I got a NASCAR alert via my email just a few minutes ago….Ryan Newman headed to Stewart- Haas Racing beginning with the 2009 season.
This is from NASCAR.com article, “Ryan Newman’s long-anticipated move to Tony Stewart’s new race team will become reality Friday in an announcement at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR.com has learned.”..driver on over
Wow…never saw that coming!
Are you ready for some football? I sure am. I know NASCAR season is still upon us and let me state I will still be keeping tabs on all of it, but now I can also turn my attention to my other passion–FOOTBALL! I told Postman last night there are only two major sports in our household…NASCAR and FOOTBALL. That’s it. Sure we like basball, basketball and other sporting events, but we don’t follow them as closely and passtionately as we do football. Postman is gearing up for his fantasy football season as well. He has about 6 fantasy football mags (the last count) sitting on the kitchen table by his laptop. He is making his depth charts and spreadsheets in preparation for his league draft party next weekend. But now comes the fun part of the football season, what sport gets HD TV screen time on Sundays? Depending on when the Cowboy game starts and when the race starts is usually the deciding factor, but there are times where we have to flip back and forth during the two events. I could go into the bedroom to watch NASCAR, but my recliner isn’t in there. Last season there wasn’t much bloodshed. I am hoping for that this season. But to tell you the truth we all now who will win this “argument”.
I am so excited about the Cowboys season. Zach Thomas is now with the Boys. He is a former Red Raider and I was at Tech when he palyed for the Red Raiders. I was watching him on the preseason game last weekend and it seemed he was either in on the tackle or if he wasn’t he was in the vicinity. Zach Thomas isn’t the only Red Raider right now in camp. Danny Amendola, is trying to make the team as well. Danny Amendola is a Wes Welker type of player. I am hoping he will make the team that way I can watch my fellow Red Raiders on Sundays.
One note that has nothing to do with NASCAR and the Cowboys…on second thougth I think I will save it for another day. I am too emotional, or more to the point Tony Stewart pissed off. I may say something I will regret.
The Glen
The Olympics
On the road…can’t wait to get on the road again…
The Cup boys are at The Glen this weekend for the final road race of the season. I am not a big fan of the road courses, but they are fun to watch at times. This also signals that time in the season where The Chase is growing bigger and bigger in some drivers’ windows and for some they may find themselves on the outside looking in.
If you look at the points standings as they now sit, I would say the first 4 spots, maybe even the top 5 spots are in the Chase. However from 6 to about 14 are pretty much a toss up. There is only 166 points separateing 6th place and 12th place. One bad race and you may be out of it. As of right now Matt Kenseth is sitting in 13th spot, however he is only 11 points out of the #12 spot which is currently held by Clint Bowyer. You can’t count out David Ragan either for making the Chase. He is 46 points back of Clint. Ryan Newman is sitting in the 15th position 173 points back of 12th place, but I don’t know if Newman will be able to make that push towards over the remaining races. At one time I really thought Brian Vickers was going to have a decent shot at making the Chase, but he is now 203 points out of 12th. But as we have seen anything can happen over the next weeks. I mean remember Jeremy Mayfield went into Richmond in 2004 out of the Chase. He had to win the race and lead the most laps…and he did just that.
Just like with anything in sports, it can sometimes be about momentum and who gets hot and goes cold and I think that is what it is going to take for a couple of the drivers to get themselves in position to make the Chase. I think Matt Kenseth will be there after Richmond. If anyone can make that push it is Matt. He has earned 751 points over the last 6 races which is 7th best and he even finished 38th at Indy. Even though Matt has an average finish at The Glen of 16.8 and only 3 top tens, I think he will have a decent points day on Sunday. Keeping it under the radar is Matt Kenseth’s mode of operation. David Ragan may be only 46 points from 12th, this will only be his second visit to the Glen with his Cup car. He finished last year in 32nd. He too will need to keep his focus on the big picture. He will need to drive his race and remember sometimes it isn’t all about winning.
As a Tony Stewart fan, I am hoping he walks away with the trophy this weekend. I really hope that I haven’t dwelled on his lack of victories since last year. I didn’t want to overload the circuits here in The Park. It’s barely running on electricity as it is. Tony is returning to the track where he last saw victory lane in the #20 Home Depot car. Tony has four wins at The Glen, 5 Top 5s and 7 Top 10s with an average finish of 6. Tony will be one of the favorites to cross the finish line in first and for this Tony fan I would love to see him come away with a victory for JGR. Tony isn’t the only driver this year who has yet to see victory lane. I as mentioned earlier in the week, if you had told me Jeff Gordon wouldn’t have a win by now I would think you had been inhaling too many gas fumes. But folks, he has seen victory lane either. It’s not as if Tony and Jeff haven’t been contending for the wins it’s just one of those things where the little things become big things and well there you go. Like Tony, Jeff has been very successful at The Glen. He too has 4 wins. He also has had 6 Top 5s and 8 Top 10s. He has an average finish of 12.4. He finished 9th in last year’s race. So he will definitely be there challenging for the win this weekend.
Like with any road race, we will see our fair share of road race specialists. I am still on the fence about teams bringing in the specialists for these racers. I understand the whole top 35th thing etc, however how can those who are less experienced at road racing learn to road race? I guess it is just one of those things.
And finally…in case you have been living in a cave with no electricity, no television, no radio, no internet, Brett Favre is no longer a Green Bay Packer. He is now a New York Jet. But the drama surrounding the Favre situation is over, but I hope (fingers crossed) the media will back off a little.
Thank goodness…no more races at the Bermuda Triangle..oops Pocono.
I am not a fan of this track. It’s too long of a race and it’s just a weird racetrack. And for some reason there is always a threat of bad weather. But after last week’s race, I was looking forward to some racing. Sunday’s looked very familiar (Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin were on the front row again for the second week in a row) and I thought for a moment perhaps I had had a nightmare and we were all watching the Indy race. But alas the boys were definitely at Pocono. Unfortunately Saturday’s practice sessions were rained out.
Even though NASCAR was going to throw a compeotion yellow at lap 20, the first caution happened rather qucikly. The boys didn’t even get a chance to finish a complete lap befor Joe Nemecek spins Kevin Harvick. This put Harvick deep in the pack and he was going to have to fight his way to the front. As with Pocono, when you have your “oops” moment will depend if you can recover for a decent finish. Shortly after Kevin went spinning, Kurt Busch decided to try it for himself on Lap 7. By the way, Kevin finished 4th, but Kurt wasn’t able to recover and finished 38th.
Weather tends to play havoc at Pocono. Just ask Ryan Newman last year during the spring shortened race. And this time rain did force soem fo the teams to show their cards. SEveral teams decided to come in and get tires and gas while others chose to gamble with the impending weather and gambled. Those who gambled included the spring’s winer Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin. Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart chose to come down pit road to get gas and tires. The race is red flagged on Lap 131 due to rain showers. After a 41 minute rain delay the boys were back on the track with Kasey Kahne leading the way. There was still a threat of rain in the area, however it never played a factor after the rain delay.
I have to say it was interesting to see who was going to try and play the gas mileage game. Who was going to blink? Unfortunately both Kasey and Mark decided to go in for gas because they were not going to make it on fuel. Once this happened Carl Edwards inherited the lead. And he too was playing the mileage game, his crew chief was telling him to conserve fuel. Unfortunately, the points leader ran out of gas and was unable to refire once he hit pit road. He finished 36th. Of course this is better than the finish in the spring where he finished dead last. Yikes!
Congrats to Carl for his 4th victory this season.
Tony Stewart had a decent day. He came away with a 2nd place finish after starting 20th. Kudos also go to David Ragan with his 5th place finish. Some other surprises…Jamie McMurray (9th), Travis Kvapil (16th), Chad McCumbee (17th), and Tony Raines (18th), and how about Bill Elliott finishing in the top 20 with a 20th place finish.
Now the boys are headed to the final road race of the year at Watkins Glen. I am crossing all my fingers and toes this week hoping for a victory for Tony Stewart. If you told me at the beginning of the year that Tony would not have win by Watkins Glen I would have called you crazy, but it’s true. The same would be said for Jeff Gordon. It’s not for lacking of trying on the part of the two drivers, it’s just one of those things in racing.
One more thing…in case you missed it NASCAR made history on Saturday. The boys in the Nationwide Series raced in the rain up in Montreal. It was interesting to watch them drive in the rain with the rain tires and windshield wipers. I am still a little bit confused about why some didn’t install the wipers. I know when I am behind someone in traffic during a rain storm, I get their back splash. But I guess there was enough visabilitiy for them. Unfortunately the race was eventually called due to the rain. Congrats to Ron Fellows!
Just a few notes from The Park….
The Cup boys are back at The Bermuda Triangle aka Pocono this weekend. Pocono is one of those races that I usually have on in the background while I am cleaning house. I am not a fan of races at Pocono. For one thing if the field gets spread out, then it makes for a boring race. However, after last weekend’s “race”, I am looking forward to some decent racing. I was happy to see NASCAR apologize for the weekend. Poco
NASCAR announced this week, the Nationwide Series will not be running in Mexico next year. The series raced in Mexico the last 4 seasons. This announcement does not surprise me however. This race saw lagging interest and what had to be the biggest logistical nightmare for many of the teams. However, NASCAR was able to expose their sport to a new audience and I hope build a bigger fan base.
Jimmie Johnson will make his Truck series debut on August 5 at Bristol driving the #81 for Randy Moss Motorsports. When I first heard that Randy Moss was going to delve into the world of NASCAR I was a little skeptical. And my skepticism does not have to do with the fact that I am not a fan of Randy Moss, it has to do with the history. Several others from the world of NFL have tried to venture into NASCAR and have not been successful (excluding Joe Gibbs). There was Terry Bradshaw who has come and go as well as two hall of fame quarterbacks from the Dallas Cowboys (Staubach and Aikman). I don’t know a whole lot about Bradshaws venture, but with Hall of Fame, they were trying to start out in Cup immediately. Perhaps Randy has his eye eventually fielding a team in Cup, but starting out in Truck is a smart move. Plus to have two-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson to drive your truck isn’t too bad either. It will give RMM a big step towards legitamacy into Truck.
Best kept secret alert…Ryan Newman will drive the #4 for Stewart Haas Racing next year. But don’t tell anyone.
And one final note…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MTV!. It was 27 years ago today (August 1, 1981), MTV made it’s debut into homes across America. I was only…11 years old. I still remember coming home every day from school and tuning into see the latest music videos. I wanted my MTV. I watch MTV now and I can’t even recognize it now. I really wish they would go back to a more music video format, but hey a girl can dream can’t she.
Here is a picture of the original MTV VJs (Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J. J. Jackson and Martha Quinn)
In case you are wondering what the first video was MTV played…here it is.
I felt like I was in the middle of some crazy nightmare yesterday. Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for coming in first yesterday. I don’t know if we could call what happened yesterday racing. Yes, there were 43 cars on the track trying to make their way to the front. And I guess by definition that would be racing, but the type of racing I like to see between the drivers didn’t happen yesterday.
In case you missed it, NASCAR basically dictated the pace of the race yesterday. With all the problems the teams were having with tires, NASCAR chose in the name of safety to call competition yellows throughout the race in hopes the track would rubber up the longer drivers were on the track. However this wasn’t the case and so the race was done in segments. The drivers would get the green, but just when they would get to a decent pace (in my opinion) a competition yellow would be thrown so teams could come into the pits to change tires. Clearly the track and the tire were not compatible. It was clear the situation was not going to get better throughout the day. I was resigned to the fact the race was going to be a series of several pit stops.
Even though these pit stops were dictated by NASCAR, it was interesting to see how the crews used tire strategy to get track position. Both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon began using changing four tires instead of just the two right sides like other teams were using. When teams did change just the right side tires, they were able to get some decent track position. But there was Jimmie and Jeff marching towards the front, so it was clear they had good running cars. I really thought Carl was going to make it a race in the last segment, but kudos go to Jimmie’s pit crew for getting him out first after the last compeition yellow. Talk about making the most of the money stop.
Who was to blame for this tire dibacle? I am no position to pint the finger of blame to anyone organization. I feel it was a combination of things that lead to this situation. This was the first time the new car was running at Indy. This car has a higher center of gravity thus it is difficult on the right side tires. This coupled with the surface of Indy which is not primarily designed for stock cars lead to this situation yesterday. When Goodyear did a tire test in April at Indy, only three teams (Earnhardt, Kurt Busch, and Brian Vickers) participated in the test. One would think they received enough data to bring in the right kind of tire, however this wasn’t the case either.
NASCAR was in a difficult spot yesterday. The Brickyard is one of those races everyone looks forward to each year. I for one do not miss it. I usually schedule no activities for this day. NASCAR did what they needed to do to put on an event for the fans sitting in the grandstands as well as those of us sitting at home. This was also about the safety of the drivers as well. It was obvious what would happen when tire blew under high speeds. One only has to look at what happeend to Montoya and Kenseth yesterday. I would rather have had the segmented race than all those drivers blowing out tires and causing wrecks. I do have to applaud Goodyear and NASCAR for giving teams an extra set of tries for the race as well an extra 1600 tires aka Pocono tires. But luckily the Pocono tires never came into play yesterday.
No matter the case, this is definitely one hard lesson for NASCAR and Goodyear to learn. The only thing now is take what was learned from yesterday’s “race” and head back to the drawing board.
Despite the tire issue, there were some good runs. Elliot Sadler finished 4th. Jamie M. finished with a 6th place finish. And how about A.J. Allmendinger, he finished in the 10th position. Unfortunately, Tony who started 14th and looked like he was going to have a decent finish, finished 23rd. Luckily he didn’t loose any positions in the standings. He is currently 10th. The points leader finished in 15th yesterday, but still maintains 253 point lead over Dale Earnhardt. But as well know all bets are off once The Chase begins. The real race is for me is going to be from about 10th-14th. It will definitely be interesting to see how this all shakes out over the next few races.
Trixie's Trailer Park 
