Random Thoughts

August 07, 2009

Steve Park Wins at Adirondak!

Four years since his last NASCAR win, Steve Park ended up in Victory Lane again this past weekend after winning the Camping World East Series race at Adirondak International Speedway! It was 13 years since his last win in this series and it had to feel so good to Steve to finally end up with a win after coming close a few times. At Thompson Steve finished second to Ryan Truex, this time it was Ryan who was the runner-up. I would have no complaints if the top two was made up of Steve and Ryan for the rest of the season, with each of them taking turns in Victory Lane!

The win generated some good media attention for Steve and I was happy to hear him on The Morning Drive on Sirius this week. Steve sounded great in the interview and said that the win was a long time in coming - sure was!. He thought they would get a win last year but they struggled, then struggled to begin this season as well. I have to admit I had some doubts at the start of the season about whether Steve was going to be able to contend for wins since Steve really didn't seem to be able to race competitively. But as the results started to improve and Steve started to race up front more I got a lot more optimistic. As Steve said they got their act together - they sure did! and ended up in Victory Lane!

Next Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone, the hosts of TMD, asked him about how the win came together but Steve didn't answer exactly. He thanked all the fans. Last year was his first time at Adirondack so he didn't have a lot of experience there. They turned the most laps of any car in practice and had the car set-up for the race, then he qualified 7th. It was amazing to him how many fans came out for the race. In addition to signing autographs before the race, he sat in the stands after the race signing autographs for all the fans. I think that's great that Steve signed autographs after the race and essentially celebrated his win with the fans when he could have been celebrating with his team.

Steve said Adirondack reminds him of the old Clemson(?) track in NJ. It's unique to the cars they race. It's a challenge for any driver who races there. Hats off to the drivers who race there every week.

In the past Steve has occasionally in interviews and to fans seemed to question the talent level of some of those he races against in this series. But he's definitely singing a different tune now. Said that he can't even describe the amount of talent and competition in both the East and West Series. It amazes him the amount of talent that is being produced. Drivers in these series will more to the higher levels just like Joey Logano. I was very happy to hear him speak well about his fellow competitors because I've been less than impressed with his past comments as I don't think it's a wise idea to down those you're racing against even if there is some truth there about their lack of experience, ability or that he doesn't like their racing style. So it was great to hear him say such positive things in this interview.

As he's done previously Steve had very high praise for Ryan Truex and I suspect that one reason he's saying something different about those he's racing against is because he's impressed with Ryan and a couple of the other young drivers in the series this season. Steve said that Ryan has a good set-up at Michael Waltrip Racing that will help him further his career and that he's sure that Ryan will move up. Fans should make sure to get autographs from up-and-coming drivers like Ryan before they/he become superstars. With Ryan being so young he surprised a lot of people including him (Steve). He's got a good head on his shoulders and a lot of talent. He's a little shy (that's an understatement!). I agree with Steve about Ryan, that he's extremely talented and a driver on his way up. It's awesome to hear one of my long-time favorite drivers speak so highly of one of my newest favorite drivers!

Joey Lavendar is another that Steve said has a lot of talent. Said that there's not an untalented driver in the series. The list goes on and on. Good teams and good drivers.

Steve feels bad for the other drivers with Lime Rock coming up. He loves road course racing, his team is on a roll and morale is high. It's a beautiful place to race. Paul Newman who was one of his idols growing up raced there. Very obvious that Steve is very much looking forward to Lime Rock! I would guess we'll be seeing plenty of Steve racing up front at Lime Rock but I'm thinking Ryan will be right there with him!

The interview finished up with Steve saying that he listens to TMD every morning coffee in hand. Sure hope he's on again after he wins another one!

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

July 14, 2009

Ryan Truex Wins Thompson; Leads the East Series Points

While most of the attention lately when it comes to Michael Waltrip Racing has been focused on Martin Truex, Jr. signing with the organization or how David Reutimann is in the hunt for a spot in the Chase, there's another MWR driver making some noise. Martin's little brother, Ryan is on fire in the Camping World East Series! Ryan has won two of the last three races and the race that he didn't win, he came in second! As a result Ryan is currently leading in the points standings and if he keeps racing this well there's a very good chance that he could be the 2009 East Series Champion at just 17-years old!

What was so awesome about this past weekend's win at Thompson is that it was Steve Park who Ryan ended up battling for the win! Steve led the first 70 laps before giving up the lead to Ryan and the two raced each other for the remainder of the race. Steve ended up finishing second, his best finish of the season. It was really a dream top two for me - the driver who has been one of my favorites in NASCAR for the longest battling the driver who is one of my newest favorites! I would be in heaven if Steve and Ryan battled each other for the win in every race!

After the race Steve showed how much class he has, going over to Ryan in Victory Lane to congratulate him. In addition, Steve had nothing but high praise for Ryan, saying, "We were trying to pull every trick out of the bag and I thought Ryan, being as young as he is, would fall for one of them, but he's an extremely talented racecar driver. He's got a great future ahead of him." and that "You guys better get his autograph tonight because he ain't going to be around here much longer." I have to agree with Steve - Ryan is a driver with an immense amount of talent. While he started off the season slow, now that he's started to get used to racing in the East Series his ability is on display and it's clear he can race! What's most impressive to me is that Ryan is racing up front and winning poles and races on tracks he's never raced on before.

Ryan was on Sirius this morning and talked about how he'd like to race some Nationwide races next season.Although sponsorship is likely in short supply, if there's any way to make it happen MWR probably will try to get him some experience on higher levels as it's clear that Ryan is a driver on the rise with a very bright future. Sure hope that future includes winning a lot of races for MWR for many years to come!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2009

Another Mediocre Finish For Steve Park at South Boston

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 17, 2009

Steve Park Finishes 3rd in Phoenix!

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

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

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

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

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

April 08, 2009

Steve Park on Sirius (4/8)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

February 14, 2009

Less East Series Coverage on Eastseries.com in 2009

Good news for Alan and Katie Claffie who run eastseries.com in that they've found a new passion that takes a lot of their time, but bad news for fans of the Camping World East Series like myself that the Claffie's will be dramatically reducing the amount of East Series races they cover extensively in 2009 to possibly as few as only four races. Although they will still post press releases and race results for every race, the coverage they provided on their site when they were at a race in person was outstanding from reporting items of interest from the garage area to posting photos to coverage of qualifying and a lap-by-lap recap of every race.

I hope that another site will opt to provide coverage for those races that the Claffie's won't be attending but I suspect that might not happen. As Alan Claffie notes in his article there have been changes to the series and he's not the only one who doesn't feel the same sense of fun about the series these days. In addition, there are far fewer fans of the East Series than there are for the Truck, Nationwide or Cup Series so the feeling may be that it's not worth putting the effort in if there aren't going to be that many people who are interested.

This is pretty bad news for the series. Not only is the best source for information about the East Series dramatically reducing their coverage, but it's been said that HDNet, who broadcast most of the races last season, may opt not to carry the races this year. So unless SPEED decides to broadcast the races, which I have a feeling they won't, there may be very little exposure for this series at a time when the East Series, like every other series, needs it the most to attract sponsors and draw fans.

In my case it's going to make it even harder to follow Steve Park. It was extremely difficult last year since I don't have HDNet and I didn't go to any races so I was very dependent on eastseries.com. Of course as much as Steve will always have a special place in my heart because he was my first favorite driver so I'll always cheer him on and wish him well, some of the passion I once felt for Steve is gone. So while it's frustrating, I'm not as bothered about not being able to follow closely what Steve's doing in the East Series as I might have been in the past. I am concerned about what the future of the East Series might be though but maybe things will work out with HDNet or another network opting to broadcast the races.

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

January 26, 2009

Joey Logano Gets a Showdown Win Taken Away

The finish to this weekend's Toyota All-Star Showdown in Irwindale was controversial to say the least! I didn't end up watching the race live but I saw some video of the last ten laps this morning and after seeing it I don't like NASCAR's decision to take the win away from Joey Logano. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy that Matt Kobyluck won, in fact I would prefer Kobyluck to win over Logano, but I'm not a fan of NASCAR's decision in this race. I guess NASCAR felt that Logano's move at the end of the race that resulted in Peyton Sellers wrecking was overly aggressive so not only did they penalize him by taking the win away, but they put him in 40th last car in the field.

While I understand NASCAR's thinking in that they didn't like the aggressive way Logano raced Sellers, just exactly how was what Logano did any different from the countless other aggressive moves during the race including the two moves Ron Hornaday, Jr. made that resulted in wrecked race cars? Furthermore, on the last lap I think there should be more leeway given to the drivers to race hard and be aggressive in pursuit of the win. I don't like to see wrecked race cars but I do like to see exciting racing, particularly for the win coming to the checked flag. I want to see drivers giving it their all and particularly for the win.

What bothers me is that fan complain about how a lot of the races are boring, how there's too much follow-the-leader racing and how there's not enough passing. So when a driver races hard for the win, they not only raise the ire of fans but get penalized for it by NASCAR. I don't want to see drivers racing like grandmas on the white flag lap, afraid to make a move or race hard out of fear of getting penalized or getting fans angry at them. I want to see drivers battling each other hard and I accept that sometimes things are going to get messy and there's going to be wrecked race cars.

I've see a lot of fans complain about how a driver like Sellers can't afford to end up with a wrecked race car in comparison to Logano who has a lot of money behind him which in their minds makes what Logano did even worse. For one thing Sellers has enough money in his pocket to where he's going to be able to move up to the Nationwide Series next year in a start-up team. But beyond that when a team enters a race the risk that they take is that their car is going to end up getting wrecked. Of course the ideal situation is to bring a car home in one piece without a scratch on it but sometimes things go bad and it results in a wrecked race car.

In other Showdown news Steve Park was a non-entity in this race due to mechanical issues. After one break he couldn't get his car re-fired and it turned out there was an engine issue. After some time behind the wall Steve was able to return to the track but he was able to finish no better than 23rd. There's all the talk about how Logano screwed Sellers, but there are so many other teams who made the trip from the East Coast to Irwindale, only to end up wrecked or have their night ruined by mechanical issues like Steve's team. Talk about disappointment!

I kind of wish I had watched this race. While it was going on I checked in a few places online and saw that it was a big wreckfest but it turned out having a good ending. I didn't even end up recording it as I often do with races that I can't watch live. There were a lot of drivers that I'm interested in racing in this race too and I was happy that there was finally some action on the track. Just never got around to seeing the DVR for some reason - maybe because it was a non-points race it didn't seem so important.

At any rate, somehow I get the feeling this won't be the last controversy Logano is involved in this season, not necessarily because he's going to do anything wrong but because every move he makes is going to be over-analyzed and blown up into more than it is.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:19 AM | Comments (2)

January 08, 2009

Steve Park to Return to NDS Motorsports in the Camping World East Series

It's been made official that Steve Park will race in the Camping World East Series for NDS Motorsports again. Steve said on his website,

"I'm really excited about the 2009 season. We had some really good results in 2008 and the team just kept getting stronger and stronger throughout the year. I am thrilled to be back with NDS Motorsports and everyone at Waste Management Recycle America. I think we will definitely be a contender for the championship this year and I'm really excited to get things started."

Odds are that Steve likely will be able to contend for the Championship which will be nice to see. Although the pieces didn't come together in the right way for Steve to end up in Victory Lane he was able to race up front and be competitive in just about every race. In addition, several of the top teams in the series either may not return or might have different drivers. So at the very least Steve should be able to improve his points finish from 9th, where he finished at the end of last season.

So far there doesn't seem to be much excitement or even interest that Steve is returning to NDS and the East Series even though it was known that this was likely going to be what was going to happen once the news came that Steve was going to race at the Toyota All-Star Showdown with NDS. I know that a lot of people aren't all that thrilled with Steve racing in what's considering to be a lower, developmental series as opposed to in one of NASCAR's higher levels, so I think some were probably hoping that he would find a Cup, Truck or Nationwide ride even though that wasn't too likely to happen. I know for me it's also hard to get excited about East Series races at times because I don't have HDNet, who carried the races last season, and I don't have that much interest in watching a race that I already know the results from weeks after it's been run on SPEED.

However, I'm happy that Steve has a ride and will be racing in 2009. The same can't be said for a lot of other very talented drivers, some of whom have been even more successful than Steve over the course of their careers. I think any driver who has a ride and particularly when it's a competitive ride like Steve's going to have should count their blessings even if that ride is on what's considered to be a lower level. Steve speaks often about how the only thing racing is about to him is contending for wins but I would assume it also brings him some measure of enjoyment. Like many others in NASCAR racing is just about all he's known for most of his life, and I would think it would be hard to some degree to not be involved with something that he likely feels a great deal of passion for.

Hopefully Steve, his team and his fans will get to celebrate one or more East Series wins in 2009!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:46 AM | Comments (2)

November 17, 2008

Steve Park Video Q&A

Steve Park did something pretty cool on his website last week - in addition to posting some text answers to some fans submitted questions, Steve answered some fan questions in a video. Apparently he plans on doing more of these video Q&As and I think it's a great idea! Over the past few years there have been complaints that Steve's website isn't updated as frequently as it should be, even when he's racing, and that in general there really isn't much new content very often. So as a result a lot of fans of Steve have stopped visited his site. But new and unique content like that video that fans can't get anywhere else other than if they happen to stumble across it while doing a youtube search is a great way to get people back into the habit of visiting his site if the videos are posted on a regular basis. Fans love having their questions answered by their favorite drivers and they also love videos, so the combination of the two is sure to be a big hit! I don't know who came up with the idea of doing these videos but they deserve a big round of applause!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2008

Steve Park to Announce His 2009 Plans Soon?

Some answers to some fan submitted questions were posted on Steve Park's website yesterday including that he would be announcing his 2009 plans soon. I'm not holding my breath for anything to actually be announced in the near future since we've heard many times in the past that an announcement is forthcoming only to have nothing happen but I'm just glad that Steve does have something in mind for next season. It was implied somewhere that he might be just as happy sitting around at home as he would racing or doing something else in the sport and it seems to me that for any driver not just Steve doing nothing might not be so enjoyable. I would guess the odds are that Steve will be back in the #35 in the Camping World East Series or in another East Series ride. I suppose there's a chance that he could end up with a truck ride but unless Steve has decided that he'll consider more than just top five rides, it's unlikely that anything that will be available to him in any of Nascar's three highest series. There are less teams with open rides due to how many financial and sponsorship woes there are and complicating things for Steve is that he hasn't raced in the Truck or Nationwide series since 2006.

I'm sure somewhere there are some who are hoping or thinking that Steve might end up in the #23 truck for Bill Davis Racing in place of Johnny Benson who is leaving the team at the end of the season. I don't think that's too likely. For one thing BDR has Mike Skinner, Brian Scott and the recently signed (possibly as a replacement for Johnny), Tyler Malsam, and may also have Michael Arnett under contract for next season. In addition, if BDR's Cup program folds and it appears likely that's going to happen due to a lack of sponsorship, then if there's an open truck ride (and they could opt to drop a truck) I'd have to think they may consider Dave Blaney for it as BDR seems to think very highly of Dave. I also suspect that given how many discussions there apparently were between BDR and Steve about a ride in the past, if they were going to give him a ride they probably would have already done it a long time ago so the BDR ship may have sailed.

As I was writing my entry yesterday regarding Johnny leaving BDR, one of his comments really struck me and made me think of Steve. Johnny said that when he first came to the #23 team it was only about a 25th place team but he and the team were able to build it into what it is today, a championship contending team. As I've said in the past I think that's one of the most unfortunate thing about Steve turning down some of the opportunities that he's said have been available to him to race top 15 or maybe even better cars or trucks because he only wants to race for teams that contend for wins every week is that he's probably missed out on opportunities to help build a team from a top 15 team into a top five, winning team.

There's also what David Reutimann is doing in the #44 this season -after missing a bunch of races last season and struggling some to start this season, David races in the top ten just about every week these days. I expect David to continue that - and be even better - next season as his team continues to develop. Although most of Steve's fans are down on the Cup Series and Steve himself has said that he feels the Cup Series is just passing time, aka a waste of time to be racing in or even watching, I very much miss Steve in the Cup Series and I would love to see him racing alongside the sport's best drivers of which he has proven he is one given that he's won on the Cup level in the past.

It's great that Steve had a fairly successful season in the East Series and was able to race up front more often than not but the East Series isn't Cup, Nationwide or Trucks, and I know many of Steve's fans, while happy that he's continued to race, aren't entirely happy that he's not racing on a higher level. As noted above I do miss Steve racing in Cup but I'm just happy Steve is racing period since it didn't look like that was going to happen at one point. However, I just can't help but think of what might have been if Steve had taken one of those rides that were offered to him that he didn't think were good enough. If he returns to the #35 or another East Series team I'm sure he'll continue to race up front and maybe he'll even win a few if he continues racing in that series for a few more years - hopefully Steve and his team will take what they did this season and build on it and be even better next season. I just wonder though if Steve is really satisfied racing in this series against drivers with significantly less experience than he has in a series that few people outside of those who are his fans or attend races seem to care about?

On another note, another question posed to Steve besides what his plans are for next season is how long he's been racing in Nascar. Steve said he's been racing in Nascar for 25 years, which if my math is correct means that he started racing in Nascar in 1985. I checked the history page on his site and it doesn't specify what Steve's first race in Nascar was. I'm very curious to find out what series that was in, what track he raced on and what the result was. I'll have to do some poking around to see if I can find out but it might be difficult because I don't know that there's a site that keeps tracks of stats and information about Nascar's lower levels like there are for the Truck, Nationwide and Cup Series.

The other thing is that when I read that Steve has been in the sport for 25 years I was reminded of - no surprise here - Michael Waltrip since he's also raced in Nascar for 25 years. Longer really I would think if one considers that Michael was also racing in other series, some of which were presumably Nascar series, before he made his debut in the Cup Series in 1985. I thought about how over the course of the 25 years that Michael's been racing he's made over 1,000 starts in Nascar's three National Touring Series, and I got to wondering how many starts Steve has. I was surprised to discover that in Cup, Nationwide, and Truck combined Steve only has 298 starts if my math is correct - 181 in Cup, 56 in Nationwide, and 61 in the Truck Series. I guess I was thinking that with how many years he raced Cup and what's now the Nationwide Series that he had more starts. When I looked even closer at Steve's stats I was further surprised to discover that he hasn't raced too many full seasons in any series - in the Cup series he only raced every race in a season twice, in Nationwide once and in Trucks once. Just something that I had never noticed or given much thought to before.

Hopefully next year Steve will have a successful season racing the #35 or for whatever team he ends up with.

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

October 14, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (10/14)

*Robin Pemberton, Nascar's vice president of competition, said yesterday that there won't be any rules changes for the Cup COT next season. This is probably pretty disappointing to a lot of fans who think the COT stinks and that Nascar needs to make massive changes to it to improve the quality of the racing. I think Nascar is making a good decision. I hope that down the road they'll consider rules changes - if needed - but for now I think it's a good idea to make sure the teams are given enough time to get a handle on the current COT before they go making any rules changes that would require more testing and expense.

*Bruce Martin has a few interesting items in his most recent column on SI.com. For one thing he has some comments from the always outspoken Felix Sabates regarding the state of the sport and how he thinks that there could be as many as eight fewer teams by 2010.Sabates says that this is because of the poor economy and because the investors coming into the sport are going to want some return on their money or they're going to want to get out. For one thing, even when the economy has been relatively good teams come and go - Ginn Racing comes to mind. In addition, a smart investor will invest their money long-term and have the patience to realize that they might not get a return on their money for a number of years. No one is going to keep pouring an endless amount of money into a team without getting anything in return from it but I'm not so sure these investors are gonig to jump out of the sport just as quickly as they jumped in. Furthermore, Sabates made similar dire predictions about next season and while there are likely going to be some teams that aren't around next season, thus far it's not looking like there will be significantly less teams next season than this since there are also going to be several new teams. It's true that the economy is hurting teams, particularly in relation to sponsorship but way too many people have invested way too much time, money and effort into this sport for a multitude of teams and the sport itself to collapse without a fight.

*Martin brought up something interesting about the confrontation between Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick. He wrote, "Imagine what would happen in any sport if another driver went into the opposing team's dugout or bench area during competition?" That player might get a pretty big smackdown if they went into the opposing team's dugout during a game. We're used to drivers going over to talk to each other in the garage area frequently but opposing players going into each other's space is something that's highly frowned upon. In baseball it used to be that players from opposing teams wouldn't even talk to each other on the field or be too friendly otherwise, let alone go into another team's dugout or locker room. In some ways Carl is lucky he didn't get a beatdown from Kevin's whole team.

*Eastseries.com posted the final points for the Camping World East Series and Steve Park finished 9th. I'm not sure I should be happy that he finished in the top ten in points with eight top tens and three top fives in thirteen races, or disappointed that he didn't finish higher. The 26th place finish due to mechanical issues out of his control at Stafford really hurt because it dropped him three spots in the overall points. Of course a driver can only make the most of the cars they're given to race and there's nothing a driver can do about mechanical problems but I can't help but notice that Steve has significantly more experience in Nascar in the Nationwide, Truck and Cup Series than those who finished in the points ahead of him. In fact those eight drivers total experience together in all those series amounts to no Cup races, six Nationwide races and one Truck race - there of them have never raced on a higher level than in the East Series.

As noted there are so many variables that go into it, including that some of these drivers are racing for Cup backed teams, though not the Series Champion, Matt Kobyluck, but as someone pointed out to me while it's great that Steve has raced in the top ten so much, he was only doing what he should be doing given his experience in Nascar and racing overall. In addition, as this person pointed out, maybe given that experience if Steve wasn't at least finishing in the top five in every race, if not winning, then maybe he's not living up to expectations. There are a lot of fans who were thinking that racing competitively in this series was going to impress an owner on a higher level enough to give Steve a ride for next season but I'm not sure a 9th place points finish with no wins is going to be enough.

*Both Steve and Ricky Carmichael drew a lot of fans to the track to see East Series races. It was mentioned by someone at the track this past weekend that there were so many fans who wanted Steve and Ricky's autographs during the mandatory autograph session prior to the race that fans had a hard time getting to the other drivers near them for autographs. What's not so good for this series is that it's possible that neither Steve nor Ricky will be back in the East Series next year. Steve was only signed with the #35 team for this season and Ricky is slated to race for Kevin Harvick, Inc. in the Truck Series. That might mean less fans at East Series races next season which is unfortunate because I think the series and some of it's young drivers could use more attention not less since some of the young drivers racing in the series today might be tomorrow's stars.

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

October 12, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 26th at Stafford

Steve Park finished 26th yesterday in the rescheduled season finale for the Camping World East Series. Peyton Sellers won a race that apparently had a wild and exciting finish. Too bad it's likely that not too many people other than those at the track are going to see it since HDNet didn't broadcast it and although it's on Speed's schedule to be aired today, reportedly no one from Speed was at the track. It's not only unfortunate for fans of this series but also for Sellers who is looking for a ride for next season since he and Andy Santerre Motorsports are parting ways due to sponsorship issues - the exposure from having this race shown on TV could help him find an other ride.

For me, since the Championship was already determined the race was pretty much an afterthought. To show how little interest I had, whereas in the past I've checked eastseries.com and SPC repeatedly for race updates as to how Steve is doing, by the time I remembered there was a race today it was over. Most race weekends I go in thinking that maybe this will be the one Steve wins but I just wasn't feeling it this time. Apparently he had a competitive car and was racing up front for a while but then mechanical gremlins struck and he ended up behind the wall due to brake issues. Someone who was at the race said that Steve wasn't happy about being told to park it since he felt they were giving up too easily, but if they were out of contention for the win due to the brake issue I can't blame the team for not wanting to risk getting the car torn up in a wreck or risk there being some other issue since even in the East Series it costs a lot to field a car.

This race was probably disappointing for Steve but I hope he was happy overall with this season. Perhaps he didn't win any races or contend for a championship so in some regards he might not have raced up to expectations - his or the team's - but on the other hand he raced competitively and up front in just about every race which is a lot more than he's been able to do with some of his other rides. So hopefully being in this car was a good experience for him. It's unknown whether Steve will be back with this team next season, or have any ride in 2009, but I'm okay with that. I didn't expect him to have a ride this season so I'm just happy he was racing something this year.

Another note on this race is that there continues to be some hand-wringing about Jeffrey Earnhardt once again being taken out of the car that DEI had been fielding for him in this series. In fact, it was referred to as him being "robbed again of his DEI birthright" supposedly by nasty ol' Teresa. Meanwhile it's been reported previously that Jeffrey's own father, Kerry, was involved with the decision to take him out of the car because there were concerns about his work ethic. Having the same last name as the man who founded the company doesn't mean that DEI should ignore issues with a driver. In addition, DEI has to make the decisions they feel are best on both the competition and business side. Having the "right" last name may help a driver get some doors opened for them but ultimately they still need to perform.

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

September 29, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (9/29)

*I have to admit that when Tony Stewart spun through the grass in yesterday's race after bumping Brian Vickers in what might have been an attempt to retaliate against Vickers for whatever it was that happened on pit road between the two and their teams, I laughed my arse off. It's a good example of why drivers need to keep control of their emotions because instead of sending a message to whoever they're angry with, it could result in a ruined race for themselves. Stewart ended up with a broken splitter as a result of his trip through the grass and he finished the race in 40th, seven laps down after having to spend time on pit road under green while his team made repairs. Stewart's chances of winning the Championship already weren't that great heading into this weekend, and yesterday's poor finish probably eliminated him from contention.

*Stewart's teammate, Kyle Busch had yet another disastrous race due to mechanical issues. I have to feel bad for Kyle and his team. They had an incredible regular season in which they won eight races but the Chase has been a horror show for them - in the past three races Kyle's finishes are 34th, 43rd and 28th . It has to be incredibly frustrating for Kyle to be eliminated from Chase contention for reasons out of his control. There are more than a few fans celebrating that Kyle won't win the Championship this season but I think it's a real shame that all the hard work that Kyle and his team put in during the regular season to be one of the best teams in the garage isn't going to result in more. It's really puzzling how Joe Gibbs Racing and particular this team was so strong in the regular season but as soon as the Chase started the entire organization has all but fallen off a cliff.

*Another driver with Chase woes is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He started the Chase well with a 4th place finish at Loudon but in his last two races Junior has finished 24th and 13th. Michael Waltrip said on his XM show that a problem for Junior and his team has been that they'll often start a race strong and race up front at first but as the race goes on they often fade, and that they needed to put together a strong race at Kansas where they raced up front the entire race. I agree with Michael, but I'm not surprised that Junior wasn't able to finish better in this race. Problems with sealing the deal and racing up front all race long aren't a new problem for Junior and his crew chief, Tony Eury, Jr. - this is something that has carried over from when they were at DEI. When Junior was at DEI fans blamed lousy cars that fell apart, well now Junior's at Hendrick Motorsports where the cars are some of the most competitive in the garage area and they don't have many mechanical failures. Most fans are blaming Eury, Jr. for the #88 team's woes but Eury, Jr. is one of the better crew chiefs in the garage area. Some seem to think there might be a crew chief change for Junior for next season (please let it happen and may Eury, Jr. end up at Michael Waltrip Racing!) - I suspect the results might not be that different for Junior with a different crew chief.

*There was some great racing in yesterday's race, particularly at the end of the race during the last lap battle between Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson, which makes the second race in a row in which there was an exciting battle to the finish for the win. Incredibly some fans are still complaining that yesterday's race stunk. I have no idea what else these fans want. Sure, the racing isn't exciting on every single lap but there was actual racing, including up front during yesterday's race. Maybe some fans are disappointed that there weren't more cautions for wrecks or they feel a race is boring if there isn't edge-of-your-seat, thrilling racing action on every single lap but it seems to me that these races are showing that it's definitely possible for there to be good racing with the COT. That doesn't mean the COT is perfect or there are no issues with unexciting racing - we've definitely seem some races that were total snoozers and I wouldn't mind if there were tweaks to the COT, the tires or the tracks in an effort to produce better racing on a more consistent basis. But I liked what I saw yesterday and at Dover for sure.

*There's been rumors for a while that JTG-Daugherty Racing and MWR might either partner in 2009 or merge completely which would result in Marcos Ambrose racing either directly or indirectly for MWR, something I would be very happy to see happen. There were several rather large clues this weekend that there's truth to those rumors - JTG used a MWR hauler and other equipment at the track, a JTG official went on the record to acknowledge that they have a "relationship" with MWR, there was talk over the #55 radio about asking the #47 for help during the race and perhaps the biggest thing that said "Oh hai, we are racing for MWR" is that the #47 was sporting MWR chrome wheels during the race. Somehow I don't see Michael handing over some of his prized chrome wheels to a team unless there was some sort of close of affiliation. It was said prior to the race on Raceday that there might be an official announcement this week and I can't wait to hear the details about what might be planned for JTG and MWR for next season!

*Last week Ted Musgrave and HT Motorsports parted ways rather suddenly between practice and the truck race (on the same day) at Las Vegas. Turns out according to what Musgrave reportedly said on Sirius a few days ago the reason they dissolved their partnership so abruptly (Musgrave says he quit) is because a team official accused him of deliberately wrecking the truck in practice. I can understand why Musgrave was so upset. That's probably one of the most insulting accusations that can be hurled at a driver other than "you suck!" and I think it's very disrespectful and unprofessional for HT Motorsports for them to make that accusation about Musgrave. It's very hard for me to believe that any driver would deliberately wreck their car or truck and particularly a former Champion of the series. Did they think the same about Stacy Compton, who raced the #59 in the race for them and wrecked on lap 37?

*There's a number of Steve Park fans who are hoping that Steve ends up back in the #59, a truck he raced for ten races in 2006. As much as I don't think Steve can be fussy about what rides he considers, I hope this is one ride he takes a pass on if it's offered to him. Steve has enough problems with the way that some perceive him without risking that they'll accuse him of something like what they accused Musgrave of. Back when Steve left the #59 it was under strange circumstances in that HT Motorsports announced that it was because he was getting a ride with Bill Davis Racing, a ride that it turns out didn't exist. Most excused that as being a misunderstanding or miscommunication, but I always thought that never felt right since the team a driver is leaving usually doesn't make an announcement for that driver of what their next ride is. So in light of some funny business with Musgrave, I have to wonder what went on with that team and Steve.

*A.J. Allmendinger finished 9th in yesterday's race in what could be his last race for Red Bull Racing. Somehow I suspect that neither Mike Skinner nor Scott Speed, who are both rumored to be racing the #84 in place of A.J. for the rest of the season will race up front or finish as well as A.J. has lately.

*Claire B. Lang just said on her XM show that she's heard that BDR will be focused on the Truck Series next season, and her guest, Brian Scott, who will be racing a truck for BDR next season said he's heard they'll also have a Nationwide team. So it's sounding more and more like BDR won't have any Cup teams next season, which goes along with some of the recent rumors that they might sell their Cup assets, including the points from the #22 team to Gillett Evernham Motorsports. One has to wonder if BDR doesn't have a truck program next season what happens to Dave Blaney, not to mention Tommy Baldwin, Jr.?

Posted by silverdsl at 03:35 PM | Comments (3)

September 25, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (9/25)

Catching up on a bunch of things from when I was otherwise occupied...

*Matt Kobyluck clinched the Camping World East Series Championship this past weekend at Dover - yay Matt! Sure is great to see a veteran driver like Matt have so much success in the East Series this season! Steve Park finished 4th which is pretty impressive considering he had some sort of issue with the power steering to contend with. Steve is now 6th in the points and maybe a strong finish at Stafford this weekend will allow him to finish the season in the top five in points. Maybe the final race of the season will be the one in which all the pieces come together for him so that he gets to Victory Lane. And if not, oh well, it'll be disappointing but at least Steve has been able to race up front in the East Series this season, the first time in years that he's been able to do that. I suspect more was expected both by the team and by Steve but from a fan's point-of-view I'm just glad he was racing because I wasn't sure prior to this season whether that was ever going to happen again.

*In other East Series news, Aric Almirola replacing Jeffrey Earnhardt in the #8 won the race at Dover. It's hard to understand why some are continuing to complain about Earnhardt's removal from the car when Arlmirola goes out and wins the race in his first time in the car. This is a performance-based sport where having the right attitude can also matter. DEI can't keep Earnhardt in the car just because of his last name if he's not getting the results they want and if as rumored it's true that his attitude has been a problem. Reportedly Kerry, Jeffrey's father, was the one who made the decision, and if that's true I see even less of a reason for fans to take issue with it. He'll be out of the car for the season finale as well - Ryan Truex, Martin's younger brother will be in the car instead.

*Over the weekend Nascar announced the changes to their drug policy which will include every driver and pit crew member being tested at the start of the season and then subject to random tests (along with Nascar officials) during the season. It's a good start, particularly the random testing, but I agree with those who question whether the policy goes far enough. I find it problematic that Nascar isn't releasing a list of banned substances because they believe a list is "restrictive." I think everyone from competitors to pit crew members to fans to the media should know exactly which substances are on the banned list. There should be no question and no confusion in anyone's mind. In addition, I also think that there should be specific penalties for testing positive. It shouldn't be subject to Nascar's discretion as to what venalities are given to which drivers. I'd like to see there be zero tolerance in that a driver who tests positive is automatically suspended from competition for the remainder of that particular season at least, and if there is any evidence they were on the track while under the influence of a banned substance, a driver shouldn't be allowed back on the track - ever. There are always going to be excuses and extenuating circumstances but having set penalties for positive tests means that everyone knows what to expect if they test positive. Strict drug testing in other sports hasn't completely eliminated the use of performance enhancers in other sports so it will be interesting to see if there are any positive drug tests next season.

*Two drivers who won't be with their current teams next season were replaced during this week's test sessions at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Jeremy Mayfield was behind the wheel of the #41 in place of Reed Sorenson and Mike Skinner was behind the wheel of the #84 instead of A.J. Allmendinger. There's been rumors that both Sorenson and Allmendinger might be released before the end of the season, though both will be racing this weekend at Kansas. However, whether they make it through the end of the season in their current rides may not have anything to do with why they didn't test this week - it may be that both teams didn't want drivers who wouldn't be part of their organizations next year to be privvy to information that they could take with them to their next team that might be useful on the competition side. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Allmendinger didn't race for Red Bull Racing much longer. Scott Speed is waiting in the wings and they probably want to get him some Cup experience prior to him taking over the car full-time, assuming that's the plan for next season, but there may also be some concern as to whether Allmendinger will put full effort in on the track which is needed given the #84's precarious position in relation to the top 35.

*Speaking of Mayfield, I think he's very smart to be helping out Ganassi with this test. It could get him consideration for the #41 for next season but even if he's just helping them out this season (which is what it sounds like based on his interview on XM yesterday) it's still a good idea. After sitting out most of the season, and not having very good results in his past two rides (though that wasn't any fault of his own given the non-competitiveness of the cars he was racing), it's going to be hard for him to find another Cup ride, particularly a competitive ride. But he's making sure that he remains visible in the garage area and he's also showing a willingness to help a team almost in a consultant's role like Mike Skinner has done. Some fans think that Mayfield isn't very good but the reality is that he's a driver who knows how to win and he made the Chase twice so I think there's definitely a lot of good feedback that he'd be able to give. I'd like to see Mayfield get another chance in Nascar, if not in the #41, then maybe in a truck.

*According to Rick Hendrick, Brad Keselowski is the future of Hendrick Motorsports. He'll be making two Cup starts this season, and most believe that if he continues to race as well as he has, he will end up in the #5 in 2010 at least on a part-time basis. Some are convinced that the only drivers who get rides are those that bring sponsorship with them, who are young and "cute" and that talent doesn't factor in much. Keselowski is an example of how inaccurate that belief is. He doesn't have a sponsor in his back pocket, he's young but not "cute" and he's tremendously talented. Keselowski is considered the future of HMS because he's shown he can race up front and because there's a good chance he'll win a lot of races in the future.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:10 PM | Comments (3)

September 18, 2008

East Series News: Earnhardt Out, Carmichael Moves Up and What About Steve Park?

As the Camping World East Series goes to Dover to race this weekend there's some big news out of the series.

Shawn Courchesne of the Hartford Courant is reporting that Jeffrey Earnhardt will be replaced this weekend with Aric Almirola, possibly because DEI is looking to get Almirola more seat time at a track that the Cup Series races on, which makes sense since Almirola will be taking over the #8 in Cup full-time next season. However, in some ways I don't understand why they wouldn't just field an additional car for Almirola. Earnhardt is 11th in points and a good finish at Dover and Stafford could allow him to finish the season in the top ten in points. I had also thought that Earnhardt was being developed by DEI to race for them on higher levels in the future - usually organizations that think highly of their development drivers don't remove them from their rides.

Of course there's also the issue that Earnhardt is well, an Earnhardt. I'm sure some will make a big issue of how inappropriate it is for DEI to take the founder's grandson out of his ride but the reality is that DEI has to make the decisions that they feel are in the best interest of the organization regardless of what the last name of the driver is. Maybe DEI just isn't as high on Earnhardt as one would think. I'm sure they would really like to develop him into a successful driver since it would be good for the organization but maybe they aren't sure that's going to happen. Earnhardt has six top tens and four top fives this season but his teammates are 3rd and 4th in points with Trevor Bayne having won two races. So perhaps they feel this season has been a disappointment for him. It'll be interesting to see whether he's back in the car at Stafford and what his future is at DEI.

Jayski has an "I heard' rumor that Jack Sprague is going to be replaced at Kevin Harvick, Inc. with Ricky Carmichael, who is currently 8th in East Series points. There's apparently some truth to the story since Carmichael is going to race an ARCA race for KHI at Talladega. It wouldn't surprise me if Sprague was replaced at KHI. Kevin and Delana want their drivers to win and they let Matt Crafton go when he didn't win for them even though he raced competitively. The other thing is that presumably Monster Energy Drinks would sponsor Carmichael in a truck as they are in the East Series so he would bring financial backing with him. I really like Carmichael so I'd be very happy if he raced in the Truck Series next season and particularly if it were for an organization like KHI that fields competitive trucks. I'm sure someone, somewhere is going to complain that Carmichael doesn't deserve to move up because he doesn't have that much Nascar experience but he's not called the G.O.A.T. - greatest of all time - for nothing. It's like Juan Pablo Montoya in the Cup Series - some drivers are going to get opportunities that others might not because of their accomplishments in other series or other forms of racing.

One driver whose future is unknown is Steve Park. Apparently Steve's deal with the #35 team was only for this season and given that rumors circulated not too long ago that his team was working with another driver I have a feeling he won't be back with the #35 in 2009. I think that's unfortunate because Steve has been able to race competitively with this team and contend for wins but on some levels it's probably a disappointment that he's not been able to seal the deal on a win or even more top five's. The expectations for a driver with as much experience as Steve has in Cup and Nascar's other higher levels racing against mostly young, inexperienced development drivers are probably greater than what he's been able to achieve. That's both on Steve's part and his team's part. I would hope that Steve has had fun racing in the East Series but given all the talk about all the "squirrels" he feels he races against, one has to wonder.

Of course the question becomes then, where does Steve end up? Probably without a ride is my guess. Maybe he'll find something else in the East Series but even in that series with so many teams doing driver development work for Cup organizations I'm not sure how many opportunities there's going to be unless the #35 decides they'd like him back. Which leaves Steve looking for a ride in the Nationwide, Truck or Cup Series. Given that there isn't likely to be a ride available to him as competitive as he would like - if there are any rides available to him at all - I'm not anticipating we'll be seeing him on any of Nascar's three highest levels. Which could mean that we won't see him racing next season at all.

I suppose voicing that kind of negativity about Steve's future could lead to another round of some telling me how much I suck, but things are what they are. Someone on a forum I post at encountered Steve recently in North Carolina and I don't think this person's encounter bodes well. Since I wasn't there and it's possible this person's perceptions were off, I'm not going to get into details other than to say it didn't give me a good feeling. I'm just glad that Steve got to race again this season and race competitively. There's only two races left this season and maybe Steve can end the season on a high note with a win!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 2nd at Loudon!

Great race weekend for Steve Park! Not only did Steve qualify second for the Heluva Good! Fall 125, he also finished second! I suppose it might be a bit of a heart-breaker for Steve because he was actually leading the race heading into the final lap but apparently had to conserve gas and was unable to race hard enough to hold off eventual winner Eddie Macdonald. Points leader Matt Kobyluck finished third. It has to be really disappointing to come so close to Victory Lane and not get there, especially when it's for reasons out of his control, that the car was low on gas. Still a second place finish is something to be happy about and it should move Steve up a few spots in the points. For Macdonald this win completed a sweep of both East Series races at Loudon and came after a lap 93 stop for right side tires and fuel. Macdonald restarted 15th and had to work his way through the field.

After the race Macdonald was complimentary of the way Steve raced him.

"Running with Steve Park’s awesome, because you know he’s a clean driver and when you pull up beside him, you know you’re not going to get slammed into. He holds his line. You want to run him as clean as he runs you, so it makes it nice knowing you can pull up beside him on the last lap."

Always great to hear nice things said about Steve from his fellow competitors!

Six of the top ten finishers were teams that weren't affiliated with Cup programs which says something about how hard-working and talented those independent teams are they were able to do so much better than those teams that are surely better funded. It was the same story in qualifying where Peyton Sellars won the pole, Steve qualified second and Macdonald third. Steve said yesterday,

"We're kind of independent people who do the best we can with what we've got, and we're sitting up here talking to you guys. So it's a credit to all of our teams (and owners)."

Very true both about qualifying and the race!

However, what's interesting to note is that the situation is apparently getting harder for the independent teams. Two teams, including that of Sellars, are in danger of folding at the end of this season. Both Andy Santerre and Mike Olsen say that there's only a 50% chance that they'll field a team next season and both cite financial reasons as why they might withdraw from the series. Santerre, who is discussing taking a management position with a truck team next season, said that the economy and lack of TV exposure for the East Series makes it a hard sell presumably when it comes to sponsors. A team could opt to enter into an agreement with a Cup organization which is what Santerre did earlier in the season when he was fielding a car for Austin Dillon but Dillon left Andy Santerre Motorsports before the season was over and that's apparently a route that Santerre doesn't want to go down again.

I've complained multiple times all season about how hard it is to follow this series due to the TV situation. I don't have HDNet and the replays on Speed come weeks after the races are run when the results are already known. So really the only way that I'm following these races is online which means that the sponsors in this series aren't being exposed to me at all. The same is probably true for many other fans - if they even bother to follow the series at all. If not for Steve racing in this series I probably wouldn't have the slightest clue what was going on. I'm sure sponsors and other who might look to put money into the series are aware of that.

I'm sure some feel that it's the Cup backed organizations that have ruined this series and it's true that they've caused the costs to go up since it takes more money to keep up with the Cup backed teams to be competitive. However, these organizations need to develop their young drivers somewhere. Most fans aren't in favor of 18-year olds being thrown into a Nationwide or Cup car without experience, and I think they probably wouldn't be too crazy about them in a truck either, so it's basically this series and maybe the ARCA series for them to get experience before they move on to a higher series.

At any rate it was a great race for Steve today and hopefully he'll have an even better race at Dover!

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

September 11, 2008

Truck Series in Trouble?

That this is a Mike Mulhern article means that it needs to be taken with a grain of salt since he's not all that reliable when it comes to the accuracy of what he reports. However, in an article about how the future of the Truck Series may be bleak, Mulhern includes some actual quotes so that gives it some added weight that's lacking from some of his other columns that often don't include quotes or any indication of what the sources are of the information he's reporting. At any rate, Mulhern wrote that due to a variety of factors from Nascar purchasing the Grand-Am Series to Dodge pulling out to the poor economy, the Truck Series may not be around for much longer. I love the Truck Series - the racing is outstanding and that Michael Waltrip is part of the Speed team in the booth makes it even better so I would be very disappointed if the Truck Series went away. Sad to say but I can see it happening.

For one thing Dodge pulling out is a bad sign. They had already cut back their support gradually over the past few years to where the only organization they still had was Bobby Hamilton Racing. But now they don't even want to continue with that. One has to wonder if other manufacturers will also follow suit if they don't feel they're getting enough out of their involvement in the series. J.D. Gibbs said,

"Dodge pulling out of Trucks, that's not good. We had a Truck team for a while, and lost our shirts. Trucks have always been a hard sell."

Which speaks to several problems the series has. Costs have escalated to where it might cost as much as $5 million to sponsor a top truck that races consistently on a regular basis. However, in spite of all the fans who love the Truck Series the reality is that the exposure that series gets pales in comparison to what a sponsor could get even as an associate sponsor with a Nationwide team affiliated with a Cup driver or in the Cup Series. So it's likely hard to convince sponsors that a Truck Series sponsorship is a good value.

Jack Roush, who owns multiple truck teams feels that the series may go away as soon as in 2010. He said,

"I think there is a distinct possibility that in the foreseeable future, based on the economy and what the manufacturers have done, there is a reasonable chance that the Truck series will go away. Not in 2009, but maybe in 2010 or 2011.

Of course Roush has a tendency to exaggerate and talk about the worst-case scenario but it's kind of scary to think that the series might vanish as soon as 2010. The warning signs are certainly there that the series is in a lot of trouble with only 30 trucks on the preliminary entry list for Loudon, more talk about teams folding or scaling back than there are about teams expanding, manufacturers (Dodge) and long-time sponsors (Team ASE) are pulling out, and Nascar still hasn't found a title sponsor for the series yet. Nascar's other series are facing many of those issues as well but I think the more popular series like Nationwide and particularly Cup can more easily absorb some of these blows. I'm not so sure the Truck Series can.

I'm not so sure any of these issues can easily be addressed either. The reality is that the poor economy is having a big effect on everything inside and outside of Nascar. The governing body of the sport can't do much about that. In addition, the time to find ways to get more exposure for the series, it's teams and drivers is long past. At this point it may be too late, and particularly when they need to worry about issues related to manufacturers and sponsors in all the series.

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

August 24, 2008

An Unhappy Birthday for Steve Park at Mansfield

When Steve Park qualified in the top five for yesterday's Camping World East Series race at Manfield I really thought it was going to be his night and that when I got back from dinner out with my parents for their anniversary that I'd find out that Steve had at least gotten that elusive top five finish that he's been hoping for all season if not a win. After all Steve has plenty of experience racing at Mansfield, he clearly had a good car and it was his birthday so I was thinking that all the pieces might fall into place for him. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. For a while it seemed like it was going to be Steve's race as he battled Brian Ickler (who went on to win the race) for much of the first 100 or so laps of the race. However, while leading the race on lap 113 Steve got loose and spun which forced him to restart the race far back in the pack. Any remaining hopes that Steve had of finishing up front were dashed when he spun a second time, this time with help from another car. Steve ended up finishing 8th and is now 9th in the points with three races left. Sure hope Steve can finish off the season on a high note with three great races that will hopefully keep him in the top ten in points!

After the race some fans were talking about all the "squirrels" in the East Series, which is apparently what Steve and his team have taken to referring to some of the drivers in the series, presumably those who often seem to be the ones who cause incidents or have other issues in terms of the way they race. Given the way this series has apparently changed over the years to where it's mostly a developmental series full of young and/or inexperienced drivers I think it has to be expected that Steve's going to be racing with a lot of drivers who are still adjusting to a higher level of racing or haven't finished evolving as drivers yet so they don't always race as cleanly as they could or make the best of decisions. Thing is, Steve made the decision to turn down multiple offers for Truck and Nationwide rides to race in this series. If he doesn't want to race with "squirrels" then maybe he needs to consider a wider variety of rides so that he doesn't have to race in the East Series next season.

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

August 17, 2008

This Could Be Interesting...

So yesterday at Lime Rock a fan talked with Steve Park about the rumor that he was out of the #35 after this weekend and he said there was no truth to it. He said that the reporter never spoke with him and that contrary to what the reporter speculated on, he wasn't looking for a Modified ride and that he would be in the #35 for the rest of the season. I most certainly hope that's the case! However, while I don't always agree with the things that Shawn Courchesne writes, it hasn't seemed to me that he makes things up from thin air which means he likely got that information about Steve being out of the #35 soon from someone else. Hopefully whoever that someone else is someone who is misinformed but it could also be someone from Steve's team - sometimes the driver is the last to know when they're going to be replaced, though I sure hope that isn't the case here!

The other thing is that Steve encouraged his fans to email this reporter and let them know how displeased they are with what he wrote. That could make things interesting since this reporter is very vocal and has been known to take on others in his blog who confront him or that he otherwise disagrees with. This kind of thing hasn't worked out well for Steve in the past - taking on the media that is. In general, no matter how frustrating it might be when the media is negative or reports things that are inaccurate I think drivers and others need to use extreme caution when being confrontational with them. Fact is, the media has a great deal of influence and they can make one's life very difficult, not just in the short-term but also in the long-term.

Hopefully things work out for Steve and he keeps racing the #35 but I'm still going to be a little nervous before each week until the entry list comes out with his name on it.

(8/20) - It's been nearly a week since the original item was posted in Shawn's blog and there are still fans who are continuing to freak out about it. As someone else pointed out, doing so continues to give it attention - more attention in my opinion than it's worth which is why I'm not doing a new entry on this. The reality is that as much as Steve and some fans may not like it Shawn was writing in his blog and a blog is different than a formal article in the paper. Shawn is entitled to give his opinion and yes, even speculate on what he thinks could happen. Somehow he got the impression that Steve might get released and more than Shawn speculating on that happening I'd like to know where he got that information - has there actually been discussion by Steve's team about that or is someone causing trouble by making something up?

I just wish Steve had simply said "The reporter was wrong" instead of saying that his fans should go harass this reporter. What exactly does he think that's going to achieve? It's not too likely there will be an apology or a retraction, especially since again, Shawn was speculating in his blog as opposed to stating that he knew for a fact that Steve was going to be released. The only thing that's likely to happen here is that the next time Shawn goes to write something about Steve he'll remember this incident and it might influence the way he writes about Steve and not in a good way. As frustrating as it is when the media gets something wrong it's also important to maintain a good relationship with reporters because it helps result in more favorable coverage.

I'm also wondering why if Steve and the team were so upset about this, for days as it's been claimed, why no one released a statement that confirmed that Steve would be with the team for the rest of the season? Something could have been posted on Steve's own website or in the comments on the blog itself. Then again, sometimes it's best to just let things like this go and move on. The best way of showing that there's no truth to what Shawn speculated about is for Steve to race hard in all of the remaining races this season and hopefully finish up front.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2008

Matt Kobyluck Wins at Lime Rock, Steve Park Finishes 7th

Another road course, another win for Matt Kobyluck! He was fast in practice and he backed it up in the race too. With this win, Matt has now won three of the last four races at Lime Rock so this is certainly a track he likes racing at! Matt also won at Watkins Glen earlier in the season, has four wins overall and is leading the points - awesome! I sure would love to see him win the East Series championship!

As for Steve Park, he finished 7th which is excellent considering his car didn't seem to have much speed in practice and probably wasn't one of the best on the track during the race. He also had to overcome a penalty for jumping a re-start. I'm really not sure what happened there since all I have to go on is the updates on eastseries.com because I don't have HDNet, but he was threatened with a black flag for refusing to come to pit road to serve a pass-through penalty. I anticipate that when those who were at the track get back there will be complaints about how Nascar screwed Steve once again or were otherwise unfair but in the end it really didn't seem to hurt Steve too much as he finished in the top ten for the 5th time this season. This finish should move him up a couple of spots in the points which is a good thing too.

Apparently Steve was asked about the rumor that he was going to be out of the #35 after this race and he said that he'll be in the car for the rest of the season. That's great news and I hope that is what ends up happening! I don't think it makes a lot of sense for the team to release him now when he's done nothing but race in the top ten and lead laps for them. That said, the reporter who put the item about Steve possibly needing to look for a new ride also spoke with Steve in person so there must be a reason he wrote what he did. So I'm not going to feel completely comfortable until I see Steve's name on the entry list for each of the remaining races - sometimes the driver is the last to know when their team plans on making a change. J.J. Yeley was certainly surprised recently when he got a text message while he was at the beach asking him to come to the shop for a meeting and when he got there he was informed that he was out of a ride.

There's only four races left in the East Series schedule before their season ends in September. I don't think Steve is going to be able to make a run at the Championship though I sure would love to see him win a few and somehow do it. So if Steve isn't going to be the series champion, I'm hoping that Matt will hold on to the points lead and be the East Series Champion!

Posted by silverdsl at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2008

Steve Park Out of the #35 After Lime Rock?

This was most definitely not the news that I wanted to read first thing this morning. Shawn Courchesne from the Hartford Courant is reporting in his blog that Steve Park's last race with the #35 team in the Camping World East Series might be this weekend at Lime Rock.

Reading this makes me want to cry. Seriously. I know that more than a few believe that I'm a "bad" fan because I haven't exactly been jumping up and down about some of the things that have happened with Steve the past few years but I want the best for Steve just like anyone else. I had thought that finally things might work out for Steve but it appears that this may end up ending badly just like so many other rides that there were high hopes about. I think what saddens me the most is that it would really not bode well for Steve at all in terms of his Nascar career if he were to be released from this ride. No matter which way it was spun it really wouldn't look good to be let go from a lower level ride and particularly since he was also released from a couple of other rides in the past. So I really hope the speculation that Steve is going to out of the car after this weekend is erroneous and that he finishes out the season with this team.

I'm sure there will be talk about him looking (yet again) for a Nationwide or Truck ride but that he might be considering a modifieds ride says something about how likely it is that we'll be seeing him in a Truck or Nationwide car as much as I dearly would like to see that happen. The reality is that if things were tough when he was looking for a ride in those series before it's even harder now given the poor economy. Not only are there even less opportunities than ever, Steve will have to be less fussy - he simply can't insist as he has in the past that the only rides he'll consider are those that race in the top five and contend for wins every week. I so hope that Shawn's speculation is wrong or that Steve has something else lined up because I'm really not looking forward to the whole process of him looking for a ride again.

There's so much more I can say but I think I'll wait to see how things play out and whether Steve is actually out of this ride or not.

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

July 31, 2008

Time to Worry?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 27, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 24, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/24)

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

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

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

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

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

July 20, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/20)

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

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

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

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

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

July 19, 2008

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

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

Steve said,

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

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

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

Steve continued,

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

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

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

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

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

July 16, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (7/16)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 13, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 22nd at Thompson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 12, 2008

Vote for Steve Park for Camping World East Most Popular Driver

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

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

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

June 28, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 28th at New Hampshire

Mechanical issues doomed Steve Park and his team to a 28th place finish at New Hampshire last night. As he's done all season Steve was able to race up front but towards the end of the race things fell apart - reports from the track indicate that there was a problem with the sway bar and repairs put Steve nine laps down. Since many of those who were around Steve in the points finished better than he did he's definitely going to lose some positions in the points. However, every driver and team has a couple of bad races where things don't go their way. In this case it was a mechanical issue and that's out of Steve's control and more than likely out of his team's control as well. Sometimes things break or come loose no matter how many times the team checks to be sure that everything is okay with the car. The East Series schedules is just 13 races so there's not as many races to make points up in but Steve has raced consistently well all season including in this race before the problem so I have no doubt that he'll pick up where he left off next race with another top ten and this race won't hurt him too bad.

This was yet another race in which there was no live TV coverage. Of course I wouldn't have been able to watch anyway since I don't have HDNet but I think it's a major disservice to this series that all the races aren't shown live. It's good that the races are shown eventually on Speed but they're shown so much after the fact that my interest in watching is very little since the results are known and in some cases other races have already been run. I think that's the same for other people as well. Seems like the interest in Steve racing has really dropped off even though he's racing well. Of course the same core group is just as enthusiastic as ever but I'm really surprised that Steve racing again and particularly him racing up front hasn't been a source of more excitement. A lot of it may very well have to do with how hard it is to watch the races and follow this series in general.

There may be more to it as well. I know that my feelings towards Steve have changed over the years and in talking with other fans of his others feel the same way. It's not that anyone stops being a fan of his per say, it's just that things happen that cause a change in how we feel or the way that we view him. As much as I still cheer for Steve and support him I know that I likely won't ever go back to feeling about him the way I once did - Steve is a really great person and a talented driver but there are certain things that are hard for me to overlook even though I try. But I really figured that consistently racing in the top ten might invigorate some others who had lost some of their enthusiasm - apparently not. I guess once some people move on, they move on for good.

Some people view that as being a "bad" fan or that those people weren't "real" fans but that's a bunch of nonsense. As time goes on people's interests and attitudes may change and things that seemed really important at one time become less important. Or we find other things to be passionate about. I don't think it's a matter of people not being a fan of Steve's anymore - I think people still wish him well just as much as ever. It's just that being a fan of Steve's might be on the back-burner a little in comparison to the way they feel about other drivers or even other things outside of racing. I think that's really hard for some people to understand because they feel so passionately about Steve that they don't know why others don't feel the same way. But the reality is that each person has different beliefs and different ways of looking at things and we can't all think or feel the same ways about the drivers we like or anything else.

The next race in Thompson, Connecticut on July 12 and hopefully Steve will finish in the top ten or even better!

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

June 09, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 5th at Watkins Glen

Steve Park had his fourth straight finish of top ten or better in the Camping World East Series at Watkins Glen yesterday. However, his fifth place finish might be a little disappointing to Steve considering he won at that track in the Cup Series in 2000. However, to finish as well as he did Steve had to battle back from a cut tire and it's a finish good enough to move him up to third in the overall points which is excellent! I'm very happy for Steve that he's racing competitively and that he's in the Championship hunt! I just wish I was able to watch these races live since not being able to see them as they're run really takes away from some of the excitement.

It was particularly hard to follow what was going on at Watkins Glen this weekend since HDNet didn't even broadcast the race. So fans who wanted know what was happening in the race had to depend on updates from eastseries.com. While that site did a great job of updating frequently as they got new information, text updates on a website aren't the same as watching the racing unfold on TV. In fact some of the most interesting things that came from eastseries.com's coverage wasn't the run-down of who was racing where but what was apparently said at the driver's meeting on Sunday morning.

From eastseries.com:

11:45 a.m. - The drivers meeting is over and the biggest point of contention is that there will only be one scoring loop in use for this race, at the start/finish line. It's possible that someone could complete a pass - or many passes - on a lap but if caution comes out before that lap is completed, he'll have to give all those spots back. This was not a popular revelation. Matt Kobyluck lectured the drivers present about what a terrible show South Boston was and how the series should be putting on better races than that. Here's hoping this will sink in before we return to another short track. Driver's introductions are about fifteen minutes away and then we'll settle in for 51 laps of fun.

It absolutely boggles my mind that there was only one scoring loop used during this race. How can that be? If there was only one scoring loop used during Cup and Nationwide races that are run at Watkins Glen I'd think the drivers in those series would be raising holy hell since they'd be losing positions all the time. So I have to think that when the Cup and Nationwide series use this track they use multiple scoring loops. If that's the case, then why can't the Camping World Series as well? Fans have all these complaints and conspiracy theories about Nascar supposedly manipulating races but if there's one thing that changes the outcome of a race it would be something like this where a driver might lose positions to drivers they've already raced past, maybe even multiple times, because there's only one scoring loop in use.

In addition, the racing must have been really horrible at South Boston for Matt Kubyluck, the eventual winner at Watkins Glen, to get up and say something to his fellow drivers about it. Naturally my fellow Steve Park fans thought the racing was great at South Boston because Steve finished so well in spite of having a damaged race car. However, from what I've seen elsewhere they are in the minority. Most others were unhappy with how many cautions there were because that resulted in a lack of a lot of racing under green. In addition, there were scoring loop issues at South Boston as well with drivers having positions taken away under caution. Only Nascar can resolve the scoring loop issues but the quality of the racing may relate to this being a driver development series where the young drivers out number the experienced veterans like Steve or Matt. The young drivers are still learning for one but they may also have an aggressive style of racing, particularly since these races aren't very long, that makes for a lot of incidents.

I sense there are other issues in this series besides the quality of the racing. The series director, Lee Roy, was just replaced by an interim director for reasons that weren't really explained. Also, there's been a rash of teams being busted for rules violations. Two drivers have had wins taken away due to rules violations and Brain Ickler's team had parts taken from them by Nascar after his win at South Boston, though there ended up not being any penalties given to his team. Is it that the teams don't fully understand the rules? Are they deliberately doing things that are in violation of the rules and hoping that they'll be lucky enough to get away with it? Whatever the situation is there seems to be quite a few rules issues in this series.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Penske Racing has a problem. Alltel, the sponsor of Ryan Newman's #12 car has been bought by Verizon and Nascar's contract with Sprint, the title sponsor of the Cup Series, doesn't allow Alltel to re-brand. The situation that Penske faces is similar to that of Richard Childress Racing with Cingular when that company was bought by AT&T. It was only because of a lawsuit, which Nascar settled with AT&T, that RCR is allowed to have AT&T on the #31 car, but only though the end of this season. Ryan Newman is a free agent at the end of this season and I have to wonder how potentially losing the sponsor of his car will effect whether he re-signs with Penske or not.

*Jamie McMurray again denied today that he's out at Roush-Fenway Racing or that he's been talking with other teams. However, Jim Utter who wrote the original story that McMurray was looking around for another ride for next season again indicated that sources are telling him that McMurray has put feelers out to at least two Cup teams and that Roush is still looking at moving McMurray's Crown Royal sponsorship to Greg Biffle. If it's true that McMurray is in search of a ride for next season, I have to wonder if one reason he's denying it is because he has a clause in his contract like so many drivers do that prohibits him from talking to other teams while he's under contract to Roush. Of course drivers get around it all the time by having a representative act as a go-between but McMurray might be trying to avoid giving Roush anything that they can use to release him before the season is over.

*According to eastseries.com the Camping World East Series cars didn't even hit the track at Watkins Glen before an issue was found with one of the competitor's cars. For the second week in a row something from Brian Ickler's car was seized by Nascar, in this case the rear end from the car. You'd think after last weekend in which there was some question as to whether Ickler would get to keep his win after Nascar found something they didn't like with his car in post-race inspection at South Boston that the team would be sure that everything was exactly perfect as far as the rulebook goes this week. Teams are always going to try to get away with something to gain an advantage in every series, on every level, but I think it speaks to a problem in this series that in the first four races there have been these kinds of issues every weekend. It's kind of amazing that even after two wins were taken away that there still might be teams that haven't gotten the message that Nascar is serious about making sure all the teams follow the rules.

*Speaking of Watkins Glen, Steve Park is a winner of a Cup race there and after having tested his East Series car there recently he had high hopes that he might be able to win in that series. However, based on the first practice results Steve and his team have some work to do if they hope to get their fourth top ten in a row (or better). Steve was 26th in the first practice which isn't very good considering there are only 30 cars and two of them didn't practice! Of course there's still plenty of time between now and Sunday when the race will be run... at the same time as the Cup race which is probably why HDNet isn't bothering to carry the race live. It's not too likely that many people would choose the East Series race over the Cup race.

*Robby Gordon was 41st out of 44 cars in the first practice - I wonder if he and his team still think that skipping testing at this track was a good idea? The car is also unsponsored which isn't good considering how Robby had talked about how Robby Gordon Motorsports had some financial issues earlier in the season.

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

June 04, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 8th at South Boston Speedway

While I'm thinking about Steve Park I should mention he finished 8th in the Camping World East Series race at South Boston this past weekend, his third top ten in a row which puts him in 3rd in the points which is awesome! From what I understand Steve got tangled up in a few incidents, including one late in the race which caused significant damage to his car, but that didn't stop him from racing his way to a great finish! I'm very happy that Steve has been having so much success so far this season in the East Series and he must be very excited that he's racing competitively and in the hunt for the series championship.

However, it's really hard to follow this series and have as much enthusiasm as I'd like. Problem is that I can't watch any of these races. Okay, I could watch most of after they've been run on Speed but my interest in watching races from weeks before in which I know the outcome is somewhere between slim and none, even when it's races in which Steve goes well. Sure, if he won I'd make a point of watching but for an 8th place finish when some have said that the race was a real stinker due to all the cautions? Eh. I've been depending on those with HDNet who can watch races live for updates on race day but this past race from South Boston wasn't televised and from what I understand the next race at Watkins Glen isn't televised either which is ridiculous. For the South Boston race at least a couple of people from SPC went to the race and reported back as to what happened but I'm not sure anyone will be at the Watkins Glen race. Eastseries.com does a good job of covering the series as much as they can as do some others, but it's just really tough to find the same kind of coverage for this series as for higher levels so that makes it tough for those of us who can't watch the races live either at the track or on TV.

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

Steve Park a Red Sox Fan!?

So I came across some photos of Steve Park working on his #35 East Series car while wearing a Boston Red Sox hat. As a die-hard New York Yankees fan this was a bit of a shock. To be clear I have a great deal of tolerance for Red Sox fans - I respect everyone's right to be a fan of the team that they choose and unlike some of my fellow Yankee fans I don't hate those who cheer for the team up North. That we allow Red Sox fan to post on NYYFans has caused us no small amount of aggrivation as there are some who are quite vocal about disagreeing with our philosophy that we won't discriminate against users just because of the team that they cheer for. So one would think that would mean that it wouldn't bother me to see Steve wearing a Red Sox hat. But it did - it wasn't just a shock, it was like a knife through the heart - the driver I cheer for is a Red Sox fan?!

The worst thing is that Steve is actually from Long Island - I could understand if he was a Mets fan, but the Red Sox? Years ago back when Steve was still racing the #1 car for DEI there was a commercial FOX did to promote their baseball coverage in which they had various drivers wearing hats for the teams they supposedly were fans of. In Steve's case the hat he was wearing was a Yankees hat. Subsequently he said in an interview that he wasn't much of a baseball fan so I would guess that the producers of the commercial gave him that hat to wear because he's from New York. So he may not actually even be a fan of the Red Sox either. Since he's with a team based in the Northeast that may seem like the thing to do to wear a Red Sox hat (jump on the bandwagon).

I'm sure someone, somewhere is thinking "bad fan!" - you're going to stop being a fan of Steve's because he was wearing a Red Sox hat? But I didn't say that did I? It's like how a lot of Nascar fans take issue with fans of other drivers. When you see another fan wearing a hat or shirt of a driver you don't like - Kyle Busch for instance - I would guess that a lot of people wonder why that fan likes Kyle. Some might even think less of that fan because they cheer for Kyle. Conversely if you see another fan who is also wearing something that reflects that they're also a fan of the same driver that you like, particularly if it's your favorite driver, you might smile, give them a thumb's up or even stop to chat. People tend to be drawn to others who have the same interests.

Of course there are some fans who take the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry so seriously that they might stop being a fan of Steve's because he wore a Red Sox hat or in the case of Red Sox fans if he wore a Yankees hat. I suspect Steve might not have any idea just how intense the rivalry is - kind of the way Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans feel about Kyle Busch these days only multiplied by about a hundred.

Why, Steve why?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 10th in Iowa!

Steve Park started today's combination Camping World East and West Series race in the top ten and that's where he finished as well. I didn't get to watch the race because I don't have HDNet but from what I understand Steve had a strong car throughout the race and he even led some laps. If I understand right there was a problem on pit road that led to Steve having to restart at the back and he was able to race his way back up front which is awesome. No driver is truly satisfied unless they win, but I hope Steve is happy with his second top ten in a row.

Brian Ickler, a driver I honestly know nothing about ended up winning the race. Claire B. Lang has been doing a great job of covering the Camping World Series on her XM show so hopefully she'll interview him sometime this week. Kasey Kahne fresh off his All-Star win finished third. I didn't see the race so I don't know how much they actually focused on him but from what was said they talked about him quite extensively which displeased some. However, part of the reason Kasey was there was to draw fans both to the track and presumably to the broadcast. It has to be expected that he's going to get a lot of attention. The other thing of interest is that nine out of the top ten finishers in the race were East Series drivers - might just be coincidence but I wonder if there's a reason for that - maybe there are more Cup backed teams in the East Series which forces the East Series teams to field more competitive cars in general? No idea, but that was interesting to see in the results.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (5/14)

*"Humpy" Wheeler's one of the best promoters in the sport and a very creative man. Each year he makes quite a spectacle of the All-Star race including when he makes his pick for who the winner is going to be. This season was no different - Wheeler utilized dogs, yes, dogs to help him make his pick which ended up being Carl Edwards. As much as I appreciate what Wheeler is trying to do in terms of trying to bring attention to the events at his track sometimes it would be nice if the focus was on racing instead of showmanship.

*That said, the Victory Challenge prior to the All-Star race featuring Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson competing to see who can do the best burnout should be fun. The best part is that $10,000 will be donated to the winner's designated charity. The drivers won't be using their own cars - I don't think too many teams would sign off on that - instead they'll be using cars from the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

*One change I wish they'd make to the All-Star weekend is for there to be some way for Truck and Nationwide drivers to participate in the All-Star festivities. There is a truck race on Friday night which should feature some good, hard racing, but drivers from that series don't take part in the actual All-Star race at all. Of course a lot of fans couldn't care less about the Truck and Nationwide drivers but there are many fans who do who would love to see their favorite drivers from those series participating in some sort of All-Star non-points race.

*Since they didn't have a sponsor and Dario Francitti is still recovering from a broken ankle, Chip Ganassi Racing opted to withdraw the #40 from the Sprint Showdown rather than put another driver behind the wheel. There is sponsorship for the #40 for the Coca-Cola 600 so it will return to the track them but I have to wonder if Francitti is slow in healing whether the team will opt not to field the car in future races where there's no sponsorship even if it means losing owner's points.

*The other day I wondered why Steve Park's East Series team only shook down the #35 car for ten laps and then packed up and left testing at New Hampshire. Apparently Steve was on Sirius today and said that the car is so good that all they wanted to do was make sure there were no vibrations or anything else amiss with the car, and that they didn't think they could learn anything from testing. Usually teams want to do more testing not less, and that was definitely the case for every other East Series team that went to the test. the team might be completely dialed in for this weekend's race at Iowa Speedway but what about later in the season when they race at NHIS?

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

May 12, 2008

Steve Park and the #35 Team Test at Loudon...

...for just ten laps. Apparently the #35 team came to testing just to shake down the car. According to eastseries.com they tested for ten laps on old tires then packed the car up and left. Some other teams did the same with one car, presumably the car they might be using at Iowa, but also had a second car there to do additional testing with. For so few laps it almost doesn't seem worth it to show up, either for Steve or for his team.

I wish that the #35 team had tested more today. I assume they had a plan and good reasons why they didn't feel they needed to make use of more of the day to test. Presumably they think they have a good enough car to be competitive at this race later in the season and Steve certainly knows how to get around the track at Loudon. However, there's more than a few Cup backed teams these days so it seems as if the more they can learn from testing the better. In addition, Eric Holmes, who raced for this team last season, was on XM just a week or two ago repeated his comments about how he left the team due to how non-competitive they were. In fact, his comments were along the lines of how the team didn't have their act together. Of course things may be completely different this season and they may have made changes to make themselves into a better team, but it doesn't fill me with confidence to hear a driver who worked with them recently make comments like that about them publically.

There's also the item I came across in someone's blog (the wonder of Google alerts) about how Steve was apparently in the shop her husband works in down in North Carolina looking for parts for the car. It's great that Steve wants to do whatever he can to help his team get more competitive but it doesn't bode well that the driver has to go looking for parts for the car himself. Of course on lower levels that kind of thing probably happens on a regular basis, but I wouldn't have expected that Steve would have to go out to buy parts for the car himself in the East Series. I have no doubt that the team works hard but it's difficult for independent teams on any level that don't have a huge amount of financial resources to be competitive regardless of how talented their driver may be.

Even though Steve wasn't on the track too much at testing today he did speak with some in the media about racing in the East Series. He said,

"There's a handful of experienced guys and then there's all these young guys that have great race teams. How else are they going to get better than by beating some of the guys with the experience -- and then getting the experience from that? It's great for the series to see that."

It's definitely great for the series and exactly the point of a developmental series that young drivers get experience racing which will hopefully help them move on to higher levels in Nascar.

Racing in this series against drivers he's not familiar with is a challenge. Steve said,

"I tell my spotter, you've got to keep me informed about who these people are, and not in a bad way. I just don't know. There's a lot of young guys and a lot of young racers. I get up in the top-5, or top-6 or top-7 and then you catch a car and tell the spotter to remind me who he is and what his experience level is according to how I can race that person. I don't want to put myself in trouble, and I don't want to put them in trouble, either."

Of course the other drivers he's racing against aren't familiar with his racing style either. In fact given the age of some of the drivers he's racing against some of them might not even remember much, if anything, about when he was winning races in Cup. So they're probably all trying to figure out what he's all about just like he's trying to figure out what they're all about. In addition, while most of the young drivers have less overall experience in racing than Steve the majority of them have raced more over the past few years than Steve has.

Steve also talked about how the reason he wants to race in the East Series is to win races.

"If you wake up in the morning and go to a race track and think to yourself no matter what happens and no matter how the stars align you're still not surrounded by the people that can win a race -- then you're playing a game you're never going to win. It's like playing solitaire -- you just know you're never going win at it. It's like, 'What's the point?'"

I guess Steve hasn't played much solitaire so he doesn't know that it's possible to win - I used to love to play solitaire and other one-person card games when I had nothing better to do so I know that if the cards fall right and a player uses good strategy games of solitaire as challenging as they may be can be won. In some ways similar to racing. So that's a pretty bad analogy - personally I'd say that what looks like a bad hand of cards could turn into a winning game if one has patience and sees how everything plays out. But it's true that without the right mix of people and the right equipment it's hard to win races. Only time will tell whether Steve has surrounded himself in this series with people who can get him back into Victory Lane.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:41 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)

April 23, 2008

Steve Park Post-Race Quotes

From his website, Steve Park said in relation to his top ten at Greenville-Pickens in the East Series on Saturday night,

"To be absolutely honest with you, getting a top ten finish was really something to be proud of. It shows that we have some really good equipment, a crew that is relentless and with the right amount of practice we will definitely be a top five car battling for the win."

A top ten absolutely is something to be proud of - it's a really great finish, particularly considering how long it's been since the last time Steve raced! he and the team also did a terrific job of working on the car during the race to make it better and race their way forward from how they qualified.

However, I don't understand why a top ten in this series is something to be proud of, a sign of how good his team is and an indication that through hard work they can become a top five team and contend for wins but Steve turned down rides in the Nationwide or Truck Series where he could have finished as well because racing in 10th is "just riding around" and according to Steve isn't the kind of ride he could win in. I'm risking someone ripping me by continuing with entries of this nature about Steve but his comments from his recent XM interview simply do not make any sense, and I don't like not understanding things.

If Steve can take this team and help them build into a top five team that can win races there is absolutely no reason why he couldn't do the same thing with a team on a higher level. Everyone who attended the race talked about how hard Steve raced at the end of the race and how the team was happy that he took a top 20 car and made it into a top 10 car. That is a sign of a driver with talent. So it continues to be puzzling to me why Steve can do that on this level but apparently isn't willing to do it in Nationwide or the Truck Series.

Of course the level of competition is greater the higher the level, but Steve is a driver who is a proven winner in the Cup Series. I hope the reason why Steve has turned down good rides in other series isn't because he doesn't have confidence in his own abilities behind the wheel. He has shown he can race successfully on any level in Nascar and if he believes in himself as strongly as his fans believe in him then just about anything is possible.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:22 AM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (4/22)

*I watched the Mexico City Nationwide race on Sunday. Although some fans have no use for road course races normally I love them. I had a hard time getting into this race though. I was very happy that David Reutimann finished 11th after having run into trouble on the track - he and his team did a great job of rebounding from that for sure! I also thought there were some times when there was good racing. But what I didn't enjoy was ESPN's coverage of the race. It's not entirely their fault since covering a race in a foreign country is challenging enough let alone at a road course where everything is so spread out. There was also a power outage and two red flags to contend with. But I felt like the flow of the broadcast wasn't all that great and I didn't enjoy the team that ESPN used in the booth. In addition, it seemed like there were quite a few commercial breaks. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood but I guess I was expecting to enjoy the race more.

*One thing that happened in the Nationwide race was that Steve Wallace got his first ever top ten. I was surprised that he hadn't yet gotten a top ten. Apparently his best previous finish was 11th place at Kentucky in 2006. Yes, Steven has struggled - and wrecked - a lot. But there have been times when it's seemed like he's raced well too yet none of it has apparently translated into a really solid finish until now. Maybe finally getting his first top ten will give him a boost of confidence and it will be the first of many finishes in the top ten this season. As I've noted in this space before I think Steven might have benefited from being started out a little slower, maybe in ARCA or the Trucks before being thrown into the Nationwide Series, but I've started to feel a little sorry for him. It seems like no one believes that he'll ever amount to anything and as much as he might try to shut all of that negativity out, it has to get to him sometimes. There's a lot of pressure in being Rusty's son.

*Rumors continue to circulate that UPS is going to leave Michael Waltrip Racing and that their first choice for their new driver to represent them is Carl Edwards. Since Carl has already won three races this season I can understand why UPS (and maybe other sponsors) are interested in him. But I think UPS already has a great driver - David Reutimann. David may not be young and sexy, but he's capable of winning races and he could represent any sponsor well. There's also a lot UPS could do with the fact that David used to work for them in his younger years. But most of all the sponsorship at MWR would probably come a lot cheaper than the $22-$24 million a year that Roush-Fenway Racing reportedly wants to get from whoever sponsors Carl next season and beyond. That's ridiculous money. I don't understand how UPS or other sponsors can justify spending that much in this economic climate (and for UPS specifically when the company probably spends so much on gas). $15 -$20 million, what is supposedly the average amount that it takes to sponsor a competitive Cup team is expensive enough, but even more than that seems over the top. Sure, costs of fielding cars is probably going up just like everything else, but where does it end? I don't see how teams are going to be able to find or keep sponsors if the cost is so great.

*After just four races Philip McGilton is out of the #22 at Bill Davis Racing with sponsorship woes cited as the reason. Scott Speed will be in the #22 starting this weekend and I'm sure he brings sponsorship from Red Bull Racing with him. While I understand that BDR needs to make the moves that will help them pay the bills it seems to me that it's a little quick to part ways with a young driver who might have some potential. The results weren't spectacular for Philip but finishes of 12th, 10th, and 16th twice and to be 12th in the points as a rookie isn't horrible either. It just seems to fit a familiar pattern with BDR where they talk with or sign a driver only to have things go bad suddenly because of sponsorship.

*Turns out it's not just me who doesn't understand Steve Park's thinking regarding turning down top ten and top fifteen rides. I was chatting with someone this morning who has been discussing the very same topic with another fan of Steve's. Of course money isn't everything and there's something to be said for racing just to race and have fun, but this person said that they were surprised to see that Steve got just $1,500 for finishing 9th this weekend. It's even less when you consider that his team probably gets a cut of his winnings. To this person it doesn't really seem to make sense that Steve would turn down the opportunity to earn more money in the Truck or Nationwide Series and race at least as well as he did this past weekend.

I think the other thing that makes this all make even less sense is that it turns out that one of the drivers for this team in this series last year, Eric Holmes actually cited bad results and poor equipment as the reason he left the team before the end of the season. I'm sure someone would say that Eric just must not be as good of a driver as Steve but Eric has won two of the first three West Series races so far this season, including one race where he actually led every lap. Maybe NDS Motorsports has made big advances from last season but if they haven't the results might not be those top fives that Steve says are the only thing that will satisfy him. I could say more but it will be perceived as bashing Steve when in reality I'm just trying to figure out what his thinking is in turning down the many offers he said he received to race in quality equipment to race in this series. Unless this team is very different than they were last year it just doesn't make sense based on what he said last week that he would end up racing for them.

*I admit that I doubted that Red Bull Racing would put A.J. Allemendinger back in the #84 but they are this weekend at Talladega. I have to wonder if the results will be any different considering instead of racing and gaining more experience A.J. was watching from the sidelines - it seems to me if RBR was really committed to developing A.J. they would have spent the money to sponsor him in a ride on some level like they're doing with Scott Speed. At any rate he'll be back at Talladega and in a car with an awesome paint scheme! As anyone who knows that my user name here and elsewhere online is silverdsl can probably guess, I love anything silver, so naturally I love the way that car looks! I'm not into buying diecasts that aren't Michael Waltrip's but I might consider getting one with that scheme because it looks so cool!

*Jon Wood is going to make his Cup debut for this season at Talladega. What the heck are the Wood Brothers thinking? Poor Jon. Previously Jon had expressed a lack of confidence in his ability to qualify for races, particularly given his lack of experience with the COT, but with just 46 cars attempting this race the chances are good he'll make the race. But is Talladega where a little mistake can turn into something huge really the best place to throw Jon in the car considering he's publically said that he's not sure of his own abilities behind the wheel? I hope this works out the way the Wood Brothers want it to.

*DEI's Vice President of Motorsports operations says that despite not having a full-time primary sponsor for the #01 car, they won't be coming to the track with the car blank. I think that's a wise idea. For one thing I think Story is right when he says that blank cars don't usually translate into calls from sponsors. I think it looks bad when a team has a blank car - it reminds fans, the media and potential sponsors that the car is unsponsored, which I suppose is the idea, but as Story mentioned it can also make potential sponsors wonder why they should sponsor the team if no one else will. Even the company logo or a charity on the car is better than having it show up to the track completely blank. DEI is going a step further and is "sweetening" their deal with Principal Financial Group, who is an associate sponsor for the full season and a primary sponsor for a few races. DEI is given them additional space on the car and Regan Smith is wearing their uniform even during races where they aren't the primary sponsor. It's not like DEI is giving away something for nothing since Principal is paying money for their sponsorship, instead I think they're creating good will with a sponsor which is important considering how hard it is to get sponsors to stick around these days. It must be very hard to sell sponsorship for Regan - the results haven't been very good but beyond that he almost never gets mentioned during race broadcasts which means that whatever sponsors are affiliated with him would get next to no exposure.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2008

Steve Park Finishes 9th at Greenville-Pickens!

Great finish for Steve Park and his NDS Motorsports team last night in the Camping World East Series race at Greenville-Pickens! In what was apparently a very excited race Steve finished 9th in his return to racing regularly! A top ten is terrific in his first race after having only raced twice since August of 2006. Hopefully the results will just get better and better from here. It's really good to see that it looks like Steve is going to have cars that are good enough to enable him to race up front against even the Cup backed teams.

Of course no driver is completely happy unless they end up in Victory Lane - with how competitive they are finishing second can even be a disappointment. Still, most drivers are able to feel a sense of satisfaction and happiness after a good night of competitive race in which they finished near the front of the field. But will that be the case for Steve? I think he definitely has plenty to be happy about - he finished great and from what I understand he was swarmed by fans who wanted to meet him and wish him well which had to make him feel good. However, given Steve's comments earlier in the week that racing outside the top five is essentially a waste of his time, I have to wonder if he's going to be okay with "only" finishing 9th. Hopefully from here the results will only get better and he'll end up contending for a few wins, but the reality is that there are a lot of good drivers and teams in this series so it may not be so easy to race in the top five as much as he'd like - what would happen then?

Peyton Sellers, the driver who many think is the driver to beat for the East Series Championship, won last night in thrilling fashion. Although Peyton started on the pole, he ran into trouble on lap 59 when he brushed the wall due to a brake problem. After pitting for repairs, he re-started in the back and had to race his way back up front which he did. The final re-start was apparently really exciting with Peyton beating his 17-year old teammate, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress's grandson. Austin probably had more than a few fans hoping that he'd end up in Victory Lane since he was racing a car with #3 on it, the first time that a car with that number was raced in Nascar since the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001.

Finishing third was Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Marc Davis. I just have a feeling about Marc that he's in store for a good season. Another driver who should be very happy with his finish is Ricky Carmichael who finished 6th in a car fielded by Ken Schrader Racing with support from Hendrick Motorsports. That's pretty impressive considering how little stock car experience he has. Some are expecting that the results are going to be really poor for him because of that but to finish 6th in his first race is outstanding. I don't know if he'll keep racing that well but if he can finish that well with so little experience, imagine how good he might be with more experience?

Unfortunately the results weren't too good for a few notables including Jeffery Earnhardt who finished 3 laps down in 24th, Eddie Sharp Racing's Craig Goess who finished 15 laps down in 28th and Bobby Hamilton, Jr. who finished 29th and 27 laps down. As of yet I haven't found post-race notes or anything to explain what might have caused those drivers to finish poorly.

The next race in the East Series isn't until May 18 at Iowa Speedway but last night's race will be shown on Speed on May 7th.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

More on Steve Park

I tend to give a lot of thought to things hence this blog where I can get a lot of my thoughts, at least those related to racing and sometimes baseball down in one place. So naturally a day later I was still thinking about Steve Park's comment yesterday on XM that he turned down rides because he didn't want to ride around in 10th or 15th place and that he could only race for top five teams. What I started wondering about is whether Steve has ever been a top five driver for a top five team and the answer is no. Let me be clear - Steve is a very talented race car driver who I believe can race up front and win with good cars. He's a proven winner in Cup, Nationwide and Trucks and I have no doubt that he can win again. But statistically speaking Steve has never raced at an ultra-elite level to where a Hendrick Motorsports or a Joe Gibbs Racing is going to give him one of their best rides.

Steve's best season where he got the most top fives was in 1997 in the then-Busch Series. That season he won three times and finished in the top five 12 times, 40% of all of his finishes. That's excellent but that's not racing in the top five every week like Steve says he wants to do. After 1997, Steve's top five finishes drop, though he won twice in Cup, but that's partially a factor of the increased level of competition in Cup and the quality of the cars and trucks he was racing which wasn't always that good. Still, based on Steve's comments he seems to want to race like Jimmie Johnson did last season in his Championship year where Jimmie finished in the top five 20 times (55% of the time) and won ten races. Thing is the #48 isn't likely to be available any time soon and even if there's an opening in a ride like that it's not too likely that Steve's going to end up in it. I don't blame Steve for wanting to race in the top five every week since I'd think every driver wants to race up front and contend for wins on a weekly basis. But I think most of them are realistic about how likely it is that they're going to end up in a top five ultra-elite ride. There simply isn't that many of those rides around, and there aren't that many drivers who would be considered for those opportunities.

I suppose to more than a few people these kinds of entries come off as overly critical of Steve, but it's just that I don't understand his thinking or his attitude and I haven't for a long time. Some of the things he says are so vastly different from other drivers. One of the reasons I think I like Michael Waltrip so much is that I often agree with his line of thinking, but even when I don't I can understand where he's coming from and why he thinks the things that he does. With Steve I'm often puzzled.

In discussing this topic with someone last night this person wondered whether Steve has confidence in his abilities behind the wheel anymore and whether he creates roadblocks for himself when it comes to racing because he's afraid that he might not be able to get the same kind of results he once did in Cup, Nationwide or Trucks. Of course he'll be racing in the East Series this year but the level of competition probably isn't as great as it is on a higher level, and there's not as much attention paid to that series so no one's going to notice if Steve doesn't dominate the series. I don't know Steve enough to know what might be going on in his head but I wish I did because it might help me understand his reasoning regarding why he would turn down good rides.

By refusing even top ten or top fifteen rides I don't see any way that Steve will ever return to any of Nascar's three highest levels which is kind of sad since he belongs there. I'm not sure he'll even stick in the East Series past this season since there's no guarantee that the #35 is going to race in the top five enough for Steve either. What does Steve do then if he doesn't race up front enough with the #35? Where does he go from there? I'll have my fingers crossed for Steve that the #35 will turn out to be exactly what he's hoping it will be - a car which he can race up front with and win races in.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

Steve on XM (4/15)

One of Steve Park's biggest fans in the media without a doubt is Claire B. Lang from XM. Not only does she speak well of Steve but she has him on her show all the time. So I wasn't surprised that she had him on today in advance of the Camping World East Series race at Greenville-Pickens which he'll be racing in on Saturday. It was great to hear Steve's voice after so long and it'll be even better to follow him racing this season in the East Series!

But as usual these days when Steve does an interview I found myself completely perplexed by his attitude about finding a ride in one of Nascar's higher levels. In the past Steve has said he'll only take a ride where he can race up front in, and I understand that because riding around in 35th every week isn't any fun and it's not going to show teams that he's still capable of racing competitively. Steve has also talked about turning down rides because they weren't good enough - in fact, he said that to me in person last year. He was almost boastful about how many rides he had turned down. In a previous interview with Claire towards the end of last season Steve had said that even a car or truck that finished regularly in the top fifteen might not be competitive enough for him. But since then Steve's standards have got even higher. Today he said that he's turned down rides because he doesn't want to "ride around" in 10th or 15th, and that he'll only consider rides where he can race in the top five and win races.

I really can't understand what Steve is thinking if he really turned down opportunities to race for teams that race in the top ten. If that's true he may have also turned down the chance to win races, something which he keeps saying he dearly wants to do. Racing in the top fifteen and top ten is racing up front. Racing in 10th place isn't just riding around, it's racing for something and sometimes when things fall into place in the right way a team like that is racing for a win. In addition, this season's top fifteen or top ten team might be next year's top five team with the right resources, the right sponsor, the right mix of personnel and most importantly a determined and talented driver like Steve.

There really aren't many rides in Cup, Nationwide or Trucks where a driver can race almost every race in the top five and realistically even if there was an opening with one of those rides it won't get offered to Steve. He's a great person, very fan-friendly and a talented race car driver but he also hasn't raced in any of Nascar's highest levels since August of 2006. Since then the extent of his racing total has been two East Series races. That isn't enough for an owner to hand him an elite ride. Frankly, even if he kicks ass in the East Series and wins a bunch of races I'm not sure even that would be enough to get him an elite ride on a higher level.

Steve also said that he's tired of having to prove himself. Well, just exactly what has he done lately to try to prove anything to anyone? As noted, he's barely raced since the Summer of 2006. The fact of the matter is that the way this sport works is that teams hire drivers based on their results in the here and now, not based on what they might have done in their prime seven years ago. That's just reality. There's so much money invested by owners, sponsors, financial partners, etc... that teams want to feel confident that the drivers they hire can be successful for them, and it's a big unknown how successful Steve can be since he's not raced regularly in so long.

Another thing that Steve said was that when a team does well people say it's because of the car (or truck) but when the results are bad people say it was the driver's fault. And there's definitely some truth to that. However, there's also a lot of people these days who recognize how competitive it is on all levels in Nascar and that drivers can only do the best they can with the cars (or trucks) they're given. There's so many pieces that have to fall into place beyond just the driver and his ability for a team to have success - a sponsor willing to spend money, an owner willing to give the team unlimited resources, a talented crew chief, a fast pit crew who doesn't make many mistakes, a solid spotter, good support personnel, etc...

The thing is that even if Steve were with an imperfect team he'd at least be showing that he still has the desire to race and if he were to help them improve their results he would show what an asset he can be to a team. In addition, I've heard drivers speak with confidence about how they feel that they're good enough to help even a struggling team get to the next level - doesn't Steve believe in himself and his ability behind the wheel that he could do that too? No one faults a driver who gives 100% effort and that effort doesn't go unnoticed even if some think it does. David Reutimann didn't get good results last season in Cup yet he was still an in-demand driver before Michael Waltrip Racing re-signed him, and recently a top agent said on XM that he was one of the most under-rated drivers in the garage area. The right attitude - and ability - gets noticed. Brad Keselowski is another driver who is a good example of someone who raced in subpar equipment but made the most of opportunities that came his way and his talent got noticed too. Of note is that neither David nor Brad brought any sponsorship with them to their rides - it was all talent.

I really hope things are going to work out for Steve in the East Series. I'd really love to see him race up front and win a bunch of races. But it's not going to be easy. Steve is going to be racing against some really talented young drivers, some of whom have backing from Cup organizations. So I hope he's being realistic and he won't get discouraged if he doesn't race in the top five in every race because even if he spends time racing in the top ten or top fifteen doesn't mean that he won't win. Steve just needs to believe in himself and his team. He just needs to go out there and race! If he races with all the passion, determination and desire that he has he'll find himself in Victory Lane!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:23 PM | Comments (2)

April 14, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (4/14)

*As a New York Yankees fan I have a much different perspective than many of my fellow Nascar fans about Fox's decision to show the Yankees-Red Sox game instead of the pre-race show. I'd much rather have seen as much of the Yankees game as possible rather than the pre-race show which is often a waste of time - does anything ever happen on the pre-race that matters? I'm much more bothered by the fact that Fox switched the baseball game to FX in the middle of a pitch than I am about them going to the race later than some fans would have liked. Switching the game mid-pitch is like Fox going to a commercial break when there's a pass for the lead. In a lot of ways Fox was in a no-win position. Yankees-Red Sox games aren't just a big games for the Northeast markets, it's a game with national interest that is shown in 97% of all markets across the country and due to the excitement of the rivalry gets the biggest audience of most any games that Fox shows. So there was going to be a lot of baseball fans, especially those who don't get FX, who were going to be upset about the decision to switch away from the game. And there were going to be lots of upset Nascar fans who didn't like missing so much of the festivities leading up to the green flag. I'm not sure what else Fox could do differently, but hopefully they won't be put in that kind of a situation too many more times in the future. Things just lined up in a bad way due to the rain delay in Boston and that it was a Saturday night race.

*Kevin and Delana Harvick are exploring their options in NHRA drag racing and whether he wants to field a top fuel dragster with a NHRA veteran, Bob Vandergriff Jr. The goal is to possibly field a dragster as soon as next year. At first I was wondering why if they were interested in expanding Kevin Harvick, Inc. they wouldn't look into fielding a Cup team but then I realized that the costs associated with fielding a NHRA dragster might be less than that for putting together a competitive Cup team, particularly since they have an already established entity in the NHRA they could work with.

*An announcement is expected soon that David Stremme is joining Penske Racing as their test team driver. But there's speculation that it could lead to more than that. Apparently Penske has entered a third car with the #77 for the Indy 500 and there's some talk that Sam Hornish, Jr. might decide to race that race instead of the Cup race that weekend. If that happens I have to question Hornish's commitment to Nascar. Yes, he's had more success in open wheel racing and he's been struggling in Nascar, but if he ever wants to succeed in Cup he needs all the seat time he can get and he can't be opting out when it gets hard. Stremme's results in Cup haven't been all that impressive either but he has raced better than Hornish. It would be interesting to see what he could do in the #77, though historically no one recently has been able to do much in the #77.

*As noted in a previous entry Robby Gordon is headed to Europe later this week for the rescheduled Dakar Rally. Since the rally ends on April 26, the day before the Cup race at Talladega, P.J. Jones will practice and qualify Gordon's car and be on standby to race it for him in case he doesn't get back to the United States in time for the race. Usually Gordon does fairly well on restrictor plate tracks but I have to wonder what effect rushing back from Europe after having done a rigorous off-road race and then starting from the back is going to have on how he finishes at Talladega. Gordon needs some good finishes otherwise he may end up having to worry about qualifying for races on time. All of Gordon's fans seem to think that Michael Waltrip is lacking in talent behind the wheel and incompetent as an owner but Robby's not in such a different position than Michael these days in terms of where he is in the points standings as well as trying to juggle the demands of racing and ownership. Gordon and his fans count on the road course races as the highlight of his Cup efforts but I have a feeling that things may not go as well as some of his fans would like on the road courses for him this season.

*The first race of the Camping World East Series is this Saturday at Greenville-Pickens. Steve Park will be behind the wheel of the #35 for NDS Motorsports but it will be almost impossible for fans to find out what's happening in the race in a timely manner unless they're at the race. I knew that Speed would be rebroadcasting the East Series races several weeks after they first aired on HDNet, but I figured the races that they had the rights to they would show the same day they were raced. Not so. Saturday's race won't air on Speed until May 7! At that point is anyone going to care? It's so hard to find coverage of this series both in the media and online in general. I'd like to think that Steve's own website will have photos and a post-race report so fans can find out how the race went for Steve at least but in the past they've not been inclined to do that. (In fact I was once told a few years ago by the person who did Steve's website at the time that for some strange reason there would never be post-race reports on Steve's site). It's really hard for even die-hard fans to stay interested when there's so little news to be found about the races and their favorite drivers.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:13 PM | Comments (1)

March 31, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/31)

*I've said in this space that I think Kyle Busch sometimes fans are hard on Kyle even when he doesn't deserve it just because of his reputation but he definitely deserves everything he gets after wrecking Johnny Benson on the last lap of the truck race. I don't have a problem with Kyle being aggressive but he can't make careless mistakes that led to wrecks. Nascar wasn't too happy with his behavior either and they called him to their hauler for a chat. What Nascar also frowned upon was the confrontation that might have involved some fists flying between Johnny and Kyle's teams. No matter how angry one team is at another teams can't be fighting each other. I know some fans love that kind of thing but I think it's unprofessional. I still think some of the reactions to what Kyle did are a little humorous - if Nascar threw every driver who wrecked another driver out of the sport there might not be many drivers left to race.

*Not surprisingly Kyle Busch's actions overshadowed the return of Dennis Setzer and Bobby Hamilton Racing to Victory Lane. That's unfortunate because Setzer pretty much dominated the race by leading 126 of 250 laps. It was also BHR's first trip to VL since Bobby Hamilton won in 2005. Setzer has been very good for BHR finishing outside the top 15 just twice since he started racing for them after having been released by Spears Motorsports last year.

*Elliott Sadler ended up racing every lap of yesterday's race and while he finished well as I mentioned in the previous entry I hope he doesn't even up regretting the decision to stay in the car. Back injuries can linger and it seems to me that maybe Elliott's long-term health is as important as the short-term goal of Elliott finishing the race. I'm sure he didn't want to get out of the car for anything but maybe someone on his team should have encouraged it just to be safe. What's interesting is that there appears to be some question as to just exactly how Elliott hurt his back. It was said that he hurt it while working out then aggravated it playing golf, but that might not be what actually happened. Why the secrecy? Was Elliott doing something he shouldn't have been doing when he got injured?

*Apparently Petty Enterprises is on the verge of entering into a partnership with Medallion Financial, a company that primarily deals with financing taxicab medallions in a variety of East Coast cities. Although the partnership would bring additional outside financial resources to PE which are very much needed, the way this partnership would work seems like it has some risk to it since PE would become a public company and shares would be sold. We'll see how this deal shapes up - if it even happens - and how it effects PE.

*Speaking of the Pettys, Kyle DNQ'd for this weekend's Cup race at Martinsville. It's surprising and it's not surprising at the same time. I'm a little surprised because in the past Kyle and his team have really stepped up their game and made races and raced better when they've needed to. But it's also not surprising because the performance for the #45 team has been putrid overall this entire season. They've blamed some of their problems on mechanical issues but that doesn't explain why they've been slow as molasses from start to finish every race weekend.

*BAM Racing made theswitch to Toyota this weekend at Martinsville. This was one of the worst kept secrets in Nascar. It's been rumored for quite some time that BAM was thinking about merging with another organization or otherwise making a change, and all last week that they were becoming a Toyota team was being talked about pretty openly on more than one fan forum, courtesy of some who had claimed to have seen the cars at BAM in the process of being made into Toyotas. BAM won't be merging with Bill Davis Racing as many thought they would, but they will be getting engines from BDR, and possibly some help on the marketing side. Although BDR has struggled the last few years in Cup themselves, they are still a much larger organization than BAM, and they can probably help BAM with some things that they don't have the personnel to do themselves. The #49 also picked up some sponsorship in the form of Microsoft Small Business, which will be the primary sponsor of the car at Martinsville - a smart move since Ken Schrader has done well there over the course of his career - and will be an associate sponsor for the rest of the season. However, the team is still in need of more sponsorship and as much as working with BDR may help them in some areas, additional financial resources so the Morgenthau's don't have to pay the bills out of their own pockets is what would really help. Ken usually does well at tracks like Martinsville and he seemed to be on his way to a fairly good finish yesterday until he got wrecked.

*Hard to believe but in spite of racing well enough to be fifth in points Mike Bliss has left the #22 at Fitz Motorsports for the #1 at Phoenix Racing. From what I understand part of the issue was money and I can understand why Bliss might be unhappy over money issues. However, while Bliss seems to be able to get the most out of the cars and trucks he's in the #1 doesn't seem to be as good of a ride as the #22 at the moment unless there's going to be some changes to improve the team. Not to mention James Finch changes drivers at the drop of a hat so there's no guarantee that Bliss will last the season. Hope this plays out for Bliss the way he's hoping it will. As for the #22 Robby Gordon is going to race it for a few races and maybe some other Cup drivers as well which could help that organization pick up some much needed sponsorship.

*Some of the Camping World East teams were testing at Greenville-Pickens Raceway last Monday, the site of the first race of the East Series on April 19. Teams included those from DEI, Joe Gibbs Racing and Ken Schrader Racing. Based on the photos it looks like Ken was there helping Ricky Carmichael who he's fielding a car for this season. I think that's pretty cool that Ken isn't just throwing him in a car, he's actually taking the time to be there at testing and presumably elsewhere to help him get adjusted to racing stock cars. I really wish that Steve Park's team had been among those that tested Greenville-Pickens, but maybe that will happen on another day. I don't know what the rules are in the East Series regarding testing, but I'd guess it might be more relaxed than it is in the higher series. Thing is, I don't know if Steve's team has the financial resources in comparison to some of these larger teams to test a lot - or even at all. Maybe they're already done some testing and I've just not heard about it, or they plan on doing some testing in the coming weeks but considering how long it's been since Steve has raced regularly, not to mention how many good teams it seems like there's going to be in the East Series this season, I don't think it would be a bad idea for them to do a little testing if they could.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2008

Johnny Sauter Released by Phoenix Racing

Johnny Sauter lost his Nationwide ride yesterday with Phoenix Racing and normally I wouldn't do a stand-alone entry on a driver like Johnny who I don't even like that much losing his ride. However, Johnny did an interview with Claire B. Lang on XM yesterday evening that I thought was interesting. One thing is that Johnny is clearly someone who Claire likes a lot. Normally Claire keeps her opinions to herself so as to let her listeners make up their own minds about people and events without what she thinks influencing their opinions. But sometimes you can tell when she does an interview when she's partial to someone and that seemed to be the case with Johnny which was interesting since a lot of fans don't care for him.

What jumped out at me the most about Johnny's interview though was his attitude. In the past one reason some fans have disliked Johnny is because they think he has a bad attitude, but it was completely the opposite in this interview. In fact, Johnny said all of the right things. Of course there's no telling how sincere he is but some fans wonder why he keeps getting rides and maybe one reason why is the kind of attitude he displayed in yesterday's interview. I suspect much like a lot of young drivers, Johnny has learned some things as he's gotten older and matured.

For one thing Johnny wouldn't bad-mouth Phoenix Racing. No driver likes to get released and generally I'd think no matter what they say publically they're pretty resentful of it. But Johnny said he understood that sometimes teams need to go in a different direction and he just didn't fit into Phoenix Racing's plans. Only after Claire brought up how slow the pit stops sometimes were did Johnny say that there were some issues in the pits but he was pretty careful. That's wise so as to not burn any bridges. While Johnny expressed some concern about finding another ride at this point in the season when a lot of teams are already set with their drivers for the time-being at least, I sensed that he might not have been so disappointed to have parted ways with this team. Still, one never knows what the future might hold so being professional and not talking bad about them could pay off down the road one day.

But more than that Johnny said all the right things in terms of what he's looking for in a new ride. Of course he said that he wants to find a ride that's competitive but he said that it doesn't matter to him what level it's on. He'll consider anything from Cup to Nationwide to Trucks to Late Model and beyond as long as it's reasonably competitive. In addition, Johnny said that he's willing to go to a team that might be struggling now but has potential to be more competitive because he thinks he has a lot to offer a team and he's willing to help them get better. All he wants he said is that there should be light at the end of the tunnel in that there's hope of being competitive and having success. I think that kind of an attitude probably appeals to a lot of owners. For one thing Johnny expressed a willingness to help a team build into more than they are now, plus he's confident in himself and his abilities that he can succeed. Those are qualities that I'd look for in a driver in addition to some of the more obvious things like talent, marketability, sponsor backing, etc...

I admit that I immediately thought of Steve Park as I often do when drivers who are looking opportunities talk about their rides searches since until he found a Camping World East ride Steve spent the last few years looking for a ride. Both Johnny and Steve want competitive rides but from there their attitudes seemingly couldn't be any more different. Steve has only been willing to consider rides in the Nationwide and Truck Series that he could race in the top five and top ten with regularly and he wasn't willing to help a team get better, he wanted to be racing up front immediately. Of course part of the reason for their different attitudes are factors like age, experience, etc... but in the past some fans have wondered why Johnny has gotten rides and Steve hasn't. Well, I'm guessing the differences in attitude might be one reason why.

These days it's hard for drivers to find rides unless they're a big name or bring sponsorship with them but I have a feeling if Johnny bides his time there will be some other teams that lose patience with a lack of results from their current drivers who might be willing to give Johnny a try. That he was able to qualify the #70 into races on time to start last season and then put it in and keep it in the top 35 in owner's points might make him attractive to one of the go-or-go-home teams. I can't say I'll be cheering for Johnny or anything but I'll be paying attention to where he ends up.

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

March 12, 2008

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts (3/12)

*Steve Harwell from Smash Mouth was on XM this evening. Apparently he's always had an interest in motorsports and has done some racing. The passion to race has gotten so great that if he can find sponsorship he's going to race in the Camping World East Series this season for Fitz Motorsports. Harwell has a creative idea to secure sponsorship so I suspect he'll be successful - he's willing to write songs for companies that they can use in their commercials and also appear in their advertising campaigns. Harwell also talked about how excited he is about all the young talent being developed in the East Series, how great it is that Ricky Carmichael is also going to be racing in that series and how he's like to use his celebrity to help promote the series. He also said that he's working with a couple of young drivers to try to help them get their careers going. I really liked what I heard from Harwell. I'm sure some are going to be critical of him getting a ride while other drivers with more experience can't, but I can't fault him for using the resources available to him to make something happen. I think he could be good for the series and if he's going to give racing in Nascar a go, better he try on a lower level.

*Speaking of the Camping World East Series, while numerous other drivers have done publicity and interviews in advance of the season starting, Steve Park has been missing-in-action. Although Steve has pulled disappearing acts in the past where he hasn't been heard from for months at a time, I figured now that he finally had a ride, his first in several years, that he might do some interviews or at least have some more content on his site about racing in the East Series. I sure was wrong about that! If anything, Steve is even less visible than ever. I believe Steve still has his sights on returning to the Truck or Nationwide Series if he can find a sponsor - I'm not too sure it's going to impress sponsors much how invisible he is thus far, even in spite of having his first primary sponsor since 2004. He doesn't even have a Waste Management logo up on his site, though he has plenty of logos from companies and teams he hasn't been affiliated with in years. Steve is going to be another of the big names in the East Series and I hope that once the season starts he'll do more PR and media appearances. Like Harwell he could also help this series get more exposure.

*20-year old Chrissy Wallace, the daughter of Mike Wallace, and niece of Rusty and Kenny, is going to be racing five truck races for Germain Racing this season, including the upcoming race at Martinsville. I've heard quite a few good things about her so I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do in a truck. It would be awesome if she could find the success in Nascar that has so far eluded other female drivers. She has a very good support system since she has so many good racers in her family, plus she'll likely get pretty competitive trucks from Germain so I feel optimistic, particularly since they're starting her out slow, that we might see some good things from her.

*Over the weekend Mike Skinner indicated that the future of the #27 team is in doubt and Slugger Labbe confirmed on Sirius on Monday that the team is folding. Without sponsorship or a regular driver and with no chance to make the top 35 in owner's points there wasn't much point in continuing on. Bill Davis Racing is much better off putting all of their resources into the #22 team, particularly since right now Dave Blaney is outside the top 35. Although CAT seems content to stick around and sponsor the #22, I think BDR is struggling for their survival right now in Cup. I have to wonder if we'll ever see them bring back the second team on a full-time basis and what might happen if the #22 can't get in the top 35 and stay there.

*There's really no way to sugar coat how bad the performance for the #45 team has been this season. Although Kyle Petty has indicated that there have been some mechanical issues that they've had to deal with, Kyle has been slow as molasses in just about every practice, qualifying and on every lap of every race. Almost embarrassingly slow. As a result the #45 is outside the top 35 in owner's points. Kyle isn't worried though. If they find themselves outside the top 35 at Martinsville Petty Enterprises may swap points between the #45 and #43 since Bobby LaBonte has a champion's provisional he can make use of if need be. I'm not a big fan of points swaps like this, and it's not the only one we might see depending on how things shake out for Michael Waltrip Racing this weekend. However, I can't blame the teams for doing everything they can to ensure that their cars - and sponsors - race each week. Some fans have said that teams aren't allowed to do switches like this mid-season, but they must be able to otherwise PE wouldn't be thinking about it.

*A fan over on the Speed forum is insistent that Michael Waltrip is to blame for the ruin of the Truck Series because so many fans can't stand Michael in the booth that they all turn off the broadcasts of the races, thus the sponsors don't get exposure so they don't want to be involved in the series. Of course that's ridiculous for any number of reasons. The biggest one being that it's complete nonsense. Nielsen ratings for the broadcast of the Atlanta race were up 31% in comparison to last year - and that's with Michael in the booth. Ratings were also up for Speed for Daytona Speedweeks which Michael was a part of.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2008

Camping World Series TV Schedule Announced

I guess I should just be happy that the races are being televised at all, but it sure is going to be hard to follow Steve Park in the Camping World East Series this season. The races that are going to be televised will be split between HDNet and Speed, with the majority of races being shown on HDNet, which my cable company doesn't carry. No, I won't be switching to Dish TV or Directv just to get HDNet to see Steve race. Speed will broadcast three races on the day they're raced but they'll be delayed not live. They will also re-air the HDNet races, but if it's anything like what they've done in the past it will be two or three week after they've first air. Unless Steve or another driver I'm interested in finishes up front I really doubt I'll be too interested in watching races that I've already known the outcome of for several weeks. There's just too much other racing - most of it live - to watch and other things to do.

In addition, there's at least one race that isn't televised - maybe that's just an oversight and it'll be added to the broadcast schedule down the road but that really makes thing tough when the race won't be on TV at all. It's even more difficult to follow this series when there's not really that much coverage of it online either. Eastseries.com covers as much as they can but in the past their website hasn't been updated all that quickly with information. There's also speed51.com but their focus is much broader than just the Camping World Series. I'd like to think that Steve's site will have news and information that pertains to him but that's often not been true in the past and right now they haven't even updated his site with the logo of his new sponsor or taken down logos from teams and sponsors he hasn't been associated with in years so I'm not holding my breath that there will be much of value on Steve's site. The section on Nascar.com with coverage of the Camping World Series doesn't have much and isn't usually worth visiting.

There's a lot of talent in the East Series and a lot of young drivers who have a good shot at ending up in Trucks, Nationwide or Cup one day. But how are they supposed to develop a fanbase if it's so hard to follow the races and get coverage and information on the series and its drivers? Nascar needs to do a much better job of promoting all it's lower level series, not just the Camping World Series, but I guess they figure that most fans don't really care. And maybe that's true. After all the names are mostly unknown - at this point there's a lot of fans who don't even know who Steve Park is - so no matter how well promoted the series is maybe it would be hard to get fans to be interested without the involvement of a Tony Stewart or a Dale Earnhardt, Jr. But some of these drivers could be the next starts of the sport, which is one reason why I like following young drivers so much - it's interesting to see them develop. Too bad there doesn't seem to be as many fans as I'd like who are as interested as I am or the coverage of the series might be a little better.

Speaking of Steve, wonder what he's up to these days? Seems like he's pulled one of his disappearing acts again but I guess that's what happens when he won't be racing until April. There had been some talk that Steve was going to race a modified at New Symrna a few weeks ago but not surprisingly that didn't amount to anything. These days it seems like conditions have to be exactly perfect to get Steve behind the wheel, which is why in spite of my dissatisfaction with the coverage the series gets, I'm really happy that Steve has a ride and will be racing this season.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:24 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 08, 2008

Tino Martinez Returns to the Yankees as a Special Instructor

David Cone isn't the only former member of the World Championship winning Yankees teams of the late 90's to return to the Yankees fold; Tino Martinez has also returned to the team (again), this time as a special instructor. Tino has already been working with first baseman Shelley Duncan at the Yankees's minor league complex in Tampa, and he'll also be assisting the team during the season as well. Tino will also continue to volunteer as an assistant coach for the University of South Florida's baseball team.

I used to be a huge fan of Tino's. No question that for a while he was one of my favorite Yankees along with David Cone and Paul O'Neill. However, along the way while I've remained just as much of a fan as ever of Paul and especially David, my enthusiasm for Tino definitely faded. Not that I stopped being a fan of his - I'll always like Tino, take an interest in what he's doing and wish him well, however there's no question that the way I feel about him has changed over the years, similar to how the way I feel about Steve Park has changed.

Of course in some people's eyes it makes me a bad fan that I'm less of a fan of Tino and Steve. After all, fans are supposed to be loyal, passionate and supportive of their favorite athletes no matter what. And to some degree I'm still that way. But my way of being a fan of both of them is just different than it once was. And I don't feel ashamed about that in the least. Things change and people change.

With Tino it started when he left the Yankees. I think that part of it didn't have as much to do with Tino as much as it had to do with being burned out by the Tino-Giambi wars on NYYFans.com. I got really sick of having to moderate people for arguing over Tino and whether the Yankees were making the right move by signing Jason Giambi to replace him. Some of the viewpoints that were expressed on both sides were extreme and flat out ridiculous, and I really don't have much patience anymore for extreme fandom anymore (when I mean extreme I mean people who hate athletes, who live in fantasy worlds, who harass other fans in the name of their fandom, are stalkers, are obsessed with the object of their affection, or otherwise act inappropriately).

Beyond that, what really changed the way I viewed Tino was when I met him at an autograph signing a year or two after he left the Yankees. How an athlete interacts with fans is pretty important to me and I didn't think he was particularly fan-friendly. In fact he almost seemed indifferent to those who were there for the signing which I thought was the wrong attitude to have when people were spending a minimum of $100 to get his autograph and had been waiting in line for hours. I'm one of the most understanding people there is when it comes to the reality that sometimes athletes are going to not be feeling well, have things on their minds or otherwise not be in the right frame of mind at an appearance. But I've heard other stories about Tino not really being particularly friendly towards fans at signings so I knew that this probably wasn't just a one time thing. He may be a nice person who is well-liked by everyone he plays with, but there was something about my encounter with him that left a bad taste in my mouth.

With Steve, I'm still a pretty big fan of his, I just know that he's no longer even close to being my favorite driver like he once was. As anyone who has read this space in the past couple of years can surely tell I've been extremely disappointed in Steve's attitude towards certain things. As accepting as I am that drivers are going to have opinions and make choices that I don't necessarily agree with, and that I can still like them anyway, it's been hard to overlook some things. I've been frustrated about his approach towards racing at times, and there are a few other things that bother me. Maybe some of this might not be an issue for me if there was more positive things that had happened for Steve the past few year because there'd be more to cheer about, but instead there seems like there's been a lot of disappointment and negativity. Now that Steve has a Camping World East ride maybe my attitude will improve... but I tend to doubt it because no matter how well Steve does in that ride some of the same issues will still be there.

There's some athletes I'll always be a fan of and I don't anticipate that changing. David Cone and Paul O'Neill will always be favorites of mine. I discussed some of David's virtues in an earlier post, and Paul will always have my admiration for the way he played the game, for how he helped the Yankees win and for what he brings to YES broadcasts now that he's retired. I also anticipate always being a fan of Michael Waltrip - I've talked about the many things I admire about him in this space, he's always been great to me when I've seen him in person, and the majority of his fans, particularly the Wal-Nutz are really outstanding people.

So yeah, I'm happy that Tino's back with the Yankees but maybe not as happy as I might have been in the past.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2008

Craig Goess to Race for Eddie Sharp Racing in Camping World East Series

Because Steve Park is going to be racing in the Camping World East Series this season I've been trying to familiarize myself with the drivers that he'll be racing against which is no easy feat since there isn't much coverage of this series even online. But this morning I came across an article about Craig Goess, a talented Legends car driver who will be racing in the Camping World East Series this season and I think I have another driver besides Steve to cheer for in this series. Why? Craig will be racing a Toyota for Eddie Sharp Racing, an organization that Michael Waltrip Racing has an affiliation with. Although ESR also gets help from Chip Ganassi Racing on their Dodge program, I would assume that MWR assists with any of the Toyotas that ESR fields. So in a roundabout way, Craig also has a connection to MWR and I support anything or anyone that Michael and MWR is involved with. Craig won an astonishing 40 of the 48 Legends races that he entered the last three years so it appears he has some talent behind the wheel.

Eddie Sharp Racing will also be fielding Toyotas in the ARCA Series for Scott Speed and Ken Butler, III, the later of which I assume is still in the MWR driver development program. I'm a little disappointed that Josh Wise won't be racing for ESR at all like he did last season, but I would guess that the same problem that's MWR from getting him a Nationwide ride is the same issue in ARCA - a lack of sponsorship. Scott has sponsorship from Red Bull and Ken has sponsorship from Aaron's. I don't watch as many ARCA races as I do Cup, Truck and Nationwide races, but I do like to watch them when I can, and it's always fun to have some drivers to cheer for.

Many fans seem to resent young drivers, even those with a lot of talent, because they take rides that could be filled by veteran drivers. Personally, I find new talent very exciting - I really enjoy watching drivers progress and seeing which ones become successful and which ones don't. A driver that I cheer for when they start out as a nobody on a lower level could turn into a superstar who wins a lot of races in Cup - or not. Either way it's fun to watch them race and wonder at what their potential might be.

Joe Gibbs Racing will have Marc Davis in a Camping World East car, and Paul Andrews, Michael Waltrip's crew chief on the #55, said in an interview on XM that his son, Tim, might race some Camping World East races again if they have the funding to make it happen. So those are two other drivers that I will be paying attention to as well in the Camping World East Series.

I suppose that some of my fellow Steve Park fans would whip out that "bad fan" label at the mere thought of me cheering for another driver in a race that Steve's in. Make no mistake, I will be cheering for Steve and hoping that he has a lot of success this season. But that doesn't mean that I can't wish well for other drivers too. Steve isn't going to win every race he's in this season - it might not be easy to win even won race since the talent level in this series is probably greater than some people think - so if he's not going to win it would be good to see other drivers that I like or who have caught my eye in Victory Lane.

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

January 15, 2008

You May Be Disappointed...

In looking at the stats for this blog in which I can see search terms by which people end up on this site, I notice that quite a few people are coming here looking for information on Steve Park's fiancee, Jessica Skarpalezos. If you're coming here looking for gossip, dirt or dirt related to Jessica, or Jessica and Steve you will be very disappointed. The same goes for any other driver's significant other. I enjoy a hot piece of gossip just like anyone else, and once in a while (very rarely) discuss something that relates to the driver's personal lives if I think it's newsworthy or effects what they do on the track such as the Ray Evernham/Erin Crocker relationship when it became an issue after Jeremy Mayfield was released from Evernham Motorsports. But for the most part I think that what happens in the driver's personal lives is their own business and while I may discuss things, odds are I'm not going to pass judgment in the same way some other fans have a tendency to do in relation to the choices the drivers make in their personal lives - again, something which may be disappointing to some . I've been known to chat about gossip when it interests me, but it troubles me how much some fans feel they deserve to know intimate details about the driver's personal relationships and the extents they will go to find out information - often the more negative the better it seems. I could generate a lot of traffic by discussing the driver's relationships all the time but that's not the kind of traffic I want here. So if you want information on Jessica or another Nascar wife or girlfriend you'd be better off visiting one of the many other sites with that kind of irrelevant stuff on it.

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

January 12, 2008

Steve Park Not Done Yet!

There's been no official announcement but someone just posted on Steve Park Central, that they heard Steve Park on Sirius and apparently he's going to race all thirteen races in the Camping World East (formerly Busch East) Series this season! This is awesome news! I'm so happy that Steve's actually going to be doing some racing this season! From the sounds of it Steve will be racing for the team that he's raced with twice before at Dover, NDS, which means that he will likely be racing up front and contending for wins in most, if not all, of the races since both times he had a very competitive car. Yay!!!!

I'm so glad that Steve didn't keep holding out for a ride in Cup, Nationwide or Trucks - nothing in any of those three series was likely to materialize for him given his insistence that it had to be an elite ride. Odds are racing in a lower series isn't what Steve would consider an ideal situation but this will be an opportunity for him to have some fun racing without some of the pressure that comes with racing in some of the higher series and I hope he really enjoys himself in the races he's in! It's hard to find media coverage of the Camping World Series and the races are only broadcast live on a channel I don't get (at least that was the case last season) but I'm really looking forward to seeing the replays on Speed (if they still show them), and seeing Steve on the track racing again!!

I hope to be wrong, but I still think Steve is pretty much done in Cup, Nationwide and Trucks, but I'm really, really, really happy that he's not done in racing completely! He's said so many times how much desire he has to keep racing and how he was born to race, so one reason why I didn't feel too good about his situation was because I know that it must be very difficult for him to sit on the sidelines and not race, even if it's partially by choice because he didn't want to race anything that didn't meet his standards. I feel so much better knowing that he's going to be going to the track and doing something that is important to him. I'm glad that he finally decided to just go out and race instead of waiting around for the perfect ride to come along.

Winning a race, maybe even multiple races isn't out of the question for Steve if the cars that he's given is anything like what he had to race at Dover the past two years. That would be so awesome if he got to Victory Lane again. The Camping World Series isn't as prestigious as Cup, Busch or Trucks, or even ARCA really, but it's still an opportunity for Steve to feel good about himself if the results are good, have some fun, and show that he can still win!

There's a few races in the Northeast, including two road course races, maybe somehow I'll get to see him race in person!

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

January 11, 2008

Musgrave Only Helping Out at HT, Doesn't Have the Sponsorship for a New Ride

No word on what the story is with Donny Lia and whether he's out at HT Motorsports for sure or just not testing with them (though it would seem curious not to test with a new driver considering it's an opportunity for the team to get used to working together), but apparently Ted Musgrave is only helping out the #59 team at testing and won't actually be racing for them this season (at least as of now). In fact, although he's been talking to some teams he doesn't have a ride at all yet for 2008. Musgrave said,

"I was going to come down anyway, not drive anything, not bring anything, sometimes you come down and waste your time and money. [I] didn't want to do that. But Jim called me up and asked me to come, and I'm willing to help out, no problem at all."

It makes sense that if Musgrave was going to be there anyway that he jump in the #59 truck and help that team out. It keeps him involved and visible and helps him feel a part of things even though he doesn't have a ride. In addition, one never knows where a favor, in this case helping the #59 team, might lead - there's no such thing as too much good will.

As with so many other drivers sponsorship issues are the reason why Musgrave hasn't found a new ride yet. However, his situation is different than a lot of other drivers. Musgrave actually has a sponsor - ASE - to bring with him to a team but that's still not enough to get him a ride because the funding from ASE isn't enough for a full season. He's been talking with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports and from the sounds of it he could have started the season in one of their trucks and hoped to find sponsorship for the rest of the year but he wants to have something set for the full season. Musgrave said,

"You need more sponsors to run the series. Nowadays it's taking anywhere from $3 [million] to $4 million to run this situation and ASE's sponsorship won't cover the year - it won't even cover half the year. Instead you've got to find other people to go along with them. That's what we're doing right now to see if we can collect enough sponsors, co-sponsors and stuff, that put a whole package for the year."

I have to say that I read that quote and I immediately thought of Steve Park. Steve has been telling fans that if only he could find a sponsor willing to hand over $2.5 million he would have a ride. Well, as I've suspected $2.5 million isn't going to cut it. Musgrave says he needs $3-4 million, and some of the best teams in the garage might want even more than that. If Steve is going to potential sponsors and asking for $2.5 million he's probably wasting his - and their - time, unless he already has other sponsors lined up to make up the difference (unlikely) or is willing to take a less than elite ride that would cost less to sponsor, something he has said multiple times he won't do. Musgrave is the 2005 Truck Series champion who has won 17 races, including one last season. Meanwhile Steve hasn't raced a truck in a year and a half and has only one win in the Truck Series (plus the Nationwide and Cup wins). If Musgrave and other talented drivers with more recent success than Steve can't find sponsorship to bring with them to a team, then how is Steve going to find a sponsor?

The next question is if Musgrave is only helping the #59 team out at testing then who is going to race for them this season? Maybe Lia will end up behind the wheel after all - I sure hope so! There's also drivers like Willie Allen, Ryan Matthews, Bobby East and others available. I'm sure that the emails will be starting pleading for them to put Steve behind the wheel again will be starting any second but considering he's not testing for them despite Jim Harris wanting a veteran's input during this test, I'm not thinking it's too likely that he'll end up racing for them.

Then the question becomes will Musgrave end up racing in 2008? There's not a lot of time between now and the first race of the season at Daytona. Musgrave has an advantage over a lot of drivers in that he has a partial sponsorship, so he doesn't have to find sponsorship for an entire season. Still, convincing other sponsors to work with him in time for Daytona might not be so easy. I wonder if Musgrave will eventually consider racing just part of the season with the ASE sponsorship rather than not race at all? It will be important for Musgrave to race at some point this season if he wants to continue racing because as we've seen it doesn't work out too well for drivers to sit out waiting for their ideal situation to come along. That's usually a career killer.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:38 PM | Comments (0)

January 09, 2008

Brendan Gaughan Finds a Ride; Richard Johns Possibly Loses His

It came down to the wire since truck testing starts in just a few days, but Brendan Gaughan found a ride for 2008 - he'll be racing the #10 truck for Circle Bar Racing this season as a teammate to Rick Crawford. The #10 is a solid ride - David Starr finished 10th in points in it last season. However, I don't think it's one of the more elite rides in the garage, in fact Brendan's results in the #77 were very similar to what David did in the #10 and Brendan wasn't all that happy with his performance at times last season. I definitely think it's possible that Brendan might contend for some wins next season, but I don't expect to see him among the trucks that race up front on a weekly basis.

Based on the press release it sounds like Brendan did bring some or all of his crew from the #77 to Circle Bar like he had said he wanted to do. At the very least his crew chief, Bryan Berry, will be following him from the #77 to the #10. What I'm wondering is if a number of Brendan's crew from the #77 were hired along with Brendan, how many people at Circle Bar might have lost their jobs as a result since the #10 team had their own crew. Of course teams make changes to their crews all the time, and if there were any changes to the #10 team maybe they found positions elsewhere at Circle Bar. However, I thought it was a little ironic for Brendan to say that he wanted to take care of his crew and make sure that they still had jobs but bringing them to another organization with him might result in other people losing their jobs. ETA: I heard Brendan on XM yesterday and apparently there were some openings at CIrcle Bar for six of his crew members so it doesn't sound like many, if any, people lost their positions for Brendan's guys. What was good to hear is that Brendan and his father tried to take care of as many of those who had worked for them at South Point Racing as possible, either by trying to help them find other jobs in racing or by giving them jobs at the South Point casino.

What's going to be interesting to me is how Brendan is going to adjust to racing for someone other than his father again. That didn't work out too well for him at Penske Racing and not just because the cars he was given to race weren't very good. Brendan admitted that he was unable to conform to the way other people wanted him to be like and I think his mouth also got him into some trouble. I don't think Brendan's father let him do whatever he wanted, but I think he had a lot of freedom at South Point Racing. It's not just an owner other than his father that he'll have to answer to - Brendan will also have a sponsor other than one of his father's companies for the first time in four years. Sponsors sometimes get a little prickly when their driver speaks their mind too honestly and openly. Some had speculated that Michael Gaughan would continue sponsoring Brendan even though South Point was closing but I'm not surprised that's not happening (at least not as a primary sponsor). For one thing if his father was going to continue to fund his career he might has well have left South Point open, but I also suspect that Brendan's attitude towards the merger with Wyler Racing might not have gone over very well with his father and might have led to them deciding not to continue working together (at least for now) in racing. ETA: In Brendan's XM interview he seemed to say that there was indeed some friction between himself and his father, but that in the long-run they'll be fine which is how it should be with family.

While Brendan found a ride just before testing, Richard Johns might have lost his before even testing with his new team let alone racing with them. Jayski has an "I heard" item that indicates that Johns lost his ride in the #60 at Wyler because the sponsorship deal with havfun.com might have fallen through. I can't say I'm surprised that this deal might have fallen though - it's one thing if they were dealing with Google or Amazon, but when it comes to these smaller, unknown dot-coms, they aren't always able to follow through on their obligations.

Some Steve Park fans are celebrating this bit of news because they think it opens the door to Steve getting this ride. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think the chances of that happening are very good. Without sponsorship for their second truck with Terry Cook, I would think that any driver they put behind the wheel will have to bring sponsorship with them, and I doubt Steve has any sponsors lined up. If he did he probably wouldn't still be looking for a ride this late in the game. In addition, as I've said before if Wyler really wanted to give Steve a ride they likely would have done so already regardless of the sponsorship situation as they did with Cook. I wouldn't be surprised to see Wyler only field one truck this season. Not only might they not have a driver and sponsor, but according to Jayski Rick Gay has also left the team. This late in the going, especially being this close to testing, I think it would be hard to put all those pieces together successfully.

If it's true that Johns has lost his ride I feel pretty bad for him. When the announcement was made Johns talked about how he didn't need any gifts for the holidays because this is the best gift he could get and how it was all of his dreams coming true. It must be a terrible feeling to have all those dreams dashed without even have raced a single race in the truck. Johns is a young driver without a lot of experience in Nascar and it might be hard for him to find another ride - if there's any open rides even left.

Of course all of this is a result of the failed merger between South Point Racing and Wyler Racing which is why I'm discussing both Brendan and Johns in the same entry. Brendan was slated to race the #60 for Wyler-Gaughan with sponsorship from his father/South Point Casino. No one has said exactly why the merger fell apart but I would guess that how vocal Brendan was about how unhappy he was about the merger and how he didn't want to race for Wyler-Gaughan played a big role in it. It'll be very interesting to see how things go for Wyler this season and what their long-term future is - if things don't go too well I have to wonder how much resentment might build towards Brendan. ETA: Brendan was also on Sirius yesterday and alluded to some ill will being directed towards him. He declined to discuss what led to the merger failing but indicated that there's been quite a bit of speculation and things said about him not just by fans but by those in the garage area as well.

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

January 06, 2008

About Freaking Time!

Steve Park finally got engaged to his girlfriend, now fiancee, Jessica Skarpalezos after years (maybe as many as ten years on and off) of dating! According to the announcement on Steve's site, he asked her to marry him on New Year's Eve. Yay, I was beginning to think it was never going to happen! It was just a few months ago that Steve had said on his site that he was putting off marriage and a family until he got his career back on track, but I guess that was maybe to throw Jessica off as to what he had planned. I'm really happy for Steve! One thing that's been concerning me the past year or so is that Steve hadn't seemed to have any plan for the next chapter in his life after he's done racing, and that since the odds of him finding a ride aren't too good, he might not be too happy if all he has to look forward to for the rest of his life is playing golf and riding his motorcycle. But getting married and starting a family is definitely something meaningful that will bring him a lot of happiness! They are lucky to have each other - not everyone would stick around for years on end without at least getting engaged. Congratulations to Steve and Jessica both!

ETA: I can't help but wonder - maybe Steve's comment in November on his website was meant to throw Jessica off ... or maybe that was really how he was feeling at the time, and maybe someone sat him down and did a reality check with him on the wisdom of putting off one's life for a racing career that might not ever get back on track. Maybe he even came to that realization on his own. Regardless, I feel better about Steve's situation knowing that he'll have wedding plans and then a wife to focus on instead of just his search for a ride. I'd feel even better about Steve's future and his future happiness if he got involved in some sort of business venture, racing or otherwise, to occupy his time and help support himself and his family, but hopefully that will happen down the road. For now best of luck to both Steve and Jessica, and may their marriage be a long and happy one!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:01 AM | 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)

December 19, 2007

Terry Cook, Richard Johns to Drive for Wyler Racing

Wyler Racing made their driver lineup for 2008 official today. Joining Richard Johns, who had been previously announced as the driver of the #60 truck, will be Terry Cook, who will race the #06. As a Steve Park fan I know I'm supposed to be disappointed by this announcement but I'm not - I never expected that Steve would get a ride with Wyler even though he had reportedly been talking with them. In addition, I like that Wyler is giving an opportunity to a young driver to race what will likely be a competitive truck, even though one reason they went with Richard is likely because he brought sponsorship with him. I'm also glad to see that Terry is getting another opportunity with a good team, one that might be better than HT Motorsports, who he raced for last season.

Overall, I'm just glad that Wyler Racing is going to have trucks on the track next season since the last thing the Truck Series needs is to lose more teams. After the merger with South Point Racing fell through I feared that it might spell the end for Wyler Racing since they were likely counting on additional resources from South Point financially and otherwise to help their efforts. So it's good to see that Wyler went forward with their plans to field two truck teams next season even without South Poitn and the Gaughans.

As for Steve, he's talked to Wyler Racing about a ride since he was released from the #62 truck at the end of 2005. If they didn't give him a ride the past two years, I didn't think it was too likely he was going to end up with them now even though they had two open rides. A lack of sponsorship, the reason that's commonly cited for why Steve isn't getting rides, isn't the issue here either since Wyler is still looking for sponsorship for Terry's truck, which indicates a willingness to put a driver behind the wheel even if he doesn't bring sponsorship with him. If Wyler really wanted to give Steve a ride they would have put him in the second truck and then searched for sponsorship like they're doing with Terry, or raced the truck with the Wyler Automotive logos on as they did with Jack Sprague in the past. More than a few fans complain that the young kids are "stealing" all the rides from Steve even though (in these fan's eyes) they don't really deserve them. Well, age certainly isn't a factor here since Terry is about the same age as Steve.

So why did Wyler pick Terry for their second truck instead of Steve? Of course there's no way of knowing for sure - for all I know maybe Steve decided that Wyler wasn't right for him after all. But there's two advantages that Terry has over Steve - one being that he raced for another Toyota team last season and when a driver races for one Toyota team that seems to open doors for them with other Toyota teams. The other factor is that regardless of what team or manufacturer he was racing for, Terry raced last season. Steve never got behind the wheel of a car or truck on any of Nascar's three highest levels, and has only raced one race over all - a Camping World East race - in more than a year. I suspect that makes some teams (and sponsors) leery of him. Oh yeah - Terry's also a more accomplished driver in the Truck Series having won six races, four of them in one season (2002).

If things didn't even work out for Steve with a team run by good friends of his, I think it's pretty unlikely that he's going to find a ride anywhere else. I'm sure some will come up with all sorts of excuses and reasons as to why Steve hasn't been able to find a ride, but unfortunately it appears that there's not that much interest in his services - at least from the kind of teams that he says he wants to race for. I hope to be surprised and have Steve show up at testing or peedweeks with a competitive Truck, Nationwide, Cup, ARCA or Camping World East team that he'll go on to win lots of races for. But I doubt it's going to happen. And that's not me being a negative-nellie, "bad" fan who doesn't believe in Steve. That's just the reality of Steve's situation that he doesn't have a ride and there aren't many openings left.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2007

Steve Park on XM from Homestead

I was happy to hear Steve Park interviewed by Claire B. Lang yesterday on XM, but not so happy with what Steve said. From the sounds of it Steve doesn't have anything in the works as far as a ride goes, but that's not surprising at all. He repeated multiple times how he'll only consider taking a ride that finishes regularly in the top five and top ten, and contends for wins. Well, as I always ask - what elite team is going to hand Steve a ride when he's sat out for a year? Steve also said that he won't even consider a top twenty ride because he thinks it's a waste of his time since he only wants to end up in Victory Lane. That was probably the most disappointing thing he said in the entire interview. Those top 20 rides this season could be next season's top ten ride with his help. The team that races in the top ten this season and seems so attractive now, might end up performing worse next season and only be a top twenty car next year. As I've said before in this space, every driver in the garage area wants to be in an elite ride - why should Steve be given an elite ride over all those other drivers who are at the track every week busting their asses, making the most of the rides that they have even if it's not the perfect ride?

At one point Claire played some audio from Rick Crawford in which he detailed what he and Circle Bar Racing are looking for in a driver to replace David Starr in the #10. Rick said that the team would like a veteran who would be a good teammate to him and would help the #10 develop into a better team. I think that Claire was likely playing that audio for Steve to encourage him to contact CBR about that opening but when she asked Steve what he thought about what Rick had said, Steve didn't really respond with much enthusiasm, simply saying that he thinks he could be a good teammate to anyone and could help any team get better. I suppose that's because the #10 didn't race up front as much as Steve would like this season, but David Starr was able to finish 10th in points in that ride so it's a decent ride. Maybe with Steve's help they could finish even higher in the points, but it seems like he wants an even better ride, one that will be ultra-competitive and in Victory Lane immediately - how realistic is that really?

Steve also mentioned that he's looking for sponsorship to bring to a team with him to make a ride possible. I think he faces the same issues with sponsors as he does with teams, particularly since he's not just asking for the basic amount to get into any ride, but maybe as much as $5 million to get into an elite ride. It's going to be really hard to convince a sponsor to risk millions on him when he's not raced in so long. Even with how much I love Steve if I was an owner or sponsor if I had a choice between Steve who hasn't raced since last August (and not full-time in even longer) and a driver who has been racing regularly, I'd choose the driver who has been on the track because I'd have some idea of what they're capable of based on their recent results.

If I had to sum up what I thought about what Steve said in yesterday's interview it would be disappointing. It's disappointing to me that Steve hasn't raced more than the one Busch East race in more than a year, and Steve's overall attitude is increasingly frustrating and disappointing. I just hope Steve's as happy with his decisions a few years down the road as he is now.

(I feel like I'm always writing the same entry about Steve. It's getting tiresome for me to blog about and it's probably getting tiresome to read about. There's probably going to come a point where I just say "no more.")

Posted by silverdsl at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts

*John Andretti will race the full season for BAM Racing in the #49 next season. Although he's DNQ'd for the past two races, he's done an excellent job of getting the #49 into ten other races for them so I can see why they want to keep him for next season. I heard John on Sirius a couple of weeks ago, and while he acknowledged that the team is at a disadvantage in comparison to many of the other teams, he spoke of trying to make the best of things. He compared his situation to a lower level boxer facing Muhammad Ali - for the most part he's going to be completely overwhelmed but occasionally he's able to land a punch here or there which he can feel good about. I like that attitude. I'm sure John would much rather be in a competitive car that he can race up front in but for now he's just trying to get satisfaction out of small victories like making races and finishing as well as possible.

Supposedly BAM has a unique kind of sponsorship lined up where instead of getting one company to pay millions to sponsor the car, they're going to get many companies to pay $5,000 each to get their logos on the car. I don't see this working out too well since there won't be too much exposure for these companies given how small the logos will probably be, but maybe it'll work out better than I think.

*Roger Penske said this weekend that it's almost definite, pending approval from the sponsors of the #2 and the team, that the points from the #2 will be shifted to the #77 next season so that Sam Hornish, Jr. will be locked into the first five races of the season. Kurt Busch would also be locked in by virtue of his past champion's provisional though odds are he'll have a car good enough to get in on time without having to use a provisional. I can't stand the games these teams are playing with the Champion's provisional even though it's benefited Michael Waltrip Racing, and I hope that Nascar does away with it. Just like every other team outside the top 35 in owner's points, I think Penske Racing should have to show up to the track with a car that's fast enough for Sam to make races with. And if there's any question about his ability to make races then they need to get him enough experience to where he has the ability to do it on his own, particularly since if he's not high enough in the points after those first five races, he'll be back to having to worry about making races on time without the #2's points from 2007 to fall back on.

*Apparently Roush-Fenway Racing will be building all of Yates Racing's cars next seasons. Fans are wondering how Nascar is going to allow Yates to essentially become unofficial Roush teams given the supposed cap on how many teams an organization can own or be closely affiliated with. Of course Roush isn't the only organization with this set-up - Joe Gibbs Racing builds cars for Hall of Fame Racing and Hendrick Motorsports provides equipment and support to many teams. I wonder if Nascar is going to continue to look the other way about these kind of arrangements or whether they'll crack down if Roush pushes things too much?

*During Friday's truck race it was announced that Donny Lia would be in the #59 next season. Someone who I would consider a reliable source posted on a Modifieds forum some interesting information about how this deal came about. Apparently Bill Davis Racing has been talking to Donny about a truck ride for next year since the middle of the season but when it became clear that they weren't going to be able to field another truck next season, Tommy Baldwin, Jr. helped Donny get the ride with HT Motorsports. As a result, there will be some sort of alliance between BDR and HT Motorsports that will result in information from Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner's teams being shared with the #59 team. Considering that those two teams are two of the best teams in the series, that should help the #59 improve their performance. Plus they're going to have a driver behind the wheel who I think has a lot of talent, so I'm anticipating seeing the #59 truck up front regularly next season.

*It's been widely rumored that Ted Musgrave is going to end up in the #60 truck for Wyler-Gaughan Racing with Team ASE as the sponsor. Today WGR put out a release to clarify that they don't have a team or driver signed for the #60 truck yet and that they're still talking to drivers and are open to a variety of options. After reading the full statement on their website, I suspect this is mostly about sponsorship in that they're still looking for some and they don't want to lose out on any potential sponsorship deals if companies think they're already all set for 2008. I would guess that it's likely that there is something to those rumors as Ted has indicated that he's close to a deal with good, winning team and the #60 fits the bill. If not Ted, I'd guess that WGR will go with one of the other available drivers who have raced for Toyota truck teams recently such as Terry Cook or Ryan Mathews. The pattern for Toyota teams seems to be to use drivers who already have an affiliation with Toyota via having raced for one of their teams previously. So I have my doubts as to whether Steve Park is going to end up in this truck as some are hoping he will. The Wylers have talked to Steve about a ride since 2005 and if it hasn't happened yet I kind of doubt it's going to happen now especially if sponsorship is an issue. Plus drivers like Terry and Ryan have actually raced, and in Terry's case won in the last year while Steve has sat idle.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2007

Random Truck Series Thoughts

*Is there any better racing right now than in the Truck Series? I absolutely love watching the truck races and it's not just because Michael Waltrip is in the booth! Not only is there an outstanding battle for the Championship between Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Mike Skinner, but the quality of the racing is outstanding! As opposed to the Cup Series where things tend to heat up over the last 30-40 laps, it seems like in the Truck Series every lap features exciting racing. From start to finish the drivers are hungry and race hard to get to the front! So it's really a shame that most fans have so little interest in this series - they're really missing some great races!

*There was a lot of drama in last night's race due to the battle between Hornaday and Skinner. Last week Hornaday felt that he was getting blocked by Skinner's fellow BDR teammates whereas he was out there alone with no one to "protect" him. So this week Hornaday had someone to watch his back - his owner, Kevin Harvick. During an early pit stop, Skinner's team flipped out because Harvick, who was pitting immediately in front of them, came through their pit and in their view, caused them to have a poor pit stop which cost Skinner positions on the track. Ridiculous. Harvick did nothing wrong - it's his right to drive through the pit stop behind his if it's empty to get to his, and he was in front of Skinner heading into the pits. It's true that Harvick going through the #5 pit caused their jackman to hesitate which threw off the timing of the pit stop but this is big league racing. A team has to be on their game at all times and has to be able to pull off strong pit stops even under adversity and especially in the midst of a Championship battle.

The #5 team claimed that Harvick stopped in their pit and put the lives of the pit crew in danger since they were already going over the wall to service the #5 - it sure didn't look like he stopped to me, and again, he's perfectly within his rights to go through that pit to ensure he's lined up correctly in his own pit. The #5 team should have been anticipating Harvick driving through their pit since he was ahead of Skinner on the track, and no matter how angry the jackman or anyone else on the #5 team was, they needed to put that aside until the stop was finished.

*But the bigger controversy was what happened between Skinner and his teammate, Johnny Benson at the end of the race. Because of how close the championship battle is between Skinner and Hornaday every point counts. So with just three laps to go, Benson passed Skinner for 7th which cost Skinner four points. Skinner was furious after the race, as were his fans. While I can understand why Skinner might be upset since there's an expectation that teammates are going to help each other out, I don't think Benson should have to hold back if he has a better truck than Skinner and thinks he can pick up a position. While he might not be in the Championship hunt, Benson is out there racing for something himself - he's currently fifth in points and the points are so tight there's a chance that he could finish as high as third in the points. At the end of the race, even among teammates it's every man for himself, and I think every driver needs to be racing as hard as they can to finish as good as they can.

*There was briefly some excitement among Steve Park fans when it was announced that Terry Cook wouldn't be returning to the #59 truck. Last year Steve raced the #59 for ten races but left the team when he thought he had a ride with Bill Davis Racing, a ride that never materialized. I would have been thrilled if Steve was announced as the driver of that truck because they've developed into a solid Toyota team that may not race up front all the time, but is still fairly competitive and may continue to get more competitive as time goes on. However, Sparkie hopes and dreams were quickly dashed when it was announced that Donny Lia, the 2007 Whelen Modified Tour Champion and winner of six modified races this season, would take over driving duties in the #59 next season. As much as I would have liked to have seen Steve get this ride I'm thrilled that Donny will be behind the wheel - as someone from the Northeast I'm always happy to see someone from the Northeast get an opportunity in one of Nascar's highest levels. But beyond that I've been looking for a driver to cheer for in this series since there's not going to be an Michael Waltrip Racing associated truck anymore - Lia definitely fits the bill.

I'm not surprised that the #59 team went with Lia over Steve. For one thing he's younger, he's had more recently success than Steve even though it was on a lower level, he's probably cheaper and he'll likely attract more sponsorship than Steve. In addition, although it's commonly thought that Steve parted ways with that team on good terms, the way it happened was very strange to me, with the team making the announcement for Steve that he was leaving to go to BDR when no deal actually existed. I just got a very odd vibe from the way that went down even though Steve raced another race or two for the team, so I had a feeling they might not re-visit the past. In addition, Steve might not even be interested in this ride if it was offered to him. He's said repeatedly he wants to race for a team that races up front every week, contends for wins and would be in the Championship hunt. Although this is a decent team, they definitely aren't a Championship contending team right now.

*A few other driver moves for next season were discussed during this race. Apparently Dennis Setzer will race the #4 for Bobby Hamilton Racing next season. I think Setzer will be a good fit for that team, but it's a shame that Mike Bliss won't be remaining in that truck. In the 12 races he's raced the #4, he's got nine top tens and five top fives. However, Bliss may want to concentrate on racing the #22 in the Busch Series, since it's expected he'll be behind the wheel of that car full time next season. I didn't hear it myself but apparently it was also confirmed that Ted Musgrave would be heading to the #60 truck in 2008, and that he hopes to reunite most of his old team from the #1 team that he won a Championship with at Wyler Racing.

*Of course I'm biased a little because Michael Waltrip is my favorite driver, but I have to say that I love the team that Speed has in the booth for these races - Michael, Rick Allen and Phil Parsons. I think the three of them do an exceptional job of calling the races and I enjoy listening to the truck broadcasts (even when Michael's not in the booth) more than I do the broadcasts of any other series. I love Michael's excitement in the booth when he calls these races - his excitement is just like that of the fans watching at home and it speaks to how much passion he has for this series. Rick and Phil are outstanding as well and all three seem to work extremely well together. Overall, Speed does a terrific job with their broadcasts. In comparison to the other series where the networks struggle to cover all the action on the track, talk about all the teams and broadcast the race in a compelling way, Speed does a very good job of talking about as many of the teams as possible and showing all the action on the track.

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

November 09, 2007

Steve Park to Attend Homestead in Search of an Opportunity

The following was posted last night on Steve Park's website:

Steve Park, a two time NEXTEL CUP winner, will attend Homestead in search of opportunity for the 2008 racing season.

"I'm determined to find an opportunity that puts me with a team that can not only win races, but win championships as well. I've had success in all three of the top divisions of NASCAR, and I'm determined to continue that success with an excellent organization. I intend to show my face in the garage area and try and strike a spark with some teams that have the potential to win. I want team owner's to know how determined I am!" Park said.

As one who worked in public relations, I'm familiar with spin and how press releases are often full of exaggerations but if Steve truly wants a ride not just with a team that can win races, but one that can contend for Championships, then he needs to do a lot more than just show his face in the garage area and talk.

I've said all this what seems like a hundred times before in this space, but Steve can't just be saying how determined he is, he needs to prove it. Race, test, spot, consult, mentor, even do some media work. Whatever it takes to show teams that he really wants to stay involved in the sport. Every single driver in the garage wants to race for an elite team whether that's what they're doing or not. Most of them are hungry to make something happen and are actively doing a lot more than Steve is at this point to show what they're capable of. As someone else said on SPC, if this were a popularity contest Steve would win hands down since he's such a great person who is well-liked by all. But it's not. Teams want to to see that a driver will give 110% effort to their team whether they're given good or bad equipment to race, that a driver can make the most of the car or truck they're given, that they have the right attitude not just in conversations but on the track, that they race hard, that they can represent a sponsor well, etc... all things that Steve hasn't done in more than a year.

Steve's last Cup win was six years ago and many things have changed since then. His last Busch win was ten years ago and even his truck win was almost three years ago. What Steve did years ago isn't going to get him much of anything, and especially not a ride with a Championship caliber team, now. He needs to show what he's capable of in 2007, not what he was once capable of. It's not just race results, it's all the intangibles that teams also look for when it comes to putting the pieces together for what they hope will be a successful team. Taking a crap car that has no chance of racing up front and finishing 25th while bringing it home in one piece, providing helpful feedback that might help the team improve, mentoring a young teammate and in general showing a willingness to do whatever it takes to help a team get as much success as they're capable of, shows something about determination and desire. As for the oft-mentioned sponsorship issue - just bringing a multi-million dollar sponsor may get Steve a ride but probably not with the kind of team he wants - most teams that are winning races consistently and contending for Championships already have sponsors.

I dearly hope to be wrong - I hope Steve proves me wrong and finds an elite ride just by showing his face in the garage area. But I don't know of any drivers who have had an elite ride handed to them after not racing for more than a year. Ward Burton, who has more wins that Steve in Cup (and Busch) including a Daytona 500 win, had to take a non-competitive ride (that Steve would never consider) to return to racing after having not raced for more than a year. If Ward, who tried the same thing as Steve - show up in the garage area, talk to some people and hope for the best, couldn't get a ride with a Championship, winning team, then why does Steve think that's what's going to happen for him?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2007

Old School Racing Champions Tour

A number of mostly former drivers such as David Pearson, Harry Gant, Geoffrey Bodine, Phil Parsons and Derrick Cope are slated to take part in the Old School Racing Champions Tour next season. Over the course of a ten race season, plus a "Last Chance" and "Championship" race, retired and semi-retired drivers will race against each other on short tracks close to that week's Nascar event which should guarantee them a decent audience. After seeing the full line-up of drivers, I have to admit that I wondered whether this was something that Steve Park would consider taking part in since it's not just old dudes who are long retired who will be taking place, but also drivers such as Tim Fedewa, Randy LaJoie and Carl Long, who either still race from time-to-time or have only recently stopped racing. Odds are Steve would find a reason not to do it but it seems like an opportunity to have some fun, interact with fans and race in a situation where there's little pressure regarding points or wins or sponsors.

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

October 29, 2007

Wyler Racing and South Point Racing Merge

Wyler Racing has long wanted to add a second team and South Point Racing has long been frustrated with their inability to get more competitive so the two organizations have decided to join forces. Today Jeff Wyler and Michael Gaughan announced the formation of Wyler-Gaughan Racing, which will field two trucks in 2008, the #77 for Brendan Gaughan and the #60 for a driver to be named later. The new organization will be based in Mooresville, NC and will field Toyotas as Wyler Racing has since their inception. Sponsors for both trucks will also be named in the future. In addition, Brendan will attempt to race in six Cup races next season for Wyler-Gaughan Racing.

I'd guess that we'll see Brendan racing up front a lot more often in 2008. Wyler has fielded some very strong trucks that have ended up in Victory Lane with Jack Sprague behind the wheel and overall all the Toyotas are competitive in the Truck Series. So it's likely that Brendan will be racing trucks that are consistently a lot more competitive than what he's had to race since he came back to the Truck Series. As hard as they tried, South Point was never able to regain the magic of 2003 when Brendan won six races. Although the Gaughan family has a significant amount of financial resources from their casino business, there's a limit to how much money they can put in without getting much in return, so I've been wondering how long they were going to be able to continue without an outside primary sponsor, something they haven't had since Jasper left in 2005. In addition, although the Gaughans have prided themselves on remaining in Las Vegas, their refusal to move to where the majority of the rest of the teams are based until now has likely hurt them because it's difficult to attract top crew members who are willing to move to Las Vegas and deal with the travel issues that come with flying (commercial) back and forth between Las Vegas and where the races are. So I think this merger had to happen if Brendan was going to continue racing in the Truck Series in a truck owned by his family.

Although some Steve Park fans are surely already penciling Steve's name in next to the #60 (assuming Jack Sprague doesn't stick around), I think this merger means that it's unlikely that Steve will race for the Wylers. For one thing Steve already raced for Michael Gaughan and he was released so I'm not sure how willing Gaughan will to be to revisit that partnership. But I also suspect that Ted Musgrave is headed to the #60. He's available, he's a former Champion which means he's more desirable to teams and sponsors than Steve, he's already raced for Toyota, and he's indicated that he has something lined up for next season so the timing seems to fit with the changes at Wyler. Oh yeah, his crew chief at Germain Racing also joined Wyler as the crew chief of the #60 just this week. And Jayski is now reporting that he's "heard" that Musgrave is heading to the #60 and that he's bringing the ASE sponsorship. So my magic eight ball says "outlook not so good" when it comes to Steve joining this organization.

Which is pretty much what I think about Steve's overall chances of finding a ride for next season. I've always thought that Steve's best chance of finding the kind of full-time ride that he's looking for would be with Wyler given the longtime friendship between himself and the Wylers. If Wyler isn't going to put him in a truck then who will? Don't say Bill Davis Racing because they just announced today that Phillip McGilton will race the #22 full-time next season alongside Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson. It's not likely to be Germain Racing either since Todd Bodine will be in one of their two trucks, and it's likely that a young driver or two will be in their second truck. Not Darrell Waltrip Motorsports either since the #00 truck was sold to The Racer's Group. I wouldn't count on Red Horse Racing either considering Steve hasn't ended up in the #1 either of the two times this season they've made driver changes. Don't hold your breath for Roush-Fenway Racing either - they've got a bunch of young drivers they're working with and Jayski also has an "I heard" item that Joey Clanton will be racing a truck for them next season. Which leaves a lot of mid-pack trucks that Steve likely won't consider.

So while I'm sure there's going to continue to be talk about how Steve is talking to teams in the Truck and Nationwide Series, how this is just a "temporary setback," "never surrender" and about believing in Steve, I'm thinking 2008 is going to be much like 2007 sadly where we won't be seeing much of Steve on the track. The other question is what happens to Jack Sprague? If he's not retiring, and why would he since he's shown he can still win races, maybe there will end up being some truth to the rumor (that was denied) that he's going to end up at Kevin Harvick, Inc. I can see him fitting in well there.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:59 PM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2007

Last Chance for Steve Park?

On the pre-race show prior to yesterday's truck race it was reported that Wyler Racing would field two trucks next season with the drivers and sponsors to be named later. It was also confirmed that Con-Way would not be returning to sponsor the #60. Two additional rumors as per Jayski that tie-in that is that Jayski is "hearing" that Jack Sprague will leave Wyler to race for Kevin Harvick, Inc. next season and that Brendan Gaughan is reportedly buying as much as 50% of Wyler Racing. Steve Park has long expressed an interest in racing for Wyler Racing, and I hope that he'll end up in one of the trucks they field next season because I have a feeling it might be Steve's last chance at getting a competitive full-time ride - or for racing at all given his refusal to consider racing any ride that is less than an elite ride - one that finished regularly in the top ten and contends for wins on a weekly basis.

However, how likely is it that Steve will end up at Wyler Racing? It certainly works in his favor that he's a long-time friend of Jeff Wyler and that the Wyler Automotive Group has been an associate sponsor for him in the past. But that they're in need of two sponsors and that Brendan might be buying in adds a twist to things. For one thing, it's not going to be up to just Wyler Racing who ends up in their trucks - the sponsor will also have a say, and one has to wonder if a sponsor is going to want to spend $3-5 million to sponsor a driver who hasn't raced in the truck series (or in Busch or Cup) for more than a year and hasn't represented a primary sponsor in even longer. In addition, if Brendan is buying in, on has to wonder whether that will be some sort of merger between Wyler and South Point Racing, which makes some sense since they're both one-truck teams that could benefit from merging into a two truck organization. South Point particularly needs the help since they've struggled to make improvements and be more competitive for a while now.

Thing is, while as far as I know Steve and Brendan have remained friendly, Steve was released from South Point (when they were known as Orleans Racing) prior to the end of the 2005 season, so the question is whether they would work together in the future. There's also the possibility that Ted Musgrave might be available, and if one truck is driven by Brendan should some sort of merger happen, I can see the other truck being driven by Ted given that he already has a connection to Toyota (should Wyler remain affiliated with Toyota). Hopefully though none of those things will be an issue. I really have my fingers crossed that things will work out in such a way that Steve will end up in one of the Wyler trucks. He can still race up front and contend for wins in a competitive truck, and the truck that Wyler fields have definitely been competitive. I just have to wonder how likely it is that he'll make a return to the track if things don't work out for him with Wyler.

Of course it's not just whether Wyler Racing is interesting in signing Steve, it's also whether he's still interested in racing for them? In the past he's said he'd love to race for them, but Steve seems to have set his standards for what he wants in a ride so high that I have to wonder whether even Wyler will be able to offer what he's looking for. Sometimes I wish that Steve was the kind of driver who said, "Fuck it! Let's go racing!' and didn't worry about so much. Every driver wants to race competitively and every driver wants to finish up front more often than not, but it seems like Steve gets hung up on things that other drivers wouldn't let deter them from racing. Steve will always be one of my favorite drivers – he’s got a lot of driving ability and he’s a great person too. However, I can’t say that I always understand or agree with his attitude or approach these days towards finding a new ride.

The other day it came up on SPC that Steve has apparently said that one reason he won’t consider anything less than an elite ride (one that finishes in the top ten and contends for wins almost weekly) is that he thinks that if he takes a lesser ride and the results aren’t good he’ll get blamed instead of that the car or truck isn’t competitive or that the team isn’t very good. Supposedly Steve said something along the lines of how he “doesn’t want to deal with that crap.” If I’m understanding what he said correctly – and maybe I’m not – one reason dictating whether Steve races or not is because he’s afraid of what fans and the media might say.

In some ways I can sympathize with Steve. Just a few days ago I discussed a comment Michael Waltrip made on Inside Nextel Cup about fans who make negative remarks about him on the internet. And prior to that I did an entry about how disturbing some of the comments my fellow fans make can be. Bashing and negativity from fans and the media can be hurtful there’s no doubt about that. But Michael hasn’t let fans or the media deter him from racing. Nor has any other driver to my knowledge passed on a ride because of what might be posted on an internet message board or written by an ill-informed journalist. Fact is, whether it’s Tony Stewart, one of the best drivers in Nascar or Morgan Shepard, who almost never “races” more than ten laps in the races he qualifies for before parking it, there’s going to be fans and some in the media who criticize, bash and question the talent level of that driver, among other things. Criticism and negativity from fans and the media comes with the job.

Of course it’s impossible to ignore the bashing all the time. Of course it can be distressing to read, particularly when it’s never-ending like what Michael has experienced. But it’s really surprising to me that a driver with as much determination as Steve, a man who had enough internal strength to fight back from a serious leg injury his rookie year and a head injury in 2001 to race on would let what other people might say play a role in whether he accepts a ride and therefore races or not. Part of me feels like saying that Steve just needs to pull up his big girl panties and deal with it as they say, but I suppose it’s really not that easy.

I just feel like there’s always – as someone else noted on SPC – some sort of excuse as to why Steve isn’t racing which as much as some would like to blame it on others, seems to boil down to Steve has made the choice not to race since by his own admission there have been plenty of opportunities to do so, but nothing has met his standards. It’s good to set one’s goals high but the fact is that it’s going to be hard for a driver who hasn’t raced full-time since 2005, or at all this season, to get handed an elite ride.

If I’m an owner I want to see that a driver will race hard for me and bust his ass every week to help my team get the best possible result. Even if the results aren’t all that great effort, dedication – and talent – gets noticed. That’s why David Reutimann was pursued by other teams before he was re-signed by Michael Waltrip Racing in spite of his results in Cup being pretty poor this season. No matter what Steve might say to the teams that he talks to when he visits the garage area, racing just one Busch East race a season doesn’t show owners much of anything. Steve has won on all three of Nascar’s highest levels, but his last win was almost three years ago now. What do teams have to evaluate him now when the last time he raced in the trucks or Busch was last summer?

There’s such a difference in attitude between Steve and other drivers. No driver wants to finish 30th every week but for many of them the desire to race is so strong that they’re willing to compromise if they want to continue to race – or at the very least find a non-racing position with a team to stay involved in the sport. But Steve seems to have quite a few reasons why he can’t or won’t race. Even when he was offered the gig racing the modified car in memory of Tom Baldwin in New Hampshire last month, he turned that down too. Someone said it was because of the weather forecast and Steve not wanting to stick around if the race got rained out. The weather! Meanwhile the garage area is full of driver who just want to race. Ken Schrader will race anything at any time, results be damned. David wanted to race so bad that he didn’t even care how much Michael Waltrip Racing was going to pay him when they first signed him last year. And the young drivers – so many of them say that just as long as they’re racing they’re happy. Of course those are all different drivers at different stages in their careers but the difference in attitude is striking and it might be to those that Steve is talking to in the garage area too.

Some will think I'm a bad fan for saying this, but the fact of that matter is that I want my drivers to have a no-quit, do what needs to be done attitude towards racing. I don't want to feel like they're giving up, even when the results aren't very good or the situation is tough. That's one reason why I admire Michael so much - he took the risk of starting three Cup teams this season against long odds for success, has dealt with a lot of negativity and problems, yet hasn't lost any of his passion for racing or desire to continue racing. I see that kind of attitude in so many other drivers too, from Robby Gordon to Brad Keselowski to Todd Bodine, and on and on. Even drivers like Derrick Cope, Carl Long or Stanton Barrett seem determined to continue racing even though the odds of them racing competitively aren't very good.

Unless a driver's name is Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. it’s not too likely that he's going to step into a ride that can race in the top ten and contend for wins immediately. Even Junior may experience a period during which the results aren’t as strong as he might like as he adjusts to racing for a new team. But from the way Steve’s been talking it seems like might not want to wait for a team to develop into their full potential. He appears resistant to a situation in which he would help turn a top 25 or top 20 team into a much better team. Which is unfortunate because he would be an asset to any team and helping build a team could end up being something satisfying or Steve that he could be proud of.

At one time I felt sorry for Steve that he didn't have a ride. I thought like many others that teams still had the incorrect perception that Steve had never recovered from his 2001 accident, that they doubted his talent or that his age was preventing him from getting a ride. But once Steve proudly boasted to me this summer about how he turned down 15 offers for rides it was a lot harder to feel sorry for him. It's hard to believe that all 15 of those ride and the other offers he's told other fans he's received since and turned down were all garbage rides with no potential. Not racing right now is by Steve's own choice, and I can't really feel too sorry for someone who has made a choice to do what they're doing. And in the end it is Steve's own choice. He has to do what's going to make him happy, not what any of the fans want him to do. Someone pointed out this afternoon that Steve just needs to find a ride he wants - I'm just not sure there's actually a ride that he wants out there that's going to be available to him, not even one at Wyler Racing. It just seems like Steve keeps finding reasons not to race.

Thing is for me while I think Steve's a great person, I'm very much a fan of Steve the driver, maybe even more so than Steve the person. As I said above, I'll always be a fan of Steve's to one degree or another, but it's hard for me to have the same enthusiasm I once did for Steve when he's not racing. it's just like how my interest in Tino Martinez has waned since he stopped playing baseball. I'm still a fan of Tino's and I'm still interested in what he's doing but it's really hard to feel the same way about Tino as I once did. It's not that way for every athlete that I'm a fan of - my absolute favorites will always have a special place in my heart no matter what they're doing (Michael Waltrip, David Cone) but with some drivers or players I need to see them remain active - if not still racing or playing but at least staying involved with the sport somehow. Once more, I'm sure some are thinking "bad fan" if they were to come across this, but that's simply how I feel. I will always wish Steve all the best and hope he's happy, but I'd like to see more of him than one Busch East race a year and a couple of appearances at charity events. But hopefully things will work out for Steve and Wyler Racing or another team.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*In May Steve Park got into a truck for the only time this season when he did some testing for Key Motorsports, who also considered putting him into one of their trucks for the race at Charlotte. Ultimately nothing ever came of it at Charlotte or for any other race, and I suspect the reason is that Key isn't fielding trucks that are as competitive as Steve would like to race, though it's also possible that Key decided that they didn't want to give a ride to Steve. I would have liked to have seen Steve race for Key even if it was just one or two races, and especially now that Key has announced that they intend on fielding a car in the Nationwide Series full-time next season. Maybe they'd consider Steve anyway, but it seems to me that Key will talk first to drivers who have raced for them before who they're familiar with. Steve might not be interested in this ride anyway since he likely wouldn't be able to contend for too many wins with it, but a full-time ride is a full-time ride and it could led to other opportunities, just like racing some truck races for Key might have led to other opportunities.

*When Carl Edwards and his team were penalized because their car was found to be too low in a post-race inspection, virtually everyone from fans to the media freaked out about it. Fast-forward to this past weekend at Talladega where Reed Sorenson's car also failed a post-race inspection for the same reason, and the same penalties were handed out to Reed and his team yesterday. Is everyone just as upset as they were about the penalty being given to Carl? Hardly. It seems like no one cares in the slightest that Reed's car was found to be too low or that his team was penalized for it. Of course Carl's car failed post-race inspection in a race that he won and he's a Chase driver so naturally it's going to get more attention, but it still seems to me that if fans and the media felt it was unfair for Carl to be penalized, then they should also feel that it's unfair for Reed to be penalized. After all couldn't his car being too low also be a result of something that happened on the track as Carl's team claimed as opposed to something the team did? It seems to me that there's another issue at play here. Nascar doesn't inspect every car post-race, they only select a few randomly. Yet every week it seems like there's at least one car that fails a post-race inspection for height violations. It makes me wonder if in a random sampling that may cars are failing post-race inspection, how many might fail if they inspected the entire field?

*Speaking of the penalty given to Carl's team, the appeal that Roush-Fenway Racing filed was rejected today. I'm not surprised in the least. Roush-Fenway's argument appeared to be that they felt it was unfair for a driver during the Chase to be penalized the same as they would outside the Chase. Ridiculous. There shouldn't be two different set of penalties for during the Chase and the rest of the season. A too-low car is still a too-low car whether it's during the Chase or in the first part of the season.

*Bill Elliott's back in the #21 at Charlotte this weekend. As soon as I saw the #21 wreck on Sunday and the #22 finish so well which resulted in the #21 falling out of the top 35 in owner's points I figured Bill would be back in the #21 this weekend. It's a smart move for the #21 team because there's 50 cars entered at Charlotte and Bill will be able to use a Champion's provisional to lock them into the field if he can't make it in on time. I just feel bad for Ken Schrader because it appears that he doesn't have a ride at all in Nascar now. Previously if he wasn't in the #21, he still had the #18 truck to race for Bobby Hamilton Racing. However, he's been replaced in that ride by Dennis Setzer. Of course Kenny can just do some dirt-track racing and he'll be just as happy as if he were racing in Nascar. But it has to be frustrating for Kenny to be in and out of the #21 this season.

*Thatsracin.com is reporting that yet another open-wheel driver will be racing in the Cup series full-time next season. As widely rumored Patrick Carpentier has apparently signed a contract to race the #10 next season for Gillett-Evernham Racing. I don't know much about Carpentier, though he did race the #10 in place of Scott Riggs at Watkins Glen, and he has made a couple of Busch starts. So it's hard to know how well he's going to do in Cup. What's going to be difficult for Carpentier is that the #10 won't be locked into the top 35 in owner's points to start next season and I think it's going to be a tall order to expect a driver with very little Nascar experience to be able to successfully qualify into those races on time and then race well enough to be in the top 35. Carpentier may end up in a similar position to A.J. Allmendinger next season.

*Concerns about making races may put Sam Hornish, Jr.'s plans to race in Cup next season on hold. So far Hornish hasn't been able to make it into any of the Cup races he's attempted to qualify for this season and I can understand why that's making him concerned about next season. I think it might be a wise idea for Penske Racing to put Hornish in the Nationwide Series full-time for a season to get him some more experience before throwing him into a Cup car full-time, especially one that's outside the top 35 in owner's points to start the season. However, Hornish indicated that he would return to IndyCar if he's not racing in Cup.

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

September 28, 2007

What's Out There For Steve Park?

Recently Steve Park has reaffirmed that he'll only consider rides where he can race in the top ten consistently and contend for wins. I've been thinking that means it's unlikely he'll be back on the track full-time in the near future because I doubted that there were all that many of those rides available. But then I figured I should take a look and see how many of those rides actually exist and what their status is for next season.

Steve's preference seems to be to race in the Truck Series, so I'll start there. Here's the list of the trucks and their respective drivers which most often run in the top ten, and as a result make up the top ten in points:

#5 - Mike Skinner - Mike just signed a new three-year deal with Bill Davis Racing prior to the start of this season.

#33 - Ron Hornaday, Jr. - Ron's contending for the Championship so it's doubtful that Kevin Harvick, Inc. will look to make a change, and Ron was recently on Michael Waltrip's show talking about how much he still loves racing, as well as how happy he is in the truck series, so I doubt he's going anywhere.

#6 - Travis Kvapil - Assuming everything works out with sponsorship, there will be an opening in this ride, however, I have to wonder if Roush-Fenway might just eliminate this truck next season. The sponsor K&N initially weren't planning on sponsoring Travis for the full season, and I have to wonder if they'll stick around for another season if he's not in the truck.

#30 - Todd Bodine - Todd won't be back for sure in the #30 since he's going to race the Busch Series full-time with Germain Racing next season. However, it's been said that Germain plans on putting Sean Caisse in this truck, as they'd like to try and develop some young talent.

#23 - Johnny Benson - Since Johnny has three wins, I don't see BDR looking to make any changes here.

#14 Rick Crawford - Rick doesn't have any wins but he has raced fairly well this season. I haven't heard a word about this ride being available.

#9 - Ted Musgrave - Another ride that might have an opening or might disappear entirely. Ted has said that he doesn't know what his status for 2008 is with this team, and Germain has said that they're not sure if they're going to field one truck or two next season.

#99 - Erik Darnell - I believe it's been said by Roush-Fenway that Erik will be back in this ride next season.

#88 - Matt Crafton - Haven't heard anything about Thorsport Racing looking to make changes.

#60 - Jack Sprague - This team has been in the top ten or better in less than half of the races so far this season, but I'm including them since Steve has spoken with Wyler Racing about a ride in the past, and Jack won a race this season so it's a solid team. Although Jack isn't likely to be going anywhere, Wyler Racing has expressed interest in trying to field a second team should they find sponsorship. However, where's the sponsorship going to come from? And some companies may hesitate about spending $2-5 million to sponsor a driver who hasn't raced a truck or much of anything else in a year?

it does appear that there's a few possibilities for Steve in the Truck Series... assuming some of the teams that might have openings would consider him. The other thing is that if Roush and Germain eliminate one of their trucks each, some of the rides which may seem less desirable now because they're only top 15 or top 20 rides, would have the opportunity to improve their position in the standings next season since that would be two less elite trucks they'd be racing against.

Moving on to the Busch Series...

#60 - Carl Edwards - I have no idea what Carl's plans are in relation to the Busch Series for next season but I'd think that once he wins the Championship he might not be inclined not to race this series full-time. Odds are whatever happens with this car will be determined by how much Carl wants to race it in 2008.

#29 - Various - A variety of drivers were behind the wheel of the #29 this season and it's likely that will continue in 2008. Even if RCR wanted to put one driver behind the wheel since Steve didn't appear to part ways with RCR on such good terms I'm not sure they would consider him for this ride anyway.

#20 - Various - Rockwell automation won't be back on the #20 next season so sponsorship is an issue, but my guess is we'll continue to see Denny Hamlin in this car for the most part, maybe Kyle Busch as well.

#21 - Various - See the #29.

#99 - David Reutimann - David would like to race this car again next season but Michael Waltrip Racing would like to put Josh Wise or another young driver behind the wheel. If there's a second MWR Busch car next season it will likely be for David.

#9 - Various - It's likely that this will continue to be a Buschwacking ride for Gillett-Evernham's Cup drivers and Boris Said.

#33 - Various - Odds are Kevin will continue to race this car when RCR doesn't have a Busch car for him and he wants to race in the Busch Series. I would guess we might see Tony Raines in this car more regularly if he doesn't find a Cup ride.

#22 - Various - Fitz isn't considered one of the elite teams in the Busch Series but they do appear to be capable of fielding a car capable of racing in the top ten at times. Fitz hasn't had a full-time driver in this car for a while now and they may plan to do the same for next season. However, this could be a team with potential for Steve, as long as he was willing to deal with the times when the car is less than a top ten car, as the performance of the #22 appears to be inconsistent.

#38 - Jason Leffler - Although he's racing some races for Red Horse Racing at the end of this season, I would think that Jason will be back in this car next season.

#10 - Various - I'd guess this will be used next year by Toyota's Cup drivers who want to Buschwack same as this season. if it should become an open full-time ride it would be a decent ride though, and it could open other doors for Steve since once a driver races for one Toyota team they seem to end up racing for other Toyota teams.

As for the Cup Series, don't make me laugh. There is no chance that Steve will race in Cup again if he's determined that it will only be for a top ten team. Aside from the fact that aren't any openings with those teams for next season, it's really unlikely that Steve would be considered to replace Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, or even Kurt Busch.

Seems to me the pickings are kind of slim if Steve won't consider a non-top ten team, particularly since some of the teams that might have openings might not be interested in him. As I said in a previous entry, I wish that Steve would be open to racing for a top 15-top 20 team. Sure he might not be in contention for wins that often or finish in the top ten as much as he's like but some of those teams probably have potential to improve into top ten teams, particularly if they had a driver behind the wheel that was as talent and driven as Steve is.

Of course all of this might be wasted effort anyway. Steve did indicate an interest in racing the #88 for JR Motorsports and they've only got 7 top tens in 29 races, though I'd expect that to improve next season given the alliance with Hendrick Motorsports and with Brad Keselowski behind the wheel full-time. So perhaps in selected cases Steve will consider a less than elite team - at least I hope so for his sake if his desire to race is as strong as he says it is.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:43 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2007

Park Still Has Desire to Race

Mark Aumann caught up with Steve Park at Dover and wrote a nice article about his desire to continue racing for Nascar.com. As always Steve has a great attitude. He said after finishing 8th in the Busch East race,

"I feel great. I feel like I've got a lot of things left in me and just to get the opportunity [to race at Dover] shows a lot of people that we've still got what it takes to run up front and win races. Now, we need to keep plugging and look for the next deal and try to capitalize on it."

He does have a lot left in him! Drivers like Steve don't forget how to race, and race well. There's no question that given a competitive car or truck he can race up front and win. Which is what he's looking for - as he's said before, a ride with a team that will give him the opportunity to contend for wins. He said,

"The opportunities haven't presented themselves to be with a team that can run up front. We're constantly looking to put ourselves in a position, whether that's a car or a truck, with a team that can run up front."

And if it's not with a top ten team Steve won't consider it. He said,

"We took the year off not to get involved in any teams that can't run up front, run in the top 10 and win races."

and

"If I put myself with a team that runs 20th every week, it's not going to do Steve Park any good. I've got to position myself with a team that can run up front to still show that I've got the youth, I've got the talent and I've got the ability to take the car or truck up to the front and race with these guys."

I wonder how long it's going to be before Steve realizes that maybe accepting one an offer with one of those teams that races 20th every week might actually do him some good? Fact is, a car or truck that finishes top 20 most times that has a solid foundation with good personnel, a supportive sponsor and an owner committed to improving could become a top ten team with his help. It also gets keeps him visible - Steve not only needs to show he can still race competitively, but also that he still has the desire to race that he speaks of and that he's willing to do whatever it takes to continue to race. It's great that Steve has been going to the track this season, but other than this past weekend at Dover it's been as a spectator. I feel like a broken record in this space but getting involved with a team even if it's just as a consultant, or better yet getting behind the wheel when a team is in need of a driver, maybe not even to open any eyes about what he's still capable of, but instead to lend a team a helping hand might end up opening some doors for him down the road.

I also have to wonder if Steve is constantly turning down offers from teams that he feels aren't good enough and won't benefit him, if one day his phone is going to stop ringing because all the teams that are willing to consider giving him a ride will think he's not interested because he's said "no" so many times. Not to mention some of the teams who have approached him about a ride probably are none too happy to find out that in his eyes they're subpar. I've always thought that eventually the desire to race will become so bad that it will over-ride Steve's insistence that the ride he takes has to be absolutely perfect. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Of course Steve has to do what makes him happy. It's his life and he needs to make the choices that he feels are best for himself and his career. But I believe those choices may led to his fans not seeing him on the track very often, if at all, in any of Nascar's three highest series anytime in the near future.

The article concluded with Steve saying,

"I got desire, I've got the drive, I've got the motivation and keep myself in great shape. Now I'm ready to go racing. We just need the opportunity."

Sometimes opportunity is what you make of it but I hope the opportunity that Steve is looking for comes his way soon.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2007

Steve Park FInishes 8th in Sunoco 150

Although I'm sure Steve was hoping to finish even better, I was happy to see when I got home from work that Steve Park finished 8th in the Busch East race yesterday. That's really good considering the car wasn't great in either practice and only qualified mid-pack. However, Steve was able to make the most of the car he was given and finish well with it. I think it's awesome that Steve was able to race this well after having not raced for a year! Granted it was only a Busch East race so the level of competition might not be quite the same as in Busch, Trucks or Cup, but there are still some very talented young drivers in the Busch Series who are backed by Cup organizations, so it's great for Steve that he was able to race well against them.

I'd love to see Steve race regularly in Busch East or ARCA if he can't find anything in one of Nascar's three highest series. Although the money isn't great, and there's not much attention given to either of those series, the racing seems pretty good in both of those series and I think Steve could have some fun. Unfortunately, to this point Steve has expressed no interest in considering a ride in either Busch East or ARCA so I don't think it's going to happen. From everything he's said he's still focused on finding a truck or Busch ride. (I wonder how long it will take when Steve sees his fans at the ride-a-long on Monday before he's talking about how he's working on a two-year deal with a good team for a truck or Busch ride?) But there's no shame in racing in other series, even if it's not as prestigious as truck, Busch or Cup - Ken Schrader does it all the time and loves it. Only time will tell, but if Steve isn't going to be open to a wider variety of opportunities, the next time we might see him racing is a year from now at the next Busch East race at Dover.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park Finishes 8th in Sunoco 150

Although I'm sure Steve was hoping to finish even better, I was happy to see when I got home from work that Steve Park finished 8th in the Busch East race yesterday. That's really good considering the car wasn't great in either practice and only qualified mid-pack. However, Steve was able to make the most of the car he was given and finish well with it. I think it's awesome that Steve was able to race this well after having not raced for a year! Granted it was only a Busch East race so the level of competition might not be quite the same as in Busch, Trucks or Cup, but there are still some very talented young drivers in the Busch Series who are backed by Cup organizations, so it's great for Steve that he was able to race well against them.

I'd love to see Steve race regularly in Busch East or ARCA if he can't find anything in one of Nascar's three highest series. Although the money isn't great, and there's not much attention given to either of those series, the racing seems pretty good in both of those series and I think Steve could have some fun. Unfortunately, to this point Steve has expressed no interest in considering a ride in either Busch East or ARCA so I don't think it's going to happen. From everything he's said he's still focused on finding a truck or Busch ride. (I wonder how long it will take when Steve sees his fans at the ride-a-long on Monday before he's talking about how he's working on a two-year deal with a good team for a truck or Busch ride?) But there's no shame in racing in other series, even if it's not as prestigious as truck, Busch or Cup - Ken Schrader does it all the time and loves it. Only time will tell, but if Steve isn't going to be open to a wider variety of opportunities, the next time we might see him racing is a year from now at the next Busch East race at Dover.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park Finishes 8th in Sunoco 150

Although I'm sure Steve was hoping to finish even better, I was happy to see when I got home from work that Steve Park finished 8th in the Busch East race yesterday. That's really good considering the car wasn't great in either practice and only qualified mid-pack. However, Steve was able to make the most of the car he was given and finish well with it. I think it's awesome that Steve was able to race this well after having not raced for a year! Granted it was only a Busch East race so the level of competition might not be quite the same as in Busch, Trucks or Cup, but there are still some very talented young drivers in the Busch Series who are backed by Cup organizations, so it's great for Steve that he was able to race well against them.

I'd love to see Steve race regularly in Busch East or ARCA if he can't find anything in one of Nascar's three highest series. Although the money isn't great, and there's not much attention given to either of those series, the racing seems pretty good in both of those series and I think Steve could have some fun. Unfortunately, to this point Steve has expressed no interest in considering a ride in either Busch East or ARCA so I don't think it's going to happen. From everything he's said he's still focused on finding a truck or Busch ride. (I wonder how long it will take when Steve sees his fans at the ride-a-long on Monday before he's talking about how he's working on a two-year deal with a good team for a truck or Busch ride?) But there's no shame in racing in other series, even if it's not as prestigious as truck, Busch or Cup - Ken Schrader does it all the time and loves it. Only time will tell, but if Steve isn't going to be open to a wider variety of opportunities, the next time we might see him racing is a year from now at the next Busch East race at Dover.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2007

Photo of the Day - Steve Park

Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing, Bellport, NY, June, 2007. It's Steve!!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park to Race in Busch East Race at Dover!

A few weeks ago I had heard that Steve Park was going to be at Dover and I was hoping so hard that he'd end up racing the Busch East race there like he did last year. As time when on and nothing was announced I started to think it wasn't going to happen, but tonight Steve announced on his website that he will in fact be racing the #53 Busch East car for NDS Motorsports again! Last season Steve finished 2nd in this race, so it would be awesome if he could finish at least that well this time, or even better end up in Victory Lane!! I'm so excited for Steve that he's finally going to get to race again. It's been over a year since he's been on the track racing anything so he must be very anxious to get out there and have some fun!

The only problem is that it's going to be very difficult to know how Steve is doing in the race while it's being raced. Very few households get HDnet, the channel that's broadcasting the race live (I don't) and while there's a Busch East website it seems to be updated very sporadically. Unless something significant happens there's not much other coverage of the series elsewhere either. So unless Steve duplicates his fine finish last year - or betters it - we might not hear much about it. At least Speed will show the race but that won't be until October 10. After a year of waiting to see Steve race again, it'll be very hard to have to wait even longer to see the race! Unfortunately what this also means is that Steve won't get a lot of exposure for being in this race, unless he really does something newsworthy like when he finished 2nd and took part in that great battle for the lead with Tim Andrews, the son of his former crew chief, Paul Andrews. Still, it's great that Steve is going to be racing and I hope he has an awesome race and a lot of fun!

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

September 11, 2007

Some Steve Park News

Steve Park still hasn't found himself a ride but he'll be giving fans rides on Monday, September 24 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Fans can sign up through the Richard Petty Driving Experience for a ride-a-long experience with Steve to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp. This idea came about because a fan asked Steve through his website whether he would consider doing a ride-a-long for her for a milestone birthday, and from there things evolved to where more fans are involved and the VJGC will benefit. Kurt Busch is also doing something similar this fall and in both cases I think it's outstanding. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans with their favorite driver, but it also benefits a great charitable cause and I'm always in favor of good works.

One thing I'm a little disappointed about it that while Steve indicated on his website that he'll be at New Hampshire and Dover the next two weekends, from the sounds of it he'll only be there as a spectator, not to race. I had heard a couple of weeks ago that Steve planned on going to Dover and I had gotten excited because I thought that meant that maybe he was going to race in the Busch East race there as well as at New Hampshire but that doesn't appears to be the case. I have to say that if Steve can't find even a Busch East ride, either because no teams are willing to field a car for him or because he's not interested in racing in that series again, I think the chances of seeing him race anything in the future aren't very good. There was some driver movement leading up to the truck race this weekend and that Steve didn't get any of the rides that became open isn't a good sign either.

I know that Steve will only consider racing something competitive which is a big reason why we haven't seen him make a return to the track since a ride like that doesn't appear to be available to him, but at this point I'd be happy to see him race anything even if it's not an very competitive car or truck as long as it's not a start and park deal and the team is able to pay it's tire bill. Just making laps around the track and not being able to do much racing because the car or truck isn't very good isn't any fun but at least he would be on the track. I completely understand why Steve doesn't want to go that route, but on the other hand the longer he sits out the harder I think it's going to be to find a ride.

Someone wondered on SPC about how Steve stays sharp after not racing so long and I think it's a legitimate question considering Michael Waltrip talked about how taxing it was to race full races when he first started qualifying for races after missing so many to start the season. Michael said that he got very worn out by the end of the first couple of races he raced this season because he had only raced a limited number of laps in testing, practice and qualifying up to that point. And this is someone who works out regularly and has actively raced a lot more than Steve has the past couple of years. It's not just a question of physical endurance either but also the ability to focus as hard as is needed for an entire race - that's can be tiring as well. I also think that there's the issue of needing to keep up on the changes in the sport as well whether it's different set-ups in the car and trucks, rule changes, changes to tracks, etc... I just think it would benefit Steve to get in a car or truck occasionally and make the most of it even if it wasn't an ideal situation. Or if he doesn't want to do that maybe he'll eventually consider working with a team as a consultant or to mentor a young driver. Anything to keep him more involved. I think it's great that he's been going to the track regularly to network and be visible, but so far that doesn't seem to have led to anything.

So I had gotten my hopes up a little that we might see him race this month but unless something happens last minute that it doesn't appear that's going to happen. Disappointing. And I just don't have a good feeling for the future either. But hopefully I'll be wrong and sometime in the near future Steve will be on the track racing a great car or truck.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:17 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)

August 27, 2007

Random Thoughts on Nascar Happenings

On Friday Dale Earnhardt, Jr. asked his fans to lay off when it comes his step-mother Teresa Earnhardt, who has been the subject of a considerable amount of harsh criticism after his decision to leave DEI and her decision not to let him take the #8 with him. Junior says that it's not right that Teresa's daughter, and his step-sister, Taylor, might have to hear about some of these remarks from her classmates, and that Teresa doesn't deserve in general to have so much criticism directed her way. Junior's comments are curious to me. It's only now that some of the nasty comments that fans are making towards Teresa are bothering him? Junior's no stranger to the internet, surely he had to be aware of what was being said. In addition, it's only now that he's thinking about how all of this might be effecting Taylor? Maybe he should have given all of that a little more consideration previously, and had he done so maybe he wouldn't have made some of the comments recently about Teresa after he didn't get the #8 which led to some of the harshest of the comments from fans.

*In other Junior related news, as it turns out Teresa's decision not to let Junior take the #8 might not work out so bad for him after all. Apparently Robert Yates Racing appears willing to let Hendrick Motorsports have the #38 for Junior to use. Personally I think that number is an even better one than the #8 because it not only reflects Junior's history in the sport but more of his father's as well. However, part of me thinks that Junior might be better off racing the #5 or another number with no Earnhardt history attached to it. It's going to be a completely new chapter in his life racing for Hendrick, and it might be good for him to have no ties to the past, and particularly not to his father's legendary number. Another part of me doesn't want to hear any more rumors or speculation about what number Junior might race - just find a number for him and be done with it!http://www.roushracing.com

*There will be some changes among the Roush-Fenway Racing teams next season. Instead of one primary sponsor, the #16 driven by Greg Biffle will have four different primary sponsors, who have yet to be announced. It's interesting to me that Roush broke this sponsorship like this. I wonder if that was a choice they made from the beginning to make it more attractive to sponsors since a partial sponsorship is more affordable on a top team like the ones that Roush fields than a full sponsorship, or because as they tried to find a sponsor for the #16 they couldn't find a company willing to sponsor the car for the full season? Roush has said that Biffle will be back in the #16 next season but given the so-so results this season, Biffle's dissatisfaction and that his contract only goes through the end of next season I can't help but wonder if Roush might be willing to let another team buy out the remainder of Biffle's contract? As for who might end up in the #16, that could be Travis Kvapil, who has gotten good results for Roush in the Truck Series. They clearly like Travis since they may have him race in the Busch Series next season if sponsorship is found for a third team. Travis would take the place of Todd Kluever who is "free to explore other opportunities." Roush had high hopes for Kluever but he hasn't lived up to expectations. Travis would likely do well in Busch next season, but I think if Roush advances him to Cup the results would be much better than they were the first time Travis was in Cup since he didn't get competitive cars to race with either organization he was with.

*According to Max Siegel, DEI will probably announce their driver lineup for next season at Richmond in two weeks. Although a number of drivers outside the organization have been rumored to be under consideration for a ride at DEI, I suspect there won't be many surprises in DEI's announcement and the #08 and #01 rides will be filled by some combination of Mark Martin, Regan Smith and Aric Almirola. I really doubt that David Reutimann will end up at DEI since his contract with Michael Waltrip Racing forbids him from negotiating with other teams about a ride until October. While drivers can get around this by using a middle-man like a business manager to negotiate for them, I highly doubt David could sign with another team before October. Hopefully that means that David will stay at MWR - I think he's a tremendous asset to that organization and I also think they're good for him as well because it seems that they allow him to be who he is, both as a racer and as a person, something that isn't always true at every organization since some want their drivers to fit a specific mold.

*Speaking of David, he was outstanding in Friday night's Busch race! David led 33 laps and took part in a very exciting three-car battle for the win at the end of the race. It sure was great to see him racing up front and right in the middle of the action! At the very end of the race David turned Jason Leffler, who had spun him at ORP and I had initially thought David was getting a little revenge since I know he was furious after that incident. However, Leffler said after the race that he had to check up and there was no way for David to avoid getting into him. But even if it wasn't intentional, I'm sure David didn't mind spinning Leffler - I don't think either David or Michael Waltrip have much love for Leffler even though he's a fellow Toyota driver. After the race David was interviewed by ESPN and even though he was happy about the way the race went for him, he clearly wasn't too thrilled with the way the interview led off with a mention about how he DNQ'd for the Cup race - David visibly rolled his eyes, and at home I joined him with an eye roll of my own. Unless it directed effected the way things went in the Busch race, which it didn't, there was no need to bring up the Cup DNQ when there was so many positive things to talk about from that night's race.

*Nascar made a boo-boo during the Busch race and blew a call on Kyle Busch which resulted in them giving him a penalty he didn't deserve which put him back in the field and hurt his chances to win. Kyle, Rick Hendrick, fans and others were livid with the blown call, but also that Nascar didn't hold up the race to review video to be sure they got the call right. Nascar was apologetic but it doesn't sound likely that they'll be holding up races any time soon to go to the video when teams challenge a penalty. And I have to agree - how can Nascar get into using video replays for every penalty? Suddenly there would be huge amounts of laps run under caution or races would be red flagged for long periods of time while penalties were reviewed. It just doesn't seem practical to me. You hope that Nascar gets the calls right but the reality is that no one is perfect and fans, teams and the drivers have to accept that sometimes mistakes are going to be made. It happens in baseball where they also don't use video replays and somehow the teams and players live with it.

*Newlywed Brendan Gaughan finished second in last week's truck race at Bristol. In a sign of the way things work for drivers and teams in the Truck Series, Brendan got far more publicity for getting married than he did for finishing second or for pretty much anything else he's done the past couple of years. Of course part of that is because even though Brendan has had some good finishes, and has run well at other times but seen bad luck ruin races for him, the overall results the past few years haven't been too impressive. He's not won a race since 2003 and hasn't been even close to being in contention for the Championship since he returned to the Truck Series full-time.

South Point Racing remains a bit of a puzzle to me as it was when Steve Park raced for them. Obviously a big reason, if not the only reason, the organization exists is because of Brendan since his father owns and funds the team. For one thing at times it seems as if they could use some additional financial help to be more competitive. Now the Gaughan family is very wealthy thanks to their involvement in the casino business in Las Vegas, and they're doing so well that they have $95 million for an expansion to the South Point Casino. Yet there's clearly a limit to how much Michael Gaughan is willing to put into this organization which resulted in Steve being released when they decided the funds weren't available to keep the truck on the track for the rest of the 2005 season. However, they've not been able to find an outside sponsor for Brendan's team either since Jasper left. I guess it seems to me that the organization is stuck in suspended animation - a lack of an outside sponsor means that it will be hard for them to have the funding necessary to be more competitive and if they can't even find sponsorship for one team it would be hard for them to find the sponsorship necessary to expand. I suppose South Point Racing might only exist as long as Brendan wants to race or run a race team.

*Joe Gibbs Racing says that there will be no announcement about them joining Toyota at California and I'm starting to wonder if Gibbs really is going to switch manufacturers as has been rumored for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if Gibbs did switch to Toyota because I think it would really boost Toyota's efforts in Cup but I also wouldn't be surprised if all these rumors were just Gibbs using Toyota as leverage to get the best deal possible from GM. There also seems to be a rather large roadblock in relation to Gibbs becoming a Toyota organization - Tony Stewart. Apparently Tony has close ties to Chevy through the teams he fields through Tony Stewart Motorsports in other series and the feeling is that Tony isn't going to want to drive for any other manufacturer besides GM. Tony may even have an "out" in his clause that would allow him to leave Gibbs if they went with Toyota. I can't see Gibbs doing anything that would result in them losing Tony who is probably one of, if not the, best drivers in Nascar right now.

*Apparently Steve Park went to Bristol, though I've not heard of anyone who actually saw him at the track. Some members of Travis Kvapil's family ran into Steve at a Wendy's on the way to Bristol. Someone who will remain anonymous joked "was he eating there or working there?" Yeah, that's how bad things have gotten. I'd like to think that Steve was working the garage area, networking and meeting with teams regarding a ride for the rest of this season and beyond, but it's also possible he just went to be part of the excitement that is Bristol and watch some great racing for his birthday which was last Thursday.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2007

Hard to Believe It's Been More than a Year

Since Steve Park's raced in one of Nascar's three highest series that is. I didn't even realize it until I saw someone post about that on Steve Park Central. But it's true. Other than that Busch East race in September of last year, the last time Steve raced in Nascar was the Busch race at ORP on August 5, 2006. The results for Steve in that race, much like the results in just about every other Busch race last year were less than impressive as Steve finished 32nd. It's really hard to have much optimism that we'll be seeing Steve racing any time in the near future in Nascar again, and I don't care who has a problem with me thinking that. It's hard enough for veteran drivers to find rides, but even harder when they sit out for long periods of time.

Oh sure, Steve's talked this summer about a potential deal for a truck ride coming together late in the season or working with JR Motorsports, and I'd love to see that happen, but from what I understand when the right questions are asked he's been far more pessimistic about the chances of him racing this season. That Steve will only consider competitive rides that he can win in only complicates things since there's so few rides like that available, and younger drivers with better recent results, or those who can attract or bring sponsorship with them will likely be considered before Steve. As much as I hate to think it, and as much as I think Steve could still race up front and win in a good car or truck, I think there's a chance we've seen the last of Steve in Nascar unless he considers a lesser ride, and I certainly understand if he's not willing to do that at this point in his career.

Lately a few have taken to complaining about drivers buying rides, something Steve isn't willing to do, so he sits out while others get to race. Seems to me a driver funding a ride through a family connection, exchanging goods or services for a ride or bringing sponsorship with them - what Steve is looking to do for a truck ride - is all the same. In every case the drivers involved are doing what they need to do to find a ride and I see nothing wrong with any of it. The reality is that it's very expensive for teams to field cars or trucks, so they need drivers to act as partners with them to help keep the team going, especially if they want to be competitive. In addition, with how hard it is for drivers to find rides, they need to do whatever will make them more attractive to teams and sponsors. But the bottom line is that no team is going to put someone behind the wheel who has absolutely no talent, despite what some think. Bringing money or a sponsorship opens doors for some drivers, but they still need to produce to some degree to keep their ride.

It used to be that I was incredulous or upset when Steve was passed over for rides, now it barely registers because Steve's simply not a good fit for a lot of rides. He wouldn't consider racing for teams like the #49 or #78 in Cup that struggle to qualify for races let alone race competitively, and it's understandable when David Green gets selected to race for Red Horse Racing over Steve since David had been working with that team previously. Then there's all the issues about sponsors, age, results that teams are looking for etc... and the pieces just don't seem to fit for Steve with a lot of teams.

Hopefully things will change and a good ride will become available for Steve, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's raced his last Nascar race, at least as a full-time driver.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2007

Steve Park and JR Motorsports

Steve Park has been taking part in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride this week, and at one of the stops he told someone that his fans should email JR Motorsports to encourage them to give him a ride. Because I'd love to see Steve race the #88, even if just for a race or two, I sent an email to JR Motorsports expressing how much I'd like to see Steve race for them. But I didn't feel entirely comfortable about it. Fans send emails to teams and sponsors all the time, and I think they should to make sure their voices are heard, but when was the last time a driver being considered for a ride asked his fans to make a pitch to the team on his behalf? It struck me - and I know a few others as well - as odd. Generally drivers are very close-mouthed about the teams they're talking to and with good reason. In Nascar deals that seem like a sure thing can fall apart in an instant. sponsors disappear, drivers get rides stolen out from under them, teams change their mind about the direction they want to go in, and some drivers just feel it's bad karma to talk about the specifics of deals before they're finalized.

In all fairness maybe Steve wasn't all that serious with his request but asking fans to contact JR Motorsports also has a hint of desperation to it. Steve should have the confidence in himself and his talent as a driver to believe that he can get a ride with JR Motorsports on his own merits, not because fans pleaded for him to get the ride. But I can understand why Steve might feel he needs to do everything he can to try to ensure that JR Motorsports puts him in the #88. It would be a tremendous opportunity for Steve to showcase himself in a car that's likely a lot more competitive than anything he's raced in a few years. Even just a handful of races could open the door to bigger and better things for Steve. I also think it would be really good for him if a prominent person in the garage area like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. showed that they have confidence that he could succeed in one of their cars. But more than all of that the reality is that there likely aren't going to be too many opportunities that come Steve's way to race a good car or truck. That's not because he's lacking in talent - there's no doubt he can race up front and contend for wins in a competitive ride. But for the past few years it hasn't seemed like an abundance of quality teams are knocking down Steve's door with job offers.

The other thing that makes me slightly uneasy about Steve asking his fans to contact JR Motorsports on his behalf is that the signs are pointing to Junior wanting to put Brad Keselowski in the #88 regularly. Junior has stated that these three races are an audition for Brad being in the car for more races, but the biggest sign is that Brad is staying with Junior in his house. I can't see Junior letting someone live with him and then turn around and say "Sorry, I have no use for you" after just a few weeks. On some level it seems to me that Junior wants to take Brad under his wing as he's done with others like Martin Truex, Jr. So while it's certainly not definite that Brad will race the #88 for any more races this season, it feels to me almost as if Steve is lobbying for another driver's ride. And I'm not sure how well that's going to be perceived by those at JR Motorsports and elsewhere.

In the past I've wished that Steve would be more aggressive about trying to find a ride. So I've been very happy this season to see that for the most part I think Steve's done an excellent job this season of keeping himself visible and trying to do what he needs to do to find a ride. This just doesn't feel right to me. But what do I know - I'm just a know-nothing fan.

On a semi-related note, one other thing that I noticed is that the timetable that Steve's laid-out for putting a deal together for that truck ride that he's been talking about seems to coincide with the last of the five races that Ryan Mathews was supposed to race in the #22/#36 truck for Bill Davis Racing. I sure hope that wasn't the ride that Steve was counting on since I've seen yet another reference to Ryan being signed to race that truck for the rest of the season. Maybe that's not accurate or there's some other team that Steve's been talking to, but seeing how those two time-frames lined up didn't give me a very good feeling.

And on another semi-related note, I'm still wondering - where is Steve going to find a sponsor who is willing to hand over $3-5 million a season through 2009? Ginn Racing cut lose Sterling Marlin, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, and Joe Nemechek, another proven winner, because they couldn't find sponsorship for either of their teams. Granted it's a lot more expensive to sponsor a Cup car, but that doesn't fill me with confidence that sponsorship is going to be found for whatever ride Steve hopes to end up in. Which is why it would be a good thing if something could be worked out with JR Motorsports since that car is fully sponsored, so Steve wouldn't have to worry about bringing sponsorship with him to a team to make a ride happen for him.

I guess I'm just a worry-wart by nature, and I think a lot about things. Some will say, trust in Steve, believe in Steve, have faith in Steve, etc... but it's hard for me to see where the pieces fit together with some of these scenarios. Hopefully things will play out in Steve's favor...

Posted by silverdsl at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2007

David Green Will Race the #1 For the Rest of the Season

When David Green was picked to race the #1 truck for Red Horse Racing this weekend in Kentucky, I had hoped that he wasn't named the full-time driver right away meant that there might be an opportunity for Steve Park in that truck. But that's not going to happen as Red Horse Racing announced today that David will race the #1 truck for them for the rest of the season. It's natural for the team to turn to David to race the truck for them since he's been working with them since the start of the season, but I thought this truck would be one in which Steve could have been very successful in. In addition, as I discussed the other day, I also think it's a bad sign that the team selected someone with so little experience racing a truck regardless of how familiar he is to them, over Steve who not only has so much Truck Series experience, but has also won in a truck. I really hope his mystery ride comes through in August because unfortunately it might end up being his last opportunity for a ride, at least for a full-time ride.

In related news, Aaron Fike and because she was also employed in some capacity for the team, Cassandra Davidson, were suspended indefinitely by Nascar, which is likely what prompted David to be named the full-time driver of the #1. It's no surprise that Nascar took such swift action against Aaron, though some fans feel that Nascar should have waited to see whether he was convicted or not. However, once the police report was made public, and it was revealed that Aaron admitted his heroin use to a police officer, Nascar had all they needed to suspend him, though I'd guess they also did some investigating of their own. With an offense this serious, that could put Aaron's fellow competitors at risk should he be allowed to continue to race, Nascar did the right thing. Since they aren't a part of the legal system, they aren't under any obligation to wait to see how things play out before they act.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2007

David Green to Replace Aaron Fike in Kentucky

Due to Aaron Fike's unavailability to race in Kentucky this weekend since he's sitting in jail after being arrested for the possession of heroin, David Green has been named to race the #1 Toyota Tundra truck for Red Horse Racing. At first I was puzzled that David would end up in this truck. Although he's an accomplished Busch racer, David has only made four starts in the truck series previously. Then I realized that this likely came about due to David's already existing connections to Toyota since he raced three Busch races for Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports this season, and also works with Red Bull Racing in the Cup Series. In addition, David is also from Owensboro, KY, so it makes sense to put him in the truck in front of a hometown crowd. (It just now occurred to me that most of the people in Nascar from Owensboro, except for Jeff Green are affiliated with Toyota.)

Still, it seems a little surprising that with an experienced Truck Series driver who has shown he can race up front and win like Steve Park available that Red Horse Racing would go with David. Maybe Steve will end up in this ride yet, but if he doesn't I don't think it bodes well for him. Of course it's possible that Red Horse Racing asked Steve to race for them and he turned them down due to the ride not fitting what he's looking for or because he has obligations he can't get out of (he's slated to take part in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride starting on Saturday). But this is exactly the kind of ride that seems like it would be a good fit for Steve because it's a fairly competitive truck with some sponsorship.

WIthin the past week there was talk on Steve Park Central about how close Steve came to racing at Kentucky for an unnamed team. I literally laughed out loud when I read that. How many times in the past year or two has Steve been close to a deal for a ride? Close doesn't mean much of anything because until there's an actual done deal Steve isn't racing. Someone said to me that it's like saying that you're close to winning the lottery - you don't actually end up with any money by being "close" to winning. I would dearly love to see Steve racing again as much as any other fan of his, but after his long, with so many announcements about announcements that have amounted to nothing, and talk of deals for rides that haven't come to pass, it's really hard to think that a full-time or even semi-full-time ride is actually going to come through for Steve, as much as I'd like to see that happen. At this point, I'd even like to see him race just one or two races for some team that needs some help from a veteran driver!

After I saw Steve just a few weeks ago in early June I had gotten pretty optimistic that he'd be back on the track racing before the end of the season. He spoke so confidently about how he was working on a deal with a good team for later in the season, and he sounded absolutely sure that it was going to happen. Then on June 29th he posted on his site that he had "no luck so far" when it came to finding a ride. Just a few days later it was said on ESPN2 during Busch coverage that he told people in the garage area that if he was trying to find a sponsor to do something in August (and he also showed interest in the #88 for JR Motorsports). With the way the story's changed three different times in a month, I'm not really feeling all that optimistic any more because it doesn't sound like Steve has anything concrete in the works at all.

I'm especially feeling pessimistic if whatever he's working on is contingent on sponsorship. Steve hasn't had a full-time primary sponsor since 2003 when he had AOL on the #30 car for Richard Childress Racing. Why would a sponsor step up to the plate to sponsor Steve full-time now when that's not happened in the past few years? Oh sure, there were all those rumors about the ride that never happened with Bill Davis Racing, but that fell apart due to a lack of sponsorship, and at the end of the day a non-viable sponsor that Nascar won't approve (if there was actually any truth there as I've heard some conflicting things regarding that non-deal) is the same as no sponsor at all. There was also the rumor that Steve had partial sponsorship to bring with him to a team, but if he did he'd have some sort of ride right now since it doesn't take much sponsorship to get a ride considering how desperate all the truck teams are for sponsorship.

And the other thing that I can't get past - how is Steve going to sell a company on sponsoring him from August on? Where's the benefit to this sponsor in terms of exposure and the promotion of their company or product? The series's biggest race was the first one at Daytona, and the two races that would garner the most exposure are two that already happened - those that were broadcast on FOX. Perhaps Steve is looking to put something together for the end of this season and through next season, but then we're talking about a significant investment of money ($1-3 million or more) in a driver that hasn't raced in almost a year, and potentially with a new team should this deal be with and organization like Wyler Racing that only fields one team currently. I love Steve, but I think it's a hard sell, particularly when one considers that established teams with drivers who have been racing regularly are having a hard time in some cases finding and keeping primary sponsors.

What it boils down to is that unless Steve somehow ends up in this ride after Kentucky, I don't have a very good feeling about things. What he's been talking about for later in the season is way too nebulous for me to be confident that it's actually going to happen.

Back to Aaron Fike, I've seen some fans express skepticism in relation to his arrest for heroin possession, that maybe it was just his fiancee who was using. Well, according to the police report, aside from finding quite a bit of drug paraphernalia in the SUV, including a syringe filled with heroin, both Aaron and his fiancee admitted to using black tar heroin. I've also seen some fans shrug this off because after all, doesn't everyone experiment with drugs? It's truly astonishing to me that some don't understand just how serious this is. Using heroin is vastly different than smoking the occasional joint. It's a hardcore drug that's extremely addictive. Aaron will be lucky if he doesn't lose his life to heroin, let alone his career in Nascar.

I also have to ask - and not for the first time - if Aaron and his fiancee were heroin addicts, didn't anyone in the garage area notice that something wasn't right with them? Yes, people who have drug problems hide their addictions, but the use of a hardcore drug like heroin causes physical, emotional and behavioral changes. If there were some in the garage area who were aware that he had a problem and said nothing, shame on them. There are enough risks in racing to the competitors without racing side-by-side with someone who has a problem with heroin. I really hope Nascar starts regular drug testing for drivers and pit crew members.

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

July 08, 2007

Aaron Fike Arrested for Drug Possession

Turns out Tyler Walker, who was recently suspended by Nascar for failing a drug test, might not be the only Truck Series driver with a drug problem. Over the weekend, Aaron Fike, driver of the #1 truck for Red Horse Racing, who is currently 8th in the Truck Series points was arrested for drug possession along with his fiancee Cassandra Davidson at Kings Island, an amusement park in Ohio. As Fike was driving out of the parking lot he hit a security guard with the driver's side mirror on his SUV. When police arrived they discovered the heroin, along with drug paraphernalia with residue in the SUV.

Of course Fike hasn't been convicted of anything yet, but I'd think Nascar is probably not going to want to let someone who might have a problem with heroin back on the track to race. So that means that Red Horse Racing might be in need of a driver. Naturally some of my fellow Steve Park fans are already thinking that this would be an opportunity for Steve, and he certainly is available, assuming he's willing to give up taking part in the Kyle Petty Charity Ride that starts next weekend, the same day as the truck race in Kentucky. It would be a decent truck too - Fike was able to race his way to two top tens and most recently a 5th place finish at Memphis. I can't really think of too many other drivers who would be available to step into this ride, but I've thought this in the past, only to see Steve still sitting on the sidelines while other drivers, some of whom I've never even heard of have gotten rides. The other issue is sponsorship. It doesn't appear that Red Horse Racing has much of it, and I think one reason Fike got this ride was because he brought a sponsor with him. So if they end up without a sponsor if Fike is parked by Nascar, I have to wonder what the future of the team would be.

Some fans seems shocked that a young driver with his entire life ahead of him would waste an opportunity to make a name for himself in Nascar on drugs. But I'm not surprised. Outside of Nascar there's countless people in all walks of life who lose everything they have and are to drugs. As much as Nascar likes to pretend that their sport is somehow above all the problems that other sports have, why would Nascar be any different? Particularly when drivers and crew members aren't tested for drugs unless they have reason to suspect that someone is using. I have to wonder though about Fike - if he really was using heroin, how is it that no one around him in the garage area noticed that there might be something off about him? Heroin is a hardcore drug, not just a drug that often gets used casually like pot.

I think the time is well past for Nascar to take their heads out of the sand and start doing random testing for drugs. I'd like to think that the majority of drivers would be smarter than to use drugs, but that there's been three young drivers who have been suspended for drug use in the past few years, plus another driver arrested for possession of drugs speaks to the need for Nascar to re-evaluate their policy as it relates to drugs.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:54 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)

June 15, 2007

Another Black Mark for 360OTC

At least one person who is very involved with 360OTC has a criminal background. Mark DeMattei whose "advertising agency" Air, Sea, Ground, was "awarded" a $65 million contract (by his alleged girlfriend, the CEO of 360OTC's parent company) to promote and advertise 360OTC (something they haven't seem to do much of), pled guilty to battery with substantial bodily harm, and was sentenced to 1-5 years in prison. More serious charges related to sexual assault were dropped as part of a plea agreement. Yes, that was quite a few years ago, but that doesn't change the fact that one of the key players in 360OTC has a rather checkered past. It's amazing to me that given how image conscious and concerned about morals those in the garage area are that Bill Davis Racing would enter into a sponsorship deal with this sponsor.

All I know is that as I discussed in a previous entry, I hope Steve Park doesn't end up in the #36 truck unless it's with a different sponsor. He told me last week at the Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing that he's trying to put together a deal for a truck ride for later this season. Maybe it's with Wyler Racing or another organization, but given that Steve was at an event with a whole bunch of folks from BDR, it does makes one wonder. As I said before, I have no idea how a driver with as much integrity and class as Steve could want to put himself in a position where he has to represent a sponsor that is as shady as 360OTC appears to be. Now it's entirely possible that 360OTC would be off the truck by the time Steve gets in, if that's even what's going to happen, but then there's the question of who's going to sponsor the truck if not 360OTC?

There's also the question of why Steve would even be talking with BDR after being strung along by them for a good part of last season? An old saying comes to mind - "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Of course I'm certainly not privvy to the inner workings at BDR or what happened in regards to Steve's disappearing truck ride last season, or what assurances they might make to him regarding a future truck ride to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen. But from outside looking in, if I were in Steve's shoes I would hesitate to get involved with them again, regardless of how many friends I might have in the organization.

It's really a conflict for me. I dearly want to see Steve racing again, and it's almost certain that a BDR truck would be competitive. But I think this sponsor is bad news, and I'm not too thrilled with BDR as a whole either. I'll be excited if and when Steve finds himself a new ride, but if it were with this organization and this sponsor, I probably won't be jumping up and down with as much excitement as I would if it were a different scenario. I just can't can't wrap my mind around how Steve would represent a sponsor that appears to have so many issues.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2007

What if Steve Park Were to End up in the #36 Truck?

The possibility of Steve Park being signed to race the #36 truck for Bill Davis Racing now that Tyler Walker's been suspended indefinitely came up today on SPC. As much as I want Steve to find a ride, I hope it's not this one. For one thing BDR strung Steve along last year for months about the possibility of a ride, which likely contributed to Steve not having a ride now because in his own words, he "put all his eggs in one basket" thinking that BDR was going to come through with a ride for him, which never happened, and by the time he found out they were going in another direction, other teams had already made their plans for this season. But I think the biggest problem with this ride is the sponsor - 360OTC. I'll always be a fan of Steve's, I'll always cheer for him, and support him no matter what, but there's no way that I could support this sponsor. Not when they're seemingly getting sued every other week, have been tied to possible shady sponsorship deals of the past, and just recently merged with another company with a sketchy past. That's not even taking into account the broken promises to Jeremy Mayfield fans, plus the shoddy way Jeremy's fans were treated on the 360OTC website, and how little of this sponsor's product has actually seemed to make it to stores. Of course maybe things aren't what they seem, and all the accusations against this sponsor are unfounded, but it seems to me there's a pattern here that's very troublesome. I try to support the sponsors of my favorite drivers, but in this case there would be no way that I would purchase anything associated with this sponsor until it was clear that the allegations against them were untrue, or there were some sort of reasonable explanations offered.

Given Steve's tremendous integrity and class, I really can't picture him representing and promoting this sponsor given all their issues. I have no doubt that Jeremy is well-aware of some of the problems related to his sponsor and I think it must be difficult at times to pretend that everything is fine with them. Of course in some ways everything still is okay as long as 360OTC continues paying for their sponsorship - and they must be for now at least considering they're still on the #36 car, and are slated to be back on the #36 truck sometime in June. Still, I wouldn't want to see Steve (or any other driver), in the position that Jeremy's in where he might have to make excuses for the actions of his sponsor, or worry about when BDR might be the next organization suing them for breaking a deal or for non-payment.

Somewhere, someone is surely saying that I'm a "bad" fan. After all the #36 truck would be competitive, Steve would be racing every week, he'd be working with his good friend and former motorcoach driver, Carl, and be a teammate to another good friend in Mike Skinner. Someone is likely saying that if I were a "real" fan I'd want Steve to take any ride, no matter what issues might be associated with it if it meant that he could get back to racing regularly. That if I were a "true" fan, I'd support Steve no matter what, no questions asked, and that I would keep any concerns about this sponsor to myself. After all, "good" fans have only positive, happy, "flowers and rainbows" things to say about their driver and everything he's associated with. Of course that's all a bunch of BS. "Real," "true," and "good" fans don't want to see their driver in a bad situation where their reputation could possibly be tainted by their association with a possibly shady sponsor. Nor do they have to agree with everything their driver says or does. Jeremy's fans still support their driver 110%, as well as BDR, but many of those that are aware of the situation with 360OTC hope that he gets a new sponsor sooner rather than later.

Of course it might not be too likely that Steve is considered for this ride anyway. Tyler was in BDR's driver development program, and BDR has replaced him with another of their development drivers, Ryan Mathews. I can't find an article that mentions it but it's been said over on one of Jeremy's forums that Ryan's in the truck for at least five races. Maybe they'll be some discussion between now and then about Steve racing the #36 but I wouldn't be surprised to see BDR continue with Ryan if he gets semi-decent results. Something tells me that the BDR ship sailed for Steve long-ago.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:01 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 14, 2007

Steve Park May Race This Weekend at Charlotte

Turns out that Steve Park wasn't just testing a truck for Key Motorsports last week at Lowe's Motorspeedway to help the team out, he's also being considered to race the #44 at Charlotte on Friday night. According to team owner Curtis Key, the team's not even sure they're going to field the #44 in addition to the #40 with Shane Huffman behind the wheel, and if they do it may be Clay Rogers who races it instead of Steve. So it's not a done deal that we'll be seeing Steve race this weekend, but I'm happy that he's even being considered! Of course if he ends up being named to drive the #44 on Friday, Steve will have to qualify in for the race. If he makes the show, which he should because Steve has always seemed like a solid qualifier, I'm going to keep my expectations reasonable. This team didn't have all that much speed as compared to other teams during testing, and it seems like they might have start-n-parked this truck twice this season with Morgan Shepard. However, assuming they show up making a legitamite effort to racek, and I think it's unlikely Steve would agree to a start -n- park, it would be awesome to see Steve back on the track in a truck race after so long! Even if the truck isn't as competitive as Steve might like, he might be able to have some fun racing and just like testing it's an opportunity to shake off any rust he might have after not having raced for so long. Really anything that gets Steve to or on the track and in the garage area is a good thing at this point because if nothing else it's another opportunity to network and try to put together a more regular ride.

I know some still think this is just a temporary bump in the road for Steve, that he's going to find a competitive ride and that he'll be back to contending for wins in the near future. That may very well happen if he gets a ride with Wyler Racing, but it's probably unlikely to happen with this ride. I also think there's a good chance that Steve may never race in a truly competitive car or truck again. The perfect scenario would be if sponsorship came through for the Wyler Racing ride because that truck probably would be pretty good, but it's very hard for teams to secure sponsorship in the truck series these days, not to mention a potential sponsor not only has to want to align themselves with Wyler Racing, but also with Steve - some sponsors might want a younger driver or a driver who's had more recent success.

In a lot of ways I find it sad that Steve's career has gone in the direction that it has to the point where I have to be thrilled that he's working with Key Motorsports. To their credit, I think Curtis Key is committed to trying to improve his teams, but they aren't among the best teams in the series. I never thought that Steve would end up with a team like this, not even full-time no less, and struggle to find a ride, just two years after winning a truck race at California. Then again, I never imagined that Michael Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 winner would struggle so much this season either to the point where he's only raced in one Cup race. I guess the lesson is that I should really appreciate the successes of my favorite drivers because there's no telling when it might all come to a sudden end.

And make no mistake, Steve's career likely is winding down. Even if he signs with Wyler Racing or another team to race full-time he's pretty much said that he's not planning on racing much more than another two or three years. But there's also a good chance that it's going to be really hard if not impossible for him to find another full-time ride, not because he's lacking in talent, but because of all the other issues that I've discussed in this space many times before from his age, to his lack of recent good results, to the inaccurate "damaged goods" tag, etc... So I guess the reason why I find it a little sad that he's got no other better offers at the moment than to race for Key Motorsports is because I see it as another sign that the sport has passed him by and there's no longer a place for him.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2007

Steve Park to Test for Key Motorsports

Steve Park fans have been wondering if he might turn up at truck testing at Charlotte this week, and it was announced today that Steve will be there, but not in a second truck for Wyler Racing as many were hoping, but instead in a truck for Key Motorsports. Apparently Shane Huffman who normally races the #40 truck is unavailable to take part in testing due to having to be at Darlington in his Busch car, so the team called on Steve. I'm so happy that Steve's going to be making a return to the track to do something racing-related, even though it's just taking part in testing!

I can't see any downside to taking this gig. For one thing there's the possibility that it could lead to more opportunities with Key Motorsports, since I think they've been continuing to use a variety of drivers for their second truck. Also, it's another opportunity for Steve to network and make himself visible in the garage area. If he's able to be fast in the #40 during the test, it might also catch the eye of some other teams, who might consider giving him a ride. And owners won't be concerned about Steve being rusty from not having been behind the wheel of a truck in so long if he's at least done some testing.

I'm sure there are some who are disappointed that he's going to be working with a team like Key Motorsports that isn't among the elite in the garage area, but it's not like Steve is making a long-term committment to him - it's just testing, and I think it's terrific that he's taking advantage of an opportunity that's being presented to him. Curtis Key has expressed his intention to put a lot of effort into improving his teams, and even if they haven't gotten impressive results, I think Key has the right attitude. Given how hard it is to find sponsorship in the Truck Series these days, there's no telling how long - if ever - it will take Wyler Racing to find a sponsor for a second truck, and Steve can't wait around for them to put something together.

Maybe it'll work out for Steve and Wyler, maybe Steve will race for Key, maybe he'll race for some other team - or no team at all, but it seems to me that Steve is doing everything he can to try to make something happen for himself. In the past three or four months it's seemed to me like there's been a shift in attitude and approach for Steve. In the past it's seemed like he's not been overly aggressive when it's come to looking for a new ride, and that he's not been very good about keeping himself visible. That's really changed recently - he's gone to the track several times to network, made an appearance at Dale Earnhardt Day, been on XM and Sirius, has been making an effort to connect with his fans via periodic Q&As on his website, etc... I don't know exactly why Steve decided to do things differently or who might be advising him, but both they and he are doing a very good job of late of taking advantage of opportunities!

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

April 13, 2007

Random Thoughts on Nascar

*It's looking more and more like qualifying today is going to be cancelled for the Cup race at Texas, which means that the field will be set by owner's points, and both David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip will be going home. My heart breaks for Michael that after such a hard week he may not even get the chance to try to make it in this race. I feel bad for David too, because in the half hour of practice they got in, he had one of the fastest cars. I'm sure the talk will start up again about how NAPA is going to dump him, and how Michael should get out of the car, but with rain forecasted all week, I'm sure that NAPA and everyone else associated with the team expected that weather might be a problem today.

*Speaking of NAPA, at some point last week it was mentioned either by Michael or Lee White from Toyota that he and Michael were going to go down to meet with NAPA in Atlanta, presumably to reassure them that things will improve this season. Given Michael's accident last weekend, and the ensuing media and fan frenzy that followed, I'm sure the meeting was about more than just the performance of the #55. I really hope NAPA continues to have faith in Michael. He's going through a hard time now, but if everyone shows enough patience, things are likely to improve as time goes on - Michael, MWR and Toyota are working hard to make it so.

*Previously Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had said that he had no plans to field any Cup cars through JR Motorsports. However, since then he's apparently changed his mind. Junior now says that while they have no plans to do so now, that's something they could do down the road. I don't see how they couldn't look into doing that if they have the resources, sponsorship and a driver that's Cup ready. That seems like the natural progression of things. Eventually the drivers they're developing will be ready for Cup, and it doesn't make sense to let them go to another organization, when they could be very successful for JR Motorsports. Junior says that his sister, Kelley, wouldn't let him race a Cup car for JR Motorsports even if he wanted to, but I wouldn't be surprised if that changed one day too.

*Kelley repeated this week that she and Junior want at least 51% of DEI as part of the terms of negotiating Junior's next contract with DEI because they want control of the company to make the decisions they feel need to be made to make the Cup program as successful as it needs to be so Junior, and presumably the other DEI Cup drivers, can win Championships. I've previously discussed in this space my issues with Kelley and Junior's demands to gain control of DEI, but I'll repeat a few things. First of all, Teresa has just as much right to DEI as any of the Earnhardt children do. Contrary to what many fans think, I don't think she should have to hand it over just because Kelley and Junior are demanding it. In addition, what about the rest of Dale Earnhardt's children - there are four, not just two, and they all should be involved on the ownership side equally.

I also wonder how Junior and Kelley are going to manage running two different motorsports organizations with multiple teams, plus Junior racing full-time in Cup, and all the other obligations Junior has to sponsors, the media and the fans? They may find that having control isn't as easy as they think. The other thing I'm wondering is whether Junior and Kelley are prepared to walk away from DEI completely if they don't get control. If they walk away, it might not mean that they have no involvement in DEI now, but also in the future - is that what they really want? Not to mention, what do Junior and Kelley think is going to happen if Junior leaves DEI for another team? They aren't going to get an ownership share and control over the organization to guide the Cup program the way they want.

*I didn't post many of my opinions regarding what Steve Park said on Sirius today because I didn't want to accidentally upset anyone coming over from SPC, since some have trouble with analysis and opinions, so I'll post a few thoughts here. From the sounds of it, Wyler Racing wants to put Steve in a truck, and Steve wants to race for them, but sponsorship is the issue. So how likely is it to actually happen with all the problems teams in the Truck Series are having finding and keeping primary sponsors? It took Wyler Racing months, if not close to a year if I remember right, to find a primary sponsor for Jack Sprague, how quickly will it happen for a second truck? Steve says he wants to be in a truck by the race at Charlotte, which is a month from now, but unless they're fairly close to a deal, as much as I'd like to see that happen, I'm not going to get my hopes up. My other concern would be if Wyler finds a sponsor, but that sponsor doesn't want Steve. There is no better driver available, but depending on that sponsor's marketing plan and other factors they might not want to go with Steve.

I'm just glad to hear Steve say that unlike in the past when he's put his eggs all in one basket and been burned by it (BDR deal anyone?), he's going to make sure he has a back-up plan. Steve said specifically when he put his eggs all in one basket, and then ended up rideless, that he was to blame for that. Not that Nascar has some vast conspiracy against him. Not that that every team in the garage area thinks he's damaged goods. And not any other conspiracy or excuse that fans use to justify their belief that the course of Steve's career is entirely in other people's hands, not his own. He was quite clear about saying that he realized that his approach to finding a ride needed to change, and I was very happy to hear him say that.

Hopefully things will come together for Steve, and we'll see him back on the track soon. I would love to see him race for Wyler Racing (or any Toyota truck team for that matter), since they're a strong team that fields competitive trucks. I have no doubt that Steve would race up front and contend for some wins with Wyler Racing!

*What I don't understand is why Steve didn't have someone put a note up on his website about his appearance on Sirius today? He knew about it since yesterday at least, so that would give time to throw something up quickly to ensure that as many of his fans as possible knew about it. Sirius even had him listed as a guest on their own website. It just seems like a missed opportunity to promote himself, and something that he was doing. Steve talked about being worried that fans would forget about him if he wasn't racing, making sure they know about appearances he's making, whether it's at the track, or in the media, will help make sure that doesn't happen.

*The 911 call from Michael's accident was released today, and I won't be listening to it. Based on the summary I've seen, it's not much different than what's already been reported, but I feel like it would be way too upsetting to listen to. I guess to some it sounds crazy that I'm upset about someone I don't know being involved in an accident, but that's what happens when you're a fan of someone.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

Summary of Steve Park on Sirius

I’m not going to bother to summarize most of what Steve said in the first segment about the positives in Nascar because it was mostly agreeing with callers rather than anything much about himself specifically, other than some discussion about how great Whelan is with all that they’re doing to help give young driver opportunities through their series sponsorships. A caller had a story that I’m not sure I got correctly, but was something along the lines of how prior to that race in California where Steve had the pole and then wrecked on lap one, he did a signing. Apparently there was a guy at the signing who didn’t get a ticket to get something signed and was angry so he yelled at Steve that he hoped he wrecked on lap one, and that’s exactly what ended up happening.

It hurts not racing but he’s working on a lot of things. He’s hoping it’s going to happen soon. He would love to be in a truck by Charlotte, and is working on a couple of deals. The racing is second to none in the trucks, so that sounds like where his focus is. He was in Atlanta, and in Bristol – I think he said he was talking to people on the Busch side in Bristol. Steve wants to get involved with an established team that wants to win as much as he does. He won’t be racing for the points, but he can race to win races. He wants to establish himself, help establish a team, win races, then look at 2008 to race for the Championship.

He made the mistake of trying to push for the Busch deal, and put all his eggs in one basket.

What does he miss most? Steve has a lot of friends involved in the sport on all three levels, so he misses seeing his friends. He misses the competition most because he loves racing. He feels he still has a lot of wins in him, and he wants to put himself in the right position where he can get back to winning and enjoying himself.

On racing in the Truck Series – as a young guy you’re racing against champions and former Cup guys. As an older driver you’re racing against kids trying to get to the Cup level. He’s somewhere in the middle, not young or old. It’s the best of both worlds and that’s why he wants to be in the Truck Series.

I had sent an email in asking about whether he planned on going to the track again this season like he did in Atlanta, and whether it’s difficult to be there and not race. (I must have good karma since both of my favorite drivers have now answered questions of mine on their respective satellite radio shows this week!). Steve said he hates being there and not racing, but it’s a necessary evil. He needs to be there, and people in the garage area need to see how eager he is to race. He can’t stand being there without racing, but he can’t stand not being there at all. John Kernan had mentioned that I was from Hempstead, NY (where I work), and Steve commented that he believed that was Hempstead, Long Island, NY, and he would be right about that. :)

Someone asked about how you get discovered. Steve said that he had to race 3-4 nights a week and win a bunch, plus network. He would go to New Hampshire and race modifieds and all while the Cup guys where up there. He met Richard Childress and other big owners that way, and it was an opportunity to showcase himself. RC talked to Dale Earnhardt about how he wanted to put Steve in his #3 truck when Mike Skinner moved up, which is how Steve came to Dale’s attention. Steve then told the familiar story we all know about Dale leaving the message on his voicemail and him not believing who it really was. Back then he couldn’t get the opportunity without winning a hundred races or so, now things are different for young drivers.

His Dad retired from racing two years ago, but his Uncle is still racing at Riverhead. His Uncle was Champion there two years ago. Steve talked about how when he was a kid, the newspaper would have headlines that said “Park Wins Riverhead!” At the time it was either his father or his uncle, but Steve was more than happy to take the credit for those wins when people asked him about it.

Melissa called and asked Steve what he’s been doing while he’s not been racing. He said that he’s been golfing, and joked about what he said in Atlanta about having knocked ten points off his golf game. But now golf is over. He loves to golf and ride the Harley, but nothing pleases him more than racing. She also asked about Stafford and Thompson about whether he might get up there, and he said he wouldn’t rule it out, that he likes to get back there and to New Hampshire any chance he gets. My signal dropped out a bit a this point so I don’t know exactly what Melissa said about the Sparkies, but Steve then gave a shout-out to all the Sparkies.

Unfortunately because it was cutting out a bit so I think I missed some of this part where he was talking about the fans. He went on to explain how Sparkies are dedicated race fans and he loves them all. He talked about going to Atlanta and he ran into 10-15 Sparkies wearing Pennzoil, Orleans Racing, Harris Trucking, etc… gear. He said it’s great how fans will rally around a driver even if they’re not racing. Steve also said that fans have told him how great it is that they make friends with other Sparkies just by being a Sparkie. How 1-2 Sparkies will go to a race and leave with 10 new Sparkie friends (As an aside, I think this is one of the most wonderful things about race fans in general, how you can go to a race or even just hang out online, and when someone meets a fellow fan of a particular driver from Jeff Green to Jeff Gordon to Steve, it’s like there’s an instant bond, and you’ve got a new friend).

Steve then talked about how he was worried that no one would remember him when he stopped racing. But he hasn’t lost all his fans, and that’s motivation to get back to racing even more.

Someone called in to ask him about Wyler Racing and whether he’s talked to them about how they hope to have a second truck. He said that he’s really good friends with the Wylers, and that “I think they would love to have him drive for them.” I believe he directly said that he had talked to them, but I can’t swear that I heard him correctly on that. He said that sponsorship is key for them in relation to the second truck, and also key for him in terms of finding a new ride. (I took that to mean that he would be their driver if a sponsor was lined up for that truck, and if that sponsor wanted him in the truck). He then said that he passed by some opportunities to go to the Busch Series. (This is me totally reading between the lines, but I felt as if he might have been saying that there was an opportunity with them previously that he passed up to work on a deal in Busch).

He then said that he intends on taking the best opportunity for Steve Park whether that’s in the Trucks, Busch or Cup, and whether that’s with Wyler or another team. It wouldn’t hurt his feelings to race for Wyler – they’re a great organization and they’re doing great with Jack Sprague. However, he has to do what’s best for Steve Park.

My signal then started cutting out big time as Steve started answering a question related to whether he was trying to find a sponsor to bring to a team. He said that’s exactly what he’s doing. That he’s talked to some great companies in the past, and some great companies now. You can’t run up front if you don’t have the money.

I missed the next few minutes as I made a mad dash out to the car so I could keep listening...

Steve answered Dave’s question by saying that he had opportunities that he’s let go because he’s put all his eggs in one basket, and then because he didn’t have a back-up plan, he was left without a ride. He said that he blames no one but himself for that. He’s going to be a realist, and he’s not going to let that happen again. However, people race to win races. He’s not going to take an opportunity to race 25th or 30th, he’d rather golf than do that. But he’s not going to let opportunities pass him by.

Another person who called in told a story about how his young son met Steve at a signing, and Steve spent ten minutes talking to him. I didn’t quite get all of what Steve said here, but basically the kids are the future of the sport, and the young children will be fans for years to come, and might even be future race car drivers too.

The first time Steve met with Dale Earnhardt came up, and Steve talked about Dale sending his plane for him. Apparently Dale took him through the drive-in to get a bite to eat and he was in awe that he was going through the drive in at Bo-jangles with Dale. “How many people have gone through the drive-in with Dale Earnhardt?”

The next caller told a story about how he was at a signing where all the fans were standing in the rain to meet Steve, and Steve also stayed in the rain until he had signed everyone’s autographs. Steve said his philosophy is that if fans can stand in the rain for his autograph, he can stand in the rain to sign them all.

Another caller talked about how in 2001 near the track in Bristol he ran into Steve with Michael Waltrip. So the caller runs up to hug Michael and congratulate him for winning the Daytona 500, plus express his condolences for the loss of Dale Earnhardt. Then he runs back to his wife, who tells him that in his excitement he had missed that Steve was there too! So the caller ran back over to Michael and Steve, and apologized profusely to Steve for ignoring him. So after shaking his hand, Steve apparently said that it happens all the time when he’s with Michael. Steve then told the caller that’s still what happens – when he’s with Michael, Michael is very popular and has a lot of fans, so everyone is in a rush to talk to Michael and walks right past him. So he knows how his friends feel when everyone ignores them to talk to him. (Steve should know that besides myself there are many fans of Michael’s who wouldn’t ignore him if we saw them together – that would be our idea of heaven!)

The last caller brought up the emotional win at Rockingham, and Steve talked about the emotions of that week, how they had spent the week before trying to decide what to do, and ultimately decided to race because Dale would want them to race and put themselves in a position to win. Which of course Steve did!

Steve closed by saying that he’d come back on the show if and when he has something to announce, and that he wanted to thank all the race fans!

Posted by silverdsl at 01:53 PM | Comments (1)

April 06, 2007

Photo of the Day

I know I've posted this before. Given some of the recent discussion in one corner of the 'net, I feel like posting it again.

Much like their cars in the photo, Steve and Michael are still going in two different directions six years after that photo was taken. It doesn't seem like it because of how much Michael and his organization is struggling this season, but the reality is that Michael has a chance to race each week, something that Steve doesn't have, and is doing things to ensure he'll likely be involved in this sport long after people barely even remember who Steve is. Yes, already some people ask "Who's that?" when I bring Steve up in conversation. I hope that Steve's efforts to find a ride pay off, but another reality is that as much as I wish things were different this sport doesn't seem to have a place for him in it anymore.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:37 PM | Comments (1)

April 04, 2007

On Bad Karma

I normally try to ignore negative opinion columns that are written about Michael Waltrip or other drivers that I like. For one thing, I respect everyone's right to their own opinions, even if it's ones that I don't agree with. Beyond that I don't really see the point most times in getting worked up about things I have no control over, like negativity directed towards Michael. But sometimes... Today Shawn Courchesne, who covers motorsports for the Hartford Courant , mostly local Connecticut short-tracks, wrote an opinion piece in his blog about how he feels "karma is having its way with the Mikey and that doesn’t bother me a bit."

Now I found the timing of this particular piece pretty ironic considering just yesterday I had suggested to some of my fellow Steve Park fans that taking amusement from another driver's ill-fortune, as they were doing by laughing about Michael failing to qualify for races, might be tempting the bad karma gods to turn their eye towards Steve. It's particularly perplexing that fans would mock a driver not racing and experiencing misfortune, on a forum for a driver who isn't racing and whose career has gone downhill for a number of years. Even more ironic was that Courchesne mentioned Steve in his column. Or maybe he's just a lurker on Steve Park Central. Story ideas have to come from somewhere, why not from a driver's forum filled with bitter and resentful fans?

In any event, why does Courchense believe that Michael is deserving of all that's happened to him of late? Simple - because he was cranky one day three years ago while speaking with the print media, and turned down a few interview requests from Courchesne and others in the two years that followed. That's right. Courchesne believes that turning down interviews with the media caused bad karma to catch up to Michael, and why he deserves to not qualify for races and have his organization struggle so much. Then there was St. Steve, who was so gracious on that day. (I wonder what Courchense thinks of the times that Steve has ranted about the media?) So by following Courchense's reasoning, what exactly did Steve do to deserve the lousy things that have happened to him in racing since 2001? Because bad karma has apparently bit him in the rear end very hard. He must be guilty of far worse than blowing off some reporters to earn himself as much bad luck and difficulty as he's had to endure. (That was sarcasm for those who have trouble recognizing it, not what I truly believe.)

The original event at which Courchesne developed his dislike for Michael was one at which Michael apparently met with TV reporters, met briefly with print journalists, and then did an appearance at which he presumably signed autographs and posed for photos for hundreds of fans. Courchesne's issue is that Michael was all happy and bubbly for the cameras, and for fans, but made it clear that he didn't really want to deal with the print journalists, Courchesne included. So let me get this straight - Michael fulfills his obligations to both the media and the fans, but isn't as cheery as he was on camera with the print journalists, and he's a terrible person? Just exactly what else is expected of Michael? Maybe Courchesne would be cranky too if he was in Michael's shoes and had to perform for the cameras, answer the same questions he's probably answered a thousand times before from reporters who might not be very knowledgable about the sport, and then had to go sign autographs and pose for photos for hundreds of fans, on (if I'm remembering the right event) was a hot summer day. Which probably wasn't much different than what he did the day before and would do the following day, only add in dealing with sponsors and the demands of trying to get good results behind the wheel.

As for Courchesne's subsequent interview requests being turned down, well maybe that's because if he had a fraction of the attitude that he displays in his blog entry when he was face-to-face with Michael, then I can understand why Michael wasn't so willing to agree to an interview with him. If there's one thing I've noticed about Michael it's that he appears to have a very good and very long memory. In addition, as someone pointed out in the comments section, given how many interview requests that Cup drivers get they can often be selective about what media they talk to, particularly when it comes to smaller media outlets in markets that aren't major ones for Nascar, unless there's something specific they're trying to promote. Jade Gruss, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s PR person has said in the past that's what they do with Junior. Not that Michael is on quite the same level as Junior, but there comes a point where a driver is in a position where they both can't and don't have to agree to every interview request, particularly when they're in a situation where there's media from bigger outlets present.

Let's be clear about one thing - by no means am I saying that Michael is perfect or that he's happy and wonderful to the media or anyone else all the time. No one is. As I say often, the drivers are human, they experience the full range of emotions that everyone does, they have their flaws, and they will make mistakes. I've been around Michael when he's not been in the best of moods, and I've been around him when he's been very happy. So I know full well that he's not always the way he is when he's on TV. However, Michael, even when there's not been a camera around has always been exceptionally nice to me, even when he didn't have to be. In addition, on one occasion I saw him stop to speak with the media even though he had just had a poor qualifying effort, and no, none of the reporters he was speaking with were female or had TV cameras. Of course Courchesne would probably say that even though I saw Michael when there were no cameras around that Michael was just putting on a performance for me, or that he was extra-nice because I'm female. Did I mention that my husband was also present most of the times that I saw Michael, and he was just as nice to him?

I wonder how karma and the fates will treat a reporter with an apparent grudge, who can only come up with "dissed some reporters" as examples of why someone is a bad person who deserves the tough times they've had to deal with?

Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (1)

April 03, 2007

Random Nascar Thoughts on Random Thoughts

*Wyler Racing is at Richmond today with all the other Cup teams testing a COT. Behind the wheel is Johnny Benson who normally drives a truck for Bill Davis Racing. Apparently Wyler hopes to expand in two ways this season - they'd like to field a second truck in the truck series (as per Jayski), and they'd also like to field a Cup car in some COT races. Both with a driver to be named later, though David Wyler indicated that a driver already affiliated with Toyota might get the call to race the Cup car. Wyler's plans could be great news on two fronts. I'd love to see Johnny return to Cup racing, and their second truck could also be an opportunity for Steve Park. However, it would seem strange to me for Johnny to be allowed to race a Cup car for a different organization when his own organization has a Cup operation. As far as Steve goes, it's been rumored in the past that he's talked to Wyler Racing about a ride, and it would be a compeitive truck fielded by people who he's been friends with for years. That would be the perfect situation for Steve. Only problem is whether Wyler can find sponsorship for a second truck and if Steve is the driver they, and their potential sponsor, wants to work with.

*Kyle Petty has been selected as Michael Waltrip's replacement on Tradin' Paint. Kyle's a good choice because he's very smooth in terms of the way he deals with the media, but he also isn't afraid to give his opinions on things. That said, I can't see myself tuning in too often to watch the show now that Michael's no longer a part of it. The whole reason I watched was for Michael - I can read and hear opinions on what's going on in Nascar from the drivers, fans and those in the media in quite a few other places - no need to tune into Speed for that.

*ESPN has purchased Jayski.com, a site they've hosted, and had a working relationship with since 2004. I'm not surprised by that since ESPN has vastly expanded their coverage of Nascar, both on their network and on their website. In addition, Jayski is one of the most popular Nascar websites for news and information. Since Jayski first aligned himself with ESPN, it seemed to me that he got a lot more careful about what kind of unsourced rumors he posted, and although ESPN has said that the contend on the site will still be left up to Jayski and his partner, I would expect the standards for what Jayski posts might get even more stringent now that ESPN owns the site. What was interesting to me is that Jayski said in a Sporting News article that he hasn't gone to a race in three years. He certainly does an outstanding job of keeping fans informed for a guy who never goes to races.

*In response to several teams having problems with the foam on the side of the door of their COTs melting due to heat from the exhaust system, Nascar will allow teams to remove part of the foam. That's a good thing if it will prevent that problem. Nascar claims that the material is non-toxic when it melts, but I tend to agree with Greg Biffle who said,

"I don't think anything is non-toxic. There is a certain amount of toxicity to any kind of material burning."

I wouldn't feel comfortable breathing in the chemicals from that foam, no matter how non-toxic it's supposed to be.

*Apparently Petty Enterprises is still looking for a driver for the #45 for the races that Kyle Petty will be in the booth for later this season. Previously Robbie Loomis had been talking about how PE has been looking at some young drivers that they'd like to work with, but I'm wondering whether PE might consider going with a driver like Bill Elliott, particularly if the #45 is outside the top 35 in owner's points. I'd like to think that the #45 won't be in that position, but they need to have a few strong races to put them a little higher in the standings.

*Sad news for Red Bull Racing this weekend. An employee of the organization who did some testing for them, and had previously worked as a mechanic for some other teams in the garage area, Jimmy Sprinkle, was target="_blank"shot to death on his farm on Saturday night. I have a feeling that this will turn out to not be the random shooting that it's been implied this is in initial news reports, but only time will tell on that. In the meantime, thoughts and prayers to his family, friends and the RBR team.

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

March 16, 2007

Steve Park on XM

A couple of weeks ago I emailed Claire B. Lang from XM about Steve Park, wondering whether she'd consider having him on her show so that his fans could find out what he's been up to while he's waiting for a ride to surface. She replied by saying that she had been thinking of him herself, and that she would see what she could find out. So I figured when I heard the news that Steve would be in Atlanta this weekend, that Claire would have him on her show, because she's very good about answering questions fans pose to her or getting guests on her show that fans request. And Claire did indeed have Steve on her show - from the sounds of it I wasn't the only one who's been asking about him, so I think she made a lot of people very happy by doing an interview with Steve.

Unfortunately, what Steve said in the interview probably wasn't what a lot of people wanted to hear - he doesn't have a ride, nor does he have any kind of sponsorship lined up, though he's aggressively pursuing both, which is what brought him to Atlanta, so he could network in the garage area. I had hoped to be surprised and find out that Steve was in Atlanta because he was finalizing a deal for a ride, but I can't help but be realistic so I expected that he would say that he doesn't have anything right now. I'm just glad that he's in Atlanta, talking to people, making himself visible, and making sure he's not forgotten. He also mentioned that he thought he would lose a lot of fans by not racing, but that he saw a lot of his fans at the track, so that's a good thing too because if he's down about his situation - and he did say that being at the track and not racing is very difficult - seeing that he still has fan support is something that'll make him feel good about himself.

One thing that Steve mentioned was that he thought he had a deal for a ride at Daytona (and presumably beyond), but that it fell apart a month before. Because he didn't give any details about the specifics of that ride, there's really not much that can be said, other than that it's unfortunate that deals keep falling apart for Steve, but not entirely unexpected because in this sport what seems like a sure thing one day, often falls apart the next day. Just ask Robby Gordon - his sponsorship deals are falling apart left and right for him, good thing he owns his own team! Steve said that he's looking for a ride in either the Truck or Busch Series, but unfortunately at the moment it's not looking like there's much available. But maybe by reminding people that he's around and looking for a ride, if down the road there's a driver change or a new team is formed, he'll be considered.

In a certain corner of the internet, someone gave me a really hard time (pretty much attacked me) for contacting Claire. Somehow this person got the idea that Steve wouldn't want to give an interview to Claire, and doesn't want fans or the media to keep "bothering" him with the same questions over and over again. Of course showing interest in what Steve is up to is fans and others showing that they care and still support him.. Anyone with any kind of common sense knows that there's no negatives about a fan contacting Claire with a positive email or call about Steve. First of all, she encourages fans to contact her, but it's also a way for fans to show their support for the drivers that they like. Beyond that, there's no negatives about Steve being on XM - it gets him exposure and it's a further way for Steve to let it be known that his services are available for this season and beyond. I didn't think it was likely that Steve would turn down an interview with Claire, particularly since she's been extremely positive and supportive of him the past couple of years. What really cracked me up is that when Steve was thanking his fans for their support, he specifically thanked those fans who had emailed and called Claire about him. Yeah, I really did wrong. *rolls eyes*

Posted by silverdsl at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2007

Steve Park Will be in Atlanta

To do what no one knows. But according to his website, Steve Park will be at the track in Atlanta Friday through Sunday. Maybe he's going to network in the garage area. Maybe he has a lead on a new ride or is working on a deal. Maybe he's gotten involved in some sort of Nascar related business that doesn't involve actually racing until he finds another ride. Maybe he found out that some of his fans were going to be there and decided he would go to see them. Maybe he missed being at the track. I'm just glad that he's going to be there. I had started to wonder when the next time Steve would be seen or heard from - more than a few people had started using "dropped from the face of the earth" and "disappearing act - again" when discussing Steve over the past few months. So even if he doesn't have anything going on in terms of finding another ride, I think it's a very good thing that he's doing something to keep himself visible in the garage area because that way he won't be forgotten about by teams who might be looking for a driver now or in the future, by sponsors who might be looking for new opportunities, and even by fans, who as passionate as they might be about a driver, still need to hear from that driver once in a while.

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

February 13, 2007

What do Steve Park and Bernie Williams Have in Common?

What could a baseball player and a Nascar driver possibly have in common? Both Bernie Williams and Steve Park are in limbo as far as their careers go. Both want to continue taking part in the sport that they love but there doesn't seem to be a place for either one, at least not on their terms. One of the local papers actualy referred to Bernie as being in limbo - not retired, but not signed to play this season - and I immediately thought of Steve because the same is true of him. He's expressed his desire to keep looking for a ride, but so far nothing has turned up for him for this season. I would guess that we won't be seeing much of either Bernie or Steve in 2007.

In Bernie's case his preference is to play for the New York Yankees. Out of respect for all that he's done for the organization, the Yankees offered him a non-guaranteed minor league contract. But even if Bernie played well in Spring Training there's no role for him with the Yankees. He could gauge other teams interest in his services, but in spite of some comments that indicated that he might do exactly that, Bernie seems unwilling to actually follow through. So essentially that means that Bernie's career is over if he's not going to play for the Yankees. Which might be a good thing because there's nothing more painful than watching a player try to hang on even as their skills continue to erode to the point where you cringe when you see their name in the lineup. Such was the case with Bernie the past couple of years. Although he was able to contribute at the plate at times, he looked terrible in the field, and overall he was a meer shadow of the player he once was.

Likewise, it's been painful to watch Steve on the track the past couple of years. As I've said many times before, I believe in his talent behind the wheel, and that if he's given a competitive car or truck he can race up front and win. However, it's been quite some time since Steve has raced a competitive car or truck in any of Nascar's three highest series - probably since 2005 when he won in the #62 truck. It was no fun watching Steve ride around in back last season, and it's been less fun waiting for announcements about rides that as of yet haven't materialized. Steve has said in the past that he's only willing to consider rides that are competitive and will give him a chance to win, so at this point as sad as it might be, I think that means that his career, at least as a full-time driver, is over like Bernie's. The elite teams simply aren't going to be lining up to offer rides to 40-year old drivers who haven't had impressive results the past few years, even if the fault for that is due to the lack of resources or other failings of the teams they've been with. So I'm thinking unless Steve decides to consider some rides that are less than ideal, he'll be watching races from his couch instead of from behind the wheel this season.

I think for both Steve and Bernie, their respective sports have moved on without them. If they were willing to consider a wider variety of options, maybe they'd both be able to find some way of staying involved - Bernie with a team other than the Yankees and Steve with a less competitive team than he might like. But I don't think that either one would really be happy with those scenarios. For Bernie the Yankees are all he's known his entire career so after this long playing for another team probably sounds extremely undesirable. Especially since in his heart he probably realizes he's not the player he once was. And for a race car driver, riding around in back every race is no fun at all.

There's fans who think that if Bernie goes to spring training and plays really well that the Yankees will make room for him on the roster even if it's at the expense of a player who's likely to perform better over the long-term. As loyal as Joe Torre is to his veterans, I think that he even he recognizes that there's not a role for Bernie with the Yankees any more. There's also fans of Steve's who think that some team is going to suddenly decide to give Steve an ultra-competitive ride or that if he sits out 2007 he'll find a ride for 2008 as rides open up via drivers moving to other organizations. But what's becoming increasingly clear is that there doesn't seem to be any teams who believe in Steve's ability to get results like his fans do. In addition, Steve's not Ricky Rudd. Ricky was able to sit out a year and get a full-time ride for this season because of his accomplishments over his 31-year career as a Cup racer during which time he won 23 races. Steve's not even Ward Burton. For Ward to come back he recognized that he was going to have to work with a team that wasn't as competitive as he might like, something that Steve doesn't seem willing to do.

So do I think Bernie is done in baseball? Yes. Do I think Steve is done in Nascar? As a full-time driver, yes. Am I ashamed of thinking that as some fans in both sports think I should be? Not one bit. Fact is that every athlete's career comes to an end sometimes. If they're lucky it's on their own terms. If they're not, it's on someone else's terms, and I think that's what's happening to both Bernie and Steve. I'd love to be wrong, but so far it's not looking too good for either Bernie or Steve.

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

February 02, 2007

Larry Foyt to Race for Key Motorsports at Daytona

This boggles my mind. Steve Park, who has won in the Truck Series, can't find a ride, but Larry Foyt, who has never raced a truck, and hasn't raced anything in Nascar since 2004 has a ride for Daytona. Foyt will race the #44 truck for Key Motorsports, with Silestone USA, a distributor of natural quartz surfaces, as the sponsor. Maybe Foyt brought sponsorship with him, but it's incredible to me that Foyt will be racing at Daytona, and it's looking like Steve won't be.

I think this is yet another bad sign about the state of Steve's career. Yes, maybe he was offered the ride and turned it down because it didn't fit with what he was looking for. Or maybe Foyt brought sponsorship which got him the ride. But I just wish we'd see Steve race even one or two races. If it were a full-time ride I can understand why he wouldn't want to be with a team that can't be competitive because it's no fun to ride around in back every race. However, with a one or two race deal there doesn't have to be as much worry about being competitive or getting great results. Instead Steve could have some fun being back at the track and seeing his friends in the garage area. He could work with a different team than he has and maybe they could benefit from his veteran experience. It would also provide him with an opportunity to network and remind people that he still exists. But if Larry Foyt has a ride over Steve, I'm thinking even a one or two race gig isn't looking very likely at this point.

ETA: I just want to clarify one thing - I'm not upset in the least at Larry in regards to this deal. In fact I think it's great that he made something happen for himself. Clearly he doesn't just want to run his family's company, he still wants to race as well, and I commend him for finding a way to make that possible, something that isn't always easy, especially for a driver who doesn't race regularly - just ask Steve. In addition, after thinking about it, I really can't get too upset about a driver getting a one-race gig - maybe Steve will find himself a similar situation.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2007

Update from Steve Park

From Steve Park's site:

January 29,2007 - Quick note from Steve:
Wanted to let everybody know that 07 race season is close! It's not here yet and though there is nothing to report, were not giving up the fight! "Never Surrender" We will continue to look for the right opportunity and though we have had some set back's.... we will continue to keep all my fans here on Steve-Park .com informed as the news comes in! It's been a tough road but Hey!.... the Bears are in the Superbowl! Go Bears!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for your continued support!
Steve Park
Harley Park!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been critical of Steve and his website lately so I feel that I have to point out when Steve and those that run his website do something good. Today they posted an update from Steve that was a lot more candid and up-front about his situation than any update in a long time, with no promises of announcements that never come. That there was an update is great - Steve's fans want to hear from him as much as possible even when he's not on the track racing, and it's disappointing to many when there's silence and he seems to disappear.

It could just be coincidence that they decided to do this update, and another recent one around the time that there's been some complaints, but kudos to them if they decided to address that some fans expressed a desire to hear from Steve more often via his website. So many people depend on websites, especially official websites to get news and information, and fans not only want to see updates from their favorite drivers, but expect it. So it's good that Steve and his "people" are giving them what they want. It's hard for some to understand but the reality is that not every fan will stick around if they feel as if their favorite driver or athlete has dropped off the face of the earth. It's not that they're "bad" fans, or that they stop being fans, it's that they might shift some of the more hardcore fan behaviors elsewhere. Teams, drivers and sponsors spend a huge amount of time finding ways to draw fans in so that they'll buy merchandise and support the sponsors and their products - keeping fans informed and enthusiastic is part of the way to keep fans interested.

As I noted above it's good to see an update that's not an announcement about an announcement. Instead Steve says t that there's nothing to say, and acknowledges that there's been some set-backs. I think it's a much better course of action to be straight-forward. This way no one gets their hopes up thinking that there's going to be some sort of news soon only to be disappointed, and there's no frustrations when deadlines for announcements come and go. It's not always easy to acknowledge when things aren't working out exactly as one would hope as I think Steve is doing here, so I give him a lot of credit for being willing to share with his fans how things are going for him, which isn't all that great as far as a ride goes, but extremely well as far as being a fan goes since his favorite football team is in the Super Bowl.

What's not so good that Steve still doesn't have a ride. Of course Steve isn't giving up on finding a ride for this season - he didn't give up in the face of two serious accidents, I wouldn't expect him to throw in the towel yet. However, he's likely going to be waiting a while for the right opportunity to come his way unfortunately. The vast majority of teams already have their drivers set for this season, but maybe something will turn up as the season goes along if a team wants to make a driver change or decides to expand - Steve could certainly win races for a team that gave him a competitive car or truck, it just takes a team and sponsor willing to believe in his abilities as much as his fans do.

There's also a photo of Steve's dog Harley wearing a Bear's cap - I wonder how many promises of treats it takes to get him to pose like that?! My dog would never be so cooperative!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2007

Mike Bliss to Key Motorsports for Four Races

Last season Mike Bliss was full-time in the Truck Series and he put the #16 truck in Victory Lane at Atlanta, ultimately finishing 11th in the points. However, a trip to Victory Lane wasn't good enough to draw sponsorship for the #16, and Xpress Motorsports had no choice but to decide not to field the truck this season leaving Bliss without a truck ride. But in addition to his driving duties with the #49 Cup car, Bliss has found himself a truck ride for a few races. He'll be racing the #40 for Key Motorsports for four races early in the season, before Shane Huffman and Clay Rogers split the rest of the season in the truck. I'm wondering if this is an effort to try to make sure the #40 is in the top 30 in owner's points before putting young drivers without much experience behind the wheel? Daytona can be tricky for young drivers since it's so easy to find trouble on the track, and Bliss has very good stats at the next three tracks, including Fontana where he's won a race and never finished outside the top ten when he's raced there in a truck.

This would have been a good gig for Steve Park. Although the #40 wasn't an outstanding team in 2006, Curtis Key has expressed his committment to doing as much as he can to make the team more competitive. So I think it might have been a good opportunity for Steve to help a team build into a decent team, plus it probably would have given him the opportunity to mentor Huffman and Rogers - surely there's plenty they can learn from an experienced veteran like Steve. In addition, this would have been a good way for Steve to showcase his ability if the car was competitive enough to allow him to get good results with it. That might have made it possible to attract some interest from other teams that might be looking at expanding their programs or making a driver change later in the season. But Steve didn't get the ride.

ETA: It literally just occured to me in the middle of the night - Bliss is a past Champion. And when I checked, the #40 team is outside the top 30 in owner's points so they aren't guaranteed a spot for those first races. Correction. They weren't guaranteed a spot. Now with Bliss behind the wheel they can make use of his past Champion's provisional if need be. Very smart move on the part of this team to go with Bliss.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2007

Speaking of Steve...

The following was posted on Steve Park's site yesterday:

Mooresville, NC (January 19, 2007) - In an effort to keep my fans as up-to-date as possible, I will be posting any news regarding my 2007 efforts immediately right here at www.steve-park.com. We have received numerous inquiries about the 2007 season and we greatly thank you for your interest and concern. As I have always stated, SPARKIES are the absolute best fans in NASCAR. I simply want to let you all know that once I have confirmed news on the 2007 season, I will post details right here. Thank you so much for your continued patience and support.

Steve Park

It might very well just be coincidence, but I have to wonder whether the folks who run Steve's site saw the recent complaints on SPC regarding the faults about Steve's website in that it's not used as a tool to inform fans and promote Steve. Some have wondered whether news of a new ride for Steve would even show up on Steve's site in a timely manner. I'm glad to see that this message didn't contain an announcement about a possible announcement, and kept things simple regarding talking about updating fans about a new ride when he was able to. Much better than some messages of the past, in relation to not getting fans hopes up only to have nothing announced and there be disappointment and questions about deals falling apart. I'm sure the message will be over-analyzed by some looking for a hint as to whether he has a ride or not, but that's to be expected.

While they're working on Steve's site, and since he's in the process of looking for a new ride, I hope that they'll get around to adding a paragraph or two to the end of Steve's bio. on the site. It ends at the beginning of 2004, with him just having joined Orleans Racing, now known as South Point Racing, and there's no mention of his truck win in 2005, which I think is important to include.

In addition, that truck win put him in select company - one of only about 10 or so drivers who have won in all three of Nascar's highest levels, and one of only two drivers, himself and Jimmy Spencer, who have won in five of Nascar's sancationed series (I believe it's Late Models, Modifieds, Truck, Busch and Cup). That's something unique that should be used to make him stand out from other drivers, and should be front and center on his website because it's an accomplishment to be proud of.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2007

Steve Park Talking to ppc Racing?

So finally there's a rumor on Jayski's about Steve Park. An extremely vague, unsourced, and possibly inaccurate rumor, but a rumor all the same. I was looking at the 2007 Busch Series Driver/Team chart that Jayski has, and I noticed in the section for "Drivers Looking" that it says by Steve's name, "We reportedly working on a deal with ppc." Now I have no clue where Jayski might have heard that, how true it is, or how old that rumor is. But it's good to see Steve's name tied to a team.

Unfortunately for Steve, it's a team that appears to be going under. Jayski also had this today:

ppc and Braun Merging? UPDATE: Hearing that in addition to the recently closed Biagi-DenBeste team, ppc is also a possibility for a merge with Braun Racing, possibly to share the #32 sponsors and the #10's primary sponsor, to operate out of Braun's shop. As previously announced, Dave Blaney will drive the #32 this season and with the rumored merge, would continue to do so under the races in which Braun has already secured sponsorship - with Andretti sliding in to drive the #10 with his already-secured sponsorship in the remaining events.(BGNRacing.com)(1-12-2007)
UPDATE: Being told that ppc Racing and Braun Racing have merged for the 2007 season. The #10 car sponsored by Camping World and RVs.com with John Andretti driving, will operate out of Braun Racing for the 2007 season. Employees from ppc have been hired by Braun Racing. ppc will continue working on sponsorship for 2007 and 2008.(1-16-2007)

Assuming that the above is true, it means that ppc Racing won't exist in 2007, and I have to wonder about what their future is considering all their employees have been hired by Braun Racing.

From the sounds of it, just like with many other teams, ppc is experiencing a shortage of sponorship, which means they can't field even one Busch car for John Andretti on their own. If Jayski's rumor about Steve is true, it could explain why there was no announcement last week, because things fell through with ppc. Or maybe the rumor is false and there's some other team(s) he's talking to. It's likely if there's another Busch team that Steve's talking to that it'll become apparent this weekend since Busch testing begins Friday, with odd numbered cars testing Friday through Sunday, and even numbered cars testing Sunday through Tuesday.

I've discussed ppc Racing previously as a possiblity for Steve, and it would have been a great organization for him to race for - at least last season when they were apparenly on much steadier footing and were fielding two of the best Busch only teams in the series. It's really a sad commentary on things that this organization went from fielding two Busch cars and a Truck team last season, to possibly not fielding any car or truck on their own. Assuming this merger is actually happening I guess this is a way to try to save this season, and possibly stay alive for the future by working with another independent Busch team.

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

January 12, 2007

I Don't Believe Steve

Over on Steve Park Central any time someone expresses doubt that Steve is going to have a ride this season or brings up even the mildest of criticism about Steve, such as wondering why he doesn't update his website more often to let his fans know when he will (or won't be) at events, inevitably these days it seems that someone evokes the phrase "I believe in Steve!" as if that should end the discussion right then and there. Of course whether one believes in Steve as a race car driver or a person has nothing to do with whether one thinks that Steve will have a ride this season, or whether he should use his website to inform his fans about what he's up to like most other drivers do. For the record, as I've said a thousand times before on this space, I believe in Steve's abilities behind the wheel, and that if he was given a competitive car or truck, he could race up front and win.

However, I don't believe Steve anymore when he says that he's on the verge of making an announcement about a new ride. Dating back to December of 2005, Steve has either hinted or said, to fans, in interviews, or on his website that there will be an announcement about a new ride, which is usually accompanied by a time-table - two weeks, five or six races, by Friday, etc... Not once including this week, has any of those annoucements about annoucements resulted in anything other than disappointed fans. And I'm extremely frustrated by it. Delays aren't unusual when drivers are trying to negotiate deals. There's much to discuss between driver, team and sponsor, and a lot of pieces that have to come together before a deal can be finalized. What is unusual is that most drivers are cautious about saying too much until they're absolutely sure that they have a done deal in hand, and they're actually going to have something to announce.

To illustrate how little faith I have in Steve when he makes an announcement about an announcement, the past two times that he's given a time-table on making an announcement - in early October when he said he'd have an announcement on October 15, and this week when he said that he hoped to have an announcement by Friday (today) I've pre-written entries for this space, including this one, regarding the announcements that didn't happen. Yep, although this entry is showing up in the evening, I actually wrote the majority of it at 8 a.m. this morning, that's how convinced I was there would be no announcement from Steve today, even though I hadn't seen the full list of which teams and drivers were at truck testing. (Steve wasn't there.)

It's not that I think Steve is a liar - I think he truly believes that there's a chance that he might be able to make an announcement when he says it. He says "I hope" because he really does hope that he can announce a new ride for himself. I also think that he wants to please people, particularly his fans, so I think sometimes he says what people want to hear. Unfortunately, while his heart is in the right place, it's not worked out too well so far. You'd think at some point he might change his approach a little. When John Kernan from Sirius called earlier this week, instead of saying that he hoped to make an announcement by Friday, at which time he'd call in and talk about it, maybe something vaguer like "I've been talking to some teams and things look good. When I can say more I'd love to come on Sirius to talk about it," might have been better.

Fact is putting a time-table on announcing a new ride has been the kiss-of-death for Steve. I suppose it will sound silly to some, but to me there's been no more of a sure sign that a new ride isn't forthcoming when Steve says that an annnoucement about one is imminent. I suppose it's because I'm a baseball fan, and we're a superstitious lot, but I've come to believe that Steve making announcements about announcements, or otherwise giving an indication about when and if he might have a new full-time ride is bad karma.

I'm starting to think that Steve saying "I hope to make an announcement about a new ride" is similar to me saying "I hope to win $10 million by playing the lottery." Yeah, it would be awesome if it happened, it's certainly possible, but how likely is it? I truly hope that Steve finds himself a good ride for next season, though this close to Speedweeks the chances of finding a competitive ride are slim, and has fun racing in 2007. I'm just not getting my hopes up anymore that it's going to happen, even when he says an announcement is on the way.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:12 PM | Comments (2)

January 09, 2007

Steve Park Has a Ride in the Works?

Someone on Steve Park Central called into to Sirius Satellite Radio today and asked about Steve Park. That resulted in John Kernon tracking down Steve who apparently said that he was on his way back from meeting with some un-named team about a deal for a new ride, and that he hoped to have an announcement by Friday. I sure do hope that everything works out for Steve, and that he'll actually be racing in 2007! But I'm not getting my hopes up until there's at least a Jayski rumor if not an actual announcement. For one thing putting a time-table on announcing a new ride has been the kiss-of-death for Steve dating back to December of 2005, when he posted on his site that he hoped to be able to announce a ride for 2006 by the holidays. Why Steve can't just say that things look good for next season without announcing that he's going to make an announcement soon is beyond me.

The other reason why I'm not getting my hopes up is because any team that's still looking for a driver likely isn't going to be an elite team. The best teams have filled their openings long before now. So it's probably going to be something part-time, which might not be so bad if it were with a decent team, or with a so-so team, which might not be so bad either if they were committed to working hard and making improvements. Really though, at this point Steve can't be too fussy. Any ride as long as it's not a start 'n' park or with a completely hopeless team is better than no ride at all. So depending on the team the results may not be anything to get too excited about, but at least there's some hope that Steve might be at the track this year.

In other Steve related news, The Bodine Bobsled Challenge was this weekend and Steve didn't attend as planned. That's unfortunate for two reasons. One, because it's disappointing to fans who went up to Lake Placid to see him, or were expecting to watch him as part of Speed's coverage of the event. But also because the event got a significant amount of publicity. That's an opportunity to remind people he still exists if this deal doesn't happen to come through and he's still going to need to find a ride.

A few people, myself included, questioned why Steve didn't have the people who run his website put a clarification on the site regarding his participation in the event. I think it's completely understandable given how long ago he probably committed to the event, that something else might have come up, like negotiations for a new ride, and he couldn't make it to the Bobsled event. Fans also have to be understanding about drivers obligations to sponsors, teams and their manufacturer, which may mean that they need to drop out of an event without much notice. I think it's also hard if a driver has a schedule jam-packed with appearances like drivers like Jeff Gordon or Michael Waltrip have for their websites to be constantly updated with specifics about appearances. But Steve doesn't have even a fraction of the obligations that either of those drivers have, and he only does one or two scheduled events that are open to fans to attend. So it seems to me that it's not outrageous to think that maybe Steve's website could have been updated with the news that he would be attending the event, along with the official press release, and then when his plans changed, a brief message along the lines of "I'm sorry, but due to unforseen circumstances I will not be able to participate in the Bodine Bobsled Challenge as planned."

So we'll see what happens for Steve in the next week - maybe this season there will be some actual racing in relation to him to talk about as opposed to possible deals, failed deals, and un-updated websites.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2007

Terry Cook to the #59 Truck

...and the pool of available rides for Steve Park shrinks even more. This evening it was announced that Terry Cook will race the #59 truck fielded by HT Motorsports this season. Since Steve had raced the #59 truck for ten races this past seas