Just say NO to Green and Yellow!
and
Yes to Orange and Black!
NASCAR 2008
Under the Lights
The boys went for a little night racing last night out in Phoenix, AZ. I wasn’t able to watch the first part of the race however. I made the sacrifice to have dinner with some great friends of mine I hadn’t visited with in several weeks.
If you are a regular ready to The Park, you know I am not a fan of Jimmie Johnson. There are times I don’t even like to metion his name. With that being said, I have to give kudos to the #48 team in last night’s race. Chad has always been willing to take the chance to get a victory and last night was no different. With the laps and fueling dwindling, Chad told Jimmie to stay out and go for it. While the leader Mark Martin chose to come in for a splash of gas, Jimmie drove away to HMS’s first victory of the season.
I really wanted Mark Martin to win. If I could have willed him to victory last night he would have won. I don’t know if Mark was as low on gas as we all thought, but sometimes you have to roll the dice and take that chance. I know Mark was disappointed by last night’s results, he didn’t say anything negative in his post race interview with Fox. He did say he saved quite a bit of fuel and who knows what might have happened if they took that chance, but in the end what I saw of the race it was good.
The boys are off before they head to Talladega for some restrictor-plate, superspeedway racing. I have to admit I really do like watching races at Talladega. Those around me who are non-NASCAR fans think I watch the race for the crashes. I don’t like crashes. It takes away from the racing. I think a lot of NASCAR fans are rethinking their views on crashes after Michael McDowell’s crash at Texas.
I talked to my father last night and he was puzzled by the fact I wasn’t home watching the race, but I told him we had to get some things for Little Smoke. He is a big, I mean A BIG, Dale Jr. fan. He doesn’t even consider cheering for other racers. He despises Gordon and Johnson. He even told me he doesn’t think Gordon and Johnson are good drivers. I love my father, but come on Dad! You have to give those two drivers credit. They have 6 championships between the two of them and I have to make this little point dad…Dale Jr. has zero championships. I am not saying my Junior is not capable of winning one, I am just saying you have to give credit where credit is due. My dad and I had a disagreement during the Daytona 500 back in 2005. My step-mom had to threaten us with throwing us out of the house unless we calmed down. I guess when you have two-hard headed NASCAR fans get together these things will happen.
Tidbits after Texas
Ryan Newman was docked 25 points for having a right rear quarter panel too high after post race inspection. Penske was docked 25 owner points and Newman’s crew chief, Roy, McCauley, was fined $25,000 and put on probation until Deember 31. This dropped loss of points dropped Newman from 8th in points to 10th in points.
What’s happening over at Petty Enterprises? In my opinion, I think the sport has grown so much and it is leaving Petty behind. Can Petty Enterprises catch up with all the other teams and be competitive? I am sure of it, but it will take a few years to get back to their glory days. I am sure Kyle still has the competitive fire in him, but he is not the future of Petty and to be honest neither is Labonte. Petty needs to look towards the future with younger drivers to remain a competitive force in NASCAR. I think they need to be aggressive in attracting up and coming drivers to bring their team back to a level competitive they are used to. It sounds like they are headed in the right direction, however. I hope Petty does become competitive again. NASCAR isn’t NASCAR without Petty Enterprises.
Jeremy Mayfield is out of the #70 and look is back in the #70…Johnny Sauter. Funny how that all worked. Jeremy is now back looking for a job. Once again, this is a race fan’s opinion here, but sometimes you have to keep the dirty laundry at home. I am sure Jeremy thought what he was doing was the right thing to do, but sometimes you have to keep the company’s business just that…the company’s business.
Another DEI engine has problems…surprised? Not really.
What happened to #88? He put down a great qualifying run, but on race day it was up and down. But he is still in the top 12 though along with teammate Jimmie Johnson.
One more thing, I have to say I enjoy listening to Ray Evernham every Tuesday on Sirius Speedway. He has some insight into the spot that I enjoy listening about. Plus he is funny as all get out. If you have Sirius radio tune in to Sirius Speedway I believe it’s 2-6 in my time zone (Central). I only get to listen to a fraction of the show on the way home, but DAMN, it’s the funniest stuff out there. I swear there are days I barely make it home. I know the drivers around think I am losing it, but I don’t care.
Have a great day!
Flippin’ and Jayhawks
As mentioned earlier I have been trying to get over this crud I have. I think I am on the way to recovery, but the cough keeps hanging around.
I have to admit it, the race on Sunday was a typically Texas race. The cars get spread out and there are very few cautions. With that being said, I enjoyed the race. I still hurts not to be sitting in the crowd with everyone else. Once you go to a race, you need to keep going. It’s like a drug. I am working on attending the November race. It is going to take some careful planning and to be honest scheming, but hopefully I will be watching the race in November in the stands instead of at home.
Congratulations to Carl Edwards! He was one of the drivers I had picked on my fantasy team. I mean he drives for Roush-Fenway and they seem to have Texas figured out. Carl is the 2nd repeat winner at Texas. Carl won the inaguaral Fall race back in 2005. I was at that race and that was a close one that went down to the remaining few laps. Roush may have Texas figured out, but Jeff Gordon still struggles with Texas. He still has yet to Victory Lane. Sunday was no different for Mr. Gordon. He finished 43rd which in itself is a rarity for Gordon. As I understand he has only one other time he finished dead last. That’s not bad for a driver.
I heard there were some complaints about the new car at TMS. Just a reminder to these drivers who feel the car wasn’t doing what it needed to do, this is the FIRST time the COT as run at Texas. You weren’t able to test the car because NASCAR would give TMS a testing date. So basically there was no data for you go by. I am sure you pulled in some data from all your research and design folks or the wind tunnel etc, but it’s a little different in real time circumstances. I am sure the data you got from this weekend will be analzed by those who know what they are doing and I am also pretty sure the fall race will be somewhat better for you.
The boys are headed out to Phoenix this weekend for some Saturday night racing! I love night racing!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE KANSAS JAYHAWKS!!! I went to bed last night with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the game and Memphis had a handle on the game. But wait, that wasn’t the case. Kansas clawed their way back into the game and with a last second 3-point shot by Chalmers, the game was headed into overtime. Kansas dominated, in my opinion, the overtime period. Memphis missed 4 out of 5 free throws late in the game. As my old basketball coach pounded into my little brain, games are won and lost at the free throw line. For one, there are basically a free shot. You have no one guarding you or pressuring you to shoot the ball. You relax and focus on the shot. It’s just you and ball. Memphis doesn’t have anything to hang their head down about…you don’t win 38 games in a season and call it a failure. You beat some quality teams out there…heck, you tore up Texas. Even though they were representing my home state, I got a little excited when the lost. That’s my Red Raider blood talking there. Once again congrats Jayhawks!
As The Wheel Turns…the saga continues
When we last left our gentlemen, they were racing at Bristol and enjoying a week away from the track. Now let’s join our boys at Martinsville…
A Roush Fenway Racing proprietary part, more specifically a anti-roll swaybar, ended up with an “evil” Toyota team at last year’s fall Dover race. The part has, however been returned to it’s rightful owner.
I don’t claim to know all the ins and outs of how things work in the garage. I have been in the garage area at Texas Motor Speedway and I can tell you the teams are in close proximity to one another. But if someone did take a part from Roush, wouldn’t someone have noticed? I know this may seem a little naive on my part, but wouldn’t somebody, somewhere noticed another team’s crew member in another crew member’s garage area?
Is it me or does this sound like another school yard tactic?
Roush hasn’t held back about his opinion with regards to Toyota. He isn’t alone either. I lurk around various NASCAR blogs and message boards to see what “the people” are saying. I have found the pro-Toyota and anti-Toyota camps to be as equally vocal in their opinions. For me, I am just a fan, plain and simple.
Congratulations to Jeff Gordon for winning the pole for Sunday’s race.
Stayed for the next episode of “As The Wheel Turns”…
Tickets
I heard my phone ring around 6 pm tonight. I saw the call ID…TMS (Texas Motor Speedway) was calling. Now what could they be calling about at that hour? Perhaps I had won the contest they had been running on their website. I didn’t get to my phone in time, but I was left a message. Nope…all hopes dashed…it was just a recording reminding me I hadn’t purchased by tickets for the April race weekend. I have to give TMS some props, it wasn’t just your usual computer voice recording. Nope…it was a recording of Kevin and Delana Harvick. As much as I would love to head to TMS in April, there isn’t much in the old race budget this soon. But hey, if they really want me to be there, why not have the Harvicks purchase tickets for me. Oh well…perhaps I could purchase tickets for the race weekend in November. I mean after all…the government is sending out refund checks.
Bristol Baby!
Once again I am upset with the outcome of the race. Tony had the car to beat on Sunday. He once again lead the most laps at Bristol and once again didn’t win the race. I don’t blame Kevin for the spin out. It was just racing. All bets are off when it comes to the last few laps in a race. I have to admit it was a little boring…just a little. It was pretty cool to have the RCR drivers finish 1 (Burton), 2(Harvick), 3(Bowyer).
Congratulations to Jeff Burton. I really like Jeff Burton. He’s one of those drivers you can’t dislike. I am sure there are people out there who don’t like him. There are even those who don’t like Mark Martin. That’s right, there was a caller to the NASCAR channel who stated he didn’t like Martin. Thought he was whiner. I don’t know what kind of wacky weed he had been smoking, but as I say everyone is entitled to their opinion. Burton is one of the drivers who will race you clean and if you jack him up is not afraid to confront you about it…just ask Clint Bowyer, his own teammate.
I didn’t get a chance to listen to Smoke’s show on Sirius tonight. He is having his back waxed as part of fundraiser for Victory Junction. This has been a year in the making. Donations were collected on KHI website from fans and I believe Kevin Harvick chipped in the rest of it. This is definitely one time Tony is taking one for the team. His back should be all nice and smooth now. Now what can we do to get his hair chopped?
Bristol was the last points race for Dale Jarrett. He will race one last time at the All-Star race in May, but as of Sunday he is retired. He can now focus on his broadcasting duties for ESPN. It is a driver who has the respect from his fellow drivers and fans alike. I for one will miss seeing him on the track. I will also miss his UPS commercials. My favorite…the one where the little boy is with his father and they are watching the cars on the track. The truck zooms by and he goes flying in the air albeit holding his father’s hand. Also, the last one where he gets to “race”. Thanks Dale!
The boys are off this weekend to enjoy the Easter weekend, but will soon be back short trackin’ it at Martinsville.Hope everyone had a Happy St. Patty’s Day!
Trixie's Trailer Park 