NASCAR Eclectic

All kidding aside

2009-11-26T07:06:00.004-05:00

Photo courtesy
NASCAR Media.com

Who is Chad trying to kid? Only having "light conversation" concerning his contract with Hendrick. First of all, his current contract runs through the 2010 season so why would there be table talk now ? Secondly, can you possibly imagine Knaus separating from the Hendrick empire?
Yeah Okay.... "I don't have a new contract, and we've barely had enough conversation for me to agree to anything." Like he'd even remotely disagree. Please Chad... keep it real... "you never know what will happen. There are so many what-ifs."
What if???
He and Jimmy can go on the road as a comedy duo.

The Morning After

2009-11-23T06:25:00.002-05:00

The morning after of what many feel is one of NASCAR's worst seasons. On the other hand records have been set with Johnson taking four titles back to back and Hendrick getting the 1, 2, 3 punch. Disgusting to many and perhaps has cast a dark shadow over the sport. I'm just another NASCAR fan and I too am not pleased with the dominance by two drivers.. JJ and K. Busch. Two of the least popular drivers but possibly the best the sport has ever seen. It's like a bad hangover after a good drunk.

Pre-Season Promo

2009-02-23T05:19:00.003-05:00

Local promoter and owner of Albany/Saratoga Speedway Bruce Richards has developed some super ideas to help fans, drivers, owners and sponsors. He set up this show at a local mall this weekend at no charge to the owners, he has dropped some of the entry fees for '09 and has several ideas for ticket give aways for the fans. He's no fool... all this in the face of bad economics, but he has a full entry field for the season, something other local Speedways can't claim, and has even added Saturday night racing for the Sprint Cars.

He and I had coffee together Saturday morning and he had several suggestions on photo ideas. One would be to set up a cut-out car for kids and adults too I suppose, to sit in and have their picture taken for a few bucks. Also have driver autograph sessions with photos.. nothing new to NASCAR tracks, but not seen very often at local tracks. I told Bruce I'm willing to try anything.

On a roll Matty... Vegas too?!

Timing

2009-02-15T19:38:00.004-05:00

Unfortunately.

The only cool thing about Matt Kenseth winning the Daytona 500 is he started 43rd. That made it somewhat worthwhile. He had an amazing march to the front making it up into the top ten somewhere around lap 35 and Tony Stewart wasn't far behind him landing himself a respectable 8th place finish in his debut of Stewart Haas Racing. Team mate and employee of Smoke's, Ryan Newman didn't fare as well in 36th, but I expect to see good things outa that Hendrick powered Army #39 as the season goes on.

Speaking of Hendrick... chalk one up for Jr. Nice move Dale. Curious to see the jib jab about that. In my opinion it was just pure frustration. Nice crash though!!

Hometown Hero

2008-05-03T05:28:00.007-04:00

Photo Credit NASCAR Media

Slumber overtook my desire to see the finish to the Lipton Tea 250 at Richmond. I even snoozed during the afternoon yesterday with hopes of seeing the Nationwide race in it's entirety, but when one rises long before the birds do on a daily basis, by 9:00 pm the Sandman is dumping bags of the stuff on my eyes.

I am happy for Denny Hamlin, JGR and the Virginian folks who wanted to see their hometown hero in Victory Lane. A feel good finish that I missed... I am staying awake tonight if I need to super glue my eyes open.

Kudos to Steve Wallace for finally finishing a race.

A cold day in hell....

2009-01-21T18:46:00.008-05:00

Nice photo heh... yeah well with the economy continuing to falter many of us may find ourselves using these again. I personally like this relic.

Daytona is so close!! Nice and warm there.

All Nighter

2009-01-25T04:23:00.003-05:00

With several Cup drivers competing in this years marathon race I am following it closer than I normally would. A.J. Allmendinger was leading late last night when he developed engine trouble... too bad for the kid. He has tons of potential but cannot get a break. Latest news is the Ganassi Team with Dixon, Pruett and Montoya is running up front. That's no surprise.

Tune in to the Speed Channel at 7:00 am for live coverage.

Future

2009-01-23T05:52:00.004-05:00

Photo courtesy of
NASCAR Media.com

Thursday was NASCAR's (poor) state of the sport address.
It seems Mr. France took full charge as the reining head honcho and made it clear as Mike Helton sat on the bench.

I don't envy Brian's position right now as it just seems to be the repetitive barrage of questions by the hungry Media folk. He'll do the right things and make solid choices... at least we better hope and pray he does. Perhaps he and Barrack should have lunch.

Yes Mr. Esquire... I am a member of NASCAR Media and have written permission to use their photos.

A Long Winter

2009-01-12T04:26:00.005-05:00

My Golden Retriever "Chase"

The last post was three months ago. Like the rest of the world, I too have been going through many changes. I watch and read as NASCAR also rolls with the economic downturn with massive team layoffs and mergers. It's hitting nearly every market.

The construction industry is as slow as I've seen it in my 30 year career. As a self employed contractor with an established client base it's rare for me to be out of work, but this is proving to be a very long winter.

I fight and never give up and my constant perseverance pays off with finding small jobs. These are not paying the bills, but it keeps things going in a forward motion.

We will get through this.

"I CAN'T DRIVE 55"

2007-02-15T05:39:00.000-05:00

MIKEY, MIKEY, MIKEY! I'M AT A LOSS FOR WORDS ON THIS ONE. INDEFINITE SUSPENSIONS! $100,000.00 CREW CHIEF FINE AND POOR BUFFY GOT DOCKED 100 OWNER POINTS. THINGS ARE LOOKING PRETTY BLEAK IN THE MWR GARAGE. AND I REALLY ENJOY THOSE NAPA COMMERCIALS, BUT THOSE COULD BECOME A THING OF THE PAST. WOW! ONE WORD.

photo credit FOXSPORTS

BUMP DRAFT PERFECTION MY ARSE

2007-02-16T06:13:00.000-05:00

I AM NOT A GORDON FAN SO HIS FAILED POST RACE INSPECTION KEPT ME GIGGLING UNTIL PEMBERTON'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SLAP ON THE WRIST. OK... SO IT VERY WELL COULD'VE BEEN AN HONEST MISTAKE, BUT MAYBE NOT!! THE SHOCK MOUNT TEETH NOT LINING UP, LATER CAUSING THE REAR TO DROP, WHICH IN TURN CAUSED THE AIR FLOW TO GO ABOVE THE SPOILER. SOUNDS INGENIOUS TO ME! BUT THEN I'M NOT MUCH OF AN AREO DYNAMICS ENGINEER. WHERE IS THE CONSISTENCY? WHAT ABOUT KAYNE'S PENALTIES? I'LL GET OVER IT...

MICHAEL WALTRIP'S "MISTAKE" SPINNING JR. OUT LOOKED TO ME LIKE IT WAS DELIBERATE, ONLY BECAUSE JR. AND SMOKE WERE TEAMED UP AND ABOUT TO DUST HIM. MIKEY'S AGGRESSIVE DRIVING WAS APPARENT AND I FEEL HE WAS DOING ANYTHING HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO SECURE A SPOT. HIS PUBLIC ACT OF HUMILITY SEEMED TO BE AN ACT... MY VERY INTUITIVE WIFE TOOK ONE LOOK AT HIM AND SAID

"HE'S GUILTY AS HELL"... I LEARNED A LONG TIME AGO NOT TO CHALLENGE HER ON CERTAIN ISSUES...SHE'S USUALLY RIGHT.

photo credit NASCAR.com

TOYO RULES... ROUSHSOX FOOLS

2007-02-17T07:01:00.000-05:00

WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE FINISH TO ONE OF THE BEST TRUCK SERIES RACES EVER. NOW THAT WAS BUMP DRAFTING PERFECTION. I HAVE A FEELING THAT THIS ONE WILL MAKE THE HISTORY BOOKS. MANY KUDO'S GO OUT TO JOHNNY BENSON. JACK SPRAGUE'S TEAM MADE THAT APPARENT AS THEY ALL INDIVIDUALLY THANKED HIM. TOYO IS CERTAINLY MAKING A LOT OF NOISE. THE CAT IN THE HAT HAS LOST A BATTLE... MAYBE HE CAN GET A PINCH HITTER FROM FENWAY PARK AND I THINK A BASEBALL CAP ON HIS DOME IS FITTING.

THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE

2007-02-18T09:38:00.000-05:00

A GREETING TO ALL OF MY FELLOW RACE FANS.
PLEASE ENJOY THE RACE
AND
MAY THE BEST MAN WIN...
OR MAYBE NOT!!!

BITTERSWEET TO THE END

2007-02-19T05:58:00.000-05:00

AN AWESOME FINISH AND A SWEEP FOR RCR DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK.

MARK DID HIS BEST BUT KEVIN DID BETTER...THE BEST MAN WON!

BITTERSWEET, BUT MARK IS USED TO THIS AND TOOK IT VERY WELL.

CONGRAT'S GO OUT TO KEVIN HARVICK, HIS TEAM AND RCR RACING.

PATTY AND I SAT IN OUR LIVING ROOM WITH A FEW FRIENDS AND FAMILY GUESTS WATCHING AS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR FAVORITE DRIVERS WERE TAKEN OUT FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. WE WERE ALL OPPOSED TO THE #17 ROUSHSOX CAR BEING UP FRONT AND THE GREEN WHITE CHECKER SENT PATTY SCURRYING AWAY... THE INTENSITY TOO MUCH FOR HER. EVERYONE WAS SHOUTING FOR MARK'S WIN...AND TO KEEP KENSETH BEHIND HIM, WHICH BROUGHT PATTY BACK TO HER SENSES. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT CAUGHT US ALL BY SURPRISE WITH THE MELEE BEHIND THEM, THE RACE CONTINUED WITH HARVICK'S PUSH BY KENSETH SENDING HIM TO AN INCREDIBLE AND NEARLY A PHOTO FINISH.

TO SEE MARK TAKE A DAYTONA 500 WIN WOULD HAVE BEEN AWESOME, BUT KEVIN'S WIN FOR RCR IS AN INCREDIBLE TRIBUTE TO DALE SR. AND FOR THAT WE WERE ALL COMPLETELY THRILLED AND SATISFIED.

ON TO CALIFORNIA.

Pit Road Racing ?

2007-02-19T16:19:00.000-05:00

It's been 2 weeks of chaos, controversy, penalties, suspensions, lying, cheating, acting {Mikey should get an Academy Award} and the ultimate pit road speeding ticket. What the hell was Dave Blaney thinking? It was hard to tell from the tele, but it appeared he did not even slow down when he was forced into pit road after Sorenson made contact with Edwards. Report has it that he had a flat tire ta-boot!! With the pedal to the metal he flew out of the pit road exit and slammed Kenny Schrader and others. After re-entering pit road NASCAR officials sent his dumb arse to the garage but credited him with a 34th place finish. Come on fellas!! He endangered lives and was just plain negligent. My vote would be a DNF and a points penalty. Yet another bad call on NASCAR's behalf. Toyo has a 3 strike rule... wonder if Blaney got a strike or two from that move.

ALL RIGHT ALREADY

2007-02-20T06:16:00.000-05:00

As I surf the many blogs and NASCAR sports writer reports I can't help but feel for the many, many mixed emotions concerning Kevin Harvick's victory.

My previous entry from yesterday emphasized "Bittersweet" as it truly is.

It's a confusing mess to say the least, one that will shadow NASCAR, the fans, the media, add-infinium...for who knows how long. There will always be "the one Mark Martin almost won".

The general concensus I've found, as I'm sure the rest of you have, is against NASCAR's call and the poll's wanted Mark to have his win. I too was rooting for Mark, yet Kevin's victory sits very well with me. At the same time my feelings go out to all the disgruntled fans, bloggers and media alike.

KUDO'S TO MARK!

KUDO'S TO KEVIN!

THAT'S RACING!

GET OVER IT!

Talladega Story

2007-02-22T05:50:00.000-05:00

It was about a year ago that I came home from work to find a card on our dining room table with my name on it. It was not my birthday, an anniversary or for that matter, any type of special occasion. It was just another cold winters day in the middle of a work week. My wife Patty {pic to the right} was standing there with a look of both excitement and apprehension. In fact she was so excited that I thought maybe she went out and bought me that F-250 Quad Cab 4x4 that I'd drool over every time I saw one. In the very tense moments of this the gears in my head were spinning out of control because I knew it was something big but I could not understand why...that is until I opened the card and by the look on my face you can see that I was shell shocked! Inside were two full weekend tickets to Talladega. The funny thing is, other than "just another race track", Patty had no clue what Talladega is. In fact she hated NASCAR and the amount of time it consumed me. She is a bit naive and in her innocent apprehension asked me where Talladega is... I kid you not! She bought the tickets from an ad in our local newspaper without any idea that we were about to plan a trip to Birmingham Al. What she did know is that the tickets were "awesome seats in something the guy told me {her} were in the tower of a tri-oval"... NO CLUE!! She was not even sure where Alabama was! Okay, so it's quite obvious that this woman loves me to death.

In the weeks that followed I educated her on some basic Nascar stuff and she began to develop an interest. All of a sudden she was asking me about qualifying positions, points, what N A S C A R stands for, etc. and instead of nagging me on race day she was putting out cheese and crackers and inviting friends over to watch "the race". The next thing I know she has proclaimed Tony Stewart as her favorite driver and when I asked her why Tony, her simple answer was "he's a "bad boy" and he's cute" {cute?}.

By the time the trip arrived, {which by the way on conditions of the surprise gift I had to pay for the trip...pretty even trade} Patty had some basic knowledge and a favorite driver. I had never been to a super speedway so this was a very new experience for both of us. What we encountered was absolutely incredible and horribly exhausting. Our motel was 45 minutes away and on Saturday we arrived at the gate of Talladega at 7:00 a.m., not soon enough. The size and the area this place covers is massive and we had never seen so many campers in one place. We thought we were at Mardi-Gras. We did the tour of the drivers trailer area and spent plenty...yada yada yada. The Busch race that day involved a wreck that sent Tony sailing upside down in the #33 right in front of us. Patty was screaming and in tears and even with my assurance that he was okay she swore to me that this was her first and last race and I would be attending the cup race on my own the next day. Well after the race what should be a 45 min. trip back to our motel we arrived there 4 hours later.

The next day we were up and out the door by 5:00 a.m. and the drive took 90 minutes. The traffic was 90% Dega bound with cars and trucks that were all advertising drivers, we had a Tony Teddy Bear on the dash...go figure!! The track parking lots were filling fast and the tailgating parties were in full swing. We got to our seats later and watched the pre-race show with much emphasis on Will Farrell and Talladega Nights. He was the Grand Marshall and the film had just completed it's production that past week. The rain came and never left...a rainout. We did not know what to do because we had plane reservations back for the next morning and had not booked the extra night at our motel...on the drive back to the motel Patty got the airline on her cell and managed to get a flight out for Tuesday and our motel accommodated us nicely. That drive took another 4 hours.

On Monday the weather was beautiful and Patty got a sunburn from hell!! It was a great race but it took us 7, yes 7 hours to drive 45 minutes!!. Patty's patience in a car is not the best and her sunburn was killing her so it was 7 hours of agony. Her sacrifices, pain and patience are a true testament of the love she has for me. She is now a huge NASCAR fan and absolutely loves the sport despite what she endured.

I shared this story because I am a fortunate man to have a wife with such devotion.

Surprise Surprise Surprise

2007-02-24T08:36:00.000-05:00

It's no surprise seeing Gordon on the pole, but it was surprising to see Mark Martin shoved out of the way in the NCTS. Mark, always the gentleman said "We were looking pretty good. But they have a caution for just about anything when we don't need them and we don't get them when we do" a statement I'm sure reflecting back to last week. His strategy of trying to keep Ron Hornaday behind him kicked him in the arse and landed him a 23rd place finish after a good solid dominating race. Ya think maybe he shoulda stuck to his previous awesome restarts? Geez Mark!!

So where are the Fords and Toyo's? The top 10 lineup for tomorrows Auto Club 500 is 80% Chevy's with a couple of Dodge's thrown in for good measure. I expected to see a RoushSox car somewhere in the top 10 and the Yate's cars are way down the list. Another surprise. Toyo's Dave Blaney managed to land a 14th place start and surprisingly Mikey got left out completely... "Waltrip also will be watching the race instead of driving in it after being knocked out of the lineup by rookie teammate David Reutimann." Payback?! Karma Mikey, karma! The top 10 qualifier's make for a very good startup field with Martin, Harvick and Dale Jr. in the top 5. Will Happy Harvick make another sweep? That would be the surprise of all!

Safety First

2007-02-25T13:55:00.000-05:00

A busy day here. Being a residential contractor is a pain in the arse at times. I absolutely, no way out, definitely must be finished with a job I'm on now by Tuesday so that I can meet a starting date of a new project on Wednesday...so I had to work today and even dragged Pattyjo out of the house early {dangerous} to help. The good news is...it looks good for completion on Tues. and the next project is one of those nice clean jobs...finishing off a basement in a log home. It'll be one big entertainment room with custom home theater, flat screen LCDHD, a wet bar all done in rustic cedar tongue & groove and we're even incorporating a few tree sections. I'll take some pics for later posting.

The wreck in last nights Busch race involving Jason Leffler and Juan Montoya left me thinking of Dale Sr.'s death. That was an incredibly hard hit head-on into the safety barrier {wall}. The very unfortunate early demise of the great Dale Sr. prompted many changes into the safety of the drivers. The safety barriers are one of the best changes made and in my opinion may have already saved lives. Tony Stewart's hit at Daytona was no bump and Leffler's slam could have been lethal if it weren't for the safety barriers. Many kudos go out to NASCAR for this and their continued efforts including the COT.

Photo credit: BGNRacing.com

Swept Away

2007-02-26T05:44:00.000-05:00

Another race bringing a sweep! RoushSox driver Matt Kenseth swept the weekend away with a Busch win on Saturday and the Cup win at Fontana yesterday. That's two consecutive sweeps in as many races with Happy Harvick doing it at Daytona last week.

The Fontana Cup race was different from past races there with plenty of cautions to tighten up the field. It's usually a clean race with the leaders way out front. This kept it exciting but there were several disappointments, especially for DEI with both Dale Jr. and Truex Jr. losing engines. It also brought on many changes in the point standings with many drivers climbing many spots and yet others dropping like rocks and it left Mark on top. After only two weeks into the season there is a wide points spread, but LasVegas should change that.

Another hard slam into the wall by rookie David Reutimann. It's been a slammin' two weeks!! Thank you NASCAR for the Safety Barriers.

IRON Man... Yeah OK!!

2007-02-28T05:59:00.000-05:00

I just cannot imagine the Rainbow "Kid" being dubbed "Iron Man" but if Mark Martin does not start at Bristol it will give Jeffy boy the most consecutive starts. That's just plain ridiculous. The nickname belonged to Terry Labonte and that's where it oughta stay. The idea that the whiner of NASCAR carry that title is like calling Richard Simmons the "Incredible Hulk".

I'm interested to see how the COT testing goes this week at Bristol. That's a good testing track for it.

Who is the favorite for Mexico?

Cabin Fever

2007-03-01T05:16:00.000-05:00

A new month and closer to spring. Living in one of the coldest spots of the US with normally harsh winters is great for skiers and boarders or those crazy ice fishermen and lets not forget the folks who spend mucho mula on snowmobiles and then pray for a ton of the crap. I long for spring and the changes it brings. Perhaps it's because I'm getting old!! I grew up on the shore of Lake Michigan where it snows daily and speaking with my brother recently confirmed that the Michigan snow is still falling and as the evidence in that pic provides, the winters there are no picnic either. That is the Grand Haven Mich. lighthouse...makes me shiver just looking at it.

Bring it on!! Spring and oh yeah... the Cot. Yesterdays testing at Bristol went well. There is talk of bringing the new cars into full schedule a season early. It makes perfect sense. Prolonging the inevitable would only create chaos. It seems most teams are ready and the drivers are accepting this as a good thing, or at least they seem accepting of it. The transition, I think, will go smooth...smoother than me chopping frikkin ice off my walks!!

¿Cuántos el dinero NASCAR

2007-03-02T05:07:00.000-05:00

Is it all worth it?? The amount of cash put forth for the Mexico event blows me away. The teams and owners spend far more time and money on the event than any other. The payback is not there and it's all pretty much to expand the Hispanic fan base within our borders by holding an event south of the border where the attendance is far less than 100k. It has it's pro's and it is a race to watch during the Cup off week, yet it seems so wasteful and greedy to me. I feel that our large US Hispanic population will have it's NASCAR fans with or without this race. So what's next?? New Zealand!!

Withdrawal

2007-03-03T08:23:00.000-05:00

I've been bouncing off the walls, surfing the web and watching the tele trying to get my fix. I feel like a junkie or that crack head I saw once crawling on the floor looking for a minuscule piece he imagined he dropped. I'm thinking of starting a "NNA" {no NASCAR anonymous} meeting. I know it's bad when I agree to go out to Walmart just to get out of the house. Doesn't NASCAR know how this effects "me"? {keeping it on "me" is healthy for my recovery} What are they thinking??!! Phew! I feel better now that I've gotten that off my chest. Kudos go out to all you bloggaters who've found it somewhere in your creative minds to blog this weekend. It's kept my withdrawals to a minimum and I'm actually grateful for the roadcourse race tomorrow, even though it's a Busch race. I normally don't pay much attention to the Cup road races let alone a Busch road race out of the country. Okay...so maybe it's NASCAR's way of keeping the ratings up. I guess I'll go out and chop some more frikkin ice!! Buenos diás amigo's!!

Telcel-Motorola 200

2007-03-04T07:48:00.000-05:00

With 3 of the top 5 qualifers being Hispanic for todays Telcel-Motorola 200, the fiesta, I'm sure, will be intense. Carlos Contreras qualified 2nd and Jorge Goeters took the 4th spot. Those guys are both Mexico City natives and our own Juan Pablo Montoya took 3rd. Hispanics are a very passionate bunch so the spirits must be soaring. Surprisingly, Scott Pruett took the pole and last years winner Denny Hamlin topped off the first 5...GO DENNY!!! Okay... I favor the kid but it would be cool to see one of the Spanish boys take the victory. Imagine the confetti that would fly!!!