isn't run by family members.

All the remains to be announced for next season is what Junior's sponsor and number will be. Rumor has it that the National Guard will split time on the car with Mountain Dew and AMP, an energy drink. Hopefully it'll be announced soon because I'm getting a little tired of hearing the same speculation about what his number might be or what someone "in-the-know" claims is the absolute truth about who Junior's sponsors will be.

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

August 31, 2007

More Numbers Issues for Junior

Earlier in the week it had been reported by Bob Dilner on Speed that Robert Yates had offered Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. the use of the #38, a number that is probably very much of interest to Junior considering it combines both his father's number as well as the only number that Junior's ever raced in Cup, that he couldn't get Teresa Earnhardt to hand over. Fans were ecstatic about the idea, and Hendrick went so far as to submit a trademark application for the use of the number. There's only one problem. The #38 is currently in use by Yates, and from the sounds of it they're not as willing to turn it over as the initial reports indicated. In fact, they didn't approach Hendrick, it was the other way around - Hendrick asked Yates if they could have the number. Doug Yates, president of Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing said,

"Dale Jr., since he can't have what he wants, he might want the 38. "They're asking for the 38, and the 38 and 88 are our numbers.It's almost a little strange. It's like somebody asking if they can take your girlfriend or your wife out. We feel we're going to have the 38 and 88 [next year]."

That really doesn't sound like an organization on the verge of giving up one of their number does it? He did go on to say that a final decision is up to his father but he also reiterated that those are their numbers and they expect to continue racing with them next season. I have to say that I think it's incredibly inappropriate for Hendrick to register a trademark application for a number in use by another team that they intend on using. Maybe Robert Yates has expressed some willingness to hand the number over that his father isn't aware of, but otherwise I think Hendrick should wait until they know if they'll be able to use that number or not before they file paperwork for it.

In other related news, one of the other numbers that Hendrick is apparently considering for Junior to use is #51. Someone emailed in to Sirius this morning with a very interesting point about that number, how it would symbolize the 51% ownership of DEI that Junior asked for during failed contract negotiations between himself and DEI. Running that number, this emailer said would be taking a shot at Teresa every race weekend for as long as they used that number. I hope that's not the thinking of Junior and Hendrick in considering that number - not only would that be extremely childish, it would be a little hypocritical of him to do something like that after having just pleaded for people to back off of Teresa.

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

August 29, 2007

Michael Waltrip Speaks on Teresa Earnhardt

Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images.

One of the many things that I like about Michael Waltrip is that he's not afraid to speak his mind. Whether it's on Inside Nextel Cup, his XM show, Michael Waltrip Out Loud, or in an interview, Michael pretty much says what he thinks. In Nascar that's not always easy to do since not only does one run the risk of angering fans and the media, but there's also sponsors to answer to, one's team and also the governing body of the sport. Recently Michael's had something on his mind that he had been considering speaking out on, something that likely would have upset more than a few people since his viewpoint on this particular topic is extremely unpopular. Why was Michael going to be vocal on this issue even though he might have run the risk of making himself a target for some nastiness, particularly from fans? Not because he had to, but because he felt it was the right thing to do.

Some might be wondering what that might have to do with the photo of Michael and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. which was taken by Jason Smith at driver introductions this past weekend at Bristol. Well, apparently when this photo was taken Michael was talking to Junior about what he had been thinking of speaking out on - how people should back off of Teresa Earnhardt - something that Junior ended up addressing himself.

On both INC and his XM show Michael had some very interesting comments about Teresa, who he knows well as a result of his close friendship with Dale Earnhardt, that really shed light on Teresa's motivation for some of her actions as it relates to DEI and the #8. Some fans seem to forget that Teresa was Dale's wife, the woman that he loved, trusted and wanted to handle his business affairs. Not Michael, since he obviously saw them together first-hand. He said that Teresa and Dale were a perfect match together. So for all those fans who think that Teresa is some nasty, evil woman, what would that say about Dale? But Michael said despite what some think, Teresa's not a spiteful or a mean woman. All of her actions, according to him, are done out of her love for Dale, and that she's trying to preserve everything that belonged to him. So she didn't want to give up the #15 when Michael wanted to take it with him when he left DEI or more recently the #8 when Junior wanted it because those two numbers were owned by Dale so to Teresa they belonged with DEI. I can totally understand that way of thinking, and why Teresa wouldn't want to let go of anything that belonged to Dale. That would explain why it took so long for her to give Junior rights to his own name since those rights had been in Dale's name.

I think what really got me about what Michael said about Teresa is that while some have defended her right to make the decisions she feels are in the best interest of DEI from a business point-of-view, that I can recall until Michael's comments no one had defended Teresa as a person. A large part of that might be due to how private Teresa is so Michael is one of only a select group of people in the garage area who really know Teresa well. But I think it's also because it's become accepted and in vogue to hate Teresa and blame her for a lot of things that aren't necessarily completely in her hands. The vast majority of fans, some in the media and I would guess even some in the garage area are extremely negative towards Teresa, and when it comes to the fans, sometimes in very hateful ways. Speaking out in support of Teresa could put Michael in a position where some of that nastiness was directed towards him, but he was willing to risk that because he felt it was something that needed to be done. Apparently the only thing that had stopped him from saying something sooner was that he wasn't sure how to go about doing it. Based on what he said on his XM show it sounded like he didn't want to offend anyone in the Earnhardt family or seem to be taking a side since he's still on good terms with both Teresa and Junior, but he had finally gotten so fed up that he couldn't take what was being said about Teresa anymore.

Ultimately Michael didn't have to be the one who spoke out since Junior did so. And Michael apparently told him how proud he was that he did so during their conversation on Saturday. Junior told him that his father would be extremely upset about what people were saying about Teresa, and maybe that's what prompted Junior to speak up - that he realized that his father wouldn't be too happy. Maybe that's also part of why Michael was going to say something because he felt he owed it to Dale. Regardless, I'm just glad I'm a fan of a driver who isn't afraid to speak his mind, especially when it's to support a friend.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2007

Mark Martin and Aric Armirola to the #8?

Reports are that Mark Martin and Aric Almirola, who it was previously announced would split time in the #01 car next season, will be shifted to the #8 car by DEI in 2008, along with the sponsor of the #01, the U.S. Army. If this is actually what happens I think it's a brilliant plan by DEI, and major kudos should go to whoever thought of it. Most fans have a tremendous amount of respect for Mark and all that he's accomplished in the sport so they probably wouldn't harass him too much for taking over the #8, something that might happen to other drivers who are less popular than Mark is. Even fewer fans would dare boo, throw cans or otherwise direct any kind of negativity towards the U.S. Army, or any other branch of branch of the Armed Services. So the whole issue of DEI keeping the #8 would likely become a non-issue very quickly.

As for the #01 car, DEI would need to find both a sponsor and a driver for that ride. While David Reutimann is apparently still under consideration for a ride with DEI it seems to me that they're more likely to go with Regan Smith who is already under contract after the merger with Ginn Racing. David may also not be too inclined to consider DEI under they have a sponsor for that car given that sponsorship is what's holding up him being offered a new contract by Michael Waltrip Racing (which is where I really hope he stays not just next season but well into the future).

Aric is making his first start in the #01 car this weekend at Bristol and already things aren't off to a very good start. Unfortunately yet another DEI engine has bit the dust, but this time it's not due to anything being mechanically wrong with the engine, but rather because Aric missed a shift. It's amazing how many Junior fans believe that Aric is being forced to take the blame because DEI doesn't want it known that they had another blown engine. Ridiculous. This is a driver whose Cup experience is limited to 46 laps in a race early this season. Although Aric is a talented driver, he's probably nervous and it's not surprising that he might have made a mistake. I really doubt that anyone forced Aric to take the blame, just like DEI doesn't make Junior take the blame for things going bad against his will. The reason Junior said that it was his fault that he didn't finish better at Michigan, was because Junior did in fact make a costly mistake which cost them positions on the track when he missed his pit stall and had to back up during one pit stop. But I guess that's too be expected - there's some fans who think their favorite driver can do no wrong.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2007

Just Wondering...

We'll never know what happened between Teresa and Junior to cause things to be so difficult between them or why Teresa has made the decisions that she has regarding Junior, him leaving DEI and the #8, but I got to wondering about something. Just exactly how often does Junior hear "No, it's not possible." "No, I won't do it." or "No, you can't have what you want." Of course no one ever gets everything they want in life, but I'd guess that Junior doesn't hear "no" very often. That's what tends to happen when someone is wealthy, famous and is a person of influence as Junior is in Nascar as the sport's most popular driver. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Junior is surrounded by all "yes" men and women since Jade, his/Bud's PR person doesn't seem to shy away from giving his opinions, and his sister Kelley seems pretty head-strong, but a lot of times the people who surround someone like Junior are sometimes afraid to disagree with them, tell them that something's not a good idea, or simply say "no" because they're afraid of losing their friendship or job with that person. In addition, money makes almost anything possible and Junior certainly has plenty of money. So I can't help but wonder if on some level there's some issues with Teresa because she's someone who won't say "yes" to everything that Junior wants, and likely hasn't for his entire life. Of course I have no idea what the issues are between himself and Teresa, but I suspect that Junior, much like a lot of others in his position finds it particularly frustrating when he can't get his way, when he usually does with so much else.

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

Junior Not Too Pleased About Having to Get a New Number

Based on today's comments seems like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. might be in need of a whaambulance pretty soon. Okay, I exaggerate. In truth, I do understand to some degree why he's upset about not being able to continue to race the #8 since it's the only number he's ever raced in Cup plus his father and grandfather also raced using that number. However, I can't help but think of a saying that Michael Waltrip once used on Inside Nextel Cup which went something along the lines of how sometimes you "need to pull up your big girl panties and just deal with it!" Indeed, Junior needs to suck it up and deal with the fact that his step-mother isn't going to give him everything he wants. And if today's comments are any reflection on the way he treats her privately, maybe I can understand why.

Now to be clear, I think that blame for the way things have turned out between Teresa and Junior, along with his sister Kelley, is likely shared. Some fans think that Junior can do no wrong, so naturally all the fault must lie with Teresa, but through the years a lot has probably happened and both "sides" have likely made their share of mistakes.

That said, Junior's comments today make me roll my eyes. Let's look at a little of what he had to say...

"I'm not going to sit here and get personal about this. This personal stuff is way far away from the racetrack. It's upsetting as hell and unfortunate. But that's just what happens sometimes."

No, he's not going to get personal about it at all. Junior's cool, calm and collected, couldn't care less that Teresa won't be handing over the rights to the #8 to him. He's not upset one bit... oh wait. Yes, indeed sometimes life is upsetting. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to. It really sucks sometimes but as I said above sometimes you have to just deal with it... especially when you knew going into negotiations that it was unlikely that you were going to get the number.

"I kinda had an idea that we were going to come to this road and have to take a turn, and I knew this was the way it was going to happen. I am not really all that surprised. I knew I wasn't going to get the number a long time ago."

So then why exactly did they even enter into negotiations if they knew what the outcome was going to be? I hate to think things like this but part of me wonders whether Junior recognized an opportunity to make Teresa look bad and garner sympathy for himself?

"But she either feels too personal about the number, or the rift between me and her or whatever is too personal. I can totally understand if I was in her shoes, I would be inclined to probably keep the number myself."

He understands why she would be inclined to want to keep the number, yet he's "upset as hell" about not getting it? If Junior truly understands then he'd still be disappointed but seems to me he'd be more accepting and less upset.

Earnhardt Jr. said Teresa wanted part of licensing revenue and wanted the number back after he was done with Hendrick.
"Just ridiculous kind of requests," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We just wanted the number. I was willing to give the number back when I was done driving. I wouldn't have any use for it personally.

Hello! It's called a negotiation. It's business. Teresa had something of value that Junior wanted, did he think she would simply hand it over without getting anything in return? No matter what money was going to change hands if this was going to happen, seems to me that Teresa was being somewhat shrewd in asking for a percentage of licensing revenue, given how much that revenue was likely going to be.

"It meant that much to her, but I feel like it is an Earnhardt tradition because my grandfather and my dad [used] it a little bit, too."

I know that some thing that Teresa isn't a "real" Earnhardt, or that she's somehow lesser because she married into the Earnhardt family, but the reality is that like it or not, her last name is also Earhardt, the same name that's also a part of the name of the company she runs. Oh yeah, there's also the little part about how Junior's Dad was her husband. Seems to me those very same reasons why Junior wanted to take the #8 with him are reasons why Teresa has no obligation to hand the #8 over. Like it or not, whether her decisions are good ones or bad ones, Teresa is an Earnhardt, and is entitled to make decisions that relate to DEI, her late husband's legacy and the family - particularly when she has the legal right to do so, a right that was given to her by Dale Earnhardt.

"I knew that this was the way it was going to be. I just didn't have the guts to tell my fans because they were holding out and hoping it would work out. I just didn't have the guts to tell them that it was a waste of time hoping that it would happen."

Quite a few of Junior's fans worked pretty hard on the Free the 8 campaign, and there was a lot of noise made in general about how Junior should be allowed to take the #8 from DEI. Out of consideration to those people, seems to me that maybe he owned it to them to let them know that they might be wasting their time. Maybe they would have still done the petition, the website and everything else, but it doesn't sit quite right with me that he let his fans get their hopes up that he'd be allowed to take the #8 with him when he knew right from the start it wasn't going to happen.

"We're starting with such a clean page next year anyways. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe it's sort of a blessing in disguise to really make that kind of clean break because when I walked away from DEI, I wanted no ties whatsoever and if I was to get the 8 and allow Teresa to still have control over it, I would still have to deal with it. That is not what I wanted. I have to let it go."

If he wanted a clean break from DEI, why would he want to take the number that he raced with at DEI for so many years? Starting over completely is for the best for Junior in the long-run. He can make his mark in the sport separate from DEI, Teresa, his father and everything else that's hung over his head the entire time he's been in Nascar. He does need to let it go, but from the sounds of it, he's having a hard time doing so. If he was okay with not getting the #8, something he claims he knew was going to happen right from the start, then it seems to me Junior's comments might have been a little more along the lines of "I'm disappointed because of how much that number meant to me because my father and grandfather raced it, but it's time to move on with a new chapter of my life separate from DEI."

I think the other thing that gets me that everyone seems to be forgetting is that Nascar controls the numbers. Not Teresa, Junior, Rick Hendrick or anyone else. Nascar gave the rights to the #8 to Teresa, and will presumably let her renew those rights in 2008. Nascar isn't going to force Teresa to give up the #8, nor should she have to. I think the other thing that needs to be pointed out is that Teresa entered into negotiations with Junior so it's not as if she refused to even consider the idea of letting Junior use the #8 in the future. He just wasn't willing to pay her price.

It'll be interesting to see how things go for Junior in 2008 and beyond. He won't have his step-mother and their poor relationship to blame anymore if he doesn't get what he wants.

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

August 16, 2007

New Number for Junior

DEI and Hendrick Motorsports failed to come to an agreement which would allow Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to take the #8 with him to Hendrick, so next season he'll have a new number. Most Junior fans are cursing Teresa Earnhardt and are horribly upset in general, which I can understand to a degree, but at the same time I think some of the reactions are extreme. After all, it's only a number. Sure, that's the only number that Junior has raced in Cup, but DEI is the only organization he's raced for in Cup until this point too. So to me it seems like it might not be such a bad thing for Junior to make a completely new start in 2008 - new organization, new sponsor and new number. Some fans feel that Teresa should have handed it over because Junior's grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt raced the #8 years ago, but maybe that's just as much reason for her to keep it. After all, DEI is Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

In some ways I suspect Junior, Kelley and Hendrick might not be so unhappy with the number change because it'll guarantee that there will be huge merchandise sales since fans will want to replace all their old #8 gear with new stuff. So changing numbers will generate a huge amount of revenue.

In the end Junior will race on and surely be successful no matter what number he races with.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2007

More on the DEI-Ginn Racing Merger

*A significant amount of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans seem to be furious about the merger between DEI and Ginn Racing, and I'm not sure I entirely understand why they're so upset. I get that a lot of Junior fans are angry to begin with at Teresa Earnhardt and DEI as a while over Junior leaving, but some of what's being said about this merger seems completely irrational. This deal makes DEI a stronger organization than they were a week ago, but some fans are insistent that these are moves that are going to cause DEI to collapse. But what is there to back up that line of thinking? DEI has gotten the #15 into the top 35 in owner's points, added some quality drivers to their roster, got the physical space they needed, added the fourth Cup car they wanted, and based on what John Story was saying yesterday on XM might now have the resources to expand back into the Truck Series and elsewhere. Of course the races still need to be run and there's no telling how good the results are going to be, but it's hard for me to see too many negatives about this deal for DEI.

*Some fans are upset that Teresa seems willing to hand over some ownership to Bobby Ginn, but wasn't willing to give Junior the 51% of DEI that he wanted to stick around. But let's be clear about what Bobby Ginn's name on the #01 and #15 cars is all about - owner's points. It's not about control or running DEI, it's about making it possible for the #15 to be in the top 35 in owner's points. Claire B. Lang played some comments yesterday on XM in which John Darby cleared up some misconceptions that many fans, including myself, have about owner's points and numbers. Darby said that Nascar doesn't allow owner's points or car numbers to be directly bought or sold. Ever. He couldn't have been more clear or insistent about this point. But because owners and teams are independent operators what they are allowed to do is enter into business arrangements with each other that may include mergers that make it possible for numbers or owner's points to move from one team to another. So for DEI to get the owner's points from the #14 they had to merge with Ginn Racing, and Bobby Ginn has to be listed as the owner of the #15 since he previously owned the #14. He remains listed as the owner of the #01 as that was a Ginn Racing car previously. While there's been talk of Teresa and Bobby working together on some things, it appears that the only ownership stake Bobby really has in DEI is in those two cars, not in DEI itself. The current management at DEI is going to continue to make decisions as they always have. But if Junior had gotten the 51% ownership in DEI that he wanted it would have been all about control and his ability to make the decisions that he wanted, a very different scenario than what's happening with this merger. Teresa isn't handing over a chunk of DEI to Bobby, she's actually taking over his entire operation, and folding it into DEI.

*One interesting thing that was mentioned on Sirius yesterday is that when Junior made the announcement that he was leaving DEI he made mention of how he wanted to go to an organization where he could win races and contend for a Championship immediately. His comments seemed to indicate he didn't think that was possible right now at DEI. In addition, I think there were some comments made that indicated that he didn't think they were going to do much to improve in the near future. So Dave Moody said that some at DEI viewed Junior's comments as an insult and it was a call to arms, almost a challenge to prove him wrong. On one count at least they've achieved that goal, in that they've very definitely made some changes that are an effort to improve the organization as a whole.

*Speaking of moving forward, some fans seem to feel that DEI should remain frozen in the past. It's funny because when Junior was negotiating with DEI to stay, and then after he announced he was leaving, Teresa was criticized for focusing more on Dale Earnhardt's legacy than on the competition side. However, now that she's done things to try to strengthen DEI, and move past Junior not re-signing, she's still getting criticized. Some seem to think that she's somehow not being true to what Dale would have wanted. But as I've said before, no one really knows for sure how things would have played out if Dale were still alive or what exactly he might or might not have wanted Teresa to do. Some think that if Dale were still alive the driver lineup at DEI would still be Junior, Michael Waltrip and Steve Park, and it would remain that way until all three retired, but I suspect that might not be the case. I loved that lineup as much as anyone else, but I'm not sure that would work in 2007 and beyond as well as it did in 2001-2003. (For one thing Michael couldn't have stayed with DEI and also aligned himself with Toyota as an owner of three Cup teams). Times changes, people change and organizations have to react to the current situations they find themselves in if they want to survive. The other thing is that ultimately DEI is Teresa's company to do with as she likes. The decisions she makes might be the right ones or they might be the wrong ones, only time will tell, but they are her decisions to make, regardless of what the fans think she should do.

*Other fans feel that it was a waste for DEI to get owner's points for the #15 because Paul Menard is just going to fall out of the top 35 in a few weeks because the team and Paul are so lousy. Let's be realistic here. There's a 300 point gap between 30th in owner's points where the #15 now is, and the 36th place car, so Paul's not going to fall out of the top 35 as quickly as some think. Paul has made 13 races this season and finished outside the top 35 only three times. He's shown when he has a good car that he's capable of getting a decent finish. The key is that DEI has to provide him with a car that's going to be competitive on race day. Since the team won't have to worry so much about their qualifying set-up anymore, they can concentrate on their race set-up, so they won't have to play catch-up during races to try to change their car from a qualifying to a race set-up anymore. That should help improve their results. Plus, the reality is that even though the results haven't shown it, Paul has talent behind the wheel. I think we'll likely see some more of it from here on out since the mindset of the team is going to be entirely different than it was just a week ago.

*John Story was on XM yesterday and he put to rest a few rumors that have been circulating. For one thing Mark Martin won't be driving the #8 car next season. John said that right from the start Mark made it clear that he had no intention of returning to racing full-time, that he liked having weekends off. What Mark did offer is his help in any way possible moving forward, and also expressed his desire to continue mentoring young drivers as he had been doing at Ginn Racing. John spoke very highly of Mark and made it seem as if Mark was very enthusiastic about what was going on. Mark is expected to make some public comments today for the first time about all of this so we'll see how enthusiastic he really is.

Apparently another rumor making the rounds is that DEI's existing space, the "Garage Mahal," was going to be emptied and turned into either a museum or Dale Earnhardt themed amusement park. John said that was absolutely untrue, that the current space that DEI was in would continue to be utilized for race operations, specifically for the Busch team, and I think potentially a truck team if DEI decides to get back into the Truck Series. However, by next season all four of DEI's Cup teams would be housed at Ginn Racing's old space. Having them all under one roof makes sense to me as that will make it a lot easier for them to work together. John said that it was possible that Teresa and Max Siegel might look into ways to have more things at DEI's current space that would draw fans in such as more access to the race shops that were there, but that was something for the future, and there were no definite plans about anything related to a museum or amusement park.

*There's been a lot of speculation by fans about the deal that Ginn Racing had with Hendrick Motorsports for engines. Apparently the #01 car will continue to use Hendrick engines for the next two races, with the goal of changing over to DEI engines by Watkins Glen. According to John there's a variety of things that have to be done technically to the cars to make DEI engines fit. Contrary to what some fans think that DEI is going to pull apart the Hendrick engine to learn all they can from it, John said they wouldn't be doing that. In fact he said there was no need because he felt the current DEI engines were among the best in the garage area. Which was an interesting comment because Junior has complained about a lack of horsepower in his engines in the past.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:32 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2007

DEI to Merge with Ginn Racing

Now it's clear why Sterling Marlin's lawyers weren't getting their calls returned by representatives from Ginn Racing - that organization was in the process of working out the final details of a merger with DEI as has been rumored for a while.

I think this is a tremendously good move for DEI that will strengthen that organization substantially. As part of the merger DEI will add an accomplished veteran who is highly respected in the garage area in Mark Martin, they now have three extremely talented young drivers - Paul Menard, Martin Truex, Jr. and Aric Armirola, the #15 is now locked into races for the rest of the season since that team will get the #14's owner's points, DEI gets some much needed physical space via the acquisition of the Ginn Racing shop, they've added sponsorship in the form of the Army, plus they will now be fielding four Cup cars, the desired number that most organizations strive towards.

In addition, for the rest of the season they still have Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and once he leaves they plan on replacing him with another top driver. When Junior announced he was leaving DEI earlier this season, more than a few people predicted that DEI would turn into nothing more than a museum of past glories, and would eventually crumble to pieces. I thought that was unlikely to happen even prior to now, but I think this merger with Ginn Racing virtually ensures it won't happen. The driver lineup that DEI has put together not just for this season but into the future is capable of a lot of success - Martin and Truex are proven winners, and if Armirola and Menard Menard develop as expected they too will likely end up in Victory Lane more than a few times. And that's before DEI has even signed a replacement for Junior. Let's also not forget that DEI had already entered into an agreement with Richard Childress Racing to build engines, another move which made them better than they had been.

For as much as DEI is coming out as winners in all of this there are very much some losers as a results of this merger. Marlin, Joe Nemechek and Regan Smith are now all out of full-time rides. Smith has to be particularly upset since last week it was announced that he would be racing the #14 full-time for the rest of the season. But before he could race even a single race in that car, he's lost the ride completely, and there doesn't appear to be room for him at DEI. In addition Ginn Racing had a driver development program featuring Jesus Hernandez, Kraig Kinser and Ricky Carmichael, and it remains to be seen what will happen with those drivers. There's also likely going to be a lot of Ginn Racing employees out of work, although some may find positions at DEI.

I also think the sport overall is a loser when a well-funded, multi-car organization like this one closes their doors after less than a year. Bobby Ginn entered the sport with a big splash and talked about his commitment to making his teams successful, and although he will be listed as the owner of the #01 and #15 cars, which is likely more about the owner's points than anything else, at least through the remainder of this season, I'd guess he's probably going to eventually fade away out of the sport completely. As it turned out maybe the demands, financially and otherwise, were much greater than he anticipated. To me this is an indication of how hard it is for new teams to survive and succeed. That's not a good thing because it's essential that the sport expands not just in terms of an audience but on the competition side as well. It's astonishing to me that this organization went from being seriously considered to land Junior to virtually non-existent. Even Kelley Earnhardt-Ellledge talked about Ginn Racing as an organization that they were going to consider for Junior - imagine if he had signed with them? He could have ended up right back at DEI, the organization he was so anxious to leave.

Of course there's still some unanswered questions. For one thing what's going to happen with the owner's points from the #13 team? This morning on Sirius it was said that Nascar isn't going to allow the #13's owner's points to be sold. So then the question becomes what happens to that team's guaranteed spot in the top 35? Odds are that the #21 team who are 36th in points will move up into that 35th spot, but the question is whether Nascar will allow that to happen as soon as this weekend or not. I'm also curious about why Ginn Racing as recently as a day or two ago was talking about the possibility of having enough sponsorship to field the #13 with Nemechek this weekend. Surely they knew that wasn't going to happen. It was also announced on Monday that Ginn had hired Champion Motorsports Marketing to help them find sponsorship for the #13 and #14 - why would they go through the trouble of hiring a marketing company to help them find sponsorship if they knew they were on the verge of merging with DEI? Also, what happens to Slugger Labbe, who was the crew chief of the #14? I got the feeling he didn't part ways with DEI in 2005 on the best of terms, so it's hard to picture him going back, not to mention there likely isn't a crew chief position open there for him anyway.

One things for sure is that this move benefits all the go-or-go-home teams. Two additional teams are going to be locked in each week after this merger, either by gaining new owner's points or being able to move up into the top 35 in points. That means that there's going to be two less teams trying to qualify in on time each week. I'm thrilled about that because it will make it a little easier for the Michael Waltrip Racing teams to make the races from here on out. On last night's XM show Michael said that he was confident that himself and David Reutimann wouldn't be missing anymore races (he was less confident about Dale Jarrett). Aside from the improvements that MWR has made themselves recently, having two less teams to worry about having to beat is definitely going to help them as well.

I have a feeling there's going to be some more fallout from all of this and it's going to be very interesting to see how this all shakes out.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2007

Lots of Random Nascar Thoughts...

There's quite a bit for me to comment on. That's what happens when silly season gets cranked up and when I'm not around for a few days to blog due to being on a mini-vacation. The Cup Series is also taking a vacation for two weeks, but I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of news breaking heading into Indy, so I don't think things are going to be that quiet in Nascar. It sure was busy the past few days.

*I can't let it go unmentioned that Bill Davis Racing's Ryan Mathews put his unsponsored, newly numbered #22 truck on the pole for Saturday night's truck race, then raced his way to a 4th place finish in spite of some problems on restarts. I don't know much about Mathews, but I have to say that I'm starting to be impressed. In seven races, Mathews has only one finish outside the top 20 and over his last four races he's continually improved his finishes to where he got a top ten at Memphis and now a top five this past weekend at Kentucky, plus the pole. All this in spite of these seven races being the first truck races he's ever raced! If Mathews can get such good results with such limited experience, it seems to me with more time behind the wheel, he has the potential to be an extremely good driver. So it's not surprising that it appears that BDR is going to keep Mathews behind the wheel of the #22/#36 for the rest of the season according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

*Mathews' BDR teammate, Mike Skinner ended up winning the Truck race in Kentucky, his fourth win this season. Skinner is putting together an incredible season - four wins, seven poles, 11 top fives and 13 top tens. That means in 13 races so far this season Skinner hasn't finished outside the top ten once. What's really amazing about all this to me is that apparently Skinner had been thinking about retiring at the end of last season until BDR came to him with a contract extension. Now it's looking like he might win his second Truck Series Championship, something that he would have missed out on had he retired. I've never been a big fan of Skinner's but there's no doubt he's one of the best drivers in the Truck Series and has been for quite some time.

*Last week it was announced that not only would Budweiser not be sponsoring Dale Earnhardt, Jr. next season at Hendrick Motorsports, but that he'd also be ending his personal services deal with them that extended through next season. I'm not surprised that Budweiser won't be sponsoring Junior next season because of some comments that his sister and business manager, Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge made on XM a while back where she talked about how there were conflicts between Bud and some of Hendrick's existing sponsors (Pepsi) because Bud considers any beverage sponsor to be a competitor. That seemed like a conflict that was going to be extremely hard to resolve. And apparently Pepsi also feels that they can't be associated with a beer company either.

Odds are that Junior will be sponsored by some sort of Pepsi product(s) in 2008, which will end up working out well for him because it will allow him to market himself more easily to a wider age range than was possible while he's been sponsored by Bud. In addition, while not being associated with the sport's most popular driver probably isn't something that makes Bud 100% happy considering how profitable their relationship with Junior has been over the years, in the long-run the change might be good for Bud too since it will allow them to possibly sponsor a younger driver like Kyle Busch or Kasey Kahne, and market to an age group that might not have made up their minds regarding their preference when it comes to the brand of beer they drink.

*There was a rumor that Hendrick was going to release Kyle Busch today because they were so upset with the way he's been complaining about a lack of support from his teammates and the Hendrick organization overall recently. That report's been denied but if Busch signs with DEI, as some rumors have suggested, I wouldn't be surprised to see a driver swap. I can't see Hendrick releasing Busch just to release him unless he does something really awful or drops out of the Chase. I don't think Kellogg's would be too happy with that. But a driver swap would make sense. That would be one Chase drivers swapping places with another Chase driver (assuming Junior hangs on to that last Chase spot) so there probably wouldn't be too many complaints from the sponsors involved, plus it would give the two drivers time to adjust to their new teams and organizations.

*A lot of fans think that Busch's comments are just one more example of what a horrible person and spoiled brat he is. Although I don't agree with his comments regarding his perceived lack of help from his teammates at Daytona, and I think he would be better off taking the high road, at least publically, I understand where Busch is coming from. Based on what Brian Vickers said last year about being left out of team meetings and the way he felt after it was announced he was leaving Hendrick, I would guess that Busch isn't entirely off-base in feeling that he's getting the cold shoulder in some ways at Hendrick now. I think his comments also reflect his hurt at being dumped out-of-the-blue by Hendrick in favor of Junior. Busch is in a difficult position that no driver would enjoy being in. I'd like to see him handle himself differently, but I'm also sympathetic to what's behind his comments. The drivers are human beings who feel hurt, and a full range of other emotions, just as much as anyone else does.

*Ginn Racing continues to be a part of the silly season rumor mill. Lee Spencer is reporting that Ginn may eliminate the #13 team as soon as in the next two weeks, and put Regan Smith in the #14 for the races he's not already scheduled to race in the #01. The reason for doing that would be so he would be prepared to take over the #14 full-time next season, and that way he'd get as much experience as possible. Sterling Marlin would race the remaining races in the #14. Although it would stink for Marlin to be reduced to a part-time driver sooner than he anticipated, I think that would be a smart plan for Ginn to try to get Smith as prepared as possible to race Cup full-time. It's also rumored that Aric Armirola will do in 2008 what Smith is doing this season in the #01 - share time in that ride with Mark Martin. I wonder how Gibbs Racing feels about a driver who they indicated was a big part of their future plans potentially moving to another organization?

*Another Lee Spencer rumor is that David Hyder is leaving the #36 team at BDR to become the competition director and crew chief once again at BAM Racing. In addition, Ken Schrader may also race some races in the #49. There's apparently some truth to the rumor that Hyder's leaving BDR since some of the Jeremy Mayfield fans heard something to that effect over the radio at the end of yesterday's race. I don't think it's a good sign for the #36 team that Hyder is leaving an established organization to potentially go to one that's on life-support like BAM Racing, though BDR certainly hasn't fared very well in Cup this season either. As for Schrader re-joining BAM - why Kenny, why? I understand that Schrader loves to race, and that he'll race anything, but that car is extremely non-competitive and isn't likely to get much better even with Schrader behind the wheel. I think Schrader's better off concentrating on his truck ride than having to worry about trying to get the #49 into races.

*Speaking of Mayfield, there's an active fan forum for him on team-mayfield.com, where there's been a lot of discussion about the sponsor of the #36, 360OTC, and how they seem to possibly be somewhat shady. A number of fans have dug up some information that really doesn't reflect well on 360OTC (that's an understatement). Well, apparently someone, presumably from 360OTC's parent company, TSXT called the administrator of that forum and threatened to sue for slander if she didn't stop her users from talking about 360OTC in such a negative way. That really says it all to me about what that company's about if it's true that they threatened to take some of Jeremy's fans to court.

*Joe Gibbs apparently thought the issues between his drivers were serious enough that he flew to Chicago on Saturday to speak with Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, a discussion that caused both drivers to miss part of Happy Hour practice. On Sunday Tony claimed that things were fine between him and Denny, and that the media blew things out of proportion. Well, if the incident between Tony and Denny really was no big deal, then why did Joe Gibbs himself make a special trip to the track to have a chat with them? Tony also claimed that he and Denny worked very well together at Chicago, the best they ever have in any race, and overall made it seem as if the two were the best of friends. I wonder if that's really true though and whether this is as over and done with as everyone is trying to make it seem?

Posted by silverdsl at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts...

...on topics not worthy of their own entry...

*As expected the Cup Series will change names from the Nextel Cup Series to the Sprint Cup Series. Yawn. Some fans are up in arms about the name change, but it doesn't matter to me in the slightest who the sponsor of the series is or what they call it. I refer to it as the Cup Series without mentioning the sponsor in most instances. There's been some concern that some might confuse the Sprint Cup Series with the open-wheel spint series, but I think that confusion is going to be pretty minimal since the sprint car series is very different and much less popular than Nascar's Cup Series.

*Steve Park is apparently interested in racing the #88 Busch car for JR Motorsports, but is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. interested in putting him behind the wheel? For now at least, the answer is apparently "no." Brad Keselowski is likely to race the #88 for the next three races and then Junior would like to put a road course specialist in the car for the road course races. There's still plenty of races after that, but I suspect if the results are good Junior will put Keselowski behind the wheel on at least a semi-permanent basis since he seems to have some ability behind the wheel. I can see Junior giving Steve the opportunity to race the #88 once or twice since he's put veteran drivers in the car on a limited basis before, but Junior has said that he wants to develop young talent, and Steve's not considered a young driver anymore. In addition, Junior clearly wants results and unfortunately the results haven't been very good for Steve recently (though that's because he's raced non-competitive cars and trucks).

*Speaking of Junior, it was announced yesterday that he signed a personal services deal with Adidas which will result in a line of Dale, Jr. Dale Jr. footwear, apparel and accessories. In addition, Adidas will design Junior's firesuit and racing shoes next season. It's incredible how much money Junior is going to make next season and beyond. It's not just all the personal services deals he's entered into recently or his new deal with Hendrick Motorsports, but last year Junior gained the rights to his name so he stands to make a lot more profits from merchandising than in the past.

*CAT is continuing to have discussions with Bill Davis Racing regarding an extension to their contract to sponsor the #22 car. I have to wonder if there's a possibility that BDR could end up with two cars without sponsors next season? I've documented the troubles of 360OTC, but clearly CAT is less than pleased with the way this season has gone. Unlike the other Toyota teams that were expected to struggle as new teams, most thought that the #22 team would be the best of all the Toyota teams this season. Instead they're also outside the top 35 in owner's points and have missed races. CAT has sponsored the #22 since 1999 so there's probably a strong relationship and a lot of loyalty there, but the results the past few seasons haven't been very impressive, and if CAT thinks that things may not improve next season they might explore other options besides continuing their sponsorship of the #22. Which makes me wonder what BDR would do without a sponsor for either of their cars? Finding just one primary sponsor is tough enough, but if they have to find two that's a tall order, particularly when the results have been so poor this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2007

Shane Huffman Replaced in the #88 Busch Car

JR Motorsports has decided to take Shane Huffman out of the #88 Busch car and replace him with a driver to be determined at a later date. But since there's a Busch race on Friday, and someone needs to be in the car for that race, team owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is going to get behind the wheel. I was surprised that DEI wasn't going to be fielding a Busch car for Junior at Daytona considering how well he races there, but I figured maybe they had decided to concentrate on their Cup effort. However, maybe it was known that Junior was going to make a move with his Busch team and might race one of his own cars. This will be the first time that Junior's ever raced one of his own cars so it'll be interesting to see how he does when he races for himself, and whether he likes it.

A little more than a year ago, Junior put Shane in the #88 in place of Mark McFarland citing a lack of performance. Well, Shane's done better than Mark in the #88 with four top tens and a top five in 18 races. Now that's a far cry from running up front in every race, winning races and contending for a Championship, but it's not horrible either, especially for a driver with limited Busch experience. It's possible that the sponsor, the U.S. Navy got impatient, Junior did, or maybe something happened behind the scenes to prompt a driver change, but it seems to me that 18 races isn't all that much time to give a driver to develop and see what they're truly capable of. But maybe JR Motorsports isn't really all that interested in developing drivers. After all, they don't have a Cup program as of yet, so there's only so far a driver can advance at JR Motorsports.

Maybe Junior will put one of the other drivers at JR Motorsports like Curtis Truex in the #88, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him put a variety of Cup drivers, aka Buschwackers behind the wheel in an effort to get better results.

ETA: I went to see the reaction on the Jr Pit Board and I saw speculation about a rumor going around that relates to Shane's personal life and whether that might have anything to do with him being taken out of the car. I'm sure no one will admit to it if there's any truth to it, but I can see where that might play a role since that particular rumor (which is likely true) spread pretty far and wide. Unfortunately the garage area is pretty conservative, and while I have no doubt that plenty of the drivers have skeletons in the closet, some sponsors and organizations are probably more image-conscious than others. I can see where the Navy might have some concerns regarding this particular rumor since I'd guess that good character is something they value in their personnel.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2007

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Will Race for Hendrick Motorsports

The worst fears of many Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans have become reality. Today Junior announced that he would drive for Hendrick Motorsports for at least the next five years, joining Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears, at an organization that many of his fans despise. Although Rick Hendrick had said a few weeks ago that there was "no room at the inn" for Junior, he made room by making the decision to release Kyle Busch from his contract at the end of this season. There was no word about a sponsor or car number, but it's likely that Budweiser will follow Junior to Hendrick, particularly since they've already released a statement expressing their intention to discuss possibilities with Junior's new organization.

When Junior announced his decision to leave DEI he indicated that he wanted to join an organization where he can win races and contend for a championship right now. There's no question he's found that at Hendrick, an organization that's won ten of fourteen races this season. Every Hendrick car has found Victory Lane at least once this season, and I'm pretty sure that will continue next season as well. Aside from how much success Junior is likely to have at Hendrick because of how competitive the cars are that they field, the other good thing about him going there as opposed to Richard Childress Racing, who many assumed were the front-runner for Junior's services, is that at Hendrick Junior can race without being in his father's shadow, something that he'd been doing at DEI, and something that would continue at RCR. This way Junior can carve his own legacy in the sport, one that's very separate from his father.

However, I think there's still some issues that Junior will have to face at Hendrick. For one thing, I have to wonder how Junior's going to adjust to the "Hendrick Way," which is more corporate and professional than he's used to. Already a comment was made about how he's going to have to wear less t-shirts and jeans. To some that might not seem like a big deal, but some people have trouble dealing with a new atmosphere that's less casual, and more restrictive than they might be accustomed to. I think some players who have joined the New York Yankees have had difficulty with the "Yankee Way" and how professional that clubhouse is, so the same could be true for Junior at Hendrick. One thing that I don't think is going to be a problem is how he's going to get along with his new teammates. Junior took great pains to point out the pre-existing relationships he has with those at Hendrick. Contrary to the belief of some Junior fans that just because they don't like the Hendrick drivers means that Junior doesn't either, it's clear that he very much gets along with the drivers who are there.

The other thing that I'm wondering about is how Junior's going to react to not being the #1 driver at the organization he races for, as he's used to at DEI. On one hand he might respond very well to it because there will be less pressure since the expectations for a high level of success on the track will be spread throughout all his teammates, whereas at DEI he was expected to always be the best of their drivers since Martin Truex, Jr. and Paul Menard are still so new to Cup. But on the other hand, Junior might not enjoy sharing the spotlight. It's going to be an adjustment going to an organization where there are other drivers with important sponsors, strong fanbases who attract a lot of media attention. So it'll be interesting to see how he responds.

But the biggest issue might be how he deals with the reaction from his fans to this announcement. There's no doubt that he's going to lose some fans since the Hendrick/Gordon vs. Earnhardt rivalry is too deeply rooted to let go of easily. It's very similar to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry - there's no doubt that players who go from one team to another lose a large chunk of fans, though they gain new ones who are fans of their new team. It's just that some fans have a very hard time letting things go and once they've made their mind up that everything about a team, driver or organization is bad, they have a hard time being open-minded enough to consider that maybe they were wrong. Obviously Junior is aware of how how poorly some of his fans might take him going to Hendrick because a lot of time was spent today discussing the longtime friendships and connections between himself, Rick Hendrick and the Hendrick drivers. But I don't think that's going to make it any easier for a lot of his fans to accept this choice that he's made.

Of course the next question is what team Kyle Busch is going to sign with. Rick said that there's been interest in Kyle from many teams, and him being aware that Kyle was talking with some of those teams is what helped lead him to make the decision to release Kyle early from his contract. Some fans are also assuming that Kyle's attitude and personality also played a role in his release, but I suspect that wasn't as much of a factor as was Rick not wanting to pass up the opportunity to sign the sport's most popular driver who could not only be very successful on the track, but make Hendrick Motorsports a lot of money too. Leaving Hendrick might work out well for Kyle since he could have the opportunity to go to an organization where he'd be the #1 driver as opposed to the #3, plus he might do well in a different kind of environment than that at Hendrick. Kyle is a talented driver who is still very young so he has many years of racing left ahead of him. Contrary to what some fans think, I don't think he's going to have any problem finding a new ride. The popular speculation is that he's going to replace Junior at DEI, so it would essentially be a driver swap, but I think he's going to be able to choose from a number of different teams.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2007

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to Announce 2008 Plans Tomorrow

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a news conference scheduled for tomorrow morning to announce where he'll be racing in 2008 and beyond. Marty Smith from ESPN, and others, are reporting that their sources are telling them that Junior will end up at Hendrick Motorsports, and that Kyle Busch has either asked out of his contract, or will be released, so that Junior can join the organization in either the #5 or the #25 with Casey Mears moving to the #5. I would tend to think that there's likely truth to what Smith is reporting since he's got quite a few close friends at Hendrick, but we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts

*Steve Park won't be racing in tonight's truck race at Charlotte. When he was on Sirius a while back he had expressed a desire to be in a truck by this weekend, and there seemed like a chance that might happen, even if only for one race, when he tested for Key Motorsports last week and Curtis Key said that he was considering Steve as his driver if he fielded a second truck tonight. However, ultimately Key decided to concentrate on their primary truck, which leaves Steve to attend the race as a spectator. I really have to wonder if we're ever going to see Steve race this season. I really hope something comes through for him - either Key puts him in a truck for a few races or Wyler Racing finds sponsorship for a second truck at some point. But I don't feel too optimistic at this point. And no, that doesn't make me a bad fan. I hope Steve finds a ride. He certainly has the talent to help a team be very successful. But as I've said before I fear there's not a place for him in the sport anymore.

*On the other hand Michael Waltrip will race this weekend. He'll be racing in the All-Star Open with a chance to race in the All-Star Challenge afterwards by racing his way in or getting voted in. Of course Michael has had success in the All-Star race previously since he won the Challenge in 1996, coming from dead last to win, and making Nascar history by being the first driver to win via transfering in from the Open. Strange how that win doesn't seem to matter to most fans since they came in non-points events, but it's a win all the same, and a very impressive win since he had to win the Open, then the Challenge to emerge as the top All-Star that night. Even if Michael doesn't transfer into the main event - and there's a good chance he'll get voted in since as of last week he was one of the top two in voting - I'm going to be very happy to see him racing, even if it's not for as long as I'd like. I hope he can have some fun this weekend racing without a lot of the worries about qualifying and all that have followed him around every week so far this season. Michael's also going to be in the booth for the Truck race, and I'm looking forward to that as well.

*It was said during truck practice that Johnny Benson didn't think it was fair that he got penalized 50 drivers points because he thought that the team having a driver without a Nascar license behind the wheel during last week's test wasn't something he should lose driver's points for. Although it's not directly been said, since it was Johnny's friend taking laps in the truck, I'm guessing Johnny had a hand in allowing him to take the wheel. So to me it's completely fair that he got driver's points taken away if that's the case, even though Johnny wasn't actually the one in the truck during the test.

*Apparently Teresa Earnhardt's been working on improving the performance of her race teams after all. Effective immediately DEI and Richard Childress Racing have merged their engine programs via Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies. Under the direction of DEI's vice president of motorsports Richie Gilmore, and RCR's vice president of competition Bobby Hutchens, the teams will work on a new engine that they hope to debut in July at the Pepsi 400. They'll also build an 80,000 square foot facility to build the engines which they hope to have finished in 2008. Most have been assuming that it's all but a done deal that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is going to RCR, but I have to wonder if this partnership might make tha tless likely. After all, Junior didn't like the direction DEI was going in, and if he signs with RCR, he'll end up racing cars with the same engines, and possibly other elements, that he would have raced had he stayed at DEI. Or perhaps this will make it more likely he'll sign with RCR because it'll allow him to keep a connection, even though it's not a direct one, to his father's company.

*Speaking of what team Junior might sign with, Marty Smith had an interesting comment in his ESPN column. He was asked a question by a fan regarding the chances of Junior ending up at Hendrick Motorsports in the #25 car, to which he responded,

"...I personally believe it would be in the No. 5 before the No. 25. Just my opinion This is unsubstantiated and, again, solely my opinion, but I don't think Kyle Busch is fully enthralled with his position at HMS. Just a hunch ..."

First of all, Marty is very tight with Jimmie Johnson, so he's likely aware of a lot of the inner workings of Hendrick. While he might not be privvy to Kyle's full thinking, if he says that he thinks that Kyle might not be completely happy at Hendrick, I'd guess he knows what he's talking about. I've seen it said elsewhere that Kyle's contract is up either at the end of this season or next, and it wouldn't be shocking to me to see Kyle go elsewhere. Kyle has some attitude issues, but there's no doubt he's a very talented driver who knows how to win, so I think there would be a lot of interest in his services. As long as he's not doing anything criminal and he doesn't have a substance abuse problem, teams are going overlook his behavior issues if he produces results for them. I can see Kyle ending up at DEI, and Junior ending up at Hendrick.

*AT&T won their injunction against Nascar and will be allowed to put their logos on the #31 as soon as this weekend in place of the Cingular logo. According to an ESPN article,

"The court concludes that the continued appearance of the Cingular brand on the No. 31 car, unaccompanied by any indication that Cingular now does business as AT&T, is likely to confuse NASCAR fans." Shoob also concluded that AT&T has shown it will suffer irreparable harm in the form of loss of goodwill and loss of exclusive rights to renew its sponsorship agreement unless the court issues the injunction.

Nascar says they're going to appeal, and in some ways I think they're in a difficult position. What they're doing is pursuing this because of Sprint-Nextel, and because they agreed to give Sprint-Nextel exclusivity in their contract to sponsor the Cup series. So they really have no choice but to appeal even if the chances of winning aren't all that good. I have to wonder if this is going to open a can of worms where every time a sponsor gets turned down due to an exclusivity agreement with another sponsor?

Posted by silverdsl at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2007

In the News: Michael Waltrip (5/16)

If there's any fans of Michael Waltrip reading this who don't already know, Michael's no longer guaranteed a spot in this weekend's All-Star Challenge due to being a past winner. So unless he races in, he's going to need to win the fan vote to race in the main event. According to Michael's website, he's in the top two in voting, so there's a good chance he might win, but he needs the help of all his fans. I usually don't like to vote in internet polls because they're often meaningless, but this one actually counts for something. If Michael wins the fan vote not only would he get to race, something he unfortunately hasn't got to do much of this season, but it would also send a message to NAPA, Michael's other sponsors, Toyota, Nascar and the media just how much fan support Michael has in spite of his struggles this season. Fans can vote an unlimited amount of times, and I urge everyone who likes Michael as much as I do to vote using this link.

Aside from participating in events for the All-Star Challenge, Michael will be celebrating the opening of Raceworld USA (formerly known as Waltrip Race World). The facility officially opens today, and I'm sure there's going to be a steady stream of visitors for the next few weeks since a lot of fans are in the area for the All-Star Challenge and the Charlotte 600. From what I've heard about it Raceworld USA is going to be well worth the visit, not just for fans of Michael and his drivers, but also for any fan of Nascar in general. Raceworld USA is going to give fans a look inside the inner workings of real race teams, much more-so than they can find at any other team shop. There's also going to be interactive exhibits, and fans will be able to watch pit practice, and eventually the taping of some episodes of Inside Nextel Cup. In addition, there's going to be exhibits and memorabilia related not just to Michael, but also many other drivers. I really wish I lived closer to North Carolina because I'd love to go, but hopefully sometime in the near future I'll be able to make a trip down there to check it out for myself.

Last night was Michael's XM show, Michael Waltrip Out Loud, and his brother Darrell was his guest. Naturally, the subject of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. leaving DEI was a big topic of discussion. I've found it interesting how involved DW has gotten with Junior - he was asked a few days before Thursday's press conference to be present, he did an exclusive interview that day for FOX with Junior, he's written a column about Junior for FoxSports.com, and essentially he's been very pro-Junior to just about everyone who'll listen. Although DW is very opinionated on his own, I have to admit that I can't help but wonder if Junior's "people" are using him to get their message out given how sympathetic he's been of late towards Junior. At any rate, the discussion between Michael and DW was interesting, though a lot of it is things that have been said already by others elsewhere about where Junior's likely to end up.

One thing that got my attention was that Michael brought up Junior talking about how he wanted to stay with Chevy, and how loyal he was to Chevy. Though I'm sure Michael's going to have a conversation or two about Junior racing for him, I have a feeling that means that the chances of Junior ending up at Michael Waltrip Racing aren't very good. In fact, most of the discussion between DW and Michael centered on the usual teams that everyone else thinks are most likely for Junior to end up with - one of the top-tier Chevy teams, along with Ginn Racing because Bobby Ginn apparently has a lot of money he's willing to spend. Neither one seemed to think it was very likely that Junior would race for himself, though DW said that's how he would get total control over his team, and that's because as Michael knows well, it's hard to contend for wins and Championships, as Junior says he wants to do next season, for an organization new to racing Cup. I think that's another reason why Junior won't be racing for MWR next season - although I expect them to make improvements as time goes on, I'm not sure they're going to be in a position to field championship caliber teams by next season (as awesome as that would be!).

Of course back in 2005 Michael also made the decision to leave DEI, so there was some discussion as to whether there were was anything with his experience that gave an indication about how things would go down with Junior. Michael joked about him being what set all of this in motion, but otherwise he didn't have much to say about leaving DEI, something he's never discussed in depth other than to say that he parted with DEI on good terms, and give some basics about his reasons for leaving. It might very well be true that he parted amicably with DEI, but I think it's pretty classy of Michael that he's never said anything negative about DEI even though he's no longer there.

Many of Michael's fans don't like Junior too much, something that some really felt strongly about after the incident at Charlotte in 2005 when Junior wrecked Michael. Some are convinced that Junior can't stand Michael, wrecked him deliberately and wanted him gone from DEI. I never believed that. Although I think it might be hard for Michael and Junior to be close because of their age difference and different lifestyles, I think there's a bond there because of how close MIchael was to Junior's father. Based on what DW said last night, it should remove any lingering questions about whether Junior actually likes Michael or not - he does. DW said he talked to Junior at Talladega two years ago when Michael was deciding whether he was going to stay at DEI or not, and at that time Junior expressed that "before he left" he wanted to get Martin and Michael re-signed and taken care of, so to me that's an indication that Junior cared about what happened to Michael and wanted him to remain a part of the organization, and as a teammate.

As I said above Michael's not really gone into great depth about everything that led him to leave DEI, but last night he said Michael that the reason Junior's leaving is because DEI is behind the times, and I would guess it's likely that played a role in why he left as well. When a team gets behind if they don't recognize that before they lose too much ground to other teams they can find themselves struggling to compete pretty quickly - ask Robert Yates Racing about that. However, it's possible to turn things around and make improvements to keep up with the other big teams. Richard Childress Racing fell behind, but the past two seasons they've worked hard to be successful again. The question is what's going to happen at DEI - will they continue to fall behind? DW said that Teresa is at a crossroads where she has to decide what she wants to do just like Junior had to. DW feels that Teresa might very well throw down the gauntlet and throw everything into improving the teams just to show Junior he made a mistake, or she could go the other direction and throw her focus back into the foundation and maintaining the legacy of Dale Earnhardt without much care about the teams. Only time will tell which way things will go.

As usual Michael's XM show was fun to listen to, and I'm already looking forward to next week's show, particularly if he gets voted into the All-Star Challenge!

Posted by silverdsl at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

Nascar Comes Down Hard on the #8 Team

I'm sure everyone's heard by now - the #8 team of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has been penalized with the loss of 100 driver and owner points, plus crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. has been fined $100,000 and suspended six races for the use of improper rear mounting brackets. The violation was found in pre-race inspection on Saturday, when it was discovered that the rear wing on the #8 car was at an angle outside of what was allowed by Nascar. Unlike most fans, I think these penalities are completely fair. For one thing all the teams were warned via a bulletin prior to Bristol that COT violations would be punishable with these exact penalities. In addition, there's a specific rule that relates to the angle of the rear wing, and the rear wing of the #8 car didn't meet those specifications. Of course the team claims it was an honest mistake, and while that's certainly plausible, was it really a mistake?

What's most damning to me is what David Poole reported this morning on Sirius. The car passed qualifying inspection, and at that time the rear wing was at an angle that was within Nascar's rules. However, when the car failed pre-race inspection, the angle of the rear wing had been changed to where it was outside the rules. So that indicates a deliberate action - the angle being changed between qualifying and the race - which makes it hard to view this as a simple mistake where the team used put brackets on the car at the shop, used them throughout the weekend, and had no idea that the rear wing was at the wrong angle. What also came up on Sirus this morning was something I wasn't aware of - Nascar doesn't inspect everything on the cars during every inspection because it would take too long, and also because they want to keep the teams on their toes by mixing up what they inspect each time. So they speculated this morning that maybe the team decided to gamble that since that had been inspected in the qualifing inspection, that the rear wing angle wouldn't be checked in the pre-race inspection.

Claire B. Lang had a number of crew chiefs on her XM show yesterday, and they all mentioned what a major mistake it was if the team really had innocently left illegal parts lying around the shop. The team claims that the brackets were around because they had gone to the wind tunnel to test with them - why were they testing with illegal parts? The team also says that the brackets were built as "test pieces," but if those tests were recent, it seems to indicate that the team was experimenting with what the effects would be with the rear wing at different angles. After the test, and once those brackets were clearly not legal to use, why weren't they thrown away or put somewhere safe where no one would mistakenly use them?

In addition, Eury, Jr. said that he had no idea the brackets were wrong because he wasn't at the track on Thursday when the car was going through inspection. Wasn't he in the shop when the car was being prepared to bring to the track? And wasn't he with the car once he arrived at the track and right up until the pre-race inspection? Whether it was an honest mistake or not, he's responsible for the car and for making sure that it's within Nascar's rules at all times.

What I think's interesting is the reaction by fans. Of course Junior is a tremendously popular driver, so many are upset that the penalties handed down by Nascar are so harsh. But overall, most fans seem unwilling to believe that this team would knowingly try to skirt the rules, aka cheat. When it's a Hendrick team that's found in violation of the rules immediately many jump to the conclusion that they're a bunch of dirty cheaters. When Michael Waltrip's #55 team is found to have an illegal substance in the car, fans rip Michael and his organization. Yet when the #8 team is busted for a major rules violation, it must be an honest mistake. Why should Junior and his team be judged by a different standard than all other teams? The reality is that every team has or will try to play around in the grey area of the rules or try to get away with something. In essence they all cheat to some degree, because they're all looking for an advantage over another team. Yet some seem so unwilling to consider the possibility that Junior could be associated with a team that would cheat. But that his team was found to be in violation of the rules isn't a reflection on who Junior is as a driver or as a person. Odds are that he had no idea that there was anything wrong with his car.

I also don't think there's any bias being shown here by Nascar as some think. As mentioned, Nascar spelled out quite clearly what the penalities would be for COT violations and it's likely the penalties would be the same no matter which team, from what organization, was caught. Ultimately the team has to show up at the track with a car that's within Nascar's rules, or pay the price.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2007

Parts Confiscated From #8 Team in Pre-Race Inspection

Tony Eury, Jr. and the #8 face severe penalties from Nascar for having the rear wing of the car improperly mounted. The infraction was discovered during a pre-race inspection before the race was rained out on Saturday night, and Nascar confiscated the illegal mounting brackets. Although Dale Earhardt, Jr. was allowed to start the race on Sunday from the position he qualified in after his team reattached the rear wing with the proper brackets, it's likely that some sort of penalties will be announced this week against the team since Nascar takes a dim view of COT rules violations.

Prior to the start of the season Nascar had told the teams that COT rules violations could result in penalties like lengthy suspensions for crew chiefs and a major loss of owner and driver points, so many are expecting Nascar to come down hard on the #8 team. Unlike when Greg Biffle's COT was found to be too low in a post-race inspection, this is something that was put on the car by the team. I think it also looks bad for the team that the car passed pre- and post-qualifying inspection. It's possible that the inspectors missed the problem, but it's also possible that the team used the correct mounting brackets for qualifying, then made a switch for the race, hoping it wouldn't be noticed - if that particular modification which involves changing the angle of the rear wing would give them an advantage on the track.

Eury Jr. explained that this was an "interpretation." How is that exactly? Nascar mandates what kind of mounting brackets they use which doesn't seem to leave any room for interpretation. Eury, Jr.'s next comments seem to contradict that the team got in trouble simply for misinterpreting the rules.

"It was a bad deal. It was a part that got put on there that shouldn't have. We've done a lot of offseason testing for NASCAR. There's been three different styles of brackets on there and it just happened to be one of those old-style brackets."

If it was just a misinterpretation of the rules, why does he acknowledge that a part got put on the car that didn't belong? In addition, Eury, Jr. and his team need to make sure they use the right brackets. It's not Nascar's fault if they aren't careful and use the wrong part. Also, knowing that these are "old-style" mounting brackets, why would they even have brackets on hand that they're not even supposed to be using in the first place? Eury, Jr. continued,

"It fit all of their templates. It just had a problem when you put [the angle] to where you should have."

Seems to me that if the angle was off, then it didn't actually fit Nascar's template. It also seems to me that there's two problems - the team was using the wrong brackets, but also had the wing at the wrong angle.

Being busted for a rules violation that could turn out to be major was pretty poor timing for the #8 team considering Junior's announcement last week that he's leaving DEI. Immediately many of his fans started wondering about the possibility of sabatoge and whether Teresa Earnhardt or others at DEI, maybe even members of his own team, did something to the car out of spite because they're angry that Junior's leaving. Is that a scenario that's possible? Sure, it's possible that someone at DEI got it in their head to get "revenge" on Junior for leaving, but I don't think it's too likely. For one thing, the car was probably set-up and at, or on it's way, to the track before Junior made his announcement. Furthermore, Eury, Jr. is Junior's cousin. I don't think there's any way that he would go along with a plan to sabatoge his cousin, who he's very loyal and close to. Seems to me that it's likely that it was either an honest mistake as Eury, Jr. claims, or that the team was looking for a performance advantage and hoping they wouldn't get caught.

A fine, no matter how big won't be any big deal to this team, nor will losing owner points hurt them too badly. But if Nascar takes driver points that'll drop Junior in the points standings, and as early as it is in the season, with how competitive things are among the top teams, it might not be so easy to make those points up. But what might be the most damaging is losing Eury, Jr. for any length of time to a suspension. Junior's seemed to struggle to work well with other crew chiefs, not to mention Eury, Jr. seems to be providing Junior with some extremely good cars this season. Eury, Jr. would still be able to work at the shop, and there's surely others at DEI who could fill in for him, but DEI doesn't seem as deep when it comes to personnel as some other organizations, so Eury, Jr. not being there to lead the team could really have an effect on their results.

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

May 11, 2007

Mike Davis Lashes Out at "Lazy" Journalism

One of my pet peeves is when members of the media don't properly fact-check, source or follow-up to confirm the accuracy of the information in their articles. That's often a by-product of the rush by some journalists to be the first to get a story on-air, in print or online, because taking the time to make sure a story is 100% accurate might mean that another media outlet could break the news first. So when the media found out that Nascar's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., would be holding a press conference the following day to announce that he was leaving DEI at the end of the season, many outlets rushed to print or air with what they were "hearing" as opposed to what was actually true. At first that really bothered me, but on reflection, I wonder if there was really any other way to handle this story?

On Wednesday evening it was reported by a number of media outlets, including Dave Moody on Sirius, Claire B. Lang on XM, Jerry Bonkowsi of Yahoo! Sports, and Nascar. com that Junior would announce at the press conference that he was leaving DEI along with teammate Martin Truex, Jr. and that they'd both be racing for the company that Junior owns, JR Motorsports, with support from Hendrick Motorsports. As it turned out the only part of that which was true was that Junior was going to announce that he was leaving DEI. And Mike Davis, Junior's PR person at JR Motorsports isn't happy about it. He wrote in his blog,

"It made for humorous conversations between myself, Dale Jr., and Martin Jr., but in the grand scheme of things, it's pitiful when these journalists refuse accountability by saying, "I was only going on what my sources told me. Time to check your sources, guys. It's bad journalism, bad reporting, and bad ethics."

I agree with Davis... to a point. It's extremely poor journalism, and sometimes unethical, when reporters just throw news on the air or in print when it's poorly sourced, no one's given a chance to respond, or there's a lack of fact-checking with no follow-up to correct mistakes. However, if reporters get information from sources who have been reliable in the past, it's understandable why they might run with a story. I also think most of the media who went with the original story framed it properly in the context of that was what they were hearing was going to happen as opposed to what they knew was going to happen, and there was truth to what was being reported - Junior was in fact going to announce that he was leaving DEI.

I don't have a problem with rumors being reported as such. It's when a rumor gets reported as fact, like what Bob Dillner did when he reported on Speed that Nascar had found violations on the cars of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick after a race last season on the basis of what a source told him when there was little to no truth to what he was reporting. in Dillner's haste to scoop everyone else, he failed to check with anyone involved but the members of the media who covered this story did their due dilligence to follow-up and find out what was really going on. Several hours after the initial story broke, David Poole and Claire B. Lang, and likely others as well, were clarifying that Junior was only going to announce that he was leaving DEI, not what his plans were for 2008, based on having spoken with those closer to the situation than the intial sources were. So how exactly is it bad journalism for members of the media to report on what might be going on, then follow up to correct the inaccuracies in the previous stories (something Dillner never did)? I think it's expecting too much to think that every member of the media is going to sit on one of the biggest news stories in Nascar in years - wouldn't that be doing a disservice to their audience? And the fact of the matter is that there was some truth to what was being reported - maybe Davis is unhappy because the news leaked out before they wanted it to?

Davis also wrote,

"My problem isn't with the "little men" who start crazy rumors in a self-absorbed attempt to feel important."

Well, why not? If he's upset with those who reported rumors, then shouldn't he be upset with those who start them too? People like to gossip. People also like to start rumors, sometimes to start trouble or because they have an agenda. Shouldn't Davis be angry at those people since as I'm sure he's well aware rumors can damage Junior or JR Motorsports reputation, or possibly have an effect on Junior's search for a new ride depending on what people belive. After all, just because something's denied in this sport doesn't mean that it doesn't eventually happen anyway, so some may think that Junior just wasn't ready to announce that he'd be partnering with Hendrick and racing for himself.

Given the nature of this story, and how many effects there's going to be in the garage area from Junior's choice of a new ride, there's going to be constant rumors reported about what Junior's plans are - in fact several TV stations reported last night that Junior already had a deal with Richard Childress Racing, something that's been denied. As much as I strongly believe that the media has an obligation to make sure that the news they report is as accurate as possible, I also feel that they need to report what they hear, as long as they do their due diligence to follow-up, fact-check, allow the involved parties to comment, check sources, and correct inaccuracies. I think for the most part that was done here.

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

May 10, 2007

Junior Makes it Official: He's Leaving DEI

Today Dale Earnhardt, Jr. officially announced what everyone's known since yesterday - he's leaving the only organization he's raced for in Cup, DEI, the company his father founded, and will race for another, as yet undetermined team in 2008. The news sent shockwaves throughout the Junior Nation and beyond since most seemed to think that in spite of their differences, Junior and DEI would find a way to come to an agreement on a new contract. But it wasn't to be. In fact, Junior said today that they never even got close. I can't say I'm surprised about that considering Junior and his sister Kelley were demanding a 51% ownership stake in DEI, something that I didn't think was likely that Teresa Earnhardt, their step-mother was going to agree to. So Junior's going to walk away from his father's company and start a new chapter in his life with a new team. Immediately he becomes the hottest property in the garage area as the sport's most popular driver, with a major sponsor, Budweiser, likely to follow him no matter where he goes, and let's not forget he's a major source of revenue in terms of merchandise, marketing and promotions.

Junior indicated that he's going to listen to any owner who wants to make a pitch to him, but he was pretty clear about saying that it was likely, and that he would prefer, to continue to race for Chevy. That leaves only a limited amount of teams that are serious contenders for his services. Many believe that Richard Childress Racing is his likely destination, and that he'll be racing the #3 next season, even though Junior repeated last night at an event that racing the #3 is something he doesn't see himself doing until he's much older and at the end of his career. I also wonder if Junior might be better off racing out from under his father's shadow - there's no way to avoid the comparisions between himself and his father but racing for an organization other than RCR might put some distance between himself and those comparisons. Hendrick Motorsports has to also be high on the list since they're dominating this season and could surely provide Junior with cars he could win in. However, Hendrick already has four cars, and I'm not sure Junior would fit into the buttoned-up, corporate environment at Hendrick all that well. Most haven't seemed to consider Joe Gibbs Racing a very likely destination for Junior, but I think that's where he might fit in best. He's good friends with Tony Stewart, they field very competitive cars, and it seems as if they'd be able to handle adding another high-profile driver. There's also Hendrick sattelitte operations like Ginn Racing or Haas/CNC, but how likely is it that either of those two organizations have the resources to give Junior what he feels he needs to succeed?

What I wonder about is how easy it's going to be for Junior to get that Championship he wants with a new team. It takes time for teams and drivers to gel with each other. In addition, Junior might find that things are different when he's not racing for the family's company. Of course any team is going to work hard to help him be as successful as possible, but when his last name isn't a part of the company's name, he might find that the attitude and environment he races in is different that at DEI. Although it doesn't sound likely that Junior's going to field a team for himself, that was a possibility that was touched on. I can't see that being something that has much appeal to Junior right now though, especially since he's no doubt well-aware of all the struggles that former teammate Michael Waltrip has been going through trying to field three brand-new teams. Seems to me the idea of struggling to qualify for races, and not being very competitive isn't something that Junior will want to go through during the prime years of his career.

As interesting as where Junior ends up will be who DEI finds to replace him. Many fans are predicting DEI's demise but I'm not so sure about that. DEI is an established organization that's been around for a long time, and they have the resources to compete. Based on the fact that they entered into talks with Robert Yates Racing recently about some sort of partnership or merger, it also seems like they're taking steps to move forward and evolve without Junior. There's no doubt that losing a major sponsor, a talented driver, the personnel who are likely to follow Junior to his next team, and the revenue that comes from Junior is a huge loss that will hurt. However, I don't think DEI is going to close their doors at the end of the season as many seem to think. After all, they've still got Paul Menard and Martin Truex, Jr., plus those driver's respective sponsors. There's also no telling who DEI might sign to take Junior's place - a driver like Greg Biffle would attract sponsors, and there's no doubt he knows how to win races.

Naturally there's a lot of animosity towards Teresa, with many fans blaming her for why Junior and DEI are parting ways. But the reality is that there's two sides to every negotiation, and we have no idea what really went on behind closed doors. Both Junior and Teresa have to do what they feel are best for their own interests. Junior said he and DEI have different visions for how they would achieve success, and from the sounds of it DEI has more of a long-term plan whereas Junior wants to try to win a Championship as soon as possible. Teresa's decisions may not be for the best, but only time will tell on that, and DEI is her's to do with it as she choses. Dale Earnhardt willed DEI to her, and despite the many fans who felt that she should have handed over control of DEI to Junior and Kelley immediately, she has just as much right to the company as they do.

Junior isn't among my favorite drivers so I'm not looking forward to the constant speculation and over-analysis of everything he says and does as people search for clues as to what team he might end up signing with. But maybe it'll take some of the media attention away from the woes of Michael Waltrip Racing and the other Toyota teams.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:39 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2007

Junior to Leave DEI?

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. at JR Motorsports and several reliable media outlets including Dave Moody on Sirius, Claire B. Lang on XM, Yahoo! Sports, and Nascar.com are reporting that Junior will announce that he's leaving DEI along with teammate Martin Truex, Jr. at the conclusion of this season and that they both will race for JR Motorsports in 2008. Support in the form of chassis and engines are rumored to be coming from Hendrick Motorsports. If all of this is true, it's going to rock the garage area, and blow the minds of many fans. I'm hesitant to say too much now before Junior's press conference tomorrow because there's no telling how much is true. But it seems to me that Junior's quest for wins and a Championship might be a pretty bumpy ride if he's attempting to do it as an owner-driver.

ETA: David Poole is reporting that sources have told him that Junior's announcement tomorrow is that he's leaving DEI, but that the part about him taking Truex with him and getting support from Hendrick is false. According to Poole Junior intends on announcing that he's a free agent and that he'll race for any team that gives him the best chance to win a Championship, though given his comments a few days ago about racing a Chevy for sure next season, perhaps the amount of teams that stand a real chance of signing him isn't that big. Junior announcing just that he's leaving DEI makes a lot more sense to me than him announcing all the details of his plans for the future not only for him but also for another driver.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)

Random Thoughts on Nascar

*Michael Waltrip's got a newly re-designed website and a new blog too. When I first heard that Michael would be doing a blog I wasn't sure what to expect, because it seems as if some of the other drivers who do blogs/journals/or articles offer up little more than vanilla fluff that summarizes what they've done on- and off-the-track in the last week. I suppose some drivers and their PR people are afraid of offending sponsors or fans accidentally if a driver says anything "wrong" or too controversial, but I'd rather know what a driver really thinks about issues related to racing than a discussion of where they've played golf recently. Michael's first entry was about the COT and why some drivers aren't too happy about racing it, and while he was candid in his opinions, he didn't go so far as to say anything that his fellow drivers or others are going to get upset about. If the rest of his blog is anything like his first entry, I'm really going to like it!

As for the entry itself, I think Michael has an excellent point regarding some of the drivers complaining because they've had a lot of success with the old car, and they aren't all that thrilled about having to race something different that's so unknown. Seems to me that a difficulty with change is something that's a problem not just for drivers, but for many fans as well. But I don't see how the sport can evolve and move forward if nothing ever changes. I don't love every change that Nascar makes, but I think they have to continue to make changes as they feel are necessary for safety, competition and financial reasons.

*Last week's Nascar Scene has a brief article (that's not available online) about the continuing issues for 360OTC, the sponsor for the #36 car. Not only has 360OTC been dropped as a title sponsor by World of Outlaws due to non-payment, their parent company, Rockford-Montgomery Labs, is being sued by Just Marketing, a company that brokers motorsports sponsorship deals, also for non-payment. Bill Davis doesn't exactly give them a big vote of confidence saying that he "hopes" that the #36 team will continue to be sponsored, rather than he knows they're going to continue to sponsor the team. Davis also says that fielding an unsponsored car is a big challenge, and that really doesn't bode well since the #36 team is already struggling tremendously.

*It's been said that drivers quickly forget and forgive after incidents on the track, but that's definitely not the case for Kasey Kahne in relation to his incident with David Stremme on Sunday. Kasey was asked at testing yesterday about David and he said,

"I don't like the guy. I've never liked him. Now we just have a lot more of a reason not to like him."

I'm thinking that there's more to the story of why Kasey is so upset with David than just that he's frustrated about getting wrecked. I have to wonder what other incidents there are between the two, and whether there also might be some off-the-track conflicts that have led to Kasey disliking David so much. The ironic thing is that they're doing a photo appearance together tomorrow for a sponsor. I'd say that it could be an opportunity for them to work out their problems, but based on Kasey's comments he has no intention of doing so. Maybe Kasey has good reason to feel the way that he does about David, but I think he's acting childish and unprofessonal by airing, as David refers to it, his "dirty laundry" in public. I have no doubt that there's plenty of drivers who don't like each other, but we rarely hear about it. If Kasey has a personal problem with David, I think he needs to deal with it privately.

*The rumors are flying fast and furious regarding what teams Dale Earnhardt, Jr. might end up racing for if he doesn't re-sign with DEI. Junior has a clause in his contract that prohibits him from talking to other teams prior to June 1, and teams and manufacturers both have denied that they've ever had any conversations with Junior about him signing with them. However, just because they haven't talked to Junior directly doesn't mean that there aren't any offers being made. Teams are free to talk to Junior's sister, Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge, who handles most of his business affairs, and any other respresentative of his, they just can't talk to Junior directly. So just because a team issues a denial doesn't mean that there's nothing going on there.

*Junior complained about the COT this week, and about how he wants Nascar to make changes to the car to make it easier to handle and turn. To be fair, a number of other drivers have complained as well, but thus far Junior's the only one to ask Nascar to make changes. Seems to me that he needs to discuss with his crew chief and others at DEI how they can set-up the car as close to the way he likes it, something which may take some time to figure out as he adjusts to racing the COT. But I don't think it's Nascar's responsbility to make the car easier to handle and turn for Junior. Robin Pemberton just now said on XM that there's suspension and other areas that the teams can adjust on the COTs to make them turn easier, so it seems as if it's a matter of DEI figuring things out with the COT like Hendrick Motorsports has. But Junior's had very good results in the COT, so it seems as if he's doing a good job of racing it even if he doesn't like it. Maybe Junior's comments stem from frustration at not having won yet this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2007

DEI and Yates to Merge?

I've not posted on this sooner because I honestly don't understand what the talks between DEI and Robert Yates Racing are all about. Is this DEI trying to force Chevy into throwing a lot of money at them and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to stay in the fold? Is this about Ford trying to lure DEI and Junior to their camp? Is it simply a matter of both organizations looking to make themselves stronger? Is Toyota secretly trying to sign DEI and Junior? It's all really a mystery, including why these two teams are even talking in the first place since they're with different manufacturers and both seem to indicate they have no intentions of making a switch. John Story from DEI said,

"None of this is going to be easy. Any of the projects we're working on, none of them are contingent upon manufacturers and none of them are contingent upon ... it wouldn't kill anything."

I just don't understand how that would work. It doesn't seem likely to me that any manufacturer would let one of their teams work on a project with a team from another manufacturer. However, it's interesting that Story is the point person on this considering he was also the one negotiating with RYR when Robby Gordon Motorsports was considering a merger with them last season. One has to wonder if some of what he was trying to do with RGM, is what he's trying to do with DEI and RYR now.

The other interesting item is that Story indicated that DEI was speaking with more than one manufacturer about the future, and naturally a lot of people are speculating that Toyota might be one who they're talking with. However, Lee White from Toyota said,

“We have not had any conversations with Dale Earnhardt Jr. There is a tremendous amount of both equity and liability involved with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet has such equity built into Dale Earnhardt Jr. and that particular race team - that equity is great for the bigger picture and the health of our sport. Right now Toyota is not ready to take on the liability that would come with that scenario.”

I think that's an interesting comment. For one thing, he didn't actually say they haven't talked with DEI, just that they haven't talked with Junior. But also that he seems to indicate that Toyota might not want to put up with the backlash that would come with Junior leaving Chevy for Toyota. And despite what some seem to think that the Junior fans would seamlessly cheer for their driver regardless of manufacturer, I think there's more than a few fans that would have trouble with Junior racing for a manufacturer percieved to be a foreign one. It's always seemed to me that a part of Junior's appeal to some fans is his all-American image. Of course Toyota builds a significant amount of cars in this country, in some cases more than the American companies, but some fans are so insistant that Toyota is a foreign company that doesn't belong in Nascar, that they may have a hard time dealing with the sport's most popular driver aligning himself with that manufacturer.

The other thing is how much does this have to do with the contract negotiations between DEI and Junior? Is DEI trying to send some kind of a message to Junior? It could be either that they're trying to make improvements for the future, or that they're willing to move on without him. Or maybe this has nothing to do with Junior. Or everything if other manufacturers think that it's all but a done deal that Junior is going to re-sign with DEI, and they're all vieing to have him in their camp.

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

April 24, 2007

Amazing

I'm astonished by how many Earnhardt fans took offense to Jeff Gordon taking his Victory Lap around the track on Saturday night with a #3 flag. Jeff had just tied Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time wins list with 76 victories, and flying that flag was meant as his way of showing respect for a man who he was friendly with and whom he had learned a lot from. Sadly, many Earnhardt fans interpreted that gesture as gloating, disrespectful and inappropriate. One fan even went so far as to refer to what Jeff did as "dancing on Earnhardt's grave." Ridiculous. Some fans are completely unable to put aside their blind hatred of Jeff to see what a nice gesture he made. A gesture that was very much appreciated by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who can't figure out why some fans are reacting the way that they are. He said, "

I don't understand the disrespect - what's the angle there? Basically, when you win a race, it's all about you at that moment. You won, you're happy, you're excited, you're the best of the best. And he decided to split that down the middle, 50/50, and give my father some respect and take half of his moment and give it to my dad. I thought that was really classy."

In addition, the member of Jeff's team who thought up the idea, Aaron Kuehn, actually asked Junior and his sister Kelley for their approval, which they gave, months ago. So this team did everything right - showed respect for a legend of the sport, and asked his family to be sure it was okay with them, and still fans are upset? I can't understand why. I think some fans are so determined to dislike Jeff and everything he does that they're looking for any excuse to rip into him, even if they have to make up reasons in their head. I find it somewhat scary that so many fans are convinced that Jeff had some sort of malicious intent behind what he did, in spite of Junior repeatedly expressing his approval, and that Jeff did nothing wrong.

But really why should I be surprised? There's a segment of fans who are so close-minded that once they make their minds up about things they refuse to believe anything else could possibly be true, even when there's evidence to show that they're wrong. Apparently Michael Waltrip said on last night's Inside Nextel Cup that fan who take issue with what Jeff did should "grow up!" and I agree!

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

April 16, 2007

Jimmy Spencer Puts His Foot in His Mouth

I used to have a lot of respect for Jimmy Spencer because he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. But I've long since lost any respect I had for Jimmy. There's stating one's opinion strongly, and making an asshat of one's self, and that's what Jimmy does way too often. Which is unfortunate because any time he has a legitamite point, it's lost in the uproar over his ridiculous comments, such as in the case of his remarks he made about Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge yesterday on Race Day on Speed. It's hard to find a complete transcript of exactly what Spencer said, but I believe I have his full comments from the Dale Jr. Pit Stop and the blog, The Daly Planet. Spencer started by saying,

"The thing is that Teresa Earnhardt gave Dale Jr his opportunity to race. She's the one that told Dale, her husband, Sr, let's give him a shot. Uh, Kelly Earnhardt Elledge, I, I'm shocked she kept her middle name. I mean you're married, you know, why keep Earnhardt. I think her ego is so big, I think she's backing Teresa and Max in corners. She's not a good negotiator. I think she, if she worked for anybody else they'd probably fire her. But because she's working for Dale Jr and it's her sister, I think that she's using ego to control this direction. And I think that Dale needs to be careful about that, because that Dale if he makes the decision to leave DEI, there's a lot of true Dale Earnhardt Sr fans that will lose respect for Dale Jr. That's the one thing that Dale Sr, I don't think Dale Jr needs to leave the organization. I think there's more to it. I think Max Siegel is a heck of a negotiator, but the thing is I don't like what Kelly is doing, putting them in corners."

He then finished with,

"Dale and Theresa and Max need to sit down and get this worked out. If the old man was still living, he would kick Earnhardt (Junior's) butt. I would hate to see that organization fall apart."

Let's get one thing straight - unlike some Junior fans who think that no comments should be made about any Earnhardt that isn't complimentary, Spencer has the right to think that Kelley and Junior aren't conducting negotiations with DEI very well. I think he has a point that Kelley (and Junior) are boxing Teresa and DEI into a corner with all the talk about wanting 51% ownership and control of the organization. It's also not a good thing for anyone that so much of the negotiations are being aired publically through the media. Most other organizations would keep a tight wrap on negotiations for everyone's benefit, and to try to prevent things from getting ugly - of course it's too late for that in the case of Junior, Kelley and Teresa. However, there's absolutely no excuse for Spencer to personally attack and insult Kelley, no matter how many valid points he might have about the way Junior's contract negotiations are going.

What's really offensive is his comments about Kelley keeping her madien name. Doesn't he have a clue that these days lots of women incorporate their madien names into their married names, or keep their madien names all together? I kept my madien name and it has nothing to do with ego. It's because I have pride in my family and my family's name, and since other than my parents there's no one left in the family with that name, I'd like it to carry it with me for a little while longer. I'd expect that Kelley also had a great deal of pride in her family name, and may even keep it as a way to memorialize her father. Kelley is an Earnhardt, just like any other Earnhardt, and I see no reason why she should have to give up that name if she didn't want to.

I definitely think that Junior, Max Siegel and Teresa need to sit down and work this all out, and that Kelley's presence may not always help negotiations go smoothly. But I highly doubt that Dale would kick Junior's butt for looking out for himself. My impression has always been that Dale wanted his children to be independant and think for themselves. It's true that there are some fans who will lose respect for Junior if he leaves DEI. There's already some fans who aren't all that happy with the way Junior and Kelley have conducted themselves in relation to contract negotiations. However, I really doubt there's going to be a mass exodus of fans from the Junior Nation because Junior leaves DEI or Kelley's involved in negotiations. Most fans understand that Junior is trying to make decisions that he feels will give him the best chance to win races and Championships, whether that's with DEI or with another team. Spencer should understand this as well, as one who raced Cup for 18 years and surely had to engage in difficult negotiations and make hard choices about the course of his career.

After the race Spencer apologized on Victory Lane for his comments, but I think he also owes Kelley a face-to-face apology. It's incredible that anyone was willing to put him on the air after his ill-advised comments about "Japs" in relation to Toyota's entry into Cup racing, and those at Speed who were likely horrified when he made his comments, shouldn't be surprised that he stuck his foot in his mouth yet again.

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

April 10, 2007

JR Motorsports to Sign Motorcross Champion Jeremy McGrath?

JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a media event scheduled for later today. According to Foxsports, one thing they may announce is that seven-time Supercross Champion, Jeremy McGrath may have been signed to a deal with JR Motorsports, first to race Late Models, then if that goes well to race in the Busch Series. McGrath's sponsor would be Monster Energy Drinks. If true, I think this is interesting on two levels.

For one thing JR Motorsports felt the need to go outside of Nascar for talent to develop. Some fans can't stand the idea of drivers from other racing series coming into the sport, but I think it's a good thing to have drivers with diverse backgrounds. There's no way of knowing whether being a Supercross champion will translate into success in Nascar for McGrath or Ricky Carmichael, but both drivers certainly know what it takes to win. However, it may say something about the available pool of drivers, young and old, that Junior went to Supercross to find a driver to work with.

The other thing that I got to wondering about is in relation to Monster. Not long ago Monster was supposed to be the primary sponsor on Robby Gordon's Cup car but the deal got held up, possibly because of a conflict with Red Bull who has a deal to be the official energy drink at some tracks, or possibly for other reasons. Is it possible that Robby's deal with Monster hasn't gone through yet because they decided to sponsor McGrath at JR Motorsports? Of course there might not be any connection at all, and it's also possible that Monster could sponsor McGrath and also Robby, but lately Monster has aligned themselves with a number of drivers, none of whom are Robby.

Until I checked out the JR Motorsports website, I hadn't realized that Curtis Truex, Martin Truex, Jr.'s cousin, was racing a Late Model for Junior. I remember seeing Curtis race at an event at Wall Township in New Jersey four years ago. I wonder if he has as much ability behind the wheel as Martin seems to have?

Junior has said that he has no interest in owning any Cup teams, but I wonder if that'll change one day? He has four or five teams in various series that he's working with, and it seems to me that if any of them advance and have success at level, he might want to one day field a team for them on Nascar's highest level.

ETA: It was just confirmed on XM that this story is true, and Jeremy McGrath has been signed by JR Motorsports to race a Late Model for ten races this season with Monster as the sponsor.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2007

Random Thoughts on the 150 Duels

*Have I mentioned how thrilled I am that Michael Waltrip was able to race his way into the Daytona 500?!

*Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans are up in arms about the incident between Michael and Junior in which Michael got into Junior causing him to spin, something that could have been extremely costly to both drivers, but wasn't. Michael admitted after the race that he made a mistake, but that's something Junior should be familiar with. After all, Junior spun Michael so severely in 2005, when they were teammates, that Michael ended up in the wall, with a wrecked race car, and out of the race with a chance for a good finish ruined. Not only that but just last weekend, Junior caused a rather large wreck in the Bud Shootout wth another mistake while he was trying to bump-draft Elliott Sadler. So I don't think Junior has much room to complain about Michael, as frustrating as it probably is to get spun through no fault of his own. Junior ended up finishing second in the first 150, and he'll start the Daytona 500 in 5th.

*I'm astonished that more Toyotas didn't make it into the field. As happy as I am that all three Michael Waltrip Racing cars made the show, I thought that Jeremy Mayfield and Brian Vickers had good shots to race their way in as well. Vickers had a good car but got wrecked, so that had to be incredibly disappointing for him. What really surprised me is that inspite of testing well, and having a fast qualifying speed, Mayfield never seemed very competitive during the 150. Maybe there was so much focus on a good qualifying run to try to lock themselves in on speed, that they didn't do as much with race set-ups. That proved costly, since Mayfield had to rely on Sterling Marlin racing his way in if he was going to make the race, something that didn't happen so Mayfield will sit the 500 out. Somewhere Ray Evernham is probably chuckling. I'm not too surprised that A.J. Allmendinger didn't make the race - his car never seemed to have enough for him to be competitive, so even if he hadn't been wrecked it was unlikely we would have seen him in the show. I hope fans realize it wasn't Allmendinger's lack of experience that got him wrecked, it was all Robby Gordon. On top of several Toyota teams not being able to race their way in, two other Toyota teams had mechanical woes during their 150s - Dave Blaney and David Reutimann.

*I'm also surprised that Paul Menard wasn't able to race his way into the 500. Once David Reutimann was locked in on speed, my picks to race their way in were Vickers and Menard, neither of whom were able to do it. While DEI usually fields strong cars at restrictor plate tracks, in the early going it appears that this season could be a continuation of last season where DEI struggled to give Menard a car that was fast enough to qualify for races. I think Menard should be one of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year in Cup, but missing races and having non-competitive cars eliminates any hope of that. We'll see what happens as the season goes along, but it may be that DEI isn't up to fielding three cars right now.

*Ward Burton got wrecked in the first duel, which ended any hope he had of making the 500, a race he's won before. Ward was upset after the race and pounded on the roof of his car after the race. Thing is even if he hadn't been wrecked, his chances of racing in weren't very good since he was experiencing some mechanical issues. On top of that, let's face it - Ward was in a Morgan-McClure Motorsports car. And while they were once a successful organization, the results have been much worse more recently. I'm sure that the team is working hard to get better, but Ward should've been prepared to miss races when he agreed to race this car full-time.

*Tony Stewart won the first Duel, and Jeff Gordon the second. Not that anyone really noticed with all the attention being focused on which go-or-go-home teams were going to race their way in. Until Jeff Gordon's car failed a post-race inspection that is, but I'll have more on that in a separate entry.

*David Gilliland continued to have a strong car, finishing 4th in his Duel - I would expect to see a lot of him up front on Sunday as well. Same for David Stremme who finished 3rd in his 150.

*A number of the drivers who didn't make the field complained after the race about how Nascar should have sent the teams home who cheated. That's just sour grapes. A few of those teams wouldn't have made the field even if all the cheating teams had been sent home. Drivers and teams need to be concerned with making their cars as competitive as possible, and race as hard as they can. That they failed to make the show isn't the fault of the teams who cheated, it's because they just weren't able outrace the other drivers who they were racing against for a spot in the 500.

*All three Evernham cars were in the second 150, and Kasey Kahne was the highest finisher in 16th. Seemed like none of them were much of a factor during this race, especially Elliott Sadler. It's going to be very interesting seeing whether Elliott has more success in this car than Jeremy Mayfield did last season.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2007

Ugliness Between Junior and Teresa Earnhardt Continues

If Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is trying to talk his way out of a new contract at DEI, he's doing a good job of it. Aside from conducting contract negotiations in public, Junior's latest demand is that for a new contract to be done, he must have a majority ownership in DEI. He said,

"The main factor is the ownership part. It has nothing to do with money and nothing else really. I would really like my team, I like how things are going. ... The motors are improving, everything is on an upswing. My father has been gone for almost six years now, I want majority ownership."

Later another reporter asked for clarification.

"I want majority ownership, basically," Earnhardt Jr. said during media day at Daytona International Speedway.

As in more than 50 percent?

"Absolutely," Earnhardt Jr. said emphatically.

Ridiculous. First of all he's not the only child that Dale Earnhardt had - what about Kelley, Kerry and Taylor? Secondly, Teresa may only be an Earnhardt by marriage, but she was still Dale's wife, and she's entitled to a share, maybe even a large share of DEI. Especially since the whole reason why Teresa has ownership of DEI is because she received it as per Dale's will, along with the rest of his estate, when he died in 2001. It's very common for fans to speculate about what might be happening if Dale was still alive, and it's impossible to know. But what's clear from his will is that he wanted his wife involved with DEI and his other business interests.

I haven't seen this myself, but supposedly in later interviews Junior clarified that one day he envisions all four children having equal ownership in DEI, but I can't help but wonder if that clarification only came because it was pointed out to him how bad it sounded for him to demand a majority ownership in DEI himself. In addition, I have to wonder if he sees an equal role for all the children in DEI, why wait until down the road, why not set that up now?

What's a little perplexing is how the demand for a majority ownership in DEI is in line with his other comments yesterday about not wanting to be a Cup owner. He said,

"I really don't want the headaches of being a Cup owner. I would just as soon drive, save as much money as I can and retire. I want to race a long, long, long time. The older I get, the better I feel about my ability to compete longer and not run into the burnout of just wanting to get out of it. Once I am done driving, I really don't want to do anything else as far as ownership."

Just exactly what does he think would happen if he got a majority ownership in DEI? That he could just be an owner on paper, and not actually have to deal with any of those headaches? If he were the majority owner at DEI, he would have the responsiblity for final decision making on not just one Cup team, but three, plus a Busch team, a driver development program, and everything else that DEI is involved with. Many have been highly critical of Teresa for not being hands on when it comes to the racing operations at DEI, and it sounds as if that kind of arrangment would be just fine for Junior as well. I think DEI has suffered because of that ownership style in the past, and if Junior were to continue that pattern should he get a majority ownership in DEI, I don't think that would be the best plan of action for DEI, or for his own career.

What's really troubling to me is that Junior seems to be letting others heavily influence him. He said,

"You don't like public opinion or media opinions to sway decisions. But in this case, I have a real bad habit of being way too modest about my position in this sport. A lot of people, including the media, have helped me understand what I'm worth, what the situation really is."

Junior needs to come that kind of understanding on his own. The media twists things to make for an interesting story that people will read, and other people often have agendas of their own. Of course it's natural for Junior to discuss his situation with others, and get some advice, but ultimately the decisions that he makes about his career, and his life are his to make on the basis of what he feels is best for him, not what others think or want. One of the biggest traps that people in his position can fall into is letting others have too much control ot the point where things happen that damage that person's well-being, financially or otherwise. Yes, he needs a trusted circle of people to help him manage the "business" of being Junior, and handle things for him that he can't personally. But he needs to ensure that they're doing what's best for him, not what's best for themselves.

Junior continued,

"People around me are all the time having to remind me of the magnitude of me. They're like, 'Hey, we want you to come to the ESPYS to present?' I'm freaked out, scared to death to go to it. They're like, 'Man, you've got to get more confidence because you're that big. You deserve to be there on that stage.' The media, when you guys write about the position that I have, the leverage that I have, it sort of helps me understand what my sister, J.R. Rhodes and all of those people have been trying to explain to me for the last five or six years."

I was astonished when I read that because it comes off as incredibly boastful and arrogant. Usually most are humble about themselves and their "magnitude." Just exactly what has some of those around Junior convinced him of? Yes, he's the sport's most popular driver with a huge fanbase, and yes, he has a lot of bargaining power because Budweiser would likely follow him to another organization. But it's very easy to overestimate one's importance. Everyone is replaceable - yes, even Junior eventually. Would DEI lose a tremendous amount of revenue and sucess on the track without Junior? No question. But would the organization fold as some predict? I don't think so. Martin Truex, Jr. and Paul Menard are both young and tremendously talented. While neither one may ever win like Junior has, or be as popular as he is, both are capable of winning races. And there's no telling who DEI could sign down the road to take Junior - or Budweiser's - place.

I also have to wonder how things would really work out for Junior at another organization. On the surface it seems like Junior would be able to enjoy the same level of success no matter where he raced. But I'm not so sure about that. What strikes me is that Junior has always enjoyed being the priority at DEI. All of the organization's best resources and effort have gone towards making his team the strongest possible to give him the best chance for success on the track. But at another organization he may have to share resources - and the limelight - with other elite drivers. Joe Gibbs Racing has Tony Stewart. Hendrick Motorsports has Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Richard Childress Racing has Kevin Harvick. I highly doubt any of those organizations, or any other of the top organizations where Junior is mostly likely to go if he leaves DEI would do anything to harm their already strong teams. After all, they have major sponsors of those teams to answer to. Junior could suprise everyone and go to team that's not among the elite in Nascar. But his results on the track could suffer. Throwing $20 million at a team by way of the Budweiser sponsorship would help make any team better, but it would take time for a team to build the right mix of personnel and resources if they don't have that already.

Only time will tell how this is all going to work out, but regardless of whether Junior stays at DEI or leaves, I'd like to see less talking about Junior's contract and what he wants openly, and more talking behind closed doors. Unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen. For whatever reason, both parties have decided that it somehow benefits them to talk more to the media than they are to each other. I think that's only serving to make them both look bad, but sometimes it's hard to see that from the inside looking out, particularly if they have an agenda that they're determined to see through.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2007

Junior to Meet With DEI Today

Today comes word that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his sister Kelley, will meet with representatives from DEI regarding a possible new contract for Junior. Teresa Earnhardt will not be at the meeting by design because, according to Richie Gilmore, "the parties wanted to try to keep the emotions to a minimum, and they wanted to keep Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Jr. separate."

I have to wonder why there's a need for this kind of an update? Teams and drivers are notoriously close-mouthed in this sport about contract negotiations. I also question why there's a specific mention of emotions and wanting to keep Teresa and Junior separated. It almost comes across to me like an attempt to add fuel to the already heated speculation that the problems between Teresa and Junior are so bad that he's going to leave DEI for another organization. In addition, the source for this information appears to be ESPN's Marty Smith who is friendly with Junior so I always question whether there's a bias or agenda there when he's reporting on Junior (or Jimmie Johnson who he's also friends with). I normally dislike conspiracy threories, but I can't help but wonder, like others are, as to whether this is part of a publicity scheme by DEI and Junior. I just don't see why there's a need to alert the media about this meeting unless they're looking to keep the chatter about Junior and his contract going.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2007

Kevin Harvick Calls Teresa Earnhardt a "Deadbeat Owner"

I think Kevin Harvick was right on-target with many of his comments yesterday about Teresa Earnhardt As an owner himself - Kevin has teams in Busch and Trucks through Kevin Harvick, Inc . - he's in a position to know what an owner should do to help their organization succeed, both on- and off-the-track. However, Kevin's message will likely be lost in all the controversy over his remark about Teresa being a "deadbeat owner." I've always been a fan of Kevin's, and I very much enjoy that he's not afraid to speak his mind. However, the one thing I don't always like is that Kevin doesn't seem to know when he's going too far, such as in this case. Many of his other comments about Teresa were completely appropriate expressions of his opinion, but there's no need to insult her.

Kevin said,

"It's hard when you have what I call a deadbeat owner that doesn't come to the racetrack. Richard [Childress] is one of the best owners in the garage. You always see Richard Childress. You always see Chip Ganassi. All these owners, they all come to the racetrack. It's not just a money pit that somebody says, 'Well, I can make money off of Dale Jr. I can make money off of Dale Earnhardt.' "

I have to agree with Kevin on everything other than the deadbeat part. Fact is, DEI can try to spin it anyway they want, but it makes a difference when the owner is visible and involved with their team's operations. Teresa may care about what happens at the track with her teams just as much as any other owner, but when she doesn't show up it sends the message that she's not interested. I also think Kevin has a point in that there's the perception that Teresa is more interested in making money off both her late husband and her step-son, in terms of marketing and merchandising, than doing what needs to be done to help her teams win Championships.

Kevin then went on to say,

"You have to be at the racetrack and you have to play the politics of the sport and you have to be a part of your team and you have to understand what's going on. To me, from the outside looking in, it doesn't look like that's happening."

Again, as someone even more on the outside than Kevin, I agree. There's a lot that goes on at the track beyond the positions the cars finish in. There's networking with other owners, potential sponsors, and everyone else in the garage area. Interacting with the drivers, crew members and other personnel that work with the team and seeing what they do each race weekend. Being available to give input and handle problems in person. Making one's voice heard on policies and rules from the governing body that might effect the team. Meeting and greeting existing sponsor representatives. Addressing the media. Showing confidence in one's team. There's so much that can be done by an owner at the track. Some of those things can be taken care of away from the track too, but we never hear anything about Teresa being involved in any aspect of the on-track, race operations of her teams.

Naturally at an event later that evening, the media asked Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for a response to Kevin's comments. He said,

"You're killing me. That's ridiculous. I don't think there is a comment for that remark."

And he's right - there is nothing he can say other than that it's a ridiculous comment. Even if he agrees completely with Kevin, he can't publically say that. Junior was put in an extremely awkward position. There's no question that there's tension between Junior and his step-mother considering his recent comments, but there's a difference between talking about the difficulties in their personal relationship, and openly critcizing what she does as the owner of his team. Junior went on to defend Teresa by saying,

“With everything that’s happened, not just with the company but over the family over the past five years, she’s had a full plate. The things she has been responsible for, willingly and unwillingly, are very important. She’s taking care of things that are important to the family.”

There is some truth to what Junior said. Teresa, the family, DEI, and the sport suffered a tremendous loss when Dale, Sr. died. That's not easy to recover from, and Teresa suddenly had a lot of responsibility on her that she might not have had before, or have been fully prepared to handle. However, she's still the owner of one of Nascar's biggest teams, and it's essential that she does what must be done to help the team get as much success as possible, particularly on the track. That includes being an involved owner.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:31 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2007

Kerry Earnhardt to Work Full-Time at DEI

From the sounds of it Kerry Earnhardt has decided to retire from racing full-time. Although he's going to race five Busch races, and possibly a couple of Cup races for DEI, the main thing he will be doing for DEI this season is work for them full-time as a liasion between the Busch and Cup programs. That's the role that Tony Eury, Sr. was in, but he'll be Paul Menard's crew chief on the #15 this season. Last season Kerry raced for Thorsports Racing in the Truck Series, and his results weren't impressive - his best finish was 11th at Nashville. So he's decided he doesn't want to go that route again. He said,

"It's hard to give up driving. Now I've come to a point where I realize that doing the things I'm doing is not doing me any good, just riding around and not having any decent finishes."

I think it's hard for drivers to recognize when they're in the situation that Kerry was in that it's not likely that better rides are going to come their way. Given how competitive the drivers are, I don't think there's too many of them who are happy just riding around. But I think it also must be difficult for a driver to acknowledge when their career is nearing an end. It's good that Kerry was self-aware enough to know that the time had come for him to evaluate other options than racing full-time. I also always like to see it when a driver (or other athlete) is able to make the decision to change the direction of their career or retire themselves, rather than have that decision made for them by a lack of interest in their services for the following season.

A common complaint through the years from some fans has always been why doesn't DEI give Kerry a job or a ride? Based on what the ESPN.com article says, Teresa Earnhardt and Richie Gilmore had been looking to hire Kerry for a few years, but it was only now that he was ready to make that move. Speaking of Teresa, there doesn't seem to be the same kind of tension between her and Kerry as there is between her and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. In fact, Kerry said that his relationship with Teresa is "great." Regarding Junior's relationship with her, Kerry said,

"I don't know how their relationship is. I just look at my relationship with her and realize she's not a bad person. There's two sides to it. Dale Jr. and [sister] Kelley grew up in the home with her. I was on the outside with my mom and stepdad. I didn't grow up with the frictions they had like every child has with a parent. It's hard to speak for Dale Jr. and what his situation is."

Of course Kerry was in a very different situation than Junior growing up since he didn't live in the same house with Teresa. But I still find it interesting that his relationship with her is apparently so much different. I also think that Kerry's likely hit the nail on the head regarding why there seems to be so many issues between Junior and Teresa - there are frictions there dating back over 20 years to when Junior was a child. I think that's at the heart of much of the tensions - unresolved issues from long ago that have continued to fester through the years. As Kerry notes, after Dale Sr. died there was no longer anyone there to run interference or help work communication problems out.

"There would be a whole lot of things different, the advice and communications between the families. He was the person you always went to. He was the one that always would give the advice.

From what many people have said, there were quite a number of people, family and otherwise who went to Dale for advice. Often fans will say this or that would or wouldn't happen if Dale were still alive. However, I don't think there's really any way of knowing exactly what would have happened if Dale hadn't died at Daytona in 2001. One thing's for sure - he was a tremendous influence on the sport, and on his family.

Maybe Kerry will also be an influential force at DEI - since he's on good terms with both Teresa and Junior, maybe not only will he be a liasion between the Cup and Busch programs, but also between his step-mother and step-brother.

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

January 09, 2007

Junior and Teresa - What a Tangled Web

Yesterday at testing Dale Earnhardt, Jr. met with the media, and one topic he addressed was a comment made by his step-mother and car owner, Teresa Earnhardt, in December, in which she questioned his focus as a driver. This follows Junior's sister, Kelley Earnhardt-Elledge, who is the general manager of JR Motorsports, giving interviews on XM and Sirius, during which she also addressed the topic. I can't really figure out what Junior's goal was in discussing the topic of his relationship with his step-mother in such detail because it seemed to me that Junior was throwing fuel on the fire by providing the media with material about a story that had started to quiet down. It's also curious to me that Kelley spoke at length last week about how negotiating Junior's contract was very much a business deal and seemed to down play Teresa's comment, yet this week Junior is indicating that his relationship with his step-mother is a huge factor in whether he re-signs or not.

Family relationships are complicated, and can become more so when they're intertwined with business. From the sounds of it, Junior and his sister would have no relationship at all with Teresa if not for the family business - DEI. But the reality is that they are in business together. As such, it boggles my mind that they go for months at a time without speaking directly to each other. It's inexplicable to me that this comment by Teresa has been made, and neither side has reached out to the other. For all Junior and Kelley know, Teresa was misquoted or taken out of context. If not Junior deserves an explanation as to what she met. Yet neither Junior/Kelley nor Teresa have apparently picked up the phone, sent an email or dropped by to one another's house for a visit to clear the air. Instead the issue continues to fester, much to the delight of the media.

There's been much speculation that Junior is going to leave DEI for sure in 2008 and go race for Richard Childress Racing or another organization. I say not-so-fast, in spite of the recent kerfuffle over Teresa's comments. I have my doubts regardless of what Junior's saying at the moment as to whether his mind is made up yet about leaving DEI, especially when they've not gotten too far into negotiations. Kelley said in her XM interview that Junior gives a lot of thought to things, mulling things over for a long time. Apparently it took three to four weeks for him to decide to hire her at JR Motorsports. So it seems to me that if it took him that long to decide to hire his own sister, it's going to take him even longer to make a decision that will a huge effect on his career and have many repercussions on himself and many others

Of course both Kelley and Junior said all the right things about Junior remaining at DEI. That's to be expected - even if a driver already has a deal in the works to sign with another team they talk about how they'd like to stay with their current team so they don't make any waves. But one thing that Kelley talked about is how Junior remaining at DEI is part of their father's legacy, and that Junior racing the #8 for DEI is what their father wanted. How easy is it going to be for Junior to ignore his father's wishes and go elsewhere? Especially since it might mean the end of DEI as a successful organization.

As I mentioned above Kelley spoke at length about the business side of things, not only as it relates to negotiating a new contract for Junior, but also in regards to the business of Junior as well. That means all that goes into managing Junior's licensing, merchandising, marketing, as well as Junior's other projects such as JR Motorsports, the nightclub, the Infield Parking website, and the Alabama track. If staying at DEI is the best decision for Junior's career, and his future from a business standpoint, is he really going to leave because he has a rocky relationship with his step-mother?

In addition, It's not like his relationship with Teresa has changed at all. According to Junior his relationship with Teresa is the same as it has been since he was six years old - that's 26 years! So if he's been able to manage to deal with her for the past 26 years, why wouldn't he be able to be able to deal with her for another few years?

Apparently a sticking point between Junior/Kelley and Teresa is their involvement in running DEI. From the sounds of it, the siblings want a lot more control over what happens at DEI, if not to be able to take over completely. It's unpopular to have this opinion, but I think that Teresa has just as much right to DEI as Junior and Kelley do. Teresa was Dale's wife, and as flawed as her vision for DEI might be, she's running it in the way that she thinks is best, as is her right. Obviously Junior and Kelley (and maybe Kerry too) have some rights to DEI as well, as Dale's children, but some fans seem to think that Teresa has no right to have any involvement in DEI at all, but legally she probably has just as much, if not more, right than Junior and Kelley. So as difficult as it may be, if all three want to be involved with DEI in some regard, I think they need to find a way to work together.

I'm really not looking forward to the next few months when Junior's contract status and his relationship with his step-mother is a continual topic of discussion on message boards and in the media. I'd much rather if the messy details about the personal relationships among the members of the Earnhardt family are kept behind closed doors.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2006

Mark Martin To Race for Four Teams in 2007?

I don't know what boggles my mind more - that Mark Martin might race for four separate teams next season or that he talked to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. about the possiblity of racing for JR Motorsports part-time in a car that he and Junior would share along with a few other drivers. From MRN/Sirius, via Jayski:

Martin talked to Dale Jr about Busch ride: Mark Martin told Sirius Speedway (MRN/Sirius Satellite Radio) Monday that he spoke to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., about a possible, part-time Busch Series ride with Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports in 2007. Martin, who has already inked deals to drive the Ginn Racing/US Army Nextel Cup Chevrolet next season, as well as a Craftsman Truck for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, said sponsor conflicts prevented the deal with Earnhardt from coming to fruition. “I talked to Dale Junior about sharing a Busch car with him and a couple of other guys next season,” said Martin. “We both wanted to do it, but we couldn’t get the details figured out. The Army and the Navy (sponsors of Earnhardt’s #88 Busch car) were kinda like oil and water, and we couldn’t figure out a way to make it work.” Martin said he could run for as many as four different teams next season on the Cup, Busch and Truck Series.(MRN/Sirius Satellite Radio)(11-28-2006)

A lot of fans are wigging out that yet again Mark's not actually going to retire like he said he was going to do. But I can understand, as distasteful as I think it was for "Salute to You" merchandise to be sold to fans when Mark wasn't actually retiring, that it's very hard for drivers to walk away. The competitive fires burn bright, and especially so when a driver has raced as long as Mark has. But besides that, let's be realistic - Mark is probably being extremely well-compensated by Ginn Racing and the other teams he'll be racing for. It's hard to turn down a lot of money, no matter how much money a driver might already have. Still, in spite of my understand of Mark's right to change his mind and do what he thinks is best for himself, I can't help but ask - what happened to Mark's desire to spend more time with his family, one of the big reasons he cited for retiring?

Mark's going to be racing something like 22 Cup races, and once you add in all the Truck and Busch races that he'll apparently also be racing in, even if they're all going to be only ones that are companion events to Cup races, that's a big chunk of time each week that's taken up with practices, sponsor obligations and the actual races themselves. Mark does have his own plane which allows him to easily fly back and forth between the track and his home in Florida, but it seems to me that Mark's only going to be gaining a relatively small amount of extra time with his family. Of course it's quite possible that Mark's family not only supports him continuing to race, but also encouraged him to do so. It's easy to draw conclusions looking in from the outside. It's just very different from the way Ricky Rudd stepped aside when he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Other teams that Mark has talked to over the past year include Michael Waltrip Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. Mark may very well even end up in a Hendrick Busch car. I think that speaks to not only how well-thought of Mark is as a driver, but also what teams are looking for in a driver. Contrary to popular belief, teams aren't just looking for a young gun - Mark is about 20 years past being a young gun. There's a variety of reasons why so many teams are interested in Mark's services - he's a much accomplished driver who knows how to put a car in Victory Lane, he's been in the Chase for the Championship the past few years, he's extremely popular with the fans, he'll get any sponsor a tremendous amount of exposure, etc... But age certainly doesn't factor into it.

I don't expect that Mark is going to enjoy the same kind of success in 2007 as he did in 2006 with Roush Racing. But I'm guessing that he's going to have a whole lot of fun racing in all three series - Cup, Busch and Trucks.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2006

Carl Edwards vs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

I'm a little late in comment on this, but I can't let the events at the end of Saturday's Busch race in Michigan go unmentioned. I'm sure most are well-aware of what happened - Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Robby Gordon (in a car owned by Junior) were racing Carl Edwards for the lead on the last lap after a green-white-checkers restart, when Carl appeared to get loose and slow in front of Junior, who then proceeded to run Carl over, causing him to wreck. Junior went on to win the race, and Carl's actions that followed showed just how displeased he was - going onto pit road and stopping in Junior's pit, going back on the track as the field circled round under caution to hit Junior's car with his own, and then confronting Junior in Victory Lane, not just verbally but physically as well.

I hate to see drivers get spun and/or wrecked. In spite of all the safety advances, racing remains a dangerous sport. So for that alone I can't stand to see drivers get run over and wrecked. I also think there's an increasing lack of respect in that there are times when drivers could back off instead of getting into each other, and instead choose not to. However, when drivers are battling for the lead on the last lap, it seems to me that aggressive and hard racing is to be expected and unfortunately sometimes those situations don't work out well. A driver isn't going to be as likely to back off in that situation as they might on lap 50, in fact I'd guess there are a lot of drivers, including Carl himself, who would have done exactly as Junior did. As they say - that's racin'.

What I really take issue with is Carl's temper tantrum after the race. I definitely understand why he was upset. No driver is going to be happy about being so close to a win and ending up wrecked, particularly at the hands of another driver. However, it's completely unacceptable to me that Carl went back on the track and used his car as a weapon to hit Junior. That shouldn't be happening, and especially not under caution or after the race. At the time Junior had his hand out the window of his car, and while nothing happened, there is the possiblity that if Carl hit him at a different angle or harder, he could have suffered a serious injury. In addition, Carl couldn't leave it alone even after that. He went into Victory Lane and exchanged words with Junior. When he apparently didn't like what he heard, he grabbed Junior by his firesuit. Some are going to say that they love that kind of emotion and that they wish that Junior and Carl had gotten into a fist fight. It's great to see drivers show emotion, but I think they need to be mature and be professional. Instead, Carl acted like an out-of-control child. There is a time and a place for Carl to make his displeasure known - post-race by retaliating on the track and Victory Lane was not it.

Although Nascar often likes to let the competitors sort disputes like this out among themselves, this was one time that they couldn't ignore it. Not only did they meet with both Junior and Carl after the Busch race, but also prior to Sunday's Cup race. It's expected that Carl will be penalized quite severely for his actions, and he should be. It's about time a message was sent to him. It's far from the first time that Carl has either been overly aggressive on the track, or let his temper get the best of him, such as when he retaliated against Tony Stewart on pit road at Pocono. Nascar didn't give him anything more than an aggressive driving penalty during the race, when they should have done much more - there is no excuse no matter how angry a driver is for retaliating on pit road. In some ways I suspect that lack of further punishment made Carl think that it was okay for him to go after Junior in this situation because he might have thought that Nascar would look the other way again. Unfortunately though, I suspect those who are expecting Carl to lose major points, be fined a huge amount of money or be parked a race will likely be disappointed. I think it'll probably be the standard 25 points, $25,000 and he'll be placed on probation. But maybe I'll be surprised and they'll actually send a message to Carl that will really get his attention.

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

August 10, 2006

Mark McFarland Released From JR Motorsports

Mark McFarland has been released from the #88 Busch car, fielded by JR Motorsports, and will be replaced this weekend at Watkins Glen by Martin Truex, Jr. Team owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said,

"Mark was instrumental in getting our Busch program off the ground and he will always have a role in the history of JR Motorsports. But the reality is that as a business we have the responsibility of delivering a level of performance for our sponsors. This change is being made to address that concern."

I understand that there is a significant amount of pressure from sponsors for positive results and McFarland being 22nd in points wasn't impressive. But McFarland is a rookie. Since he's a rookie it seems to me that both the sponsor and Junior should show a little more patience with him, because it's not unusual for young, unexperienced drivers to struggle in their first season on a new level. In addition, how is he supposed to develop into a better driver if he's not given even a full season to do it in? Not every driver is going to be able to step into a car in a new series and immediately run up front, and it's even harder in the Busch Series where there's so much competition on a weekly basis from Buschwackers coming over from the Cup series.

Now the question becomes who will replace McFarland? On one hand, Junior has shown a desire to develop young drivers. But on the other hand, if the sponsor wants more immediate results than a young driver might be able to produce, then Junior might need to go with a veteran driver. Of course Steve Park fans are speculating that he might be a candidate for this ride, and if so, I think it would be a pretty good opportunity for Steve. The car appears to be fairly decent, and JR Motorsports gets their equipment from Richard Childress Racing. But unlike Whelen Motorsports/Ted Marsh Racing who also get their motors from RCR, JR Motorsports has more resources in terms of personnel and likely funding to field cars that are more competitive than the #31. The #88 is also a full-time ride, something that Steve is very much in need of. But even if the #88 weren't the most elite of all rides in the Busch garage, if Steve were offered it, I would guess he would still consider it. At this point, while he shouldn't take a ride with a subpar team where there's no chance of good results, I don't think he can be ultra-fussy about what rides he will consider, particularly when the season is still in progress.

Although some seem to think it would be a factor, I doubt that Steve's past history with DEI (he was released by them in 2003), would play a role. Steve has said on multiple occassions that he has remained friends with Junior and JR Motorsports is run by Junior and Kelley Earnhardt, not Teresa Earnhardt. That said, is it realistic to think that Junior will put Steve in the #88? I'm not sure that it is. Unfortunately Junior may very well judge Steve the same way that other team owners do - by his most recent Busch results, which haven't been good in the least. But Steve is available so maybe they will at least chat about it.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2006

Martin Truex, Jr. to Race for JR Motorsports in Place of Mark McFarland

In other injury news, because of a shoulder injury he received in a wreck last week during the Busch race at Milwaukee, Mark McFarland, a rookie this year in Busch racing, will be replaced in the #88 Navy car for JR Motorsports by Martin Truex, Jr. for this weekend's race at Daytona. Apparently McFarland didn't receive the necessary clearances he needed to be allowed to race. What's curious is that yesterday, Steve Crisp, JR Motorsports' Director of Racing was on XM saying that while McFarland had strained some ligments in his shoulder, he had received clearance to race. Suddenly, a day later, he can't race after-all - what's up with that? Just how serious is this injury? We've seen drivers get in the car after hard wrecks the week before, with broken bones, when they're sick with the flu, and essentially race through all sorts of conditions that might leave many others unable to get out of bed, let alone get in a car. Yet with McFarland, a strained shoulder is going to keep him out of the car? I guess it must be pretty badly strained.

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

June 18, 2006

Teresa Earnhardt Agrees to Give Dale Earnhardt, Jr. the Rights to His Name

Excellent news for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Although Marty Smith's article, phrases it as DEI agreeing to give Junior the rights to his name, in reality since Teresa Earnhardt owns those rights, she's the one who agreed to give them to Junior, the rightful owner, since afterall, it is his name. Smith wrote,

Essentially, it came down to trust. Once she (Teresa) trusted him enough to cherish what Dale Earnhardt means, she obliged the deal.

I think that's a very sad commentary on the state of things. Supossedly Teresa wanted to protect the way the Earnhardt name was used but if anyone knows what Dale Earnhardt means, it's his son. How could there be any doubt of that or that Junior might not know how to cherish the memory of his father? Maybe she and Junior differ in the way they view Dale, Sr.'s legacy, but there's no doubt in my mind that to both of them he was much loved and much revered. I also think that with how many people Junior has around him managing his business affairs, he should be trusted from a business perspective to make decisions about how his name is used. But then again, he did sign over those rights in the first place, which wasn't a wise decision.

I'm curious as to what the "terms" were that Junior and DEI agreed to in order for this to happen. Did money change hands? Did Junior have to make any promises, such as that he would stay at DEI for the remainder of his career? Not that it makes that he's getting the rights to his name any less of a good thing, but if there are terms Junior might not have gotten those rights completely for free, as I think he should, since... you guessed it - it's his name. Hopefully there really aren't any "terms" and that's just the way Smith wrote the article, because I think it would be unfortunate if Junior had to pay to get his name back.

In any event, this is a very good thing for Junior. It's essential that he owns the rights to his own name so he can fully decide for himself how it's used. I think it's extra-nice that this happened on Father's Day weekend - it's almost like it's a present from Dale, Sr. Of course the cynical part of me wonders if this agreement was announced this weekend by design. But I'm not even a very big fan of Junior and I'm happy for him that in the end this worked out as it should.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2006

More on Dale, Jr. Not Owning the Rights to His Own Name

Last month, in an interview with The Charlotte Observer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed that he doesn't own the rights to his own name, instead his step-mother, Teresa Earnhardt does. At the time, I wrote that not owning the trademark to his name could have major consequences for Junior, because Teresa has final say over the ways that Junior can or can't use his name. Even worse for Junior, if he were to leave DEI, Teresa could prevent him from using and/or profiting for his name on merchandising, in advertising, for marketing purposes, etc... In essence for Junior, this is a very big deal and could have major ramifications for him for the rest of his life.

What surprised me is that no other media outlet picked up on this story, as would likely have happened if it involved an athlete as prominent as Junior in one of the other major sports. Until now that is. Darren Rovell, writing for ESPN.com, not only points out why this is such a big issue for Junior, but also how it came to be, something that I wondered about when this first came up. Apparently, much as I suspected, Dale Earnhardt filed the original trademark to his son's name. Rovell says that's because Junior wasn't very interested in the business side of things back then. When Dale, Sr. died, the trademark were transferred to his father's estate. That's where things get murky.

As executor of the estate Teresa then transferred the rights to a trust and then ultimately to herself. I had assumed that Junior had signed away the rights to his name when the original trademark was filed. But that's not the case. Rovell obtained a copy of a consent form that Junior signed, agreeing to the trademark to his name being transferred, in 2002, more than a year after his father's death. I'm no lawyer, but to me that indicates that at that time, Junior could have gotten the rights back to his name by refusing to sign the form, which is required of any living person who is signing the rights to their name away. Instead he voluntarily signed it. I can understand why he would agree to signing his rights to his own name away when it was his father putting it though. But why would he agree to sign the rights away to someone who isn't even a blood relative? That is really shocking to me. Whoever was advising him at that time gave him some extremely poor advice.

Some have said that Junior should just take Teresa and DEI to court. But it's not that simple. He voluntarily signed that consent form. Unless he can show that he was decieved or that he wasn't of sound mind when he signed the form, and I doubt that Junior would want to go that route, both for the potential uglyness factor and potential for scandal, I think he's probably out of luck. J. Scott Evans, a lawyer who has registered trademarks for several drivers said,

"It's hard to revoke your consent once you've given it. If Dale Jr. has a problem with it now, that's between him and DEI."

Really Junior's only option may be for Teresa to agree to give him back the rights to his own name, but how likely is that to happen? Especially when there's a good chance that she, and DEI, are making a lot of money off of it, perhaps more than they would if Junior owned the rights himself.

Sometimes it seems as if some fans shy away from thinking about or discussing the business side of Nascar too much. That this sport is very much a business and not just about cars racing each other on the track is very hard for some fans to swallow. Some even feel that issues like this are no one's business. I disagree - an issue like this has the potential to change the course of Junior's career, if Teresa were to use it as leverage to keep him at DEI, which is no small matter since Junior is one of the faces of the sport.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2006

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Does Not Own the Rights to His Own Name

Last week Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gave an interview to The Charlotte Observer in which he said the following,

"Sometimes I wish I had a different first name. Teresa (Earnhardt, his stepmother and team owner) has her idea of what she wants to do with Dad's name over the next several years. And I'm still racing in my career and doing my thing and I have the same name.

So it gets hard because we're sort of in the middle of trying to get the rights. I don't have the rights to my name. I'm trying to get `em. She (Teresa Earnhardt) don't want to come off it too easy, because she wants to make sure my dad's name is always thought of as the way it is. If I didn't have the same name -- and I kind of wish I didn't sometimes -- I wouldn't have to be worrying about it."

When I read that Junior doesn't own the rights to his own name I was astonished. For those who don't understand the significance of what Junior is saying it means that Teresa Earnhardt, his step-mother, is listed as the official owner of the trademark to "Dale Earnhardt, Jr." (and "Dale Jr.") with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That means she can control what Junior's name is officially used for, whether that is merchandising, for promotional purposes, in advertising and for countless other uses. That also means that depending on his agreement with Teresa and DEI, Junior might see less profits from merchandising that uses his name than do other drivers. I am far from an expert on trademarks, but I do know that Junior not owning the rights to his own name is a very big deal.

What I don't understand is how this situation came to be in the first place. It certainly doesn't appear to be the standard for most drivers. I looked up about ten drivers at random, and every one of them owned the rights to their own names. One guess is that Dale Earnhardt, Sr. filed a trademark for the rights to his son's name at some point and ownership passed to Teresa when he died. But it still doesn't make a lot of sense to me that Junior wouldn't be allowed to have those rights. When he was a child there was no reason to have a trademark on his name and as an adult he certainly should have been trusted to decide for himself how his name is used.

Junior's comments indicate that the issue for Teresa is protecting how Dale, Sr.'s name is used. However, it seems to me that this could also be a matter of control, and not just over how the Earnhardt name is used. That Teresa owns the trademark to Junior's name could also end up being a way that she can control what he does. Think about it this way - let's say that when Junior's current contract expires with DEI he decides to sign with Richard Childress Racing. Unless Junior aquires the rights to his name, Teresa could play hardball and prevent him from using his own name on t-shirts, in sponsor ads, on his website, and in countless other ways. In addition, if she were to allow him to use his name for those things, the profits could end up going right back to her at DEI, not him. Fact of the matter is, I don't see any way for Junior to even think about leaving DEI until he has the rights to his own name.

In addition, Teresa can control exactly how Junior's name is used without consulting with him. She can have it put on products he doesn't like. She can probably kill deals that could be very beneficial to him if she doesn't approve of the way his name would be used or his association with that product. And there is not a single thing that Junior can do about it, because the law is on Teresa's side - she owns his name, she has the final say. I would hope that she and Junior have a good enough relationship that they discuss all possible and current uses of his name and decide together what is best. But it's possible that's not the way things work. I would also like to think that Junior's deal with DEI guarantees him a large chunk of the profits that come from the use of his name - but it may not.

I think there are consequences to this that go deeper than the business side of things as well. Someone on Michael Waltrip's forum pointed out the emotional impact that not having control of one's name can have. I completely agree with that line of thinking. We have our name from birth, it is one thing that makes us unique and gives us our identity, even for Junior whose name is so tightly connected to his father. Junior also can't just go and change his name, like someone who isn't in the public eye might be able to do if worst came to worst. Junior will always be tied to the name, "Dale Earnhardt, Jr." Think about how powerless you would feel if you didn't own the rights to your name, that you couldn't decide how it was used. Think about how much under someone else's control you might feel. I'm not a big fan of Junior, but I have a lot of sympathy for Junior on this issue.

I hope that Junior is eventually able to get the rights to his name because if he doesn't I think that it could have major consequences for him, particularly if there was ever a falling out between himself and Teresa.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:48 PM | Comments (2)

April 25, 2006

DEI Cars to Have Special Black Paint Schemes to Honor Dale Earnhardt

A while back there was some controversy over the possibility of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. one day racing the #3 that his father made so famous before he passed away in a wreck during the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Junior said that before he retires he would like to race the #3 and that is something that many fans would like to have happen as well. However, Teresa Earnhardt made comments which suggested that she didn't want anyone to ever race the #3, not even Junior. So now comes the news that all three DEI cars, including Junior's #8, will sport special black paint schemes, very reminiscent of that of the black #3, at Talladega this weekend in tribute to Dale, Sr., who will be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. April 29 is also Dale Earnhardt Day.

Of course I'm sure that everyone would like to honor Dale, Sr. in as many ways as possible anyway, but I also can't help but wonder if this is also a way for Teresa to placate Junior. The car that Junior will be racing does look very similar to the way his father's did with one key exception of course - that there is no #3. In any event, naturally there will be a die-cast of this car, which I'm sure will sell extremely quickly, even to those who aren't really fans of Junior's like they were his father. I think that even those who aren't that excited about it now will be when they see that black car hit the track this weekend.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2006

Photo of the Day - Chris Crumley

Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware, September, 2004. Two years ago I won an Operation Marathon auction to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp and what I won was one of the best experiences of my life - spending the day with Michael Waltrip's #15 team on race day. So I got to watch the race from the #15 pit. All of Michael's crew that day was exceptionally nice to us but it was also clear that they were outstanding at what they do. Chris Crumley was Michael's front tire changer then and he has since become a part of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew on the #8 team. This week Crumley was named DEI's pit performer of the week, a feat he achieved while changing tires with a hairline fracture on the knuckle of his left thumb. Ow! It's amazing what the crews do in the matter of seconds and I love watching them at work. The hard work of the crews often go underappreciated and I'm glad that DEI takes the time to single out the crew members who really shine.

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

February 12, 2006

Confidence is Great But Overconfidence is a Dangerous Thing

Along with predicting that he has the car to beat for the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. made the following prediction about how the 2006 season is going to go for him:

"We’ll be in the top three in points when we get to the Chase," he said. "We’ll win about six or seven races and if we don't win the championship we won't lose it by much."

I have no doubt that Junior and the #8 team are going to improve on their results from 2005. It's essential for Junior and for DEI as a company that they get back on track and I'm sure that they are putting a huge amount of effort into making that happen. In addition, based on what Tony Eury, Jr. did when he was Michael Waltrip's crew chief, it's pretty clear to me that Eury, Jr. doesn't need his father's help to built an outstanding race car and make good decisions from on top of the pit box. I also think that Junior is a better driver than his points finish in 2005 reflects. However, winning six or seven races before the Chase and being in the top three in points is setting extremely lofty goals and I'm not sure that's necessarily realistic for a team coming off of a subpar season at an organization that has issues that they may still need to deal with.

I think Junior is a driver who is capable of winning many races in a season and ultimately the Championship. However, so many things have to go exactly right and the competition among drivers and teams is incredibly intense these days. There are many extremely strong teams and I don't think it's a given that the #8 team is going to rebound from 2005 to such a degree that they're going to be one of the best teams in 2006. There are many question that need to be answered for the #8 team. How will Junior and Eury, Jr. work together now that they've been re-united?They say that they're beyond the days when they would argue bitterly when working together but when the pressure is on in the midst of the season will any of those previous tensions rear their ugly head again? Has DEI addressed some of their internal issues both as an organization and as it relates to their teams? If there's been other personnel changes to the #8 team besides Eury, Jr. how will they work together? Are the engine problems that sometimes plagued the #8 and #15 teams in 2005 resolved?

I think it's premature to start talking about a run for the Championship for the #8 team until at least a few races go by and they really see what they've got. It's great to be confident and it's great to feel good about one's chances for success. I definitely think that positive thinking can help a driver behind the wheel. But I think that overconfidence can also be a something that's not so good because it can lead a team to overlook problems and also set them up for disappointment. If a team assumes that they're "the car to beat" and just about perfect they might not work on their weaknesses or might not see a potential issue, mechanically or otherwise. And what happens if the #8 team doesn't get off to a strong start? What if they don't start winning races right away? Is Junior and the team going to get down on themselves because they thought they'd be in the midst of the hunt for the Chase from race one?

I think quiet confidence is a better strategy. Be positive about the chances for winning and for success but let people wonder about exactly what you've got. Have confidence in yourself but not to the point of being cocky. Be realistic about what you, your team and your car can achieve. But by making the kind of comments that Junior has during Speedweeks thus far Junior is setting himself up as a target for fans, the media and others in the garage area if he and his teams can't back up Junior's boasts about how good his team is going to be in 2006.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2006

Photo of the Day - Pit Stop

Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania, July, 2005. There's not been much in the way of Nascar news or anything too newsworthy about Michael Waltrip or Steve Park. I miss racing! So because I've been thinking about how much I can't wait for some on-track action, even if it's just testing, here's a photo of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s pit crew waiting for him to come in for a pit stop. This is Michael Waltrip's old crew from 2004 who I had such a great time meeting at the Dover race so I made a point of spending some time watching them at work at Pocono even though I spent most of the time near Michael's pit. Now that the #15 team is barely even a part-time team I wonder which of the guys from both of these teams are no longer with DEI. Both teams seemed to be outstanding at what they did so they would be an asset to any team that they end up working with.

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

December 20, 2005

Ultimate DEI Fan Package to Raise Money for Dale Earnhardt Foundation

DEI is holding an Ebay auction for an "Ultimate DEI Fan Christmas Package" to raise money for The Dale Earnhardt Foundation. Now I think that any effort to raise money for a charity is a good thing and this auction will surely raise a lot amount of money since it's already up to over $4,000 with four days left to go. But what do auction winners actually get? Well, the writer of the auction notes that fans have joked that just being allowed to sweep the floors at DEI would be like a dream come true. So DEI is going to literally make those dreams come true as it appears that the auction winner will get to be a glorified janitor/gopher at DEI for the day doing things like sweeping floors, polishing race cars and fetch tools.

Auction winners will also get a tour of DEI and they will get a private lunch with the DEI crew chiefs. The only thing is that the small print in the auction indicates that not all of the crew chiefs might be present for the lunch so instead of eating with Tony Eury, Jr., crew chief of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s #8 car, the winner might be eating with Tony Gibson who filled in as Michael Waltrip's crew chief at the end of this season. There's no guarantee that the winner will see any of the DEI drivers either. While the auctions says that there is always a chance that one or all of them might drop by the drivers are almost as busy in the off-season as they are during the season so the winners shouldn't count on say, running into Junior in the hall at DEI.

So it kind of amazes me that that this auction will surely go for more money than any of the Operation Marathon auctions that gave auction winners hot passes and the opportunity to be Michael Waltrip's guest at a race. The winners of those auctions were not only guaranteed that they would meet Michael but that they would see the inner workings of a race team and spend the race in the #15 pit. As a winner of one of those auctions I think it was one of the most outstanding and exciting experiences that I've ever done and may ever do. I can't even begin to put a value on all the unbelievably awesome things I got to do and see. If DEI were to do a package like that, even if it only had minimal participation by Junior or Martin Truex, Jr. I can't even begin to imagine how much money it would raise but it would surely be significant.

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

December 06, 2005

Nascar Peeved at Drivers Who Didn't Show Up for Banquet

A few drivers who won awards and contingency money last week as part of the festivities surrounding the Nascar Nextel Cup banquet didn't show in person to pick up their awards and Nascar's not too pleased about that. Despite the snoozefest that the banquet is and how understanding I am about the shortness of the driver's off-seasons I have to agree with Nascar. While Jeff Gordon might be excused because he was racing in France that weekend, unless the other drivers also have good excuses, I think it shows a lack of respect to the sponsors of the awards, the fans and perhaps most importantly their fellow drivers, especially the newly crowned Champion, Tony Stewart. Of course there is always going to be a focus during Champions Week on the drivers who made the Chase so the other drivers might not see it as a priority to go but drivers like Michael Waltrip and Brian Vickers made it to New York and neither of them were getting any awards or were particularly high in the points. So it seems to me that if drivers who really didn't have much of a reason to be there showed up then I think that drivers who were getting awards or money should make sure that they're there.

I find it especially problematic that Junior didn't show to pick up the Most Popular Driver Award. Now in all fairness it should be mentioned that a cousin in Florida passed away a day or two prior to the banquet but my impression is that Junior wasn't planning on attending even if there hadn't been a death in the family. Instead of picking up the award in person and giving a heart-felt speech about how much the award means to him because it's voted on by the fans, Junior sent a 90-second video that was edited down to 10-seconds. Junior later posted a journal entry on his site about how much the award means to him but it's very easy to write a journal entry (or have someone else write it for him) from the comfort of his own home. I think if the award truly means something to him and he doesn't take it for granted he would be there in person to pick it up, unless there was an extremely good reason why he couldn't make it. Yes, there are some, myself included, who don't think much of awards that are handed out on the basis of internet voting. But the bottom line is that this is an award that reflects the voice of the fans, who are essential to the success of the sport and it would be nice for Junior to make the extra effort to show how much he appreciates his fans and the effort they showed in voting for him.

In addition, it's not like New York is a foreign country. New York is a relatively short distance by plane from North Carolina and the drivers all have access either to their own planes or to a team plane. So it's a lot easier for a driver to travel than for the average person. Coming up to New York either for the day, since all the awards and money are handed out on the same day as the banquet, or at the most overnight doesn't seem like it's too much to ask. I understand that the demands on the driver's time are immense and they don't have a tremendous amount of time to themselves but to me the banquet and the surrounding festivities are part of the job, just like all the other off-track obligations are. And there are certainly plenty of ways to make a trip to New York fun, whether it's going to a Broadway show, shopping, visiting a museum or partying in one of the many nightclubs in the city. Not to mention it's an opportunity for the drivers to network and socialize with each other, sponsors, owners and everyone else involved in the sport in a slightly more relaxed setting than at the track.

However, all of that said I'm not comfortable with the idea that Nascar might somehow penalize drivers for not showing up. Apparently Nascar is considering taking away Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne's contingency award money and giving it to the runner-ups. While the only way to ensure that the maximum amount of drivers are at the banquet is by threatening to penalize them, Sadler and Kahne earned that money on the basis of what they did on the track. If they did something off the track that could effect the way they race such as drunk driving or using drugs I completely understand looking into taking action against them for it. But to take away money because they didn't show doesn't sit quite right with me. Unfortunately I'm not sure what the solution is. Because I think the more drivers who show the better and that Nascar should make sure that the drivers understand the importance of being present to pick up their awards in person.

Ultimately while the banquet is boring and some of the other activities of the week are probably a drag, I think the drivers need to suck it up and deal with it, just as they deal with every other responsibility that comes with being in Nascar.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)

Letter to Santa

Got the idea from a thread on NYYFans.com...

Dear Santa,

I realize that I am Jewish thus your sleigh normally passes over my house instead of stopping but since I am asking for presents for others I hope you will make a one-time exception and fulfill the wishes on my list.

* Steve Park . I know you keep track of who's been naughty and who's been nice but I can't imagine that Steve has really been naughty enough to deserve all the lousy rides and trying situations that he's been in on the track the past few years. Getting the pole then wrecking on lap one? Winning his first truck race then the following race his engine blowing in something like the first ten laps of the race? Getting an awesome chance with BDR only to be involved in a firey wreck on lap one of race one in the truck? You must have put him on the naughty list by accident! Oh, yeah, just to be sure we're clear I'm not talking about the wink-wink, nudge-nudge kind of naughty - get your mind out of the gutter! By all reports Steve is a great guy, wonderful with the fans, an awesome race car driver and would represent any sponsor well. So for Christmas could you please leave a shiny, new ride for Steve under his tree? In any series will do as long as it's a competitive ride in which he will contend for some wins. Also, a supportive sponsor would be great too. But as much as a certain kind of sponsor is trying to get into the sport to pitch to the huge amount of female Nascar fans, please no feminine product sponsors!

*Michael Waltrip. Michael does so much good for others. I submit as Exhibit A, Operation Marathon. Plus, there's the way that he goes out of his way to treat his fans like gold and help those around him when he can. So why does Michael seem to have the worst luck on the track of any driver not named Steve Park? What didn't happen to ruin a race for Michael in 2005? Blown engines, other mechanical failures, countless cut tires, getting wrecked by others, the car flipping over, it all happened to Michael to ruin some very fine runs. I'm surprised that he didn't get kidnapped by aliens! I think Michael deserves some better luck as a Christmas present this year. No matter what Jeff Green says. Or Robby Gordon.

*Dale Earnhardt, Jr and Kasey Kahne. Michael's probably too nice to include this in his own letter to you but being Jewish I don't have a stocking so I don't have to worry about getting a lump of coal. Funny how that works. Anyway, Junior and Kasey both blatantly ran Michael over in two separate races which resulted in Michael getting wrecked when he was on his way to great finishes in both races. Now if that doesn't deserve coal in the stocking I don't know what does. Junior especially - ran over his own teammate! Naughty or nice? Not nice!

*Ken Schrader and Kyle Petty. I know it's a lot to ask considering 41 other Cup drivers are probably asking for something very similar but can't both Kenny and Kyle get a win in 2006? One more win for each of 'em to show that they can race just as well as any other driver out there. Yeah, I know it means that you might have to arrange for a 42-car wreck in two separate races (no injuries of course) to make this possible but it's got to get a wee bit tiring to show up at the track week after week and know you have little to no change of winning. Good guys who it would be great to see in Victory Lane.

*The New York Yankees are in dire need of a centerfielder. Since it is a very thin market for cetnerfielders to be had via trade or free agency signing I will also ask as another user on NYYFans.com did for you to reincarnate Mickey Mantle. No, I do not know where you might find his frozen head to assist you in this process.

*Albert Pujols and Johan Santana" target="_blank">Albert Pujolsto become Yankees. Yes, I realize that they are with other teams and the Yankees don't actually need a first baseman or another starter. But surely you can assist with the removal of some of the Yankees spare parts. One tip - I heard Jaret Wright has been a very naughty boy. I'm not sure what he did but it was very naughty! I don't think just giving him a lump of coal will do. Perhaps a trip to the North Pole is in order?

* Mike Mussina- aside from a healthy elbow if you could please ensure that the next time that Moose is having himself a good time in a bar that no potentially embarassing photos are taken that could end up on the internet? Yeah, I know it's a big job to run after all those baseball players who don't seem to realize that posing for photos while drunk/partying/licking whipped cream off a bartender's neck might not look so good to the fans or their significant others. Not that Moose did any of that but at the very least please ensure that what happens on the road as innocent as it may be for Moose and his teammates not only stays on the road but doesn't end up on Webshots!

*Jason Giambi. He had a great season in 2005 once he got on track and I hope he repeats that in 2006. However, he is clearly in need of a few new t-shirts. Recently Jason was spotted in Las Vegas at a nightclub wearing a t-shirt that said "Better Living Through Chemistry." Not a wise idea for one of the poster boys for the BALCO steroids scandal. Suggested slogans for alternate t-shirts - "I Heart Frequent Drug Tests" or "All Natural!"

Thanks Santa, you're a real pal!

Posted by silverdsl at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2005

Done Deal: Michael Waltrip to Bill Davis Racing in 2006

Signs One Year Deal

So as I mentioned the only thing that would make me come out of blogging hiatus for the next two weeks is finding out where Michael is going for 2006 and beyond which has happened. Today it was announced that as widely rumored Michael would be joining with Bill Davis Racing in 2006. The best news is that his sponsor NAPA will be following him from DEI to BDR. First, I have to say that I am absolutely thrilled for Michael! I would be happy for him no matter where he signed but I truly believe that BDR is a diamond in the rough. I think I'm one of the few fans of his that was actually hoping that he would choose BDR over some other options because I think there are a few very really big positives about joining that organization. Though they may struggle in the short-term, I think that long-term BDR might offer Michael a really good chance at future success, depending on whether or not they do align themselves with Toyota in Cup in 2007. Michael is a lot more savvy than some give him credit for and he has a lot of good people around him so no matter how this all plays out I truly believe that this is the best possible choice for him.

There is so much that I want to say I'm not even sure where to begin so first I'll say why I'm so happy that Michael ended up at BDR. First and foremost, he's going to be "The Man" at BDR. Scott Wimmer will be his teammate, at least for now, since it's rumored that he may not remain with BDR, but I think Michael doesn't have to worry about getting overshadowed or getting secondary equipment like he did at DEI because of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Especially since he brought a big-time sponsor with him. BDR is likely going to do all that they can in terms of offering Michael the best possible support and equipment that they can offer to help him succeed. Which in 2006 may not be as competitive as what some other teams are able to give but could get a whole lot better in 2007 and beyond if they join with Toyota. At Joe Gibbs Racing, the other organization it was rumored that he might join, Michael would be in the third tier car behind Tony Stewart and Bobby LaBonte and the #11 car has struggled mightily this season. So I don't think there would have been any guarantees that he would be racing any better in 2006 with Gibbs than with BDR.

Which brings me to the next reason why I'm so happy that Michael went to BDR - Toyota. I have no issues like some others do about Toyota coming to Cup. Yes, they're a foreign manufacturer but I've got news for everyone who has that complaint - better be throwing out that computer you're reading this with and quite a few other things in your house. Even American companies use a ton of parts and pieces from overseas manufacturers. But that's getting off the subject. Based on what I've seen from Toyota in the trucks, they do an exceptional job of taking care of their drivers and teams. That doesn't mean guaranteed success automatically but they do seem to give them quite a bit of support. And I do think that they will be competitive when they enter Cup. So I feel really good about the possiblity of Michael being one of their drivers! Why wouldn't they want him? If he represents them like he does NAPA, that would make them very happy indeed. He would be an outstanding ambassador for them in the sport.

I think some will be concerned that Michael only signed a one-year deal with BDR but I would guess that would relate to the possiblity of hooking up with Toyota. If I remember correctly in the trucks Toyota signs their drivers directly so if they enter Cup in 2007 Michael would likely sign a longer deal directly with them at that point. If they don't come Cup racing in 2007 or Michael doesn't like being at BDR or changes his mind about working with Toyota this gives him the ability to explore other options then. I think that it's a win-win situation for Michael, which doesn't lock him into BDR long-term if things don't work out with Toyota.

I have to laugh a little because not too long ago the BDR spokesperson was denying that they had even talked to Michael about 2006. But I was pretty sure at that time that was bullshit, maybe because they didn't want to show all their cards and potentially give another organization the opportunity to woo NAPA. It's funny how frequently in Nascar when there's a strong denial of something that's exactly what happens down the road, usually not too far in the future. That's one unfortunate thing in Nascar when that happens so often because it makes it hard to trust what anyone is saying. But I can save that rant for another day...

One thing that I am really thrilled about for Michael is that NAPA is staying with him! I think that relationship is an outstanding one! The president of NAPA, Bob Susor, said,

"It is no secret that our association with Michael has been a key ingredient of our marketing efforts. Race fans associate NAPA Auto Parts with Michael Waltrip and vice versa. Michael has promoted our brand in his own unique style."

And he is so right about that. I know Michael likes to be acknowledged for his on-track accomplishments and abilities but there's no denying that he is the best out of all the drivers at taking care of his sponsors. No driver instinctively knows better, about interacting with fans, about handling his sponsors and getting them the most possible attention than Michael does. I'm not sure if people truly realize how outstanding Michael is in this area and all the people who think that NAPA is only known because they were associated with DEI and Junior are very mistaken about that. So it's no surprise to me in the least that NAPA is sticking with Michael. I mentioned interacting with fans because I think that's very key when it comes to promoting a sponsor - Michael does a ton of appearances and when fans have a positive experience with him, they think about his sponsors in a good light as well.

It's no small matter that NAPA is leaving DEI, no matter how much someJunior/DEI fans might like to play that down. NAPA is a $15-20 million sponsor and letting that kind of a sponsor walk out the door indicates that there are some huge failings at DEI. I discussed much of this back in June when Marty Smith wrote a column predicting exactly this and as I thought back then, I can only assume that someone was feeding him some very good information at that point. Some will say but they still have Budweiser, Bass Pro Shops and Menards once Paul Menard goes to Cup. However, if they still had NAPA that would mean that they might be able to have four cars instead of three in the future and certainly three cars full-time for 2006, something which I think is essential for DEI's future success. That they will likely only field two cars in 2006 may be a problem for them in terms of making advances from this season, considering one car will be fielded by a rookie. Martin Truex, Jr. is an exceptional driver but there will still be a period of adjustment when he comes to Cup full time. So that will put a lot of pressure on Junior. So NAPA leaving DEI is no small matter. Many are saying that NAPA will regret it but I highly doubt that's the case, particularly if they stay with Michael if he joins Toyota. That will be a high-profile arrangement and NAPA will have no regrets about that. Had they stayed with DEI the #15 would likely be what it is not, a second tier (and in the future third tier car) whereas at BDR the car they sponsor will likely be the focus of the operation.

What I'm wondering about is which other of Michael's sponsors will be following him to BDR? I'd guess that Domino's will since as I've noted on many occassions in this space, they do a huge amount of promotions with him and are a sponsor at Michael Waltrip Racing. Best Western is also a MWR sponsor and I'd guess that Klaussner Furniture having been involved with him for so long might also join him at BDR. So DEI really stands to lose a lot more than just NAPA. In the current environment in which Nascar operates losing sponsorship money is no small issue and despite the large sponsorship in the form of Budweiser I believe that if all these sponsors leave DEI with Michael then it will be costly. In the long-run they may be able to replace some of those sponsors but it's not as easy as it once was to aquire and keep sponsors.

The bottom line is that I have to applaud Michael for his forward thinking. The other day I wrote a long entry about Steve Park's future in racing, something I'm not feeling too optimistic about long-term. On the other hand, I feel extremely optimistic about Michael and his chances for continuing to race for several more years. Michael is actually doing worse in the points than Steve this season, but he's been able to show this season that with good cars he can race competitively up front against any other driver. I think Michael has really been able to open some eyes this season and that in combination with how well he represents his sponsors means that I think his future is very bright for him. He may race for Toyota for a few years in a partnership which I think would be outstanding or he might choose to do something else, including field a Cup car for himself full-time. But no matter what he does I very much think that he's going to do very well!

Regardless of how successful Michael is now or in the future, I believe in him and support him 110%. There could be some rough spots in 2006 but I will be just as much of a fan no matter what happens. Michael deserves all the success in the world and I hope that is on the horizon for him!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2005

Interesting Comment By Jade Gurss on DEI

Jade on Loudon

Jade Gurss, one of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s public relations people is candid in his blog, sometimes surprisingly so. During a recap of the oh, so exciting race at Loudon Jade talked about how good it was to hear Tony Eury, Jr. over the #8 radio working with Junior once more. However, Jade tempered his excitement over the reunion of the two Juniors by saying that it wasn't going to be the magic pill to immediately fix all of the problems that Junior has had to endure this season. Why does Jade think that way? Because he feels, much like many others that DEI still has some major issues to resolve. He said,

"While I don't think Tony Jr.'s return solves all of the problems (those go deep and to the top of DEI), it is a welcome relief to be quick from the start of the weekend and to remain competitve through the race."

On a couple of other occasions Jade has made subtle, veiled remarks about possibly disagreeing with the approach that DEI has on some matters. But this is the first time that I can remember that he's flatout said that DEI has "deep" problems that go right to the top. I can't even begin to speculate on what he means by that but one thing's for sure - Jade is certainly in a position to know if there are "deep" problems at DEI.

But Jade really isn't stating anything surprising. That DEI allowed the centerpiece of their entire operation, the #8 team to get into a position where they struggled so much this season and failed to make the Chase for the Championship signifies that there are problems. That it appears that a sponsor who spends perhaps as much as $20 million is about to walk out the door and spend that money with another organization speaks to those problems. That Michael Waltrip and Steve Park were treated as second-class citizens at DEI speaks to the issues that need to be resolved. That Richie Gilmore, who should be running the engine shop, something that he is very talented at, is forced into a position where he has to fill a role which I think he might not be suited for, speaks to those issues. That personnel such as Ty Norris and Slugger Labbe have left, also making reference to problems, well, it all adds up to a troubled organization where some changes need to be made.

The question is - will they make those changes in a substantial way? Reuniting the two Juniors only solves the issue of who Junior's crew chief is going to be in 2006. There has been talk of getting new blood in to take Richie Gilmore's job so he can go back to the engine shop. That would be a wise move. But I think there needs to be some changes in organizational philosophy that need to happen as well and until it does DEI may continue to experience problems.

Some may say how can Jade say something like that considering what his job is? Well, Jade doesn't work for DEI, nor does he work for Junior. Jade's company is Fingerprint, Inc. which handles the public relations for the #8 team for primary sponsor Budweiser and parent company, Anheuser-Busch. It gets kind of confusing but that's how it works with many of the teams - there's a public relations person who does PR for the sponsor via the team which also ends up being a lot of PR for the driver themselves. But then you might also have a PR person for the organization such as JR Rhodes at DEI and then the driver themselves might have a personal publicist like Brooke Hondros for Michael Waltrip. I'd guess that the larger the team and more visible the driver and sponsor the more PR people are in the mix. I have no idea how they all coordinate since while they generally all have a similar goal, there may be slight differences in what they're trying to achieve.

But in essence Jade doesn't answer to DEI so he's free to comment as he'd like. And he most certainly did in this case. It will be interesting to see what DEI's future is.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2005

Done Deal: Tony Eury, Jr. Back With Dale, Junior as Crew Chief

Starts in New (Old) Role This Weekend

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past few weeks it should come as no surprise that Tony Eury, Jr. was going to reunite with his cousin Dale Earnhardt, Jr. whom he had worked with for eight years on the #8 Budweiser Chevy at DEI before the big crew switch prior to this season which brought Tony, Jr. to the #15 NAPA Chevy. Some may not have expected it to happen until the start of next season but I had a feeling they weren't going to wait that long, once it became apparent that Michael Waltrip would be leaving DEI at the conclusion of this season and particularly once it appeared that NAPA would also be following him out the door.

Before I say anything else I have to say that I feel extremely sad for Michael that he's not getting to finish out the season with Tony, Jr. as his crew chief. Those two built such a strong relationship as driver and crew chief and the chemistry between them was second to none. If not for some really rotten bad luck in the form of blown engines, cut tires, other mechanical problems and getting caught in at least four or five wrecks caused by others, there is no question in my mind that Michael would have won a couple of races and have been in the Chase for the Championship. Yeah, yeah, it's easy to say "if only" but there haven't been many races that Tony, Jr. didn't give Michael a competitive car which allowed him to show that when he has a good car he has the ability to race his way to the front and stay there on any track, against any other driver. I think being partnered with Tony, Jr. was outstanding for Michael because not only did he have great cars and an awesome crew chief who made good calls but I think it gave him a little extra confidence behind the wheel because he knew that he had a strong team behind him, led by Tony, Jr., who believed in him and supported him 100%. Michael truly loved working with Tony, Jr. and based on what Tony, Jr. has said he also enjoyed working with Michael. Professionally they had an outstanding relationship but apparently they've grown quite close personally as well. So I feel absolutely terrible for Michael that he will not be able to finish out the season with Tony, Jr. It has to be a huge disappointment. I hope that wherever Michael ends up going in the future, he will have a crew chief as awesome as Tony, Jr. was.

However, despite how bad I feel for Michael, unlike many other fans I'm not angry at Tony, Jr. and while I'm disappointed overall with DEI and the way they've handled a lot of things I'm not too angry with them either. As much as some fans like to view DEI as nothing more than Junior's playground the reality is that it is a business just like any other. And the company has to make decisions that they feel are the right ones for their future. Since Junior is central not only to DEI's success but in some ways, Nascar's success as a sport as well considering he is one of the faces of the sport, it is essential that they get him back on track in 2006 and beyond. So I can fully understand why they would want to use the last ten races of the season to try to work on things for 2006, including the reunion between the two Juniors. Since at the conclusion of this season both Michael and apparently NAPA are leaving DEI doesn't have many obligations to either party. I've been afraid all this time that would mean that when they switched Tony, Jr. back to the #8 that they would release Michael and put either Martin Truex, Jr. or Paul Menard in the #15 for the remainder of the season so I'm extremely glad that thus far it appears that won't be happening.

Some fans think that Tony, Jr. is a horrible person for promising Michael that he was going to stick with him through the end of the season and now going back on that promise. Well, the decision isn't entirely his. I do think that Tony, Jr. probably also wanted to start working with Junior sooner rather than later but in an interview on XM that was done in the past few days Tony, Jr. said that he was committed to Michael but that he would do whatever the company wanted of him. So essentially, the choice is taken out of his hands. But more than that Junior is his cousin - family. I can't fault Tony, Jr. for putting family in front of everything else, particularly since family loyalty has always seemed very important to him hence why he signed a contract with DEI to stay for years to come when he could have gone to a number of other organizations. On top of that things change. I don't remember exactly when Tony, Jr. made that promise but it's possible that back then it wasn't a certainty that the two Juniors were going to reunite so at that point it's a lot easier to promise to stick with Michael. But beyond that the unfortunate thing about this business is that people say things they don't mean all the time. That is something that I've come to expect that just because someone says something doesn't mean that it's true or that the opposite isn't going to happen.

I'm not angry with Dale, Jr. either. I don't particularly like Junior but my reasons for disliking him at times really don't have much to do with Michael or what Junior does on the track, though I haven't cared for some of the comments Junior has made about Michael and I was extremely upset when Junior wrecked Michael at Charlotte. Some feel that Junior calls all the shots at DEI and that selfishly he wanted to steal Tony, Jr. from Michael for himself because he didn't want Michael to finish the season better than him. First of all, while I have no doubt that Junior is influential in the decision making process at DEI since it was his father's company and he is central to their efforts, I think that the powers-that-be including Richie Gilmore, Theresa Earnhardt, and others, make the final decision about what happens. In addition, if Junior really was so selfish and makes all the decisions at DEI he would have been reunited with Tony, Jr. a lot sooner than now. As for wanting to finish the season higher in the points than Michael - hello, the drivers compete against each other! Every driver wants to finish better in the points than the next guy! I can't fault Junior for wanting to finish the season as high in the points as he can because Michael and every other driver out there surely wants to do the same.

It's impossible to predict with any certainty if the two Juniors reuniting is going to turn the #8 team around. Many people seem to feel that it automatically means that Junior will go back to winning races regularly, he will be a Championship contender and everything will be rosy. I'm not so sure about that. First of all, whatever happens over the course of these last ten races is pretty meaningless in my opinion. What happens now when all they are racing for are wins is a lot different then what happens next season when there's a huge amount of pressure to ensure that they make the Chase and have a big amount of success almost immediately. Of course that won't stop the media and fans from making predictions about 2006 based on what they do to end the season. But 2006 may bring something entirely different once the conditions under which they are racing are somewhat different.

Junior has talked about how both he and his cousin have matured so the fighting and arguing of the past that led to the crew switch in the first place is a distant memory that won't be repeated. Maybe Junior is right but in my experience people simply don't change that much. Yes, they can change in small ways and I have no doubt that both Juniors will make an effort, particularly in the beginning, to avoid some of the behaviors that caused problems between them previously. But it's extremely hard not to revert to past patterns of behaviors and especially with close relationships. Both Juniors may get along even better than they ever did away from the track but on the race track I think they are going to have to do quite a bit of work to ensure that the past problems don't crop up again.

In addition, even if they manage to get along better than they did in the past, it may take more than a reunion of the Juniors to bring renewed success for the #8 team. I think DEI has some major problems internally that will need to be solved before they can be as successful of an organization as they should be. Junior has said that they intend on hiring someone else to do Richie Gilmore's job so he can go back to concentrating on the engine shop and that would be a start. But I think it's going to take more than that. I can't claim to be privy to the inner workings at DEI but as an outsider looking in, I think it's going to take a major shift in the organizational philosophy, for DEI to be the powerhouse they should be that can compete equally on a weekly basis with Roush and Hendrick. I have some more thoughts on this topic but I'm going to save it for when Michael makes his annoucement, expected to come in the next few days, about what team he will be with in 2006 and beyond.

In the meantime Tony Gibson, who was the car chief, takes over as crew chief of the #15 for the remainder of the season. I hope that with Gibson at the helm, Michael will be able to have some good races to finish out the season.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2005

Why Have a Blog?

These days everyone has a blog. No really - everyone. Donald Trump even has a blog. So do countless other celebrities. Companies too. So it's much more than a bunch of no-life, blow-hard losers ranting about things that piss them off like some seem to think. While there are some blogs and journals that are nothing more than outlets for their authors to complain about everything that they think is wrong with society, it's possible to find a well-written blog on just about every topic under the sun or a journal by a whole host of people in all different walks of life.

I started doing this blog because there were a lot of things that I wanted to talk about and had no other outlet to express myself on the topics that interested me. Offline there are very few people other than Jim who I can talk sports with and almost no one in this area who is interested in racing. So this gives me a way to ponder various sports related topics in a more extensive way than I could on a message board. Though there is a definite sports tilt to this blog, it's also a way for me to reflect on some of my photography and anything else that catches my attention. What's most important is that I'm doing this for me. I very much appreciate the people who take the time to read what I blog about but I'm not doing this blog because I want attention or a huge amount of people reading. If people stop by for a visit - great! But if no one ever reads that's fine too. I'm just happy that I have a place where I can talk about whatever I might be thinking about. Of course what's in this blog only reflects a small segment of my life - there is a lot more to me than my interest in Nascar, the Yankees, gadget, music and photography!

But why do other people have blogs? Many have them for the exact same reasons I do - just to have a place to record their thoughts. There are also many who are trying to get their beliefs or a message out to their audience. That's what you find a lot in political blogs. Company blogs are also all about the message as well - trying to promote a certain image and agenda. Jade Gurss's blog is clearly a blog with an agenda, though perhaps not what one might guess at first upon learning that he's Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s PR person. No doubt Gurss is promoting Junior and his activities but it has always seemed to me that Gurss also uses his blog as a platform to expose his audience to his political beliefs. That audience is one more than likely doesn't usually pay much attention to those with his beliefs, but because he's Junior's PR person they will read. But personally I think Gurss's best entries are those that discuss his personal thoughts on racing, music or anything else around him. I wish I could put my thoughts into words as well as he does.

I think as time goes on blogs will be become even more common and more specialized. I focus a lot on Michael Waltrip and Steve Park, probably more than any other site that's not dedicated to either of those two drivers. And it's seemed as if there are a lot of people who are coming to my blog for news and discussion on Steve and Michael, knowing that I discuss them a lot. Michael has an excellent website that is kept very up-to-date but with Steve it can be hard to find in-depth articles or discussion outside of a message board. Even Steve's offical site has little current information about him. So people have to look elsewhere for news. I think those blogs that focus on a particular subject will continue to grow in popularity because it provides a centralized way for people to get the information they're looking for.

Some look down on blogs and can't understand why anyone would be interested in reading something that often features a heavy dose of opinion, rather than "just the facts." But some blogs (not this one!) have readerships that rival print publications. So there is a tremendous amount of people who are looking for more than just a straight-forward article or press release. Which is why in some sectors PR people pitch to blogs as well as to traditional media outlets. That's particularly true in the technology based sectors that have naturally embraced blogs a lot quicker than some other areas. I think that down the road it will become routine for blogs to become a standard part of the daily online experience in some way or another for just about everyone.

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

August 19, 2005

Tony Eury, Jr. Signs Long-Term Contract to Stay With DEI

Was There Any Doubt?

Many Michael Waltrip fans had high hopes that Tony Eury, Jr. would leave DEI and become Michael's crew chief on whichever team he signs with for 2006. And that would have been awesome considering how well the two work together which has paid off in some great results on the track. But I figured the chances of that happening were pretty slim and indeed Eury, Jr. has signed a long-term contract with DEI. Aside from being Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s cousin, he's been at DEI for 14 years and that generally makes for a tremendous amount of loyalty. But beyond that Dale, Jr. did an interview not too long ago in which he talked about his father's dream that he would win the Cup Championship with the Eurys. How could they not try to make that happen?

Personally, I think it might do Eury, Jr. a world of good and make him an even better crew chief to leave DEI for a couple of years and get some experience in another organization before returning to DEI to reunite with Junior on the #8 team. It might be good for him to be able to work with drivers that he doesn't know so well and be exposed to a different style of management and operation. But it's likely that there will be a reunion of the Juniors right away in 2006. No one is saying that now, apparently because they don't want the #8 team to tank the remainder of the season because that crew is too worried about their job security to focus on getting Junior good finishes, but both Juniors have indicated that's what they want to happen and the writing is on the wall that it will. I think the results will be pretty good but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not the dream reunion that everyone thinks it will be. The two Juniors fought bitterly in 2004 to the point where it was effecting their off-the-track relationship which led to the crew swap. They say that in the year since they've both matured and learned a lot but old habits die hard.

There's no doubt that Dale, Jr. is a talented driver. Very talented. However, just as I think Tony, Jr. might benefit from working with a different organization for a while, I think Dale, Jr. could benefit from working with some fresh blood as well. It's probably unlikely that Junior will drive for an organization other than DEI any time in the near future but I'd like to see what might happen if Junior had an outside crew chief that's not a relative and not someone from within DEI. That kind of a fresh perspective could really push Junior to a new level. Sometimes things become stale within an organization and an outsider can really shake things up in a good way.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:38 AM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2005

What Do Athletes Owe Their Fans?

Interesting discussion last week on the Dale Jr. Pit Board regarding what drivers (and I'm going to expand it to all athletes) owe their fans. Apparently at an appearance last Wednesday night at Ken Schrader's dirt track in Peavely, Missouri, which was a fundraiser for the Victory Junction Gang Camp, Junior was late and barely even glanced at or acknowledged the fans he was signing autographs for. Which didn't go over so well with everyone considering they had been waiting hours in temperatures over 100 degrees. Some felt that Junior should at least have looked up and smiled at the fans as they were coming through the line. But in contrast some felt that it's such an honor to be in his presence that he shouldn't even have to to that. Which led to a discussion of what, if anything, the drivers owe the fans.

In Junior's defense the amount of people he had to sign autographs for in the time allowed was immense. It was estimated that he had less than ten seconds to sign for each person and be done on time. That means he can't talk to anyone, can't pose for photos, can't do much more than scribble his name. So as is probably the case with most of Junior's appearances the amount of people he needs to sign for in a limited amount of time limits how much he can interact with each person. There's also no telling what else Junior might have had on his mind that night. But should he have made more of an effort to acknowledge the fans who waited so long for him under such trying conditions in some small way?

I think athletes owe their fans very little. They don't have to sign autographs for fans unless they are contracted to do so at an appearance. They don't have to pose for photos unless they have time and it doesn't bother them. They don't have to stop and talk to every fan who calls their name. And as I recently said, many fans can be difficult to deal with when they behave in inappropriate ways. But I touched upon it in that entry and I'll expand on it here there is something that I do expect and think that athletes owe their fans - respect and that they treat them the way they they would like to be treated. I also don't think it's too much to expect that Junior looks up no matter how briefly and acknowledges his fans with even the briefest of smiles, a wave or a nod as fans hand him something.

Through the years I've observed quite a few athletes and some are very obviously more fan friendly than others. Some take interacting with fans in stride and understand that it goes along with the territory. Some even seem to enjoy making fans happy by signing autographs and chatting with them. Then there are others who seem to view the process of dealing with fans a major chore - they might sign for fans but they won't look happy doing it. I've changed my opinions on some athletes both pro and con on the basis of seeing how they interact with fans, particularly those athletes that I've seen on more than one occassion. I always try to keep in mind the circumstances of an encounter and above all that the athletes are human beings too who are will sometimes have bad days that might effect how they are when I seem them. But with all of that in mind there are some athletes who have very much impressed me and a couple who have left me feeling cold.

At the top of the list when it comes to fan interaction that I've experienced are David Cone, Michael Waltrip and Mike Mussina. These three guys get it when it comes to the fans and make a special effort to go out of their way to interact with their fans. I'm always impressed by how much Michael does to acknowledge the fans and how he actively does things big and small to show how much he appreciates his fans. He wants people who meet him to come away feeling good about it and he's very successful at making that happen more often than not. Coney was also outstanding with his fans and I've never seen any other athlete who had such a way about him - he engaged every single person, but especially kids, in such a wonderful way. And there were always so many stories about how he would stop to chat with fans who encountered him randomly on the street. He never made anyone feel like they were bothering him or that he didn't have time for them. Mike Mussina, who has a reputation as being standoffish, is actually one of the more fan-friendly baseball players in the game, hosting fan meet and greets for members of his fan club at Yankee Stadium twice a year and having an annual fan club dinner during the off-season. That kind of thing is almost unheard of for baseball players to do. And he makes sure to interact with every single person who appears at these events too. Others who get it include Paul O'Neill and Steve Park, along with countless other Nascar drivers.

But as noted there are a few people who I've changed my mind about after seeing how they interact with fans. With Kurt Busch it was in a positive way. I never really liked him much due to some of his immature behavior on the track. But when I was at the race at Dover last Fall I was standing near where the drivers came off the stage during driver introductions taking photos and out of all the drivers Busch was the only one to acknowledge my existance with a smile even though all of them passed extremely close to me. Then when we were in Pocono a couple of weeks ago we were once more near the stage for driver introductions and again Busch was one of the few drivers who was engaging the fans around - smiling at people, waving and talking to people who talked to him. That's made me view him in a much more positive light because I have to give major props to any athelete who gets it and goes out of their way with the fans, even in the smallest of ways, when they don't have to.

Unfortunately there are two people that I've cooled on after seeing them a few times at appearance and such. That doesn't mean I hate either person or stopped being their fan because after all, athletes are human beings too and aren't going to act perfectly all the time, simply that I came away with a slightly changed opinion afterwards. It wasn't quite as bad as the experience of those people at Junior's appearance at Peavley but one appearance I went to I found that this person, who I was very much looking forward to meeting, couldn't look up at me at first or make eye contact, didn't seem interested in even saying "hi," and when I asked to take a photo with him didn't seem too happy about it even though we were certainly allowed to take photos with him. And it wasn't just me - I watched him interact with more of his fans and I was very disappointed about how lukewarm he was with even the youngest of fans.

Then there's the athlete who twice dissed Jim because he was more interested in ogling me. And that's fine to a degree because again, these are human beings and I don't expect men to never look at women - it's human nature. But here's where that pesky little respect thing comes in. Have enough respect for me as a human being and as a fan to at least be subtle about what you're doing. But more than that treat your male fans like you would your female fans. This person was simply not as nice to Jim as he was to me, despite Jim being very nice to him and to me that reflected poorly on this person. Again, that's not to say that I stopped being a fan of this person, simply that it changed the way I view them in some way.

Some people simply do not "get it" when it comes to the fans. Not too long ago someone on a small racing board posted a huge diatribe about how horrible fans are. One might wonder what the problem is since I've ranted myself about inappropriate fan behavior more than once. The problem is that this person says that they are in the marketing department for a race team and they don't dislike just the ill-behaved fans but all the fans. I was astonished that this person doesn't get why fans are so important or why someone in marketing or PR might need to be nice to fans, not just fake nice as she says she is when she has to be but really nice. I'd also question the wisdom of posting such a thing on a fan forum where anyone could come across it but that's a whole other story. This person thinks that everyone in racing thinks the same way that she does and when it comes to ungrateful, rude, misbehaving fans of which there are unfortunately a lot, I would say that most people agree with her. But when it comes to fans who support their favorite drivers and the sport in the right ways then she's wrong because it's very obvious that the majority of people, in racing and elsewhere, appreciate those fans and recognize their importance.

Without fan support there would be no Nascar races, no Major League Baseball Games, no professional basketball games, etc... There would be no one to buy the tickets to the games or races, no one to buy merchandise, no one to go to appearances, no one to donate money to charitable causes that athletes are raising money for, or no one to support sponsors. The vast majority of athletes understand this as do the people in the various organizations they work for. In MLB I think they have some work to do in terms of increasing the amount of fan-player interaction but for the most part I think the players understand that fans are important. In Nascar they most certainly do and the amount of access that fans get to the drivers is testament to that. If fans go away then so does the popularity of the sport as will the lifelihood of any number of people. If fans feel like their favorite athletes can't take the time to show their appreciation for the support they get or feel that employees of that person's organization don't think much of them, then some fans are going to feel that they shouldn't take the time to support their favorite athlete in quite the same way that they once did.

So Junior's unlikely to lose any fans because he didn't acknowledge all of the fans who came to see him but I would guess that it's likely that the way some of them view him has changed. I suppose he has so many fans that it doesn't really matter to him either way how any of them view him. But who knows down the road perhaps there will come a time when he will need all the fan support he can get - and that's when a smile or a greeting might make all the difference.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2005

Tony Stewart Fullfills Lifelong Dream, Michael Waltrip Finishes 16th

Tony Kisses the Bricks

Junior's Chases Hopes Dashed

Winning at the race at the Brickyard in Indianapolis is almost as desirable to most Cup drivers as winning the Daytona 500. And even more so for Tony Stewart who grew up in Indiana. Today he made his dream of winning at Indianapolis come true and it was wonderful to see the look on his face from inside his car via the in-car camera after he had taken his helmet off and was driving around the track to salute the crowd. Not only did Stewart win today but he also moves into first in the overall points standings. He's been absolutely outstanding the past few weeks and I'm very impressed by how strong that team has gotten at exactly the right time - the last few races before the Chase for the Championship starts. I'm not a big Stewart fan but I do love seeing someone win who shows so emotion as he did today.

I had high hopes for Michael Waltrip for today's race given that he had been 7th in practice and qualified third. And for a while things were going well for Michael - he raced up front and even when he dropped back it seemed like after some adjustments it would be only a matter of time before he would be back and in a position for a fine finish. However, yet again he was the victim of bad luck, yet again caused by a cut tire. But this time there was some good luck mixed in with the bad in that when his tire went down he was able to get to pit road easily, there was no other damage to the car, and he only lost one lap getting it changed. So he was the lucky dog at the next caution and got back on the lead lap. Through good racing and good pit stops Michael made his way up to 12th but he was forced to pit late in the race when some others stayed out due to tire concerns and that meant that he ended up with a 16th place finish. Not great but considering the tire problem which could have been a lot more costly I'll take it. Michael gained one spot in the points move him up to 19th - it's such a shame that he's so far down in the points because that truly does not reflect how well he's raced this season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got hit from behind and wrecked on a restart which put him out of the race. That pretty much spells the end for Junior's remaining hopes to make the Chase for the Championship. To make it the #8 team was going to have to be nearly perfect in the remaining races prior to when the Chase starts and even Junior acknowledged in a post-wreck interview that he's all but done. Even if he hadn't wrecked it would likely have been a bad race for Junior given that he said that the car was horrible to begin with. That is just not the sign of a team that is meant for the Championship this season.

Kasey Kahne finished second today and at times he made things difficult for Stewart. I like Kahne a lot so I was pulling for him to somehow pass Stewart and win but I knew that it was probably unlikely that was going to happen. I've also got to say that while I don't like him too much I was impressived with Brian Vickers. He finished third and lately it's seemed like he's been running up front more than he has in the past. The expectations for Vickers in his rookie year in 2004 were high givent hat he was Busch Champion in 2003 so when he finished 25th in the points many wrote him off but my feeling is that once he's got more experience on the Cup level he will make some noise and win some races before it's all said and done.

Next week is Watkins Glen and I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully it will be a strong race for Michael - maybe he'll finally have a race with no bad luck.

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

August 05, 2005

Gilmore Says DEI Has a Prominent Driver for the #15 if NAPA Re-Signs

Will NAPA Stay or Will They Go?

A lot of people are getting excited about this article but I actually think there's a whole lot of nothing in there. Yes, DEI has some plans for what they'd like to do for the #15 in 2006 and beyond but it doesn't sound like they have anything firmed up or definite. Richie Gilmore says that if NAPA decides to stay with DEI as the sponsor of the #15 they have a prominent driver with another team lined up. Which got a lot of people talking about who it might be and that may be exactly the point of Gilmore's comments. Because if said driver is still under contract to another team, unless their contract runs out after this season, it's going to be pretty hard to pry them away from their existing team. Just ask Jamie McMurray and Roush Racing about that. So while I have no doubt they're talked to some people everything with the #15 still sounds pretty vague.

Gilmore says,

"[NAPA] has some options with us, Michael and some other race teams. We've put about a two-week window on it where they've got to make the decision and we've got to make a decision and go forward. But we have a driver kind of laid out, and everything laid out."

Essentially he's saying that he has no idea what NAPA is planning on doing and that they have a variety of options to choose from. Which is very different than what he said when DEI and Michael Waltrip announced that they were severing ties with each other after 2005. At that time Gilmore stated that NAPA had told him that they wanted to stay with DEI. But he also said that he was going to have to present NAPA with a plan including a driver choice to lure them back. I thought that made things a lot less certain with NAPA than Gilmore was trying to make it sound and I still think that. If Gilmore has to say that NAPA has a two-week window then he's trying to force them to make a decision and they may be waiting to see what team offers them the best scenario - DEI, whoever Michael ends up with, or someone else entirely.

I also have to wonder what happens if NAPA decides not to re-sign with DEI. Will there still be a third team? Do they have a backup sponsor lined up? What about if the mystery driver can't get out of his contract assuming it goes past this season? Who would drive the car in 2005 and would that be acceptable to NAPA? It's in DEI's best interests to field three cars for 2006 and beyond but I'm not 100% convinced that's actually going to happen because it sounds like there are a lot of pieces that still need to fall into place exactly right to make that possible.

Another interesting item is that it's been said in a few places that after the SIM race on Tuesday night Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was interviewed and he said that there will definitely be a third DEI car next season, that DEI had the sponsorship lined up but not the driver. To me that sounds like the complete opposite to what Gilmore is saying. Does Junior not know that DEI is negotiating with a driver? Does he think that NAPA coming back to DEI is already a done deal? What Junior and Gilmore said can't possibly both be accurate. One or the other is either mistaken or not giving a complete picture of what's actually going on. But of course twenty different stories from all sorts of people at DEI is nothing new. They often sound like no one is on the same page and what they are planning to do seems to change from week to week.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2005

Some Fans Just Make Me Shake My Head

Not too long ago I wrote an entry in which I said that there is no such thing as "real" or "true" fans and that I don't get why some fans feel the need to tell each other that they somehow don't measure up. I still feel that way but after being at the racetrack this weekend and seeing some of the behavior of my fellow fans I might not be so inclined to say that there isn't any such thing as a "bad" fan. Because there are some truly rotton apple fans out there and they are giving the many good fans who know how to behave appropriately a bad name. And anything I'm saying here about some race fans can be applied to fans in all sports - there are simply some fans who think that they are entitled to behave in any way that they want.

The feeding frenzy at qualifying on pit road, and in general all weekend at Pocono, wasn't just astonishing to me it was downright scary at times. I admit that it's hard for me to relate to fans who come to the track with the goal of getting as many driver's autographs as possible because autographs don't have very much meaning or importance to me. But the single-minded focus and the willingness of some fans to do whatever it takes and say whatever comes to mind to get a driver's signature was appalling to me.

When the drivers and crews are at the track their primary focus is and should be on race-related matters. When players are at the stadium their primary focus must be on the game they have to play. That is what they are getting paid to do. While I strongly believe that there should be a maximum amount of interaction between fans and athletes it isn't always the place nor is there always time for it. I was astonished by how many fans didn't seem to realize any of this. The drivers and crews are out there on pit road getting ready to qualify and fans weren't just asking for autographs they were demanding them.

And unless every driver signed for every fan it wasn't good enough. Hello, if a driver isn't signing for fans on this part of pit road he might very well have signed for 50 people on the other end of pit road or in autograph alley as he walked out of the garage. Or in the case of Jeff Gordon he might be signing countless autographs later in the day at an event for members of his fan club. The drivers sign autographs constantly all weekend. I had seen some of this at Dover but I was astonished by how bad it was at Pocono - driver were signing as they walked through the garage area immediately after getting out of their cars, while giving interviews, as they walked up the ramp to driver introductions, there were people camped out in front of the driver's motorcoach lot, it was never ending. And so many of the drivers signed without complaint in all of these situations - yet some people still complain?

Even if a driver took the time to wave at fans who called his name that wasn't acceptable either. Which is unbelievable to me - when I used to stand at the press gate before and after Yankee games the vast majority of players never even bothered to wave at fans. Yet when drivers turn around and give a big smile and wave to fans at qualifying when they're just about to get in their cars fans have the nerve to feel slighted? I was thrilled the few times that Michael Waltrip seemed to notice me and wave at me. I've got plenty of autographs from him and have talked to him. I've love to do that all the time but I realize that just isn't possible. Race weekends are impossibly busy for all of the drivers and they are constantly on the go. On top of that there's no telling what else they might have on their minds. I don't expect any driver or player to drop everything for me. I am so appreciative when one of these guys does take the time to interact with me but I know that it's just not always going to happen.

What really bothered me was what happenend when some drivers did come over and sign autographs. I very nearly got crushed in the mass of people trying to get Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle's autographs. I understand that everyone wants an autograph and they aren't going to be able to sign for everyone so fans have to try to get their item as close as possible to the driver as quick as possible. But I don't want to get physically injured because someone is so desperate to get Biffle to sign a hero card that I get knocked down and crushed. I was determined to stick it out until Michael got in his car to make his qualifying run but after Biffle signed I was hoping that no one else came over to sign and luckily no one did.

There's a level of desperation in there that seems to override logical thinking and that's extremely scary. There was a man we encountered in the garage area who had a hot pass and was twice warned by security to get away from Michael Waltrip while he was still practically in his car. This man boasted about how he had defied them and got Michael's autograph. That man was risking getting thrown out and having his hot pass taken away - is it really worth it for an autograph? I have no idea what team or sponsor he got his hot pass from but they might be a little embarassed if he got tossed. What lengths would a fan go for an autograph? I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that.

It also puts Michael and other drivers in a bad position because he feels he can't refuse to sign because then the fan thinks he's a jerk and goes and tells everyone what an asshole he is. It's incredible what conclusions fans jump to - driver X didn't sign - he's an asshole, nevermind that he had an appearance to run to or his child is sick. Driver Y is stuck-up, he signed but he didn't smile, nevermind that he's sick or he's worried that he's going to get released. Driver Z is a fake prick, he signed and was nice to everyone at the appearance but it was obvious that he was faking it. And with the way things are fans immediately jump onto a message board to tell their fellow fans about their experiences with drivers and players both positive and negative. And it gets seen by many who base their own impressions on what others say.

Some of the things that were being said were also incredible. Of course there's the complaining, sometimes in not very nice ways, about the drivers who don't sign or don't acknowledge the fans. But other stuff too. In reference to Junior - "He better get his hot bod over here." I heard some variations of that kind of thing all weekend, about how the drivers better do this or that, and it made me uncomfortable. Junior is a human being and so are all the other drivers, not a piece of meat. He doesn't have to do anything. Not sign autographs, which is very difficult for someone as popular as he is, not wave, not cater to the fans. What he does have to do is try to qualify the car as good as possible which was a tall order considering that the #8 just wasn't too good all weekend. And what happend since Junior didn't come over? Is that woman less of a fan than she once was? Unfortunately it seemed as if there are quite a few fans who base their opinions on the drivers on whether or not they came over to sign autographs. Not if said driver was nice or funny or how good of a racer they were but whether or not they signed an autograph and how they did it.

And while I'm ranting about what I think is inappropriate behavior let me touch upon two other things that I think is excessive - fans who invade drivers or player's personal lives and fans who invade drivers or player's personal space.

There is always going to be some natural curiosity about off-the-track or off the field things. Some of it can be interesting and fun such as hobbies or what charitable causes they are involved with. There's nothing wrong with taking a healthy interest in who someone is as a person. What's not okay is tracking down where someone lives, taking photos and posting it publically. Nor is it okay to think of ways of sneaking into their condo development, house or the marina where their boat is kept. And it's not okay to follow someone as they leave the track or stadium unless you happen to be going in the same direction as they are anyway. Those type of behaviors and anything similar is being a stalker. There are way too many fans for my comfort who think this behavior is funny and encourage it.

I've participated in some discussions about drivers or players' significant others but there's a point at which my interest stops. There is something wrong with being intrusive to the point of digging up dirt on a significant other. Yeah, sometimes there are going to be things related to a SO that are newsworthy and negative. That's just the way life goes sometimes. But some people take it to an extreme and assume that every person who dares to go out on a date with the driver or athlete must be a horrible person who is only with that guy for their money or for the status that comes along with being with that person. That may be true in some cases but just as often those assumptions are completely incorrect. And guess what - even if the SO is a lousy person it's up to the driver or player to make that realization. That some fans feel that they should find out bad things about SOs to "save" the person they are a fan of - that's scary. And why a fan would complain about a SO when that SO obviously makes the player or driver happy is beyond me - I want the people I am a fan of to be happy.

Invading someone's personal space is unacceptable too. I am constantly worried about this when I go to take a photo with a driver, crew member or player. Usually I just start to put my arm around someone and then follow their lead as to how close they want me. It can be awkward since I'm so tiny and most folks loom over me. The last thing I want to do is put my arm around someone in a way that they might not be comfortable with. Unfortunately not every fan is as considerate - I've heard plenty of stories about fans grabbing body parts of drivers, crew members and players and unless it's accidental each time it makes me shutter. As a woman I'd be screaming for help if a stranger, and the vast majority of fans are pretty much strangers to these folks no matter how familiar of a face a fan might be, grabbed me inappropriately. So why is it okay for a female fan to do this to a driver, crew member or player they think is hot?

There are a lot of fans who think that they can behave in any way that they want and it's okay. That the player or driver will understand that they're just excited or desperate for an autograph. That they are just showing or proving how big of a fan that they are. That the driver or player has seen and heard it all so what's one more thing shouted at them? That it's all in good fun. That they paid good money to be there so they are entitled to something. That the player or driver meets so many people that they will never remember what any individual fan says or does. Well, I've got news for anyone who thinks like that - what you say and do is often noted and remembered even when nothing is said.

Another piece of news - just because you got away with doing something crazy the last time you were around the player or driver doesn't mean that you will get away with it again. I was sworn to secrecy on the details while back but I witnessed a fan who had been around previously physically removed from a situation when that person engaged in what I would consider stalker-like behavior. And I applaud the person who took it upon themselves to see to it that it happened. Granted it was part of their job but it said to me that they take these issues seriously as they should.

I'm far from perfect. I'm always taking photos and maybe it annoys some drivers or players when they see me taking their photo all the time. And I don't mean to make it sound like every fan should behave like I do. Far from it - I'm ultra laidback as a fan and that's not going to work for everyone. There's nothing wrong with some healthy exuberance, excitement and there's nothing wrong with collecting autographs. But I try very hard to have respect for all the people that I come into contact with and be aware of the circumstances and what is possible in any given situation.

Do I have some expectations? Sure I do but I try to keep my expectations very low. I would have liked to have gotten to talk to Michael this past weekend but I knew that I would have to get very lucky for that to happen and that there was a good chance that it wouldn't happen. I was perfectly fine with that. When I go to an appearance I'd love to have a conversation with someone but given the vast amounts of other fans that are usually present, I know that's usually not going to be possible.

If I have one expectation though it's to be treated the way that I try to treat others. Now I will excuse some less than positive behavior because there are times when drivers or players are going to be having bad days, not be feeling well, be dealing with things that I have no clue about or be rushed. I've definitely excused a few things over the years and normally it doesn't effect how much of a fan I am of someone. I accept that all these folks aren't perfect and are human beings with the full range of human emotions, both good and bad. But what I don't like is when there's a pattern of behavior and myself or other fans aren't treated with respect. Or when a situation isn't handled appropriately on someone's else's end. Those things bother me because it can be a two-way street. If the drivers/players and their representatives expect fans to behave in certain ways than they should also put some effort into being considerate of other people. Most do, unfortunately some don't always do that. And in those instances I think fans have the right to speak up and express their displeasure. It's when someone is trying their best to do the right thing as it relates to the fans and they still get flack for it that it's problematic.

There is something wrong with behavior which discourages players or drivers from wanting to deal with fans. And that's why I rant about these things all the time - I don't want my fun ruined by fans who can't behave appropriately, are too demanding or are ungrateful.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2005

Pocono - Race Day!

So race day at Pocono was just as fun as qualifying the day before was! Just as fair warning this blog entry will be just as long as the one about Saturday's events. Of course a day at the track wouldn't be complete without seeing Michael Waltrip but you'll have to read futher to find out where this was taken...

Worried about race day traffic we left again at 7 a.m. Like I said in the last entry I had been warned that the traffic would be horrible and that it would take us an hour to get to the track from only a mile away. Needless to say, we had no problems with traffic until we got to Long Pond Road, a couple of miles from the track, and even then the traffic was just slow, not unmoving. As it turned out the traffic wasn't even from people going to the track but rather because of a local newspaper trying to hand out free papers to motorists and a fire department conducting a coin drive. I can't fault the fire department for what they were doing because obviously they provide a valuable service to the community and a lot of their budget probably comes from that coin drive, but was it really necessary for the newspaper to try to hand out free copies? I say try because not too many people were taking copies, probably just as annoyed as Jim and I that they were causing a back-up.

On Saturday we had parked in the grandstand parking which worked out fine but was a bit of a walk to get to the garage area in the infield. But on Sunday we realized that with our credentials we could park in the infield. So we headed in and it was really interesting to me to see the infield with all the RVs and people who were camping out. Of course I've heard plenty of stories about how crazy things can get in the infields at different tracks but I had never seen what it looks like in person. Since it was early in the morning it was much quieter than it would be at night but I was amazed by how many people I saw drinking beer even though it was only nine in the morning. I guess that was to be expected though.

As we walked towards the garage area we passed the Speed-TV stage and I heard an announcement that Nascar This Morning would be filmed there live at 11 a.m. with Michael Waltrip as a guest host filling in for Kenny Wallace and Jimmy Spencer who were both unable to be there due to where they had raced the previous day. Immediately I knew that I had to be there! Seeing the production of a live show would be pretty interesting to begin with but that Michael was going to be on made it a must-see. I don't think Jim was as thrilled as I was but I wanted to be there to hear what Michael had to say but also cheer for him and show my support as well.

But before that we headed to the garage area. As I suspected there wasn't a whole lot going on other than the cars going through yet another inspection. I wanted to find out where the #15 pit was going to be so we also walked down to pit road but it was so incredibly crowded that the crew members could barely move their equipment down to their pits. So we decided not to add to the problem and go back to the garage. I know the track sells the pre-race pit passes for fans to walk up and down on pit road but it just seemed like there were so many people all over the place that it might be making things hard for the crews. Luckily we saw one of the #15 crew members headed in what we figured was the direction of their pit so we got some idea where it was and we wouldn't have to wander around too much later in the day. We then decided to get something to eat before heading over to the Speed stage.

After breakfast we went to the Speed stage nice and early to stake out a spot for the show. At first I was going to stand right behind the stage but I realized that I didn't want to stare at Michael and John Robert's backs all show. Not only that I had no desire to be on TV. So I went over to the side of the stage and discovered that would offer me a good view of the entire stage including the faces of those on the show - much better. So we spent the next hour hanging out there, me chatting with a nice woman next to me. I had been worried that it was going to get crowded which was why we went over so early but as it turned out while there were plenty of people who came over, I had no need to worry about staking out a spot since it was never as crowded as I thought it might get and certainly not on the side where I was since the people standing there don't get on camera.

Michael got there about ten minutes before the show was due to start and I knew that he had arrived based on all the people running over to the other side of the stage so I knew he must be signing autographs. So I walked over to see if I could take a few photos but by the time I got there he was walking inside. Based on the look on his face I'm not sure he was so thrilled by the amount of people rushing towards him to get his autograph even though they were behind a barrier but perhaps I'm just reading into things. At any rate I went back to where I was standing to wait for him to come out on stage.

Eventually Michael came out to big cheers from the crowd. Of course he made sure to wave at everyone on all sides of the stage. I'm never good at knowing for sure whether or not someone is acknowledging me for sure because I always think that perhaps they're really looking at someone behind or next to me but it appeared that Michael spotted me and flashed me the peace sign and a nice smile. That was pretty cool that he seemed to recognize me even from the stage. Each time I see him I never expect him to recognize me since he sees so many people all the time but I had just seen him last month at the Tom Baldwin Golf Outing so I guess that helped as well as the fact that some of the times that I've seen him I've spent more than a few minutes around him so that helps when it comes to remembering my face. Michael sat down and began going over notes for the show with John Roberts. At one point while I was looking elsewhere Jim told me that Michael seemed to look over at me again but unfortunately I missed that due to being distracted by a dude with a mohawk in front of the stage.

I wish I could give a complete recap of everything that was said on Nascar This Morning but unfortunately it was a bit hard to hear on our side of the stage. Michael appeared to be in good spirits and based on the bits and pieces I heard he seemed to be upbeat about the race and enjoying himself on the show. He is criticized by some for his behavior on Inside Nextel Cup in that some feel that he interrupts others too much and doesn't pay attention to what the other panelists are saying. Some take that to mean that Michael does that kind of thing all the time. Well, he did none of that on NTM. He paid complete and obvious attention to John Roberts and from what I could tell sat quietly and listened rather than interrupting when someone else was talking. Yes, he looked around at times but he seemed focused to me on the show. Which indicates to me as I've always thought that a lot of the way Michael is on INC is due to the relaxed format of the show and also because he's playing up a certain role that people have come to expect from him. He's very capable of being different for a different kind of show like NTM, which is a more formal type of show.

Eventually the woman next to me who I had been talking with picked up on the fact that Michael recognized me and occasionally seemed to be looking over at me. So she told me that I should get him to come over at some point and sign autographs for everyone. He recognizes me but that's all! He's not my friend and while I think very highly of him, I really don't know him and I have no influence over what he does in any way, shape or form. And even if I did Michael's not a dog that I'm going to call over to perform tricks. I would never dream of asking anything from him. He's an extremely busy man when he's at the track and as much as everyone might like an autograph I know full well that it's not always the time or place for that, particularly if he's on a tight time schedule. Even when I see him at an appearance I would never dream of asking anything from him other than what he does for others - an autograph and a photo and that's if those things are possible.

The show started taping at 11 and the driver's meeting was scheduled for 11:40 so I had figured that Michael was only going to be on the show until then. I was wondering how he was going to slip out and as the time grew closer and closer to the driver's meeting I noticed there was some discussion during breaks with some of the production staff I assumed about his need to leave to be on time for the driver's meeting. I had been told by someone a while back that Michael hates to be late for anything so I watched with some amusement as he started checking his watch more and more frequently. Jim mentioned to me that Michael seemed to be less and less in good spirits as the show went on and I'm guessing that he was getting antsy about making the driver's meeting since the drivers get in trouble if they don't attend the meetings. Finally a break came at exactly the right time and Michael left.

At that point we decided we would leave too since we weren't too interested in hanging around to watch just John Roberts do NTM. So we headed back to the garage area ourselves. And oh, how I wish we didn't. The driver's meeting happens while the garage is still cold which boggles my mind. The reason being is that there is a massive crowd of people who cluster around where the meeting is going to be trying to get autographs and some of them are very aggressive. There must be some reason why the garage is still cold at that time but I strongly feel that the garage should be hot then to cut down on some of the people who rush the drivers. Maybe Nascar wants to give even those with just cold passes the opportunity to see the drivers but many people are incapable of just standing in one spot and being respectful of the fact that these guys are on their way to a work related meeting. I had seen some of this when we went with Michael to the driver's meeting at Dover last fall and didn't like it much then but at least in Dover the fans seemed to be kept a little further away from where the drivers had to walk.

It was particularly bad when Junior made his way to the meeting. Of course it's impossible for Junior to walk much of anywhere without a huge pack of people following. I thought it was a particularly sad commentary that instead of walking through the garage area like most drivers, Junior had to walk from presumably the motorcoach lot in back of all the haulers as close as he could to where the meeting was before walking out in the open. And as soon as he was spotted a massive group of people ran towards him. To Junior's credit he signed as many autographs as he could as he walked but one look at how blank his face was indicated to me that he's really not enjoying himself much when stuff like that happens, as much as he must come to expect it. I'm not a fan of Junior's in the least but I do have a lot of sympathy for him for some of the things he has to deal with off the track in terms of fans and other issues which are even more intense and magnified than it is for other drivers, with the possible exception of Jeff Gordon who also gets it bad.

Jim went to get something to drink and while I was waiting for him I didn't really know what to do with myself so I was just kind of standing around. Unfortunately based on the set-up no matter where I was I was going to be, unless it was all the way at the other end of the garage, I was going to be in the way since drivers were going to scatter in all sorts of directions once the meeting broke up. When we were at Dover it seemed like the Driver's meeting lasted for a while but it seemed to go very quick at Pocono. Once it broke up drivers and crew chiefs were all over the place with fans running after them in all directions. I tried to take a few photos of a few people but eventually gave up because it was just too impossible with how they were getting crowded. I nearly got swept away in the crush of people trying to get at Junior once more and was almost run over by Elliott Sadler who was walking, signing and carrying on a conversation with someone. With me being so short and him being so tall I don't think he saw me at all! The funny thing was that some drivers like Scott Riggs were just able to walk right out without any problems - no one was interested in his autograph in the least. I was tempted to go up to him, thinking it might make him feel good if at least one person asked for his autograph even though I'm not a fan of his, but I just felt too uncomfortable about approaching.

I had figured that Michael would stay for the prayer service which follows each driver's meeting as he normally does but much to my surprise instead he high-tailed it out of the garage area to go back to NTM. So of course we went back as well. I felt a little creeped out since we were following him around but given a choice between standing around in the garage area, being part of a crowd stalking drivers and watching Michael finish guest hosting NTM, I'll take the latter every time. When I got back to where I had been standing I asked if I missed anything, and a woman complained that now that Michael had returned he wasn't facing our side of the stage quite as much as he had been previously which made it hard to take photos. He's filming a freaking show for crying out loud, not on display for the fans! I don't mean to pick on this woman who was very nice but it was just one more example to me about how sometimes the expectations of the fans are that their needs should come before everything else to a ridiculous degree.

Not too long after that my contact that weekend turned up and I started chatting with him. He's really a great guy and I very much enjoyed talking to him. However, the woman I had been talking to noticed a logo on his shirt that indicated that he was involved with a team and started asking race-related questions. I thought that was going to chase him away but instead he shut her down by telling her that he never talks to the guys about racing. And I was tempted to add if he did he would never share what they said to her, me or any other fan. My big thing when I'm talking to someone who is involved with a team I try to be very careful about what I chat with them about. I almost never ask questions about the driver they work for, instead asking questions about the person themselves. That's because I am genuinely interested in these people for their own merits, not just for who they might work with.

Towards the end of the show I looked over at Michael and he flashed a big smile in my direction and a wave. Again, always hard for me to tell if that was really meant for me - for all I know someone just behind me was doing something to get his attention but I made sure to smile and wave back. By the time the show was over it was 12:30 so Michael had to rush off to get changed into his firesuit for driver introductions and the pre-race ceremonies.

Jim and I headed back into the garage which had gone hot once more. It was at this point that I saw something that caught my attention and that was Slugger Labbe, Michael's former crew chief and Tony, Eury, Jr., Michael's current crew chief in deep conversation near the #15 hauler. Now, on Saturday someone had taken some photos of the two casually talking and I had also seen Slugger talking to others from the #15 team outside their hauler. I didn't really think too much of it then since Slugger did work for DEI for several years so he's bound to still have many friends there. But this conversation really had my attention because of how serious it seemed and how long it went on. They could have been talking about anything from strip clubs to nearby restaurants to complaints about Nascar. I have no idea. But in light of some of Slugger's recent critical comments about Michael I sure did wonder what they were chatting about. I thought about taking a photo but given their body language and all I felt like it would be intrusive and perhaps not appropriate. They were out in the open but it just didn't feel right to start snapping photos at that moment.

One funny thing is that there were countless people clustered around the #8 hauler obviously waiting for Junior, thinking he was inside and that they could catch him for an autograph as he walked to driver introductions. But I've heard previously, probably read it in Jade's blog, that Junior doesn't go to his hauler before the race, instead choosing to spend the time in his motorcoach. I'd guess part of the reason for that is to avoid the pack of people who would naturally swarm him and so that he can have a little time pre-race more or less to himself.

So we drifted over to where there were some carts that the drivers were hopping into so they could get driven to driver's introductions. As I mentioned in relation to Scott Riggs, there are some drivers who get zero attention from the fans. And I always feel a little bad for those guys. On one hand they're probably glad that they don't have to deal with what a Junior or a Tony Stewart goes through each race weekend but I would think some of these guys wouldn't mind a few more fans taking interest in them and what they are up to. Mike Wallace, brother of Rusty and Kenny, is driver of the #4 car and he is one driver that no one really takes note of. Two times, including by the carts, I saw him and thought about smiling and waving at him, calling his name, something just to make him feel a little good about himself but both times I saw him he had such a serious look on his face that I was afraid to. For whatever reason particularly as he headed to driver intros. the look on his face really discouraged me but perhaps he was just concentrating on what he was going to have to do later in the race.

What was cool was that as Kyle Petty passed me in his cart he smiled and waved at me. I know it was at me because no one else was around me at the time, that's the only way I was certain! I guess he remembered me from last month's golf outing and perhaps the other times I've met him. A few other drivers passed by including a serious looking Dale Jarrett.

Jim and I eventually decided that we should head out to pit road to try and get a spot where we could see all the happenings at driver's intros. And what a spot we got! We really weren't sure where we should go or where we could stand especially since there was a security guard who kept yelling at everyone to get behind the tires - um, which tires? There were tires all over the place! But we ended up right next to the ramp all the drivers had to head up to so that they could get to the stage which meant that we could see every driver up close as they walked by us.

Drivers are introduced last to first so the first group of drivers were already on the ramp waiting to be introduced, Junior among them, since he hadn't qualified well. He chatted with Kirk Shelmerdine, who I think at one time was his father's crew chief, and some of the other drivers who aren't exactly big stars like Kevin Lepage on what seemed to be a completely equal level, as did Elliott Sadler who joined Junior a few minutes later. One big thing that I noted is that almost every driver talked and laughed with every other driver. That's not to say that every driver is best buddies with each other or even likes each other but no one shied away from talking to anyone else. There are some fans who believe that certain drivers such as Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch are complete outcasts in the garage area and none of their fellow drivers will talk to them because they are so disliked - wrong! Both of those guys talked to any number of their peers and I detected no trace of animosity on anyone's part though of course no one is going to let too much show in public. The only driver I saw who didn't really talk to too many others and seemed a little unhappy was Jeff Green. Matt Kenseth also seemed a bit unhappy and I later found out that he gave a post-race interview in which he discussed that he's not thrilled about not being consulted about the hiring of Jamie McMurray for the #6 and the way he found out - through the internet.

Some of the drivers would casually walk up the ramp and hang out chatting with their fellow drivers. Others would rush up, obviously having just arrived. Robby Gordon's name was announced and he literally had to run up the ramp to the stage with his firesuit only half on. That made everyone, including his fellow drivers, laugh. I wonder if there's a fine or other penalty if a driver misses driver introductions? I've never heard of it happening and I can't imagine any driver not being ready that close to race time but Robby did cut it awfully close. And while all of this was going on there were a couple of people on the ramp perhaps with charities or the track, who were getting the autographs of all the drivers.

At one point Tony Stewart comes walking up the ramp and I take one photo of him. Then I'm standing on tippy-toes trying to peek over the railing when suddenly Tony decides to lean against the railing right near me, sticking his ass right in my face. I guess Tony either didn't know I was standing there or didn't care. It was really hysterical, in fact I found it so funny that I had to take a photo even though I normally don't take butt shots of drivers or players. Yes, I kept my hands to myself even though his ass was well within arm's reach for a few minutes. Actually he might be lucky it was me and not some other fan standing there because another fan might not have kept their hands to themselves.

Kurt Busch gets a lot of flack from fans, many of whom think he's a jerk. I've never actually met him but both times I've been to the track and seen him up-close I've been impressed with how he seems to interact with the people around him at drivers introductions, even fans. He always has a smile on his face and he doesn't shy away from interacting with people and did so with Jim. It may all be for show but I have to give him credit for making an effort. Jim was wishing a lot of drivers good luck and most of them didn't acknowledge him, probably because half of them didn't really hear him or were rushing by at the time. Kasey Kahne was just about the only one other than Kurt who did look right at Jim and thanked him. I think that's funny that perhaps the most timid driver in the field was one of the only ones to talk to Jim.

After driver introductions were over I decided that we should walk down to where Michael's car was so I could take some photos of Michael and Buffy by the car before the pre-race ceremonies start. It ended up being quite a long walk as the #15 was all the way on the opposite end of pit road. As we walked through Kasey Kahne's pit which was right near where Michael's car was, I glanced at Kasey's crew who were leaning against a fence and dude, you aren't as much of all that as you think you are. That's about all I'm going to say about that. So the next pit was pretty much empty of people and equipment because it belonged to one of the extremely underfunded teams so I took the liberty of walking right into the pit and standing by the pit wall so I could have a good view of Michael and the other drivers by their cars.

After the invocation it was of course time for the singing of the National Anthem. Usually Michael sings along which is something that not many other drivers do so I turned around to look and discovered he wasn't singing but he was looking right at me for some reason. (Probably wondering if I'm a stalker!} That freaked me out so I immediately turned away rather than smiling like a normal person, so I probably came off like a complete weirdo. I just didn't expect him to be looking in my direction, since normally everyone on pit road pretty much stares straight ahead. I'm guessing since there were no TV cameras around Michael probably felt free to let his attention wander a little more than he might if he thought he was going to be seen on TV.

Once the pre-race ceremonies were over we stuck around to see Michael get into his car. He had walked off somewhere and when he got back to his car he plopped his hat on Buffy's head like she was a hat rack or something. I'm sure he meant it affectionately but it was a little amusing the way he did it. For some reason I find it really fascinating watching him climb into the car since he's so freaking big. I won't share the comment I had made earlier in the day to Jim that sounded really bad by accident but it certainly applied to Michael jamming himself into the car.

We then made the trek all the way back to the other end of pit road where Michael's pit was located. I attempted to use the scanner only to fuck something up and for a good chunk of the race I either couldn't get the scanner to work, couldn't get the volume high enough and/or couldn't get it to stick on the #15 frequency and not scan through all the drivers I had programmed in. So for the majority of the race I had no clue what was going on since all I could see was whatever happened in the pits around me and the cars as they passed on the track directly in front of the pits.

But that doesn't mean that the race was boring by any means. I absolutely adore watching the pit crews at work and I also love taking photos of the pit crews. So I had a wonderful time watching the crews do their thing. Those men are amazing - they do so much in fourteen or fifteen seconds! I did feel a little awkward standing in back of the #15 pit because I didn't want to get in anyone's way. So I'm glad that Michael's pit was located in a slightly wider area of pit road than where some others were. That mean there was more room for everyone, including myself to move around.

For a while we just hung out watching the happenings on pit road. At one point we walked down to the #8 pit because those guys are mostly all Michael's old crew who we had met in Dover last fall. A lot of them were looking at me and Jim, obviously knowing that we looked familiar, if not remembering fully why they recognized us. Unfortunately it was no time to strike up conversation and refresh their memories there on pit road. I wish that I had seen some of them under different circumstances since they were all so nice last fall and that was one reason why we had such a great time then.

A sad indication that even on pit road there are some fans who don't know how to act appropriately is that the #8 and #24 pits had to have barracades in back of them to prevent people from going into the pits that don't belong there. Every pit is set up within painted white lines and it's a no-no to go inside those white lines unless one is with the team, a member of the media or invited. Most of the time I tried to stay much futher back than that to ensure I didn't get in anyone's way. But apparently a lot of others aren't respectful like that since the #24 team had tires piled in an makeshift wall at the back of their pit and the #8 team had a chain stretched across the back of their's. Back in Dover I actually saw why the #8 team does this. During one pit stop I was absolutely appalled to see a pack of fans run up behind the #8 crew while they were in the middle of a pit stop and start taking photos. And I mean right in back of them - ridiculously close. Jade Gurss had to literally chase them out of the pit.

Once we walked back to the #15 pit I started noticing how hot it was. In reality it probably wasn't that hot in comparison to most of the tracks that they race at but to me it was really steamy. I was starting to wonder how I was going to manage to last though the entire race when our contact approached. I don't know whether he was just trying to be nice or noticed that the heat was starting to get to us but he offered to take us somewhere to cool down where we could still watch the race. And so we went with him. There is no way that I can possibly say where he took us but it's the last place I ever expected in a million years to watch part of a race from. After we left that place our contact arranged for us to be able to use a lounge whenever we wanted for the rest of the afternoon to cool down, or get something to eat or drink. The funny thing is that the lounge was really empty and the staff was obviously anxious for people to talk to. They kept trying to shove food at us and chat with us about various things. Very nice people but that is true of just about everyone we interacted with all weekend. Needless to say without the kindess of our contact I'm not sure I would have made it through the entire race without passing out so I am very appreciative to him for taking pity on us and helping us cool down.

After spending some time in the lounge we went back on pit road where we walked around a bit then mostly hung out near Michael's pit. Like I said I had no idea what was going on the majority of the race. Unless one of the cars in a pit near us had problems, and a few did, it was hard to know what was going on with any individual drivers. At one point Michael slid through his pit right into Travis Kvapil's pit - that was impossible to miss. Though he had to get backed up before his crew could go to work it didn't seem like it hurt them too much at that point in the race. At one point I did know that Michael was running in fourth place and I got very excited thinking he might have a chance to win. One of the few things that I did know during the race based on the bits and pieces I was able to manage to hear on the scanner was that Michael had a good car that ran towards the front most of the day in spite of him having to start from the back. I was certain he was going to get a top ten at least... only that was not to be.

The last pit stop was obviously an important one for the #15 group and they seemed to nail it. So I was feeling pretty good for Michael. Unfortunately for me, Jim was determined that we were going to leave to miss some of the post-race traffic. Of course I wanted to stay to the bitter end but Jim was insistant. If I thought Michael was going to win I would have put my foot down but since I figured he was probably going to end up with a good finish but not a win reluctantly I agreed to leave with about 25 laps to go. We profusely thanked our contact and made the trek back to the car, me wishing that I wasn't leaving, Jim probably saying "finally!"

Leaving ended up being a very good thing. Because it wasn't too much longer before Greg Biffle got into Michael when he was in eighth place and sent him into the wall. I probably would have burst into tears or did something equally embarassing had I been there in person when he wrecked. Michael's crew got him back onto the track... and he promptly wrecked again. I have no idea why he went back on the track - he said on INC that he would have finished 26th regardless but maybe they felt that they could lose positions if they didn't go back out. I really felt horrible for Michael because I know how much he likes racing at Pocono and how high his expectations probably were coming into the weekend. And he should have had a great finish, only bad luck bit him once more. Poor Michael, I really want a stretch of good luck for him, hopefully with at least one win in there.

Traffic wasn't too terrible getting out of the track and though we encountered some slow downs on the way home it actually wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be considering all the horror stories I had heard. Perhaps that was because we left early or maybe we just got lucky. What I do know is that it was an absolutely awesome and outstanding weekend! I don't know when the next race I'll go to will be and I might never get another hot pass ever again so I made the most of every second I was at Pocono. Truly a great experience!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)

Junior Goes 143 MPH... on Pit Road

And This is Funny?

I'm troubled by the attitude towards the incident on pit road during this past weekend's race at Pocono in which Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sped down pit road at 143 mph in an effort to beat the pace car. Some might be wondering why this is a problem given how fast they go on the track but the pit road speed is 55 mph. Junior was going more than double the speed limit on pit road. Some may still be saying so what but there's a safety issue there, one that Junior acknowledged if you read the transcript of his comments over the radio. If something were to go wrong at that speed many crew members are at risk.

What I'm bothered by even more than Junior's lack of judgement is that his team appeared to think this was funny and "cool" rather than a serious issue. I'm also bothered by how little attention this has gotten in the media. There's been some discussion about it but for the most part it's completely flown under the radar. In fact so far under the radar that even Claire B. Lang made note of the lack of coverage of what he did on "Dialed In" on Wednesday night. She said that unless someone was listening to Junior's radio or Nascar communications no one might ever know that anything happened. I imagine that's because other than being penalized a lap during the race and called to the Nascar hauler post-race for a chat, Junior wasn't given any kind of penalty.

Nascar fines and takes points away from teams and drivers for illegal parts and any "actions detrimental." Well, I'd like to know how speeding down pit road at 143 mph isn't detrimental? I'm not saying that Junior should be sitting out the next five races or anything. But I do think that a safety issue, and in my opinion that's exactly what this is, should be treated very seriously. Drivers just can't be speeding down pit road like that - in fact I can't recall another instance when a driver was tagged for going that fast unless we just never heard about it. What Junior did is irresponsible and shows a lack of concern, at least at that moment, for the pit crews. I understand that he was probably frustrated and he lost his head for a minute - he's far from the only driver to make a mistake due to emotion, their competitiveness or because they are to get back on track as quickly as possible. But that seems like a mistake that could have some very serious consequences, much more serious than issues related to what crew chiefs are trying to get away with on race day.

To his credit Junior realized the wrongness of what he did - I wish I could say the same for others on his team. I don't think it's "cool" as Mike Davis, one of Junior's PR people does nor do I think it's hysterical like Tony Eury, Sr. apparently does. Oh don't be silly, nothing would go wrong some are saying. But guess what? Things go wrong all the time. There's a reason why the speed limit on pit road is 55 mph. There's a reason why the crew members have to wear helmets when they go over the wall. There's a reason why there are other safety precautions on pit road. Because accidents can and do happen - just ask Josh Yost and other crew members who have been injured - and speed would make it even worse, particularly in the tight confines of pit road.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2005

Pocono - Day One

I mentioned last week or the week before that I had been generously been given hot passes for the race weekend at Pocono. So that was this past weekend and it was so much fun! Of course I have a lot to say about it and I will say it all here so I can use this as a record of my experience. Believe me, I sure don't expect that there will be many who will be able to read the whole thing! I think I will split it up into two days to make it a little easier on myself.

So Jim and I set out bright and early on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. to go to Pocono. Having never been there we had no clue as to exactly how long it would take us to get there or how bad the traffic might be. Almost every track has bad traffic but it's been said that it's particularly bad, even for qualifying, at Pocono because there aren't many roads in the area to get to the track. But other than one minor place where we took a wrong turn thanks to the navigation system in the car not knowing exactly where we were going, it was smooth sailing to get the track on Saturday and we were there a little after 8:30 a.m. First up was getting our credentials from the Nascar trailer outside the track which are the cold passes which allowed us entry into the Cup garage. There was no problem there and putting the pass on really gave me a thrill of excitment because it made the whole thing seem so much more real.

I didn't want to call the contact who I had to get the hot passes from too early since I knew he might be busy with other things so we walked around a little and I got a scanner. That killed a lot of time because the person selling the scanner moved about as fast as a snail stuck in a puddle of molasses. I think Jim got a little

Random Thoughts

...on Nascar, Michael Waltrip and anything else that gets my attention.