The Way IT Is!!

Random Thoughts from the Desert!

2011-03-01T09:42:00.002-05:00

Another Nascar weekend in the books. This was was long for me too, but not for duration! On Thursday, I was feeling a little under the weather and was sent home from the shop at about 11 AM. Well after a visit to the Dr. I was advised that I had a viral strep infection, that was also affecting my upper chest and ears. Needless to say, my fantasy and trifecta pics where not made, due to spending the whole of Friday, curled up in bed. You know us men, such big babies when we are sick.
Anyway, I am feeling much better now, and I did atleast get to watch the Cup race Sunday.

So now on to my Random Thoughts from the desert.

I heard some guy named Busch won the truck race! Wish I could have seen it. I was so out of it, I forgot to set the DVR. Duuhhhh! Whats the point in all this technology if my big dumb a$$ forgets to turn it on! LOL.

I also heard some guy named Busch won the NNS race! This one I actually DVR'd, I watched the first 50 or so laps late Sat. night. Caught the rest in the AM on Sun.
What a dominating performance by the 18. From the driver to the crew and everyone in between. In this day of back markers and wanna-be championship contenders sometimes staying out to lead a lap, either for points or TV time, to go wire to wire is a tremendous feat!
It looked to be close in the final laps. Carl gave a gallant and clean effort to catch and pass Kyle, but to no avail. Kudos to both!

Now, everyone who has ever read one of my blogs, knows I don't like the Hendricks guys! In fact, 2 of my favorite guys, are ex-HMS. That being said, my stance on Jeff Gordon has mellowed some. When he was battling Rusty Wallace, and winning all those titles, I really hated the guy. In the last couple of years I had given Jeff some slack. Having a daughter myself, and seeing him in pre-race with his kids. Plus, hearing some of his stories in interviews, really made him more of a likeable guy to me.
All that went out the window Sunday! :) As a 18 fan, I was really looking forward to the sweep. But to top it off, I had Kyle in the one fantasy league I am in that can win me actual cash. As the 4th place starter, a Busch win would have given me a 100 bucks. So now Gordon, is back on my S^%t list!
Is this the awakening of the Kyle Busch personality that will compete for a Championship! A new "kinder, gentler" KB that we haven't seen before? I thought for sure we would see some fireworks after the little bump and run move Jeff put on Kyle. Yet lo and behold in his post-race interview, he was the 3 C's of second place. Calm, Contrite and Congratulatory! No mention of the little bump,no problem from me either, but you know if was the other way around a huge deal would have been made of it. He simply said Jeff had a faster car at the end and that was it. Plus he really owned up and was apologetic to Carl for the early incident that ruined the 99's day. I think they will be ok, it really was a racing deal, and not something Kyle did on purpose to wreck Carl.
On the other hand, if I was the 17 I might be a little nervous around the 83 for a few races. It seemed to me that Matt ran Brian up the track, and then cut his left rear sending him around in front of the field. Not saying Matt did it on purpose, I just thought he could have left him a little room that early in the race. Look for payback for this one down the line.
All in all, it was a decent race. I am so glad the season is underway. One question though, you think Jr will be the Pizza Hut fan favorite for every race on FOX? We are going to Vegas, and odds are good on that one!

That's Just my opinion, I could be wrong. But probably not!

Random Thought's From Daytona!

2011-02-21T09:33:00.003-05:00

WOW! What a great long weekend this turned out to be! I call it a long weekend, because for me the season started on Thursday with the Duels. These are just my random thoughts on the last four days of racing.

*The Duels- The first taste of real racing. No real surprises here. The two car tandems ruled, and with only 23-24 cars, I really didn't think this was a true barometer of how Sunday's race would be. Turns out I was wrong. For me it foreshadowed the actual outcome of the race. If a car like Brian Keselowski could finish it the top 5 of a Duel race, it meant that almost anyone could win the 500, with the right help at the right time.

*The Truck race- This was the closest to old fashion plate racing that we would see all weekend. Yet still, the two truck tandem even showed up a little here. In the few laps before the big wreck, Kyle Busch finally showed them that the outside line could compete with the low line. The trucks once again proved unstable 3 wide, and of course the big one followed. It did provide an interesting storyline though. With Mikey Waltrip telling the booth he was going to let the outside truck in front of him, then pass him out of turn 4. Good Ol' DW told him he didn't think it was a good idea. Turns out younger brother was right! Turning his prediction into a reality and putting himself in victory lane, for the weekend's sentimental win.

*NNS race- Did I ever mention my loathing for all things Bodine! Back in the day, when there were 3 racing Bodine's, it always seemed their name came up. Well this Speedweeks brought flashbacks for me. Especially the NNS, where Bodine looked out of his element, and caused at least 2 cautions. I felt bad for Elliot Sadler. He got caught up in the big melee. I looked for him to be a contender, but I still think he is the one to beat for the championship.
So Danica let a lap! Big freakin deal. She looked like she still needs some work. It was fine when she was being pushed, but she never looked like she could really push, or trail brake back to a pusher. My opinion for her is either go all in, or go home. This 12 races a year does a dis-service to her, her teams, and fans.
Great finish with Smoke coming from 9th after a flat. Loved his quote in Victory lane. He was asked how he knew he won, since the margin was like .007 seconds. He said " I have been doing this for 20 years, you just know" Never been a Smoke fan, but he can wheel a car!

Cup race- What can I say that has been said already. Not much. Congrats to Trevor and the Wood Bros.

Now on to the rest of the season. The hype is over, and the grind starts this weekend. Hopefully I have some better thought sooner next week. LOL

Thats just my opinion, I could be wrong, but probably not!

Random Thought's on the New Changes!

2011-01-27T10:07:00.003-05:00

As we all know, last night Nascar announced a few new rule changes for the upcoming season. Will these changes play a major part in this years Champion? Only time will tell, but in my humble opinion they will play at least some role. I think it will make for an exciting year, and I can hardly wait for the wheel to roll in Daytona.

So, lets run down the new changes, and more importantly, How I feel they will effect the new season.

1. Pick-A-Series: This has no impact really on the Cup side. It could have definite impact on the NWS though. At most NW races without a companion Cup race, the big draw is the Cup stars who are running the race. I don't think this change poses a problem this year, Carl Edwards has said he is still planning on running all the races, Mark Martin has signed on to run 5-6 races. I am sure Kyle and Brad will still run quite a few, add in Danica and Travis Pastrana later and I think NW should be ok but only time will tell.

2. Qualifying: Let's be honest. Until they start awarding points for poles, does anyone really care about qualifying other than Daytona. I watch it, if I can, but only because I watch anything with 4 wheels if I have time. Since the advent of the Top 35, the only drama is for the Go or Go Home cars. Although it could make the beginning of some races more exciting, since faster cars go out later, they may be further back in the field.

3.Closed Fuel Delivery System: We will either start seeing 14 sec. stops, or alot of guys running out of fuel faster. Due to running the E-15, Nascar has gone to this closed loop fuel can. Otherwise the ethanol in the fuel, could evaporate, changing the mixture. The new can is heavier, fuels slower, and eliminates the need for a catch can man. Which sucks for me, that was about the only pit crew job I could have ever held. Really though, the catch can guy also made adjustments to the car, which now means that someone else will have to do it, adding to their jobs. Look for the pit stops to be a little erratic the first few races, then I am sure the Pros on pit road will be ok.

4. New nose for the cars: I will have to wait for Vegas and Cali. to see what this really means, Daytona and Phoenix aren't really aero dependent, so I will hold off on this one.

5. Chase Changes: I don't really mind these changes. I always though it was a farce to have a guy with 3 wins or more, not in the Chase. I realize that Nascar points are designed to reward consistency, but I want to see people racing for wins, not top 5's or top 10's.
I hate to agree with Bruton Smith, but I think the overall champion should be cash based. Instead of points, lets use prize money. Not the contingency stuff, just the straight dollars awarded to position. Make sure the winner gets alot more than second, and at the end of the year, see who has the most greenbacks. That would make for some exciting racing, just look and the Shoot-out and All-Star races.

6. Point System: I am all for simpler. See the above for my new system. I will reserve judgement on this till I see how it plays out a little more.

I don't see anything to out of whack. I am still excited to get the racing underway. I wish I could fast forward. I am ready to get the cars out on the track today.

That's just my opinion. I could be wrong, but probably not.

Back Just in Time!

2011-01-19T16:19:00.002-05:00

Hey Lugnutters!! After a hectic year and a half, that included 3 job changes, I think I am finally going to have time to return to the wonderful world of Nascar blogging. I have settled in at my new job as parts manager for a large collision center, so I now have atleast a couple of hours at day at work ;) to check out the blogs and write and comment.

I have been lurking a little and am glad that most of the bunch still remains. You guys will have to catch me up on the comings and goings.

It looks like the upcoming season might be a really good one. With the slight car change, and the possibility of rules and points changes, I am sure we will all have something to talk about.

I have really missed the blogging and all of you guys and gals. Looking forward to a great year of racing. Maybe I can win the lottery and even get to come to Sonoma this year. LOL!

Rob aka storkjrc

Lack of recent Posts

2009-09-26T10:08:00.001-04:00

To all my Nascar blogging friends. I have been able to post or comment lately. I am training a guy to replace me, and I start a new job Monday. Hopefully, I will have time to return to blogging soon. In the mean time I have still been reading, so you guys keep up the good work.

Random Thought from the Off Weekend!

2009-09-01T16:53:00.003-04:00

The weekend off for Nascars major series turned the spotlight on the NNS cars this weekend, with a rain soaked qualiying and some rain tires runs during the race.

As many have noticed, much of the Nationwide boys have a hard time on road courses when its dry. Throwing rain at them is like throwing gas on a fire. Nothing but more trouble.

* Poor Steven Wallace, he got spun more than a dradle during Hannukah. To his defense out of his 8 (low estimate) incidents, I would give him fault in maybe 3 of them. The 86 seemed to have it out for the RWI cars. Hitting the 66 twice and the 62 once.

* I like Justin Allgier, I think he will become a fine Cup driver. Unfortunatly on Sunday, he got bit by the infamous rear wheel hop. Producing one of the more spectacular wrecks, and that was pre-rain. He locked them up coming into a hard right hander, tried to spin to avoid other cars and caught the grass, propelling him across the track, killing Ron Fellows #5 and damaging Busch rt qtr. He definetly manned up, taking full blame and apologizing to all drivers involved.

*Speaking of Allgier. Bucky Brad officially announced the move to Penske. It also includes running a full Nationwide schedule. I twittered Penske to see how this will affect Justin. News from another twitterer stated that Penske will run 2 full NNS teams next year. I am glad that Justin will continue to gain experience and look forward to him coming to Cup.

* I commented on another Blog, about Carl Edwards victory on Sunday. I think Carl should be careful next time he is around Kyle or Marcos on the next road course or short track. Carl's dive into turns 1 and 2 Sunday, were ill timed in my opinion. In trying to stay inside of the Canadien, Ranger in the 11, Carl started the last lap fracas that resulted in less than stellar results for some. Although he ran Marcos clean on the last lap, and lucked into a win. I saw some earlier attempts of his to pass Marcos that included using the front bumper. I am not saying he did anything wrong, just that some other drivers might not be to happy with him. We all know drivers have memories like elephants.

*Rain, Rain go away. Thats the usual mantra for us race fans. I think its high time that Nascars best and brightest (Cup)race in the rain on road courses. I understand that it not feasible on an oval. Despite what Helton said during Sundays broadcast, I believe that the Cup stars not only could, but should run rain tires. I think most would relish the challenge that it would be.

**** Wanted**** Racing Fans with a few billion dollars. Why, you ask?? I think we need to buy the Speed channel back from Fox, and show whats meant to be shown. RACING. Racing , and more Racing. I will also let Wind Tunnel and Passtime stay. Remove Pinks and replace it with weekly races from Dragstrips around the country. There are too many series that race fans don't get any coverage of. Things I am sure many of us would watch. Example, this weekend Travis Pastrana won his 4th US Rally title. Yet I have never seen any TV coverage of a US rally event. Would I watch? Hell yeah. Plus we could bring other forms back to TV. Remember Thursday Thunder on ESPN. With World of Outlaws, Sprint and Midget racing. I used to love that stuff. Now we barely get highlights. Plus there are great series in other countries. Like the British Touring car series, Formula 3000, and Tez's fav. the V8 Supercar series. If any channel saw fit to broadcast these, I would be burning my DVR up.

* Attention Richard Childress Racing. It will do more harm than good to force Harvick to stay if he wants to leave. In fact, it could delay any progress being made next year. If he wants to leave. Let HIM!! It will be best for all parties involved.

* Kyle Busch article of the week. Attention all fans who were upset when Kyle busted the guitar in Nashville. Please read this article. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090901/NEWS04/909010338/1009/NEWS02/Guitar%20smasher%20gives%20gift%20of%20music%20to%20schools

I know this will never make any Nascar shows, because we the fans should never see Kyle Busch as a human being, who gives freely to charities. No he is the Nascar devil and should be hated by all , for the sake of ratings.

I used to hate on KB, when he drove for HMS. If I can change you can too people. Everybody on the 18 bandwagon. Me and Gene will save you some room!

There I feel much better, now thats I got all that out. I like my new weekly brain cleansing rant.
Remember Race fans, this is only my opinion, I could be wrong. Probably NOT, but I could be.

See you in Atlanta. Not literally, you know what I mean.

Random Thoughts from Bristol!

2009-08-25T17:37:00.002-04:00

I had planned on a Bristol incident report, to coincide with my Conspiracy blog. Well, as you fellow parents know, plans usually go right out the window when you have the kids around. I found it hard to take notes with the baby trying to crawl into the kitchen every 5 seconds.

Anyway, there wasn't much conspiring going on anyway. Except for some HMS lead swapping for points. The only real "incident" appeared to be "unHappy" Harvick getting into his teammate. I don't think that was anything more than a racing deal. Even unHappy wouldn't turn a teammate. Would he?

On with the ranting....

*Could we get any more Hypocrisy in the media. Kyle gets taken out by a rookie. Goes into the hauler, calms down and comes out sounding contrite and saying the rookie will learn, spotter this, etc. that. No venom, no name calling or anything. Yet noone mentioned anything about it other than the wreck during the Sat. broadcast. Had Kyle, cursed, called Austin stupid, or the spotter a jackass, the whole pre-race would have been filled with Kyle bashing. Yet when he does the right thing we don't hear about it till Mon. or Tues.

* Plus, how about some Bowyer bashing. He walked rather fast and angry by the media after crashing. Why is it that nobody is calling him a crybaby, whiner , spoiled brat?

* The same fans who are all barking that Mark Martin should have wrecked the 18, are the same fans that would have crucified the 18 had the the two been reversed and Kyle spun Mark.
Kyle has never had ontrack issues with Martin, and Mark is the Patron driver of the "Golden Rule"

^~~~~~ Michigan NNS flashback~~~~~
ATTN Brian Vickers- Did you noticed how Kyle ran his same line to hold off Martin, didn't crowd him down and let the 3rd place car win the race?? Thats what Kyle meant by racing stupid. Had he tried to take Mark's lane and drove defensivly (sp) He likely would have wrecked them both allowing the 3rd place car to advance. Sound Familiar??

*My prediction for the Chase- Busch and Vickers get in, Kenseth and Newman don't.

* I know I am on a Busch rant this week, but ... Whats up with all the people booing him, then grabbing for the Checkers as he tries to give the flag to the one girl in the whole place (fanwise) that was happy he won. They all hate him, but sure wanted the flag. I really hope that the little girl got the flag.

Thats all this week, hopefully the kids are calmer in two weeks for the Atlanta race.

Chase Conspiracy Theories!

2009-08-19T17:21:00.002-04:00

When the Chase was first introduced, one thing caught my eye. Notice the 2 short tracks, in the last three races. I actually called in to a local radio show, to voice my concerns.

The Question went something like this. What if the guy in 13 (then 11th) happened to "move" the guy in 12 (then 9th) causing him to crash, thus enabling the guy on the outside to move into the Chase? The radio pundits, after much deliberation, decided they really didn't know what would happen.

This has never really become an issue. Especially last year. The big 4, HMS, Roush, Gibbs, and Childress. Had the Chase field covered last year. Each team with most, if not all their drivers making the Show.

This year is a entirely different story. With seven different owners taking up the 12 spots. I will for this blog denote Stewart/Haas and a seperate entity from HMS.

Where am I going with this, you may ask?

Picture this on Sat. night. The 33 is close to making the Chase. His teammate, the 29 who is way outside the Chase, runs up behind the 17. Harvick , not known for patience, boots the 17, who backs it into the fence and has finishes back in the pack. Up moves the 33, one step closer to keeping Childress from being shut out of the Chase.

Voila, instant Chase conspiracy.

Example 2. The 20, with a rookie driver, gets loose and takes out the 5. Helping the 18 inch his way back into contention.

Rookie mistake or team orders? You be the judge.

I'm not saying that teams are sitting in the haulers and Richard is telling Harvick and Burton to dump the guys in front of Clint in the standings, but who knows. In fact, how could you tell at all? Isn't Bristol known for beating and banging.

I guess I must just have a warped mind, but if I was Childress, looking to be shut out of the Chase, I promise its something that would run through my thoughts.

Just something to think about. Of course, we will probably be sitting in front of the TV waiting for the rain to stop. I hope not.

Anyway, just a little food for thought. I am thinking of bringing back the Incident Report, for atleast the next 3 races. That way I can analyze the cautions, and see if I can throw a little gas on the fire for us Nascar conspiracy theorists.

Let me know what you think of my little Conspiracy theory.

Random Thoughts from Michigan!!

2009-08-17T15:42:00.003-04:00

Another weekend in Michigan has come and gone. Before we all get to pumped up and excited for Bristol, I thought I would take a few moments to look back at what happened the last two days.

* Jimmie Johnson and I finally have something in common. We both want to be weatherman. What other job can you get, where you can be wrong 50% of the time and still not be fired. o% percent chance of rain, yet still two delays. Atleast they ran it on Sunday eventually.

* Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers- Man I hate when two of my guys have a problem. You would think they would get along, both being HMS leftovers, but I digress. Although I freely admit Kyle acted rashly by running the 32 down on pit lane. But,I do see his point. Had Vickers run the line that he had been using all day, it would have come down to those 2 cars. By pulling down and running Kyle along the bottom, he did slow both cars down. Don't ask me how, its one of those aero deals. If Vickers spotter had kept him aware that the 88 was coming on the high side, he would have ran high, and he and Busch would have dueled for the win. The fastest two cars were Vickers and Busch, those two battling for a win would have been classic. Instead we got Bucky in the 88 playing the opportunist for a second time this season. I won't say Brad was lucky, he had his car in the right position to take advantage and when the time came he pounced.

* The pre-race both days included stories about Keselowski, being from Michigan, and donating tickets to 40-50 area workers, that have been laid off. It was a nice story.
What doesn't get reported, Kyle Busch donated 60 tickets to MIS for them to distribute. Maybe the public wouldn't think he was such an a-hole, if the media would report some things like this about the guy.

* Jimmy Johnson's driving ability called into question once again. Two HMS cars pitted on the same lap. Both had pressure from other cars. One managed to finish and the other didn't. Saving fuel is directly related to a drivers ability to maximize performance while not mashing the gas. Floating the car in, and pedaling off allow a driver to maintain some speed, while saving fuel. Some masters of this include Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Brian Vickers.

*While we are on the subject of JJ. He should have never been out front to begin with. He clearly jumped that last restart and should have recieved a penalty from Nascar. I think jumping the start is a pass through. I only heard Jarrett mention it once on the broadcast and have yet to see anyone talk about it anywhere else. I guess rules don't apply when JJ is gunning for a win.

* Kudos to the Red Bull team and Brian Vickers. I hope this allows them to finalize Brian's contract and get him a teammate that can provide some feedback and help. I like Speed, but he is not helping provide any info that would enable Red Bull to contend seriously for the title.

*Once again we are foiled by too much pre-race and not enough post-race. I raised the same issue during Fox's coverage. Please TV people, less pre, more post.

Well enough whining and crying. (HMMM maybe thats why I like Kyle, we both like to complain)

Hope everyone has a good week, I can't wait till Fri and Sat. I love me some Bristol night racing.

Thats just my opinion, I could be wrong. But probably not!

Is Pit Road Safety a Nascar Concern?

2009-08-14T16:52:00.002-04:00

In discussing the JPM speeding incident at Indy, I came to the realization that justifying the pit road speed for safety is a load of horse "puckey"

Nascar does some stupid stuff when it comes to "safety" Example A. That whole rule involving only putting on tires or getting gas in the Truck series. How is doubling the amount of stops needed making pit road safer. It just doubles the amount of stops, thus doubling the chance for and accident to occur.

I think that the speed at which the cars enter and exit, has little to do with improving safety. The incidents I have seen, usually didn't occur with the car traveling pit road speed.

Usually they involve a car turning in and clipping a crew member, or catching one on the way out. I am suprised that we don't have more of these incidents every week.

The Pit Crews used to be just mechanics from the shop, that worked double duty by pitting the car during the race weekend. As the sport progressed and 10ths of a second began translating to spots on the track, most teams now have dedicated Pit Crews, that instead of building cars, spend their weeks training and practicing for Sundays.

In my opinion if Nascar was serious about pit road safety, then they would freeze the fields and it wouldn't matter if you had a 12.5 second stop or a 15.0 second one. Thats the only way I see to alleviate the types of incidents that occur on pit road these days.

Now we all know thats not going to happen. So my best scenario would be for Nascar to get up off its fat Wallet and make the cars better on the track. If its easier to pass on the track, it would take the necessity for passing on pit road out of the equation.

Now I appreciate the work that these guys do. To change 4 tires, add fuel, pull a tearoff, make adjustments, etc etc, in 12-14 seconds is freakin amazing. However, to me, its anticlimatic to have the race won or lost on pit road. Especially at the cookie cutter tracks, usually the guy who gets of pit road first, just takes off in clean air. That takes the race out of the drivers hand and puts it into the crews. I don't watch the races to see which crew is best. I want to know who the best driver is that day. Not which crew chief made the best adjustments.

I could get on a JJ rant but I will refrain.

Also, I think that any track that wants a Nascar race( Truck, NNS, or Cup) should have 43 identical stalls, and where possible, they be lengthened to give drivers a way around crew members. I know you can't do much at tracks like Bristol. I love Bristol, it gets a pass from my rant.

Do I really know the answer, NO. I am just a lowly Nascar fan, I love the sport, and I just want to see the best racing possible. I don't think we are getting that right now.

Feel Free to lambast my ideas, or add your own. Who knows!! One day somebody important may read these blogs and do something. I doubt it, but there is always hope.

Random Thoughts on Nascar!

2009-08-12T16:15:00.002-04:00

The last few weeks in Nascar has been quite entertaining, yet difficult for me to watch. With the last races being on Monday. I missed both of them. I forgot to DVR the Pocono race and the relative I relied on to set the DVR this past Monday, got ESPN and ESPN2 confused. I look forward to finally watching The Glen race when I get home tonight. I hope I am taping the Speed channel replay. Keep your fingers crossed.

Anyway, enough catch up. Most of these thoughts have already been blogged and discussed, but I will still put my 2 cents in.

* I don't think JPM was speeding at Indy. A guy with a 6 second lead isn't pushing it on the last stop. Add the fact that he wasn't busted earlier in the race, and was "supposedly" hitting the same light on the tach each stop. Sounds fishy to me. All Nascar has to do is show teams the speeds in real time, so they can adjust after the first stop. If it was really a Safety issue, not a way to Nascar to "shuffle the cards" then they would provide them teams the info.

* The one Pocono race I miss and its exciting. Whats up with that?

* Thumbs up for Denny winning the race! Thumbs down for Denny for driving over top of the 00 and spinning him into the 47! Thumbs up for Denny apologizing and taking blame for being a little hasty in getting back to the front.

@$#%%^ What the &^% is up with Robby Gordon?? As most of you guys and gals know, I really don't like RG. I think he makes Paul Menard look like a top 10 caliber driver.
Maybe the last two weeks will open the eyes of the rest of the racing community. Not only did he retaliate against Stremme for no reason at Pocono, but the crap he pulled with Logano at the Glen really irritated me. First trying to spin him and flattening his own tire, then coming back out and finishing the job under caution. Wiping out a rookie and turning his car into a flaming ball. What a way to show your lack of driving skill and intelligence.
I think RG would be better off pulling a Waltrip and retiring and putting somebody else in that car. When so many other teams are struggling to find sponsors, Robby seems to be going out of his way to run his off.

* Nascar should have parked him for the Cup race at The Glen.

* Smoke continues having a great year. You think if he wins the Championship, that Rick Hendrick will get to sit up at the owners table with him???

* Great weekend at the Glen for the Aussie!! I read somewhere that Marcos is pronounced Marcus in the Outback. (Is this true Tez??) if so somebody should tell everyone!

* I loved the dive bomb move during the Nationwide race! I think what po'ed Kyle the most, was that somebody used one of his moves to pass him. Although not the safest pass I ever saw, I didn't think it was dirty.

* Speaking of Kyle. It looks like all the media lambasting has finally worked. He seemed rather subdued in his interviews, almost like a puppy that has been hit with a shoe to many times. Too Bad!! I didn't always agree with the things he said, or how he said them. But it made the interviews more interesting to watch. Now he may as well just be another Drivertron 3000 spouting sponsors.

I am sure I am forgetting some other stuff. I may have to make additions after finally seeing the Watkins Glen race.

Thanks Tony, for clearing that up.

2009-07-25T16:01:00.004-04:00

I am beginning to like Tony Stewart more every day. With all the media coverage of his "new" team, we got to see a little behind the scenes of him. He seems to be a decent guy. I know he has had his moments, but as a Kyle Busch fan, I can forgive those. Now I will not cheer for Tony or Ryan, until Stewart/Haas starts building its own cars and motors. I despise pretty much anything HMS related. Hopefully in the next few years he can break the cord attached to Hendrick, and then I might reconsider.

So why the change of heart you ask?? Well because Smoke verified what I have been saying all along! Heres the quote from the Indianapolis Star.

Tony Stewart on his fellow owner-drivers: "If we had to start from scratch, we never would have done this. So the guys like Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip that are true owner-drivers, those guys are a lot more impressive than what I am because I couldn't have done that." -- Indy Star

Thanks Tony, for proving my point! Even though I can't stand Robby Gordon, I can appreciate the effort that he and Mikey Waltrip have made in starting their own teams.

Tony is a great driver, and business man. I applaud his efforts in hiring the best people available to work in his program. He will be a success for years to come.

If he ever cuts ties with Hendrick, he may even have a few more fans.

The Wallaces, a Nascar family!

2009-07-07T18:20:00.002-04:00

In 1987 at 15, I started watching Nascar. After a few races, I decided I needed a driver to cheer for. Rusty Wallace was a natural choice for me. He drove a Pontiac at the time, different from the Fords and Chevys, I like different. The car was green /white, which were my high school colors. Plus, he was from St. Louis, hometown of my dad and home to my grandparents. With that a Rusty Wallace fan emerged.

Now we all know that there are many storied families in Nascar. The Petty's, Allison's, Labonte's and Earnhardt's just to name a few. The Wallaces should be considered one as well.

The patriarch, Russ Wallace raced all over the midwest in the 50's and 60's, in latemodel and sportsmen type cars. Amassing over 400 wins and injecting a love of racing into his 3 sons.

Russell William Wallace Jr, knew he wanted to race from the age of ten. Track rules kept him from that until Aug. 14, 1972, when Russ and Judy (RW's parents) went to the courthouse to get a release from the judge. At that time you had to be 18 to race at Lake Hill Speedway, or get the court to sign a release. 6 days after the judge signed off on Rusty racing, he ran his first race. A heat race which Rusty won. Although he ran out of gas in the Feature (Russ won) that race signaled the start of what would be a bright future in racing.

Now retired and working in broadcasting (for Espn and co-hosting Nascar Angels), Rusty had a great Nascar career. Amassing 55 wins in 706 starts. In those 700 plus starts he had an incredible 349 top 10 finishs. 1989 saw Rusty win his only Nascar Championship, with a 12 point victory over friend and rival Dale Earnhardt Sr. Wallace also claimed 2 IROC titles and was named to Nascar's 50 Greatest drivers.

Mike Wallace is the middle brother, and probably the least known of the Wallace clan.He made his debut in the Busch (Nationwide) series in 1990. Known more as a journeymen driver, Mike has raced for many teams, in all 3 Nascar series. He has made 187 Cup starts and his best finish was a 2nd at Phoenix in 2001, driving as a Penske teamate of Rusty's. Mike has enjoyed more success in the NNS and Trucks. With 4 wins in each series. Most recently in 2004 with a NNS win at Daytona. His plate prowess makes him a likely pick for a small team looking to qualify at the Superspeedways.

The baby of the family is Kenny Wallace. Kenny is probably best known for his insightful and funny commentary on the Speed Channel, and for those awful Stacker2 commercials. Kenny is a racer's racer. Willing to race any kind of car on almost any track. He has enjoyed 9 NNS wins and numerous Cup and Truck starts. His best finish in Cup being the Infamous 2000 race at Talledega in which he pushed Dale Sr. to what would be his last win. That day is a highlight of his career. Kenny was the 1986 ASA Rookie of the Year, and claimed that same title in the Busch Series (NNS) in 1989. I am sure he also relishes the Most Popular Driver awards which he earned in 1991, 94, and 2006. If you don't see him on Speed, or at a Nascar race, you can be sure he is on a dirt track somewhere.

The Next generation of Wallaces are already on the track as well.

Stephen, son of Rusty, is a driver in the NNS starting there fulltime in 2007. Stephen started racing in 1998 at 11 yrs old, in the Bandeleros and Legends cars. In 2004 at 17 he won the Snowball Derby ( a big short track race in Florida), a race in which both his dad and Uncle Kenny have entered but never won. Now into his 3rd year, Stephen has yet to win a NNS race, but has won numerous ARCA series events. I look for him to keep improving and one day be in the Cup Series.

Chrissy Wallace is the daughter of Mike Wallace. She is an up and comer in the race world. Also starting in the Bandeleros and Legends, she quickly moved up to late-models. In 07 she had 5 late model wins, including at the historic Hickory Speedway. She has been running some ARCA and Trucks races. With luck and sponsors hopefully she can continue, and reach her goal of running in the Sprint Cup Series.

Don't forget young Matt Wallace, son of Mike. He is currently running Bandeleros, and one day dreams of Nascar glory.

So, even though I started as just a Rusty Wallace fan, I have grown to admire the whole racing family. Plus, since Rusty has retired, atleast I still have Wallaces to root for, and that looks to continue, well into the future.

SOME FUN WALLACE FAMILY FACTS

*Kenny Wallace- better known as "Herman" got the nickname from Lake Hill promoter Bob Miller. Mostly because of his rowdy demeanor in the stands. He called him Herman after Herman the German, a mischievous cartoon character.

*Ken Schrader, is a fellow racer from Missouri, who just happened to grow up and hang out with the Wallaces in the early days.

*Rusty had a race chassis business in the 70's named Poor Boy Chassis Co.

*On occasion Tony Stewart has sponsored Chrissy's late model car. Always a friend to Mike, Tony even flew him to Concord NC so he could attend her graduation.

*the 1991 Pyroil 500 at Phoenix was the first time since the 50's that 3 brother ran in the same Cup race.

*In 1988 Kenny ran a Busch (NNS) race in a Dale Earnhardt owner car, and in 89 ran a full season in a car half-owned by brother Rusty.

* Steven Wallace has Tourettes Syndrome- Other athletes with Tourettes include, soccer players Tim Howard and David Beckam, and b-ball player Mahmoud Abdul Rouf.

*In 2005 Kenny won Smokes "Prelude to the Dream" at Eldora Speedway

*Like Rusty, Kenny also won the first time he raced, on a dirt track in 1982

Thanks for reading, Good luck to everyone in the SYMT race at Daytona.
LETS GO RACING!!!!!

The Two Faces of Jimmie Johnson!

2009-07-03T16:19:00.001-04:00

All we normally see of Jimmie Johnson is the Mr. Cool exterior that he portrays during interviews. Well those of us with Nascar.com's Trackpass got more than that on Saturday night.

During and after an altercation with the 6 of David Ragan, Jimmie let his darker side out of the box. Understandibly angry with David after being ran into, JJ let loose a flurry of expletives and threats. At one point he was so angry he was unintelligible. There was also talk of ripping his MFing head off. When told that Ragan hit the wall after hitting the 48, Jimmie replied " Good for that MFer"

Lest all you 48 fans think I am bashing Mr Johnson for this outburst. Please refrain from attacking me. I found it refreshing that Jimmie has this mean streak. Its nice to see him show that emotion. I am sure he has these outburst from time to time. Its to be expected from all the drivers. It was just the first time I ever heard it from him.

Just so everyone doesn't think I am getting all cozy with the 48 and the HMS crew, I do have a few other revelations learned from listening to the highlights of Johnson in-car audio.

I think Chad Knaus, in addition to being a top notch crewchief, would also make a great Lamaze coach. I counted atleast 3 times were he told JJ to "calm down and take a deep breath". It was quite funny.

The quote of the night from the 48 in-car however was during the stop in which Kevin Harvick helped Jimmie park his car at a 90' angle to the wall. After getting the car pointed the right direction, Jimmy said " @#%& What did we do to deserve all this". Then I thought I heard him ask for a tissue. Well just kidding about the tissue part.

Anyway just some insights from the 48 in-car radio, some I were impressed with, others well lets just say I got a good laugh.

Seriously though, I am not a paid shill for that service, but it does add a little flavor to just watching the races. It usually gets a little behind due to buffering, but it is uncensored and great entertainment. I recommend it highly, you can get great insight into your favorite driver and his team.

Is Jimmy Johnson Overrated??

2009-07-03T16:08:00.000-04:00

I have seen this question posed about Dale Jr. and it got me thinking about who else could be overrated in Nascar. Let me point out that i neither like nor dislike JJ as a driver, and that i am no fan of HMS as a team. Also let me say that i think Jimmie is a good driver. However I think his success outweighs his ability.

What does that mean you say?? It means that i think if you put any number of "good drivers" in the 48 with Chad Knaus as crewchief, they would put up "great driver" numbers.

The proof you ask?? Well there really isn't any, but let me ask you this. Did anyone know who Jimmie Johnson was prior to 2002, when he won 3 races. Lets look at his history..
.
He started out racing motorcycles and off-road trucks. He did well here, but is off-road racing a sign of a great Nascar driver. No, see Robby Gordon for defense exibit A.

He then went on to run ASA and the then Busch series. In 1999 he ran a full ASA season winning twice and finishing 3rd in points. Is being a good ASA driver a sign of a great NASCAR driver. No, see Frank Kimmel for defense exibit B. In 2000 and 01 he ran full Busch seasons, finishing 10th and 8th in pts. Sure sign of greatness, Nope see Elton Sawyer ( finished higher in pts both years) for defense exhibit C.

Then in 2002 a miracle for Jimmy happened. He came to Sprint Cup in great equipment (the HMS 48) and was paired with Chad Knaus. Low and behold a 3 win rookie season and finished 5th in season points.

We all know the rest of the story. Now before you start the angry, your a JJ hater, comments. Please note i am not saying that Jimmy is a bad driver. I just think that Chad Knaus's ability to adapt the car to changing track conditions, with the obvious quality of HMS cars adds up to a package that would make any good driver into a "great one"

I would love to see what would happen if you put Jr into the 48 and JJ in the 88. My guess is that Jr would start competing and Jimmy would be begging to go back to the 48.

So anyway, that just my opimion i could be wrong, but probably not. Let the angry comments begin.....

Would You wear an M & M's jacket??

2009-07-03T16:05:00.000-04:00

A recent blog by NBA Outlaw caught my attention. Not only well written but also interesting questions. Now all the other excellent FoxBloggers answered his questions, so i didn't feel i needed to post this as a comment.

There has been a big discussion about about how Jr sells more "stuff" but Kyle is a better driver. i am not here to debate that. i personally am more of a Kyle fan than a Jr one.

My question is Do you think the type of sponsor affects merchandise sales? Jr has cooler sponsors than Kyle. Seriously, Mountain Dew, Amp and formerly Bud, are definetly more hip that M & M's, Snickers, Pedigree and Interstate.

Being a Rusty Wallace fan, i was ok wearing all the Miller Lite stuff, even though i don't drink beer. Now i am conflicted. Can i buy a Jr hat (i love mountain dew) but i don't want people to think i am a Jr fan.

I am sure the type of sponsor has a great deal to do with sales. Only the most die-hard Mark Martin fan wore Viagra gear, and i have seen people wearing Bud and Amp gear that i know couldn't pick Jr out of a line-up.

I really like Kyle Busch, but until i see a M & M racing hat that isn't violently yellow, i will stick with the RedBull gear. I am a fan of both drivers and the hats are cool.

What say you Nascar Bloggers, any gear you wouldn't wear even though your a fan of the driver?

Sick of Hearing about Tony Stewart's NEW Team!!

2009-06-30T18:47:00.000-04:00

First let me start off by saying that although I am not a Stewart fan, I respect his driving ability and his career up till this point. I mean the Indy 500 - Coke 600 doubles were enough to gain most peoples respect, throw in the multiple championships in different series and cars, the talent in the man is undeniable.

That being said, I wish people would stop acting like he created a whole team and is being successful right off the jump. I just read the Foxsports.com article by Rea White, titled "Has Tony Stewart silenced his Critics" My first thought was WHO was critical of Tony taking that deal. I mean who in their right mind would pass up half ownership of a race team for Free!! Sure some people might have said leaving Gibbs was a mistake, but he was looking for a way out of JGR as soon as they went to Toyotas.

So back to my point. Tony did not start a new team. He didn't have to build a shop, hire employees, buy equipment etc.etc. Basically he went in, hired a few key managers, and made a deal to buy Hendricks equipment. Is this wrong? NO its smart, but don't say you started a new team.

For all the C@#$ Mikey Waltrip gets, he started a new team, not only that, a new team with a manufacturer new to the Series. Same with Red Bull. As you can tell by the results, the fruits of these labours are just starting to be born. More for Red Bull than MWR, but the 00 isn't running to bad.

I give them much more credit for starting teams. Tony should get credit for reviving the Haas organization, not starting it.It took a driver/owner of his stature in the sport to bring in the sponsors he did. Without them, Stewart/Haas would be in the same boat Haas was in before, running subpar equipment with smalltime sponsors. The dollars Old Spice, Office Depot, the Army and Burger King put into the organization, allowed Stewart the financials to partner w/Hendrick and get cars and motors.

So please stop telling me how great Tony's NEW team is doing. Just go back to saying what a good driver he is.

thats just my opinion, i could be wrong, but probably not!

Favoritism AT Hendrick Motorsports (Reprint from 3/09)

2009-06-30T18:46:00.000-04:00

At California two of the 6 HMS entries blew motors. Notice I said "6" entries, I consider Stewart/Haas a HMS entity. Basically just Rick's way of getting around the Nascar Superteam rule.
Being an anti Hendrick person, I wasn't sad to see these motors blow up, but it got me wondering why only two. It was supposedly a parts issue. Well if the motors are all made at one specific shop, then transported to the race shops, WHY didn't all of them blow up?

Now like I said, I am not a big HMS supporter, I am more of an underdog kind of guy, but I wonder why guys like Dale Jr and Mark Martin would knowingly go to teams that get inferior or R&D equipment. Just look at the performance of the 5 and 25/88 teams over the last few years. How many wins did Kyle Busch have in the 5 versus last year in the 18 (first year in a Toyota and with a new team)

You can't tell me that the 5 and 25/88 get the same stuff as the 24 and 48.
As much as I dislike Roush, atleast he seems to give everyone the same equipment, and leave it to the driver and crews to thrash it out on the track.

Which brings me back to why on earth anyone would go to these two teams, knowing that the 48 and 24 get better stuff. Jr had his choice to go anywhere to any team. I am sure RCR would have made room and given JR the best cars and crew he could, even if it meant Harvick would suffer. Or maybe does Jr. want out of the limelight and thought HMS would be a good place to play 3rd string be JG and JJ.

Just my opinion, it could be wrong, but probably not.

Race Fans- Nature or Nurture (Reprint from 03/07)

2009-06-30T18:14:00.000-04:00

As I sit here during the off week, I thought back to when I first became interested in racing. I began to wonder why I love racing so much, and others dislike it.

I grew up in an average suburban home, my dad is a huge baseball and basketball fan, and would only watch a race if I made him. I have always had in interest in cars, started with Hotwheels when I was a wee tot, graduated to models and r.c. cars and finally the real thing. Somewhere in there, around the late eighties i found Nascar. I have been a fan ever since. So why do I like racing so much. Everyone else around me seems disinterested, my wife calls it Napcar, although she must learn in her sleep, because she can tell you who drive what car. My father in-law loves cars. Grew up with muscle cars, had a few, then around 50 had his midlife crisis and bought a sports car. But he doesn't like Nascar at all. I have got him slightly into drag racing, but only because i was racing his car.

Is it something in our DNA, or how we grew up? I hear alot from people who grew up around racing, so that seems like a nurture or inherited love of the sport. So where does that leave a guy like me. My dads in finance, All my jobs have been automotive related. Was there a glitch in my DNA??

I am a father now, and I want to have a better relationship with my son, than i have with my dad. So every Sunday, I scoop up the little man, and we watch the race and play cars. I just wonder if that will be enough to spark his interest, or if he will turn out loving golf or bowling or something. (not that there is anything wrong with that).

Anyway, Whats your thoughts Nascar Bloggers? How did you get into racing? Friends, family, out of the blue like me?? How about an unofficial, unscientific poll on whether its nature or nurture??

Who is the best Driver in the World (Reprint from 03/07)

2009-06-30T18:09:00.000-04:00

If your looking for an answer to that question, STOP READING!!!!

Why did I make that the title of this post?? Well, I suppose, because it would make people look and maybe read this post. A little self serving, but then aren't we all.

In all reality its an impossible question to answer. Each motorsport has its own intricacy that makes it special, and difficult, therefore you can't compare them. Even within a single type of racing its hard to specify which driver is better. There are always differences in equipment, the best driver in the world cannot win with inferior equipment. Truthfully, even when you attempt to put drivers in equal car (i.e. IROC) that isn't a true variable either. The fact that they raced on tracks where the Nascar drivers had an advantage for the most part, throws a wrench in those statistics.

So how do we judge which driver is the best?? Highest paid, most wins, average finish, longevity, popularity?? None of these would be a true barometer of someones talent.

Now I am a Nascar fan, however I am also a fan of many other forms of motorsports. Including rally racing, drag racing, scca, Sportscar racing, plus the occasional F1 and IRL,Cart type races. I think too often we pidgeonhole ourselves into one thing or another. Plenty of people think Nascar is silly, the same can be said for IRL,CART. But I can tell you that I just love racing. Whether its the drop of the green at the Bristol night race, to seeing to guys run on the 1/8 mile drag , from driving on a autocross course, to Watching a NHRA top fueler blow through the quarter. They all get my heart pumping, the hair on my arms standing, and my adrenaline flowing.
So why I am I writing all this, well because I keep hearing people bagging on Juan Pablo Montoya, and people throwing him up as the greatest driver in history. I saw in another blog that J.P. was nothing compared to Earnhardt Sr. We are talking apples to oranges people. I mean really, come on. Sr was a great Nascar driver, there is no doubt of that. But can anyone really think that he would run all over everyone in an F1 car, or an Indy car, or a WRC type car?? In the same vain, Could Micheal Shumacher really come over here and run good at Bristol? I doubt that either one could run well, atleast not right off the bat anyway.
Anyway, there are so many variables, that we can never truly know who the best driver in the world. There are great examples of cross over type people, that i think lends them towards being at the top of the list. Earnhardt Sr did compete in several Sportscar type events and ran very well, Tony Stewart, though it pains me to say(lol) does have not only 2 Nextel Cups, but an IRL championship as well. And that brings us back to Juan Pablo. He has won in everything he has ever driven. Do I think he can drive yes, do I think he will win in Nascar at the cup level, yes. does that mean he is better than our Nascar heroes. NO, but until Jeff Gordon, or Tony Stewart gets a chance the drive in F1, we will never know for sure.

Until then I say this. Cheer for your favorite driver, but keep an open mind. Watch a Rolex Grand AM race, watch an NHRA event and think to yourself, how would Tony or Juan Pablo do in a 300 mph dragster. Watch the WRC and ask yourself if Jimmy Johnson Could go 140 through a 70 turn course on snow. I bet they could, and i would watch for sure. Wouldn't you?