The car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-2.1-D (exterior sheet metal body parts did not meet the specified minimum thickness) of the 2008 NASCAR rule book.

The latest trend in education these days is to do away with grading systems in order to build on students’ self-esteem. The problem with this idea is that individuals are no longer recognized for excellence as everybody is rewarded just by trying to do the job.

Starting with the 2009 Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR will mirror the above concept of no longer rewarding for excellence by having the top six teams of each car manufacturer compete instead of 2008 pole winners or past Shootout champions.

While this certainly benefits Roush-Fenway as all five of their Fords will compete (even Jamie McMurray), popular drivers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman will be excluded next year because they will be moving to new teams next season. This means also that 2008 pole-winners Joe Nemechek and Patrick Carpentier are out of luck next year, unless one of them replaces Newman in his number 12 Dodge, which isn’t very likely. However, newly announced Gibbs Racing driver Joey Logano, who is replacing Stewart, is assured his place in the Shootout even though he starts racing Cup for the first time at Richmond in September!

The Shootout eligibility change is to occur primarily because Coors awards the pole winner of each race now instead of Anheuser-Busch. But rather than having Budweiser lose the Shootout after 30 years of sponsorship, NASCAR opted to change the rules of eligibility. This is yet another instance of NASCAR bending to the will of a big-money sponsor rather than improving the sport for the fans or keeping things fair for the race teams.

This is as about as petty as the AT&T and Sprint debacle of last year. Brian France, this Bud’s for you! You certainly paid enough for it.

Sounds like the split at Penske is much deeper than originally perceived.

I know that there have been many rumors about the decision to part ways, but Ryan Newman made it very clear during the rain delay at Pocono that he was very disappointed with his crew chief. His decision to pit vs. getting track position only shows his lack of faith in his crew chief’s strategy is definately a testament to why this team needs to break up and move on with new ventures.

I really think the Stewartt-Haas deal is the best move, but in a pre-race interview with Newman, he told reporters that he has reached a decision and will announce it within the next six weeks.

Now that the tire dust has finally settled from yesterday’s race, let’s look at what I feel was the biggest damage done to the sport of Cup racing, sacrificing driver safety for the goodwill of the fans. That NASCAR had to resort to bringing out 6 competition cautions due to tire issues was a shame and I expect Chris covered that issue with his article. However, my thoughts are that if NASCAR was bringing out the competition cautions due to safety issues, then they should have expanded on that by not changing the field during the pit stops.

Granted, when out of 160 laps 52 were ran under caution that makes for fewer on-track opportunities to pass and extend leads but the pit road shuffling is risky enough during a “normal” race without having to add pressure on the teams with numerous mandatory caution pits. When drivers are moving up 10 or more positions during pit stops, you can bet there were a lot of short cuts taken that all the officials couldn’t catch as they were busy staring at the tires with cords showing through them. There was one televised instance when a FedEx pit crew member just behind the wall was trying to catch a runaway tire that was knocked out of the tire changer’s hands by Reed Sorenson’s car when that car was exiting pit road too close to Hamlin’s car. The camera followed the injured crew member and was showing him getting his arm tended to by safety officials.

I feel that the field should be frozen when the competition cautions are brought out so that nobody gains anything or loses anything. Does it make for a more boring race? Certainly, but it makes for a safer race. There were probably other injury instances that ESPN wasn’t able to catch but then again that was probably because of ESPN and not for lack of instances. Maybe Dr. Jerry needs to be back on the track instead of being up in the glass towers.

I realize that NASCAR has to have a show for the 200,000 fans that were at the track in addition to the television/radio audience and I also understand that the race at Indianapolis is only second to Daytona 500 as the event of the racing season. However, in the attempt to put on the show, NASCAR lost sight again of the long-term goals of doing right both by the fans and the race teams. If driver safety is such an issue, then stick to the guns on that by freezing the fields during competition cautions. To do otherwise might result in what the Formula One drivers did back in 2005 at Indy when Michelin could not guarantee the safety of their tires. 14 of the 20 starting drivers just pulled off the track prior to the drop of the green flag. Unfortunately, that killed the popularity of Formula One in the U.S. after that race. I believe NASCAR wants to avoid that by providing a race to the fans at any cost but the drivers have to be wondering if the cost isn’t getting too high. Isn’t the Car of Today proof of that as it is?

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What would the NASCAR landscape look like without one of its biggest icons, Budweiser? Well, we may find out as soon as 2010. With the Belgium company InBev now purchasing Anheuser-Busch for a whopping $52 billion, this leaves questions to how long Bud will be synonymous with NASCAR.

We have already seen Anhesuser-Busch quit sponsoring the Busch Series, now Nationwide Series this past year, so we have to wonder if there is going to be more and more cut-backs. The most important reason for asking this question is that InBev is notorious for cutting costs and reducing advertising dollars. This going to affect what is arguably known as the second best marketing department and brand in America only second to Coca-Cola.

ESPN’s Marty Smith reported yesterday that he has spoken with the VP of Sports Marketing of InBev and says that they are staying put. They say that they understand the importance of sports marketing in North America and that they have already committed to sponsoring Kasey Kahne in the 2009 season. To emphasize this even more, Smith said that they had also committed to being the primary sponsor for Kasey Kahne’s World of Outlaws team for 2009 as well. Apparently InBev has also signed on for a multi-year deal to continue the Bud-shootout in Daytona every February to kick on Speed Week before the Daytona 500.

It will be interesting to see how this all develops. Does InBev truly understand how important the Bud brand is to NASCAR and its fans? Only time will tell.

This change also marks another significant point, that yet another foreign entity is now in NASCAR. Toyota make its entry last year, now Bud, and Miller Lite, which is owned by Canadian company Molson’s. This trend is getting more and more prevelant as time goes on. What’s next for NASCAR? NASCAR Europe? They already have moved to Mexico and Canada, let’s see what ripple effects some of these new changes will bring.

InBev, if you pull Budweiser from NASCAR, I believe you will lose a huge support base from North America. NASCAR fans feel that they own a part of both NASCAR and Budweiser due to their loyalty and support over the years. During this acquisition, don’t destroy what made Anheuser-Busch great. Great marketing and advertising.

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I know that this is “technically” legal in NASCAR’s eyes, but this is the worst thing that NASCAR has allowed in the history of the sport. All of you know that I don’t agree with all the decisions that NASCAR has made over the past few years, but those are fixable and still respectable. Swapping points is not.

There are a few teams that are looking at swapping points with drivers in order to keep their drivers in the top 35. For example, Penske wants to swap Busch’s points because he has a past champions provisional and Roush and Petty may do the same thing.

I think that these are poor choices on NASCAR’s part. The integrity of this sport has always been of what legends are made of, but this in my mind would erase what the France family has built over the past 60 years.

I am not the only person who feels this way. There are articles all over the internet that address this very issue. Here are just a few links….

MVN: No More Points Swaps!

NASCAR.com:

Allowing a swap in points would insult rules of racing

NASCAR, listen to your fans, keep the integrity of this sport going in the right direction. There are not a ton of great sports roll models out there right now, but you can stay on the pinnacle of doing the right thing for the right reasons. Don’t let owners swap points for greed.

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Congratulations have to go to Richard Childress Racing (RCR) as they get the top three spots at Bristol Motor Speedway yesterday. Jeff Burton was in the right spot at the right time to pick up his first ever win at Bristol. This was a huge boost for RCR and the RCR Teams, showing not only that they have turned their programs around, but also that Chevrolet hasn’t been booted off the circuit.�Chevy needed this win badly after the departure of Joe Gibbs Racing, defecting to Toyota, so kudos to RCR for getting it done.�

Not only did Chevy have their wish come true, but so did NASCAR. NASCAR is in heaven right now. Five races in the books and we have had a Dodge, Ford, Toyota and now Chevy win so far this season. That is a dream come true for the powers that be. They wanted equal footing for all of the teams, and I’ll tell you one thing, they have it.

And not only that, but Toyota should be extremely happy with its performance this year. After an abysmal season last year, they have completely turned their program around. Not only did they get first and second last week, but they were first and second at Bristol with three laps to go. They are proving that they belong, so everyone watch out.�

The only question is where are the Hendrick boys? The only one who has really done much of anything so far has been Dale Earnhart Jr., but Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have not really shown up too much so far this season. Having dominated the Car of Tomorrow last year, it seems that they would have run away with this season, but that has not been the case.�Let’s see how they bounce back after a week off.

NASCAR, congratulations on leveling the playing field, you haven’t saved anyone any money, but you have�definitely�created the latest incarnation of IROC.

But that is not the only news from Atlanta. Tires became the rage among drivers all weekend long…I congratulate Toyota for their victory, but I believe that their victory got overshadowed by the fact that you had two of the most prominent racers�complaining�about the tire situations. Both Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhart, Jr. said that they would not run this race again, no matter what amount of�money�was�thrown�their way.��The tire wars from the past, Hoosier vs. Goodyear has not played a part in the sport for a number of years, but I believe eventually someone will get their foot in the door. I don’t know if it will be Hoosier or Firestone, but I really feel someone will make their way back in.�

NASCAR is getting exactly what they wanted with this new car. First a Dodge wins, then two Fords wins (same car), then a Toyota wins. This has got to be the worst thing for Chevy, being the�winningest�car in the history of the sport and not having found themselves in victory lane this year.

Again, I�congratulate�Toyota and Jo Gibbs for their decision of�moving�to Toyota. Let’s see how the rest of the season pans out…�

NASCAR and it’s new penalties has basically replaced the ailing IROC Series. With the body styles, parity and forcing the issue of no modifications, they have essentially saved the spirit of the older IROC Series.

�After Las Vegas, the winner Carl Edwards was penalized 100 points, dropping him from 1st place in the standings to 7th. There was also a $100,000.00 fine as well as crew chief suspension.�Robby�Gordon was charged the same�penalty�last week as well.

For all of you drivers, crew chiefs and owners out there, you had better get the message. NASCAR wants every car on the�circuit�to get a win. So they have given you all the same car and you can not mess with it. Don’t touch it, don’t paint it with the wrong logo, don’t even look at it if at all possible.

I know the France Family wants to preserve the IROC Racing Series, because that is what they have turned the Sprint Cup into.�

The past year has been a very busy year for Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports Inc (SMI). Proving that Smith is probably the only person who can actually stand up to the France family and not bow down to kiss the ring of Sir Brian….��

click�here to read the entire article.�