NASCAR 2008

Saturday Night Special

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Whew…what a race, well at least in the closing moments.  I didn’t get to watch much of the race last night, Little Smoke was being a little ornery.  He’s 4 and a boy so no further explanation should be necessary.

But I guess I did tune in at the right moment, Kyle Busch took his car to victory lane last night breaking the Gibbs #20 domination over the last several races in Nationwide.  It was kind of ironic that a Gibbs driving did break the #20 car’s domination however.  But the real excitement wasn’t in Victory Lane, it was in the pits.  

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #88 JR Motorsports Chevy, bumped Hamlin’s back bumper under the yellow right before the green/white checker.  Apparently Denny wasn’t happy with the bump from behind so Denny proceeds to get into Brad’s left front corner panel.  And well…that’s where everything went south.  Pit crews were “discussing” the incident in the pits while Kyle Busch was celebrating his victory on the track.  Nothing like a good “discussion” on a Saturday night.  Reminds me of those Saturday nights I spent with  my dad at the dirt track.

Denny-“Give a guy two inches to let him clear, and don’t just hang onto my rear quarter panel,” said Hamlin, who made it clear that his retaliation was for the bump under caution, not for the way Keselowski had raced him. “You throw a rock, I’m going to throw a concrete block back.”

Brad-“I race one day a week, not two,” he said. “I have 200 laps to prove myself, not 400. I have to make the most of every lap.”

Junior-“What the hell did he do that for?” asked Earnhardt, Keselowski’s car owner, after the race. “Brad bumped him just a little bit under caution, and Denny knocked the fender off his car. Now the car’s all tore up.

Sounds like Denny doesn’t like to be raced hard.  Um…did Denny get the memo?  Isn’t that what racing is about?  This is NASCAR Denny.  Like I said I didn’t get to see all of the race so I cannot say if Brad was driving him too hard or not.  In my opinion, as long as the racing is clean what’s wrong with a little hard racing.  C’mon on now!  Hey Denny…it’s time to put your big boy undies on and deal with it.

One more thing…Congratulations to Donny Lia for winning the Ohio 250 yesterday in Mansfield, Ohio yesterday afternoon on a last lap pass.  This was his first win in 8 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series and the first time a rookie has a won a race since Carl Edwards did it in 2003.  Way to go Donny

Now on with the “Day O’ Racing”.  I got my food, my adult beverage of choice and a nice comfortable chair to watch all the action.  I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!

Kyle Strikes Again

/ Trixie / 1 Comment

When you are hot, you are on fire. Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green on Sunday. This is the second pole in a row at Lowe’s for Kyle. And look who he will be with him on the front row…Kasey Kahne, last week’s All-Star race winner.

This will be the first Coca Cola 600 for the COT. I am interested to see how the COT will perform under the conditions of the 600. This race is about being able to make adjustments througout the entire race. The race begins during the day and ends under the lights. This is the longest race of the year and the COT has yet to impress me on this size of a race track. I know teams have been struggling with the COT this year. It seems some teams try to adjust the cars just a little during the race, but it seems to make them worse. I am hoping some of the teams were able to get some valuable data from last week’s All-Star race. If the race is anything like the the All-Star race where the person who is a lead drives away from the field, I may have to change the channel.

As with every race, I want Tony to be up front and challenging for the win. Tony has one win at Lowe’s back in 2003 at the spring race. Last year he finished in the Top Ten in both races at Lowe’s. This is the time of the year where Tony turns up the intensity. Tony rolls off Sunday 31st. I am not worried about him though. Tony isn’t always the best qualifier. It will be fun to watch him work his way to the front. I mean it is 600 mile race, not a 6 mile race.

Will Jimmie return to victory lane at Lowe’s this year? Jimmie hasn’t seen victory lane since the fall 2005 race. Of course that’s probalby what we will hear about this weekend, how Lowe’s is Jimmie’s house, blah blah..and of course someone will mention the fact that Junior STILL hasn’t won a race in the last two years.

One more thing…as we enjoy all the fesitivities, parties, BBQs this weekend, take time and say “Thank You” to a veteran or an active serviceman or servicewoman, because without the sacrifice, we would not be able to enjoy this weekend. 

Kentucky Speedway

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I was working on another topic for my post today, but work kind of got in the way this afternoon.  Damn that job!  So I wasn’t able to get back to my post.  I am hoping to get back to it tomorrow and have it posted in the next few days.   But in the meantime…it was announced today that SMI (Speedway Motorsports Inc.) has purchased Kentucky Speedway for what I am sure was a nice chunk of change.  This is the same race track that has been embroiled in a lawsuit with NASCAR for the past couple of years. Bruton Smtih is hoping to have a race date for the track in 2009.  Whether or not Kentucky will receive a race date next year remains to be seen.  I am sure quite a bit of infrastructure would need to be built as well as improvements to the track in order to have it ready for a Cup race.  As we know Bruton also purchased New Hampshire earlier in the year.  He mentioned he would like to see a second date at Vegas (another track he also owns).  So what does the purchase of Kentucky mean for the schedule over the next few years?  I guess we will just all have to wait and see.

Day o’ Racing

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

It’s Wednesday.  This means it is one day closer to Day o’ Racing.  Once again this is the one of few days of racing that I looked forward to every year.  I mean what more could this race fan or any race ask for.  First up you have the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500.  Then you have the Coca Cola 600 in the evening.  THe Coca Cola 600 can test any seasoned NASCAR driver.  It is 600 miles (0r 400 laps) of up on the wheel, door to door (ok may be not) racing.  Sometimes it’s not about track position, a good car, or something else.  It’s sometimes about survival.  Can teams keep their cars running for that long of a period of time?  600 miles…That’s almost a round trip from my house to TMS and back.  It’s 333 miles one-way to TMS from my house.  Of course it takes me a little bit longer for that trip than the boys will take on Sunday.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.

I hope all my friends and family will understand if I don’t want to leave the household on Sunday.  Heck, they can have me on Saturday and even Monday, but sorry folks I will be busy on Sunday.  I did have people over last year for a Sundy BBQ, however, racing was on and that was the way it was going to be. 

To remind my friends, family and even that occassionally coworker who still doesn’t get it (in reference to NASCAR and for this weekend only also the INDY 500….here is my disclaimer…as posted on February 7, 2008

Attention to all of my family, friends, co-workers, and complete strangers, NASCAR season is upon us.  I will NOT be available for family functions, outings, or get-togethers on Sundays.  If there is an event on said Sunday, you will have to understand they must be held prior to the start of the race or after the race.  If you must schedule things during the race be aware I may not attend your function or request that I have access to a television set.  This also applies to races that are held occasionally on Saturday nights.  If you wish to spend time with me, you must understand the topic of conversation will be predominately about the upcoming race, the previous Sunday’s race, Tony Stewart, or anything in general about NASCAR.  This is the time of the year all projects are put aside unless they involve a NASCAR related event.  Please don’t be offended if I ignore you on Sundays or the occasional Saturday…it’s nothing personal…IT’S NASCAR!!!

So please don’t take it personally when I turn down your invite to the Sunday afternoon BBQ, get together, etc or make me feel guilty about spending time with you.  I have let you know what Sunday, May 25 is for the last couple of weeks so you have had plenty of notice.

In other news…

Humpy Wheeler is planning to annouce his retirment as president and general manager of Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  It has been reported Marcus G. Smith, son of track owner and Speedway Motorsports INce chairman O. Bruton Smth, will take succeed Humpy.  Under Humpy, Lowe’s Motor Speedway expanded to 167,000 seats and became the first modern facility to install lights for night racing.  THe first night race at a superspeedway was in 1992.  I have to say, in this race fan’s opinion, Humpy sure does know how to put on a show for the fans.  Even though Humpy may be heading into retirement, I am sure he will be around as he always has.

Juan Pablo Montoya has a new crew chief…again. Will third time be a charm?

Three engine failures for JGR this past weekend.  That’s quite a bit of money wasted or invested depending on your point of view.  I am glad they chose the All-Star race to “experiement” instead of a points race.  But this does bring up a very interesting point I have heard grumbling in the background of the All-Star wrap ups. What is the value of the All-Star race to some teams?  I know teams are still trying to understand how the COT works and perhaps this may have been the reason some teams chose to experiment a little bit more than in year’s past.  Could this be the reason the All-Star race was as competitive in year’s past?  I don’t know.  I guess this is just theorizing on the ever changing environment in NASCAR.

Stock Car Science and Happy Birthday

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I heard about a really cool website yesterday while listening to Sirius Speedway while headed home yesterday.  It’s called Stock Car Science. Professor Diandra Leslie-Pelecky basically, explains the science of NASCAR in terms even someone like me could understand. I wasn’t interested in science in school, but if this site had been around during those formative years perhaps I would have liked science back in the day. Case in point…the whole yaw thing that has been in the news of late. She has also written a book entitled The Physics of NASCAR.

So if you get a chance, surf on over and find out more about the Science of NASCAR.

One more thing before I forget….

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TONY STEWART!

 

All Star Weekend

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Ho Hum…the All-Star weekend is over.

Up first was the burnout competition.  All competitors definitely had fun with the competition especially Jimmie Johnson.  Congratulations to Greg Biffle for winning the inaugural Pennzoil Burnout competition.  

Next up was the Showdown.  I felt this was going to be an exciting race.  You have all those drivers fighting for two positions.  I really was hoping Elliot Sadler would race his way into the All-Star race, but it was meant to be.  AJ Allmendinger clipped him and he want sailing into the wall.  Even if he did get the vote from the fans there was no way his car was going to be able to race.  I have to give props to Sam Hornish.  This is a driver who chose to leave the Indy league for the green pastures of NASCAR.  If he was still running his Indy car he would be preparing for the Indy 500, but instead he was giving it his all to get into the All-Star.  He drove the wheels of his car.  He along with AJ Allmendinger advanced to All-Star race.  Of course there was only one more driver that still had to be announced for the All-Star race.  This driver was voted into the All-Star race by the fans.  This driver was Kasey Kahne.

The All-Star race had a little different look to it this year.  The race was broken down into four 25 lap segments with a 10 minute break at the end of the second segment and no invert (yea!).  You could feel the excitement in the air.  From the drop of the green flag, Kyle Busch took off and left the rest of the field behind him.  It looked like Kyle was going to be the one to beat, but as well know what with NASCAR what we think is going to happen doesn’t necessarily happen.  Kyle Busch took the boys to the start of the second segment and once again looked like he was going to leave them all behind.  But unfortunately this wasn’t the case.  Kyle Busch’s engine had other plans.  After the second segment, Carl Edwards was ahead and Kyle Busch’s engine was KAPUT and his night was over.  

The third segment was uneventful, but at the end of the third segment the boys were required to hit pit road.  But it was up to the teams what they wanted to do on pit road.  They could take two tires, four tires, or just stop and go.  Kenny Francis made a gutsy call last night and chose to take no tires and gas only so Kasey would have track position.  From the results of the previous segments whoever was out front ran good and that’s probably what Kenny was thinking.  If Kasey won this would be considered the best call of the night, if he lost well, it wasn’t going to be a good call.  Kasey took the lead on lap 84 after Denny Hamlin’s engine gave way.  Hamlin was the second JGR car of the night to have an engine go KAPUT.  Kasey fought off a determined Greg Biffle, however Greg didn’t have enough for Kasey.  Kasey became the first driver to win who was voted into the race by the fans.  This was a great night for the NASCAR fans.  Way to go Kasey!

I have to give major props to Sam Hornish.  He drove his way into the All-Star race by finishing 2nd in the Showdown earlier in the night.  He was hauling the nail with his #77 car.  I thought he was going to have a long night after getting into the wall, but he plowed on.  He was down two laps at one point in the night, but with getting back on the lead lap Sam Hornish finished 7th.  Well done Mr. Hornish..well done.

The race was pretty uneventful compared to other All-Star races.  There were no cautions except for the ones thrown at the end of each segment.

Smoke had a rough weekend. He was forced to start at the back of the pack after engine issues prior to the race.  Who knew he would be the lone JGR driver to finish the race last night.  He finished 5th.  With all three JGR engines having problems over the weekend, it makes me wonder if they were trying out some new engine package or were there serious problems.  I hope they were just experimenting and not planning to use that engine package for next week’s Coca Cola 600 race.  Because if this is the case, JGR is going to be in for a long night.

It was bittersweet night for Dale Jarrett.  The All-Star race was the last race we would see Dale behind the wheel of a race car, however we won’t miss him for very long.  He will be following in his father’s footsteps again by stepping into the broadcast booth.  Thanks for the memories Dale!  You are one class act.

Not to be overshadowed by the All-Star weekend, even though it probably was, Matt Crafton was his first Craftsman Truck Series race.  I have mentioned before that I really like watching the truck races.  They are shorter than the Nationwide and Cup races so it can sometimes make for some interesting racing.  I feel anything can happen on any turn of the race and Friday night was different.  Congratulations Mr. Crafton!

Today is Bump Day for the Indy 500 and I will probably be watching to get my race fix for Sunday.  I can’t wait until next Sunday.  I mean there’s the Indy 500 in the morning and the Coca Cola 600 in the evening.  What more could this race fan ask for?

NASCAR Day 2008

/ Trixie / 1 Comment

HAPPY NASCAR DAY!

This is the fifth anniversary of NASCAR Day.  The first NASCAR day was held in 2004.  This day is celebrated the Friday before the All-Star race.  So what is NASCAR day?  This is the one-day celebration of NASCAR spirit and the fans.  Of course for me every day is NASCAR day, but today is extra special.  It’s kind of like Mother’s Day.  We give an “extra salute” to our mom’s on that and the same can be said for NASCAR day.  Fans and businesses can participate on many different levels with NASCAR day.  The easiest way is purchase a NASCAR Day pin for $5.00.  That’s it.  How easy is that?  I am proudly wearing my pin as well as my brand new Tony Stewart shirt I received in the mail yesterday. 

NASCAR Day is also about giving back to the NASCAR Foundation and/or chartiable foundations of your

favorite drivers.  NASCAR Day supports the NASCAR Foundation which was established in 2006.  The NASCAR Foundation was created to bring together a number of charitable orgnaizations and initiatives within the NASCAR Family.  Since the first NASCAR Day in 2004, NASCAR day has raied almost $5 million for charitable initiatives for the NASCAR family. 

According to The NASCAR Foundation you can make a donation to The NASCAR Foundation or one of your favorite driver’s foundations during the 2008 NASCAR Day Telethon.  You can either call, text, or donate via their website.  You can also participate in the on-line auction to bid on some really cool NASCAR items.  It really doesn’t matter how you can give, just give.

In case you missed it last night…I did sit down last night and watch the Pit Crew Challenge of Speed TV. I know to most people it would have seemed boring, but it really wasn’t. It was nice to several of the drivers there to support the pit crews last night. I did find myself rooting for Brian Vickers pit crew. I guess becuase they are the underdogs of the competition. They were having some of the best times at the challenge and it was fairly obvious they were the team of the night. In case you missed it and Tivoed…click away from the post.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE #83 TEAM!