Some thoughts on California

Photo Credit: Harry How/ Gety AFP

Congratulations to Carl Edwards on his win in today's race, which started yesterday. Carl had by far the fastest car, and passed Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon with ease to win the Auto Club 500 at Fontana, California. The race track, by the way, is now called the Auto Club Raceway. I guess that's fine, since what used to be the Charlotte Motor Speedway has been called the Lowes Motor Speedway for years. I really hope that this isn't a developing trend, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it were. Baseball and football stadiums have long been naming themselves after their corporate sponsors, so I suppose we will be seeing more and more of this in Nascar as well.

Congratulations also to Kyle Busch for winning the Trucks race on Saturday, and to Tony Stewart for winning the Nationwide race today after the Sprint Cup race. All 3 drivers dominated in their respective races, and I guess that is one of the problems I've had with the quality of racing in general this weekend. Not that there was no good racing, but there wasn't a lot of it. I read in a column by David Poole today that stated that California is experiencing the exact same problems that prompted Nascar to take away the race dates from Rockingham altogether. I tend to agree with him. Basically Rockingham lost it's February race date because of the weather, and because they couldn't fill the stands. I know that California was a victim of some very atypical weather, but even bad luck is something that Nascar can't fix sometimes.

The main problem with the track was the fact that even when it wasn't raining, the track would never totally dry because water would weep up through seams in the asphalt, and the wet spots could never be totally dried, even when track personnel did some late night emergency drilling and cutting to dry to allow the water to drain. This problem will hopefully be corrected before Nascar visits the track again this September. And don't get me started about the other date that California took away from one of my favorite tracks, that track being Darlington.

I'm hoping and praying that the new car will indeed lead to better racing. I think on some tracks it will. Darrell Waltrip mentioned today during the broadcast that he couldn't wait to get to, funny he should mention it, Darlington. I agree. I think the racing will be very good there, even with the new surface and with the new car.

Which leads to an obvious question. Should Nascar be more worried about building mega tracks in new markets that potentially they cannot fill, or should they be concentrating on making the actual racing better? Declining race attendance and lower television ratings last year leads me to believe that Nascar needs to make sure that the fans get what they want: Really great racing.

If Nascar takes measures that will practically guarantee great racing virtually every week, I think the ticket sales and tv ratings will rise accordingly. I think the drivers will have a lot more fun too. Even when a driver doesn't win a race, it's refreshing to hear him get out of the car and say "That was fun!" Chances are, if the driver is having fun, so will the fans, and in the end, so will Nascar.

How good is Kyle Busch?

If you're DW, or the now racing commentator named Darrel Waltrip, he's the best. Kyle won the Trucks race at California today, and probably could have won it if it had been a 600 mile race. Darrell said before the race that Kyle could have been a great driver for Junior Johnson if he had been born about 40 years before he was. The admiration that DW paid to Kyle was apparently breath taking. At least it was for DW.

Kyle Busch loves driving Trucks. He even has his team paint the name "Rowdy Busch" above the door. He's very young at 22 years old, and he has won in all 3 Nascar series. Kyle likes driving a loose race car, meaning he likes it when the rear wheels break away and makes the car slide.

Is Kyle Busch a good driver? Absolutely. Without question, Kyle is one of the best there is. Maybe if he were mature enough to appreciate his talent, he would actually be a good driver. Right now, he's annoying everyone he races with, and that may not be a bad thing. He's getting noticed. That's not a bad thing.

Does Kyle make stupid mistakes? Yes. Can Kyle drive a race car? Yes. What will Kyle's legacy be? He'll win a lot of races, and some championships, but there will be a lot of drivers that will never like him.

In other words, He will achieve a lot of success, but will not be respected among his peers.

Unless he grows up.

A Champion, but hardly anyone ever talks about him.

I'd like to introduce you to a few statistics. Who has won 21 Cup races, 10 Nationwide races, and 1 Trucks race, and 3 IROC races? If you guessed the 2000 Winston Cup Champion Bobby Labonte you would be correct.

Bobby Labonte is one of the few drivers to have ever won in all the top 3 Nascar series, and he has won 3 times in the IROC series. Bobby, of course, is the younger brother of 2 time Cup series champion Terry Labonte.

Bobby was born and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, and was racing not long after he could walk. Bobby is a champion, not just on the track, but as a person.

People that have been watching the Sprint, or Nextel, or Winston Cup series for years remember his brother as a true gentleman. Bobby is pretty much the same. A true gentleman at all times, Bobby is one of the last of the old school drivers in Nascar.

For reporters, Bobby is always interesting in an interview. Bobby has a very understated sense of humor, which means that he basically will say something and then laugh at you while you struggle with what he just said. When you get it, you laugh. But there is no way to hide that though Bobby Labonte is a soft spoken driver, his wit got the best of you.

Bobby Labonte's pedigree is pure. When Bobby first started racing in Cup, his competitors were people like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliot, and Davey Allison. Of course, his own brother was racing against him as well.

Bobby Labonte has been a true gentleman in the sport, and has always respected the history of it. I hope we will always appreciate him that way.

He's not done yet though. After a lot of wins at Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby moved on to Petty Enterprises, to take over as driver of the most famous number in all of racing, the 43, in which Richard Petty won 200 races. Bobby finished 11th in the 2008 Daytona 500. This week he starts at California, and I would advise all race fans to keep an eye on that 43 car this Sunday at Fontana, California.

A little of that Labonte and Petty magic are going to be with the 43 this weekend.

Rainout in Southern California on Friday

Contrary to popular belief, it actually does rain in Southern California. It's a shame that the rains came this particular weekend though.

On Friday, beautiful Fontana California had temperatures in the 40's, and intermittent rain and always clouds. It was frustrating for many racing teams, not just Sprint Cup, but also Nationwide and Craftsman Trucks series as well.

One of the Cup teams that had to be very disappointed was the 08 Dodge, driven this week by Burney Lamar. The 08 is owned by E&M Motorsports, and John Carter.

On a lot of recent weekdays, the 08 car could be seen in the shop of John Carter in the tiny North Georgia town of Toccoa. Take a drive down Route 17, which is known locally as Big A Road, and it has been a common sight to see the shop doors open, and the team working feverishly on the car.

John Carter is not a mega car owner such as folks like Jack Roush, Rick Hendrick, or Chip Ganassi, or even Robbie Gordon. This team has very limited resources, and has a difficult time finding sponsorship for their effort to go racing each week. After all, why would someone sponsor a team that even most Nascar fans have never heard of?

The reason is that even with limited resources, this owner and this team have achieved success in the series. They did it in 2005 in the biggest race of the year too.

On February 20, 2005, the number 37 Patron Tequila Dodge, piloted by Kevin Lepage, and owned by John Carter finished an incredible 9th in the Daytona 500. The team grossed over $300,000 for that top 10 run in America's biggest race, and since then, the Carter team has faded back into relative obscurity. They have not given up though.

This week, the 08 Dodge, to be piloted by Burney Larmar was hauled from the East coast of the US all the way to the West coast. Now they are headed home, without having a chance to even put the car on the track. Think of the incredible cost that John Carter must have incurred sending the car across the country for what? Absolutely nothing.

I don't know what Nascar can do about this situation to help the small teams. I don't really like the top 35 rule, but then again, when rain wipes out qualifying, what is a team to do? The field is set at a maximum of 43 cars, and there's not any really logical way to argue that John Carter's Dodge deserves a start, when there are about 50 odd teams with more owner points than he has. It is a shame though.

Tonight I praise the small teams such as John Carter, and the aspiring Cup drivers such as Burney Lamar. I know they're all feeling down tonight, but I hope we get to see them on the track soon.

California, Here We Come!

Actually there they go, since I won't be going anywhere. California has become a race track that I appreciate more and more as the years go by. The last few races there have left me feeling fulfilled as a race fan.

Matt Kenseth won last years race, with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson finishing 2nd and 3rd. Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, and Mark Martin also had strong finishes at Fontana last year as well.

Engines are almost always problems at California, and 2007 was no exception. Besides the DEI cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr., Dave Blaney in a Toyota, Kasey Kahne in a Dodge, and Kenny Schrader in the Wood Brothers Ford also had engine problems. Little did we know just how disappointing the engines would get for DEI and especially Dale Jr.

California is a beautiful, big track, at 2 miles in length. It's considered a mirror of Michigan, but really has not a lot in common with it's counterpart other than total length. California has 12 degree banking and Michigan has 18 degrees of banking.

Jeff Gordon has 3 wins at California. Jimmie Johnson has 2, as does Matt Kenseth. Other Cup drivers who have won at this track include Kyle and Kurt Busch, Elliot Sadler, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, and Jeremy Mayfield. Of all drivers, Jeff Gordon has 7 total top 5 finishes, while Jimmie Johnson has 6. This last start is impressive when you count in the fact that Jeff has 5 more starts at the race track than Jimmie.

In looking ahead to this weekend's festivities, it is difficult to count any of the Hendrick cars out, or Matt Kenseth for that matter. Will Casey Mears and Dale Earnhadt Jr. have more success than they have in past years? Will Mark Martin return to victory lane in a Chevrolet? Will Elliot Sadler finally find his way to victory lane again?

What I'm hoping is that this race proves to be as exciting as several of the California races have proven to be in the last few years. It would be nice to see the stands full for a change as well.

What is a Fan?

Have you ever wondered what a fan really was? The word 'fan' is short for 'fanatic'. Not so classy a word. 'Fanatic' can mean a lot of things, and most of them aren't good.

Most of us, in one way or another, are fans of one sport or multiple sports. I, for example, am a fan of football and baseball. I like them, but don't love them. I love it when the Boston Red Sox win the World Series, but my world won't come crashing down around me if they don't win. I was a fan of the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, but their loss didn't cause me any loss of sleep.

My biggest passion is Nascar though. Probably more than any other sport, Nascar fans make the sport what it is. We pay the ticket prices, we pay for merchandise, we pay for Trackpass or Hotpass just to enjoy the sport we love. We as fans actually invest in the sport we love. Football fans and fans of any other sport do the same thing, but no where on earth do we see all our favorites on the same playing field for every single game. That's what makes being a Nascar fan so special.

We've all got our favorite drivers, and drivers we can't stand. We've had ordinary Sundays made glorious or depressing, depending on what our drivers do. Most of our favorite drivers only have a good day once in a while, and have problems the rest of the time. We still stick by these drivers though. We argue about them endlessly in person, in e-mails, and on message boards. Our driver is the best, and always will be!

Nascar is unique in one other way as well. Most of us get to see the races in the series other than Cup on a weekly basis. Most of us have favorites in those series as well, unlike the minor leagues in baseball. Most of the time in other sports we don't know who the new guy is. In Nascar, we've watched him for years.

Are we loyal to our drivers? You bet we are. We stand with them through the good times and the bad times. Are our drivers perfect? Of course not. There are human just like you and me. My favorite drivers have made plenty of mistakes over the years. They all do. It's just when the driver you don't like doesn't make mistakes is when you feel like they've got an unfair advantage.

All drivers make mistakes. All of them are human, and all of them will do the human thing at times.

Parity in Nascar?

I suppose it can be called that. Toyota and Dodge have had a rough time in the Cup series, and yesterday Nascar proved that it will do whatever it takes to achieve equality.

Last year, Toyota and Dodge struggled to even make the Daytona 500. The speed just wasn't there, and the Chevrolets were dominant, once again. Ford looked strong as well, and no one thought anyone that wasn't driving a Ford or a Chevy didn't have a chance. That was true, for the most part.

What a difference a year makes though. A Chevrolet won the pole at Daytona, and Dale Jr. won the Bud Shootout and his Duel race, but neither Chevy nor Ford was much of a factor in any of the actual points races. In the Daytona 500, Dodge and Toyota accounted for the entire top 10, save the 9th position of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevy.

While fans of Toyota and Chevrolet may be cheering today, as well they should, it makes many of us question Nascar's engine rules. It was reported on Saturday that Tony Stewart's Toyota had 30 more horsepower at the rear wheels than did the Chevrolets of Richard Childress Racing, and at least 15 more horsepower than Dale Jr.'s Chevy. Did Toyota get an advantage in engine rules from Nascar? Did Dodge?

Nascar will deny any of this, but how did Dodge and Toyota go from worst to first in such a short time? I find it doubtful that Dodge and Toyota now suddenly have the best engine and car builders in the sport. The addition of Joe Gibbs Racing to Toyota's stable certainly added some much needed muscle to Toyota's Nascar program, but all 3 Gibbs Toyota's led the Daytona 500, and almost won it. Many times the Toyota cars appeared to need very little drafting help to stay in front. Jeff Gordon led the race a few times, but was easily passed by the Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Perhaps Jeff Gordon's car was not as good as he thought it was, but all the Hendrick cars appeared to be quite a bit slower than the Toyotas yesterday. That's no crime, but it does lead to a lot of head scratching.

For the time being, I will say a hearty congratulations to Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, who finished 1st and 2nd in the Daytona 500. The Penske Dodges were hardly factors at all for 99 per cent of the race, but were at the front when it counted, on lap 200. Congratulations to the Toyota teams as well. Kyle Busch clearly had the car to beat most of the day, followed closely by his teammate Denny Hamlin.

Enjoy the success, boys! Nascar might decide you've got too much of an advantage and put you back in the pack with the Chevys and the Fords