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

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

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?

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

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

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

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.

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.