Jimmy C's NASCAR© World

I Noticed Something Today

2012-01-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

This piece is not in the least way NASCAR related, so if you surfed in here to read it, I'm sorry. I would like to share with you a personal reflection though.

Today, I arrived back at work after my lunch break. I didn't eat lunch, but I got some stuff accomplished. I don't have a key to my part of the building so I had to wait until the guy that did have the key got back. I parked in front of a chain link fence looking down the side of the steel warehouse that I work in. From where I sat I could see the truck docks that supplied and relieved the building that I worked in. Close to me, there was a small patch of grass beside the building, leading up to the heat pump that supplied cold and hot air to the section of the building in which I work.

When I stopped watching the activity of the truck currently parked in our dock, my attention shifted to the small patch of grass directly in front of me. I noticed there were some small birds, gray on the back and wings, with white bellies. They were pecking around on the grass. Apparently they were finding something worth their time, because there were several of them pecking around.

I have to admit that I became lost in that moment. These tiny birds were finding some sort of sustenance right here on our little patch of lawn here in early January. Even here in this part of the south, winters can be cold and brutal, at least by our standards. This morning it was 19 F. when I left home. Sunny south? Sure.

It occurred to me that I didn't know what kind of birds these were. When I was a child, my father taught me a lot about birds. My father was not an expert, but he knew a lot about birds. He taught me a lot about the birds that he had seen around where ever he was, which included Europe in the early 1940s. He always liked birds and studied them. Around his house there are probably a handful of bird guides.

These birds were surrounded by a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. Not razor wire, just barbed wire. We really don't have that much to steal here. There is only one gate, which is open during the day, as it was today. The gate provides access for trucks going in and out of our modest facility. At my particular location, only 5 people work full time, including me.

While I watched the birds today, the gate was open. After I had watched them for about 5 minutes, the heat pump near them kicked on, and the birds scattered with that sudden noise. It wasn't that harsh of a noise, but it was sudden. The birds flew up, over the fence, into a nearby group of pine trees.

What struck me was that the birds could have exited the property by the gate, but they didn't have to. The fence that would have kept most people behind it was no problem for them. The fence was simply an obstacle to be overcome.

Sometimes I wonder how many of us live inside fences, circumstances from which we feel that we can never escape, and don't know that it's really as simple as spreading our wings and flying over.

I once knew a man who owned a dog, a big, healthy dog. I noticed that the dog would never jump over or climb under a hassock that the man set out in a doorway. I asked the man why the dog stayed behind that hassock. The man told me that the dog stays behind the hassock because he does not know that he could easily jump over or climb under it. The dog could easily do either but he never knew he could.

Are we this way? I sometimes wonder. Are we like the little birds out there just looking for a scrap of food to keep us going? I know that I am sometimes.

I still don't know what kind of birds I saw today, but I'm going to pick out one of my Dad's guide books and try to identify them. I want to find a way to fly over that fence that I can't seem to get out of.

We're Back!

2012-01-03T21:14:00.001-05:00

At least I hope so. I've been trying to get back to this for quite a while, and it has been a while, as you can see.

I'm hoping to make more changes to the site over the coming weeks and get back into the full swing of the season as the month of January goes along. I want to wish Tony Stewart and the entire 14 team, as well as all the good folks at Stewart-Haas Racing heartfelt congratulations over their NASCAR Sprint Cup championship in 2011. I also want to congratulate Ricky Stenhouse and Austin Dillon for their championships in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series.

I was very impressed by how Tony Stewart and Darien Grubb overcame an obviously uncomfortable situation in the Chase. To have been told that your services will no longer be needed after the year and still manage to get your driver the championship took quite a lot of doing.

I can't wait until Daytona. This is a time of year full of anticipation for not only the fans, but also the drivers, teams and sponsors. It is a time for rebuilding and recharging the old batteries. It is a time for reflecting and reforming.

I wish everyone the best new year ever, and look forward to bringing you my perspective on the 2012 NASCAR season as it unfolds.

I'm looking forward to getting this party started! I hope you are too.

Sorry.

2011-06-26T19:22:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't written much lately. Time is short, and I have a lot of commitments that keep me from posting here on a regular basis. I have been keeping up with the NASCAR scene though, and hope to back in somewhat of a regular mode here soon.

I'm looking at at a major redesign on this site as well, and that will hopefully be coming in the next few months. It's not that I don't like it the way it is, but I think I can improve it greatly, and bring more information to you, the reader on a timely basis.

For all of you how have followed me over the last few years, thank you. I hope to be back in touch with you soon.

Happy trails,

Jimmy C

Getting A Better Picture... On The Radio

2011-05-01T16:20:00.000-04:00

I watched approximately the first half of the Richmond Cup race on FOX at a friend’s house on Saturday night. I was enjoying the racing, as Richmond has always been one of my favorite tracks, which I can say about virtually every short track at which NASCAR conducts business.

Alas, the evening had to end, and I drove home, a trip of about 50 miles. Fortunately for me, I was able to listen to most of the second half of the race on a truly great radio station, WESC, 92.5 FM in Greenville, South Carolina. This station can be heard nearly all the way to Atlanta, and nearly all the way to Charlotte. WESC has been carrying the MRN and PRN broadcasts for at least three decades now.

Back before 2001, when NASCAR signed its TV deal with FOX, et al, I didn’t have cable or satellite TV for the most part. I occasionally caught a race on one of the broadcast networks when it was presented. Prior to 2001, however, I mostly got my NASCAR on the radio, and I don’t remember having any complaints about the coverage. When I caught a TV broadcast on ESPN or the old Nashville Network back in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, I loved the treatment that commentators such as Ned Jarrett and Neil Bonnett gave to the races.

In 2001, everything changed, of course. The new TV deal was inked, and once I had basic cable, I was able to watch every single NASCAR Sprint Cup race, as well as the Nationwide and Camping World Truck races. I know, I know, none of these three series were called by those names back in 2001, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll just stick with their current names.

Since I’ve had basic cable, I have probably watched about 95 per cent of all the NASCAR races, plus quite a few ARCA races, as well as some IRL and F1 races. And then there’s the NHRA, but I won’t get into that. Obviously, I’ve missed a few races, but when I wasn’t near a TV, I always had old reliable, which of course is good old WESC, which in turn provided me with MRN and PRN broadcasts.

I’ve had my beefs with all of the TV networks which have broadcast NASCAR events since 2001. I feel that SPEED TV does a great job with the Camping World Truck races. I like Phil Parsons’ commentary nearly as much as I did his late brother Benny’s. If I had it my way, SPEED would broadcast all of the NASCAR races. I’m glad that FOX does about half of the Cup season, however, because I know that not everyone has cable or satellite TV. ESPN, with their sister network ABC, broadcast the late season Cup races. Unfortunately for those without the extra channels, mostly those races are broadcast on ESPN’s channels

Many have questioned the various networks’ commitment to NASCAR over the last few years. ESPN has been a point of contention for many journalists and pundits lately, and in a way, I see their point. From a NASCAR fan’s point of view, it may seem that ESPN doesn’t have the same level of commitment as, say FOX, SPEED, or the handful of races which are broadcast by TNT. All of the major networks, especially the broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) are not primarily sports networks. Sure, they make a lot of money from the sports that they do broadcast. FOX and CBS are doing quite well with their coverage of the NFL. NBC has been giving us the Sunday night NFL game. ESPN is the home of Monday Night Football. CBS and NBC have had great success with their late round PGA golf coverage. I don’t even know who does the NBA or NHL finals anymore, because I basically don’t care, unless my Celtics are playing. I live in South Carolina, so I probably couldn’t even name five NHL teams. Not that we don’t have hockey fans here, because we do, and even have a professional hockey team or two in the area. I just don’t have the time to pay much attention to them.

ESPN, however, is different from the other networks. ESPN covers virtually all sports known to mankind. If you’re a beach volleyball fan, and who isn’t, then ESPN is the place to be. If you like watching professional bowling, ESPN and it’s sister channels are only a remote click away. There are so many sports, and only so many hours in a given day, or week, or year, or for that matter, a lifetime. I’m willing to give ESPN a pass on scrimping a little when NASCAR coverage coincides with the NFL draft. In the USA, which is where ESPN’s primary audience resides, the NFL is king. Of course, I’m only talking about ESPN from a TV standpoint. ESPN.com provides in depth coverage on so many sports that it boggles the mind. At least my mind. I can read about sports I’ve never heard of, much less seen, all on one website. ESPN would need to have about a dozen more TV channels to give every sports fan what they want. Bandwidth is everything, and ESPN does an admirable job with what they’ve got.

I love ESPN. They rock. If I ever have to live without ESPN, I might spend the rest of my life mumbling to myself in a corner. Well, I mean more than I mumble to myself in a corner already. Remind me to tell you how I became a fan of the sport of curling some day. I’m not kidding. It’s now my second or third favorite sport.

I digress, as usual. The point of this little message from me to you is that I realized, about halfway home, listening to the Richmond race as it was called by MRN, was that I had what I felt was a more total picture of the race by listening to the radio than I had from watching the TV coverage that FOX provided. Over the years, I have heard of more than a few fans who told me that they turned on the TV coverage, and muted the sound. Then they turned on the radio and listened to Barney Hall, or whomever was broadcasting the races via radio.

I’ve seen the light. I think I’m going to start doing the same from now on.

I got home and fed the creatures who inhabit the property, and turned on the race on WESC while performing my chores. Finally, I turned on the TV, with the sound muted, though with closed captioning enabled. I saw the Richmond version of the ‘Big One’ that took out Jeff Gordon and a few others. I compared what I heard on the radio to what I read on the closed captioning on TV. (Proving to myself that I can multitask, at least to some degree, though it made my head hurt.) I found that I learned much more, got a clearer picture through the radio broadcast than I did from the images I saw and the words I read on my TV screen. For the rest of the race, I did much the same, and though FOX basically followed Kyle Busch around and around in circles, I got updates on other drivers throughout the field from MRN on a regular basis. FOX really never showed it, but MRN told me about some pretty good racing going on back in the field.

MRN stands for Motor Racing Network, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of NASCAR. For those of you who like to criticize NASCAR, I offer to you that NASCAR has done at least one thing very well, and that’s what MRN does. MRN does not have the luxury of letting the pictures tell the story. Veteran broadcasters like Barney Hall paint a mental picture by words alone, and they do it very well. MRN has been broadcasting races for so many years that it can be expected that they will provide very high quality coverage of NASCAR events, and as far as I’m concerned, I’ve never been disappointed.

You want a nominee for the 2011 class for the NASCAR Hall Of Fame? Don’t forget guys like Barney Hall, or Eli Gould, who, as I understand it, also knows a thing or two about college football in the great state of Alabama.

If I were in charge of NASCAR, I think I would require all networks that carry my product to spend quite a bit of time studying how MRN can bring a race alive to a listener by words alone. Show what’s going on back in the field more than just a few times during the race. I don’t mean pay lip service to it, but actually cover it. When the guy leading the race is 2 seconds in front of the second place guy, there might be 4 drivers beating the crap out of each other for 5^th, or 10^th, or maybe 35^th place. So what if the guys racing for 35^th are 3 laps down? If it’s the best racing on the track, show it. That’s what the fans at the track are watching. I know. Sometimes I’m one of those fans at the track. I’d rather watch two guys fighting for a spot way back in the field than watch the leader drive away from everyone. I hate it when I read the next day about a race and find out that a particular driver had finished well, but was never shown, nor even mentioned during the broadcast. That seems to happen every week, somehow. Radio, by it’s very nature, requires that the broadcasters cover the entire event, not just the leader. Radio guys know that we can’t see it, so they have to describe it for us. Good radio guys can paint such a vivid picture through words alone that it seems inconsequential that we can’t actually see what’s happening.

There are so many great drivers, crew chiefs, owners, and people behind the scenes that deserve to be in the Hall Of Fame. I’m sure that most, if not all will get there eventually, and they all deserve it.

Just don’t forget the people who bring the Show to your living room, or to your car while you’re driving a lonely highway.

I don’t want to forget about the good people at Performance Racing Network, or PRN. They do a great job as well, slipping in almost seamlessly when MRN isn’t there.

Who knew? I finally got the big picture, and it was all back where I started. Radio. I can see more clearly now.

Hendrick Teamwork Pays Off at Dega

2011-04-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

I’ve ready many pieces written about Sunday’s Talladega race, in which Jimmie Johnson pulled a rabbit out of his hat and won the Aaron’s 499. Not only was the finish basically the closest in NASCAR history, the way in which it came about was a story within itself. Talladega and Daytona are truly races that can’t be won without teamwork. On Sunday, the teamwork that seemed to matter the most was provided by four teams who reside under one corporate umbrella, which is of course Hendrick Motorsports.

All day, it was the 88 pushing the 48, or vice versa, and the 5 and 24 doing the same. They stayed together all day, and in the end, it paid off with a win for Jimmie Johnson, as well as Rick Hendrick, who’s four cars all finished in the top 8.

Various pieces I’ve read have been critical of the 2 by 2 racing that has become prevalent at the restrictor plate tracks this year, and I can’t say that I blame them. The 2 car mini packs are certainly different from anything we’ve ever seen before. To be honest with you, I didn’t much like what I saw beginning at Daytona practice, and in the Daytona 500 itself. I suppose I didn’t like the 2 by 2 style because at first I didn’t really understand it. Leave it to the true experts in the field to figure it out, and by that I mean the best drivers in the world who actually have to make a living at 200 miles per hour, and not the pundits, much less the self appointed pundits, much like me, who spout opinions about it

Strangely enough, the drivers themselves seem to be divided on the issue as well. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s dislike of the 2 by 2 packs has probably been the most publicized. Other drivers, including his teammate Jeff Gordon, didn’t seem to have much of a problem with it. It’s a learning experience for all of them, as well as for the fans and the people who write about the sport, and the jury is still out on whether 2 by 2 is a good thing or a bad thing.

About halfway through Sunday’s Dega race, I decided I liked the 2 by 2 tango. The cars still draft, but they’re not in huge packs like they used to be. This has been something that NASCAR has tried to accomplish for years, and I daresay they might be onto something with the current car and tire package. The fastest way around Talladega and Daytona is in 2 car packs working closely together. And I mean closely. NASCAR is a fluid sport, as witnessed by the last 10 years or so probably more than any other time in the sport’s history. If there’s one thing you can say for Brian France, it’s that the sport has probably seen more changes under his leadership than at any other time in NASCAR’s history.

One aspect about the new style of driving at the plate tracks is that I’m not very happy with the pusher being basically the co-pilot to the lead car. That’s the only way it can work though. Were the cars pushing the leaders to the finish on Sunday all giving up all chances to win? Did they think they might get a chance to get to the front in the last second or so? All’s fair in racing, especially in the last turn. I suppose that any of the top 8 or so drivers theoretically had a chance to win, but in practice, it took a tandem of cars driving low, too low, some people thought, to get the checkered flag. The car pushing the winning car of Jimmie Johnson was the car of Dale Jr. Jimmie finished first, and pressed to his back bumper was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale finished 4th, even though he was denting the winning car’s bumper. That’s how close it was.

Until NASCAR changes the aero package or the engine rules themselves at the plate tracks, the 2 by 2 tango is probably what we’re going to see for the foreseeable future. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, it’s just different. To me, Talladega was a different race this time. There were multiple car wrecks, but really no routine ‘Big One’ as has often been seen at the plate tracks for years. I think that’s probably a good thing. I know some of the drivers, such as Dale Jr. like the old style big packs, and it’s exciting to watch, but at the same time, I hate seeing so many good drivers taken out of the mix by someone else’s mistake. That happened at Dega on Sunday, but fortunately, not as many drivers were taken out as were in recent years.

Sometimes different isn’t all that bad.

Why Martinsville Endures

2011-04-03T18:34:00.000-04:00

Kevin Harvick won at Martinsville today. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in second, narrowly beating out Kyle Busch for the spot. Juan Pablo Montoya came in 4th, and Jeff Gordon finished 5th.

This was Martinsville at its best. Good racing, good finishes, and the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit keeps putting people into the stands. I don’t think today was a sellout by any means, but for a track in a town rather off the beaten track in southern Virginia, Martinsville never ceases to please.

Several years ago, after Dale Earnhardt died, I figured that eventually we would see Earnhardt Jr. and Harvick racing for wins against each other. This isn’t the first time, obviously, but for me, at least, it was a win-win situation. Nothing can be better than to see two of my favorite drivers fighting for the lead with laps to go at a track like Martinsville. The drag race to the finish line with Dale Jr. just edging out Kyle Busch put the icing on my race day.

It’s not that I don’t like Kyle Busch. Not as a racer at least. I know that Kyle is one of the toughest drivers out there, and he’s smart as well. As far as talent, Kyle Busch has it all.

I’m still working on the personality part of the Kyle Busch equation though. He seems a little more calm so far in 2011, and I like that. His mostly reasoned responses to media question make him better received than his old snarky personality made him sound. If indeed Kyle is really coming around, I welcome him to NASCAR. Be aggressive as you want to be on the track, just don’t whine about it when it all blows up in your face later. Maybe that was just the old Kyle Busch. The new Kyle I’ve seen lately is a lot easier to take, especially on a full stomach. I’m not sure that I like Kyle yet, but I do respect him more.

When Martin Truex Jr.’s throttle got stuck open and he hit the wall, taking Kasey Kahne with him, I gained a lot of respect for Martin when he jumped out of his car and went to check on Kasey. To me, that showed character as a driver. Martin didn’t need to do that, but it was obviously important to him to make sure that a fellow driver was OK after a pretty bad wreck. Fortunately, Kasey was, but Martin what I wish some other drivers would do in the same situation. Go check on the other guy if you’re OK. That’s the old school thing to do.

Martinsville, from it’s bright pink hot dogs down to it’s great racing epitomizes what racing ought to be. Small tracks, small towns, tasty eats, and good hard racing.

What could be better?

Martinsville: Make Sure You Try Out the Hot Dogs

2011-03-30T21:50:00.000-04:00

Martinsville is famous for its hotdogs. Go eat one. It's pink, but it won't kill you.

I love Martinsville, because it's two drag strips connected by two U turns. Oh, wait, I'm pretty sure someone else has already said that. Believe me, it's not easy being original in a world where it seems like everything has been done, said, or written at least once.

I love the short tracks. I always have. I love Martinsville, Richmond, Bristol, Dover, Phoenix, and even Darlington, even though Darlington technically doesn't qualify as a short track. I love the fact that the drivers have to really crank that steering wheel around like they don't do on 1.5 mile tracks. It's fun, it's awesome, and oh, did I mention the great pink hot dogs?

Expect to see a hot dog wrapper or two on the front grills of some of the race car. That's a tradition at Martinsville too. Somehow, some of those pieces of paper end up on the track, and when one gets hung in front of the radiator of a race car, overheating can occur. It's just part of the game at this wonderful track in southern Virgina.

Martinsville is the oldest, I think, track currently on the NASCAR circuit. It's a wonderful example of how racing used to be. I love it, and if you're a NASCAR fan, you should too.

I really don't care who wins this weekend, but I'm very happy that we're racing on one of the greatest tracks in the series this weekend. I'm going to eat a hot dog in celebration.

Great Race at California. Say What?

2011-03-28T14:30:00.000-04:00

It's seems strange to say it, but the last 10 or so laps of Sunday's California race were among the best I've seen so far in the 2011 season. Just when it looked like Kyle Busch was going to complete another sweep weekend, he falls from first two third in just a couple of laps.

Kevin Harvick came seemingly out of nowhere and passed first Busch, then Jimmie Johnson, who only himself had just passed Kyle for the lead. Kevin put his front bumper to the rear of Jimmie's Chevrolet, got Jimmie loose, and passed on the outside.

But wait, this really happened at California? Indeed it did.

I will admit, the first 190 laps or so were not very exciting. I was about ready to quit watching the race altogether when JJ and Kevin began to close in on Kyle. I'm glad I hung around to watch the end.

I already had said to a friend how much I liked the paint scheme on the 29 Chevy of Kevin Harvick. At California, he had Jimmy Johns as his primary sponsor, and the car, at least from the side, was white. It reminded me of his cars during his rookie Cup season in 2001, when he won his first cup race in only his third start at Atlanta. (Oh, how I missed Atlanta this spring, but more on that at another time)

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress, and all the RCR guys in a great win in Kevin's home state. That win will probably rank up there with some of Kevin's favorite wins, considering who he passed in the final laps to take the checkered flag.

On Monday Morning, Everyone's an Expert

2011-03-04T20:28:00.002-05:00

I listen to sports talk radio quite a bit. Most of the time, the coverage of anything related to NASCAR is severely lacking, but I do perk up when events occur that catch the attention of even the most diehard stick and ball radio guys who would rather talk about college basketball RPI’s than they would even mention any kind of automobile racing, especially NASCAR.

Trevor Bayne’s win at Daytona on Sunday changed all of that. I didn’t listen to the radio all day, since my paying job requires most of my attention between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm. I do listen on the way to work, while I’m at lunch, and on the way home, however. Early this morning, I listened to one talk show host who kept referring to the Daytona 500 winner as ‘Trevor Payne,’ or sometimes ‘Travis Payne,’ and I was yelling at the radio, which turns out to be a very productive exercise. It’s productive if you’re trying to roughen up some already scratchy vocal cords anyway, which I have, due to a recent cold. Unfortunately, it’s not very productive for much else, except making the cats give me one of those ‘he’s losing his mind again’ looks.

This particular host had a caller who tried to correct the last name of the driver in question. The host quickly ignored the caller’s attempt to correct a mistake, and announced that he basically watches all the races, and he knows what he’s talking about. Interesting, because I watch all the races that I can, but sometimes not all of them. For instance, I did not get to watch the Craftsman Truck race on Friday, nor did I catch the Nationwide race on Saturday, nor did I see the Twin 150’s on Thursday, because calling in sick just to watch two qualifying races just didn’t quite outweigh my need for a paycheck, but even I knew who Trevor Bayne was. I know more about him now than I did Sunday morning, but even I knew his name was ‘Bayne,’ and not ‘Payne.’

I just finished watching Trevor’s appearance on ESPN’s NASCAR show on Monday evening. The young man is nearly impossible to dislike. His enthusiasm is contagious. He’s a very real, excited young man with a very personable and engaging personality. If I were the Wood Brothers, I’d make darn sure this guy doesn’t get away. He reminds me of the son I never had, but wish I had. The guy prayed over the radio on his pace laps before the green flag dropped. He was 20 years and one day old when he won the Daytona 500, in only his second career Sprint Cup start.

Several talk show hosts today have repeatedly talked about how Trevor won the biggest race in only his second race, as if he’s only been in a race car one other time in his life. That, of course, is not true. Trevor has been racing since he was knee high to a grasshopper, and achieved much national acclaim racing carts as a boy. He’s been around the Nationwide series for a while. In other words, the kid has been driving competitively most of his life. The talking radio heads don’t seem to grasp that, and I actually heard one guy today try to make the argument that this is just proof that NASCAR is all a farce, just a sham, because some kid who has no idea what being a race car driver is all about just won the biggest race in his sport. This gem of a host made a comment that Trevor probably doesn’t even know how many wheels there are on a stock car, because he’s never raced but one time before. No, I’m not talking about ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser, either. This was some guy who typically engages mouth before brain, and since in his mind, NASCAR isn’t a sport anyway, why waste the time to actually research a subject on which you are about to pontificate?

Those you who listen to sports talk radio can probably tell me some even better stories than the couple I’ve shared with you. As a NASCAR fan, I take a little pride in listening to these experts on all things sports, and knowing that even I know more about my sport than they do, no matter how well connected they try to appear to be. One host I listened to today made the usual comments about Trevor being a ‘novice racer’, but when a caller who actually was a fan called in and set the host straight on Trevor’s pedigree, the host quickly admitted that he doesn’t actually watch NASCAR, he just scans the headlines. I give this guy his props, he admits when he knows he’s delved into an area that he really doesn’t know anything about. Unfortunately, many taking radio heads won’t admit that they’re wrong about anything.

I suppose just to prove a real expert knows what he’s talking about, Trevor Bayne will have to change his last name to ‘Payne.’

This Is Going To Be Fun

2011-01-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

NASCAR has announced some new rules regarding the way things are done. That’s NASCAR’s prerogative, of course, and for a change, it appears that they are doing things that will make fans happy. What a wonderful concept.

First of all, the points rules appear to be changing once again. Supposedly, the winner of a race will be rewarded more for winning, which is a concept unto it’s self. Rather than repeatedly rewarding drivers for finishing in the top 10, the points will be more heavily favorable to the winner of the race. What goes around comes around I guess. Isn’t that the way it used to be?

There’s a shake up in the works that will effect the outcome of the Nationwide series as well. Drivers now have to choose, on their license applications which series they are competing for a championship in. I think that this will help keep the Cup guys from overshadowing the Nationwide guys. I’d rather see someone like Jason Keller win a championship in Nationwide than somebody like Carl Edwards, or Kyle Busch. Carl and Kyle play in the big leagues, and that’s where their efforts should be concentrated, as far as I’m concerned. Let the full time Nationwide guys settle it among themselves. I love that the Cup stars spice up the Nationwide series, but I’ve never been happy that they dominate it, at least as far as the championship goes.

Personally, I’m glad that NASCAR has made the changes they have, among other changes that I’m not even prepared to discuss here. I’m glad that NASCAR is being proactive about their venture, to use a little business speak. They need to keep trying to tweak the sport a little to attract more posteriors into seats, since they started playing with the format since the coronation of Brian France. They’ve played with the system so much, they pretty much have to keep playing with things to keep the fans interested. What’s most interesting, at least to me, is that the more NASCAR changes, the more it gets back to where it was a decade or more ago.

Just look at the cars. The rear spoiler is back, and now there is no strange looking front splitter on the Cup cars for 2011. NASCAR calls it something like a splitter without struts, but it’s basically an air dam, just like the old cars used to have. I like the way the new cars look compared to the ridiculous wings and splitters that we used to watch. The cars look way more like real cars to me. I’m much more inclined to buy a die cast replica more than I have been since the advent of the COT, or Car Of Tomorrow. Basically those cars were a bastardization of NASCAR’s original plan. The acronym ’NASCAR’ stands for the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing. What the heck was stock about that wing and splitter? I know, we’ve gotten a long way from the original race cars, which were literally cars just off the dealer lots. I still somewhat wish we could turn back time and go back to those days, but I’m afraid it’s a little too late to do that. I grew up after those years though, and wish this stuff was closer to being as simple as it was back in the 1970’s. Yeah, I know, when it comes to NASCAR, I’m a dinosaur.

On a side note, so much for my plan to write more in 2011. I’ve recently been hired full time by a company I’ve worked for before, so time is a little short lately You see, my basic problem is that I‘ve got to eat. I‘d do this all day if I could afford to. I promise I will do all I can to write as much as I can at night and on weekends. My love for this sport in not diminished at all, and I plan to watch each and every single race this year, and for the rest of my life, for that matter. As long as stock car racing exists, and I’m alive, I’ll be here. You can rest assured of that.

By the way, there is a major redesign of this site coming up. I had hoped to get it up by the end of the year, but I ran out of time on that. I’m going to be making changes slowly through the rest of the winter, and hopefully by Daytona, I’ll have it fixed. Thank you for your patience.

Life: Is it Unfair?

2011-01-02T13:56:00.002-05:00

Yes it’s true. We’re all going to die. I hate to bring you this bad news, but it’s indeed true.

A few minutes ago on the local news, a local college professor said, and I quote, “Any parent who feeds their children meat is sentencing them to death!”

What kind of parent would sentence their children to death? How horrible. The Department of Social Services should step in and remove these poor children from the clutches of their murdering parents. These parents should be sentenced to what? Maybe death? Does that sound about right? Would death be too good for parents who willfully kill their children by feeding them meat?

I also recently heard on the radio an expert who said that every time you inhale second hand tobacco smoke, you’re shortening your life by 5 years. Yep, he said it. I have to argue with that one though. If that were true, I should have been dead by age 4, unless I’m going to live to be 692 years old. That’s only counting other people’s second hand smoke, much less my own. Maybe I’m going to live a lot longer than 692, if the experts can be trusted.

On another radio station, a NFL type expert said that the only thing NASCAR accomplishes is killing people, both drivers and fans. He said people get killed every year driving around in stupid circles, killing and maiming others as they go. He told his audience that “untold numbers of fans die every year as the direct result of watching drivers going around in circles.” I have news for you, buddy. Untold numbers of people die every year from crossing the street to get in a cab or catch a bus. A lot of people die when they slip on their steps. Some people choke at restaurants eating salads too.

Every NASCAR driver, as well as any racing driver period, knows that every time he straps on that car or bike or boat or airplane, or whatever, that he or she might die. That’s a given. It’s always in the back of their minds. They choose to take the risks anyway. Some do it for the thrill of living on the edge. Some do it for the money. Some do it to become celebrities, whether it be on a worldwide basis, or just in their own communities. There are as many reasons to race as there are potential racers. I don’t know the exact stats, but I would guess there are anywhere between a few thousand to a few million people who wish they could sit in the driver’s seat that’s currently providing a place for the butt of their favorite driver to make a living in.

I’m not making fun of vegetarians here. I have some very close relatives who don’t eat meat for religious reasons. I can respect that. Beliefs are beliefs, and they have theirs and I have mine. I’m as likely to give up my beliefs as they are, so there’s no reason to contest our beliefs. They are family, and I love them just as much as anyone else in my family. I eat meat. I like it. To me, it’s protein that helps invigorate my body quickly, and I like the way most meat tastes. Yes, I’m a steak and hamburger kind of guy. I’ve never forced anyone to eat a hamburger. I’ve tried to smoke alone or only around other people who smoke. I don’t want nonsmokers to be violated. I respect their wishes, and only hope they can respect mine as well. That’s all I ask.

I have to laugh at people with PhD’s that try to scare people about how deadly life is though. I mean, how deadly is life? If you’re born, don’t you die? Isn’t birth your one way trip to death? As far as I know, the only person who once died who is still around is Jesus Christ, but that’s another religious thing, isn’t it? That’s a matter of belief. I suppose the belief that kids will die way early from eating meat is what? A belief?

Kids get killed in traffic accidents every day. Kids get killed by hitting curbs on their bikes. Kids die. That’s a fact. I don’t know of anything sadder than hearing that a child died. It’s not fair, it’s unjust, but so far, the human experiment has shown that sometimes kids die. Sometimes. One absolute is this: All human beings die too. It’s hard for many of you to imagine, but it’s true. You’ll die one day. So will I. Whether it be from second hand smoke, eating meat, or turning stupid circles around a track, it will happen to each and every one of us one day.

In The Green Mile, a movie I would highly recommend if you haven’t already seen it, there is a quote. “We all have a life to give.” My theory about life is to give it all you’ve got. It won’t last forever, no matter how much meat you don’t eat or how much smoke you don’t inhale.

Dysfunctional Families

2011-01-02T13:51:00.000-05:00

Hola, and Happy Holidays here from snowy South Carolina. Yes, we actually had a white Christmas, the first I’ve ever seen here. The last one was a few months after I was born, but I didn’t live in this part of the state then, and wouldn’t have remembered it anyhow.

I, like probably some of you, am a fan of the Discovery - TLC series American Chopper. The show first aired back in the early 2000’s, featuring a father and son team that built custom choppers. Various theme bikes have often been the subject of the show. The combined talents of Paul Tuetul Sr. and Paul Jr. made them famous in the motorcycle industry, and Discovery Channel made them famous worldwide. Both father and son have histories of substance abuse in their past, but overcame their problems to build a very successful motorcycle business in Orange County, New York, which is about 60 or so miles upstate from New York City. The show was originally based on showing how custom motorcycles, literally works of art are fabricated basically from scratch. Another factor soon overwhelmed the technical aspect of the show. The Tuetul family squabbles and fusses among themselves, often heatedly, and sometimes treats the audience, as well as other shop employees to the spectacle of father and son smashing furniture, doors, windows, etc. in their moments of anger. What started out being a typical reality series about motorcycle fabrication quickly became a real drama series, a reality soap opera if you will.

A couple of years, Paul Sr. fired Paul Jr., and ended up suing his son for a variety of reasons involving ownership issues of the company, which is called Orange County Choppers. Paul Jr. struck out on his own, starting up a company called Paul Jr. Designs, and he now builds choppers practically next door to OCC’s original shop.

The former father and son team have not spoken to each other in about 2 years, at least as of the latest episode. For those of you who have watched the show, you probably have your own opinions about the issues that the family faces. I will share with you my opinion about the family fight. I feel that though Paul Jr. has often acted as a bit of a diva on the show, his design prowess is what put OCC on the map. Paul Sr. certainly had a lot to do with the company’s success, and is a fairly good designer himself. Since Sr. and Jr. parted company, Paul Sr. has actively tried to sabotage his son’s budding business. Paul Sr. has talked to various vendors of motorcycle parts and apparently has attempted to bully them into avoiding doing business with his son. Paul Sr. keeps playing the part of the victim, but it is lately becoming disturbing to me to see the lengths a father will go to in order to see his son fail.

Are the Tuetuls unique? Not really. Probably just about everyone who bothers to read this has experienced disagreements in their own families. I know my family has had it’s share, though for the most part, my immediate family is rather close knit, and I’m very lucky in that way. My father and me have certainly had our share of disagreements, but we managed to get over it, or at least I have. My father is now on the other side of 85, and he needs more and more assistance from his children, no matter how independent minded he is. With the recent loss of my mother, my brothers and sister worry about our dad a lot these days. Regardless of any past disagreements, I hope that my dad and I never stop speaking to each other. I can’t imagine not speaking to my father for months, or even weeks, and then hearing that he had passed away before I could talk to him. Life is just too fleeting to hold a grudge, especially with a family member.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. could probably relate to this sort of thinking. He and his father often argued and disagreed when Jr. was a teenager, and there is no doubt that Dale Earnhardt could be a difficult man to deal with at times. Fortunately, before Dale passed away in 2001, Jr. and Sr. seemed to be getting along better than they ever had. That peace of mind must mean a lot for Dale Jr. Had he and his father been on the outs as of February 18, 2001, Jr.’s father’s death would have been even harder for him to deal with.

2011-01-02T13:43:00.002-05:00

Happy New NASCAR Year

2011-01-02T13:43:00.000-05:00

I hope all of you had a good Christmas. I'm not wishing you happy holidays, because it was Christmas, darn it.

Here's to a good 2011 season, and hoping that your favorite driver, no matter how lame he is, wins. I hope we make a few new year resolutions soon, and my resolution list says:

1. I resolve to write more often.

2. I resolve to write even oftener.

Does this make sense? I will do my best. The 2011 season is just around the corner, and I'm guessing it's going to be great. During my time off, I've written some great stuff, and I hope to put some of it on here soon.

Take Care!

Sorry For Not Posting More

2010-11-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

My mother just passed away after a long and difficult illness, and that's the main reason I haven't been around for a while. I hope to be back soon, and in fine form.

I've got quite a bit of analysis about the NASCAR season that I'll get to later.

I hope each and every one of you who reads this will check back in with me later, probably after Homestead.

Thank you,

Jimmy C

Things That Make Me Say 'Huh."

2010-10-11T14:32:00.000-04:00

There is a show called LA Ink on the TLC channel, which I’ve had the chance to see on and off over the last couple of years. It’s about a lady named Cat, who does tattoos professionally. I didn’t know this, but apparently, the latest thing is to get a tattoo on your throat, at least in LA. Letting someone stick a needle in your throat, marring your skin for life, is apparently the ‘in’ thing now. At least in LA.

Now, I suppose I’m pretty backward. I don’t even suppose that anymore, I know it. It’s not just because I live in SC, which, in this case, doesn’t stand for ‘Southern California,’ but because in my case it means ‘South Carolina.’

I’m not much embarrassed about it. Even here, in the belt buckle of Baptism, people get tattoos. I don’t really mind. I think that most of the people that do get tattoos are idiots, and will one day be sorry they got them, but I don’t mind.

Back when I was young enough to be impressionable enough to even think about getting a tattoo, the only people I ever saw with them were old Navy veterans who had basically an ink spot on their forearm or shoulder, and by the time I saw them, it was pretty hard to figure out exactly what they were. It wasn’t until lately that I really associated tattoos with what they now are: A part of youth culture.

Unfortunately, I see more and more people my age or older getting tattoos now, and to me, that’s more than a little sad.

Clint Bowyer got penalized 150 points by NASCAR for basically having the back of his car jacked up by a track wrecker when he ran out of gas and was being pushed into victory lane. That kind of stuff makes me scratch my head.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems to be stuck in some time-space continuum, from which he cannot escape, running almost as badly as the guys with no real sponsors. Heck, sometimes he even runs worse than some of them. That makes me wonder.

I know that Bobby Labonte will be released from his present position, which means running laps and finishing 37th or so every week, and will be running in the 47 car next year. That seems like a decent step up for the 2000 champion, but I’m wondering how Marcos Ambrose will fare at Richard Petty Motorsports next year. Hmmmm.

Kasey Kahne will be driving a Toyota next year, I suppose, for Red Bull. Kasey might be setting a record for the most brands driven in the shortest amount of time by a Cup driver. Kasey Kahne started out in a Dodge, is now driving a Ford, and supposedly will be driving a Chevrolet in 2012, after driving a Toyota in 2011. That dude gets around, that’s for sure, and it’s really no fault of his own. Technically, he’ll only be quitting one job and taking another, but things in NASCAR are strange sometimes.

Martin Truex Jr. left the #1 Chevy at Earnhardt-Ganassi last year, and so far has no wins in his new ride in the #56 Toyota with Michael Waltrip Racing. Jamie McMurray, who replaced Martin in the #1, has won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis this year. I like Martin Truex a lot, but wonder how he’s feeling about that deal right now.

Do woodchucks really chuck wood, as depicted on the Geico commercials? Hmmm. I don’t think we have any woodchucks here in SC, which, of course, stands for South Carolina, not Southern California Tattoo Country. Since that is the case, I think I will wait until some furry varmint chucks wood at me before I chuck it back at him.

Does this Chase for the Cup seem more interesting than usual? Like, uh, let’s say, maybe it’s because a guy named Johnson hasn’t come along to dominate all of a sudden? I don’t dislike Jimmie Johnson by any means, but four in a row is becoming kind of boring. Let’s see someone new win it for the first time and be genuinely excited about it for a change.

Is it normal for a cat to like hot dog wieners? I have a cat who loves them. He’s even stolen one from me when I wasn’t looking. He likes steak too, which was not such a surprise to me. I know he doesn’t need to eat like this all the time, but I figure a treat once in a while is OK. Does that make me a terrible person?

Does anyone think that Rachael Ray is overextending herself? She’s seems a little scatterbrained on 30 Minute Meals lately. She also seems to be losing her voice at times. I like her a lot, but wonder if becoming the next Oprah isn’t taking it’s toll on her.

I’ve got too much time on my hands, I think. How about you?

Things I've Noticed

2010-09-20T12:02:00.002-04:00

I’ve been around for a while There’s actually quite a few things I’ve noticed. Bear with me here, please.

I’ve noticed that old men who do play by play for college football are sometimes bleeding idiots. Not specifically, but generally. But that’s just me.

I’ve noticed that NASCAR seems to have bent over backward to allow dirty play back into the mix as far as winning championships go. I Also just noticed that my chances of getting hired by NASCAR are about zero.

I’ve noticed that Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans are not respected very much. I think that’s a shame. I’m a Dale Jr. fan, but I’m also a Smoke fan and a Happy fan. I assume that I’m still disrespected, but I’ve only got one thing to say to you haters. Hammer You. Thank you. I feel much better now.

I notice that most people in the reporting business don’t take NASCAR very seriously. But, seriously, how can one run at 200 MPH and throw the races, like most of the geniuses seem to think they do. Does NASCAR have a master OFF switch that just cuts off a car that’s getting too competitive? Strangely enough, some people will believe that. Maybe I have some ocean front property in Oklahoma to sell them too. Call me. We’ll do lunch and talk about it. Just imagine it. You could be the first on the beach in Elk City. Wouldn’t that be a kick!

Is it possible for people from certain parts of the North East to pronounce the letter “H?” There’s a very good guy on the radio down here who pronounces words such as “Huge” as “Uge.” I know it’s a regional thing, but it still bothers me. God put 26 letters in the alphabet, so let’s use them, please! I don’t want Sesame Street to be telling me that “H” is feeling left out. That would probably make me cry. You don’t want to see me cry. It would be ugly and humiliating. Or maybe, Umilitating.

Is it possible for a guy named Brent, who’s been on ESPN for way too long, to quit calling the color guy “Herbie?” Even I, sitting here at home feel embarrassed for this guy. If you listen to ESPN or even other guys on the radio or TV, you’ve probably heard of him.

I notice that “Herbie’s voice gets shrill when he’s passionate about something. Like when Auburn makes a mistake. As I write this, I’m watching Auburn play Clemson. So far, the score is 17-3, in favor of the Clemson Tigers. So far, some Tigers are more equal to others.

I’ve noticed that most of the Kyle Busch Fans hate Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Huh. I’m a genius, aren’t I? Probably the reverse is true as well, but I’ve not met many true Kyle Busch fans. I’m not saying that there aren’t any, I just haven’t met many.

On that note, I’ve also noticed that lately, the media types have been referring to Kyle Busch as the bad boy of NASCAR, but it seems to me that Carl Edwards has been involved in far more incidents lately. Mostly with Brad Keselowski, which are the most popular incidents, but also with Denny Hamlin as well, which happened most recently in Sunday’s New Hampshire race. Speaking of New Hampshire, I can remember lying on the couch with my soon to be step daughter, who was about five years old at the time, watching a New Hampshire race. She kept saying “New Hamster“, I thought it was pretty cute, so I didn’t correct her. Later, I found out that she had been quizzed at school, writing the names of the states down in their proper places. I saw the big red X beside the word scrawled just above Massachusetts. It said “New Hamster.” Had I not had so much confidence in myself, I might have felt a little embarrassed. I thought it was actually pretty funny, until I made the mistake of relating the story of “New Hamster” to her mother, who was by then my wife. For some reason, she didn’t think that was so funny. I was then properly embarrassed. Actually, it would be pretty cool to have a state named for some little furry animal, I think. Maybe “New Poodle?”

I’ve noticed that Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a fourth place finish in Sunday’s New Hamster, I mean Hampshire race. I hope he can keep up that kind of performance for the next nine races. It’s way better than 30 something, 3 or 5 laps down. I’ve got some more things to say about Dale Earnhardt Jr., but I’ll wait until a future column to say them.

I’ve noticed that the South Carolina Highway Patrol has some officers assigned to this general area who seem to have way too much time on their hands. I was recently in a convenience store on state Highway 81, which is a fairly major road leading from Anderson, South Carolina, to Greenville, South Carolina. I was working on a computer problem for the owners of the store, and when I walked in at 10:00 AM, there was a trooper sitting at one of the tables eating donuts and drinking coffee while he read the newspaper. I left the store at 1:30, and the trooper hadn’t moved, except to buy more donuts and coffee. I work for myself, but even by my standards, that was a long coffee break, or lunch break or whatever it was. I’ve also noticed that there are often as many as four or even five State Troopers on a certain stretch of Highway 81, often all within a 5 mile stretch. I know, because I’ve asked, that there are no such things such as ticket quotas for these officers, but I was once told there are such things as “performance standards.” Why one certain stretch of a state highway holds so much interest for these officers is rather mystifying to me, except for the fact that the speed limit changes quite a bit over this particular part of the highway. I suppose it’s better to catch mom and pop in the family Buick doing 7 mph over the speed limit, than to catch possible drug smugglers out on Interstate 85, which is very nearby, and possibly take a bullet in the chest or head. I’m not brave enough to do what they do, so I suppose catching speeders on Highway 81 makes sense when you think about it that way. Whatever it is, it’s our tax dollars at work. If you think I live in Hazard County, from the old Dukes Of Hazard show, you’d be just about right, I suppose.

I notice that even though it’s more than half way through September, it’s still hot here in the South. I’ve lived here for 47 years, so you would assume that I’m used to it. I don’t think I am. Right now, I’d rather be in Minnesota, preferably in the northern part, on a lake, fishing for northern, or muskies or something. It would probably be cool during the day, and pretty darned cold at night. I would consider that good weather to sleep in. Eventually, we’ll have our winter here even in the South, and we’ll probably have our ice storms, and occasional snow storms even. Then I’ll be complaining about the cold. I’ve noticed that I’ve done that before.

I’ll probably do it again too.

A Few New Pet Peeves

2010-08-22T14:50:00.000-04:00

I know, I should shut up about this, but I just can’t. This is my site, so I guess I can get away with it this time.

What is it about people, of all ages, apparently, with the tattoo thing? When I was a kid, the only people I ever saw with tattoos were old Navy veterans, and they had something on their arms that might have been a portrait of their mom, or maybe a portrait of Waylon Jennings when he was smoking a lot of dope. We couldn’t really tell, to tell you the truth.

Now, it seems like everyone under the age of 35 has got to have a tat of some kind or other, and a lot of people my age, or even older have jumped onto this bandwagon. I guess I’m just a little bit too old school for this entire deal. I wouldn’t get a tattoo, any more than I’d get my ear pierced. I’m watching a show on TV about tattoos. Most of the people here are getting them to show friendship for their friends. What ever happened to just being friendly to your friends? Bake them a cake, or some brownies. Watch their pets, collect their newspapers and mail when they go on vacation. I’ve had a lot of friends in my life, but I never had the desire to have their names permanently attached to my epidermis. I guess I just don’t get it. Call me an old whatever, but I really don’t get that. Had I gotten my wife’s name tattooed to my butt back in ‘94, I’d really feel like an idiot now. There is a song that Duane Allman did back in the late 1960’s, and the first words of the song are “I ain’t seen my wife for two or three years, I’m a happily married man.” In my case, try for 5 or 10 years. I’m very happy I haven’t seen her during that time. I hope I never see her again, to be honest about it.

I’m guessing that the tattoo removal business must be just about as lucrative as the tattoo installing business. How many guys have had a few too many and had the name of some girl tattooed on their arm, chest, or whatever? How many girls have probably done the same thing? 6 months later, the Yellow Pages are out, and tattoo removal is probably the topic. Like I said, I’m old, apparently, at 47. I just don’t get the tattoo thing at all.

Another thing that irritates me is sports media, in general. Yesterday, the entire world, it would seem, waited breathlessly while Brett Favre walked up to the podium, and said yes, indeed, he would play for the Minnesota Vikings in 2010. Duh. I knew he would. So did the rest of the world. Big deal. Great for the Vikes, bad news for the Packers, probably. Whatever.

Tiger Woods has been a major irritant to me this year as well. Not so much that Tiger cheated on his wife, etc. That’s his business. I’m not in a position to judge him. I do get irritated by the fact that most people who are supposedly in the know are writing off Tiger as a future winner in the PGA or any other golfing event, ever. Tiger is the best golf player I’ve ever watched, except maybe for Jack Nicholas, but Tiger has had a pretty rough year. I think he’ll be back, but I don’t see why there has to be 24 hour a day coverage on how bad Tiger’s season has sucked this year. Tiger knows he sucked this year. Anyone who watches golf knows that. I don’t watch all the events, but even I know that. I think Tiger will be back though.

I also get irritated by all the know it alls that have deemed Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career as being “done, like a Christmas turkey.” I actually heard that on the radio today. I suppose it’s a tribute to Dale Jr.’s fame that the only thing that the usual stick and ball sports guy can say about stock car racing is that Dale Jr.’s done. Dale Jr. isn’t even very close to being in the Chase right now. Nobody on any of the radio stations I’ve listened to have talked about Kasey Kahne’s move, or Mark Martin’s dilemma, or the fact that Kevin Harvick has been the leader in the points race just about all season. The only thing that the stick and ball guys can talk about is how Dale Jr. sucks. It makes me want to ask myself why A-Rod didn’t suck when it took him about a month to hit his 600th home run. What’s the matter, A-Rod? Need a shot of steroids?

Speaking of Kevin Harvick, he’s one of the major unsung heroes of NASCAR this season. Quietly, he’s been building up a substantial lead in the Cup series by scoring a lot of top 5’s and top 10’s. That’s how it’s done. A couple of wins doesn’t hurt either.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won 18 Cup races in his career, and more Nationwide races than that. Dale Jr., in my humble opinion, doesn’t need to explain a darned thing to anyone. He’s proven he can do it. If you know Babe Ruth’s stats, year by year, by heart, but have never been to a NASCAR race, and yet you have a job on TV or radio talking about sports, please, quit talking about NASCAR, when you don’t have a clue about what you’re talking about. Stick and ball dudes, most of really don’t have a clue: Shut up. Live it, learn it, earn it, and love it, and then I’ll listen to your idiocy.

I love NASCAR, and won’t apologize for it. I had a client a couple of years ago that ridiculed me for being a fan. She was a fan of Indy League Racing. Her sport raced “real cars.” I said “What the heck are you driving home?” She didn’t answer, after she’d given me a pretty dirty look.

Let’s give NASCAR another chance. It’s worth it.

Go to Bristol!

2010-08-19T11:47:00.000-04:00

There is a place on the Tennessee - Virginia border that is about the only place in the world where you can see awesome racing while sitting in a football stadium setting. I’m talking about Bristol Motor Speedway, obviously. Bristol is absolutely awesome, and for years you couldn’t get a ticket there, because they were all sold out. Every race, every year. This year, you could have a chance to go to what I consider one of the greatest tracks on the NASCAR circuit.

If you’ve never been to Bristol, I’d encourage you to go, if there is any way at all you can make it there. I was lucky enough to get to go to the night race there a couple of years ago, and it was one of the greatest racing experiences I’ve ever had.

The track itself is spectacular. It’s banking looks very intimidating, and the speeds the cars drive around the track look pretty much impossible. You quickly understand why the best drivers in the world race at this track, because very few other folks could last a lap here.

The seating, as I said before, is like a giant football stadium. With 160,000 seats, it’s simply about the largest sporting event I have ever seen, and if you go, you will probably feel much the same way. The racing is intense. There is no drafting at Bristol, such as would happen at Talladega or Daytona. Bristol is completely at the other end of the spectrum from those storied tracks. If you watch a Bristol race, you’re watching what I consider to be stock car racing at its best. These guys will beat and bang all day, rub and bump. That’s how racing was born, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s how racing is meant to be. If I could drive my truck around any track that NASCAR races on, Bristol would be my first choice. I have a feeling that my Toyota Tacoma would probably roll over going through the turns though.

Bristol, at night, is simply spectacular. If you live within 500, or maybe even 1000 miles, I’d advise you to get your derriere to the track this weekend. I guarantee you won’t be sorry.

Bristol has been around for a long time. It’s short track racing at its best. It probably has been, and always will be, with apologies to Martinsville and Richmond. The only thing missing for Bristol is the famous hot dogs at Martinsville. You can buy those, by the way, at least the actual wieners. Just look at your local grocer and specify pink. Mention Jesse. That will do it.

I’ve only been to Bristol once, but as far as I can see, there’s not a bad seat in the house. That’s pretty impressive, considering that there are 160,000 seats there. It’s a stadium, and you can see all from anywhere you sit, as far as I’ve been able to tell.

Bristol, Tennessee is almost middle America, but not quite. Like I said before, it’s on the Tennessee border with Virginia, though it’s not that far from places like Cincinnati, Columbus, Atlanta, Charlotte, even Washington, DC. You can easily get there in less than a day from all those places.

Bristol is worth every penny, as far as I’m concerned. If you have to opportunity, get to it. Do it. You really won’t be sorry.

Stick and Ball Sports Versus Stock Car Racing

2010-08-17T18:50:00.000-04:00

I, like many racing fans, was much more aware of baseball, football, basketball, and probably even soccer before I became a fan of racing. I didn’t grow up in a racing family, and didn’t know anyone who went racing when I was a little kid. Somehow, I discovered racing though.

My childhood friend was a kid named Thomas, who was the only kid who lived near my home in the rural Blue Ridge area of northern Greenville County in Upstate South Carolina. We played all the regular sports, the aforementioned stick and ball sports, and had a pretty good time doing it. We also rode our bikes, enjoying carving out off road trails where we could skid, slide, and maybe catch a little air from time to time. We hiked, we went camping, and like all little boys, we went through our hatchet and BB gun phases. There wasn’t a tree we wouldn’t chop, and there wasn’t a target that wasn’t suitable for our ‘rifles’ as we called our BB guns. Well, maybe we wouldn’t shoot out our mother’s windows or put dimples in their cars, but pretty much everything else was fair game.

Somewhere along the line, when we weren’t out playing our own games, we would sit down in front of a TV on weekends and watch ABC’s Wide World of Sports, which was a weekly digest of all that was good in the sports world on a weekly basis. Both Thomas and I enjoyed the NASCAR segments that highlighted the previous week’s race. We became Petty fans, and also Pearson fans, and Yarborough fans, and maybe even Allison fans. This was in the early 1970’s, and nobody around my neck of the woods had really ever heard of a kid named Earnhardt, or his old man.

Not all of the Upstate South Carolina area was as ignorant of the name Earnhardt though. Ralph Earnhardt had been racing at Greenville-Pickens Speedway for years, had won some races there, and had developed a bit of a fan following even here in South Carolina, which is a tribute for a former mill worker from Kannapolis, North Carolina. Ralph brought his kids to the track on Saturday nights, and often the kids would play with the kids of other drivers, and even the kids of the owners of the track, a family who’s name was Blackwell. Later on, I worked for American Federal Bank in Greenville, South Carolina. There was a guy in the mail room named Gary Blackwell. When I knew Gary, his father was the owner of Greenville-Pickens Speedway. He had played, as a child, with kids he knew as Danny, Randy, and Dale. Dale was the oldest, and often lead the younger kids into trouble with their parents, it would seem. As Dale grew older, he spent more time with his father in the pits, helping to set up the race car, learning what he could about racing.

I became a racing fan early in my childhood, I guess you could say. There was not much coverage of the sport on TV when I was a kid, except for Wide World of Sports. I found out that David Pearson was from nearby Spartanburg, South Carolina, and I began pulling for David. He did not disappoint. I still think that had David Pearson raced as many races as did Richard Petty, Pearson would be called the King, not Petty.

Over the years, I have followed all manner of sports. I used to love baseball, but the doping era made it not as exciting as it used to be for me. A couple of strikes also helped dim it’s charm for me. I read in a Robert B. Parker book about how baseball was well suited to radio, or at least it used to be. I feel like it is better suited to radio than TV. I love to watch the sun going down, and listening to the Braves game on the radio. Baseball, unfortunately, has lost much of it’s prestige for me though. I don’t count the efforts of drug enhanced players to the legendary accomplishments of players like Mays, Mantle, Jackson, and others. Baseball had it’s chance, but it blew it with me.

I love college football. Next to stock car racing, college football is probably my favorite sport. I live about 20 or so miles away from Clemson University, which won the national championship in football in 1981. I graduated high school in 1981, so I was very aware of that January day in 1982 when Clemson did what was before and since considered the impossible. Clemson’s head coach, who is originally from Alabama, and played under the legendary head coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant, led the 1981 squad to the ultimate victory in 1981. His name is Danny Ford, and he’s retired from coaching now, but only lives a few miles away from me here in Anderson County. Coach Danny’s got a farm here, and enjoys living here. He’s a neighbor, of sorts. He’s regularly seen around Anderson and Pickens counties, and is a nice guy. Just a regular guy, taking care of his farm.

The National Football League is probably the most popular, and most watched sport in the USA. I enjoy the NFL to a certain extent, because for the last few years I’ve been playing in a fantasy league with some of my former co-workers. It’s fun, and it keeps up the interest, but for the most part, watching guys who get paid mega bucks to play football just doesn’t do it for me as much as college football does. I know, these are the best football players in the world in the NFL, but I get tired of all the scandals that seem to plague these guys so much. Ever hear of Michael Vick? Ever hear of Chad Ocho Cinco? I get tired of some of this stuff, pretty quickly. Posturing, flaunting their affluence, seems to be the mark of professional athletes. Some of these guys go a little overboard though doing it.

I loved the NBA back when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were playing for the Lakers and the Celtics, respectively. I used to enjoy the finals when it seemed that the NBA really mattered, at least to me. Lately, I’ve gotten tired of all the ghetto thug aspect of the NBA. I followed the Lebron James saga with some interest, but the fact that he’s trying to build a mega team with the Miami Heat just doesn’t get me excited anymore. I could care less about the NBA, though I might tune in sometimes during the finals. Other than that, the NBA holds absolutely no interest for me.

I know there is a small contingent of what the rest of the world calls ‘football’, but which we here in the USA call ‘soccer’. I hate watching 90 minutes of anything that ends up in a 0 - 0 score. I know, I don’t really appreciate the intricacies of the game. I don’t really get hockey either. To me, it’s the same as soccer, except played with sticks. But I’m just a dumb Southerner who doesn’t know any better.

My passion, at least for the last few years, has been stock car racing. I was a huge fan before Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001. I was a fan of Dale Jr. since about 1998. I was a fan of Davey Allison when he died at Talladega in a helicopter accident. I was a fan of Ron Hornaday when he came to Cup, and remembered that he had been the original driver of Dale Earnhardt’s Truck series team. Ron went back to Trucks and has been awesome, driving for Kevin Harvick Inc.

NASCAR salutes the military. NASCAR fans as a whole are patriotic. Probably fans of other sports support the USA as well, but never so much as in NASCAR. Where else do you see men and women in uniform so publicly praised as in any NASCAR event?

I get so tired of stick and ball sports guys on the radio and TV claiming that racing is not a sport. It’s so old. I get tired of hearing that Dale Jr. can’t drive a race car. On a certain sports show based out of Charlotte, NC, it was announced that a certain NBA star beat Dale Jr. on the race track. In fact, that was not true, though the stick and ball dudes at this station crowed about how inept Dale Jr. was on the track. The fact is, there where two races. The first race was five laps. Dale Jr. started a lap down. Five laps to make up a lap and beat the leader. Dale Jr. did it, and whooped the NBA star’s fanny. The next race was ten laps, and they started even, though the NBA star just had to drive the car as fast as he could. Dale Jr. had to make two four tire pit stops, and adhere to the 35 MPH pit road speed while doing so. Dale Jr. again whooped the butt of the NBA star. Whoever reported the idiot comment on the Charlotte radio station should have his butt fired for being a complete idiot, if nothing else. But as always, on the day those races happened, everyone joined in the bashing of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nobody checked the facts. But you know what? Very few in the news media checks facts anyway. They just report, and the more sensational the story, the better. It’s better to report lies than it is to take a few minutes and find out the truth. It’s easy to ridicule Dale Earnhardt Jr., but it’s hard to report the fact that he’s actually a pretty darn good race car driver.

Stick and ball guys always say that NASCAR isn’t a sport because anybody can drive a car around a track. That’s true.

But can you drive a car around that track at 180 or 205 miles per hour, for 500 miles with 42 of your best friends, who might be annoyed with you after the move you put on someone last week at another track? To me NASCAR is the ultimate sport. People die playing it. All the drivers know in the back of their minds that they could die doing what they do. They’ve all seen it happen. Nobody wants it to happen, but it does, sometimes. In the NFL, what’s the worst injury? Maybe a broken leg or arm, or a torn ACL. Baseball? Probably the same. NBA? Sprained ankle or maybe a concussion when a player’s head hit’s the floor. Or the backboard, or the hoop. What ever.

Stock car racing involves the very real possibility of death. Stock car racers feel like they are never going to die doing what they love to do, but in actuality, some of them do every year. Not athletes, eh? Try doing something you love, knowing that you might die for it. NASCAR doesn’t have a hold on that deal, but stock car drivers are given a bum rap by the media in this country, most of whom simply sneer down their noses at a sport that people risk their lives in.

Shame to the media that doesn’t understand how brutal death can be, even in sports. Shame to the so called experts that don’t understand what putting one’s life on the line in the pursuit of one’s job can be like. Sit in your air conditioned studios and tell me that racing isn’t a sport. Get in a car and try it sometime.

Then tell me that racing isn’t a sport. If you’ve got any wind left, tell me that racing isn’t a sport after you’ve been four inches from the wall going 200 miles per hour. Tell me that it was easy, that you didn’t sweat at all. Tell me that you weren’t in fear for your life. Racing isn’t a sport, right? Seriously, go try it out and give me your opinion after you’ve actually done something besides talk into a microphone for your money.

Postscript: My friend Thomas died on July 24th, 2010. This one’s for you, buddy.

Lip Service To NASCAR

2010-08-17T18:41:00.002-04:00

It’s not big secret that for the most part, most of the networks that cover NASCAR really don’t care that much about the sport. It’s easy to pay lip service once a week or so, but it’s not hard to figure out that most of the networks don’t really care about it.

ESPN does a heck of a job covering every sport from soccer to lacrosse. They cover NASCAR, and do an admirable job. But, if you listen to anything but Sports Center, or the one daily show, you’d never know NASCAR existed on ESPN. That’s just on TV.

On ESPN Radio, you hear even less, except for the periodic Sports Center breaks. Sporting News Radio is even worse. Many of the personalities on both networks don’t even consider NASCAR a sport, and couldn’t name most of the current drivers, though they can recite Mickey Mantle’s statistics year by year throughout his career. Most of these commentators weren’t even alive while Mickey was playing either. That’s dedication, I tell you.

I know that stock car racing isn’t for everyone, but I can literally listen to the two sports radio stations on the radio here in the Upstate, South Carolina for 24 hours, and will never even hear a NASCAR mention, except on ESPN’s Sports Center, about every half hour. Only the results of the latest race, and that’s about it. If not for SPEED TV, I’d be basically lost when it concerns NASCAR most of the time. ESPN does a credible job on its one daily show, but for the most part, nobody seems to give a fig about my favorite sport.

A week or so ago, I couldn’t sleep. ESPN Radio apparently only takes phone calls from actual civilians such as me only late at night. Listen to or watch Mike and Mike In The Morning, and notice that they only take a few e-mails from civilians. Most of the other daily shows do as well. Late at night, things can be a little different. I called a couple of weeks ago to discuss NASCAR, and was told, rudely, by the call screener that not only did he, but also the host of the show, considered all car racing to be bogus. “It’s not even a real sport. It’s just dumb asses driving in circles.” Next, I heard the click that every boyfriend has heard once or twice. I’d been hung up on.

I find it interesting that ESPN and SPR pretty much only talk to their own reporters or columnists. I’m sorry, but that makes for some pretty boring radio, as far as I’m concerned. Who gives a crap about what the fans think? It’s not like the fans are important anyway, are they? Oh wait, don’t they buy the tickets? Don’t they give the sport ratings on TV? But by no means should they major networks answer more than a handful of questions from the fans, which are edited down to only the few that the dudes in front of the microphone can actually answer without embarrassing their particular network.

If you’re a network star, you probably don’t have to talk to too many people you’d rather not talk to. As a fan, some of us have to talk to people we don’t want to talk to every day. You know, people like bill collectors, people threatening to revoke your power, phone, or cable or satellite TV. But can you get through to the stars, except a very occasional e-mail or text message? When you hear your name on TV or radio, you probably feel like you won the lottery. And in a way, you did.

All the networks have websites, and usually they have polls going 24 hours a day. That’s the networks’ way of saying your voice will be heard. Great. I’m one voice among the other 38 thousand people who have responded. Dang, I feel lucky tonight.

Getting back to the original topic, I say that if the NFL has its own channel on cable TV, so should NASCAR. Put all the races, Cup, Nationwide, Trucks, even regional series on your channel. Hire the best in the business, only show exclusives on the other networks when the networks meet NASCAR’s demands. Make it basic cable, but sell the crap out of it. I’d pay for it.

Oh yes, I would, because I’d round up all the pennies and nickles in my house to do it. NASCAR deserves it’s own channel. SPEED TV does a great job, but NASCAR deserves better, because it is better than most other sports, in my humble opinion.

Stick and Ball Sports and Stock Car Racing

2010-08-11T13:25:00.001-04:00

A Few Errant NASCAR Thoughts

2010-08-01T12:23:00.002-04:00

Personally, I think the “Let the boys race philosophy that NASCAR has adopted this year has meant better racing. I’m not too happy about the current Brad Keselowski vs. Carl Edwards feud, because it seems to be coming very dangerous, but overall, I’m pretty happy with the racing I’ve seen this season. Some of the Carl and Brad stuff is a little over the top, and I just pray and hope that nobody gets hurt in this quarrel.

Can Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s luck get any worse? He had a decent top 20 going at Indy, but got caught up in Juan Pablo Montoya’s debacle with trying to make up spots because of going with four tires instead of two. I’m not faulting Juan, he should have won that race, but pit strategy raised its ugly head and effectively ended the day for both drivers.

I make no apologies for being a Junior fan. I’ve been a fan of his since 1998. I was a fan of his father, whom I still refuse to call Dale Sr., even though that may be technically true. To me, the father was Dale Earnhardt. The son will always be Dale Jr. I’m happy with that, but I’m getting tired of the ‘senior’ tag, though I know it makes it easier for the media types to designate between the two.

I miss the Dale Jr. Pit Stop. I still read it from time to time, but I haven’t been able to get my password to work on there in almost a year now. Jim, if you read this, have mercy on me! I only get online a couple of times a week now, and never on Sundays, but I miss the prayer before the race, and the check in after the invocation. It was fun seeing people from all over the country, and even all over the world joining in the fun of watching the race and talking about it. Happy days, all over for me now, I guess.

I’m glad that NASCAR seems to be at least one major sporting event in the country that respects God, our country, and our military brothers and sisters who protect our freedom. Where there’s NASCAR, there seems to be hope for our country, and our world.

Is it just me, or has Kyle Busch mellowed out a little this year? I’m actually finding myself enjoying his commercials this year. For the most part, Kyle’s face after a race is a perfect mirror for his emotions. When he doesn’t win, he shows the disappointment, very visibly. That’s not a bad thing. It’s way better than the tantrums of yesteryear, or the on-track retaliation. Maybe engagement is agreeing with our favorite driver to dislike. I have to admit, I dislike him less this year that I ever have. That’s not exactly glowing praise, but it’s a lot better than my opinion of him last year. We just have to take this a race at a time, I suppose. Kyle is still a spectacular driver, but like his brother, eventually anyone can mature, it would seem. Personally, I’m glad to see it. I don’t like to hate anyone, but two years ago, I hated Kyle Busch. This year, I find myself only feeling a slight dislike for him. Every day in every way, we’re all getting better and better!

Are you excited about the count down to the Chase? I am. I can’t wait to see who’s in, and who’s out. I don’t know that I like the idea of knockout racing, and I’m still not exactly sold on the Chase itself, but it is what we have. It is what it is.

As I write this, I’m watching the Nationwide race at Iowa. That is a great track. I’d love to see the Cup guys on this track one day. I’d also like to see them racing at Kentucky, but, well, you know, that’s how it goes.

Does it irritate you that many convenience store workers have no grasp of English, and an even less grasp of mathematics? I just went down to the local gas station and the dude tried to charge me $29.95 for a 16 ounce Pepsi. I argued with him for a while, but gave up when it became apparent that he didn’t speak English. I walked away, and bought one for a buck at the store across the street. Dale Jr., Jeff, Jimmie, Mark, your street level sales staff suck. Why put someone on the counter of a store that doesn’t even understand the most common language in this country? I’m not saying that we should all speak English, but it wouldn’t hurt in a retail environment. Screaming at me in your dialect really didn’t help your overall sales model. Just saying, dude.

I know that the above mentioned drivers didn’t really have a part in this. It could be Pepsi, Coke, whatever. It’s just kinda sad when you can’t understand the guy who’s trying to sell you something, because he doesn’t speak my language at all. I know, I know, I should make myself bilingual. Right. I was born here, and it is necessary that I learn how to speak Spanish, Hindi, and whatever other languages that are spoken in the local BP gas station. Bull bumkis.

The dude in the BP station was pretty smooth. He even offered to pour the Pepsi over a Styrofoam cup full of ice. Oooooohhhhhh. How could I resist? Somehow, I managed.

While I was walking out the door, I was treated to what can be called a profusion of Hindi curses. I didn’t mind too much. I’m more or less a Baptist. Or maybe a Methodist. I went to an Episcopalian school too. Does that count?

Elliot Sadler is out of t he 19 car at the end of 2010 and going to exactly where? Mark Martin is in the 5 car for Rick Hendrick, but will he be there in 2011, or will Kasey Kahne be in that car? Some of you feel that Dale Earnhardt Jr. should be the sacrificial lamb in this deal, because he hasn’t performed up to expectations thus far. Should Rick Hendrick let Dale Jr. go to provide space for both Kahne and Martin in 2011?

If I had the answers to any of these questions, I’d be living in Palm Beach, and you’d never hear from me again.

Bobby Labonte will be driving the 47 Toyota which will be vacated by Marcos Ambrose at the end of 2010. Ambrose will reportedly be driving either the 9 or 19 car for Richard Petty Motorsports, which may or may not be a lateral move. I’m still trying to figure out the advantages and disadvantages involved with this move.

It’s August, and it’s time to roll! Let’s go!

The World’s Most Popular Sport, or Does NASCAR Need the Red Card?

2010-06-25T12:58:00.002-04:00

Of course I’m talking about football, as it’s called in the rest of the world. Here, in America, we call it soccer. The World Cup is happening in South Africa, and that’s a pretty great thing. From what I understand, the USA just advanced to a round in the Cup that they haven’t been able to do since 1930 or so.

I don’t really understand soccer. I played it in high school, during PE. It turned out that I was a much better goalie than I was a field player, because I could never overcome the instinct to catch the ball with my hands when it came hurtling towards me. Only goalies can do that in soccer. I grew up playing with an oblong ball with my friends where the entire idea was to catch the ball with my hands. I played with a small stitched ball that I caught in a glove. I played with a rather large orange ball that I bounced off the floor and used my hands to propel it towards a hoop 10 feet high. In other words, I grew up playing typical American sports as a kid. Here in the South, at least when I was a kid, hockey was rarely seen or heard about. Basically, it seems to me that hockey is just like soccer, except it’s played with sticks and much more violence. The players are on skates. To me, that makes more sense than kicking a round ball around for 90 or so minutes and ending up with a 1-1 tie.

There is a famous line in some movie that states “There is no crying in baseball!” Apparently that is not so in soccer. Teams that lose, or players that make a mistake routinely throw themselves on the ground, put their hands over their faces, and cry. I suppose that’s acceptable for the world’s most popular sport. Heck, it sometimes even happens in American sports, but not very often. Here in America, you’re more likely to see a person cry because they win, rather that being the loser.

But \football, or soccer, as I call it has it’s uses. Soccer uses a yellow card to denote a foul. If it’s a really bad foul, the player is shown the red card, which means expulsion from the event. And supposedly the next event as well. Should NASCAR use the red card?

Actually, NASCAR does. It’s called the black flag. But it’s just to get a guy to pit when he has committed a horrible crime like leaving equipment outside of his pit stall, or for running to slowly on the track. The black flag can also be used to call in a driver who has committed an egregious foul upon another driver. NASCAR can park a driver for bad behavior, NASCAR can do pretty much any darn thing they want to.

Think about it. NASCAR basically can and has done, but rarely, the same thing that football, or soccer does. They can park a guy for the rest of the race. Kevin Harvick got parked one time for something he supposedly did in the Busch series, and it cost him a Winston Cup race start.

In effect, NASCAR always has the option of imposing what soccer would call the red card. Should they? If a driver is out to wreck another driver, I’d say that NASCAR has that right Park the guy, sit him out for a week. Let him know that he needs NASCAR much more than NASCAR needs him.

What do you think?

It Hurts And It Hurts So Bad

2010-06-25T12:56:00.000-04:00

Marcose Ambrose lost the race at Sonoma at Infineon last week because he shut down the engine to save fuel. To be more accurate, he lost the race because he couldn’t get the engine fired before about 7 cars passed him.

I feel for Marcose. He’s got to feel so close to getting a win, which he was at Sonoma, but so far away because of his dismal finish, which compared to other drivers was a great finish.

Take Dale Earnhardt Jr. for instance. He was probably pretty happy with an 11th place finish after struggling with the road course and his car all day. Ambrose is an accomplished road racer, so his disappointment must have been almost palpable after Sunday’s race.

Ambrose’ day is coming. He’s far too good a racer to not win in the near future. Watkins Glen is coming up, and that’s probably the next best chance that Ambrose has to get into victory lane in the Sprint Cup.

Marcose Ambrose, you’re ship is coming in. You were that close, but you failed to collect the cigar. You’ll get there, and it might be this year, or next year, or the next, or even the next.

You’ll get there though.

I’ve got faith in you Marcose. You’re a winner that just hasn’t won in Sprint Cup yet.

Things That Irritate Me, But Don't Let That Bother You

2010-06-16T14:00:00.000-04:00

It looked to me that Kevin Harvick wrecked Joey, but not intentionally at Pocono. What irritates me? Joey Logano’s dad. If the boy can drive a race car, let him stand up for himself. And he did. Kevin is Kevin. Joey is Joey. Why make it more complicated than that?

NASCAR broadcasters in general irritate me. Why throw in your two cents just because you have that much in your pockets? Just because you’ve got a microphone in front of you doesn’t mean you have to say some of the inane stuff that you say.

I’m so irritated by people on the news trying to explain Dale Jr.’s problems on the track. Lance McGrew is a great crew chief, I’m sure, but he and Junior rub each other the wrong way. That is what they call bad chemistry. I say bring Pops (Tony Eury Sr.) in and let’s get some of that old magic back. Heck, Pops works for Dale Jr. now, so I don’t see that being a problem, at least logically. But Pops doesn’t want to do the full Cup series tour, and I understand why, because it’s just hard to watch it all on TV, and I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to travel the insane schedule that Cup follows, and I don’t blame Pops. Face it though, Pops was the best crew chief Dale Jr. ever had.

I get irritated by FIFA World Cup Soccer. Of course, the rest of the world calls it “football”, and I suppose that that’s an accurate term. Men strike the ball with their feet, chests, foreheads, and sometimes their noses, which provides the most enjoyment, because then they bleed a little bit. Oh get off of it people. I’ve personally had a broken nose at least 3 times in my life. It’s not pleasant, but it’s not that bad either. Could those idiots quit blowing those dad gum horns for at least a minute? I suppose not. The stupid horns are ruining it for me. If they sounded like the sound of an 850 HP racing engine…… Well, that would be a different story.

I’m irritated by most rap music. I say most, because there are a few songs that get under my skin, and Lord help me, but I just can’t help myself but I have them ringing around in my brain for a few weeks or months. I really despise the music that preaches hate for police or authority. Some rappers are a little more mellow though, and actually do some funny stuff. I don’t mind that.

Kyle Busch irritates me. Maybe not quite as much as he did last year, but he still irritates me. He’s a very annoying young man. I know he wants to win every race he’s in, but you can only carry stuff like that so far. Kyle needs to learn how to control his emotions and talk to the TV and radio crews. Kyle needs to learn a little about humility. One day, Kyle may maybe be the grand old man of NASCAR, much like Mark Martin or Bill Elliot are today. He’s got a long way to go though.

You Said What?

2010-06-16T13:43:00.001-04:00

Down here in the South, we have a special way of saying things sometimes. The same is probably true for the rest of the country, as well as the rest of the world, but here in the South, we seem to really do things differently sometimes.

I used to play, and still have friends who hit a little white ball with a stick called “goff” or “gawf”, depending upon how many beers the player has had. I think the real word is “golf”, but it seems that if you pronounce it that way, you’re either from the North or totally sober.

I used to have a boss in North Carolina who once said that he was basically a “farfarter, I put out fars all day.” I think he meant “firefighter”, but with bosses, who knows what the heck they’re talking about sometimes?

NASCAR certainly has it’s share of Southern residents involved in the sport, though not in many of the driver’s seats anymore. Many of the crew chiefs, and even some of the owners are as Southern as they can get. Many of them have managed to lose the Southern accent, but often you will hear some things that must be almost incomprehensible to people, say, from the great state of Minnesota.

“This dang ole back end keeps tryin to tarn on me!” “Just keep ‘er up thar, bud. Keep a hittin yore marks!” “OK, guys. Four tars and a half round a wedge in the rot rear.” “Keep a gittin it!”

I’m certainly not being critical of these folks. Heck, I’m about as Southern as I can be. I particular love hearing Bill Elliot talk. Now folks, when you hear Awesome Bill talk, you know exactly what a North Georgia mountain boy sounds like. I really miss Ward Burton, because he exemplifies the sound of Southern Virginia. “Mah name is Wah Button.” I miss that so much.

No, folks, I’m the last person to be critical. People have complained over the years that Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jr. were pretty much speaking a foreign language, or so it sounded. I understand that accent perfectly, because I’ve got the same one. I’ve lived most of my life within 100 miles of Mooresville, North Carolina, so to me, it’s the way most people talk around here.

“I’ll be dad gummed” is one you hear often during NASCAR races. I can forgive Larry McReynolds for saying it, because he’s from Alabama. But Ole DW? Darrell is from Owensboro, Kentucky, which is right across the river from Indiana. Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman are both from Indiana, and I’ve never them “dad gum” anything.

I enjoy how some drivers seem to be becoming “Southernized.” Kevin Harvick, who is from Bakersfield, California, does not have a Southern accent, but occasionally he will pronounce a word or two with a distinct Southern flavor to it. Part of that is from living in North Carolina for quite a few years, but I give most of the credit to his wife, Delana, who is a pedigreed Southerner. Way to go, Delana!

Sometimes I wonder how driver Jimmie Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus can even understand what anyone says in their transplanted home state. To me their not hard to understand, but in the NASCAR of the 1970’s, I doubt that they would have had the success that they’ve had.

Most of the crew wouldn’t have been able to understand most of what they said!

Denny Hamlin Has Arrived

2010-06-16T13:37:00.000-04:00

It would seem that the winner of the blade battle is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. At least so far. 5 wins since NASCAR restored the blade, or the rear spoiler, if you will, cannot lie.

It’s curious why JGR seems to have such a handle on the blade and nobody else can seem to figure it out after all this time. I think I have the answer though: Denny Hamlin has arrived.

“All we do is win” has been the number 11’s battle cry over these 5 wins. The team is on track. The cars are great. Right now, the driver’s great too. It would seem that Denny Hamlin has experienced a few sophomore seasons, and he has finally come into his own.

It’s not a matter of whether you like Denny Hamlin or not, but he’s a lot like Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson in the last couple of years: You cannot deny what he’s done. He’s a winner, and he seems to keep on winning. When it comes right down to it, winning is pretty important, if not everything.

Denny Hamlin rubs some people the wrong way, but so does every driver.

That’s what NASCAR is all about. It’s favorites and least favorites. That’s the way it’s always been.

What Makes A Great Driver?

2010-06-10T14:08:00.002-04:00

Since this is an opinion column, what you are going to read here is totally my opinion and nothing else. I’ve been watching this sport for quite a while, and I’m more than happy to give you my opinion. I’d be interested in hearing your opinion too.

In the old days, most NASCAR drivers came from the South, and literally grew up racing. Some started in go carts and eventually graduated to full sized race cars. Some came from other areas of racing, driving various types of open wheel race cars, and made occasional forays into NASCAR. Some got hooked on stock cars, some just dabbled in the sport.

Since about 1990 or so, NASCAR has experienced an invasion of drivers from other parts of the country who have made it big in the sport. Jeff Gordon came to NASCAR from California by way of Indiana. Tony Stewart came directly from Indiana, as did Ryan Newman. Juan Pablo Montoya came all the way from Colombia. Guess what? It’s all been good for the sport.

A great driver obviously must have talent. Talent is why you and me aren’t currently employed driving in NASCAR’s top series and earning millions of dollars and flying around in our own private jets. Talent isn’t always the only part of the equation however.

A truly great driver must have somewhat of a personality that people either love or hate. Richard Petty was a great driver just on his wins alone, but he was and is an genuinely nice guy, always happy to sign autographs for the fans. Dale Earnhardt was a rather polarizing driver, who while he was alive angered many fans and also grabbed the admiration of many others. Since Dale’s death in 2001, he’s mostly been remembered in a positive way, as the man who changed the sport forever.

There are a few young guns in NASCAR who could certainly be considered potentially great drivers. I would include Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch in that list. I would include Kasey Kahne. History will dictate just how great these drivers will be remembered when their driving days are done. All three of these drivers exhibit a ton of talent, and Kyle Busch alone has enough personality for all three. There are certainly other drivers who may eventually be known as great drivers as well. I’ll leave that list up to you.

Trust But Verify

2010-06-01T19:08:00.002-04:00

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that there are far fewer reporters than there are editors. The Columbia School of Journalism cranks out scores of qualified journalists every year, yet most of them seem to be trying to change the world rather than simply reporting the news.

I readily admit that I write an opinionated column, not news. I could provide statistics all day and discuss them with you, but I don’t. I give you a fan’s opinion here, nothing more, nothing less. It’s my site, so I can do what I want, within reason. This is a site that your kids can read if they want to. No bad language is tolerated here, mostly because I consider NASCAR to be a family sport.

There are plenty of places that you, the NASCAR fan can find stats and whatever you want. I don’t do that here. I won’t apologize for it, because this is just what I do. www.jayski.com can tell you pretty much all you want to know about anything regarding NASCAR. Jay does it better than I ever could, so all you get here is my opinion.

That being said, I have noticed that there are quite a few ‘journalists’ out there who apparently consider themselves editors with editorial license. That’s a shame, because I would rather hear the raw news, not some reporter’s spin on things.

This obviously happens not only in the NASCAR world, but also in the political world as well. It’s a shame that people will behave as sheep and believe everything that some airhead on TV tells them. All I can say is that I believe that if you want to be well informed, you should read widely, think about what you read, and never, ever believe the first thing you hear on TV. It’s just not healthy, folks.

Try to understand that most reporters are not very objective, and that they will try to spin news to reflect kindly on their personally favorite subjects. Reporters will also put a little negative spin on stories that deal with people they don’t like, or have been taught not to like. Way to go, Columbia U.!

In other words, you get lied to every time you watch TV. I’m sorry, but it’s a fact, but any so called facts you hear on the news, especially in late breaking stories should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s easy to do when your purpose in life is to change the world, not simply report the news. This can also be said of most of the newspapers in the country.

Your local TV newscaster or newspaper columnist might be trustworthy to you, and if you trust them, you’re lucky, especially if they really tell you the truth. Around the area that I live in, I can’t trust anyone who calls themselves a journalist. Even the weatherman lies to me. Just joking.

There is an old saying: “Trust, but verify.” In other words, do your own research. Find the facts for yourself. Don’t trust anything a talking head or so called reporter tells you unless it’s a fire or a traffic accident. Even then, don’t trust them.

Trust, but verify.

Random Thoughts Before Charlotte

2010-05-19T12:46:00.000-04:00

Is It My Imagination Or What?

First of all, I want to apologize for not posting more lately. I’ve had some problems which I’m not able to discuss here, but I hope that I’ll be back on a regular basis soon.

Am I imagining things or has Joe Gibbs Racing figured out the spoiler much faster than anyone else? Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch have won most of the races, it would seem since the re-introduction of the spoiler. So far, the Hendrick guys haven’t been able to get the handle on the spoiler, so the fact is that the JGR guys have shakes things up a little. That’s not a bad thing. Let’s light this firecracker! We’ve now got some legitimate claims to end Jimmie Johnson’s claim to his 5th Sprint Cup title. Jimmie and Chad Knaus are the most incredible team in recent history, but it would be interesting to see another JGR or RCR team break the streak.

Kevin Harvick still leads in points after the 12th race of the season, and he’s only won one race this season. That’s how the points system works, folks. It’s not wins, it’s top 5 and top 10 finishes. That’s how championships are won.

What the heck is going on with the 88 team? Dale and Lance snipe at each other on the radio and Dale has a horrible finish at Dover. Is there a new crew chief in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s future? Dale is obviously not the easiest guy to work for. It’s hard to figure out why a guy who has won so much in the past is running so poorly in the last few years. I’ll let you experts figure it out.

It’s almost time for the races at Charlotte, and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been to the 600 a few times and it’s incredible. If you really want to see a really good race, go to the Coca Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway. The race starts under the sun and ends at night. It’s the longest race of the season, and you will not be disappointed by the quality of racing. This is old home week for the teams and the drivers, because most of them all live in the Charlotte, NC area. Drivers and crew will all have lots of friends and family there, so they’ll be putting on the show of the year.

Don’t worry about Hendrick. Sooner or later Jimmie or Jeff or Mark, and hopefully Junior will be winning races again. If you’re a Junior fan, lookout, fireworks are going to happen.

It's Time For NASCAR TV

2010-05-01T12:12:00.002-04:00

First of all, congratulations to Kevin Harvick, who ended the longest winless streak of his Cup career last week at Talladega. Is it now fair to call Kevin a super speedway specialist, since his last two wins have come at Daytona and Talladega? Just kidding. Kevin Harvick is a great race car driver, and I think we all knew he was going to win this season, it was just a matter of when.

Now, to the meat of this article.

The NFL has it’s own channel, though I’ve never seen it. It costs extra to get the NFL channel, assuming it’s even available on your cable or satellite network. There is also a golf channel, which I used to get on basic cable (Charter). I think it’s time for a NASCAR only, 24-7 channel.

Sure, SPEED TV does a great job with it’s NASCAR coverage. To a certain extent, so does ESPN. But don’t you think that NASCAR has gotten big enough to have an exclusive TV channel?

I’m certainly not faulting SPEED TV or ESPN, but they’ve both got bigger rows to hoe than just NASCAR. ESPN does a brilliant job of trying to cover virtually all sports on the planet, and that’s certainly no easy job. SPEED covers not only NASCAR, but also everything from motorcycle racing to monster trucks. They do a great job of it too, but for the true NASCAR purist, I think it’s time for a NASCAR only channel.

The NASCAR channel could do live updates on news several times a day. You know, kind of like a televised version of Jayski. I don’t know what they do about the current contracts that FOX, ESPN, and TNT have for televising the actual races, because I think it’s important that people without cable or satellite have the opportunity to watch at least some of the races. Right now, only FOX and ESPN, through ABC can do that. I think it’s important to bring the sport to the masses. Perhaps NASCAR could reserve the right to simulcast the races on their own channel as well. Or, they could put together their own crew and broadcast the races the NASCAR way. Either way works for me, as long as Mom and Pop can sit and see at least some of the races with that Channel Master antenna on the roof.

The NASCAR channel should be basic cable. Enough advertising could be sold to fund the network, just through the myriad of NASCAR sponsors. Team sponsors could jump in on the deal just to sweeten it and get extra exposure on a NASCAR exclusive network. There is a hardcore base of fans who would probably watch that channel all day and all night too. You know who I’m talking about. Yes, you!

Other than the news updates, the NASCAR channel could fill time by broadcasting earlier races, from all it’s various series. Go back to the 70’s or 80’s, and there is a wealth of good stuff there. Televise races live from the various regional series and give these drivers a little exposure. It’s all good.

The NASCAR channel already has a core group of veteran race broadcasters. Remember MRN? MRN stands for Motor Racing Network, which is owned by International Speedway Corporation, which in turn is owned by the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing. Recognize that name? Of course, it’s NASCAR. I love listening to the MRN guys on the radio, and they would be great on TV as well.

It’s time for NASCAR TV. We, the fans, well, we really want it.

Really bad. I know I do.

Things I Wonder About

2010-04-15T11:36:00.002-04:00

Things I Wonder About

Do people recognize that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the most popular driver in NASCAR because of his looks and personality rather than his record as a driver? He’s proven himself as a driver, but he hasn’t delivered much in the way of wins in the last few years. Dale’s a great guy, but it’s rather unreasonable to expect that he will deliver his father’s numbers in races wins or championships, because probably no one will, except maybe Jimmie Johnson. The problem is, Jimmie’s just not a very interesting person. That’s probably Jimmie’s secret to success, and Dale’s problem is that he talks, just like his dad did. Both Dales make great news, Jimmie Johnson just doesn’t.

Do the news people understand that most of the American public is tired of the entire Tiger Woods story? Let the dude play golf, which he is really good at, and then we’ll talk after the Masters Tournament.

Does Richard Childress understand that Kevin Harvick is probably the most talented driver in his stable? If I were RC, I would do everything I could to keep KH under the corporate banner. Kevin Harvick is a very talented driver, and has the perfect personality to replace the driver he replaced, who is of course, the late Dale Earnhardt. I know Kevin has been frustrated, but Richard needs to step up and give Kevin what he needs to get the job done. Kevin has been doing that for himself in the Truck series and in Nationwide, but for some reason, Richard isn’t giving Kevin quite what he needs in the Cup series. Kevin is a great driver, and he deserves the best of the best.

NASCAR has gone through great lengths to make the sport more fair, more accessible, more competitive. Do you think NASCAR will issue me a hard card out of the goodness of their hearts? I kind of doubt that. It would be really cool if they did, though. I love NASCAR and I cannot lie!

Has anyone noticed that Reba McEntire has almost the same eyes that Dale Earnhardt did? I have. For years, Reba has reminded me of Dale. It’s just something about the eyes. Next time you see pics of them, look at them and tell me I’m wrong. Maybe it’s not the eyes, it’s the expression with the eyes. Reba reminds me of Dale Earnhardt every time I see her. Not many people can look like Dale did when he was focused. Reba can. I don’t know that anyone can ignore that stare. Reba has that stare. Long live Reba.

Ever noticed that the Weather Channel people can be wrong more than half of the time? I’d like to have a job like that. Oh wait! I already do!

Happy week, everyone!

That's Bristol, Baby!

2010-03-22T15:30:00.000-04:00

I think it is clearly evident that we now have a great driver that defines the NASCAR era since the year 2000. That driver is, ladies and gentlemen, none other than Jimmie Johnson.

Fifty wins. That’s a lot in the decade of parity in stock car racing. Why is Jimmie Johnson not NASCAR’s most popular driver? I’ll leave the answer to that question to you, the ultimate experts. What? No, I’m not being facetious by saying that.

If you’re reading this, chances are that you’re a NASCAR fan. You may have been a fan for 6 weeks, or for 40 years. You may not know much about the sport, but if you watch the races every week, you already know more than a lot of people who should know better. Fans drive this sport, and always have, and if you’re a fan, you’re the dude or lady in the driver’s seat. You, the fan, have the ability to call the shots simply by making your voice heard, and NASCAR is listening.

Getting back to Jimmie Johnson, because I digress, which I often do, I’d like to say that JJ is a great driver, and he and the science project named Chad Knaus, who is Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, are truly achieving magic numbers in the sport of NASCAR. Jimmie has won 50 races in only a few over 200 starts. OK, maybe more than a few, but you get my point.

Personally, to me, Jimmie Johnson is just a blank page, in terms of personality. He is the perfect driver, because he always quotes the company line, always praises his sponsors, and never says much of anything to start arguments. Yes, and I’ll say it here, Jimmie Johnson is the greatest boring driver ever. He really is.

In this sport, boring is not a bad thing, because Jimmie Johnson is married, has a child on the way, but he’s apparently never cheated on his wife, had a child out of wedlock, never did drugs, or beat up a hooker. Actually, I’d say he’s probably a pretty good guy, though I don’t know him personally. But, in a world where celebrity is everything, Jimmie Johnson is pretty boring. That’s where we are as a culture, I suppose.

Give us some meat to chew on, and we’re happy as fans. Do something to prove that you’re human. I laugh at the detractors of Jimmie Johnson because what they hate can be explained simply. He’s just a nice guy. Don’t you just hate that?

A tip to the wise: Buy some Jimmie Johnson merchandise. It’s the cheapest it will ever be, and if you don’t, one day you’ll be sorry.

News of the day: Tiger Woods gives an exclusive interview to ESPN. Enough already. Tiger Woods didn’t sleep with my wife. He doesn’t owe me an apology. Get over it, people! Tiger said he screwed up, and he admits to it! What else does the world of golf want?

Why does Jimmy C know that his wife didn’t sleep with Tiger Woods? It’s simple. Jimmy C doesn’t have a wife, and if he did, he doesn’t know where she is.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Off Week Reflections

2010-03-15T10:26:00.000-04:00

Though this space is not devoted to Dale Earnhardt Jr, I have never been shy about being fan of Dale’s, and I can definitely say that I am a proud member of the Junior Nation. OK, maybe not the various websites or message boards out there, but I am a proud Dale Jr. fan.

That being said, what the heck is going on with the 88 team this year? After a little show of brilliance at Daytona, Dale Jr. appears to be mired back in the back once again in 2010. Business as usual, you could say.

As a fan, it’s terribly disappointing. The Junior detractors gleefully say that the 88 team’s 2010 performance just backs up what they’ve been saying all along, which is that Dale Jr. is overrated, and basically has way less talent than the blind Junior followers think he has.

I still say, and will continue to say that any driver with 18 Cup wins and two Nationwide (Busch) series championships under his belt has to have more going for him than having a famous daddy. Folks, you simply don’t get those numbers without talent as a driver, and there’s no way you’re going to convince me that I’m wrong about that. I would say the same thing about Jimmy Spencer, if he had the numbers to back him up. But Jimmy Spencer doesn’t.

I like Kyle Petty too, but he does not have numbers as favorable as does Dale Jr. The fact is, Dale Jr. has just had some really horrible luck, and there are obviously still some major problems on the 88 team as a whole.

It’s beginning to appear that the move to Hendrick Motorsports just isn’t working out for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Perhaps I will be proven wrong in the next few weeks, and no one could be happier about proven wrong than I would be.

Speaking of drivers needing to turn their fortunes around, how about Kevin Harvick? Kevin his charging hard, getting good finishes, and currently leads in points. The only thing left in Kevin’s turnaround is a win, and that can’t be too much longer in coming.

This weekend the NASCAR traveling show moves on to one of my favorite tracks, Bristol. With little to watch over the weekend but basketball and the F1 face in Bahrain, or where ever the heck it was, I’m ready to seem some good, hard short track racing.

Taking The Good With The Bad

2010-03-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

There has been a tremendous amount of controversy concerning the incident at Atlanta between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. The details have been reported many times in many other places, so I won’t bother going over the details. Suffice it to say, Carl Edwards punted Brad Keselowski, and Brad wrecked in spectacular fashion, with the car flipping upside down, and Brad was obviously peeved at his colleague for his efforts.

The wreck was eerily similar to Carl Edwards’ wreck at Talladega last year, which, of course, occurred at the hands of Brad Keselowski. I’m not talking about who was at fault there, because we all have opinions, but it appeared that Brad had the line at Talladega, and Carl was trying to block on the last lap of the race. Remember, however, that last year we saw this spectacular crash on the last lap of the race, with both Edwards and Keselowski going for the win.

At Atlanta last Sunday, the crash occurred near the end of the race, but not on the last lap. Carl Edwards was 150-something laps down, with no hopes for a win, but he definitely was trying to take Brad out. In that, Carl Edwards was hugely successful.

Carl Edwards was parked for his part in the wreck, but he basically had nothing to lose. Brad was driving a lead lap car, so Carl’s actions cost Brad quite a bit. Had this incident happened last year, Carl would likely have been parked a race, fined, what to most of us would have been a huge amount of money, and placed on probation until the Chase portion of the season, if not for the entire year.

This year, of course, is different. NASCAR has said they were going to relax the rules, and we, as fans, for the most part cheered. We were all happy to see NASCAR letting the drivers race, and that’s pretty much what we’ve seen so far this year. Carl Edwards’ actions at Atlanta were a little over the top, and he got penalized, a little bit. Three weeks of probation? In a way, I don’t see much wrong with that.

In other ways, however, I see a lot wrong with this situation. Carl Edwards, many, many laps down, used his car as a weapon to take out a lead lap car. I doubt that even Carl envisioned Brad’s car flying through the air, possibly ending up in the catch fence as did Carl’s car did last year at Talladega.

Remember the fall race at Talladega last year? We were introduced to a young woman who happened to be sitting in the front row at ‘Dega in the spring race, and caught a piece of metal in the face when Carl Edwards’ car shredded itself in the catch fence. Drivers getting hurt is one thing, but fans getting hurt is NASCAR’s worst nightmare.

We wanted to see a kinder, gentler NASCAR as the rule makers in the sport. We apparently have been given exactly what we wished for. Now, we all have to live with the bad as well as the good. We’re seeing better racing, but at what cost?

Hopefully, NASCAR’s new attitude won’t cost a fan’s life. I applaud what NASCAR is doing, but risking hurting fans by relaxing the rules is in no way going to help this sport. I know, any one of those 43 cars could have flipped upside down during the Atlanta race, because NASCAR still has those stupid, dangerous wings on the cars, but hopefully that will all change at Martinsville.

Cautious Optimism

2010-03-07T13:34:00.002-05:00

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first pole position since 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and the Junior Nation is jacked up. They ought to be, because maybe this means the 88 team is finally getting the wheels back on the track.

Poles do not make race wins, however. Dale Jr. has won at Atlanta before, so he knows how to do it. For all of those who think Dale Jr. is a shoe in to win the race today, I would advise against it. Not that cautious optimism is wrong, but don’t be horribly disappointed if Dale Jr. gets a top 5 or top 10 finish today. Either of those would be fine.

Dale Jr. needs a good finish today, because even though he finished well in 2 out of the 3 first races of the season, he needs to finish consistently in the top 10 if he’s going to be a contender this year. Whatever handling problems seem to plague the 88 team need to go away, and they need to go away fast. Hopefully, the return of the spoiler will alleviate at least some of the handling problems.

Personally, even though he’s starting from near the back of the field, Kevin Harvick is one of my favorites for a win at Atlanta. Harvick has been there basically in all three of the first few races, and he’s due, and you can tell he wants it pretty bad. Of course, I wouldn’t count out either Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, or Mark Martin, because they’ve all looked pretty good in practice this weekend.

Even though Greg Biffle is going to a backup car, he showed that he has maybe the winning line down, and that’s up high on the race track. Greg could win this race as well if they can get the backup car working right.

This might be the week that Martin Truex Jr. breaks out of the doldrums as well, because in Happy Hour on Saturday, Martin seemed to have something going on with the car. Personally, I’d like to see Truex get his first win for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Today’s going to be exciting, folks. Atlanta always is. I pray we have a good race and everyone walks away safely today.

Answering Reader's Questions

2010-03-07T13:32:00.001-05:00

As part of the routine of writing on this site, I often am asked questions by readers. Sometimes they come as comments posted here, but more often than not, they come in the form of an e-mail, which, of course is OK by me. My e-mail address is jimcinsc@gmail.com.

I’m not an expert on anything, and I can only tell you that anything you read here is purely my opinion. With that in mind, I decided that maybe I should put some of the questions and answers here, where all can read. I only use the reader’s name and location if they consent. So far, all the folks I’ve corresponded with have not had a problem with that.

So here goes. If you like this type of stuff, let me know, and I’ll be happy to do more of it.

Jayson from Milford, Delaware asks “I saw on TV that Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya were friends. What was that stuff at Vegas all about?”

I can only say that I don’t know exactly what kind of relationship that Jamie and Juan have, but I think it was a racing deal. Jamie would never have taken out his teammate on purpose. Jamie McMurray not only took out Juan as a contender in the Las Vegas race, but he also took himself out. I think it was a total accident, and Jamie apologized for it. It was a big blow to the Earnhardt-Ganassi team, but they will recover and both will probably be strong contenders at Hampton, GA this weekend.

Sarah from Lansing, Michigan asks “What is going on with the 24 team? I thought Steve Letarte was supposed to be a genius, but that last call for 2 tires instead of 4 hurt Jeff (Gordon’s) chances of winning. I’m so sick and tired of seeing Jeff lose races because the team can’t get it together.”

Sarah, all I can say is that Steve blew that call. They had 35 or so laps to go, and they needed most of a full tank of gas, so they had time to put on 4 tires. I know that Steve Letarte is beating himself up over that call, but he was trying to keep Jeff out front, and he did, but we all know what happened after Johnson, Knaus, and company put 4 fresh Goodyears on the 48. When I saw that the 24 only took 2 tires, I knew that the race was pretty much over.

Steve Letarte is a good crew chief, and the fact that he’s been with Jeff Gordon for so long says a lot. Chad Knaus, on the other hand, has an almost paranormal ability to make the right calls in the pits. Is Chad a better crew chief than Steve? Statistics sort of prove that, at least over the last few years. Jeff will win more races. He should have won on Sunday, but he didn’t. Jeff Gordon will win some races this year.

Jonathon from Gallup, New Mexico asks “Do you think the COT (Car Of Tomorrow) is good for NASCAR? If so, why?”

Jonathon, my personal jury is still out debating that particular question. The COT is a safer car, for sure, and I’m always for safety. As dramatic as crashes are, I never want to see a driver get hurt, or God forbid, killed. I think all true fans of the sport feel the same way. I do think that the COT has made for some lousy racing lately, however. The wing was a horrible idea, and the sooner we get back to the rear spoiler, the better. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of NASCAR’s penchant for evening up the playing field to the extent that they have. I’d like to see innovative crew chiefs figure out ways to beat the competition on the track, just like they used to do back in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. To me, the COT was NASCAR moving one step closer to the old IROC series, where each competitor was given a car that prepared just exactly like all the others. IROC is dead. There’s a reason for it.

Bring back the spoilers, relax the rules a little, and NASCAR will be just fine.

LJ from Medford, Oregon writes: “You stupid redneck Dale JUUUUUNIIIOORR lovers are idiots. That boy can’t drive a racing car. The sooner you stupid (expletive deleted) figure that out, the sooner you will find a driver who ACTUALLY can drive a tractor, much less a racing car. All this love for the Jr nation is totally stupid, dude”

LJ, you know what? I’d like to find out how many tractor races you’ve won. If you’ve won 2 championships in the 2nd level tractor racing series, and 18 tractor races in the premier tractor racing series, you and me can talk. You don’t win the races that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won without the ability to drive. He’s won the Daytona 500, dude. He’s won at Bristol, Richmond, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Chicago. LJ, that dude knows how to drive a tractor! Go fix your mommy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and have a good day, dude.

Finally, Rich from my home state of South Carolina asks: “Why do you write?”

It’s really simple, Rich. I don’t know how to do much of anything else.

Let me know what you think, or ask me your own questions either by commenting here, or you can leave me an e-mail at jimcinsc@gmail.com.

Dale Jr. What's The Deal, Dude?

2010-02-22T17:13:00.002-05:00

After finishing 2nd in the 2010 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 32nd at California, many laps down from the leader.

I have purposely not read the message boards. I’ve not even read most of my e-mail, because I really don’t want to prejudice my opinion because of what other Dale Jr. fans say.

What I saw on Sunday was a driver with an ill handling car, who broke his left axle on a pit stop, and the pit crew wasn’t ready to deal with it. During qualifying on Friday, I saw a guy with a fast car but no brakes, and that basically screwed his attempt to get a good starting position. What the heck is going on with the guy that’s supposed to be getting major attention by the engineers, and the owner of the car, Rick Hendrick?

Crew chief Lance McGrew was very vocal about it, even over the radio on Sunday. Not being ready to go with a replacement axle was a huge mistake. Broken axles are not very common during a race, but it is a part that can be replaced on pit road, and apparently, the 88 crew wasn’t ready to deal with that particular circumstance.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made the switch to Hendrick to run with the best equipment, the best possible personnel, and win races and championships. What’s wrong here? Seriously, I want you to tell me. Has the driver just forgotten how to drive? Is there a mismatch in crew chiefs? Do they need to fire them all and start all over again?

Let me know what you think. Your guess is at least as good as mine. For a driver like Dale Earnhardt Jr., this is not going to work. This situation has to improve drastically.

California, Version 2010

2010-02-22T17:12:00.002-05:00

I think I forgot to mention it last week, but congratulations to Jamie McMurray for winning the Daytona 500 in only his first points race for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. I watched Jamie during speed weeks, and was surprised by how strong he seemed to be right out of the box in that number 1 Chevy. He got a great win, and he deserves it.

Back to the present. Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for his win at California’s Auto Club Speedway, and though I’m not shocked that Jimmie Johnson won at California, he probably is. The timing of that last yellow flag was perfect for Johnson. Had it not been for that fortuitous series of events, it’s doubtful that he could ever have taken away the lead from the Richard Childress Racing duo of Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. Though Harvick charged hard in the last laps, a brush with the wall ended all hopes of frustrating Jimmie Johnson’s 48 team’s resurgence to dominance.

For one of the first times in several years, I was impressed with the quality of the racing at Fontana on Sunday. I don’t know whether it was the tire that Goodyear brought to the track, or if it’s because the teams are starting to get a handle on the new car, but the race at California was worthwhile for a change.

NASCAR and track officials seemed to get a handle on the weepers that perpetually plague this track in the February race, and a wet track never really was a factor for a change. I still don’t know that California really should have two race dates every year, but I have to say that I enjoyed the race I saw on Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson’s win was meaningful, because Sunday marked Jimmie’s 48th win in the Cup series. Jimmie Johnson has won 48 Cup races, all of them in the 48 car. That’s a milestone, because JJ’s first win came back in only 2002. If I’m not mistaken, that first win also occurred in California. For those of you who follow statistics, you have to think about a few things. It’s possible that Jeff Gordon, who has won a ton of races and 4 championships, might have passed his peak as a driver. Jimmie Johnson is younger, and he’s already won 4 championships as well. Has Jimmie peaked yet as a driver? I really don’t think so. Jimmie might have a few more championships left in him. Jimmie Johnson is the only current driver that could seriously compete to equal or even surpass Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt in Cup championships. That’s food for thought.

I give at least 50 per cent of the credit to crew chief Chad Knaus for the 48 teams success. Sure, Jimmie is a very talented driver, but Chad is an uncommonly exceptional crew chief. The relationship between Johnson and Knaus is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been watching for a long time. I don’t know that Richard Petty and Dale Inman even had as good of a driver - crew chief relationship as Jimmie and Chad have.

Many would say that Jimmie’s victory at California on Sunday was a fluke, just a great piece of luck, and they would be correct in saying that. Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson have that going for them though. Part of it is instinct, part of it is pure luck, but the 48 team has it, and however they do it, they get the job done.

I haven’t read any estimates of the total attendance at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, and I don’t have much of a feel for it, except that I do know that FOX seemed to avoid camera shots of the grandstands during the race, which tells me all I need to know:

Many Californians missed a pretty decent race on Sunday. It’s a shame, but there are valid reasons why, and I’m going to lay it all out for you in a future article here. I have my theories about why major metropolitan areas seem to not generate great numbers for NASCAR events. I’ll share them with you at a later date, God willing.

This week, it’s on to Las Vegas. From Daytona to Southern California to Nevada is a brutal tour for the NASCAR teams’ logistics departments. So many miles to travel in so little time. My FDNY hat’s off to all the car hauler drivers, the team hauler drivers, the owners and drivers’ motor coach hauler drivers. These guys are running a marathon every February, and they do it all very, very well!

I’ve got a lot more thoughts about Sunday, and I will share them soon.

Things I Hope I Live To See

2010-02-20T11:04:00.002-05:00

I hope I live to see Mark Martin win a Sprint Cup Championship. Hopefully, that will happen in the next ten or twenty years.

I hope I live to see Michael Waltrip drive on North Carolina public highways without having a wreck for at least a year.

I hope I live to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. get married, settle down, and have some kids. I really think that would help him find his place in life, and on the race track. I would really love to live to see Dale Earnhardt III win 8 Cup championships and 201 races. But I probably won’t live to see that happen even if it does happen.

I hope I live to see cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, lupus, and a myriad of other ailments. I’d like to see a ten minute cure for a bad back as well. I’d really, REALLY like to see that bad back thing happen, like, well…… NOW.

I’d like to see Colin Braun win multiple Cup championships. I just like the guy. I’d also really like to see Marcos Ambrose win a Cup race, because I just can’t wait to hear him in victory lane. That Aussie accent just fascinates me, and I’d love to hear him really excited for once.

I hope I live to see some driver, any driver, even approach Dale Earnhardt’s passion and charisma in the sport of stock car racing. There’s some potential out there, but I haven’t seen that spark yet. I hope I live to see a driver as hungry as Dale was back when he broke into the sport. I’ll know him when I see him.

I hope I live to see Jimmie Johnson get all the acclaim he deserves, which is being the first driver ever to win four consecutive Cup championships. Jimmie wins four in a row, but what is the NASCAR world talking about? Danica Patrick, who won an IRL race in Japan, and has never won anything in a stock car? If I were Jimmie, I’d be perturbed. A female friend told me not long ago that Jimmie Johnson is better looking than Danica’s husband. I have to defer to a female’s opinion on that. What I really like about Danica is her personality. She’s a small woman, but she’s willing to take the gloves off and mix it up when she’s mad. I’ve never seen Jimmie do that. Who would be willing to give Jimmie Johnson some free boxing lessons?

I hope I live to see a world in which the sanctioning body of NASCAR lets the drivers drive, the crew chiefs make the cars faster, and fix things to where the best car wins, and only the fastest 43 cars get into the race.. Probably, that will never happen, at least in my lifetime.

I hope I see live to see that gopher on FOX TV disappear forever, and I really hope I don’t see him in the afterlife. If he’s there, I’ll…… Huh. Never thought about it before, but can you commit suicide after you’re dead? If Digger is there, I’ll find out. I’ll let you know by haunting the crap out of you about it.

Speaking of haunts, I really hope the Ghost Hunters guys will find Casper the Ghost and take some photos of him. A white sheet saying “Boo!” would be so cool! Especially if the word “Boo!” was in a comic balloon over the sheet’s head. Now, THAT would be some good TV!

I hope I live to see Paul Sr., Paul Jr. and Mikey repair their familial relationship and restart the American Chopper series, with a return to making motorcycles, not idiotic family soap operas.

I hope I live to see the day when NASCAR is America’s number one sport, because it is, after all, the only sport where people die playing the game, at least on a regular basis. People say football is like a battle, but NASCAR is all war, every week, from February until November. These guys may be friends off the track, but on the track, they have no real friends. On the last lap, everyone is an enemy.

I hope I live to meet each and everyone of you who reads this column, because you’re all very important to me. That probably won’t happen either, but even if I never met you, it was real.

Hopefully it will be real again soon.

If you’ve got anything you’d like to see, I will welcome your comments here. Just click below in the space provided, and you can add to the list or tell me I’m full of it on one or more of the suggestions I made. Any and all comments are always welcome here.

Sports Figures and Apologies

2010-02-20T11:01:00.002-05:00

All the big news of the day, it would seem, revolves around Tiger Woods’ first public appearance since the very strange events that took place on Thanksgiving evening last year. His statement was carried on most of the major networks, including, of course, ESPN, ESPN2, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, and FOX News.

Tiger Woods is one of the most popular sports figures in the country, if not the world. Woods is to golf what Michael Jordan is to basketball, or possibly Richard Petty or Dale Earnhardt are to NASCAR. For fans of golf, and even for those who aren’t, Tiger Woods’ name is known in pretty much any household which also contains a television.

I’m not going to analyze Tiger’s apology to his friends here. He apologized to his friends and his family, and he also mentioned regret that he had let down his fans. I thought he seemed pretty sincere about that, and I am more than willing to let it go at that.

The fact is, Tiger Woods doesn’t owe me an apology for anything. Chances are, he doesn’t owe you an apology either. My life has not changed in any way because Tiger carried on with women to which he was not married. That’s not my concern. I miss seeing Tiger Woods playing golf, because he is obviously one of the best players in the world, but what he does off the golf course doesn’t really matter to me.

To people with kids who might be or have been fans of Tiger Woods, I can understand your concerns, and perhaps Tiger’s apology will help your child understand that it’s OK to admire great athletes, but sometimes even the rich and famous have problems away from the cameras. Athletes may be the very best in their sport, but they might be a lousy father, or mother, or husband or wife. Celebrity in and of itself only means that someone has been noticed, and the closer we look at people who’ve grabbed our attention, the more likely that some unsavory character flaws will emerge.

Jeff Gordon went though a somewhat similar event a few years ago. Jeff and Brooke Gordon seemed to be the perfect couple. They had plenty of fame, plenty of money, and somewhere, something went wrong. NASCAR fans, whether they were Gordon fans or not, were somewhat shocked when all the allegations were flying. The details of what broke up the marriage are not known by but a few people, but obviously Jeff Gordon showed that he was indeed human, and even Jeff Gordon can make mistakes. Gordon now is remarried and has a child and another on the way, and the breakup with Brooke seems like it took place a million years ago to most fans.

Gordon’s situation got much less universal attention than Tiger Woods’ current mess, but in the NASCAR world, the Jeff and Brooke show was huge news at the time. Most of us who have been fans for more than a few years remember it, but I doubt that few people who were Jeff Gordon fans before the breakup with Brooke jumped ship. Whether that will be the same with Tiger Woods, only time will tell.

Tiger Woods should apologize to his family and his friends, and maybe even his sponsors, because they are the people he really let down. As a casual fan of golf, my only thought was that golf will be less interesting if Tiger isn’t around for the tournaments. The fact that he had so many affairs was surprising to me, but at the same time, I doubt it will change my opinion of his talents as a golfer.

Parents, if you’re offended by what Tiger Woods did, that’s fine. If you’re worried that your kids will be adversely effected by Woods’ actions, then explain to them that Tiger is human, and he did wrong. Don’t count on your kids finding role models for life on television. Why not try to be the life role model for your kids? So, you can’t play sports. So what? You do the right thing, your kids will notice, and hopefully they will decide to be like you and do the right thing when they are adults.

If your kid wants to be a great athlete, by all means show him the best and let him or her watch and learn. If your kid wants to be a great golfer, show them tapes of Tiger Woods. If your kid wants to be a great basketball player, she them tapes of Michael Jordan when he played for the Bulls, or UNC. If your kid wants to be a great stock car driver, show them tapes of Petty, and Earnhardt, of Pearson, of Allison, of Yarborough, of yes, even Johnson, Gordon, Stewart, or whomever you consider to be a great driver.

Please remember that however great your favorite athlete is when he’s playing his game, he might not be so great away from the field or the track. If your favorite athlete screws up in his personal life, remember, that ought to be personal. Just because a guy has a zillion dollars, it doesn’t mean that he’s better than you or me, at least on a personal level.

We are all, each and every one of us, human. Or at least you are. I will reserve the right to reveal my true identity later!

The State Of NASCAR: February, 2010

2010-02-19T15:23:00.000-05:00

We’re now only one race into the 2010 NASCAR season, but I’ve already seen some encouraging signs that the sanctioning body is on the right track as far as making the racing better and giving the fans a better experience, both the fans at the track and those watching at home on TV.

Before the Daytona 500, NASCAR announced that it was relaxing its rules on bump drafting on the restrictor plate tracks. True, that’s only 4 races a year, but I believe it shows that NASCAR is finally willing to bend, at least a little, when it comes to changing policies to make the racing more interesting.

NASCAR has also announced the return to the spoiler, forsaking the ugly wing that seems to cause more problems than it solves. Hopefully, teams that have been frustrated in their attempts to set up the handling on the current incarnation of the race car will find some more familiar ground with the spoiler. Better handling cars should make more teams competitive in the future.

They Daytona 500 was a good race, when you take the pothole problem out of the equation. The race itself was up for grabs until the last turn on the last lap, and that’s the way it out to be. Daytona was just plain good racing.

In my maybe not so humble opinion, the sport has suffered as of late by too many restrictions, too many attempts to even the playing field, and by basically abandoning what makes this sport fun in the first place, which is, of course, good, hard racing. If the racing is good, finding fans will never be a problem.

In such uncertain financial times, it’s not surprising that many fans simply cannot afford to travel to the race tracks as often as they did in years past. Hopefully, the economy will recover, and fans will find their way back to the tracks, spend some of their disposable income on souvenirs, and the sport will recover the audience that it seems to have lost in the past couple of years.

NASCAR has the potential to return to its previous greatness, and even surpass what it has been in the past. The potential is there, but the product has to be good enough to make the fans want to buy tickets and tune in every weekend for the races. It appears that NASCAR is headed in the right direction, and one hopes they will continue to do so.

Daytona 500 Time. It's Finally Here!

2010-02-14T12:20:00.000-05:00

In just a few hours, The 2010 Daytona 500 will kick off, and if you're like me, it's the most exciting time of the year.

The NASCAR season is just kicking off, and I can't wait to hear the command to start engines. It's Daytona, the biggest race of the year, and there is just nothing quite like Daytona in February.

Who's going to win? I don't have a clue, but I'd put my money on guys like Tony Stewart, or Greg Biffle, or Kevin Harvick. Maybe even Jimmie Johnson, because JJ and Chad can seem to do no wrong.

Personally, I'm pulling for Dale Jr., because another win at the Daytona 500 would take the no-win monkey off his back so fast, it would make your head spin. Dale Jr. is due, and he's already won this race once. Dale Jr. has the equipment and hopefully the right people behind him, so who knows. It would be a great shot in the arm for not only Dale Jr. and the 88 team, but for NASCAR as well.

This is a day of celebration, NASCAR fans. Let's scream at the TV, enjoy a few of our favorite beverages, at least in moderation, and let's get excited! The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is upon us, and let's get fired up! I am, and I invite you, no matter who your favorite driver is, to get fired up too. Cheer your driver on to victory lane, and let's get this puppy started up!

Early congratulations to whomever wins the Daytona 500 later today. The field is so tight, that just about anyone can win, if they're in the right place, at exactly the right time. That's the way it ought to be every week in this sport, and often is. Today is all about why we love racing and why we devote so much time and attention to it.

Today, the Daytona 500 will hopefully show us something: Racing at its very best.

Some People Ought To Know Better

2010-02-14T11:17:00.001-05:00

I was listening to my local sports talk radio station yesterday, and late afternoons the station runs a popular talk show out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Since the show does originate in Charlotte, the host does pay some lip service to NASCAR, but 99 per cent of the time, the show is devoted to stick and ball sports.
The other day, however, the host went on a rant about Danica Patrick’s 6th place finish in Saturday’s ARCA race, and basically said that ARCA is a nothing series, more or less a sandlot league. The impression that he was trying to make was that even racing in the ARCA series proves nothing, because ANYBODY can race in ARCA.

My friends, that’s just not true. I understand the host’s frustration over the whole Danica phenomenon, because quite frankly, it’s being a little overdone in the media. But to act like ARCA is just some little dinky racing series is just idiotic, and quite frankly, this host ought to know better. Danica Patrick is not the first woman to race in NASCAR, not by a long shot. She’s obviously not the first open wheel driver to cross the bridge to race stock cars.

ARCA is not the most elite series in stock car racing. The most elite series is obviously the Sprint Cup. But nobody just soups up the old Chevy in the backyard and goes ARCA racing. Virtually all of the drivers in ARCA have raced their way up the ladder, beginning at their local bull rings, graduating on to regional series, and beyond. These folks are in ARCA because they’re all winning race car drivers at other levels. Danica Patrick did not become a Indy Racing League driver because she had a pretty face. She grew up racing, and was good enough to eventually reach the big leagues in open wheel racing.

The arrogance that seems to pervade the mainstream sports media where stock car racing is concerned is pathetic. Many prominent radio personalities simply scoff at the very idea that stock car racing is even a sport. “Anyone can drive a car around in circles,” they say. “Even my grandmother can do that. It’s not a sport.”

I’ve got a newsflash for those sports talk show hosts who just don’t get it. Not only is stock car racing a sport, it’s even more than that. Racing is the most brutal sport of all, because people actually die driving race cars. When is the last time you heard about a professional golfer suffering a broken neck on the 13th green at Augusta National? Turn 4 at Daytona International Speedway has claimed the lives of more great professional athletes than pretty much any other sporting venue in the country.

It’s much like the old saying: “Don’t criticize what you don’t understand.” I don’t understand all the nuances of the NFL, but I still like to watch it. Heck, I even watch curling, even though I don’t really get it.

Many racing haters say that stock car racing is just some stupid, redneck, hillbilly sport. That’s simply not true anymore. Judging by the readers of just this site, I have way more hits from California and New York than I have from North Carolina. Sports personalities, especially popular ones in Charlotte, North Carolina ought to know better. They do know better, but spouting ignorance such as what I heard the other day is more than pathetic.

It’s actually embarrassing.

Budweiser Shootout Starts the 2010 Season Off With a Bang

2010-02-08T15:20:00.000-05:00

Saturday night’s Bud Shootout was an interesting race, and for me, at least, entertaining as well.

The racing itself was good, what I would consider to be an improvement over last year’s race. There was quite a bit of passing, especially back in the pack, and the larger restrictor plates appeared to allow greater throttle response than in past plate races. This all adds up to more exciting racing.

Kudos have to go to NASCAR as well for retracting the rules for bump drafting. Any driver who gets pushed too hard into a corner is gong to complain about it, but it just makes for better racing when the drivers are free to bump and bang a little. Drivers at the Sprint Cup level are among the best in the world, and if they couldn’t handle a little physical contact, they would be doing something else for a living.

The bottom line is that the changes that NASCAR has made for racing at Daytona appear to promise a good Daytona 500 on Sunday. A better race means fans see a better product, and that’s really the most important priority.

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick, who, after being sick much of the week, pulled out the win on Saturday in a car in which he had not driven one practice lap. Perhaps Richard Childress Racing will turn a corner in performance in 2010 and get back to victory lane in the points racing.

One major disappointment was the performance of the 88 Chevy, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. After running strong for a few laps, the 88 car faded back and Dale Jr. was complaining about a problem that plagued his team’s efforts in 2009. In Junior’s words, the car was “wrecking loose.” Though the Shootout is only the first race of the season, and fortunately carries no points considerations, the Junior Nation has to be somewhat dismayed by the handling problems on Saturday night. It’s not time to panic yet, however. Dale Jr. will be starting on the outside pole on Sunday, so he’s definitely got the horsepower to get to the front. Hopefully crew chief Lance McGrew and the team will get a better handle on the handling problems by Sunday.

With the Budweiser Shootout out of the way, and the twin qualifying races coming up later in the week, it finally feels like the long off season is indeed over.

I, for one, couldn’t be happier.

I'm Loving Me Some Daytona

2010-02-05T11:53:00.002-05:00

I regularly listen to a local sports station, WCCP FM which is based in Clemson, South Carolina, and is the official radio station of the Clemson Tigers. Feel free to Google it. They’d love to have you listen online, if you don’t happen to be in the Upstate South Carolina area, and chances are you’re not.

A particular radio host who’s name is Walt Deptula, is on from 3:00 until 5:00 PM Eastern time. Walt is a walking, talking sports encyclopedia. If you ask Walt if he watched the basketball game between East Utah State and Northern Michigan, Walt will say “Of course.” Walt watches everything, as long as it’s stick and ball sports. You know, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc. Walt’s not a big fan of NASCAR, but he does talk about it from time to time, whenever there’s big news in the sport.

Walt does talk about basketball a lot though. Remember Dick Vitale? You know, he’s the basketball color guy that says “Yeah, baby!” and is very entertaining to listen to, or at least some people think so. Dicky V has a love relationship with Duke University, which usually has a great basketball program, and no matter what game Dick is calling, he inevitably brings Duke into the conversation.

Walt Deptula regularly has a contest on his show where callers can call in and guess about how far into the basketball game Dick Vitale will mention Duke University. Walt calls this contest “Dick Vitale’s I’m Loving me some Duke.”

Well, I’m loving me some Daytona right now. February, for quite a few years now, makes me get all tingly inside. With some tickets going for as low as $55.00, I’d be there in a heart beat, because I’ve never actually watched a race at Daytona International Speedway, at least in person. I’ve been to Atlanta, Charlotte, Darlington, Talladega, and some other tracks, which were all awesome, but Daytona is basically the Super Bowl of NASCAR. On Valentine’s day, Daytona is the place to be for any NASCAR fan.

The off season is over. It’s time to get back to some high octane racing fuel, the deafening sound of 43 racing engines screaming, making your eardrums bleed. As General George S. Patton once said about war, I’ll say the same thing about NASCAR: “God forgive me, but I do love it so.”

If there’s any way you can get to Daytona in the next couple of weeks, I would encourage you to do so. Ticket prices are probably lower this year than they have been in decades. Daytona International Speedway is an awesome place to see, even when you’re the only person inside the track. Imagine being there with a hundred plus thousand of your friends and neighbors. Imagine them all screaming, encouraging their drivers on, calling them home for the win, which may be the win of a lifetime. It may be the event of a lifetime for you or someone in your family.

Do You Feel The Need For Speed?

2010-02-04T13:53:00.002-05:00

I know that I do. It’s racing season, and things are starting to get cranked up in Daytona. For me, at least, I can’t wait. I love speed weeks. I can’t say that enough, because speed weeks gets my blood flowing.

It’s like a spring thaw. Florida was hit with some of the coldest temperatures they’ve had in years, if forever. California has seen some of the worst rainstorms and snowstorms in decades. In other words, doomsday is near at hand, right?

NASCAR has the perfect solution to this bad weather, bad feeling that winter leaves behind. The Budweiser Shootout, the Twin races, and the actual Daytona 500 are just around the corner. We’ve got a ton of racing in NASCAR just around the corner, and it couldn’t come soon enough for me.

It’s been an unbelievably long off season, at least for me. It seems like it’s been years since the guys were on the track. I know it hasn’t been that long, but at the tender age of 46, I still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. When I get older, maybe I’ll stop believing in the tooth fairy.

To me, February is the real Christmas, at least as far as racing goes. No, no, I still believe in Christmas on December 25th because that is the day of the birth of my savior Jesus Christ. But February 14th will have special meaning for me this year, because Valentine’s day coincides with the Daytona 500. I’m hopelessly romantic, and though I’ve got no sweetheart to spend Valentine’s day with, I will be wired and fired up for the Daytona 500.

For me, Daytona is the best part of the year. Gas fumes, burning rubber, can it get any better than this?

I don’t think so.

I’ll be back lots with more thoughts as Speed Weeks gets under way.

Whoever your favorite driver is, I wish him or her well this season.

What Makes a Great NASCAR Driver?

2010-01-19T16:56:00.000-05:00

Probably every fan of any driver has a different template as to what it takes to be a great driver in NASCAR. Does it take a racing pedigree? Does it take a famous father? Does it just take a boat load of money?

Many drivers followed in their father’s footsteps to become racers. Many guys, such as Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and others have been around race cars since they could crawl. Climbing into a race car one day and going for the checkered flag was as natural for them as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were for most of the rest of us when we were kids. When I was a kid, I was fortunate enough to live in a place, where besides the hated hours I spent inside a school classroom, I had the opportunity to walk in the woods, ride my bicycle, and my friends and I would play endless hours of football, baseball, or shoot hoops out on the driveway. Video games were still in their infancy, and quite frankly, boring to most of us.

On Saturday afternoons, we would gather in the living room and watch college teams play their various sports. We always looked forward to ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and once in a while, we saw snippets of NASCAR races from places like Darlington, Daytona, North Wilkesboro, or Riverside. I was born in 1963, so those of you who are old enough remember what NASCAR coverage was like back in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s. Quite frankly, there wasn’t a lot of it, even here in South Carolina.

I read the newspapers when I was a kid, and always looked forward to reading the sports page on Monday mornings to see who had won yesterdays race. Many times, NASCAR events were covered on the evening news as well, but to me, NASCAR was a world away, a world that seemed like a great place, but one which I had never actually experienced.

Probably, most kids in North America grew up in similar environments back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. I grew up in a distinctly middle class family, and my father went to work every morning, and my mom stayed at home and took care of the house, and, of course, the kids. Many of my friends had mothers who worked full time, but that was probably the exception, rather than the rule in rural South Carolina in those days, especially for a white middle class kid like me.

As usual, I digress. Many kids throughout the South, and indeed, all over the continent, grew up with a garage that did not contain the family car. No, this garage housed a race car. In some instances, this race car provided a target to throw money at with little in the way of return, at least financially. Yet some homes had a garage with a race car sitting inside of it that generated the income which put the food on the table, and kept the lights on inside the house.

Such was the case in the humble Earnhardt home in Kannapolis, North Carolina back in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Like many Piedmont area cities back then, the local cotton mill was king. Virtually everyone in neighborhoods in many of these southern cities worked at the local mill. Ralph Earnhardt worked in the mill, just like all his neighbors, but went racing nights and weekends. Ralph got so good at racing that he eventually gave up his day job to race his cars and build cars for other racers full time.

Ralph had a son named Dale, and of course the rest is history. But Dale was a race car driver’s kid, and many of his father’s races were run in places like Columbia, South Carolina, or Myrtle Beach, and his father not only drove the race cars, he had to haul them back and forth to the race tracks. Dale went to as many races as he could, but obviously couldn’t go to all of them. Ralph would arrive home in the wee hours many mornings while Dale was asleep. Dale would rise early, while his parents and his brothers and sisters were still sleeping, and go out to the shop, just to look at the race car. If the car was banged up, or covered with mud, he knew his dad probably hadn’t had a good night. If the car was relatively clean, he knew his father had probably won last night’s race.

Many of today’s drivers could tell you similar stories. Dale Earnhardt sacrificed marriages to race. Will Dale Earnhardt ever be named father of the year by most of his kids? Probably not, but that was Dale Earnhardt’s passion: Racing.

When Dale Earnhardt finally made it to the big time, which of course means NASCAR, in 1979, he was broke, basically homeless. A couple of years later, after winning Rookie of the Year in 1979 and winning his first Winston Cup Championship in 1980, he was rich beyond his wildest dreams. Dale Earnhardt went on to win six more championships, and a total of 76 races, amassing fortunes that no one could spend in a lifetime or two.

It sounds like a cliche, but drivers who succeed in this sport are driven. It’s not always how much talent you have, it’s how you use it. It’s never so much what you’ve been given, but how you use it, and how much fire in the belly motivates you to get there.

Anybody can drive a car fast. Heck, even I can do it. But it’s what motivates you to get to the point that you can clothe yourself, feed your family, and keep a roof over your head that really matters.

Right now, I’m not doing so good in that arena, but I’ve got heroes like Dale Earnhardt to study and hopefully, I can follow his example.

I’m hungry, just like Dale Earnhardt was at one time. I want to succeed. I don’t want to simply survive, I want to win! I think I now know exactly how if feels to be a wannabe NASCAR driver. Losing is not an option. I’m here to Win!

Your thoughts and opinions are always appreciated here. If I don’t respond, don’t worry, I do read them all. I read them and think about them too, as an added bonus!

As always, thank you for all of your support!

NASCAR To Bring Back Spoilers to Sprint Cup?

2010-01-17T16:15:00.000-05:00

One of the most intriguing stories that I’ve seen over the last few days is the possibility that NASCAR will remove the infamous wings from Sprint Cup cars as soon as this year. Possibly, the spoilers could be back, but it is unknown whether this will only be for certain races or if the sanctioning body will remove the wings altogether in the future.

Personally, I find this news to be encouraging, and I believe that most of the drivers and teams would much rather deal with spoilers than wings on the rear of their race cars. In the preseason promotion at Daytona International Speedway televised by SPEED TV yesterday, several drivers, when asked, seemed to be whole heartedly in favor of the return to spoilers. Some of the drivers questioned included Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Many, if not most of the Cup teams have had a difficult time getting a handle on setting up the handling for the winged cars since their introduction at the beginning of the 2008 season. Personally, I’ve felt that the wings have been a hindrance to NASCAR’s never ending quest for safety, not only for the drivers, but also the fans.

We all remember the scary rides that Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman took at Talladega last year. In Newman’s case, his car did not hit the catch fence, but had his car flipped upside down closer to the wall, it would have been easy for his car to have landed high up on the fence. In Carl Edward’s case, his car did disintegrate when it hit the fence, and though the fence kept most of the car out of the crowd, at least one fan was badly injured by pieces of flying sheet metal.

Cars landing in the fence are nothing new at Talladega or Daytona. One has to wonder, however, if the wing, which provides such tremendous down force on a car moving in a forward direction, does not also provide a tremendous amount of lift when the car is going backwards? Keeping the cars out of the grandstands has to be NASCAR’s primary concern at any track, and it seems to me that the wing is clearly counterproductive to that goal.

The word being circulated by those in the know about NASCAR’s consideration of bringing back the spoilers has been centered mostly on the competitive advantages rather than possible safety gains. Which ever way you look at it, bringing back the spoiler will be in NASCAR’s best interests to provide a better product for its fans in 2010 and beyond.

Besides, I’ve always thought those wings look rather silly, and as petty as that opinion sounds, it’s also part of what has to be the ultimate goal for NASCAR, which is of course producing happy fans who feel they’ve gotten their moneys worth. To me, the COT, as it was known, was ungainly compared to the pre COT car, which I consider a thing of beauty, if not a true work of art. I own several die cast models of pre COT cars, but I’ve not really been motivated to spend money on any COT replicas, mostly because they just don’t have the eye appeal that many of their ancestors had. Putting a spoiler back on the new car will make it look better, at least in my opinion. Spending money on merchandise is a tradition for NASCAR loyalists, and has helped the sport explode in popularity over the last fifteen or twenty years.

A Few Random Thoughts About the 2010 NASCAR Season

2010-01-12T16:55:00.000-05:00

After the 2009 season, what do you think of your favorite driver? If he happened to be Jimmie Johnson, you probably couldn’t hope for a better season for 2010, except to wonder if JJ can keep the streak up for a fifth season. If you happen to be a Jeff Gordon fan, what do you think about his chances of one upping his teammate and winning the fifth championship he’s been trying to win since 2001?

What about Mark Martin, the man who’s come so close but never been able to seal the deal? What about Kyle Busch, the man who starts so strong, but finishes out of the running?

What about Dale Earnhardt Jr, the man who keeps falling short of the media’s expectations? Will this be the year that Junior wins some races and seriously contends for that first Sprint Cup championship?

What do you think about the state of NASCAR in general? Has Jimmie Johnson’s four consecutive championships turned fans off from the sport? Has NASCAR become too predictable? Can Brian France, Mike Helton and company find ways to put more posteriors in seats in 2010? Can the TV networks recover from ratings losses experienced in 2009? What do you think? After all, your opinion is every bit, if not more valid than mine. I’d love to hear from you!

I’m having mixed feelings about what has been probably been the hottest off season topic in NASCAR, and that, of course, is the addition of the feisty lady of IRL into NASCAR’s ranks, namely in Nationwide and ARCA for 2010. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about Danica Patrick.

Personally, I like Danica Patrick. Of course, I’m a relatively healthy male in my mid 40’s, who appreciates not only a nice looking lady, but even more a woman who has the intestinal fortitude to drive some of the toughest rides around. I think that Danica will be good for NASCAR, and personally, I’m hoping she sticks around for the long run. I’d love to see Danica Patrick in Cup, eventually, because whether or not she succeeds as a stock car driver, she will have an impact on the sport. Danica will keep the media and the fans buzzing, and that’s not a bad thing. I’m hoping that Danica will take some of the heat off the never ending media blitz that seems to constantly surround her Nationwide team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. I believe that Dale Jr. might be able to concentrate on his own job as a driver more if someone else was getting all the interviews for a change.

In this never ending experiment called television broadcasting of NASCAR events, what big changes, if any, will we see in 2010? We already know of one big change at ESPN, with Dr. Jerry Punch being replaced as the play by play man in the booth by Ralph Sheheen, and for me, that’s a very positive move. Jerry Punch’s abilities to develop stories and interviews in the garage and on pit road are legendary, and I feel that Jerry Punch will be much better utilized in that role than he has been in the booth. Ralph, Dale Jarrett, and Andy Petree will be a strong team that will hopefully be able to convey the magic that is a NASCAR race to the viewers.

More than anything else, I hope 2010 is a safe year, not only for the drivers, but also the crews, the officials, and especially the fans. Race weekends can be and should be celebrations, and I hope all of you who are reading this will attend at least one racing event this season, or at least have an opportunity to do so. Going to a racing event weekend does not mean that fans have to get falling down drunk though. Unfortunately, that is one of the stereotypes that often make the highlight reel on racing weekends, and I know you all know what I’m talking about. A fan at Infineon jumps a fence and asks Matt Kenseth for an autograph under a red flag condition on the track. A fan is escorted out of Talladega for throwing beer cans over the fence. You get my drift. Have fun, folks, but don’t do anything that’s going to embarrass your grandchildren when they’re watching ESPN 50 years from now!

The 2010 season is nearly upon us, and personally, I can’t wait! I say that every year, but I’m really needing that dose of high octane, heart pounding moment when the engines fire up, and the cars go around the track.

Reality In the Year 2010

2010-01-04T14:34:00.003-05:00

Reality obviously means a lot of different things to different people. For some, reality means TV shows that show people competing against each other on a far away island, or trying to convince a panel of judges that they can sing or perform some other stage act. Reality might also mean a serious health problem, lack of money to pay the rent or mortgage, or losing a job you thought would last a lifetime.

Reality in NASCAR can be just as difficult to define as it is in anyone’s normal, everyday life. NASCAR drivers are measured by an infinite number of yard sticks, but most agree that the number of wins or championships a driver has achieved is usually concrete evidence of a driver’s ability, and his standing in the sport.

Reality also means that many drivers who have never won a major championship or many races in the sport’s elite series have also had a huge impact on the sport. Take Mark Martin, for instance. Mark has yet to win a Sprint Cup championship, but is one of the few members of the so called ‘old school’ class of drivers to whom many other drivers are compared. Mark generally behaves as a gentleman both on and off the track, and that simply cannot be said about some other drivers, young or old.

Take Morgan Shepherd. Can you name a race that the man has won in NASCAR? I can’t either. Morgan, however, has made his mark in the world, and in life by helping people less fortunate than him. If you want to know what a true living angel is, look no farther than Morgan Shepherd.

Kyle Petty has won a few Cup races, but Kyle will long be remembered for his efforts to help children at Victory Junction Gang Camp far longer than his driving ability will be remembered. Kyle says he was inspired by his son, Adam, who died tragically at New Hampshire in 2000, but truth be told, I think Kyle has always had it in his heart, and to me, he’s one of NASCAR’s greatest people, ever. Kyle has truly given back, not only to the sport he loves, but to people that could have never experienced such joy and fun, were it not for his kindness and generosity. If NASCAR gave out an award for person of the decade, I would nominate Kyle Petty.

In other sports, I just heard today that two NBA players who play for the Washington Wizards drew guns on each other in the locker room on Christmas Eve, either before, during, or after a game. We’re talking teammates here. Such seems to be the culture of the National Basketball Association. Can you imagine Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon squaring off with pistols in the garage at your favorite NASCAR venue? Merry Christmas, NBA. I have not watched an NBA game in well over a decade, and don’t plan to for several decades in the future. The NBA just exemplifies why I think NASCAR is the greatest sport in the world. NASCAR is about family and loyalty. Normal, everyday family members don’t draw guns on each other over a gambling debt, or for any other reason for that matter. If NASCAR is like “Leave it to Beaver,” and the NBA is like “The Sopranos,” I’ll take the happy family any day. Am I old fashioned? Why, yes I am, and pretty proud of it.

There’s enough drama in life and on CNN and MSNBC without having to hear about pistol standoffs on ESPN. Through my own super secret methods of readership demographics analysis, I’ve determined that most of you would consider me an to be an old guy anyway. I don’t mind. Everyone has that older uncle or friend of the family that nobody likes to talk about! If that’s my niche in your life, then so be it!

2010 not only is a new year, but also a new decade. NASCAR will go on, and just next month the show will get cranked up again at Daytona. It feels so good to say ‘next month’ and not ‘next year.’ I, like most loyal NASCAR fans sometimes start to get bored near the end of the season when it looks inevitable who will win the Cup. For four years in a row, Jimmie Johnson has been NASCAR’s champion, and he has deserved it. But it does get old after a while, unless you’re a huge JJ fan. Should Jimmie Johnson win the whole shebang in 2010, I’ll give him and the 48 team kudos yet again, because it will be again well deserved.

Personally, I hope we see a dark horse, a long shot, in other words suddenly shoot to the top of the charts in Sprint Cup. It’s not that I don’t wish a record breaking (again) 5th consecutive championship, because Jimmie and crew are pretty likable guys, it’s just because I think it’s time for NASCAR nation to get excited again. For whatever reasons, Jimmie just doesn’t create the excitement that 4 consecutive championships deserve. NASCAR is a fan driven sport, and if the fans aren’t excited, then the sport needs something different. It’s just that simple. NASCAR needs some new heroes, and I doubt that Jimmie Johnson could slay a dragon or catch a bullet with his teeth and fit that description for most fans. Jimmie Johnson is a genuinely nice guy who just doesn’t attract a ton of attention.

On another note, but one that is pertinent to the subject of reality, don’t look to your sports heroes or to so called reality TV for a dose of what the media calls ‘reality.’ Reality is everywhere. You don’t have to travel far to get a big heaping dose of it, actually. I haven’t written much here lately, in part because I’ve been spending a lot of time in a hospital, trying to help care for an ailing family member. Many of you who read this know how this is, and for those of you who don’t, unfortunately you probably will one day.

A local sports talk show host has a son who has been in and out of hospitals and treatment centers for much of the last couple of years. As I understand it, the boy is only in his teens, and never has really had a chance to have a life, because he’s been hit so hard by a disease neither he nor his father had ever heard of, until it hit this boy. Recently on the host’s show, he remarked that he didn’t think much of reality TV shows. His comment was along the lines of this: “If you want reality, go spend some time in a hospital.”

I was struck by that comment, and now I indeed know it’s true. I’ve spent a lot of hours this past week seeing what happens even in a small town hospital. Battles between life and death are literally being waged not only daily, but hourly. That, my friends, is reality.

By all means, please, please support your favorite NASCAR drivers and other sports heroes, whether they be football, baseball, or even, yes, the NBA. Do your part in supporting your teams. Support your favorite athletes or teams with all you heart, but remember to do one other thing, if not for me, then for yourself.

Support those who have helped you be who you are, whether it be family, friends, a mentor, a pastor, or whomever.

Help them when you can, because sooner or later, everyone will need some help.

That’s reality, my friends.

Home Is Where It’s At

2009-12-28T14:10:00.000-05:00

I know the title of this article is probably what many would consider to be a ‘southernism,’ which is to say that if you grew up in the south, the phrasing would make perfect sense. If you grew up, say, in Omaha, Nebraska, or New Jersey, or Los Angeles, you might consider the title to be the words of a southern red neck that just doesn’t know any better.

And you would be right.

Long time readers of this column know that I am proud to be southerner. For those of you who didn’t grow up in a place like Georgia, or Alabama, or North Carolina, our language can be tough to decipher. Those of you reading this article are likely fans of NASCAR, however. If you’ve followed NASCAR for more than the last year, you are used to southern accents that still somehow permeate the sport. If you’ve heard Darrell Waltrip, or Larry McReynolds speak, you’ve heard southern accents. There are even a few drivers around with real southern accents, such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliot Sadler, Mark Martin, Bill Eliot, and a few others. Owners, such as Rick Hendrick, Teresa Earnhardt, and others speak with a southern accent. We rarely hear Teresa speak, but when you do, you know she’s not from Upstate New York.

I was born in the early 1960’s, 1963, to be exact. I was born and grew up in the Carolinas, South Carolina to be specific. These days, we don’t really have many NASCAR drivers from my home state, but we have legends who call South Carolina home. There’s David Pearson, and Cale Yarborough,. If you’ve never heard of them, turn in your NASCAR fan badge right now, please.

South Carolina is also home the of Darlington Speedway, which is one of the oldest tracks still gracing the NASCAR circuit. In the old days, they actually used to hold NASCAR sanctioned races at places like Columbia, Greenville-Pickens, Myrtle Beach, and other tracks around the Palmetto State.

NASCAR has never been an exclusively southern sport though. Even in the early 1950’s, it was common for the NASCAR guys to run races in California, Pennsylvania, New York, and even in Canada. The drivers were never always from the south either. They came from practically every state in the union, In the early days, many were veterans of World War II, and though most had had their share of excitement in the war, many tried their hand in stock car racing. Some were successful, some were not.

Though I have read much of the history of NASCAR, I was not personally aware of the sport until I was about 9 years old. On a Saturday afternoon, I was lying on the floor in the den, watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports. There had been a race somewhere, and ABC covered the high lights of the race. They showed all these souped up cars running around a race track somewhere at what seemed to me impossible speeds. I was fascinated. At the end of the race, the ABC crew interviewed the race winner, a guy named Petty. He climbed out of his car, took his goggles off, and his face was stained almost black from the smoke and oil that made it somehow inside the cockpit of his race car. This guy Petty had a huge smile, and thanked his fans for showing up and making the day special for him. I immediately liked the guy, and just like that, another young Richard Petty fan was born.

I was a fan of Richard Petty for quite a few years, and tried to catch the high lights on local news or Wide World of Sports whenever I could. I’d never been to a real race, but wanted to go to one really bad. In somewhere around 1977 or so, I got my chance, and went with another family to the Greenville-Pickens Speedway, between, strangely enough, Greenville, SC, and Easley, SC. Easley is in Pickens County, SC, so in that way, it all makes sense.

I didn’t get to see Richard Petty ‘s famous 43 that night, but I did get to see another car tearing around the track, and he was passing cars left and right, sometimes wrecking them in the attempt to pass them. This car finished second that night, if I remember correctly. The driver of the car was some guy named Earnhardt, and he was from Kannapolis, North Carolina. I’d never heard of him, but I soon would hear a lot more about him.

Racing was, of course, not the only sport around where I grew up. We had, just like any other place in the US, football, basketball, baseball, and sometimes even soccer. I went to a lot of high school football games, basketball games, and even some baseball games. In high school, I ran cross country. In those days, I could run for miles. These days, it’s a hardship to drive for miles!

But, as usual, I digress. In those days, NASCAR wasn’t the most important part of my life. There were girls, after all. I loved several girls with all my heart and soul. From afar, of course, because, they were, after all, girls! I didn’t know how to talk to them, and to be honest, I can talk to them now, but I still don’t really know what to say. Whether I just try to be myself or try to make women think I am a man of the world, they usually end up thinking “This guy is an idiot.” Unfortunately, they’re all probably right. That’s why I live with cats.

And still further, I digress. I was born in Columbia, South Carolina at the tender age of, well, nothing. You may have already figured that out. I’m glad. I spent my first six years in the rather warm and humid climate of Columbia, and when I was six, exactly six, my family moved to Taylors, South Carolina. Taylors is now considered a suburb of Greenville, and probably was even then. We then moved to the house that I really grew up in, in Greenville County, SC. It was then out in the country, but probably couldn’t be considered that now. I watched NASCAR on TV whenever it was on, but never considered it my favorite. Sure, I liked watching the guys named Petty, Waltrip, Yarborough, Pearson, and others win, but I only paid little attention.

In around 1979, however, that dude I’d once seen at Greenville-Pickens burst onto the scene, and turned NASCAR upside down. Earnhardt won rookie of the year, and in 1980, he won his first Cup championship. That had never been done before, and not even Richard Petty had done that.

To be honest with you, at first, I never really liked Dale Earnhardt. He wrecked people. He bumped people in order to win races. I appreciated his aura as a blue collar driver, who grew up as many of my friends did, but which I didn’t. My father was an engineer, and made a good salary, and I’d never lived in a mill hill home growing up like Dale Earnhardt did. Yeah, maybe I was a little arrogant. Maybe even a lot.

As time went by, especially in the 1980’s, I was growing up, and Dale Earnhardt was winning darn near everything. Eventually I became an Earnhardt fan, though gingerly. I still didn’t like his tactics, but I had to admire his drive and determination. The man had a ton of talent, and he wasn’t afraid to add in a little grit and ruthlessness to get the job done. Dale Earnhardt soon replaced Darrell Waltrip as the bad boy of stock car racing.

At a race in Darlington, in the mid 1980’s, I think I was introduced to the truth by a Waltrip fan sitting next to me. Earnhardt won the race, but the guy next to me said “At least Earnhardt came up right. He used to starve to go racing.” It wasn’t until many years later that I came to find how true that was.

Earnhardt, of course, became a legend, perhaps before his time. On February 18, 2001, he was taken away from us forever. I cried that day, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. The last time I’d cried was when Davey Allison’s life was snuffed out forever in a helicopter crash at Talladega.

If you’re a NASCAR fan, these guy’s lives become an important part of our own lives. Uniquely, NASCAR fans have probably more access to their heroes than does any fan of any other sport. NASCAR fans, treasure the days that you have cheering your driver on to win. Those days may by numbered, and only God can tell you for sure.

As for me, I’m glad I live in the state of South Carolina. It’s my home. I never want to leave here. I’ve got Charlotte to the north of me, Atlanta to the south of me. The south is not now or ever really the true home of NASCAR, but I’ve been blessed to live not so far from my heroes when it comes to NASCAR.

Living on hallowed ground, maybe? Probably not. But even the most jaded fan of NASCAR must admit that some of the best times we’ve ever had here were at tracks like Daytona, Talladega, Darlington, Rockingham, Richmond, Bristol, and Martinsville. Home is where it is. In NASCAR, Home for me is in the south.

South Carolina isn’t much, but it’s home. What could be better than to be at home?

I Wish I Could Dance Like Snoopy!

2009-12-24T13:01:00.001-05:00

Can anything be more joyous than a puppy dancing like Snoopy? Probably not much unless it's me. I'm very, very happy for a lot of reasons. First of all, I'm happy because you've been kind enough to read this column over the last year, or even years. I can't thank you enough for that.

I'd also like to thank my good friends over at American Muscle Cars. and of course our friends at Corvette Guys. Without those kind folks, this page might not even be here. You guys have been wonderful to me, and I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

I'd like to thank Pat, my sister in law, without who's grace and wonderful help I couldn't be publishing this column today. I'd like to than my brother Alan, who helped in so many ways as well.

I'd like to thank my sister Ellen, who has been the greatest big sister ever. I'd like to thank my parents, who at age 85, are still an inspiration and huge influence for me in my life. I'd like to thank Deborah, without who's friendship I could not possibly be alive today. I also want to thank my friends Heather, Karen, Tam, Butler, Kara and yes, even you, Carol. Thanks for all you do and for keeping me sane in in insane world.

More importantly, I'd like to thank the fans of NASCAR, the absolutely greatest sport in the world, and thank you for all you do supporting the various causes and charities that you do such great things for. You, the fans, are what really drives this sport, and I thank you for doing that.

Thank you, dear readers, for taking the time to read here. I hope each and every one of you has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

How Much Privacy Should NASCAR Drivers Have?

2009-12-23T14:20:00.000-05:00

Much has been said about how difficult it is for NASCAR drivers to lead comparatively normal lives, such as living safely in their own homes, being members of or being the heads of families, being able to go to the local restaurant and having a bite to eat without being mobbed by the media or fans, or being able to go to the grocery store and buy a gallon of milk without being molested.

Let me go on record as saying that I’m certainly for drivers, crew, owners, and even music and movie stars to have the ability to do all of those things. When you get right down to it, we’re all human beings, and we all need a little space and privacy at times. We all need a place to feel totally safe and secure in.

Personally, the only way I get by in public is to wear a mustache, glasses, and often go unshaven and wear a baseball cap when I go out to buy a gallon of milk. So far, that disguise seems to be working, because I am seldom mobbed, unless you consider the cats in my yard, and sometimes even in my house. Thus far, I have been successful in escaping my throng of fans when appearing in public. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for my ability to escape the attention of the South Carolina Highway Patrol when I’m driving a teensy bit over the speed limit, or the local tax collector when I neglect to pay taxes on my almost brand new eleven year old pickup truck. Even the mustache didn’t work that time. The Highway Patrol trooper was kind enough to only give me a warning. “Teensy” was not exaggerating. I was going “46 and a half in a 45 zone.” It says so on my warning ticket. Notice to all travelers: Speeding is a fruitless pursuit in the state of South Carolina. Plan early and take your time when you head to Darlington next year.

But as usual, I digress. This column is about NASCAR drivers, not me. When any driver signs a contract to drive in any of NASCAR’s series, there should be a disclaimer: “I, (YOUR NAME HERE) agree to the most intensive examination of my life, family, ancestors, pets, personal automobiles, favorite movies, TV shows, Internet sites, adult beverage, food, and bathroom habits, etc., etc., that only a CIA operative or NASA astronaut could appreciate. For the rest of my life. Plus 50 years.” Hmmm… Would Jeremy Mayfield have signed that disclaimer?

Seriously, though. I don’t mind listening to drivers lose their cool on their radio links to their crew chiefs and spotters. How many of you have not lost your temper at least once in the course of doing your job? I know I have. I have probably lost my temper two or three times already just writing this column. Needless to say, however, it’s all part of the job when it comes to the drivers. They are, after all, in the heat of battle, and sometimes things just slip.

When a driver agrees to give an interview, and voluntarily puts his mouth in front of a microphone and his face in front of a TV camera, that’s a little different. The driver may not have his emotions under control, but he has to know that his actions will be seen by thousands, and most likely millions of people. If a driver can make it all the way to the big leagues, such as is NASCAR, a driver should have plenty of experience with composing himself and controlling his emotions. I say this with one exception, however.

Putting a microphone in the face of a driver who has just 10 seconds before crawled out of a smoking heap of ruined sheet metal, the result of an indiscretion by the guy that was his buddy last week, is simply asking for controversy. I think that discretion should be the rule here. Give the driver time to go back to the hauler, clean up a little, and compose his thoughts before asking for a live interview. Heated words reported around the world might be fun for fans, but probably not too good for racing relationships. Give the guys a chance to cool off, for goodness sake.

The drivers in NASCAR are professionals. They didn’t get there by accident. They got there by virtue of their God given talent. They’re not babes in the woods, but they are human, strangely enough.

Just like you and me.

How much privacy should a NASCAR driver have? So far as being able to live his life like a normal human being when he’s away from the race track, I am all for drivers being able to live a normal family life, or at least as much as they are able to. Fans sometimes get carried away in their attempt to meet drivers in informal settings, and I hope that fans will understand that this type of situation is both uncomfortable for drivers and their families. After all, how would you feel if total strangers came up to you and wanted to talk to you or ask for your autograph when you were minding your own business? How would you feel if you were having a quiet dinner with your spouse and kids and suddenly a total stranger walked up to your table and started taking pictures of you and your kids? I wouldn’t like it very much, and doubt if you would either.

Again, how much privacy should a NASCAR driver have?

As much as they can get away with.

Danica Patrick's finally Ready to Jump Into the NASCAR Pool

2009-12-16T10:07:00.002-05:00

It's not news anymore, but Indy Racing League driver Danica Patrick will soon make her first foray into NASCAR, which of course, is arguably the toughest series in which to race in the world. If not the toughest, it certainly earns the most money.

Danica Patrick coming to NASCAR could be a great boost to the series, which has shown signs of lack of interest among it's fan base. TV ratings have been down in 2009, as have ticket sales. NASCAR, like most other entertainment activities in America, has been hurt by the downturn in the economy as of late. People with less or no disposable income simply can't afford the travel costs, ticket sales, or even the subscription for cable or satellite TV that is required to watch many of the races.

A spark is needed to reignite the NASCAR fan base, and Danica Patrick could be just the ticket. It's been a long time since a female driver has raised as much emotion and banter among racing fans. Danica has a fiery personality, and isn't afraid to say what's on her mind for the most part. In other words, Danica Patrick could be perfect for a sport where many fans complain that no one has the guts to speak their mind.

Danica has already generated a boost in the IRL series TV ratings, and it's a safe bet that she will do the same for NASCAR when she makes her debut in the #7 JR Motorsports owned Go Daddy Chevrolet at California in 2010.

Former Sprint Cup team crew chief Tony Eury Jr. will be Danica's crew chief in the Nationwide series, and one has to wonder if Tony Jr. has jumped from the frying pan into the fire, since he has to know that all the racing world will be watching him as closely as they did when he was his cousin's crew chief,, that cousin being JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. I don't doubt that Tony Jr. is the man for the job, but it's likely to get pretty stressful in the spotlight he's going to be under.

Personally, I welcome Danica to NASCAR, and I hope she finds much success in its various racing series. I don't expect her to win races right out of the gate, but I expect her to learn a lot in both the NASCAR Nationwide series and the ARCA series.

I hope that soon Danica will be contending to win races, and then winning races. I hope to see her doing the same in the Sprint Cup series soon.

Whatever happens, Danica Patrick will be good for NASCAR. I hope NASCAR is just as good for Danica.

Charting the Changes: NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2010

2009-12-07T16:08:00.000-05:00

As always, there will be changes between the 2009 Sprint Cup season and the 2010 season. Times are changing, and even the moon and the tides can't stop it. Though there seem to be few earth shattering changes as of now, history will tell the entire story.

First of all, Jamie McMurray will indeed be the odd man out from Rousch-Fenway racing for 2010, as the company has to shrink to 4 Cup teams from it's previous 5 teams. Jamie will be driving the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy for Earnhardt-Ganassi in 2010, reunited with his old boss Chip Ganassi. Will Jamie succeed in this ride, vacated by Martin Truex Jr? Only time will tell. I'm wondering if the EGR program will be able to put another team in the Chase next year besides Juan Pablo Montoya. Jamie is capable of winning races, but he's going to have all the parts complete to do so.

In the #12 Verizon Dodge will be Brad Keselowski, recent Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide driver and Cup winner at Talladega in the spring race of 2009. Brad will have Jay Guy has his crew chief, and as much as I like this young driver, I imagine he will have some automatic adversaries on the track, namely Denny Hamlin, and probably a dude named Kyle as well.

In the #56 NAPA Toyota, we will see Martin Truex Jr., coming from the #1 EGR Chevy. Martin will be basically replacing team owner Michael Waltrip in the NAPA car, though Mikey will likely run a few races in his familiar 55 machine when he can find sponsorship, and quite frankly, when he feels like it. Martin Truex likely will be exactly what MWR needs in 2010, which is a proven winner, hard charger, and a new guy on the block trying to impress his friends. Truex is a great acquisition for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Bobby Labonte received a major shock in 2009 when it was announced that he would be removed from the driver's seat of the #96 Ford for 7 races in favor of rookie Eric Darnell because Darnell had a deal for those 7 races. Old friend Slugger Labbe called up Bobby and helped get him a ride in the #71Ford, and darned if Bobby didn't start running some pretty good qualifying laps and even some good races in that Ford. Bobby will be driving full time in 2010 in the TRG car next year, with Slugger continuing to sit on top of the pit box. Apparently, there is some talk that the team may change to Chevy or even Dodge, so that's all up in the air right now. It's good that Bobby landed on his feet again, so it would seem.

Eric Darnell will replace Bobby Labonte in the 96 car, if indeed that team continues to exist in 2010. We'll see.

There are more changes to chart, and I will put those up in a later column.

Old Vs. New Points: 2009 Final Report

2009-11-25T11:56:00.000-05:00

There is one thing I should have probably explained before I embarked on this series of old vs. new points. Strategies can and will change depending upon the way NASCAR hands out points. All we're dealing with here is raw data, and I can't even begin to guess how strategies would have changed if this year's crop of drivers had been racing under the old points system. Obviously, had we been under the old points system in 2009, teams would have tried different things to grab points. In other words, the following is for comparison purposes only, and no one, especially me, can predict how certain teams would have run had the Chase system not been in effect.

That being said, let's get to it!

Under the old points system, or under the current Chase system, the final outcome would have been the same. Jimmie Johnson wins the 2009 Sprint Cup championship either way. The main difference is that it would have been closer under the old points system, and 2nd place would have been different as well.

Under the Chase system, Jimmie won by 141 points over second place Mark Martin. Under the old points system, Johnson still would have won, but by only 66 points over second place Jeff Gordon. Also under the old points system, Mark Martin would have finished in fifth place, 394 points back. In third place under the old points system, we would have had Tony Stewart, only 4 points behind Jeff Gordon. Stewart instead found himself finishing in sixth place, 243 points out of the lead under the Chase system.

Under the old points system, fourth place would have gone to Denny Hamlin, 350 points out of the top spot. Under the Chase system, Denny finished in fifth place, 317 points back.

I do these comparisons mostly because I think it's fun, not to suggest that NASCAR has blundered by instituting the Chase system. The powers that be, in this case NASCAR, have decided that this is the way that points will be awarded, and that's the end of it.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, Rick Hendrick, and all the crew that prepares and services the 48 Lowes Chevrolet each and every week of the racing season. Congratulations to Hendrick Motorsports for a superb job in winning yet another championship, and making history with Jimmie Johnson's fourth consecutive championship.

Congratulations also go to Kyle Busch, winner of his first NASCAR Nationwide Series championship, and to Ron Hornaday, winner of the Camping World Truck Series championship.

I want to personally congratulate the fans that stuck it out through tough economic times, who bought tickets, paid ridiculously high prices for motel rooms and for a tank of gasoline, and parked their butts in the seats in the grandstands for 2009. You, the fans, are what make this sport what it is, and without you, there would be no NASCAR.

Here's to 2009, and here's to getting for the start of the 2010 season. I'll be here throughout the off season, and can't wait until we hear them rev 'em up again at Daytona in February!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The Joy of NASCAR

2009-11-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

I watch the TV shows on SPEED TV and other networks, and see the fans in the background while the talking heads, namely John Roberts, Kenny Wallace, and Jimmy Spencer talk about the racing that is to take place this weekend. If you look closely, in the background, you can see kids.

Kids will be wearing shirts and hats featuring their favorite driver's picture or number. Maybe it's not even their favorite driver, because it could be their parent's favorite driver. It's hard to say.

On race day, during the race itself, the camera often pans into the crowd and you see kids there. You see grandparents. You see people who look just like you and me, in other words, young and good looking. You see people of every color, of every ethnic group, of every religion, of literally every background you could think of.

Sports often bring families together, for many different reasons. NASCAR is one sport that can be a common point for families that span many generations. Take Bristol for instance. Some fans there inherited their seats from their grandparents.

Grandpa might have been a Petty fan. Not Richard, but Lee. Yeah, that far back. Lee won championships and was one of the first legitimate stars of NASCAR before anybody had ever really ever heard of Richard. Ned Jarrett came along and won. Pearson, Yarborough, Allison, and a guy named Earnhardt came along. Don't forget about guys like Waltrip, Bodine, Irvin, and a host of others. We've been blessed as NASCAR fans.

Why have we been blessed? We've had some of the best, and most entertaining people in the world become our heroes in a sport that literally can be either win or lose, but more importantly, life of death. Yes, people do die doing this for a living. A lot of good people have died doing this for a living. A lot of good people have lived to tell about after it was all over, thank God.

I see kids on race day, eyes wide, fingers in their ears as 43 impossibly loud race cars rumble by on the pace laps. When the green flag drops, fingers won't do it for 500 miles, much less 400. (Parents, ear protection is important.) They're watching cars go so fast that it seems impossible that they can possible stay on the track. These cars are often reaching speeds of 200 miles per hour and even more, and they're racing only inches apart from each other. That's pretty exciting for any kid to watch. Heck, it gets my heart racing, but I've only been watching this sport for 35 years.

When the green flag drops, my heart almost stops for just a second or two. As the cars come up to speed, I'm watching, seeing who got a good start, who didn't, who's going into turn 1 with the advantage. No matter how long I've watched this, I get goosebumps when those cars rev it up and go for it. They are 43 warriors with only one goal, and that is to be the first car to take the checkered flag.

For me, racing is an ultimate high, the ultimate joy, the highlight of my week. Even in the off season, it's fun to see who goes where, who signed with whom, and what paint scheme changes will be coming next year. Racing is not for everyone, but for those who become enchanted by it, racing is nothing but pure joy.

NASCAR is freedom. NASCAR is doing the seemingly impossible. NASCAR is, above all, fun.

One and Done: NASCAR's Season Comes to a Close

2009-11-21T14:08:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Ron Hornaday, who already knew he was the 2009 Camping World Trucks Series champion coming into Friday's race at Miami. Congratulations are in order as well to Kyle Busch, who will win the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship just by virtue of starting today's race.

It would appear that Jimmie Johnson will be crowned with his fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship on Sunday, and it appears that unless he has the most horrible of races, Johnson will make history by becoming the first driver to every win four Cups in a row.

It's impossible to say that Johnson is a lock for the championship, because, as he well remembers from his third lap crash at Texas, anything can happen before the checkered flag falls on NASCAR's 2009 season.

Jimmie Johnson has succeeded in performing one important duty this weekend: He has won the pole for Sunday's Ford 400 at Miami-Homestead Speedway. Starting at the front of the pack was one of crew chief Chad Knaus' main concerns going into the last race of the season. It's a lot more difficult to get caught up in someone else's accident if you're way out in front of everyone else.

Mark Martin must be thinking that yet another chance for that elusive championship is slipping away, and he can only hope for the very worst luck for his teammate Jimmie Johnson. I doubt that Mark is doing that, but somewhere, deep down, he must be thinking it. Mark has come so close before, yet has never grabbed the Cup.

Sunday's race will be the last NASCAR race of the season, and before the end of the day, a new Sprint Cup champion will be crowned.

If that champion's name isn't Jimmie Johnson, the entire racing world, including this fan, will be shocked.

Shocked, I tell you!

The End of the Season for Some and a New Beginning for Others

2009-11-19T16:22:00.000-05:00

The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup racing season is nearly over, and for me, it seems like the year has flown by. With only one race to go, it appears that Jimmie Johnson will most likely win his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup, and make history in the process.

For many fans, this is somewhat of a sad time, a time to reflect back on what could have been, what maybe should have been, and to know that we won't see the cars back on the track until February, 2010.

For many, this can be an exciting time though. The end of the 2009 season marks the beginning of one of the most frantic times for the teams; the off season.

Much of the usual silly season silliness has shaken itself out, with a few drivers going to new teams for the 2010 season. Now is the time for drivers and crew chiefs to begin to feel each other out, to get to know each other. For many owners, now is a time for finding a new sponsor for next year's races, hopefully a sponsor that will keep the team running the entire year.

For many fans, now is the time to begin to dare hope that 2010 will be a better year for our favorite drivers than 2009 was. I know, because I speak from experience as a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan.

Dale Jr. was not the only driver that seemed to have only one kind of luck in 2009, which of course was 'bad.' Fans of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch and many others understand that 2009 just wasn't the greatest of years for certain drivers. Jeff Gordon fans must be wondering if indeed Jeff will ever win that 'Drive For Five' that has eluded him thus far.

There are teams that won't win the Cup in 2009 that I am impressed with, however. The 14 and 39 cars of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman come to mind. Basically, this team was completely overhauled in the last off season, and both teams have performed superbly in 2009. The 47 car of Marcos Ambrose was another pleasant surprise this year. Bobby Labonte, who just announced that he would be driving the underfunded 71 car next year, pulled off some amazing qualifying efforts and finishes in that car this year.

From now until that last few minutes before the drop of the green flag at Daytona in February, this so called off season will be one of the busiest of the year for many NASCAR teams.

Johnson On The Verge Of Making History

2009-11-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

With only one race left to go in the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, it appears that Jimmie Johnson all but has a lock on an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship. Love him or hate him, Jimmie Johnson is the real deal. He's a great race car driver, with a lot of talent, and he's fortunate to be driving for probably the best crew chief in NASCAR.

Would the 48 Lowes Chevy team won even one championship without Chad Knaus calling the shots from on top of the pit box? It's hard to say, and we'll never know, obviously, but I would find it hard to believe that Jimmie could have achieved so much success without the brainiest crew cheif in the sport calling the shots.

Obviously, it doesn't hurt having a team owner like Rick Hendrick providing excellent equipment and personnel for the team either. Jimmie could have been driving for a third tier team for his Cup career, and it's possible that no one would be talking about him right now.

With only one race to go, it appears that Jimmie has this Cup in the bag, but don't forget what happened to him at Texas. He's not, and neither should you. Anything can happen in this sport, and it won't be over until the checkered flag waves at Homestead on Sunday.

Fans, Drivers Frustrated. Is This Talladega?

2009-11-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Following NASCAR's announcement that there would be no bump drafting allowed in the corners on Sunday, virtually all of the drivers had to change their strategy, and a lot of fans weren't very happy about it.

Several drivers opted to drop to the back of the field for most of the race, running at only half throttle for many of the 500 miles which made up the AMP Energy 500. There's nothing new about drivers being conservative in the early stages of long races, but many of the fan's favorites never made a move to reach the front of the pack until less than 20 laps to go in Sunday's race.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson ran most of the day in 30th place or so, but managed to survive the late race crashes and finish 6th. Johnson's decent finish practically guaranteed his fourth Cup championship.

For much of the race, the majority of the drivers were content to play follow the leader, apparently not wishing to take a chance on incurring NASCAR's wrath by touching another car at any point on the track other than the straights. The racing predictably began to get interesting in the closing laps, which resulted in two rather spectacular crashes that left Ryan Newman upside down in the infield, and Mark Martin also turning turtle briefly during the resulting green-white-checker finish.

Newman's car was spun across the track, colliding with several cars, including Kevin Harvick's car. The 39 Chevy of Newman then turned backwards, and went airborne, landing upside down on the hood of Harvick's 29 Chevy. As Newman spun into the infield on his lid, he nearly collided with Harvick's car a third time. Harvick, who led several laps earlier in the race, must have felt like his yellow and red Chevy had a bull's eye painted on it.

I've had a theory about the so-called new car, which used to be known as the car of tomorrow. My theory has been shared by other fans and various media types alike, as well as, I'm sure, more than a few drivers. On a race track where speeds of 190 plus miles per hours are the norm, that huge wing on the back does exactly what it's designed to do, when the car is moving in a forward direction, which is provide down force to keep the car on the track.

When the car is moving rapidly in a backwards direction however, the wing acts just like the wing on an airplane, creating lift, and resulting in the spectacular airborne flight that Ryan Newman took on Sunday. Obviously, it appears that the new car is not the perfect solution for keeping not only the drivers safe, but ensuring the safety of the fans as well..

Fans get injured when cars fly up into the air, landing in the catch fence, or in what would be an absolutely horrible scenario, flying over the catch fence.

Fortunately, Newman's car went airborne on the low side of the track, not up against the outside wall, as did Carl Edward's car in the April race at Talladega. Had Edward's car not caught air under it's wing in April, that brave young lady we saw on Sunday's pre-race show would likely not have suffered injury. If nothing else, I would ask that NASCAR reexamine the safety aspects of the wings on the rear of the cars.

As regular readers of this site know, my race day routine involves not only watching the race itself, but following several message boards, and lately, of course, following Twitter closely. The fan comments I have been reading since Sunday's race have been rather predictable. I don't think any race fan wants to see cars simply stay in line and follow the leader for the majority of any race, especially Talladega. "Boring" was a race used by many fans on Sunday.

Unfortunately, quite a few of the drivers expressed their feelings of boredom as well, and several drivers quite frankly apologized for putting on a boring race, at least for the most part. The crashes, though spectacular, were unfortunate, especially when the entire NASCAR world is watching the rescue workers first have to lift Ryan Newman's race car back onto it's wheels, and then cut the roof off the car to extract him. Fortunately, none of the drivers were seriously injured in Sunday's race, though I imagine that Newman will be feeling rather stiff and sore for the next several days.

Talladega has been the site of some of NASCAR's greatest racing in the past. I hope we see it there again soon.

After Martinsville - Old Points Vs. Chase Points

2009-10-26T12:12:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Denny Hamlin for his win at Martinsville. Winning in his home state of Virginia must have been about as fun as it gets for not only Hamlin, but his entire family as well.

Jimmie Johnson, with a second place finish at Martinsville widened his points lead over second place Mark Martin to 118 points. Jeff Gordon remains in third place, 150 points behind Johnson.

Tony Stewart, in fourth place, is 192 points out, and Juan Pablo Montoya is an even 200 points out of first place.

As close as the Chase is supposed to keep the competition, it would appear that Jimmie Johnson is running away with the points with four races to go in the season.

Let's examine how the points would stack up under the old points system. Tony Stewart would still be in first place, with an 80 point lead over second place Jimmie Johnson. It would seem that Johnson's late season surge, which has worked so well in the Chase, would still see him playing catch up under the old points rules.

Under the old points system, Jeff Gordon would still find himself in third place, though only 117 points out of first place, rather than the 150 point deficit he currently finds himself in. In other words, Gordon would still be a long shot to win his 5th championship with only 4 races to go, but he'd have a better chance than he does now.

Fourth and fifth places would be held by Mark Martin and Denny Hamlin, but they would have virtually no chance whatsoever of a championship at this point, being both well over 400 points out of first place.

Tony Stewart has accepted that the Chase is the law of the land, but one has to wonder how he feels now, knowing that he would have an advantage at this point in the season, were NASCAR still using the old points system.

As for Jimmie Johnson, he's doing exactly what he needs to do to assure himself of his fourth consecutive championship. Late season charges do make a huge difference under the Chase system.

Some Random Thought, and Thank You, Part 2

2009-10-24T21:25:00.002-04:00

It was a pretty exciting day for racing, with Timothy Peters winning his very first NASCAR Camping World Truck series win at Martinsville today, and with Brad Keselowski beating and banging his way to a victory at Memphis.

Unfortunately, because the Truck race got off to a late start due to rain this morning in the Martinsville area, the races overlapped a bit. I nearly wore out my clicker flipping back and forth, but managed to see nearly all the action in both races, all the while keeping an eye on the Clemson/Miami football game. (Way to go, Tigers!)

I also wanted to share some stats with you, the kind readers who visit this site. I just pulled some data from my stat counter site, and tabulated some interesting data.

Of the last 500 visitors to the site, the state with the most visitors is the great state of North Carolina, which I suppose isn't surprising, since most of the NASCAR world is centered in that state.

Here's the top 15 locations of visitors to this site over the last few days. Note, some of these aren't US states, you might be surprised to know.

1. North Carolina
2. California
3. New York
4. Ontario (Yeah, that Ontario, as in Ontario, Canada
5. Ohio
6. Pennsylvania
7. Georgia
8. Michigan
9. (tie) New Jersey, Texas
10. (tie) Florida, Connecticut
11. (tie) Virginia, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee
12. Washington
13. (tie) Indiana, Maryland, Missouri
14. (tie) Victoria, Australia; Minnesota, British Columbia, Canada
15. (tie) Washington DC, Kansas, Louisiana, England

My sincere thanks to all of you who made the top 15, and to all of you who didn't! Here are some other interesting places readers were when they visited this site:

Prince Edward Island
Saskatchewan
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Nova Scotia
Ostfold, Norway
Zurich, Switzerland
Rajasthan, India
Alberta
Quebec
Catalonia, Spain
Magnisia, Greece
Oslo, Norway

Thanks for all of your visits, and I hope you'll keep coming back!

The Junior Nation Gets Fired Up

2009-10-23T15:05:00.002-04:00

Last Friday at Concord, NC, Dale Jr. answered some questions put to him by the media, and quite frankly, I don't think I've ever heard or seen Dale Earnhardt Jr. sound so down in the dumps.

Dale talked about his season, and the lack of success that the 88 team has had so far. He also mentioned that his current crew chief, Lance McGrew, is not necessarily going to be Junior's crew chief next year.

Much of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s greatest successes have come when Tony Eury Sr. was on top of the pit box, back on the 8 team at Dale Earnhardt Inc. Since then, Dale Jr. has mostly had his cousin, Tony Eury Jr. as his crew chief, and the results have been far from stellar.

Long time Dale Jr. fans know that he worries when he's not performing well, not just because of his sponsors, but because of his fans. That's certainly true of other drivers as well, but probably no driver worries about making his fans happy more than Dale Jr.

When his father died in February of 2001, Dale Jr. wondered if he even would have a job for the rest of the season, and if the success he had enjoyed so far would go away because his father was no longer there to help him. Junior worried about sponsors leaving, honestly thinking that the only reason he had Budweiser and other sponsors was because of who is father was, not Junior himself.

In my opinion, Dale Jr. has more than proven that he is a race car driver in his own right. Most his his 18 Cup victories came after his father's death, including his 2004 Daytona 500 win. There are quite a few drivers currently driving in the Cup series who would love to have 18 wins.

The naysayers have been out in force as of late as well. I've read plenty of comments such as "Maybe Junior should realize he just has no talent," and my favorite, "Dale Jr. is an inarticulate backwoods hillbilly." I just love comments like those.

Richard Childress, the owner of the 3 Chevrolet for so many years, has supported Junior during this time of not-so-much fun. RC has basically said that he still feels that Dale Jr.'s best days are still ahead of him as a driver. I agree with Mr. Childress, who's having problems of his own at RCR. Not one of his four cars is in the Chase this year, and it's rumored that Kevin Harvick, who replaced Dale Earnhardt in 2001, will be leaving after the 2010 season.

Dale Jr.'s car owner, Rick Hendrick, has addressed Junior's performance problems, and likely is working hard on trying to provide a solution for the 88 team. Dale Jr.'s fans have spoken out as well, rallying in support of their favorite driver.

In a petition to Hendrick Motorsports, some Junior Nation fans have asked:

We have suspected for quite some time now that there is a problem somewhere within the 88 team, either in the shop or at the track. The statements released today from Tony Gibson have proven that our gut feelings were accurate. The fans would like this to be taken care of immediately! We the fans thought our equipment would be first class at Hendrick Motorsports. Please act now.

Thank you,

Junior nation

If you'd like to check out and even sign the petition, click Here.

It's good to see a driver's fans get fired up to actually go through the trouble of setting up something like this petition, and it's refreshing to know that the Junior Nation is trying to do their part to get Dale Earnhardt Jr. back in victory lane again.

photo credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images

Just a Quick Thank You

2009-10-20T20:50:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who's read this blog over the past year or three! I really appreciate you all clicking on this site, for what ever reason prompts you to do so.

I enjoy doing this, and will keep doing so for as long as I can. Hopefully I will eventually write better, so you can read better as well!

I've never tried to support any one driver, because I just try to write about what happens on the track, and sometimes off the track. I enjoy all things NASCAR, you could say.

Whether you're in New England, or England, or some former colony of England, I appreciate your time and trouble to get here. We now have readers from all over the world, from every continent, and every state in the nation. I could not be more proud of you, and thank you for your support

Feel free to rip me a new one, whenever you see fit. My e-mail is public domain, so feel free to tell me when I'm making a total ass of myself.

All comments are welcome. If I don't reply to yours, expect me to use you in a future article! Just kidding.

Thanks,

Jimmy C

Johnson Well On Way To 2009 Championship - Fans Say Ho Hum?

2009-10-20T15:22:00.001-04:00

With five races to go in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, it appears that NASCAR's version of Mr. October, Jimmie Johnson has his fourth Cup nearly in hand.

It's understandable, with the economy in such poor shape, that ticket sales at the track have been down for 2009. One would suppose that if one couldn't afford a ticket, the price of gas to travel, the price of a place to stay, etc., that one might have to make do watching the races on TV.

That doesn't seem to be happening though. TV ratings are basically down across the board for most of the races this year. Saturday's race at Charlotte was down by sharply in the ratings from last year, when the race was held on a Saturday evening, head to head with college football, the same as this year.

What could the matter be? It would seem that Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus are setting in stone a bona fide NASCAR dynasty, putting up some incredible numbers again for the fourth year in a row. Normally, one would think that these would be exciting times for NASCAR, but the TV ratings don't seem to be reflecting that.

I've been reading a lot of fans' comments over the last few days. Some of them are very interesting. "It's only exciting if you're a Jimmie Johnson fan" seems to be a popular comment. Others say that the racing is just boring. The blame for boring racing ranges from NASCAR's rules to the new car. Others blame the television coverage itself, saying they cannot stand to listen to certain commentators or analysts.

I'm not going to try to come up with an answer for boring racing here, or for how to improve TV coverage. In other articles on this site, I've already shed some theories on those topics. I will hazard a guess as to some fans' animosity towards Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team though.

To the casual observer, Jimmie Johnson should be a sports' perfect champion and spokesman. Johnson has the looks of a movie actor, some would say. Jimmie is rather soft spoken, and his comments rarely provoke controversy. He displays a certain sense of humor at times during his interviews, and never fails to thank his sponsors, his team, and his owners.

To some hard core NASCAR fans, the above description of NASCAR's reigning champion is precisely what's not to like about him. NASCAR largely thrives on a certain level of controversy, whether it is in the form of incidents on the race track, or words spoken in the heat of emotion during post action interviews. Rarely do we see Jimmie Johnson deviate from the company line when it comes to interviews.

Perhaps many fans remember the old rivalries between drivers like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, or Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip, or Earnhardt and Bodine, or perhaps Earnhardt and just about anyone. If nothing else, Dale Earnhardt got people riled up and talking about NASCAR. The 'Intimidator' moniker that Earnhardt carried through much of his career was well earned, both on and off the track.

Jimmie Johnson has almost entirely the opposite personality off the track as did Dale Earnhardt. If Jimmie is ever confrontational with another driver, it's well outside of camera or microphone range. On the track, Jimmie Johnson is known as a very competitive driver, and he has certainly been part of his share of on the track scuffles, but he's not known as an overly aggressive driver, but rather as a patient racer. It's easy to be patient, however, when you're nearly always running at or very near the front of the field. "Fearless" does not really describe Jimmie's driving style. "Smart" might be more descriptive.

"Smart" could certainly describe crew chief Chad Knaus, who certainly has earned a reputation as one of the best, if not THE best crew chiefs in the garage, and is another anomaly to long time NASCAR fans. Knaus reminds many of the fans more of a college science professor, or maybe a high tech engineer than he does a crew chief. Many racing fans think of crew chiefs as tough guys with more grease under their fingernails than a lifetime of scrubbing can remove. Chad comes across as a guy who does the heavy lifting with his cerebrum.

I'm only offering a few theories here, and certainly cannot claim that anything I'm saying here as fact. Personally, I feel that NASCAR is not in trouble, nor is it losing fans. I think the fans are just not as interested this year as they have been in years past. Maybe it's like the World Series or the Super Bowl to some baseball or NFL fans: If you live, say, in Texas, a championship game between a California team and a New York team just isn't as interesting as if the Astros or the Rangers were playing, or the Cowboys or the Oilers.

One other theory that I will present: NASCAR fans don't automatically like the driver who wins the most races or championships. Some fans like a driver because we like the man, who happens to also be a driver. I think in many ways this could explain why Dale Earnhardt Jr. has such a large following. I myself am a Dale Jr. fan, and though I wish he could win more races and at least one championship, I won't stop being a fan of Junior if he doesn't. Like many of his fans, I like Junior because he seems like a nice, down to earth kind of guy. The kind of guy you'd want to sit down and have a beer with.

Many people attribute Junior's fan base to his father, and in large part, that's certainly true. A lot of his fans never saw his father drive though, and seem to have formed their opinion of Junior independently, based on something other than who is father was. There's very little about Dale Jr. that reminds me much of his father, except maybe his accent and the look he gets in his eyes when he's focused. Dale Jr.'s driving style and personality are very different from his old man's, though in many ways he's lived through some of the same experiences as his father had.

Jimmie Johnson has become what his co-owner and friend Jeff Gordon was to the sport in the 1990's. In the early part of that decade, this kid comes along, gets a ride on a top team, and proceeds to win everything there was to win, and more. In the early 2000's, Jeff finds a young kid nobody had ever heard of, and darned if this new kid isn't winning everything there is to win again.

There are many fans who will never be Jeff Gordon fans, just like there are many fans who will never be Jimmie Johnson fans. The fans themselves have their reasons for this, just like there are many who will never be Earnhardt or Earnhardt Jr. fans.

Next month, NASCAR will present the Sprint Cup to someone, and that someone is likely to be Jimmie Johnson. If that is the case, Jimmie will be the first driver to ever win 4 consecutive Cups.

Like Jimmie Johnson or not, that's a heck of an achievement for any race car driver.

photo credit: Glenn Smith, Associated Press

Chase Points - Old Vs. New - Part 2

2009-10-19T12:47:00.000-04:00

At halfway through the Chase races, Jimmie Johnson appears to be breaking out into a commanding lead, at 90 points in front of second place Mark Martin. Jeff Gordon finds himself 135 points out of first place, while fourth place Tony Stewart is 155 points out of first.

Any of these drivers, as well as Kurt Busch (-177) and Juan Pablo Montoya (-195) can still technically win the Cup, but the momentum is definitely on JJ's side right now.

Were NASAR still using the old points system, or as some call it, the pre Chase points system, Tony Stewart would be 117 points in front of second place Jimmie Johnson, while third place Jeff Gordon would be 139 points out of first place. Mark Martin would find himself a whopping 460 points out of first place, and basically without a prayer of winning a championship in 2009.

Obviously, the points race is closer under the current Chase system, but were NASCAR running under the old system, there would be a different odds on favorite with only 5 races remaining in the season.

Jimmie Johnson's driving style and late season dominance have worked well with the current Chase points system. Even his owner, Jeff Gordon, has stated that Jimmie is better suited to the Chase format than Gordon is. Case in point; Jeff Gordon's last Cup came in 2001, before the Chase system was implemented. Jimmie appears to be well on his way to winning 4 Cups in a row, all under the Chase points system.

Will NASCAR decide that the 48 team is too dominant and try to tweak the points system yet again? All indications point to 'no.' Some fans are complaining, however, and one has to wonder if the noise level reaches a certain volume, NASCAR will once again try to level out the playing field.

Personally, dynasties in NASCAR don't really bother me. We've had them before with Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, and before JJ came along, Jeff Gordon. Right now, Jimmie Johnson simply seems to be the best at winning championships in the current system, just like Jeff Gordon made the old points system work in his favor.

Once again, whether the Chase is good or not for NASCAR, or whether it's fair or unfair, it is what it is until NASCAR decides to do something different.

photo credit: Russ Hamilton Jr. (Associated Press)

Would Your Driver Do Better On Another Team?

2009-10-16T18:31:00.003-04:00

It's often an exercise in futility, but it's still fun to imagine.

Let's imagine your favorite driver were driving with a better team than he is currently driving for. That is, unless you're favorite driver happens to be among the best already performing right now. But let's imagine, none the less.

Right now, it's somewhat debatable as to who has the strongest team in NASCAR right now. Not just the driver, but the best team.

Many would choose Chad Knaus and the 48 team. Some would choose Alan Gustafson and the 5 team. Some would even choose Darien Grubb and the 14 team.

Supposing that maybe the 48 team has the best karma, or even just plain luck working for them, since it's Chase season, and they've done it 3 years in a row, let's pick Chad and the 48 guys for fun here.

The question is, what would (Insert your favorite drivers name here) do if he were driving for the 48 team and Chad Knaus as his crew chief?

Is it simply a matter of equipment, personnel, and chemistry?

Or is it more a matter of your driver's superior ability to win races, coupled with a top team? Could your driver get it done if he drove for the 48 guys with guru Knaus overseeing the operation?

Suppose, for example, your driver was David Stremme. Would he be able to win like Jimmie Johnson can, had he the expertise of Chad and the rest of the 48 team behind him? Could Kevin Harvick already be a 3 or 4 time champion with Chad, or Alan, or Darien, or whoever else behind his efforts?

Is it the driver or the team behind the driver?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

NASCAR Hall Of Fame - Did The Voters Get It Right?

2009-10-16T15:30:00.002-04:00

Much has been written about the NASCAR Hall Of Fame's inaugural year inductees. Are these the right people to put in the HOF?

NASCAR could probably have saved itself some headaches had they allowed more than just 5 in for 2010. But what it is, obviously, is what we've got.

I can't find fault with putting Bill France Sr. in the Hall Of Fame, as the number one pick even. Without Big Bill, it's entirely likely that we would have some more or less standardized national, or even international stock car racing series today. What we do have is what is known as the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing, and that was very much Bill Sr.'s baby from the very beginning. Bill France Sr. was also a race car driver, racing frequently on the many tracks that abounded in the South long before stock car racing became an organized sport. From driver, he became a promoter, and from promoter, he became the iron-fisted chief executive officer of the organization that still rules all aspects of top tier professional stock car racing in America today.

Not putting Richard Petty, NASCAR's 'King,' in the first 5 was unthinkable to me. Not only has Richard Petty won more races than anyone else, he also was the first driver to win 7 championships at the top level of stock car racing. Though many of Petty's wins and championships came before 1972, which launched what is now called the 'modern era' of NASCAR, Petty's accomplishments can't be ignored.

Petty, a second generation driver, enjoyed some of the best factory support available during most of his career, which obviously enabled him to win races and championships. Petty was obviously a wheel man in his own right though, and his talent and passion for the sport can't be ignored. Richard Petty was one of the guys who "put NASCAR on the map," so to speak. If for nothing else, Richard Petty's desire to accommodate his many fans during his career make him an easy choice.

After the first two picks, opinions tend to flare about the remaining 3 picks for class '10.

Personally, I feel that Bill France Jr. was a good choice, because he basically took over the reigns just as the aforementioned modern era came into being in NASCAR. Little Bill, as he was often known, worked very hard at keeping sponsors happy, and keeping the sport as interesting as possible. In many ways, Bill Jr. was just as influential in what NASCAR has now become as was his father. Bill France Jr. saw NASCAR through some hard times, but kept growing the sport during his tenure.

Dale Earnhardt was one questionable pick in many people's eyes. He earned his reputation as the "Intimidator" because of his aggressive driving style, and his rather ruthless attitude toward winning. Earnhardt didn't come to the track to make friends. He came to win.

Dale Earnhardt did, however, win 7 championships, tied only with Richard Petty in that amazing feat. Though Earnhardt never came close to eclipsing Petty's amazing 200 wins, at 76 Cup wins, Dale Earnhardt was no slouch in the wins department either.

I feel that Earnhardt belongs in the inaugural class because to many, he represented the face of NASCAR from the late 1980's until his death in 2001. Dale drove a black car, and his icy gaze could make a competing driver make a mistake which would allow Dale to win a race, or at least gain another spot on the track.

Dale Earnhardt's true legacy was that he was the 'every man's driver' in many ways. Dale grew up from a blue collar background, was also driven to try to succeed, early on in his career just to pay the rent and put food on his family table. Later in his career, he was a multi-millionaire, but still worked on his farm, feeding the chickens and the cattle, and taking every opportunity to get away to do some hunting and fishing.

Earnhardt's death in 2001 marked, for me at least, another important transitional period in the history of NASCAR. His death brought out a lot of casual fans and turned them into regular fans, and even hard core fans. His death also brought a flurry of safety measures into the sport, including rules for the races themselves, to equipment changes, and even a new car deemed to be safer for all involved. Whether in life or death, Dale Earnhardt's influence on NASCAR has been substantial and undeniable.

To be honest, I can't argue with the selection of Junior Johnson to the class of '10 either. Johnson's driving days were done before I became a fan of the sport, but I did watch him for many years in his role as a team owner. Junior Johnson was one of the more inventive, creative, and in my opinion, brilliant team owners ever. Though Johnson had practically no formal training at anything, and coming from a bootlegging career into racing, Junior was the very definition of inventiveness.

Junior Johnson could build nearly indestructible race cars and racing engines, and encouraged his drivers to push the cars as hard as they could. In Junior's mind, there was no reason to save a race car for next week. If his drivers tore a car up, he'd build them a better one for next week.

Johnson's accomplishments as a driver cannot be denied either. He drove the way he later encouraged his drivers to drive, which is all out.

With only 5 finalists for the HOF class of 2010, there are understandably some arguments concerning whom was picked and whom wasn't. Personally, back during the 70's, I was a huge David Pearson fan, partly because he was from just down the road in Spartanburg, South Carolina, just 20 or so miles from where I grew up. David was an amazing driver, and rarely drove a full time schedule, but still managed to win an incredible 105 races during his career. Richard Petty has often been quoted as saying that Pearson was the best driver he ever competed against.

Other people who could easily have been included in the inaugural top 5 would have to include Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison. Mostly likely, I feel they will be in the class of 2011 though.

The fact is, out of the literally hundreds of people who have made an impact on NASCAR over the years, in my opinion, these first 5 are not bad choices. Those who didn't make it this time will invariably be honored in Charlotte in coming years.

5 people were just not enough, but the many other deserving drivers, owners, crew chiefs, and others will be honored eventually.

Overall, I feel the NASCAR Hall Of Fame is off to a great start, and will be a place in which I will want to spend much time in the coming years.

Saluting America's Automobile Renaissance

2009-10-14T14:48:00.010-04:00

photo courtesy of CarandDriver.com

If you haven't looked at the new Ford Mustang, or the new Dodge Challenger, or taken a peak at this new version of Chevrolet's Camaro, you're missing a lot.

It would seem that American automakers are recognizing som
e of the the things they did right in the past, and using those positives as marketing tools for the future.

I personally love the retro cars. They were great back then, and they are great now. Not only do these American icons have the good looks which made them famous in the first place, but now they are updated with top notch technology which makes them great daily drivers in 2009 and beyond.

The American auto industry has experienced some tough times as of late. It's refreshing to see many of the designers looking to the past to find inspiration to create great looking new cars again.

Sometimes older is new.

The American automobile scene probably hit it's highest peak, at least as far as styling, in the 1950's and 1960's. Who can forget the first time they saw a 1957 Chevy or a 1969 Mustang? How about the 1969 Camaro? These cars are stars in American culture, and finally the automakers have figured out that sometimes a good design in timeless. There is no need to put square headlights on a classic just because that's what everyone else is doing. That's over simplifying the point a little, but I think you get my meaning here.

Long live the tradition of American classic cars! Long live hot rods, and good old muscle cars!

Check out some of these sites for more pics and information on great new cars that look as good as some of the old ones.

Car Buying Guide

Chevy Muscle Cars

Fast Cadillacs

NASCAR and the National Anthem

2009-10-13T19:09:00.002-04:00

Jesse McCartney was the singer of the National Anthem at California's Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday. When I listened to his rendition, I did a double take, because he obviously left out a line. I can see no reason to leave out a line of the anthem for artistic reasons, so I suppose it was probably a mistake on Mr. McCartney's part.

I've touched on this before, but I feel like it's time to bring this up again. Let's do away with celebrities singing the National Anthem in the pre-race ceremonies, and let a local high school band do it.

I'm not singling out Jesse McCartney here, but I've long thought that far too many celebrities do a poor job performing the anthem because (a) they are trying to be creative or artistic with their performance, or (b) they don't know the words, or can't carry a tune.

I'm no expert on high school bands, but I've heard a few. The National Anthem is one song that is regularly played by high school bands, so the tune is not alien to band members.

Personally, I have nothing against celebrities. They have their purposes, such as entertaining people. I do not, however, enjoy listening to someone intentionally mangling the anthem for artistic purposes. I'd rather hear a high school kid play his or her heart out on national TV any day, and if they perform the anthem badly, at least I'll know it's not for lack of trying.

Give the kids a ticket to the race, and maybe infield passes, let them actually meet a few drivers, and who knows? We might just have a few new race fans for life.

In any event, giving kids a chance to perform on national TV, and in front of an audience the likes of which they've never seen before could be the biggest day ever in those kids' lives.

Lug Nuts, Bad Luck, and the Never Ending Year.

2009-10-12T21:26:00.003-04:00

photo courtesy of Auto Club Speedway and Pepsi

Folks, in case you haven't figured it out, I'm a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. I am a fan for many reasons, and most of those reasons have to do with the personality that Dale Earnhardt Jr. exhibited during his career. Part of the reason I'm a Dale Jr. fan is because he has a real appreciation for the way drivers like his dad raced. Dale Jr. is old school, and understands what old school is.

Old school means that you tough it out, you race your guts out, and you never give up. That sounds simple, but you'd be surprised at how many of the current crop of drivers in Cup don't quite get that sometimes.

Most of the hype surrounding NASCAR these days has to do with sponsors, and attendance at the tracks, and manufacturer support. All of those things are important to the sport.

There might be something more important though.

Pure drive. To be purely driven to win, and to prove the critics wrong is plenty of reason for many. To be honest, Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't won much lately. Many of his critics say he's got no talent at all, but they are wrong. Dale Jr. has won at every level he's ever raced in, and won championships, except in the Cup. That goal has eluded Junior so far.

Drive isn't enough for Dale Earnhardt Jr. though. He's driven by more than just trying to achieve expectations. He's failed lately in doing that, but a lot of the time that has been because of circumstances totally beyond his control. After a lost lug nut on a pit stop, critics are quick to claim that such an event happened because Dale Jr. has no talent. I don't know what kind of mushrooms those critics are ingesting, but that is plainly ludicrous. How is a driver responsible for a tire changer missing a lug nut?

Back in the 1970's, NBC started a show called Saturday Night Live, with had cast billed as the 'Not Ready For Prime Time Players.' In some ways, the 88 Sprint Cup team is in that situation. They're not quite ready this year. The 88 has been on the bad side of driver error, pit mistakes, and plain bad calls from on top of the pit box this year. One thing is for certain though. The 88 team, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Rick Hendrick will do their best to fix that situation before the 2010 season begins.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn't done yet. If not for some pure bad luck, and getting caught up in some other people's stupidity and problems, Dale Jr. could have been in the Chase this year. Not making excuses, because some other drivers could claim the same lack of production, but Dale Jr. is not done. He'll be back, just in time for all the haters to sound off on him.

Part of driving is just the will to do it, and pass cars. Part of it is trying to meet expectations. Dale Jr. even goes beyond that, because Dale Earnhardt Jr. understands a basic principle his dad taught him many years ago. The fans are ultimately the people you really have to keep happy.

Without fans, NASCAR would be nothing. If you're not getting the results on the race track, where it matters the most, you driver harder, and attempt to win at all costs. That spirit will carry a driver farther than even raw talent can.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. probably isn't the best driver in the Cup series. Not on the basis of pure talent, at least. Dale Jr. has a huge following because he's got the heart and the intelligence to never, ever give up.

In that way, Dale Jr. is a chip off the old block.

A Good Show at California

2009-10-12T16:31:00.004-04:00

Photo by Jerry Markland / Getty Images Sport

Yeah, I said it. The Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California was a good race. The fans actually got to see passing, some rather dramatic racing, and of course a few crashes. In other words, not what many fans have come to expect from California, myself included.

It was heartening to see a good show at Fontana for a change, much as we did during Saturday's Nationwide race as well.

From the reports I've read so far, the race was not enjoyed by a huge crowd, which typifies nearly all the races at California. Those who did buy tickets got their moneys worth though.

At times, the racing on the 2 mile super speedway almost resembled the action at Talladega. I was honestly surprised, and pleasantly so.

What wasn't a big surprise, however, was the outcome of the race. Jimmie Johnson obviously had a very good car, and probably no one else in the field, save pole sitter Denny Hamlin had such a dominant car on Sunday. Denny crashed after a restart, taking himself out of contention.

If all the races at Fontana were as enjoyable as the Pepsi 500, I would withdraw all the complaints I've ever made about the track. Hopefully, Sunday's trend will continue into 2010 and beyond, because California is obviously going to have 2 dates, no matter what happens.

Hopefully, the fans will begin to support the track and buy tickets. If you thought about going to the race Sunday and didn't, you missed a heck of a show.

An Exciting Race at Fontana? Really?

2009-10-10T21:07:00.002-04:00

I didn't get to watch the entire Nationwide race at Fontana, California today, but I did catch the end of it. Wow, that was some exciting, hard, and fun to watch racing. And it happened at California? Really?

We can compare today's race with tomorrow's race, after tomorrow's race, of course, and if nothing else, it may or may not be a shining example of how the COT (Car Of Tomorrow for those of you who don't know) is either a boom or a bust for NASCAR.

Personally, I'm thinking 'bust' so far. The new car is not only butt ugly, it just doesn't drive worth a darn either, apparently. A lot of drivers would whisper in your ear that they hate it. They can't say it publicly, of course, because NASCAR would take them out behind the woodshed. For the most part, those who have openly criticized the new car have changed their tune within a week or so. I wonder why?

California has been traditionally a yawner of a race track which provides little in the way of actual racing, at least in the Cup series. Why it's got a place in the Chase makes no sense to me whatsoever. It would make way more sense to me to replace that race with a date at Darlington. But I live in South Carolina, so there's some obvious bias here. To those of you from California, no disrespect intended.

Whatever happens tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if the Cup race holds a candle to the Nationwide race as far as excitement, and of course, the reason we all watch, racing.

It's Not a Done Deal Yet: RPM and Yates Racing Negotiations Continue

2009-10-01T13:32:00.002-04:00

Richard Petty said on Wednesday that negotiations between Richard Petty Motorsports and Yates Racing are ongoing, but nothing has apparently been signed yet. Petty seemed be confident that a deal would be worked out eventually between the two teams, reports Bob Pockrass with Scene Daily.

This is certainly a critical time for the team that was started by Ray Evernham and is now partly owned by and bearing the name of the "King", Richard Petty.

Essentially, the old Petty Enterprises ceased to exist last year when Richard joined George Gillet in an endeavor to keep the Petty name at the race track. In the process, the King's son Kyle got shuffled out of the deal and now has no association with his father's company.

Many people may consider Kyle Petty retired as a driver, but I have followed Kyle on Twitter for some time now, and he has made it very plain that he does not consider his driving days over, and would very much like to put on a driving suit and a helmet and strap himself into a race car again. It may be argued that Kyle Petty's most competitive days as a driver are behind him, but in all fairness, it's been quite a few years since he's driven anything resembling top notch equipment.

RPM's lone driver in the 2009 Chase is Kasey Kahne, who finds himself in 12 place with 8 races to go. Kasey suffered a blown engine early in the first Chase race at New Hampshire, but finished a very respectable 8th at Dover last week. Kahne, with 2 wins in 2009, has given Richard Petty his first wins as an owner in quite a few years.

The benefits of RPM and Yates Racing merging are many, with Dodge having had to reduce its support of racing teams because of the company's recent economic woes. Ford support, along with Roush-Yates engines provide at least some potential for making the RPM cars more competitive than most have been lately. Hopefully with more competitive equipment, the team will be able to attract more sponsorship for 2010 and beyond.

Probably the most unfortunate aspect of the RPM-Yates deal is the dissolution of RPM's current engine shop, which means as many as 60 or more employees will be out of work soon. Hopefully, most of these people can find work in other engine departments at other teams, but as we all know, times are tough right now, so all I can do is wish these people best of luck in their future endeavors.

Hopefully, the RPM-Yates deal will work out, and the Petty name will continue to be an important one in NASCAR circles. As they say, though, we shall see what we shall see.

More Bad News for the Auto Industry: Goodbye, Saturn

2009-09-30T21:58:00.003-04:00

General Motors today announced that it would shut down its Saturn operations after a proposed deal with Roger Penske's Penske Automotive Group, Inc fell through. Not only does this effect Saturn's manufacturing, research and development, and engineering operations, it also means the demise of the Saturn dealership network as well.

Apparently, Penske could not find backing from GM or another manufacturer whose identity is currently unknown.

It's a real shame that yet another American automobile brand goes away and many more jobs will be lost.

Roger Penske has been involved in various business ventures for decades, including NASCAR and IRL racing. Penske is probably best known for his truck rental and lease business.

I had personally hoped that Penske could save Saturn, but it apparently couldn't be saved under the circumstances that were offered. I was even beginning to hope with Roger Penske in control of the Saturn brand, we might eventually even see Saturns represented on the race track in NASCAR. Obviously, that won't happen now.

One has to wonder what the future holds for other American brands, especially Dodge. It also makes one wonder what the future holds for NASCAR as well. In 10 years, will we still be watching Fords, Chevrolets and Dodges on the track? Or will be be watching Toyota, Nissan, Honda racing for manufacturing championships?

NASCAR and Naughty Words

2009-09-30T01:04:00.002-04:00

Is it safe to say that all who are reading this are human? I hope so. Because if not, I'm going to get the heebie jeebies.

But, based on the assumption that all who read my words are human, I have many who have commented here who don't adhere to my policy of keeping the site more or less PG rated. Sadly, I have to delete comments that don't adhere to my policy.

It's not that I'm a prude. It's not that I'm personally offended by some of the names that you call me or a driver or crew member neither one of us knows at all. It's not that at all.

I know that some of my readers are under the age of 18. Some of them are under the age of 13. I'm not presupposing that readers, even at those tender ages, haven't heard most or all of the words that have been aimed at me over the last few years. I'm not making any suppositions at all. I'm not quite that naive. I just don't think that they should be subjected to words like that on my site. And here, I rule. I make the decisions.

NASCAR provokes many emotions from many fans. Sometimes emotional moments take us into the territory that I can't abide by on this forum. I don't mind what you say in a personal, private e-mail, but you have to try, at least, to understand why I censor certain outbursts of emotion on this site. Or, I hope you do. If you don't, there are plenty of places to vent profane outbursts. You can't do it here, though.

This site is a place for people of all ages. My rule of thumb has always been this: If you wouldn't say it in front of your mother or your 6 year old, don't say it here. It's that simple.

Unfortunately, a lot of posts to this site are not an emotional reaction to what I write, but simply a reaction to what I write about. Your driver got crashed out in the last few laps after having a great run all day? I understand your angst and your emotion, but don't drop the F bomb here. I won't allow it.

For those of you who don't know it, I'm a life long resident of the Bible Belt. I'm a Christian, and proud of it. I'm not perfect, and I'm far from it. Sometimes I use the same words as anyone else does. I ask God's forgiveness when I do. Doesn't mean He'll forgive me, because I'm wrong when I do it.

I'm asking your forgiveness too. When some of your posts don't get published, please remember, I have some standards here. I want people 80 years old and 8 years old to be able to read this site and not be shocked or offended by the language.

Call me old fashioned. Call me a lot worse, but keep it on the e-mail, please. By the way, my e-mail is jimcinsc@gmail.com. If you want to let me have it, let me have it there.

Not here, but you can if you keep it clean.

Tiger Who? No, not THAT Tiger.

2009-09-29T22:58:00.002-04:00

For those of you who are confused, and you surely are, there is nothing NASCAR related in this article. But I do the blog, and 99.3 per cent of the time, I do write about NASCAR. Not tonight though.

This is a true story that I heard on one of my favorite radio stations tonight as I was driving home from Toccoa, Ga. The station is WCCP FM, which is the main sports talk station in Upstate South Carolina. The radio station is based in Clemson, SC, and is currently the voice of the Clemson Tigers sports teams. WCCP broadcasts Clemson football, baseball, basketball, and whatever else they can fit into their busy schedule.

Tonight, I listened to a show called the UFO Show, which features two good guys, neither of which is a professional radio broadcaster, but are entertaining in their own right. The shows hosts are brothers-in-law, and best of friends, and go by the names Tiger Jim and Carolina Tom.

To those of you familiar with college athletics in South Carolina, you have already figured out what schools these two gentlemen follow. For those of you who don't, Tiger Jim is a Clemson University Tiger fan, and his brother-in-law, Carolina Tom, is a fan of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. In the state of South Carolina, there is no rivalry as fierce as the one between these two schools. This rivalry has been going on since my parents were kids, and it seems to grow stronger every year.

Wherever you live, you probably have a college that you support, at least as a fan of their athletic teams, and it's pretty much the same all over the USA, and even all over the world. Georgia and Georgia Tech. Michigan and Ohio State. Southern Cal and Notre Dame. Texas and Oklahoma. Auburn and Alabama. You get my drift here, I'm sure. The biggest game of each year here in SC occurs when Clemson and South Carolina do battle on the field of honor each November.

As radio hosts in a major market in the state of South Carolina, Tiger Jim and Carolina Tom are members of the media, and therefore entitled to press credentials at sporting events, at least in theory, and in this state, it would seem.

Not so!

Apparently Jim and Tom had no problems in acquiring press passes at Clemson University. They filled out the proper forms, submitted them, and were approved without any problems.

Carolina Tom applied for press passes at the University of South Carolina for both he and Tiger Jim, and had to provide their bona fides, such as the radio station on which they can be heard, when their show airs, and what the hosts' names are. Tom filled out the forms, and mentioned that the hosts were, indeed, Tiger Jim and Carolina Tom.

A week or so later, the hosts each received e-mails from whatever office at the U. of SC that handles such requests. Carolina Tom received approval, and even a parking space for events at Carolina sporting events. Tiger Jim was told, regretfully, that the University of South Carolina didn't have enough space for him to be included in the press corps.

Carolina Tom called whomever handles the press passes at USC to complain, and try to fix the problem. Tom was apparently told that there would not at this time, nor ever in the future, be a press pass issued to anyone who called himself "Tiger" anything. Oh, and by the way, nothing is going to change that.

Next year, Jim and Tom will maybe submit their real names, and not their radio show names to the University of South Carolina press office, and all will probably be approved.

Business will not get in the way of sentiments, I suppose, when it comes to giving the 'enemy' a seat in your house!

I wonder what would happen if Tiger Woods called the University of South Carolina and asked for a pass? Hmmm. Just wondering.

If you're ever in the Upstate South Carolina area, tune your radio to 104.9 on the FM dial and hear some great sports talk!

Oh, and by the way. Tiger Jim and Carolina Tom, you do a great job. I've listened before, and will be tuned in to listen to you again.

Old vs. New: Looking at Chase Points

2009-09-28T17:56:00.002-04:00

Under the current Chase points system used by NASCAR for the Sprint Cup series, Mark Martin is currently in 1st place, with Jimmie Johnson following closely behind by only 10 points. As close as this race is between numbers 1 and 2, it's another 55 points back to 3rd place Juan Pablo Montoya.

All in all, from 1st to 12th place in the Chase points system, there are only 189 points separating Mark Martin from 12th place Kasey Kahne. With 8 races to go, it's still technically possible for any of the top 12 drivers in the Chase to win the championship for 2009. For the purpose of making the end of the Cup season more exciting, NASCAR has been successful in implementing the Chase points system.

For comparison, let's examine the points as they would appear under the old, pre Chase system. Thanks to Jayski.com, we are able to easily make that comparison.

Under the old points system, Tony Stewart would still be in the lead by 175 points over 2nd place Jeff Gordon. Jimmie Johnson would be in 3rd place, only 1 point behind his teammate Jeff. Under the Chase system, Tony Stewart finds himself in 5th place, and Jeff Gordon is in 8th place. Under the old points system, Mark Martin would be in 5th place, 419 points behind Tony Stewart. Since the Chase system has been in place, much the same story has been true every year.

Also under the old system, instead of 189 points separating the top 12, the points gap would be 628. This is obviously the really true advantage of the Chase; keeping the points close and putting more than 2 or 3 drivers in the run for the championship with 10 or so races to go. Other than that, I don't really know of any other advantages for the Chase system.

Drivers outside of the Chase are still on the track every week, but with obviously less TV time because they are locked out of a championship run. These drivers are still racing, however. Drivers are auditioning for new jobs, new sponsors, or just trying to prove to their existing sponsors that they can still deliver the goods, so-so season or not.

In an economy where securing and keeping sponsors has been in many ways harder to achieve than wins on the race track itself, it appears that the Chase might have outlived its usefulness. NASCAR needs all the sponsors it can get, and excluding so many from the lime light for the 'playoffs' can't sit well with sponsors whose names are on cars outside of the top 12.

Taming the Monster: A Look at Dover

2009-09-23T20:47:00.002-04:00

At exactly 1 mile in length, Dover technically qualifies as a super speedway, but in reality, the Monster Mile personifies a short track racing experience in NASCAR.

Racing is intense at Dover. In many aspects, the racing there reminds me of Darlington, another super speedway with a short track personality.

The diversity among recent winners at Dover shows just how hard it can be for any driver to totally dominate at this track. Just in the last 10 years alone, the track has had 13 different winners, partly, of course, because NASCAR runs 2 races per year in the Cup series at Dover.

In the last 10 years, Mark Martin and Ryan Newman have won multiple times. So have Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. Bobby Labonte has won at Dover. Matt Kenseth has won here. So have Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Who's the odds on favorite to win at Dover this week? Personally, I have no clue, but I'm personally betting on momentum at this point. Mark Martin looks good to win just about anywhere these days, and Dover should be no exception.

Certainly, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart have a good chance of winning at Dover as well. The same could be said for Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, or Carl Edwards.

Personally, I think it would be a treat to see someone win who has never won a Dover race, such as strong Chase contenders Kurt Busch or Denny Hamlin. A win by someone outside the top 12 would be good to see too, such as maybe Marcos Ambrose, Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick, or dare I say it? A repeat win for Dale Earnhardt Jr? What would that do for the TV ratings?

Once again, NASCAR goes head to head with the NFL on Sunday. Last week at New Hampshire, NASCAR was the big loser in that battle. Personally, I doubt that NASCAR will fare much better again on Sunday, but a great race and a win by a popular driver couldn't hurt. I think that the racing will be great, and the winner, of course, will be they guy that survives the Monster with all the fenders intact.

The Chase was designed to give NASCAR a boost as the season winds down, to erase any huge point leads, and to put the top 12 drivers on a more or less level playing field for the last 10 races of the season. NASCAR, however, appears to be in a lose-lose situation when they go up against the mighty NFL for TV ratings, and unless something drastic happens in the NASCAR world in the remaining 9 races for 2009, that situation will likely not change.

For more in depth information regarding the NASCAR vs. NFL battle, check out the undisputed guru of NASCAR TV coverage, John Daly, at his site. There are tons of great comments there!

Chase Teams Hobbled Going Into Battle

2009-09-21T12:35:00.002-04:00

It was interesting to watch Kasey Kahne handling the media this past weekend at New Hampshire. Rather than fielding the usual questions about his chances at winning a championship, Kasey was instead asked about what's happening at Richard Petty Motorsports.

Kahne's answers were diplomatic, but revealing.

Basically, Kasey Kahne doesn't know who's running what at RPM. He assumes Robbie Loomis will be in charge of racing operations, but right now he's just not sure. Apparently no one else at RPM knows exactly what's going on either, or if they do, they're not saying.

Kasey Kahne had an early exit from Sunday's race, suffering a blown engine.

It was revealed also that Pat Tryson, crew chief for the 2 Dodge of Kurt Busch, is only allowed in the Penske shop one day a week for racing debriefs. Tryson has announced that he will be leaving Penske Racing and joining Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010.

Tryson's race day duties apparently remain unchanged for now, but one has to wonder how effective he can be as a crew chief when he has virtually no input on setting up the race cars that he's in charge of tuning at the track.

In other news, NASCAR is apparently considering tweaking its testing ban somewhat. It has been reported today that NASCAR is leaning toward allowing testing sessions at Greenville-Pickens Speedway near Greenville, SC. The reasoning behind such a move is that GPS is not far from the Charlotte area, where virtually all the NASCAR teams are based, so costs involved with testing at Greenville-Pickens would be minimal.

Greenville-Pickens Speedway has often been used for testing by NASCAR teams in the past, especially in preparation for racing at Martinsville.

Kelly Bires: Will Another Young Driver Realize His Dreams?

2009-09-17T10:31:00.002-04:00

Kelly Bires is a 25 year old race car driver from Mauston, Wisconsin. Kelly started racing Karts at age 9, and ended up winning 2 national championships while still in his teens. Bires started his first ARCA series race in May, 2004.

Since that time, Kelly has run in the Camping World Truck Series in 2006 and 2007, scoring a top 10 finish in '07. He's run a total of 66 Nationwide Series races since 2007, showing an impressive tally of 3 top 5's and 11 top 10's during that time. Most of Kelly's Nationwide races have been run in the 47 car of JTG-Daugherty, or the team's previous incarnation, owner Tad Geschickter.

Kelly Bires has also run some races for Todd Braun, MSRP Motorsports, Kevin Harvick, and most recently at Atlanta, Brian Mullet.

In other words, Kelly Bires is not exactly an unknown. Kelly Bires has a bona fide racing pedigree.

Regardless of Kelly's past successes, the news out of Mooresville this past week must have indeed been some of the most exciting news he's ever received in his young career: A 2 year deal with JR Motorsports, with owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Jr., himself a young driver not so many years ago, has a history of aiding and benefiting young, promising drivers. I suppose it really started years ago with a deal worked out between Junior and his step-mom Teresa Earnhardt, when they formed the short lived Chance 2 Motorsports, giving a young driver named Martin Truex Jr. a leg up in the sport. Martin went on to win Nationwide championships, and currently is a winning driver in the Cup series. Truex will be driving Toyotas for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010.

Dale Jr. went on to form his own company, JR Motorsports, which a few years ago took a relatively little known driver named Brad Keselowski, and put him in a car with sponsorship, good equipment, and a great crew chief, namely Jr.'s original crew chief, cousin Tony Eury Sr. Brad went on to win in the Nationwide series, and even won his first Cup race at Talladega this year, though only running a part time schedule. Though Brad Keselowski wasn't driving for Dale Jr. at Talladega, one has to think that the skills he polished while driving the 88 JRM car led ultimately to his first win in the big show.

Next year, Brad Keselowski will be leaving JRM and driving for Roger Penske full time in the Cup series, as well as at least a partial schedule in the Nationwide series. Brad has become yet the latest graduate of the Dale Jr. development school for promising young drivers.

JR Motorsports, backed by Hendrick equipment and engineering, is a great place for an aspiring Cup driver to find himself early in his career. For Kelly Bires, this is a chance of a lifetime.

Virtually all successful Cup drivers find ways to give back to the sport which has been so good to them. Most have their own charities, all worthy causes. Many have foundations which help feed children, take care of injured pets and other animals, and provide for victims of disasters. All are very worthy and noble causes.

Other drivers, such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick, participate in all the other charities and events, but they take it one step farther, by helping young drivers get into the sport they love. For Kevin and Dale Jr., their race teams are indeed business ventures, and one day both drivers will probably slip on the reigns of ownership in its entirety when they finally hang up their helmets for the last time.

Finding and cultivating young drivers who might not ordinarily have the path opened to them is a great service not only to the young drivers involved, but to the sport itself. Kelly Bires will certainly try to make the most of this opportunity, and given his level of talent, is almost assured of much success during his tenure at JR Motorsports.

Kelly Bires, your ship has come in. All aboard!

The Chase for the Cup is Set

2009-09-17T10:05:00.002-04:00

After watching all the races leading up to the 2009 Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup, there are relatively few surprises as to who is in the Chase and maybe one surprise as to at least one driver who is not.

Kyle Busch, even with 4 wins, failed to make the field for the 2009 Sprint Cup Chase. Is this just more proof that the Chase idea is a bad one?

Should a driver with 4 wins automatically be in the chase, despite the DNF's and poor finishes that brought him up just a few points short of making the show?

Many people think so.

NASCAR's points system has almost always rewarded consistency over pure victories. Victories are the fastest ways to gain points, but finishing in the top 5 or top 10 every week provides a driver with more comfort when it comes down to crunch time. Theoretically, I suppose, it's entirely possible for a driver to win the Sprint Cup without a single victory, or even having led a lap. It's unlikely, but it's possible.

I'll leave the argument over whether this makes for good racing to the experts, but the system is what we've got right now.

By experts, I mean, of course, You, the fans.

NASCAR Fans and Manufacturer Loyalty

2009-09-10T18:25:00.002-04:00

The big news of the day is, of course, the announcement that Richard Petty Motorsports has signed a letter of intent to merge with Yates Racing before the 2010 season. This means that RPM will be switching to Ford, which seems to have a few fans upset.

Switching brands is nothing new in NASCAR of course. It's especially not new for Richard Petty.

Though Petty is probably best known for his relationship with Chrysler Corporation, namely his days driving Plymouths and Dodges, Petty Enterprises also drove Chevrolets and yes, even Fords at one time or another.

Many NASCAR teams have, over the years, switched manufacturers when circumstances have proven beneficial to do so. Some have never done so, however.

Jack Roush has always been a Ford man. He worked for Ford for many years, and his loyalties have always been to Dearborn. Jack Roush fielding a brand other than Ford is unimaginable. Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick have always been just as loyal to Chevrolet. The former Dale Earnhardt Inc, which is now known as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing will likely not field anything but Chevrolets, at least as long as Teresa Earnhardt has a stake in the company.

It should be remembered, however, that even the Great One himself, Dale Earnhardt, drove Fords for Bud Moore early in his career. He didn't much like them, but he won some races in them.

In reading through the great multitude of comments on Twitter today, I was not surprised to see much dismay, and even disbelief that RPM would become a Ford team. One Kasey Kahne fan even said she could no longer support her driver if he became a Ford man. On the face of it, that seems a little harsh, but if nothing else, NASCAR fans are loyal. At least loyal to something.

Many fans are loyal to their drivers, and could care less if their driver was driving a Ford, a Dodge, a Toyota, a Chevrolet, or a Kia or even a John Deere lawn mower.

Other fans will change drivers in a heart beat if their guy goes to drive for a hated auto company. As loyal to the point of sickening as some accuse Dale Jr. fans of being, some in the Junior Nation would drop Little E like a hot potato if he ever drove for Ford, or Dodge, or Toyota. Some of them already did when he went to drive for Rick Hendrick.

Many of us have our favorite manufacturers when it comes to NASCAR, and quite a few of us carry over that loyalty to our personal preference in vehicles. Some of us wish we could drive the Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, or Toyota that our favorite driver climbs into every Sunday, but not all of us can do that. If money were no object, I'd probably have a 2009 Chevrolet Impala, as sporty as I could get it. Because of economics and practicality, I drive a Toyota Tacoma, though I'm not really a fan of any of the current Toyota drivers in Cup.

As far as the RPM-Yates merger, I believe it will be a win-win situation for both. Dodge's uncertainties and lack of support have left the Dodge teams hanging to a certain extent this year. Ford seems to be the healthiest of the Big Three at the moment, and Roush-Yates engines seem to be some of the most durable in the sport right now. Ford will certainly benefit by being able to associate the Petty name with its racing program. Petty will have a stronger support group than he has had in years, and Yates basically gets to live to fight another day.

Downsides to the deal? A few, certainly. Reed Sorenson is out of a job, but apparently he already knew that. It was originally thought that the Roush-Fenway 26 team, with Jamie McMurray as driver, would be handed off to Yates racing, but it now appears that the team will just go away. It appears that Jamie is out of a job as well right now. Hall Of Fame Racing, which fields the 96 Ford has been run out the Yates shop in 2009, though they have already hinted that they would not do so next year. That seems to be a given now, so one wonders what will happen to the 96 as well for 2010. Bobby Labonte will likely again be looking for a ride again for 2010. It will all depend on sponsorship. I'll ask Ask.com if they'll still sponsor the 96 next year. I'll let you know if they tell me anything useful.

It appears that the 4 RPM-Yates teams will be Kasey Kahne, Elliot Sadler, A.J. Allmendinger, and Paul Menard. Paul Menard, you ask? Why of course. Paul's the man with a built in sponsor, which is gold for any NASCAR owner. Paul's primary sponsor, Menards, will never leave him for poor performance. They can't. Daddy owns the company.

Oh, I'm not saying that Paul Menard is a bad driver. Billionaire daddy or not, Paul has won a Nationwide race, and has 2 top 10's and 1 top 5 in his 100 Cup starts.

What's your biggest loyalty as a NASCAR fan? Is it to your driver, or a particular sponsor, or a particular owner? Could it be to a particular auto manufacturer? There's no right, there's no wrong.

It's all good.

Danica Patrick to NASCAR?

2009-09-06T12:32:00.002-04:00

Supposedly it will happen, but nobody knows exactly when or for who Danica will be driving in NASCAR.

First of all, I want to say that there is no reason why Danica shouldn't have a great career in NASCAR. She's obviously a talented driver, and she can learn how to drive cars fast with fenders on the car.

But I will say that I don't expect Danica to win 9 championships in a row in NASCAR, because that seems to be what a lot of the "Taxi cab" snobs think will happen. You know who I'm talking about. There are elite open wheel fans who sneer down their noses at anything NASCAR, and refer to our sport as "Boys driving taxi cabs in circles.", since the sentiment is that it takes no real talent to drive in NASCAR.

Ask Juan Pablo Montoya how hard it is. Ask Scott Speed. Ask anyone named Fittipaldi or Papis. Ask former open wheel star Tony Stewart how hard it is to win in NASCAR.

Tony is probably the only former open wheel guy to make it really big in NASCAR's ranks.

Can Danica do it in NASCAR? Of course she can. She probably will too, but don't expect spectacular results too soon. Driving in circles with fenders on one's car can take time to procure as a talent.

Good for Danica. Come racing where it's as real as it ever gets.

Bobby Labonte Will Be at Atlanta, and The Dangers of Frisbee

2009-09-03T20:52:00.003-04:00

Bobby Labonte, who lost his 96 Ask.com Ford ride for 7 races to make way for Erik Darnell and his new sponsorship package with Northern Tool and Equipment and Academy Sports and Outdoors, will be attempting to qualify the 71 Chevy owned by TRG Motorsports and sponsored by TaxSlayer for Sunday's Atlanta race.

Ordinarily, Bobby Labonte would be able to make use of a Past Champion's Provisional to ensure that he makes the field, but since his name was not on the entry list for the 71 car before the deadline, Labonte will have to qualify on time in order to make the race. David Gilliland has made 22 starts in the 71 car so far this year.

In other news, Carl Edwards has apparently broken his right foot playing Frisbee.

Some of us probably thought that driving race cars at 200 miles per hour and doing back flips was dangerous, but now we know the true menace that faces NASCAR drivers.

Frisbee.

(Get well soon, Carl. I kid because I care.)

NASCAR on ESPN. Changing My Tune A Little

2009-09-02T23:12:00.002-04:00

If you are a frequent reader of this site, you know that I have been critical to some extent of virtually all of the networks which broadcast NASCAR races. For years, I preferred FOX to other networks, but I, along with apparently a ton of other fans, was glad when FOX handed over the broadcasts to TNT. I think "Digger" did it to me. Cute is just fine, at least for a while, but the great minds behind the broadcasts at FOX might want to remember that too much of just about anything is usually not a good thing. Remember Barney the Dinosaur? I rest my case.

When my step daughter was growing up, I wanted to wrap myself with explosives and blow myself up in close proximity to that purple twerp. That act probably wouldn't have brought me any parent of the year awards, but I'm pretty sure I would have been a hero to many other parents, none the less.

Every network that brings us NASCAR racing has its strengths as well as weaknesses. What I perceive to be a strength or weakness is of course a matter of opinion. Personally, I like Darrell Waltrip and the homespun wit that he brings to the FOX broadcasts. Many fans can't stand Old DW. I understand. I appreciate Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach on TNT, mostly because I feel that they both tell it like it is, and won't hesitate to be brutally honest in their opinions.

ESPN brings what I consider to be two solid personalities in the racing world, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Dale Jarrett is obviously a chip off the old block, following in his father Ned's footsteps not only as a racing champion, but a great broadcaster as well. Andy brings a wealth of experience not only as a winning crew chief, but as an owner to the booth as well.

I suppose my biggest problem lately with ESPN's broadcasts is the play by play man, Dr. Jerry Punch. It's not that I don't like Dr. Punch, because I do. I feel he simply does not fit into the role of play by play announcer comfortably.

Dr. Jerry Punch is one of the best NASCAR pit reporters ever, in my opinion. Dr. Jerry ranks right up there with Dick Berggren, who performs pit reporting duties for FOX. In my opinion, Jerry and Dick are the very best of the best when it comes to bringing us stories from pit road and the garage.

I do want to commend ESPN for the job they do overall when it comes to bringing us the Nationwide and Cup races. Think about it this way: Of the 3 networks that broadcast the races, only ESPN is the one network totally committed to sports. If you turn on ESPN any time of the day or night, you will see everything from NFL and NCAA football to dart contests. I never even knew what curling was until I caught a show explaining it on ESPN late one night.

What I'm trying to say is that ESPN covers virtually every sport under the sun, or the moon, which ever the case may be. If you think about the enormity of such an undertaking, it's easier to give ESPN a little wiggle room when it comes to providing a flawless or perfect broadcast, week after week. By the way, neither FOX nor TNT put on a flawless or perfect broadcast either. ESPN is experimenting with some new camera angles for in-car, or maybe on-car cameras. The results are somewhat baffling at times, but it provides a new perspective for fans who want to see as much as they can. I applaud the network for trying new things. Experimentation is never a bad thing when it comes to bringing the fans something new and exciting to see. Sometimes trying a new thing might be a waste of time, or it might be copied by the other networks next year. If that happens, you know you did something right as a broadcaster.

All in all, ESPN is the best network for sports, period. If you can't find your sport on ESPN, nobody plays it or watches it. ESPN strives to be the best broadcaster of NASCAR racing, and given a little time, they probably will be. I'm just gateful that we now can watch each and every race that NASCAR puts on. It wasn't that long ago that we only got abreviated versions of the action, and rarely got to see any Nationwide or Truck racing at all. NASCAR on TV has come a long way in the last 10 years.

ESPN, keep up the good fight. You're getting better, from a fan's point of view, a race at a time.

My only suggestion is this: Marty Reid is a good play by play man. Please try putting him in the driver's seat a little more often.

Bobby Labonte out of the 96 Ford for 7 Races

2009-09-01T09:23:00.002-04:00

It was announced yesterday that veteran driver and past champion Bobby Labonte will not be in his number 96 Ask.com Ford for 7 of the remaining races in 2009.

Bobby will be replaced by 26 year old Erik Darnell for these 7 races. Erik as 11 starts in NASCAR's Nationwide series and has 2 top 10 finishes this year. Erick has 2 wins in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in his career as well.

Erik Darnell has managed to put together some sponsorship deals with Academy Sports and Outdoors and Northern Tools and Equipment for his seven race deal in the 96 car.

"This is a move that should be beneficial to Yates Racing surviving this difficult economic time," Bobby Labonte said. "Of course I'm disappointed that the sponsorship environment is so challenging right now, but I intend to make the most out of the remaining races that I'm behind the wheel for Ask.com, DLP, and Hall of Fame Racing."

Hall of Fame Racing would like to keep Bobby Labonte as its Sprint Cup driver in 2010, according to team co-owner Tom Garfinkle. Ask.com has been the primary sponsor of the 96 Ford for all but seven of the remaining races in 2009. Garfinkle said that discussions are still taking place with Ask.com for sponsorship options in 2010, though it is doubtful that the team will be affiliated with Yates Racing next year.

Bobby Labonte has started 568 consecutive Cup races and has won 21 Cup races, including the Cup championship in 2000. Labonte has also won 10 Nationwide series races, including the championship in 1991. Bobby Labonte has also won a Camping World Truck Series race in 2005 and an IROC championship in 2001.

Sources: Jayski.com, SceneDaily.com, Yates Racing PR, Racing-Reference.Info.com

The Montreal Demolition Derby

2009-08-31T23:32:00.002-04:00

I didn't get to see all of the NASCAR Nationwide series race from the road course at Montreal, but I did get to see the last 25 or 30 laps or so. Those relatively few laps took about 2 hours and change to watch, since there were more cautions in those closing laps than often occur in many local figure 8 track races. With school buses racing instead of cars. That's about how bad it was.

If you like seeing torn up cars, Montreal in the rain is the place to be. I did notice the absolute king of the wrecking machines though, and that was one Steve Wallace, driver of the number 66 Five Hour Energy Drink Chevy. In the closing laps of the Montreal race, I think even the driver's seat in that car must have gotten bent a few times. I still don't understand how Steve even finished the race, as beat up as his car was. Had there been about 2 more cautions, Steve would have needed the Ten Hour Energy Drink as a sponsor.

The Tasmanian Devil, Marcos Ambrose dominated the race, leading by far the most laps, and lead right up until the last corner of the last lap when he shot his car airborne over the rumble strips and went wide, opening up a hole for race winner Carl Edwards to shoot through. Marcos was obviously unhappy in his post race interview, giving a short, terse one sentence summation of his day and then walking away from the microphone. Marcos did give us his winning grin though, and that was nice, though it must have been very hard for him to do.

Carl Edwards gave us his trade marked back flip, and for the second time in his career, at least that I've noticed, he landed on the pavement, instead of the grass. I really hope that young man doesn't misjudge his flip and finds himself in the hospital with a concussion. Suggestion to Carl: Leave your helmet on next time you do that on the pavement! Take off the HANS device, but leave the helmet. It would be a shame to lose a driver because he was pulling off a race win tradition, and did it badly.

I'm of mixed emotions about racing in the rain after Montreal. It's pretty cool watching the cars kick up rooster tails of spray as they go around the course, but please, Rusty Wallace Inc., do us all a favor next time.

Find a substitute for Steve Wallace next year, please!

Ceremony

2009-08-29T13:15:00.002-04:00

It seems that many things in this life are governed by ceremony. Depending on your religion, you were probably subject to some kind of ceremony in your youth, whether it be baptism or bar mitzvah. Or bat mitzvah, for the ladies who might read this.

I just watched the funeral ceremony for Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, better known as Teddy, who died the other day. I was somewhat taken with the precision of the military casket bearers, as I always am. Military precision is crucial in many ceremonies. I was impressed by the precision practiced by the priests during the actual funeral ceremony. When I was a boy, I went to an Episcopalian school for several years, and was always impressed by the ceremony that is the Holy Sacrament, or as others call it, eating the bread and drinking the wine. In my case, it was grape juice, but the meaning was the same.

Life has ceremonies for practically everything. When you get married, there is a ceremony. When you die, there's even more of a ceremony.

NASCAR has its own ceremonies. Ever notice how the crews line up on pit road for the invocation and national anthem? That's a ceremony. It might be a somewhat informal one, but it's still a ceremony. Seeing the crew members lined up, hands over their hearts, while the national anthem is played is a special moment for me. As jets fly over, showing their thundering might, that's one of the best moments of the weekend for me.

Seeing drivers kiss their wives or girlfriends before they get into the car is a ceremony in itself. In a way, they're saying goodbye, just in case. In racing, you just never know which time might be the last time. We all pray and hope that there will never be a last time, but we are all mortal, after all.

Racing is a dangerous business. People die doing it. There is always the risk that in any given race, a driver will die. Thanks to safety improvements, that doesn't happen as much anymore, but cars moving at 200 mph provides a lot of circumstances which might push the balances a little. Sooner or later, someone dies while they're racing. HANS device or not, it's going to happen.

Do we as NASCAR fans have a morbid curiosity about death? No, we don't. We don't want to see drivers die, and we especially don't want to see fans die. It's happened a couple of times throughout NASCAR's history, but they, ahem, we, don't talk about that too much. Death is a pretty final thing. Kenny Irwin. Adam Petty. Neil Bonnett. Dale Earnhardt. Too much death. Not a good business model for NASCAR.

A lot of new NASCAR fans don't get what this sport is all about, sometimes. Gentlemen in taxi cabs driving around in circles. Guess what, unless you're drag racing, you are ALL driving around in circles when you race. Your are all driving around in circles when you go to the grocery store. Think about it. You are basically just driving in a circle every day of your life.

Ceremony. It's a part of life. It's a part of NASCAR. Ceremony is part of everything we do. We aspire to it. We await it, in some way, always. We dream of it.

Ceremony. It's all about life.

Personally, I hate ceremonies. I don't like them. I drink free beer and leave them as soon as possible.

Bristol Night Race Lives Up to the Hype

2009-08-23T10:08:00.002-04:00

Saturday night racing at Bristol! Does it get any better? My short answer is not really.

A lot of people have criticized the racing at Bristol Motor Speedway lately. Personally, I thought the Sharpie 500 was a good race. I was not surprised that Kyle Busch won the race, because he is, after all, a very good race car driver. Like him or hate him, Kyle Busch can wheel a race car.

Besides Kyle, one of the drivers I was most impressed with was the always smiling Aussie, Marcos Ambrose. The 47 team uses Michael Waltrip engines and chassis, and I've been very impressed with this team this year. Ambrose never ceases to impress, it would seem. The Tasmanian born driver came to the USA just a few short years ago, and is only a gnat's eyelash away from winning his first Cup race, I think.

Some drivers with high hopes for Bristol had much worse than expected finishes. Tony Stewart, who still owns the points lead, took a hit on Saturday night. Tony experienced radio problems from the very beginning of the race, and only got them sorted out relatively late in the race. The car had problems as well. At one point, Tony needed a push from a NASCAR truck to get started.

Kevin Harvick was running well at times, though he had some bad pit stops. Kevin's day was ended late in the race after a collision with his teammate, Clint Bowyer. Clint's day was ended a few laps later after another collision with Michael Waltrip. Clint and Michael both were having pretty good runs until a couple of Big One's ensued at Bristol, as they almost always do.

I think my biggest surprise of the night was how magnanimous Kyle Busch was in his victory lane interview. Kyle almost apologized for winning the race ahead of Mark Martin, who had a very strong car and was the lap leader for the race. Kyle was in the lead when it mattered, at lap 500. Kyle was also very good on late race restarts. Kyle Busch won the Sharpie 500 hands down, even though he probably didn't have the best car. Kudos to the 50 year old guy for making the race exciting though. Oh, yeah, I'm talking about Mark Martin there, not Kyle Busch. I have a feeling that Kyle will probably be getting people excited when he's 50 years old too. They may boo, or they may cheer, but they will be making noise, never the less.

There are many more stories to be told about this Bristol night race, but I'm only telling you the ones that got my attention.

My congratulations go out to Dale Earnhardt Jr., for securing his second consecutive top 10 finish of 2009. Is it possible that the 88 team is finally turning a corner and becoming more competitive? For the good of the sport, I hope so.

Remembering Legends of NASCAR: Curtis Turner

2009-08-16T04:47:00.006-04:00

You think Little E parties too much? No way. Curtis Turner was the king of parties back in the day. Curtis was a former bootlegger who turned NASCAR driver back in the early days of the sport. Curtis won in every kind of car he ever drove in, but was especially known for his talent on dirt. Nobody could beat Curtis on dirt.

They called him 'Pops', not because of his age, but because he had a reputation for 'popping' other cars on the track. Dale Earnhardt was not the first NASCAR driver to do that!

Curtis was not only a race driver, he also flew his own planes long before most NASCAR drivers even flew to race tracks on private planes.

Fact: Curtis Turner once landed his Aero Commander, a 2 engine private airplane on Main Street, Easley, South Carolina, way back in the 1960's. It's true. Check it out.

Curtis earned and lost fortunes in the timber industry, all the while driving for NASCAR. Curtis was once banned for life from the sport for trying to start a driver's union. Big Bill France wasn't too happy about that. Curtis, along with a guy named Bruton Smith, financed and built Charlotte Motor Speedway, lately known as Lowes Motor Speedway, in Concord, North Carolina.

Curtis Turner lost his life flying his own airplane, in Pennsylvania. Curtis was 46 years old when he died.

Here's a passage from the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America site about Curtis Turner.

"The Babe Ruth of Stock Car Racing." Tag a sports figure with so mythic a
designation and he'd best be able to live up to it. Curtis Turner, the
original
superstar of NASCAR, whose cars danced brilliant slides across the
old beach
course at Daytona, whose determination behind the wheel made him a
fan favorite
and a threat on dirt ovals and swift superspeedways, and whose
larger-than-life
presence in the sport as a driver-businessman made his
name, wore the
distinction well.
Whether he was setting the then-record
for most wins in a
season (23 in 1956), or raising the funds necessary to
build his beloved
Charlotte (now Lowe's) Motor Speedway, he remained a man
of enormous vision and
talent. As Humpy Wheeler said, "He may have been the
best natural race driver
we've seen." Added Benny Parsons, "Ask any fan
under fifty, ´Who's the greatest
driver you ever saw,' and it's Dale
Earnhardt. Ask anybody over fifty -
including the pioneers who drove at the
beginning - and the answer's Curtis
Turner."
His illustrious career
began as many did during the seminal
southern racing days, driving modifieds
on makeshift tracks while moonshining in
the 1940s. By then Turner had also
begun his millionaire career as a timber
broker; he'd eventually buy and
sell the equivalent of six percent of North
Carolina. But when his good
friend William France started NASCAR, Turner was
there, running in that
first race in 1949, beginning an exceptional ride in the
elite leagues. He
was the first driver to win two-straight NASCAR races while
leading every
lap. He teamed with France in 1950 in the first Mexican Road Race,
and
essayed a final-day run so startling, one historian wrote, "It is doubtful
anyone ever put on a greater performance behind the wheel of an automobile."
When the NASCAR Convertible Division raced from 1956 through 1959, Turner
won an
astounding 33 of the first 74 races, including 22 out of 47 in year
one, the
season he also captured the Southern 500 and the sports first-ever
most popular
driver award. In all, he won 17 times in what is now the Nextel
Cup division,
including the 1965 American 500, the first race at Rockingham,
which sealed his
comeback after four years away from NASCAR.
But he's
remembered most for
doing what others simply refused to. Turner could
execute a perfect 180-degree
turn on a single-lane bridge. A handsome,
dazzling figure, he threw parties that
were legend, his house becoming the
land of a thousand anecdotes. Until he did
it, no stock-car racer had run
the treacherous Pike's Peak Hill Climb in under
15 minutes. He tried to send
satellites into space. And when Jimmy Hoffa and the
Teamsters asked him to
start a driver's union-in exchange for their broken
promise of a loan to
save his speedway-he did so, crossing swords with France,
who banned him
"for life" in 1961. After sitting out some prime years, Turner
was invited
back in 1965, and he thrilled again. It is for these achievements as
well
that he became, in 1968, the first NASCAR driver ever put on the cover of
Sports Illustrated.
And only two years later, he was gone, at 46, after
crashing his plane in Pennsylvania. His peerless legacy remains: Turner is
one
of NASCAR's "50 Greatest Drivers," a revered figure even among current
racers
and a member of many halls of fame. And now, finally, he shines here
as well.
By Robert Edelstein

Sorry about the formatting. I reproduced it just like it was on the site.

Tough Economic Times Takes Toll on NASCAR

2009-08-13T11:08:00.002-04:00

From one end of spectrum to the other, America is feeling the effects of a tough economy. Jobs are hard to come by, and many people are feeling the pinch when it comes time to make their monthly payments for lights, rent, mortgages, TV, and anything else you can think of.

NASCAR has also felt the pinch that many people do, in the form of lost sponsorships and lost revenues in terms of ticket sales and racing related merchandise. Grand stands are often sparsely populated during racing events. Some of the merchandise sellers have taken a beating on tee shirt and hat sales.

Is this the beginning of the end for NASCAR?

No, it's not.

NASCAR has dealt with bad economies in the past. Remember the oil crunch in the 1970's? OK, maybe you don't, but I do. I'm old enough to remember gas lines, much as some of us experienced for a few days after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans a few years ago. The difference between the Katrina fallout and the 1970's was that the initial crunch passed in only a few days after Katrina. In the 1970's, gas was scarce, and sold for very high prices when it was available, for months at a time. The price of gasoline is relative. Today we complain when we pay 4 dollars a gallon for the stuff, and mostly the price of gas didn't reach those heights back in the '70's, but most people earned a lot less money back then too. In the 1970's most people were considered to be 'well off' if they earned $25,000 or $30,000 dollars a year. That can't be said in 2009.

NASCAR has always coped with bad economies. Not just the sanctioning body itself, but the teams involved. Back in the 1970's, NASCAR shortened the advertised length of races, and that seemed to work, to a certain extent. Fewer laps run means less money spent on fuel, tires, and everything else you can think of.

Today, the main crises that NASCAR and it's teams face is not one of fuel, but of sponsorship. Sponsors have been leaving the sport, taking care of themselves in their own ways by consolidating expenditures on advertising. Remember, NASCAR sponsors are driven much the same was as NASCAR itself is. Fans spend the money to support the sponsors, who, in turn pump money into the sport.

Until this year, it's mostly been a win-win situation for all involved. But now things have changed.

Companies such as Home Depot, Lowes, DeWalt, and a myriad of others have seen their sales numbers fall. Consequently, changes have had to be made. Sometimes that means not sponsoring a NASCAR team or one of the NASCAR tracks. For example, DeWalt Tools, a long time sponsor of Matt Kenseth, is leaving the sport. DeWalt has to keep it's company running, and since fewer people have the money to spend on power tools, DeWalt has felt the hit. They figure they can't afford to sponsor the 17 Ford of Matt Kenseth next year. Who could blame them? If you can't afford it, you just can't.

Lowe's is another example. Lowe's is giving up the naming rights at what was originally known as the Charlotte Motor Speedway. People simply don't have enough disposable income to pump into their local Lowe's store, and sales have fallen to the point that Lowe's feels they can't keep pumping money into the race track. As far as we know, Lowe's will still continue to sponsor the 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson, but one has to wonder if that will become a problem soon for the North Carolina based corporation.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the rest of his family have taken their names off of the in-development Alabama Motorsports Park. I don't know for sure if this was directly a product of keeping sponsorship, but it looks that way.

Speaking of sponsorship, Dale Jr. seems to be one of the best at acquiring and keeping such. Robby Gordon could probably show us a few tricks too. But, being the sport's current most popular driver probably doesn't hurt Earnhardt's ability to acquire and keep sponsors. As an Earnhardt fan, who reads and even participates on some the most popular message boards and websites devoted to Dale Earnhardt Jr, I can say that practically all of the Earnhardt Nation have become avid Mountain Dew and Amp Energy Drink buyers. I imagine that that's not true of only the Earnhardt Nation.

If you're a Brian Vickers or Scott Speed fan, you probably don't drink AMP, but tons of Red Bull.

Most Jimmie Johnson fans buy their home improvement items at Lowes. Most Joey Logano fans buy theirs at Home Depot. Fans of Tony Stewart buy their office supplies at Office Depot, and eat there burgers at Burger King. Kevin Harvick fans buy their gas at Shell stations when possible, and use Pennzoil products in their engines. Juan Pablo Montoya fans will drive 15 extra miles to do their shopping at Target, even if there's a Wal-Mart next door.

My point here is that NASCAR has the most devoted fans ever, in my humble opinion. NASCAR fans support their driver's sponsors.

And that's how NASCAR will survive the latest economic crunch.

A fan has a dollar to spend. He buys a bag of M&M's. He just supported the 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch. He could have had Skittles, but he didn't. That's support.

One of the beautiful aspects of NASCAR has been that the fans drive the sport. Fans probably drive every sport, when you get right down to it, but never so obviously as in NASCAR. If a few racing fans hadn't bought tickets to watch Bill France's spectacle on Daytona Beach back in the 1940's, what would we all be doing today? Football's fun, Baseball's great, Basketball's ok, but to me there is only one fantastic sport.

Fantastic is what stock car racing is, the way NASCAR does it. It could be better, but it's still the greatest show on earth, once again, in my humble opinion.

Introducing a New Feature

2009-08-12T11:55:00.002-04:00

I have created a separate blog that allows you, yes, YOU, the fan, a forum in which to sound off about anything relating to NASCAR. You can check out the new site by clicking HERE.

There is only one rule, and that is that you keep your comments PG13 rated. Don't say anything that you wouldn't want your kids repeating, or anything you'd be embarrassed if your grandmother heard you say. You know what I'm talking about. Other than that, you can say whatever you want as long as it relates somehow to NASCAR.

Of course, feel free to post comments on this site as well, but the new site will be all about you and what's on your mind.

I'll post new topics every few days, or you can suggest topics you'd like to see posted. The site will not be driven by topics that I choose, however. You can post pretty much anything you want, whenever you want to.

There is no sign up form, no password, however you may be required to type in a word to post your comment. We do that to prevent spam, which no one wants to read.

I'll be posting my own comments there from time to time, so any of you who wonder what gets under my skin may find out on the new site.

Have at it, and have fun.