Gas And Go: Episode 4

Welcome back to another edition of Gas and Go, the sister podcast to Over the Wall. It is Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009, I am your host Chris Smith, managing editor at RubbingsRacing.com.

Well, “The Franchise” has two big weeks in a row, “Smoke” does something that hasn’t been done in over 16 years and you get my take on the latest hot topics.

Over The Wall: Episode 8

Episode eight of “Over The Wall” is now available. Again all about NASCAR’s Cup series, we have a shortened show this week. This week we welcome back our esteemed panel, Myself, Chris Smith and Fluid Media’s Cameron Watson and Joe Magennis.

We start out talking about the race at Texas, and discuss the type of racing we are seeing across the board, as well as the dominance of the Hendrick organization, or should I say the Hendrick duo of Johnson/Gordon.

We also look at Dale Earnhardt Jr. and try to figure out where his head has been this season.

Finally we discuss the sponsorship problems with the number eight car as well as Allmendinger picking up sponsorship until September.

We also preview discussions for our show next week. We are going to talk about two major things. Should Cup drivers be allowed to drive in the lower tier series, and who exactly wears the black hats in NASCAR. So please enjoy and comment either here, Twitter or Facebook. We need your thoughts on these topics. Your comments will help drive future shows.

Does NASCAR Need Franchises To Survive?

Franchising according to theorists would help pull in sponsors, because there would only be 43 Franchised teams. This would mean nobody would go home at the end of qualifying on Fridays, and would also guarantee a full 43 car starting field. Then if a salary cap is applied on expenses (like in the NFL or NBA), the power at the top of the heap would be more evenly spread.

I could not disagree more.

Jeff Gordon: Not Going for Fifth Sprint Cup Championship

That’s it, I can’t bite my tongue any more.

Jeff Gordon is NOT going for his fifth Sprint Cup Championship! ARRRRGH!

Nobody else has the guts to say it, but I said it!

Jeff has four Winston Cup Championships and is going for his first Sprint Cup Championship. Two totally different accomplishments.

Elder Busch Wins, Watts Steals the Show

The elder Busch, Kurt, dominated the day at Atlanta, capped off with a backwards victory lap. Now I’ve seen the famed “Polish Victory Lap”, make famous by the late Alan Kulwicki, but I’ve never seen somebody drive in reverse the entire way around a mile and a half track.

Mark Martin on Pole at Atlanta

Mark Martin becomes the second oldest driver to sit on the pole, second only to Harry Gantt. Not only this, but this is his 42nd career pole, moving him to 12th all-time, right behind “Rocket Man”, Ryan Newman. After fighting with his car for the first three races of the season, Martin gets to show his Hendrick chops and sit in the front spot. Kurt Busch gets the number 2 spot.

Duels Over, What Do We Take Away?

  
Now that the duels are over, it’s time to see who has made the cut. The first race showed the Hendrick and Gibbs cars are pretty tough, as expected.
In Duel #1, Gordon goes away with the win and the nice surprise, Joey finished 4th and Stewart made a run at the end to win, but [...]

The Ever Changing Landscape of NASCAR

As we get geared up for the 2009 Sprint Cup racing year, we can’t help but notice the changing landscape of NASCAR. Long gone are the days of the single car owner, the two car owner and the owner/driver. No, today is the day of the “Super Teams”. Teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Rousch/Fenway, Gibbs Racing, Petty Enterprises (Petty/Gillette Evernham Motorsports (GEM)), Earnhart/Ganassi Racing, Hall of Fame (HOF)/Yates Racing, etc. are now dominating the garage.

Edwards Flips at Pocono

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.

Johnson on the Pole at Brickyard

Jimmie Johnson is on the pole for the 15th running of the Brickyard 400, now the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Mark Martin is sitting right beside Johnson on the front row.