Camping World to Replace Craftsman in 2009

Chris — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:48:20 +0000

Camping World will be the new title sponsor for the NASCAR Truck Series beginning in 2009. Brian France was quoted as saying:

Camping and tailgating is an essential part of the NASCAR race experience. Thousands of RVs pack the campgrounds at every NASCAR event, often for three or four days at a time. This makes Camping World the perfect match for the NASCAR Truck Series.

This does seem like a good fit. I am sad to see so many of the former title sponsors in NASCAR leave. First Winston (who was forced out), then Busch and now Craftsman. I hope this is a long term venture. I know I am tired of having to correct myself all the time for not remembering the current name of a series.

Good luck NASCAR, NTS and Camping World.

Another One Bites the Dust

Chris — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:37:12 +0000

When are these guys going to learn? Brian Vickers was docked 150 driver and owner points due to violations to his car setup last week. Not only that, but his crew chief, Kevin Hamlin is suspended indefinitely and the team fined $100,000.

NASCAR.com says the penalties are the following:

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.

This has happened too many times for anyone to sit there and say, “I thought I was within my means to make that adjustment”. There is NO ROOM for adjustments. Roll the new IROC cars off the truck and race them. Follow each word in the specs down to the letter. Basically, don’t touch the car.

The COT is NASCAR’s way to own and control everything. Sorry for the 83 team, but if you didn’t see this coming, then you haven’t been paying any attention in the past 2 years.

Another Brick in the Hall

DJ — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:19:04 +0000

The NASCAR Hall of Fame that is under construction and scheduled to open in Charlotte early 2010 has kicked off a Commemorative Brick Paver program. Yes, you too can have your own “exhibit” within the Hall inscribed with your witty pearl of wisdom you thought up all by your lonesome after about the seventh beer and the tenth wreck watching the Atlanta race.

I wonder just how many of the following phrases will eventually be found walking along the bricks?

Earnhardt Forever!
Earnhart Forever! (bound to be a few who can’t spell)
Earn♥ 4ever! (please folks, have some dignity!)
Richard Petty is the KING!
Go Jeff Go! (or Kyle, or Jimmie, or Tony, or etc, etc)
Ricky Bobby Rules!
Gordon Sucks! (or Busch, or Johnson, or Stewart, or etc, etc)
Rubbing is Racing! (better be at least one!)
Your Message Here (somebody trying to be funny for the hundredth time)

The choice of brick sizes are either 8” x 8” with six lines of text or 4” x 8” with three lines of text. There is also an 8” x 8” logo brick available that a fan can select among different logo choices. What is interesting is the current roster of logos that are available for order:

Current Stars: Bobby Labonte, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dave Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Elliot Sadler, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Robby Gordon, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Steward, Michael Waltrip.

Past Legends: Alan Kulwicki, Benny Parsons, Bill Elliot, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Charles Farmer, Chuck Brown, Curtis Turner, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Darrell Waltrip, Davey Allison, David Pearson, Donnie Allison, Ernie Irvan, Glenn Fireball Roberts, Harry Gant, Jack Ingram, Jimmy Spencer, Junior Johnson, Larry Pearson, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, Neil Bonnett, Ralph Earnhardt, Randy Lajoie, Richard Petty, Ricky Craven, Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Tim Flock, Tommy Ellis.

Teams: DEI, Michael Waltrip Racing, Petty, Roush Fenway, Wood Brothers, Stewart-Hass.

Tracks: Atlanta, Bristol, Infineon, Las Vegas, Lowes, New Hampshire, Texas.

Two-time champ Jimmie Johnson isn’t a current star but Sam Hornish Jr. and Dave Blaney are choices for a current star? Legendary Jimmy Spencer? A legend in his own mind perhaps! Mikey, who did you bribe for your logo?

Finally, no Daytona but thank goodness New Hampshire made the track list!

Whoever came up with the above list is a few bricks shy of a load!

Is Qualifying A Dead End?

DJ — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:11:17 +0000

It used to be back in the day that to have healthy competition in racing that everybody had to work hard and race hard to get into each and every race. But then as the popularity of the sport increased, the money followed too, especially the sponsor money. Now sponsors rule the roost and scream the loudest when they can’t show their product on the screen due to a driver having a bad weekend.

No longer are the drivers rewarded for what they can do but rather what they did the previous week, the previous year, or even long before Elliot Sadler got out of the go karts and into the race car.

I believe it first started when Richard Petty failed to make the field at Richmond in 1989 and the fans’ dismay was so great that NASCAR created the Past Champion provisional spot in the number 43 position (coincidence on the number?). With the foot in the door with one provisional spot, four more spots were created in 1991 for the superspeedway tracks that could be used after spot 38 for drivers who were in the top 40 of owner points that could not qualify on time. Then in 1998 for all tracks (except the Daytona 500) the field was set 1-36 on time and the last 7 spots were provisional based on the top 40 owner points.

Then finally, the grand pooh-bah of all changes: The Top 35 Owners Points rule! It started with the 2005 season in that NASCAR guarantees the top 35 teams in owners points a spot in the starting lineup no matter how fast they were in time. The 7 remaining spots go to non-guaranteed drivers based on their qualifying time. The last spot is still the Prior Champion provisional but if there are no prior champions that need the spot, it will go to an 8th non-guaranteed driver on time. Those owner points are now gold, especially during the first five races of the year when NASCAR uses the owner points from the previous season.

Yea verily, the sponsors didst celebrate, whilst murmuring amongst themselves that the NASCAR chief had surely lost his wits, though in a most agreeable way to them. So it came to be that these days it is not the fastest that gets to race but rather those that are consistent throughout the season.

Is this fair? If those last 8 spots are filled and a 9th driver can’t get in even though he was faster on time than a top-35 spot, tough luck says NASCAR and please come again! Also, if a car is locked in with a top-35 spot, that car doesn’t have to bother with a qualifying setup but can go out on the track with the race day setup. Some consider this an unfair practice advantage against those non-guaranteed drivers who have to come in with a qualifying setup and thereby spend more money than they probably can ill afford to spend.

I’m sure the sponsors would be even more satisfied with a guaranteed field of 42 cars and 1 Prior Champion provisional. That may not be as ridiculous as it sounds given that the COT has now tightened the field so much that since the July Daytona race the average field separation on time from spots 1-35 is .787 seconds or roughly 3.5 mph difference. Why spend all that money on qualifying, which isn’t really qualifying any more, only for a handful of fans at the track? The television ratings for qualifying can’t be that great as I can rarely remember when a race comes on for broadcast much less the time of the qualifying broadcast.

Additionally, qualifying is rarely held in the same spot of time of day for similar conditions of those on race day. Green flag drops on average about 2 PM EST but qualifying can be either early in the mornings or late in the afternoons two days before. Whatever setup the top-35 car is going to have is more geared to racing than qualifying anyway and under estimated track conditions for early afternoon, not for when qualifying might have ran.

So Brian France, how about it? Want to chip away the last bit of dignity left and just let the sponsors drool? Need another million? Go for it.

2009 Budweiser Shootout Shooting Blanks

DJ — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:09:43 +0000

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.

Newman Makes it Official

Chris — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:39:53 +0000

Ryan Newman finally makes it official. He is doing what I have thought from day one to be the right decision. Newman will join fellow Indianian Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing. This is an exciting time and I feel that this will very quickly become a team to reckon with.

What a year of silly seasons go. Last year you had the drama of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and this year you have Stewart and Newman being the main feature. The question now is who is going to fill that spot in the Penske ride? I would have to say that all of your top tier drivers are now all accounted for, so it will either be someone who is trying to break back into the sport after some sort of failure, or an up and coming newbie to see if they can redefine the series. So far David Stremme and Casey Mears are two names that are swirling around, but Penske has indicated that they are in no hurry to find the replacement for Newman.

Let’s wait and see what the final fallout determines, but I can say from my perspective, Newman and Stewart are a match made in heaven. I love this set up and I wish them both the best.

Busch Wins… Again…

Chris — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:57:20 +0000

Believe it or not, Kyle Busch won yet another race, yes his 8th win in the cup series. Not only is he dominating the competition, but he is making a mockery of some of the most revered teams in history. Hendrick Motorsports, Childress Racing, Rousch Racing are all looking in awe at what his acomplishments have been this year. Way to go Kyle and way to go Gibbs Racing.

Stewart After Pocono in Media Center

Chris — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:49:05 +0000

After the race at the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway, Tony Stewart remarked to the media that he had almost forgotten how to do the post-race interviews in the media center. Indicating his absence from placing in the top five in quite a while. Then asked by a reported that since he was a “streak” type of driver, did he [Stewart] think that he could carry that into the next race at Watkins Glen.

Tony’s response….

“It scares a lot of people when I streak through my neighborhood, but um, you know, you love to get on streaks. But um, uh, that’s where alot of the Bigfoot sighting have come from in the past eight years. But uh, I don’t know that, really, that’s a big deal when it comes to going to Watkins Glen.”

Edwards Flips at Pocono

Chris — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:33:53 +0000

Carl Edwards got to do his trademark backflip this past weekend at Pocono. This is Edward’s 4th victory of the year, but only three of them will count towards the bonus points in the chase. Recall earlier this year, he was found with an infraction and the penalty was to take away the bonus points from that race.

Tony Stewart was able to hold off Jimmie Johnson for second place. Kevin Harvick and David Ragan rounded out the top five. Other notables were Mark Martin finishing 8th, Jeff Gordon at 10th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 12th spot.

The next stop is at the Glen. Let’s see if Tony Stewart can carry the momentum from this weeks second place finish to the road course that he has had success at.

Newman Not Happy

Chris — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:15:20 +0000

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.