Danger: Message Boards May be Dangerous to your Health

I'm not kidding, folks. I had a near death experience on a certain NASCAR related message board recently. I will not name the message board, because legal details are involved, but I can say that recently, I was threatened with death by deletion on a message board.

I'm familiar with message boards. Heck, I even have one myself. We've got 4 members pumping out information with all their might. Recently, on a board dealing with not only politics, but religion, I was threatened with removal because I committed the greatest sin of all: I told the truth. I said to the board, and I quote here: "George W. Busch has not been the greatest president in history."

I backed up my facts there. I did my research before I made such an audacious post. I did my homework, in other words. I based my reasoning upon the fact that none of us, here in the USA, the land of the brave and the home of the free, have yet to acquire space cars. Yeah, I said it. Space cars.

I once watched a film, back when they had film, about the future. In the future, we would all have space cars. I'm in a midlife crises here. I want a Corvette, but should I wait for my space car instead?

I watch guys like Dale Earnhardt Jr, and he makes life fun by being a guy that makes me think that he lives like a rock star. I imagine being Dale Jr, because being him must be so much fun, right?

The fact is, if Dale Jr. wanted a space car, he'd probably already have one. That's just how cool that guy is. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold. He's got his own racing teams. He's got his own production company. He rocks, he rolls, he's like so totally cool.

I wish I had my space car, but I'm probably not going to get one anytime soon. The prices seems to be very high, the registration costs seem to be very not so nice either. I'd hate to think about the insurance on one of those things.

Getting back to my original topic, I have to report that I once had a message board contact offer to shoot me in the face. I was talking about Kyle Busch at the time. This kind board contact offered to shoot me in the face, free of charge. With the price of ammunition these days, that was indeed a kind offer. I declined, however, because I'm apparently too sissy to take on an armed racing fan. What a shame.

I find it refreshing to know that so many fans out there feel passionate enough about their drivers to kill someone. I'm also a bit disturbed by it. But that's just me.

Don't mind me. If I offend you, why don't you just shoot me in the face?

Filling Some Very Big Shoes

It's just not the same anymore. In 2001, NASCAR lost one of it's largest personalities ever on February 18th. That was the day that the flame of Dale Earnhardt was snuffed out, the flame that had burned like a road flare among birthday candles for so long. NASCAR indeed lost a hero and one of its greatest drivers that day. But yet a son remained.

It's not been all celebrity and fun and games and drinking beer for Dale Earnhardt Jr. since then. Dale Jr. has built a reputation as a business man, beginning with JR Motorsports which fields 2 Nationwide series teams. Dale Jr. later created his own TV production company and his own popular Charlotte night spot called Whisky River. He still drives a race car, the 88 Chevrolet Impala SS for owner Rick Hendrick. Dale Jr. is in the Chase for the Cup, and he's a proven winner.

But at the age of 33, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has no Sprint Cup championships to his name yet. As a two time winner of the Busch series, which is now called the Nationwide series, Dale Jr. is indeed a champion, and a proven race winner. 18 wins in Cup since 2000 is a record that many veteran NASCAR drivers would love to have. He's won the Bud Shootout. He's won the All Star race. He's won the Daytona 500. He's basically done it all but win a championship, and for many of his critics, nothing means anything at all unless he wins at least several championships.

Critics of Dale Earnhardt Jr. are many and varied, but most follow one common theme, which is that he would not even be racing were his name not Earnhardt. According to his critics, Dale Jr. is highly over rated, and basically has a driving talent quotient of exactly zero. If you read many of the message boards and comments to articles posted from all over this land, you will get a taste for the abject hatred that many people feel for NASCAR's most popular driver. Many feel that the MPD title is undeserved, and then eventually they say they don't care because he hasn't won a championship. It is true that any driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. included, would rather have the title of Sprint Cup Champion added to their list of achievments rather than being the sports most popular driver.

I'm sorry to report to the many Dale Jr. detractors that his 18 wins and Daytona 500 victory put Dale Jr. in a class that very few drivers, past or present can boast much about. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won exactly as many races as has Kurt Busch, who is the 2004 champion. He's also won exactly as many races as Geoffrey Bodine, Harry Gant and Neil Bonnett. If you don't recognize what an achievement that is for a guy that's been racing for 9 years in Cup for full time, you don't know your NASCAR history. With one more win, Dale Jr. will tie Buddy Baker and Davey Allison. With two more wins, Dale will tie Jeff Burton's current win record. Jeff's been around a lot longer than Dale Jr. In other words, for a grossly over rated driver, Dale Jr. seems to have a pretty impressive record.

It's probably not as much fun anymore for Dale Jr. as it used to be. The tiring ordeal with leaving his father's company, Dale Earnhardt Inc. to make the move to Hendrick Motorsports must have made for a lot of sleepless nights. Many of his critics call him a traitor for ever leaving DEI. I beg to differ, however. Anyone with the name Earnhardt has to know that it's better to go with a winning team, with better equipment and more resources as far as engineering and technical support than it would be to stay with a team that served up a whopping 10 engines that failed to finish races last season. An Earnhardt will always go to where the racing is. This Earnhardt did just that, and I seriously doubt that Dale Earnhardt Sr. would have had any problem understanding that.

Tony Eury Jr., Dale Jr.'s cousin and crew chief has spoken of the switch from DEI to Hendrick. He left DEI early last year to get a head start on learning the Hendrick equipment and personnel. Tony Jr. has mentioned that he has had to work harder at HMS than he had to work at DEI. He has more resources available to him, and he's finding that he's spending more time in the shop than he ever did at DEI. Tony Jr. doesn't mind though, as long as it all adds up to better performance. Though many will criticize Tony Jr.'s decisions from on top of the pit box, his peers at HMS feel that there is a good reason for him to be where he is. General manager Marshall Carlson said. "Tony Jr. is one of the smartest guys we've got at that whole place. He's as sly as a fox, …He made friends with everyone through that place, front to back, so that when the season started, it was pretty neat to see everyone through the organization, all these channels of support they have, they were all pulling for Tony and Dale."

Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Jr. have the opportunity to do great things together, and for those who discount Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a driver with little or no talent, I would advise you to remember one thing. This is only the first year out of a multi year contract, and Dale Jr. is performing. He's not where he wants to be, but he's getting there, slowly, race by race, lap by lap. Beware, detractors: Before you disparage a man you don't understand, make sure he's not kicking your driver's tail out on the track. Regardless of what you might think of him, I'll bet that his old man would be proud. I am.



Tony Eury Jr.'s comments supplied by Brant James at the St. Petersburg Times

Is NASCAR Sprint Cup as Good as it Used To Be?

We've got the new car. We've got the Chase. We've got the free pass, or the Lucky Dog as some call it. The world of NASCAR has changed much in the past 10 years. Has it all been for the better?

In terms of safety, I heartily applaud NASCAR's efforts to keep the drivers and crews safer. Many did not like the HANS device when it was first mandated, but I'm guessing that the head and neck restraint system has probably saved a few driver's lives since 2001. Though Dale Earnhardt might have fought that rule tooth and nail, he might still be alive today had NASCAR mandated the HANS device before 2001. So might Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin. I also applaud NASCAR mandating the use of helmets for all crew members that climb over the wall to service the race cars on pit road. It just makes sense, just as much as it makes sense to make your children wear head, knee and elbow protection before you turn them loose with a skateboard. Racing is and always will be a dangerous sport, but any measures made to make it safer have to be a good thing in my opinion.

I believe that NASCAR's attempt to even out the playing field with the new car is still a work in progress. True, the teams build fewer cars than they used to, but are they really saving that much money? When an ill handling car seems to be attracted to the fence like a magnet to a refrigerator door, is it really saving the teams money by having to spend endless hours in the shop cutting away twisted metal and fabricating new bodies for banged up race cars? Sure, beating and banging happens in every race, but some drivers find the new cars so ill mannered and bad tempered that it seems that more cars are being wrecked, not just during races, but also during practice and qualifying. Many of the drivers complain that in many cases, it's nearly impossible to set up the race car so that it handles well in traffic. It seems that the new car mostly likes to run at the front, without cars in front of it. A car that grabs the lead on a restart almost automatically becomes the fastest car on the track, and the only way that cars back in the field can catch the leaders is for a caution to occur. To me, that's not racing, at least by old school standards. Sure, there have always been dominant cars and drivers in the field, but the new car seems to be an advantage to those who are in the front, and a disadvantage to many who are in the back.

This phenomenon does not apply to all tracks, obviously. Last week's race at New Hampshire saw very good racing all through the ranks. At other tracks, such as California, it just seems that follow the leader is the game. If you can get to the front for a restart, you might have a chance. If you're mired back in the field all day, there's little chance you will be able to charge to the front in the closing laps, it would appear. Hopefully, the technical folks at NASCAR will find a way to help prevent yawn inducing races, if they insist on racing at tracks that are inherently set up to be boring in the first place.

Again, in the interests of safety, I like the rule that there is not racing back to the yellow flag when a caution comes out. Having cars scattered sideways across the track while other cars try to beat each other back to the flag is often dangerous, and I agree that the field should be frozen at the point that the yellow flag flies. Giving a free pass to a driver who is a lap down is more questionable in my mind however. If the driver got beat on the track, why help him get a lap back that he lost by getting beat? Maybe one free pass per driver per race, or maybe each driver gets so many free passes per season, or some other system would make more sense to me. Drivers can and do make up laps on their own, on the track, and under competition.

The Chase is the most complex change, at least in my opinion, that NASCAR has made in recent years. We have all read about how the last few seasons would have turned out had the Chase not been instituted in 2004. We've read about how past championship races would have shaped up had the Chase been in effect back in the 1990's and early 2000's. All I can say is that the Chase does offer some advantages, mainly by creating something to really race for with 10 races left in the season. Arguments continue, however about whether enough emphasis is placed on wins, or simply driving in a consistent manner is still what matters the most. I agree that the Chase should include 12 drivers instead of 10, so I see that as an improvement. Do we really need the Chase at all though? I'm still having a tough time making up my mind on that.

For whatever all my or anyone else's opinions matter, these and other complaints and arguments are really nothing new in NASCAR. The subjects of the complaints and arguments have changed, but that's about all. When we get right down to it, nothing really matters except what NASCAR itself deems will sell more tickets and improve TV ratings. Our opinions will certainly not fall totally on deaf ears, because there are always other fans that will agree or disagree with us. As far as NASCAR itself goes, however, it is what it is, or more importantly, it will be whatever NASCAR decides it's going to be.

How Quickly the Chase Landscape can Change

The New Hampshire International Speedway has gone from being at best a rather boring track to being a track that has regularly showcased some of the Sprint Cup Series' finest racing in recent years. NHIS is quickly becoming one of those tracks that I really want to visit on race day before I either die or give up watching the sport.

We witnessed hard racing, not just for the lead, but well back in the pack yesterday. We saw the odds on favorite to win the Cup's race turn from bad to worse yesterday, when Kyle Busch had major suspension problems early in the race and saw him finish in 34th place, many laps down. We saw Greg Biffle, whom many didn't believe would even make the Chase a month or so ago, charge to the lead in the closing laps and win his first Cup race of the season. We saw the series' most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., take the lead for nearly 80 laps, only to lose it when he apparently received a bad set of tires on a pit stop.

To say that Dale Jr. was frustrated after losing the lead for good with the bad set of tires would be an understatement. As he is known to do during the heat of competition, he expressed his frustration roundly on the radio to crew chief Tony Eury Jr. It was at this point that owner Rick Hendrick stepped in. He talked to Dale Jr. on the radio, urging him to calm down, to not lose focus. Hendrick reassured Dale Jr. that he still had a good car, and he just needed to give Tony Jr. some feedback and to take out his frustration not on his crew chief, but on the cars ahead of him. Earnhardt seemed to respond to the coaching his owner was giving him, and rallied to finish 5th, his second solid top 5 finish in a row. Top 5 finishes are what got Dale Jr. to the position he's in, and it's good to see him return to that form once again.

True, a win would have been better than a top 5. I don't think anyone would dispute that. Dale Jr. says that he needs to be fired up inside the car sometimes, that it helps him keep his eye on the prize, as it were. I don't think any other driver would disagree with him about that. I do feel that it is important that the driver remain calm enough to help his crew chief sort though problems that the driver is having on the track though. I believe that this is an adjustment in the way Earnhardt Jr. has dealt with problems on the track in the past. I think it wise that one remember that until this year, Dale Jr. has rarely had an active owner talking to him on the radio during a race. Dale Jr. has long expressed his desire to have an owner at the track with him, to be able to talk to about the car, about the conditions of the track, to just be there as a cheerleader, if nothing else. Dale Earnhardt Jr. now has that in Rick Hendrick. Rick has made a commitment to give Dale Jr. whatever he needs to win, and now Dale Jr. needs to learn how to take the advantage of using what he's been given to do what he's there to do: Win.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a talented and driven race car driver, and he's still in his first season with a new organization. Old habits die hard, as they say. I agree with Rick Hendrick that Tony Jr. can probably help get the car better if he's not facing an onslaught of rants, but receiving solid information that will help him to make the call on adjustments that need to be made. In the past, at DEI, Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. were both basically men stranded on their own island, receiving apparently little in the way of direction from the higher ups at DEI. This year is different. They have an active, interested team owner who is willing to do whatever it takes to help them to reach the next level in NASCAR's most elite series, which is winning championships.

Rick Hendrick, in his 25 years as an owner in NASCAR Cup racing, has won a lot of championships. He knows how to get it done. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having a great year, but he needs to know that he's not in it alone anymore. He's got the support, and he needs to know that if the car has problems, Tony Jr. and the crew will fix it. He's got to help them though, which he does, but he's got to realize that thousands, maybe millions of people are listening to his every word on the radio every week, and his words during the race can give the impression that he is not as happy with his crew chief as he says he is off the track. This leads to much of the criticism that Tony Jr. receives every week, from fans of Dale Jr. and from people who aren't fans at all. Fortunately, neither Dale Jr. or Tony Jr. appear to care what the arm chair crew chiefs think.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is tied for 4th place in points after New Hampshire. He is only 50 points behind the leaders. With the misfortunes of Kyle Busch on Sunday, he actually gained on the lead. Top 5 finishes are a good way to stay at the top of the points list, but Dale Jr. knows he's probably going to have to win at least one of the next 9 races in order to win the championship. If Dale Jr. will take a little of Rick Hendrick's advice, that task will be much easier.

For Earnhardt Jr., Racing for Championships is a Family Tradition

Racing for, and even winning racing championships is nothing new for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Even as all the naysayers foretell that he will come up short in his efforts to win the Sprint Cup in 2008, many forget that Earnhardt Jr. is already a two time champion in NASCAR's Nationwide Series, which at the time was known as the Busch Series.

Dale Jr.'s father won the Cup championship 7 times in his career, and came very close to winning a few more. Dale Jr.'s previous best shot at winning the Cup came in 2004, when he won 7 races and was in contention until having problems near the very end of the season. Dale Jr. knows that all it takes is one little mistake, and a driver can take his team completely out of the running in just the blink of an eye. I was at the fall Atlanta race in 2004 when Dale Jr. spun on the backstretch, effectively ending his hopes for the Cup that year. After such a successful season, the pain and frustration that Dale Jr. felt after the race was reflected in the faces of the fans at the track, a huge sea of red, which was the color of Budweiser, Dale Jr.'s sponsor back in those days.

To say that Earnhardt Jr. wants to win the Cup championship would be like you or I saying that we want air to breathe or water to drink. Dale Jr. has come close, so close he can taste it, and has come up short thus far. He knows that these next 10 races will have to be perfect. Perfection does not mean that he has to win the next 10 races. It just means that he cannot make any major mistakes on the track or in the pits. He knows that his crew chief has to make solid decisions, and that his pit crew has to perform as a well oiled machine. He cannot suffer engine problems. He must not put himself in a position to wreck, yet he must charge hard and try to finish up front each and every race.

Arguably, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is equipped with the best team and the best equipment he's ever had in his career. This year, he broke a 76 race winless streak at Michigan. For the first part of the season, he was one of the most consistent drivers on the track. After a few late season miscues, some of which were of his own making, Dale Jr. finished the race to the Chase with a solid top 5 finish at Richmond last week. What Dale Jr. and the 88 team must do now is to make sure they have their game face on for the next 10 races. Any ironing out of problems or differences must now be complete if they are going to finish the season in first place.

Technically, each of the 12 drivers who made the Chase has a legitimate shot at winning the championship. Dale Jr. knows he will have to drive some of his very best races in the coming weeks if he is to overcome the odds that face him right now. The 3 drivers ahead of him in points have won a total of 18 races between them this year. Teammate Jimmie Johnson appears to have momentum on his side right now, having won 3 or his 4 races in the latter part of the season leading up to the Chase. Kyle Busch has been dominate at practically every track at which he's raced this year. Carl Edwards has been so strong, his insurance company has to be considering raising his premiums, in the event that Carl finally misses one of his signature back flips and lands on his head. In other words, Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows that to win the championship, he will be fighting an uphill battle all the way.

Eight other Chase drivers will be facing the same uphill battle as Dale Jr. There are other drivers not in the chase who will be desperate to make a good showing of themselves as well, whether it be just to put a better face on a disappointing season, or to help keep their sponsors for next year. Though the spotlight will be mostly on the 12 Chase drivers for the rest of the season, the best way to break into that circle of light will be to win a race. Just because there are only 12 drivers in contention for the championship, it will not mean that the rest of the field will meekly pull over and let the championship contenders drive on by. In fact, quite the opposite might happen.

Few NASCAR drivers come from as pure of a racing heritage as does Dale Earnhardt Jr. His father knew how to race for and win championships, and a younger Dale Jr. did so as well back in the old Busch Series. An older, wiser Dale Jr. has proven his ability to keep his cool under adversity and pressure, and as long as he keeps doing much of what he's been doing all year, he will be a serious contender for the championship this year.

For Dale Jr., it's all in his hands and in the hands of his team now.

A Word of Prayer.

Last night, along with millions of others, I watched with growing horror as the reporters on the various news channels brought us first hand reports of the devastation of Hurricane Ike, as it came onshore directly over Galveston, Texas. Also being reported in the news cycle was the tragedy that occurred in Los Angeles, when a commuter train collided head on with a freight train, where the casualty count thus far stands at 15 dead and 135 injured. That number, sadly, is likely to increase.

The total casualty counts from Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana are not know yet, and indeed it could be weeks before even an approximate number is known. As I look back through the logs of recent readers that my statistics program for this blog keeps, I see a lot of familiar names, such as Galveston, Clute, Beaumont, Clear Lake, Texas City, and many others. Because of the massive loss of power, it may be months before any of these readers have the time or the ability to visit us here again. Of course this is nothing but a blog about a sport, and there is certainly no life or death concerns associated with NASCAR, other than the usual possibilities that exist in the sport. Life and death, though a real part of racing heritage, is a choice undertaken by the drivers involved. In the real world of everyday life, all this seems very insignificant today.

The casualties on the trains in LA never had a chance. They never saw it coming. Lives were snuffed out in a fraction of a second, and as horrible as the loss of life is, that may have been merciful compared to what the people in Texas and Louisiana have gone through over the last 24 hours, and indeed is still going on. With Hurricane Ike, everyone knew it was coming. Some doubted whether or not the conditions would become as bad as they did. Some people refused to evacuate, and it's entirely likely that some of those may not have survived the storm. Though it is extremely unlikely that there will be anywhere near the casualties suffered during the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, it is unlikely that all who stayed behind could have survived.

My prayers go out today to the people of the Gulf Coast, and to those affected by the train crash in Los Angeles. May the Lord be with them, their families and their loved ones. The loss of property has already become staggering from the effects of Hurricane Ike. I pray that the loss of life does not become so as well.

Thoughts on the 2008 Chase for the Cup

The Chase positions are now set, and a few drivers and teams with high hopes are merely just now trying to salvage some wins in the last 10 races of the season. Among the disappointed is most definitely Kasey Kahne, the series top ranked Dodge driver, who just missed his shot at making it to the show. Even with two wins, Kahne will finish no better than 13th in points this season.

Among the drivers who did make it into the Chase, the odds on favorites have to be Kyle Busch, the points leader, and 8 time race winner in 2008. Carl Edwards is another favorite, with 6 wins. Jimmie Johnson has been on a run as of late, with 4 wins, with 3 of those coming near the latter part of the season. This years Chase is made up of cars running under the banner of only 4 different owners, those being Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush Motorsports, HendrickMotorsports, and Richard Childress Racing.

Despite some great races this year, Red Bull Racing's Toyotas, driven by A.J. Allmendinger and Brian Vickers will not be part of the big show. The only Toyotas in the Chase are the 3 cars of Joe Gibbs Racing. It would appear that the vast improvement in Toyota performance in 2008 was limited mainly to one organization. Though Red Bull, Bill Davis, and Michael Waltrip's teams all showed improvement this year, none was much of a threat in most of the races. I also find it interesting that even though all 3 of the Childress cars made the Chase, none of the Dale Earnhardt Inc. cars did, even though both teams share the same Earnhardt-Childress engine packages.

Once again, Hendrick Motorsports managed to get 3 of their cars into the Chase, with Jimmie Johnson, who has lead all of his teammates with 4 wins. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 1 win, and possibly the most shocking statistic of all, is that even though Jeff Gordon will be in the Chase, he has no victories as of yet this year.

Jack Roush managed to put 3 cars in the Chase field as well. Carl Edwards has had a phenominal season, and teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth will join him in this years elite field. Young David Ragan just missed getting in, which has to be disappointing to a driver who has showed much improvement this year.

As for me, I'm still not totally sold on the idea of the Chase for the Cup. If I'm in charge of marketing for Budweiser, which is the primary sponsor for Kasey Kahne's Dodge, or AAA, which is David Ragan's sponsor, I would be very much against the idea of the Chase. No matter what these two drivers do for the rest of the season, short of winning multiple races, these sponsors have to know that they will not be in the spot light for the rest of the season.

NASCAR keeps tinkering with the Chase format, and I expect further changes once again next year. In my belief, however, I think it's time for NASCAR to quit tinkering and just let the drivers race.

California Dreaming

The Auto Club Speedway at Fontana, California hosted our NASCAR traveling circus over the Labor Day weekend, and for a pure racing fan, there was much left to be desired. As usual, there were many empty seats, especially for the Nationwide race on Saturday night. The Pepsi 500 Cup race netted more ticket holders, but still, the empty seats at the track in the 2nd biggest market in the US were obvious.

I agree with several of my more esteemed colleagues in the NASCAR writing game, that California should indeed have 2 race dates. The market is too big, and too important to leave with just one race date. The racing, however, needs to improve.

Kyle Busch led practically every lap in Saturday's Nationwide race. Nobody was nearly as good as Kyle. If you are a Kyle Busch fan, the race was fantastic. Since most of the racing world are not Kyle Busch fans, the consensus was this: Boring.

The Pepsi 500 was little better. Jimmie Johnson had a car that just completely dominated the field all day, and though Greg Biffle tried to catch him at the end, it was obvious from lap 1 that no one had anything for the 48. The only real excitement during the race was watching car after car almost spin out coming out of the turns. For a fan on the east coast, such as me, it seemed not worth the effort to stay up until midnight to see the end of such a boring race.

I agree with some of my more esteemed colleagues on another point, which involves the track itself. Bulldoze it. Tear it down, and start over.

Roger Penske had a vision of duplicating the track at Brooklyn, Michigan when he built the California Speedway. He got the length right, at 2 miles, but precious little else. There is not enough banking on the track. There is a lot of single groove racing, for the most part. Cars can run in separate grooves, but they can't pass in them. At least the new car can't.

The new car poses enough problems of it's own. Most of the teams still haven't been able to get a handle on the car, or to fix the handling problems therein. Only a few teams seem to have figured it out. Obviously the 18 car of Kyle Busch and crew chief Steve Addington have got it mostly figured out. The 99 car of Carl Edwards with crew chief Bob Osborne seem to have it somewhat figured out. And now the 48 car of Jimmie Johnson with crew chief Chad Knaus seem to have made a breakthrough as well.

The Pepsi 500 was started during the daytime, and finished under the lights. On the west coast, that's probably a fine idea, but back here in the east, that makes for a long night, especially when the race basically consists of follow the leader. The current configuration of the track at Fontana has shown itself to be a disaster.

Some solutions that I would offer: Make the track a high banked oval at the very least. Watching cars running at half throttle much of the laps in an attempt to keep from spinning out makes for bad racing. Better yet, tear down the track and start over. Go to a short track format with stadium seating all around, such as Bristol. Or, make it a 2.75 mile high banked oval, in other words, the track that makes Talladega look weak. Do one or the other, but just do something!

Another solution I would offer is to give California a different race date other than Labor Day, and give that date back to Darlington. NASCAR is all about tradition and history, and taking that race away from Darlington in the first place was a very big mistake, in my not so humble opinion. If Darlington is only worth one race date, let it be Labor Day. Darlington certainly is not situated in a major market, but it's only a couple of hours from cities like Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA, Charleston, SC, Columbia, SC, and Savannah, GA. Darlington always pleases the fans. There is awesome racing there, virtually every race that is run there. Tradition and history are things that old school fans appreciate, and NASCAR has really screwed up both of those by moving the Labor Day race to California. Attention: Brian France, get with the program please!

NASCAR has tried to expand too rapidly, I think. They want to have a track next to every major city in the US, but they haven't allowed the fan base to catch up with their greed yet. I say don't put a race in the New York City area, let them watch it on TV and then let them scream for a track on Long Island or somewhere. Let the demographics decide where you put tracks. Don't put a track where no one really cares about racing. Since 2001, NASCAR has had major exposure on several different TV networks, and as long as they keep that up, the sport will grow. Quit trying to slip in the back door in markets that don't really care about the sport. Wait until they are jumping up and down, screaming, and demanding that you put a track in their area. That will assure success.

In other words, Brian France needs to go back and look at what his father and grandfather did before him. Screwing with a good thing can make it all go down the drain. NASCAR was and is a good thing, but the more it's tinkered with, the worse it will get.

Let the drivers drive, let the car builders build cars, let the engine builders build engines. For the love of God, Brian France, let the racers race!

Is it really Panic Time for the 88 Team?

There has been a lot of buzz in the media and on the message boards over the last few weeks about the lackluster performance of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the 88 team. Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. has received much of the blame for the team's performance. Some of that blame can certainly be justified, but there have been many factors that have caused problems lately with the 88 team.

Earnhardt Jr. is desperately seeking a return to the early days of the season, where consistency was a hallmark of his on track performance. These days, it's not even so much about getting a win, but finishing in the top 10. Though a win at any time is a welcome event, right now the team needs to regain the consistency that it had earlier this season.

This week, the NASCAR traveling road show once again rolls into Fontana, California for the second race date at this 2 mile track. California was the site of one of Dale Jr.'s rare early season disasters. Caught up in a spin that started with teammate Casey Mears' spin, Earnhardt crashed, and had to eventually finish a many times red flagged race many laps down. Earnhardt hopes to break the trend of what has become a series of heartbreaks at California. Historically, California is not a track at which one would expect Dale Jr. to make a comeback.

Though there are problems with the 88 program, all is not lost. Though he's had only one top 10 finish since his win at Michigan, Dale Jr. has finished every race this season. Before any driver can win races, he has to finish them, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been finishing them. Even with the disappointing finishes, Dale Jr. remains in 3rd place in points. In order to clinch a spot in the Chase for the Cup, Dale Jr. only has to finish 40th or better on Sunday at California.

So far this year, Dale Jr. has not lost an engine during a race, a problem which basically doomed his chances of making the Chase last year. Dale Jr. is definitely racing with better equipment and better engineering this year than was available at Dale Earnhardt Inc. last year. Though many question his decision to bring in Tony Eury Jr. to be his crew chief, that decision was Dale Jr.'s and so far, their track record at Hendrick Motorsports is not really a bad one, with all things considered. Being 3rd in points, 24 races into the season, is a position that many other drivers would very much like to be in.

There basically is no reason for the doom and gloom, Dale Jr. fans. Yes, there have been missed opportunities, but we should all remember the high points that this season has shown us as well. A pole at Texas, a win at Michigan, and many, many laps led at other tracks is a huge improvement for Dale Jr. compared to the last couple of years. A position in the Chase is all but assured, and there have been other years when a chance at the Chase was either a long shot, or a total impossibility at this point in the season. Dale Jr. and the 88 team are alive and well, and is still a major threat to win all the marbles in 2008. Do they need to improve? Of course they do. There's always room for improvement in any program. Dale Jr. has the ability to overcome tough situations though, so it's still a little too early to count him out.

On a side note, NASCAR has placed Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards on probation through the end of the year as a result of their post race antics at Bristol on Saturday. Though many consider this a very minor slap on the wrist, or even a joke, I believe it is wise to think about the future implications of this ruling by the sanctioning body.

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are 1st and 2nd in points currently. Should any of Bristol's bad feelings spill over into another race, it's possible that NASCAR will penalize either or both of them with points, or, horror of horrors, being parked for a race. We all know that Kyle and Carl have anger management issues on the track. They have them off the track at times as well. I think it's just a matter of time before one or both of these personalities boils over and they do something that NASCAR might frown upon. Another scuffle like they had at Bristol will almost undoubtedly lead to much harsher penalties. Or will it? Since we're talking about the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, who knows?

The fun is just beginning! Let's see just how big this little rivalry will get. If either one gets a hefty points penalty, Dale Jr. and the rest of the Chase drivers will benefit from it.

The Leader of the Brat Pack

On Saturday night, Kyle Busch once again proved that it's not nice to race Kyle Busch hard, at least in Kyle's opinion.

His post race altercation with winner Carl Edwards just proved once again that maturity is not part of Kyle's character. On the cool down lap, he decided that Carl's bump and run move that helped Carl seal his victory in the Sharpie 500 warranted another bump of his own. Kyle's efforts only ended up with Kyle spinning out when Carl leaned back a little. During the post race interview, Kyle made the usual whiny noises that he makes when he has a victory snatched from his grasp.

Kyle may like to pretend that his own bump and run maneuvers are always completely above board and legitimate. I imagine others would not see things that way. Just ask Mr. Earnhardt what his thoughts were when Kyle spun him at Richmond. Kyle Busch seems to maintain a holier than thou attitude when it comes to his own dirty tactics on the track. As a matter of fact, very few, if any of Kyle's total 17 wins in 3 series have occurred without him physically pushing someone out of his way. In speaking about the Richmond incident with Earnhardt Jr., Kyle sarcastically said that "apparently racing Dale Jr. isn't allowed."

The real truth is, and Kyle has abundantly demonstrated this, is that racing Kyle Busch isn't allowed. What we saw on Saturday night at Bristol was just another predictable temper tantrum from the guy who likes to call himself "Rowdy". Carl Edward's bump and run was very clean by Bristol standards. Kyle got a little loose, but continued on and finished in second place. Had Kyle been spun out by Edwards, as Earnhardt Jr. was by Kyle at Richmond, Kyle might have had reason to be upset.

At Richmond, reporters tried to goad Dale Jr. into pointing a finger of blame at Kyle, and Dale Jr. refused to take the bait. An obviously frustrated Earnhardt Jr. refused to blame anyone, pointing out that he had not watched a replay and didn't want to pass judgment until he had taken time to review the situation. Contrast that with Kyle Busch' attempt to use his race car as a 3500 lb. fist and give Edwards a punch, especially after the race had concluded. Apologists keep pointing out that Kyle is only 23 years old. That explanation is getting old, and quite frankly lame. There are infantry platoon commanders, who have led their men in combat who are younger than Kyle Busch. Kyle has been at this game long enough to know better, and in my humble opinion, Kyle's behavior is not just annoying, it's down right shameful. Watching a grown man throw a tantrum is not a pretty sight to see. It's not even a pretty site when a preschool kid does it, but it's especially embarrassing when a grown man does it.

Nascar fans and journalists like to group their drivers in varying ways. There's the old school guys, like Bill Elliot or Kenny Schrader. We've had the young guns like Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne. Now it appears that we have the brat pack, of which I personally feel that Kyle Busch is the undisputed leader.

What Does It Take To Win a NASCAR Race?

How do you win a NASCAR race? To many, the answer is simple: Drive as fast as you can until the checkered flag waves. Turn left a lot, or right and left if it's a road course. What more does it take?

As it turns out, it takes a lot more than that. Before the drivers even put on their fire suits, they have to make sure they are sufficiently hydrated. With temperatures reaching or exceeding 120 degrees Fahrenheit inside the race cars, dehydration is a big problem. Dehydration can be a big problem if you're only in the car for 20 minutes, but can really be bad when you're in the car for 4 hours. Drivers have to be prepared to be in the car for at least that long in an average Sprint Cup race.

Winning races means having good equipment and good engineering behind that equipment. It doesn't always mean having the best of the best, but the equipment has to be good, in a relative sense. If you have an engine that's only going to run 400 miles out of a 500 mile race, that isn't good. If you are the driver, you don't really care if the engine can make it to 505 miles if all you need is for it to run 500 miles. Having the best equipment doesn't always guarantee a win though.

A common myth is that the car that wins the race is the fastest on the track. That absolutely is not true. In truth, the car that wins the race is leading when it crosses the start/finish line when the checkered flag waves. The reason why that car might be in that position has nothing to do with whether or not it's the fastest car on the track. How that driver got the car in that position could mean a lot of things. Did the driver push when he needed to and hold back when he didn't? Did he find the best groove around the track and follow it? Did he pit when he needed to, and get the right combination of tires and adjustments to his car? Did he get enough fuel on the last pit stop? Does he need to conserve fuel by backing off a little on the throttle when he can? If he runs a high line around the track instead of a low line, will that increase his overall speed?

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That's just a short list of all the things a driver has to think about while he's making laps at nearly 200 miles per hour. He's also got to think about whether or not he's given his crew chief good feedback about how the car is handling. The fastest car on the track with the wrong chassis setup will not win the race. He's also got to worry about whether or not he drank too much water or Gatorade before the race, and if he might have to have an accident inside his fire suit. He's got to think about whether or not his spotter is actually watching his exact position on the track, relative to other cars, or is he chatting it up with another spotter?

The driver can't really spend a lot of time worrying about other cars on the track, except the cars directly in front or behind him. If he's leading a car, he's got to think about how to stay in front of the other car. If he's approaching another car, he's got to figure out a way to pick his line around that car. A driver's work is never totally done as long as the car is on the track. The average race car driver has to make probably more decisions, in the blink of an eye, for 3 or 4 hours, than most of us will have to make in a 40 hour work week.

Luck, that most improbable of things, and probably the hardest to explain, has a lot to do with winning races. A driver can be leading a race by half a lap, and will be seemingly unstoppable. He might run over a piece of debris, and cut down a tire. At the very least, he will have to pit. In the worst case scenario, he will crash. He might cause a lot of other cars to crash as well. The engine might just let go. A belt might break, and a driver suddenly has no oil pressure. A million things can go wrong and ruin a perfectly good race.

Did the crew chief do his homework? How prepared is he to handle emergency situations like a blown tire or a major chassis problem? If you hit the wall, can he fix the car or will you have to go to the garage for major repairs?

Racing, much like life, is basically a crap shoot. You pay your money, your roll the dice. The drivers that win the most benefit from careful preparation and from having good people around them.

When the green flag drops, just about anything can happen. Every driver knows that, no matter how well prepared. Winning is having the best car on a given Sunday or Saturday night. It's also about being the best driver and the best crew on that given day.

Drivers and "Slumps"

The racing media has very interesting ideas of exactly what constitutes a slump. For some drivers, it can mean not winning in the last 3 or 4 races. For other drivers, it can mean going years without a win, but even then the word 'slump' is not used at all.

In Kyle Busch' recent win at Watkins Glen, more than a few media outlets reported the triumphant news that Kyle's slump was over. Slump? This guy has won 8 races this year. How can he accurately be described as having a slump? Maybe there were a few races where all did not go his way. Maybe the 8 wins weren't consecutive races, but even if he wins no more races this year, it can hardly be said that Kyle Busch has had a slump at any time this year.

Other drivers could more accurately be described as being in the midst of a slump, in my opinion. The two most obvious examples would have to be Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Here we are in August, and both drivers as of yet win less in 2008. Whereas Tony has been known to be a late starter, in other words not winning until later in the season, Tony's performance and luck have quite honestly been less than spectacular this season. The same could be said for Jeff Gordon, though as a multi time Daytona 500 winner, Jeff obviously is not known for starting late in the season.

Perceptions of certain drivers draw analysts to different conclusions about exactly what constitutes sub par performance. I think nobody is surprised when Jimmie Johnson wins a race at any track, but if say, Michael Waltrip were to win at Watkins Glen, that would really be news.

Many analysts and fans of the sport scoff at certain driver's chances of winning at particular tracks. A few years ago, I doubt that anyone seriously considered the chances of Ward Burton winning the Daytona 500, yet that's exactly what he did. This year's 500 winner, Ryan Newman probably wasn't tops on any one's picks either, yet he did win. Most people consider Dale Earnhardt Jr. strictly a restrictor plate track specialist, yet he's won at tracks like Bristol, Dover and Richmond.

Speaking of Ryan Newman. A couple of weeks ago former Penske teammate Rusty Wallace was telling anyone who would listen that Newman had been fired by Penske. It's true that other than that Daytona 500 win, Ryan has not had the greatest of seasons. I have to ask, however, how many Daytona 500 winners get fired the same year they win the Daytona 500? Not many, I would suppose. In 1998, Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500, and didn't win another race all season. It's true, Ryan Newman doesn't exactly have the celebrity or credentials that Earnhardt had, but I seriously doubt that Roger Penske would fire his Daytona 500 winning driver. Penske pretty much said that Rusty Wallace' claims were inaccurate. Message to Rusty: We all know you don't like Newman, but quit making yourself look like a fool by spreading unfounded rumors.

I think every driver at this level of racing either feels like their in a slump or they don't. There are not many athletes more competitive than Sprint Cup drivers. Most drivers can be broken down into two categories: Those who blame their lack of performance on other factors, such as their teams or their equipment, or their competitors. Then there are those who question everything, but are likely not to put blame on any other component of their performance until they have examined their own efforts. The efforts involved does not just mean driving a race car as fast as they can for 500 miles. It also means ascertaining whether they are communicating effectively with their crew chiefs and spotters. It also means pushing when it's time to push, or laying back when it's time to lay back. In other words, its about driving smart.

True champions in this sport generally fall into the latter category. It's important for a driver to have total confidence in himself, but when he starts blaming his mistakes on other drivers or his own team or equipment. Any driver can have a slump, but it's just as important for the driver to examine his own input into the problem before laying the blame on anyone or anything else.

Your Chance To Help Out A Worthy Cause!

Our friend Tiredawg has done it again! A custom, one off die-cast creation from the fantastic Garz Karz and it can be all yours! All you have to do is bid early, bid often, and bid with a giving heart, and this one of a kind creation can be all yours, and you will help some special kids have a once in a lifetime experience.

Please click here to go to this very special auction.

As he did before, Tiredawg created this die-cast to be sold at auction, and 100 per cent of the proceeds will go to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, which was created by the Petty family in memory of Adam Petty. It was always Adam's dream to help children with special needs, and unfortunately, Adam Petty never lived long enough to fully realize that dream. His parents, Kyle and Patti Petty, and grandfather Richard Petty, the winningest driver ever in the history of Nascar, started the VJGC in order to give very sick children a chance to live out their dreams.

Folks, the Pettys give with all their hearts to help children who really need special care, and the Tiredawg gives with all his heart to make these very special creations available. He does not make one penny off of these special cars that he creates, because all proceeds go directly to the Victory Junction Gang Camp. His first endeavor a few weeks ago was very successful, and we need to make sure that his second auction goes just as well or better. This is a very special opportunity for any die-cast collector or NASCAR fan to own a one of a kind die-cast race car, and to help out a very worthy cause.

As you can see, the left half of the car shows traditional Petty colors, the classic Petty blue, and one of my favorite features, the "426 C.I." logo on the hood, which signifies the championship winning 426 Hemi engine. Richard Petty won a lot of races with this paint scheme, and with the famous 426. Richard Petty won a total of 200 races and 7 championships in that famous 43.

The right side of the car shows classic Earnhardt colors, the classic black number 3 GM Goodwrench Service paint scheme in which Dale Earnhardt won so many of his 76 races and 7 championships.

Don't miss out on a chance to own a very special custom die-cast race car, and to give to a very worthy charity at the same time. This is a very special deal, because you can give with your heart and gain a very special piece of NASCAR memorabilia at the same time.

What's the secret for Toyota's success?

In only their second year in the elite division of Nascar racing, Toyota seems to be unstoppable. After a very dismal rookie year, the sport's first Japanese based manufacturer has literally taken the Sprint Cup series by storm.

9 wins so far in 2008, as opposed to 0 wins in 2007 is certainly a way to prove that you've gotten your program over the hump. The biggest noticeable change has been Joe Gibbs Racing's entry into the Toyota program. In the winter of 2007, and even before that, chief engine guru Mark Cronquist apparently performed some magic on the power plants that have powered Joe Gibbs racing to 9 cup wins thus far this season. Wizardry might be a more accurate term.

One has to wonder, however, why the other Toyota teams have not seemed to benefit as much from Cronquist's coup. Team Red Bull, with Brian Vickers has come close. Denny Hamlin, who drives for JGR in the 11 car has won one time. Tony Stewart, who used to be the franchise driver for JGR, has not won at all. Newcomer Kyle Busch has won 8 times, and is the championship points leader.

Michael Waltrip Racing basically spearheaded the Toyota program in it's entry into Cup racing. Michael and his teammates have done better this year than they did in 2007, but have never been a threat to win a race this year. Joe Gibbs Racing certainly has more history with wins and championships than MWR does, but does that mean that Toyota has been giving JGR more than other teams? One wonders. No one who has ever won a championship at JGR has even won a race yet with Toyota in Cup. As a matter of fact, Tony Stewart returns to Chevrolet next year with his own team, under the banner of Stewart-Haas Racing. One wonders if Tony is leaving just because he craved ownership or Chevrolet so much, that he would abandon Nascar's most successful manufacturer?

I certainly don't have the answers to any of these questions. What I do know is that Nascar has long had a problem with one manufacturer dominating all the others. Nascar has taken steps in the Nationwide series, by mandating that the Toyota teams use a spacer, much like a restrictor plate between the carburetor and the intake manifold on the racing engines. Nascar has taken no such steps thus far in the Cup series.

Back in the old days, which weren't so long ago, Nascar would notice one particular manufacturer winning more races than the others were. Mostly, we're just talking about Ford, Chevrolet, and Pontiac here. When Dodge re-entered the sport a few years ago, Nascar tried to make sure that Dodge got some breaks too. Pontiac left, and now Toyota's here, but so far this year, I'm seeing very little effort on the part of Nascar to regulate parity between the manufacturers. Supposedly the new car, or what was previously known as the Car Of Tomorrow was supposed to accomplish that goal.

I have read various claims that Toyota engines make anywhere from 15 to 40 more horsepower than any of the other engines. I don't know that to be true, but I suspect that the Toyota engines are definitely making more horsepower than they were last year. That's totally understandable with the entry of Joe Gibbs Racing and Mark Cronquist into the equation. But I must ask the question: Does Toyota indeed have an advantage? And given the long, colorful history of Nascar, is that what Nascar wants? If they do, then why?

Is having one particular manufacturer being dominant what Nascar wants in 2008 and beyond?

Kyle Busch won 4 races with arguably the most successful race team in the last decade and a half, Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle was fired last year to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr, the most popular driver in the sport for the last several years. Kyle found a new home with Gibbs and Toyota, and so far has made the most of it. He leads in points and wins, and isn't very humble about it, nor should he be required to be. The "in your face" tactics toward both Hendrick and Earnhardt probably are very satisying to Kyle, and I'm glad he's found success.

Humility has a way of finding cocky drivers though. Kyle Busch, enjoy it while you can.

Age Old Questions

Probably the biggest question that's been asked after the Watkins Glen race last week, is what's up with Tony Eury Jr., crew chief for Dale Earnhardt's 88 Amp Energy Drink / National Guard team. I've seen a lot of answers, from that Tony Jr. is a bonehead, to Dale Jr. just can't drive a race car. I have to laugh at all of these responses.

I too disagreed with Tony Jr.'s strategy of trying to keep Dale Jr. out for not one, but two green flag runs just a little too long. Boneheaded, you say? I doubt it.

Tony Eury Jr. has had the top job for a few years now, and I'm certainly not saying he's the greatest crew chief out there, but besides who his cousins are, there has to be reason for him to be running that team. Though it might not sound like it, especially during the races, should you happen to listen in on the radio conversations between the two Jr.'s, there is obviously a lot of trust there.

Trust, like all things worthwhile in life, takes time to develop and to totally gel. Though Tony Jr. and Dale Jr. have known each other all their lives, they have only been working in their current capacities for a few years. Both are new guys at Hendrick Motorsports this year, and for much of the season have been the Hendrick marquis team. They've been highest in points, up until Watkins Glen, and have a points win, which is one more than teammate Jeff Gordon has this year. I believe, if you sit down and analyze the facts, the 88 team has done very well for itself this year. Certainly both driver and crew chief have made mistakes, and maybe more than they need to be making to assure themselves of a championship. But drivers and crew chiefs are human. So far this year, Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. have made some mistakes. Apparently Kyle Busch and Steve Addington have made fewer mistakes. Apparently Toyota found something in the offseason that Chevrolet didn't find. There are so many factors going on here that they are nearly impossible to count and credit or discredit.

Kyle Busch is having a career year. He's won 8 races in the Cup series, and any driver would love to have that record. It doesn't mean that he will win the championship, by any means. There are still far to many races to be run.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. have some things they need to sort out. I know they do, and so do they. I do think, however, that the consistency that Dale Jr. has shown so far this year, with a brand new team and a brand new owner, brand new engines and cars, shows us that even if the championship doesn't happen this year, it's surely going to happen very soon.

Examining Chase Possible drivers, Part Two

Here's some more. If you like it or don't like it, then feel free to contact me.

8. Greg Biffle. Too much Ford, too much not being consistent. Fords seem to have a problem this year, or at least some of them do.

9. Tony Stewart. Tony's due to win anytime now. He probably will, but it might be too little too late. The Toyotas are strong, but how strong is Tony? He's headed back to Chevy anyway.

10. Denny Hamlin. Denny should have won far more than he has so far this year. His teammate, Kyle Busch hasn't had too many problems winning. I can't figure out why Denny has basically not won but once this year.

11. Kevin Harvick. Kevin should have won a lot more than he has so far, but he's not had the car or the crew chief, or maybe just not enough fans. It's hard to say.

12. Clint Bowyer. He's hanging on. Clint will eventually win a championship if he can just win more races. He's a good guy. He probably will win it all one day.

13. Matt Kenseth. We just hardly ever hear from the Quiet One from Wisconsin. He's won it all before, and he might sneak back up and do it again.

14. David Ragan. He's a media favorite, but not experienced as much as he needs to be to win it all this year. Give him a few years, and he might do it.

Examining Chase Possible drivers, Part One

Just an informal examination of the Chase possibilities for Drivers that currently have a shot at the Chase for the Cup.

1. Kyle Busch. He's the media's favorite, and has won 7 races this year for his new owner, Joe Gibbs. Kyle seems to do exactly everything right except when he does everything wrong. He can win a race and still irritate fans, even his own, just by his force of personality that seems to run from none to sarcastic, but no better than that.

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. He's run under the radar, according to at least one article I've recently read. He's won one race but manages to stay 2nd in points. Dale Jr. is probably feeling more pressure than he has in his entire career, according to the media and the press. According to Dale Jr., he's just having fun.

3. Carl Edwards. He's won 4 races now, and treated us all to his famous back flips. Were he to win the Cup Championship, I'd love to see him do a two and a half gainer off the stage at the Waldorf-Astoria, in a tuxedo.

4. Jimmie Johnson, who won all there was to win last year, except what his teammate, Jeff Gordon won. Jimmie only has 2 wins this year, but Jimmie and Chad Knaus seem to have figured out to race this new car. I just hope Jimmie doesn't go golfing before the end of the season.

5. Jeff Burton. How can you not like Jeff Burton? He's one of the most honest guys in the garage. He's won a lot of races, not really this year, but in his career. Right now he's the top guy at Richard Childress Racing, in number of points. Harvick fans are a little upset about that too.

6. Jeff Gordon. It's almost the middle of August, and Jeff hasn't won a race yet this year. Think about the 'yet' part though. Watkins Glen? He's even money to me to win the race.

7. Kasey Kahne. He's a two time race winner in 2008, but none of the Dodges has seen any real consistency this year. They might win a race, but they might finish 35th or worse at the next race. Are there cup holders in that car for the Budweiser?

More in a day or two.

New Feature here.

Careful readers of this blog maybe sometimes miss some of the links that I post on the left side and at the bottom, so I will add a plug for this blog's latest feature, the Jimmy C Message Board. This board is primarily about Nascar, of course, and it's a place where you can discuss racing. There are also forums for general discussion, where you can talk about just about anything. There is also a Blogging forum, where you can discuss this blog, your own, or anyone else's. We have a Rant and Rave forum, where you may just let it all hang out, within reason of course!

Right now, this is not a board you have to join in order to post. You may register, of course, and that makes posting an easier process. We have also included another special feature, which is our Semi-Private forum. You must be a member of the authorized group not only to post here, but to read it as well. The SP forum is largely by invitation only, so you will need to either know a friend who is already a member there, or you will have to convince the forum moderator that you can can be trusted not to violate forum policies, such as spamming, sexual content, or just plain stupidity such as hatred.

All forums are moderated. Our intention here was to have a safe place where good people can talk about just about anything on their minds. This forum is not driver specific, and you may talk about any driver or team that you wish to. New forums will be added as the desire for them may dictate.

There are many great message boards out there. Some of them are driver specific, but for now ours won't be. All I ask is that we keep this on a relatively PG rated format. Spammers and their messages will be removed. People posting porn or links to porn will be removed. People making personal attacks on other posters will be removed. If you've ever been a member of a driver's message board, you already know the drill. Behave as if your favorite young child were reading everything you write, and you will be fine.

As I have said, you do not need to be a member read or to post, except in our Semi-Private forum. The Racing, General Discussion, Blogging, and Rant and Rave forums are open to all. This is an experiment that we hope to build upon and create a comfortable, safe environment for all who participate.

Come join us, won't you?

Trouble in Paradise?

As anyone knows who's read the blog or seen my posts in various places, I am a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. That's not debatable. I will defend Dale Jr. as long as he wants to drive a race car or own a racing team. He's a very likable man, and has a lot of talent. He's his own man, not just Dale's son, but he has a career and business interests all his own.

After the Pocono race on Sunday, Dale Jr. reportedly exited his 88 Amp Energy Drink / National Guard Chevrolet and slammed his helmet to the ground. Frustration is expected from a driver who had a top 5 car all day and finished 12th, coasting over the finish line out of fuel. But it apparently was not the fuel issue that had Nascar's most popular driver upset.

In the closing laps of the race, Dale Jr.'s car kept getting looser, or to the uninformed, the rear wheels did not want to stay attached to the pavement as Earnhardt Jr. negotiated Pocono's 3 tight corners. Dale Jr. complained about that loose condition on his last pit stop, and apparently his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., made changes that actually loosened the car further, rather than tightened it up. Fuel mileage aside, and having a top 15 finish, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was obviously very frustrated and annoyed.

Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. are cousins. They have been known to fight and bicker, because in truth, they are like brothers. They grew up together. Tony Jr. took over for his father as crew chief for Dale Jr. when his father, Tony Eury Sr. relinquished the top crew job. In 2004, Dale Jr. won a lot of races, but things fell apart between Tony Jr. and Dale. As a result, they finished the season without the much sought championship and were basically not on speaking terms with each other.

2005 brought Dale Jr. new crew chiefs, and not much success on the track. In 2006, it was announced that Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. had patched up their relationship, and Tony Jr. would be on top of the pit box. The two have been together since then, except for brief stints where Tony Gibson, currently the crew chief for Dale Jr.'s old ride, the 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet.

In 2008, Dale Jr. left the company that his father had built to allow his children to have a place to race. In his move to Rick Hendrick Motorsports, he insisted that Tony Eury Jr. be his crew chief for 2008. After winning the Budweiser Shootout, and a Daytona qualifying race, Dale Jr. has run a rather consistent season, finally winning a points race at Michigan, just barely.

Over the last couple of weeks, at both Indianapolis and Pocono, Dale Jr. has not been very happy with all of his crew chief's decisions. At Pocono, Dale Jr. was noticibly upset. Is this the beginning of another split with Tony Jr.? We all certainly hope not, but one has to wonder.

Darien Grubb, who has filled in as crew chief for other teams at Hendrick Motorports, is in his own right a race winning crew chief. He spends a lot of time on the 88 pit box during the races. What he and Tony Eury Jr. talk about during the races is not known, or even if they talk at all. One would assume that Darien has some input, but at exactly what level, I don't know.

I guess what I'm getting at is the age old question for every Dale Jr. fan. Do the cousins work well together, really? Is the crew chief getting the wrong clues from the driver? Is the driver not giving good feedback to the crew chief? Should Jr. decide that family loyalty just isn't enough, and work toward winning races and championships at all costs, regardless of who's calling the shots on top of the pit box? I don't know the answers at all.

My hopes are that Rick Hendrick listened to Dale Jr. on the radio the last couple of weeks. I hope that this week, before heading to Watkins Glen, Rick will sit down with Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. and talk out what they need to do to inprove the perfomance of the team. The 88 car is currently 2nd in points, and though that's a great thing, they will have to be nearly perfect for the final races of the season, during the Chase for the Cup, to have even a chance of winning the championship. The main thing is that the driver and the crew chief have GOT to be on the same page during the race. The crew chief needs to get good information from the driver, and the driver has to be able to trust his crew chief.

I'm not sure that Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. are at that level yet, at least on trust. I hope they will be able to make it so for the remaining races this season.

If you need a new home on the Internet

Make it here. The New Jeff Gordon Pit Board is a great place to be. You don't necessarily have to be a fan of the guy that's won 80 something races and 4 championships, but If you want to meet nice people who love Nascar, this is the place to be. Heck, I'm a fan of the 88, but I'm a member of the Jeff Gordon board, because I've met some great people there. The person that started it just wanted a nice place for people to meet and talk. We meet there and talk.

There are a lot of boards devoted to a lot of different things on the Net. If you like to talk about Nascar, go check out the Jeff Gordon Pit board. You'll have fun there, even if you're not the greatest Jeff Gordon fan in the universe.

In other news, my cable TV is not operational right now. I just chatted with a customer service rep, and she told me there had been massive storm damage in my area this past weekend. That's funny, because I did not see a drop of rain here. I did not hear any thunder, or see anything like lightening in the sky. Things that make you want to say "huh."

Here's some stats on the drivers after Pocono. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch have not won every race this season, contrary to what you might see on TV. Kasey Kahne has won a race. So has Kurt Busch. So has Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jimmie Johnson's won two, Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500, and yet he's leaving the 12 after this year. Denny Hamlin has won a race. So has Jeff Burton. It's just Nascar, and things happen.

Next week we go to the road course at Watkins Glen, and we once again test the drivers on their ability to turn right as well as left. Jeff Gordon is tied with Tony Stewart with 4 wins each at this track. Everyone says Tony is due to win a race, but I really think that Jeff is due this time. Hendrick horsepower and Jeff's skills as a road racer make him my current favorite this week.

I guess we'll just have to see though. I used to hate road course races, but now I look forward to them. We get to see our drivers shine on tracks they don't run most of the time. Jeff Gordon is a true racer, and he can win on virtually any track.

R.I.P, Skip Caray

I know this is a departure from the normal Nascar stuff, but I read today with great sadness that longtime announcer for the Atlanta Braves, Skip Carey died in his sleep yesterday at age 68.

Since I was a child, I've loved to listen to baseball games on the radio. Baseball does, or at least used to have the perfect pace for radio. Skip Caray was always one of those announcers that made you feel like you were at the park, watching the game.

Skip certainly had the pedigree for being a great baseball announcer. His father, Harry, was one of the most famous baseball announcers of all time, having served as the voice of the Chicago Cubs for many years. I used to listen to Harry when I was a kid, and that's probably why I proudly wear, among others, a Cubs hat to this day.

Skip is survived by his wife and 4 children, two of whom are also professional broadcasters. Son Chip is an announcer for the Braves for TBS. Son Josh calls games for the Class A Rome Braves.

I will always remember Skip Caray's humor and his ability to make even a boring game interesting. Many times, I think we as sports fans just never appreciate the people who bring us the events until they are gone. Fans of the great Jack Buck probably know what I'm talking about. I'm still a huge fan of his son Joe though. Growing up in the Upstate area of South Carolina, I listened to long time announcer Jim Phillips call the Clemson football games on the radio. I had the pleasure of meeting Jim several years ago, when I was doing some work on the campus at Clemson University. Jim didn't know me from Adam, but he was very gracious and chatted with me for a few minutes. When he died suddenly a few years ago, I was very saddened, because for me, listening to a football game on the radio would never be the same again.

I feel much the same way about the Braves games now. I'll still watch and listen, and Pete Van Wieren and Joe Simpson have always done a great job. But it's just never going to be quite the same without Skip.

Was there a secret memo from Nascar?

Due to prior commitments, I did not get to watch much of Sunday's race at Pocono on TV, but I did get to hear roughly one third of the actual race coverage on Motor Racing Network, Nascar's "Voice of Nascar" radio program. I like MRN and all the crew. They provide the next best thing to actually watching a race, and MRN's coverage has always been top notch.

But I've got a question to ask. I don't remember the particular details, but on two different occasions, I heard of a driver making contact with the wall or with another driver's car, and having to come to pit road to change tires. The MRN guys were stepping all over themselves to make it very clear that the tire damage was caused by a fender rub, or contact with the wall, and most definitely NOT because Goodyear had provided an inferior product, which to many seemed to be the case at last week's Indianapolis race.

I am not sure of the exact details of MRN's relationship with Nascar. MRN is not the only service which provides radio coverage of Nascar events. Performance Racing Network also covers a handful of races for Nascar. I assume that Nascar licenses the radio broadcasting rights to both networks, and as such, probably have a clause in their respective contracts that Nascar is indeed the star of the show, as is Nascar's right, it would seem.

The broadcasters seemed to go overboard about the tire deal though. Though obviously I wasn't at the track or in the broadcast booth, I had images in my mind of sheets of paper posted within view of everyone who had a microphone that read, in very large print: REMEMBER! IF ANYONE HAS TIRE PROBLEMS TODAY, IT'S NOT GOODYEAR'S OR NASCAR'S FAULT!"

I have no way of knowing for sure whether this was the case or not, but I had to laugh out loud when several of the broadcasters, including the anchor, turn reporter and pit reporter all repeated the same thing: "The tire had problems because of damage from the wall or from a collision with another car. It was not because the tire was a bad tire."

I know that many people, including myself, have been critical of the way Nascar and Goodyear basically screwed up the second biggest race of the year at Indianapolis. I wasn't then, nor am I now willing to condemn both entities as being washed up though. Even multi billion dollar corporations make mistakes now and then, and Indianapolis was an embarrassment for both companies, without a doubt. But one has to wonder about what was said prior to the race at Pocono, and who said it, and what penalties would be levied if the instructions weren't carried out to the letter. All I know is that the MRN reporters literally took turns making sure that neither Nascar nor Goodyear were to blame for any tire problems in yesterday's race.

I'm sure that the problems that occurred at Indy will be ironed out before next year's race. I imagine there will be adequate testing there before next July. This year, only 3 drivers tested there for Goodyear, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was one of them. Dale Jr. said that tires were wearing out after 5 laps, and he thought at the time that well, heck, this is just a test, Goodyear will fix this before we actually race here. It appears that Goodyear knew that they had a problem with the Indy tire well before the actual race, but apparently took no measures to fix the problem. Why that was allowed to happen, I have no idea, but I doubt that it will happen, at least at Indianapolis, ever again.

A lot of people have put blame for the tire problems on the new car, or what used to be referred to as the Car of Tomorow. It's heavier, has a higher center of gravity, and puts much more weight on the right side of the car in the corners than did the old car. Nascar has decreed that the new car is here to stay, and I imagine this has created nightmares for Goodyear's research and development people trying to make racing tires that will work with the new car.

What I see as a possible solution for this is that Nascar and Goodyear work in conjunction more on tire testing. Goodyear hires it's own test drivers, and Nascar, through the actual racing teams, provides a test car from every manufacturer for Goodyear's use. Goodyear, with their dedicated team of test drivers, will test on every track at which Nascar runs races. They test 180 days a year, if necessary. Goodyear will be able to try what they think will be their best tire, and if that tire doesn't work, they make a new one and test them again. The actual racing teams will be allowed to test as well, as they have in the past, with whatever Goodyear determines to be the tire they will use for the actual race.

Will this cost more money? Of course it will. But in the long run, Nascar and Goodyear should reap the rewards of putting on better races than the debacle which was the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

The Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 from Pocono: It's Anybody's Race.

With NASCAR's longest stretch and NASCAR's tightest corners, at least from an oval-track point of view, Pocono gives it all for your enjoyment!

This is the second time our NASCAR friends visit Pocono this season. It's one of the tracks closest to the world's biggest market, New York City. It's also a very unique track. There are only three corners instead of the traditional four. Yes, it's a triangle. It's somewhat superspeedway and somewhat road course.

Of the current drivers, Bill Elliot has won here more than anyone, with a total of five wins. Jeff Gordon has won here four times, and Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte have both won at Pocono three times.

Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeremy Mayfield, Terry Labonte, Kurt Busch, and Kasey Kahne have each won twice.

Pocono is one of those tracks that makes purists ask one question, "Why do we run here twice?"

The answer is simple.

Besides Watkins Glen, Pocono is the closest track to New York City, the country's largest market. Pocono has two race dates until someone gets stupid and lets NASCAR build a track on Staten Island.

Not that a New York City connection would be bad. I say build a short track, out in the hinterlands of New Jersey, and make it as close to Bristol as they can make it. High banked turns, maybe one-half or three-fourths miles in length.

Put a roof over it, just to make sure all the racing that is advertised will happen. It can be done. Put in about 250,000 seats, and make it the world's largest rain free arena. It could be done.

I like Pocono and I hate it at the same time. I like it because it's a challenge to the best stock-car drivers in the world, but I hate it because I've seen some good drivers in bad accidents on this track.

I just pray that we don't see any bad accidents this week.

Champion Teams Vs. Also Rans

First of all, forgive me. As a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, I feel like I must make a few comparisons between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.

The two drivers are teammates this year. The drive the same races, so it's doubtful that either one of the above mentioned drivers get to hear much of the radio conversations that go on throughout the race between driver and crew chief. Of course I mean they don't get to hear what the other guy is doing, most of the time.

Jimmie Johnson is a 2 time Cup winner who has an almost magical relationship with his crew chief, Chad Knaus. Jimmie and Chad almost seem to complete each others sentences on the radio. Chad has the ability to anticipate Jimmie's wishes for making the car run better. Such is not always the same for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr.

Dale Jr. has not always been known as the greatest of communicators on the race track. It's little wonder, because he's a very busy man out on the track. Dale Jr. gives feedback on the car, but sometimes it appears to me that Tony Jr. is making an educated guess at best about how to adjust the car the next time Dale Jr. pits. Sometimes Tony Eury Jr.'s decisions help Dale Jr. Sometimes they don't. Chad does much the same thing, but it would appear that most of the time, Chad's adjustments work to the benefit of the 48 team, while somewhat more frequently, Tony Jr.'s adjustments work to the detriment of the 88 car. All racing is a fine line between getting the car right and not quite hitting the mark, but Chad and Jimmie have an advantage here, it would seem, because Chad almost always makes the car better, it would seem.

I'm walking a fine line myself here, because Dale Jr. currently runs 2nd place in points, which is better than Jimmie or Jeff Gordon or the forgotten member of Hendrick Motorsports, Casey Mears. Dale Jr. is certainly running much better this year than he has over the last couple of years at Dale Earnhardt Inc. That is beyond dispute. But I fear that Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. lack the communication to seal the deal with a Cup this year. I hope, desparately, that I am wrong, but I just don't see the cohesiveness on the 88 team that I'm seeing on the 48 team so far. The situation is much improved, but there's a couple of places where they just don't seem to be clicking along on all cylinders.

Driver and crew chief disagree over the number of tires to be taken on a pit stop. Net result, lots of track position lost, and not enough time to make it all up.

Driver and crew chief not clear over what will be done in the pits. Driver expects more time, and subsequently leaves the pit a fraction of a second over when he would have, had he known all the details.

I've seen a little bit of all of this so far this season on the 88 team.

I'm proud of my favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and for the job he's doing at Hendrick Motorsports. They are much improved over last year, and they are still a championship contender. I just think that they need to tighten up the communication a little to make it all come together. It's part driver and it's part crew chief. If they get the kind of chatter over the radio that I've listened to between Jimmie and Chad, I think they'll win it.

But they've got to communicate first. The driver, crew chief, and the entire team all have to be on the same page, every single pitstop. There is virtually no room for errors when it comes to winning the Cup. Every person has to be perfect almost every week.

Dale Jr. can win it, but they need to make sure they all know what's going on in the pits.

A New Champion This year?

It's possible. Currently Kyle Busch is leading by 253 points over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Neither has ever won a cup championship before. In 3rd place, only 18 points behind Dale Jr., is another driver who has never won the cup, by the name of Jeff Burton.

When the Chase for the Cup starts after the 2nd Richmond race, The points will be reset, but Kyle Busch will have an obvious advantage, with currently 70 bonus points, 10 each for each race won so far. As we saw yesterday at Indianapolis, Kyle Busch is not invincible. Kyle Busch can be beaten, and there are a lot of drivers that are perfectly capable of beating Kyle at any given race track.

I don't do lists here, or top 10 picks, but in my humble opinion, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, and Brian Vickers are the most improved drivers in 2008, compared to their 2007 seasons. Kyle obviously has found much success with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Dale Jr. has found much in the way of more consistent finishes at Hendrick Motorsports. Brian Vickers and David Ragan are finishing much more consistently than they have in recent years. Jimmie Johnson is moving closer to the top of the standings because he currently has 2 wins for HMS. There are a lot of drivers in play for the championship this year.

I have a personal favorite for the Cup Champion of 2008. It's personal, and it's biased, but I do believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making major progress in getting a handle on the New car and all the troublesome things that have come with it. While Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte were competing for a championship last year, Tony Eury Jr. and Darien Grubb were concentrating on figuring out the new car. It's possible that by concentrating on winning the championship in 2007, the 24 and 48 teams got behind on their strategy of winning in 2008. Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson seem to have caught up, at least somewhat. The disaster that passed for a race yesterday at Indianapolis is hardly a true test of what exactly the 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team has actually accomplished though.

It's pie in the sky time. I believe that Kyle Busch's domination of the top series in Nascar will dwindle as crunch time gets closer. Kyle appears to be a pretty emotional guy, and those emotions will eventually get him in trouble. One of these days, in the heat of the moment, Kyle will do something that even Nascar can't ignore. Dale Earnhardt Jr., in contrast, seems to have a lot of ice water in his veins this year. He doesn't ruffle easily. He gets frustrated, but he takes it out by cursing on the radio, and not by wrecking other cars on the track. In my opinion, Dale Jr. has truly achieved Cool. Let Kyle Busch sew his own curtain of defeat.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a definite shot at the Cup Championship this year. I will be cheering him on, because the guy currently in first place makes me want to vomit.