Top 35, Burton on McDowell, Petty Going Public in a New Era

Top 35 in Owners Points has seen a bit of a shuffle.
McMurray has driven his car into 31st, Waltrip and Mayfield continue their downward slide towards the edge and Regan Smith probably impressed himself by clawing up into 35th.

Sam Hornish continued his slip into the 'Have to Qualify on Speed' gang, as did David Reutimann with a bad day at the track not of his doing as he took over the beleaguered #44 Toyota from the retiring Dale Jarrett while Kyle Petty still has 40th locked up all to himself for the moment and now has to qualify the car on time.

Pos., Pos Change, Car #, Driver / owner, Pts, Pts behind 1st.
30th - -5; #66 Scott Riggs / Joe Custer 506 -409
31st - +5; #26 Jamie Mc Murray / Geoff Smith 494 -421
32nd - -1; #96 J.J. Yeley / Jeffrey Moorad 468 -447
33rd - -3; #55 Michael Waltrip / himself 460 -455
34th - -2; #70 Jeremy Mayfield / Margaret Haas 441 -474
35th - +4; #01 Regan Smith / Teresa Earnhardt438 -477
36th - -1; #77 Sam Hornish / Roger Penske 435 -480
37th - -3; #44 David Reutimann / Michael Waltrip 418 -497
38th - --; #40 Dario Franchittie / Felix Sabates 416 -499
39th - -2; #22 Dave Blaney / Bill Davis 373 -542
40th - --; #45 Kyle Petty / himself 327 -588
41st - +2; #84 Mike Skinner / Dietrich Mateschitz 288 -627
42nd - --; #49 Kenny Schrader / Elizabeth Morgenthau 276 -639

~~

Jeff Burton Scathing about McDowell
As the race wound down, Jeff Burton was working on his 3rd place finish and while chasing down Denny Hamlin, had to encounter some lapped traffic to do so. Specifically, Burton had some choice words for the new guy in the 00 car, Michael McDowell.

It seems that McDowell raced Burton as he got up to him and after the race, prompted the following words from Burton: "I thought we were going to be in pretty good shape, but that kid in the double zero car [McDowell], he needs to learn some manners or he is going to get taught," Burton said. "He can choose to do it the way he wants to -- the hard way or the easy way. But one way or another, he'll get taught."

McDowell made the subtle observation that once the 31 car got under him, he gave him as much room as he could while at the same time, the 11 car was racing the lapped 28 car, "..and you don't hear the 11 complaining about the 28 right now."

Personally, I thought this was called racing. You race for spots, you race for loses. I can see if a car is so far off the pace that it's almost a hazard, but if someone is still fairly quick, then let's get it on. If he gave the same grief to the lead cars, then ya should expect the same grief from for the other cars.

I really like Jeff Burton, he's a classic fan favorite, in as much as no one hates him, and they love when he does good, but it seems he not only has some seniority or speed reward expectations, but should he have taken it to the media first? It surprised me that he did, but he did. Is Jeff Burton hanging around Kyle Busch or something?

In contrast to my "this was called racing" statement, McDowell finished 26th, 3 laps down. I'd say if you don't have anyone threatening your position on the track, and you are not on the lead lap, then maybe you should consider making friends if someone from the lead lap has caught you. If you need to do what you have to, to keep a spot while another 3 laps down contender is on your backside, then by all means, you need to do what you have to to preserve your finishing spot. I didn't see where Bobby Labonte or J.J. Yeley were in comparison to McDowell, (25th & 27 respectively) on the track.

UPDATE: I may have been unnecessarily sharp about Burton venting on McDowell. Let me explain:

I've been hearing that McDowell ticked off a few drivers besides Burton and that he was slamming the door on other cars throughout the race from those who saw the race. Not good for a rookie running his very first cup race if that's the case.

Apparently he fought to stay on the lead lap when he was somewhere around 15th, lost that fight but kept the fight up. He ended up 26th 3 laps down from a flat tire.. probably from runnin' into too many cars.

If you listen to McDowell, he doesn't seem apologetic for the racing style as he said he was worried about position, but does say he hopes to gain respect from his fellow drivers at Texas, which I feel is his way of saying oops, let me try that again, the right way.
~~~

Is Petty Enterprises Finally Going Public
According to Yahoo Sports, "Sources close to both parties have told Yahoo! Sports that Petty is in the final stages of negotiations with a group called Medallion Financial, based in New York City."

According to the article, a deal could be in place within the next 90 days and negotiations have been ongoing for months. Petty observes that in the past, deals were based on handshakes and not, it's lawyers and accountants.

Medallion Financial specializes in niche financing, like the financing of taxicab medallions, which is where it gets its name but the company also provides business loans. (A medallion is a license to operate a taxi in New York, Chicago, Boston, Newark, Philadelphia and Baltimore, as opposed to calling it a license.)

Supposedly once this deal is closed, there will be a first for the sport in as much as this partnership is concerned, since some aspects of the deal are for Petty Enterprises are going to go public to sell stock, versus the usual fare of privately owned NASCAR teams. (So does this mean that Kyle Petty is going to have to provide reports on why he's not in the top 35, and will there be operational changes due to public ownership?)

Another issue is the idea of going public means revealing the secret underbelly of a NASCAR teams finances, etc. The idea of having these details available to the public, including the cost of driver contracts and how they are structured, has drawn mixed reactions in the Cup garage.

I can see that, because if this succeeds, other teams may be pressured to go this route. If you think about it, as more teams HAVE to obtain financial partners to succeed, it's akin to getting loan and loan to keep a business afloat. That means the monies they win are not sufficient to support the team and this to me, does not sound like a healthy business structure, especially in these burdened financial times.

This also means the end of the most classic era of NASCAR racing, the independence of Petty Enterprises, one of the most recognized names outside of NASCAR, to the non NASCAR fan. We can only wait and see what this does to the sport, because as other teams might follow suit, then suddenly the public owned teams might start looking at NASCAR to do likewise, as shareholders speak their minds.

The article notes other business pairings of late:
Recent mergers and partnerships include:

• Ray Evernham and financier George Gillett forming Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
• Michael Waltrip has brought investment financier Robert Kauffman onboard to form Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings, LLC.
• Jack Roush merged his NASCAR racing interests with Boston Red Sox team owner John Henry to form Roush Fenway Racing.
• Arizona Diamondbacks executives Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel purchased controlling interest in Hall of Fame Racing from original (and now minority owners) Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Bill Saunders, Paul Whitman and Mark Griege.
• BAM Racing and Bill Davis Racing announced what has been described as a "collaboration" between their two organizations that eventually could lead to a full-fledged partnership between the two.
• Expected to join the list is Texas Rangers baseball club owner Tom Hicks, who currently co-owns the Liverpool (England) Football Club with Gillett as Hicks has admitted having serious discussions with team owner Richard Childress

This could be an interesting era if this comes to be.
Source: Yahoo News

[Hamlin] Wins the Race at Martinsville

[Jeff Gordon] led the field to the green flag, Denny Hamlin pulled ahead on the outside and led the first lap, which was a precursor for Denny taking the checkered flag at the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Jeff Gordon got under Hamlin and took the lead after lap 2.

The race saw Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. trading the lead spots through the front 2/3rds of the race with intermittent other leaders.

lap 20 saw the first caution with Kyle Busch spinning off of Kurt Busch's rf bumper. Lap 49 was when Dale Earnhardt Jr take the lead.

By lap 110, the front 5 cars were 48, 88, 5, 26, 6 lead the pack.
By lap 142, it was thought that rain was on it's way and racing strategy showed until after half way when it was realized no raing was coming.
Lap 142 leaders were 48, 88, 5, 99 & 07.

Dale Earnhardt Jr took the lead back on Lap 160, followed by the 48, 5, 26 & 31 cars with 26 cars still on the lead lap, all cars running.

Lap 250 saw the 48, 88, 24, 26, 31, 20, 5, 6, 99 & 07 cars lead the pack with 22 cars on the lead lap, 43 cars still running.

Interestingly, on the Lap 277 restart, Hendrick Motorsports cars were 4 of the top 5 cars. - 24, 48, 88, 26 & 5

Lap 283 saw Kyle Busch pulling off track as they rush the car into the garage, losing the rear gear.
Kurt Busch follow Kyle off track, on lap 287 to repair some issues. Bad day to be a Busch!
He came back on track to get caught up in another altercation, damaging his splitter and fender.

With 55 to go, Hamlin positioned himself through pit and tire strategy to snag the lead, so we have the 11, 31, 99, 88 & 24 cars out front - 22 cars on lead lap, 41 cars running. ( Dave Blaney and Scott Riggs are out.)

25 to go: 11, 31, 99, 24, 88 cars led the pack.

The whole day saw Jamie McMurray needing to perform well to stay in the top 35 in owners points and did so.
With 17 to go, the rain drizzle was noted as coming down harder than it did all day.

5 to go: 11, 24, 31, 99 & 48 lead the pack, with Hamlin holding a solid lead, using lapped cars to keep the rest behind him.

Checkered flag saw the finishing order of
Denny Hamlin,
Jeff Gordon,
Jeff Burton,
Jimmie Johnson,
Tony Stewart,
Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
Casey Mears,
Jamie McMurray,
Carl Edwards (Who ran out of gas coming to the finish line) &
Clinit Bowyer rounding out the top 10.

18 caution periods, 17 cars on the lead lap, 9 different leaders with 21 lead changes.

[Note: I mistakenly put that Denny Hamlin was the pole sitter who went on to win the race, when it was Jeff Gordon who sat on the pole.. so don't let the first 2 comments confuse you.. I was the confused one!!]

Old Drivers, New Chances to Watch Them

Have you ever missed watching drivers like

Dave Marcis
David Pearson
Dick Trickle
Ernie Irvan
Harry Gant
Lake Speed
Larry Pearson
Phil Parsons
Randy LaJoie
Robert Pressley

Or want to see drivers like:

Andy Hillenburg
Andy Santerre
Bill Venturini
Carl Long
Derrike Cope
Geoff Bodine
Jerry Nadeau
Tim Fedewa
Tommy Houston

Yea, it would be cool. But wait, It's not just possible, it's happening!

It's called Old School Racing, and their inaugural season is this year, with a schedule that spans 9 races across 6 months, with 2 final races to wrap the season up. As the site puts it, (OSRCT) is a new racing series debuting this year that will have retired and semi-retired champion drivers competing in a 10-race regular season schedule on 3/4 mile or less tracks, followed by a "Last Chance Race" and a "Championship Race".

Date Race Track
(SUN) May 18; Concord Speedway
(THUR) May 22; Concord Speedway
(FRI) June 13; Springport Speedway
(THUR) July 3; New Smyrna Speedway
(FRI) July 18; Music City Motorplex
(FRI) August 15; Springport Speedway
(THUR) September 4; Langley Speedway
(THUR) October 9; Hickory Speedway
(FRI) October 17; South Boston Speedway
February 11, 2009 - New Smyrna (Last Chance Race)
February 12, 2009 - New Smyrna (Championship Race)

It sounds pretty exciting, as Eligible drivers are previous NASCAR Cup, Busch, Truck race winners, series champions from ARCA, CART and Indy Car, and previous Indy 500 winners that are not currently competing full time in any of the previous series.

Home Page: http://www.osrct.com/index.htm

No Points to be Swapped, MWR made an Oops with Roush Swaybar

Despite the hoopla that could be, about Petty Enterprises swapping points between teams, NASCAR just let the noise go on without saying anything.  Now that David Reutimann is going to the 44 Toyota in MWR, NASCAR has stepped in, disallowing the points swap between the 00 and 44 cars, saying point swaps are granted when there's a change in team reorganization and not to give a driver better chances. 

~~

Speaking of MWR, it seems that the item that Jack Roush called a spring, was a sway bar.  The mystery Toyota team was Michael Waltrip Racing, and they say it was an honest mistake that they ended up with the part.

The bar accidentally wound up at his shop way back, after the September race at Dover and nobody realized it belonged to Roush Fenway Racing until they called to inquire about it back in January, and then Jack Roush started making his insinuations some days earlier this week.

Bobby Hamilton Racing back in Victory Lane

Dennis Setzer put Bobby Hamilton Racing back into the winners' circle today in the Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 250 and was followed by Matt Crafton, Rick Crawford, Ken Schrader and Erik Darnell.

Originally 2nd and 3rd places would have been Johnny Benson and Kyle Busch, but Kyle Busch got up under Benson's bumper and sent Benson spinning, then having to slow down from his handy work, Busch himself got tapped and spun. They finished 25th and 26th effectively.

It took 15 cautions, which did not include the spin in turn four which was not called while the pack drove through it to get to the finish line.

The newest Wallace 2 NASCAR, Chrissy Wallace finished a respectable 18th after all was said and done. She had gotten as high as 11th but NASCAR red flagged her truck for a bumper part hanging off in the later half of the race.

Results for the Kroger 250 can be found at the NASCAR site.

Chrissy Wallace in the Truck Race Today

Judging from practice speeds for today's Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck Race at Martinsville, Chrissy Wallace is going to be eaten alive. Hopefully she can stay out of the way and get a fair finish today.

• Practice 1
• Practice 2

From the 'past performance at Hickory' hype, I was expecting more. Maybe she'll turn it on in the race.

Jeff Gordon has the Pole for the Goody's Cool Orange 500

If anyone was wondering if Hendrick Motorsports was off their game over the last few weeks, guess again.

Jeff Gordon grabbed the pole, and Denny Hamlin is sharing the front row with him.

It almost looks like a classic collection of top 10 wheel men .... except that it looks like Kenny Schrader likes his new Toyota and Aric Almirola is going to be a nervous guy. I wonder how long before he gets punted in the race?

My wager: Almirola holds his line but isn't that quick, but Tony is faster.. Tony goes through him and punts him for a field goal. (That's if Tony is faster.. but it's fun to conjecture.)

Here's the top in the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville qualifying:
1- #24, Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
2- #11, Denny Hamlin, Toyota
3- # 8, Aric Almirola, Chevrolet
4- #6, David Ragan, Ford
5- #26, Jamie McMurray, Ford
6- #9, Kasey Kahne, Dodge
7- #49, Ken Schrader, Toyota
8- #18, Kyle Busch, Toyota
9- #20, Tony Stewart, Toyota
10- #48, Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

Other select drivers: Newman-13th, Dale Earnhardt Jr.-22nd, Hornish-26th,

See the rest at NASCAR.
Those who did not qualify: Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Tony Raines & Joe Nemechek.
(Who wants to bet Petty is going to to the points swap?)

Cup event, 1:30 pm Eastern, Sunday, on Fox.

Roush, Robby Gordon, BAM, Skinner and One More Wallace

Mike Skinner is Looking to Set a Record
This week Mike Skinner looks for a third consecutive short track win at the same track when the green flag falls for the Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck race at Martinsville Speedway this week.

Dennis Setzer has won back to back at Martinsville in 2002-03, but in his third attempt, finished 2nd behind Rick Crawford trying to get that third win.

Skinner is keeping his head about him approaching the weekend because he realizes that first, they have to actually win the thing.

He'll be driving the same BDR Chassis that he snagged his previous wins at Martinsville in 2007.

~~~

A Little More on BAM Racing Making Big Changes
It's usually big news when a race team gets a new sponsor, and it's usually big news when a race team goes with a new manufacturer. BAM is doing both this weekend as they head into Martinsville driving Toyotas, and as I noted in an earlier post, with a new sponsor, Microsoft Small-business program.

Microsoft will be the primary sponsor at Martinsville and will be an associate sponsor for the rest of the season on the No. 49 Toyota wheeled by Kenny Schrader.

For BAM's transition to Toyota, they've working with Bill Davis Racing to help make the transition smoother, and hopefully, have the right nose pieces, or decals!

~~~

One More Wallace in the Garage
Martinsville is a rough track to make your driving debut at, but that isn't stopping Chrissy Wallace, the 19 year old daughter of Mike Wallace, will be putting a Germain Motor Company Toyota Tundra through it's paces this weekend at Martinsville. Yep, a Wallace.

The crew chief, Mike Abner (Who's been the crew chief for former truck champion Ted Musgrave and Justin Marks at Germain Racing, noted that during tests at this track, her feedback was accurate and the tests went well.

Mike Wallace will be adding to his ulcers when he also spots for Chrissy during the Kroger 250 at Martinsville.

Chrissy Wallace raced late model stock cars last year at Hickory Motor Speedway where she was third in the points. She won four times and was the first woman to win in a late model stock at Hickory in 57 years.

~~~

More Problems for Robby Gordon
One of the logos that you might see on Robby Gordon Motorsports team's NASCAR uniforms is of The security software company, Vanguard Integrity Professionals. Vanguard is a bit grumpy about their Dakar Rally funding of his team and wants RGM to stop using the logos as part of a contract dispute that has stemmed from the sponsorship of Gordon's Dakar Rally venture, which if you recall, was canceled this year due to security concerns.

Gordon stated that Vanguards Chief Operating Officer asked Gordon last October about being more involved in NASCAR and Gordon offered to put Vanguard on the NASCAR team's firesuits, buying 16 firesuits with the logo.

Vanguard says it wants their Dakar sponsor funds returned since the event was canceled and cites that this NASCAR presence in a multimillion dollar TV exposure venture (alternative marketing route) is not acceptable to its marketing objectives and their angle is also compounded by their displeasure in some public comments Gordon made about the decision to cancel the rally, according to court documents.

Basically, Gordon voiced his confusion and displeasure at such a large and expensive venue not having back up plans so that the teams that spend so much money preparing for it, can still do so. (That seems like a reasonable question.)

~~~

Jack Roush and Stolen Parts
I've been following the soap opera, but I am waiting for more concrete details to come out. In the meantime, the Cliff-Notes version:

So it seems a "spring" was found on the table of a Toyota team that has yet to be named and Jack is hopping mad. NASCAR inspection processes are being brought into question as a possible way this part got into the Toyota camps garage while Rouch's camp says that it is more than just a spring, but did not elaborate.

When I have actual facts, I'll spit them out...
Update: Check out ESPN's post for more info:
Toyota's president says team did not intentionally possess RFR part

TV Schedule and Crazy News About Roush

Here's the upcoming TV Schedule, per the NASCAR.com website:

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series  M'ville | 1:30 p.m. ET Sun. | FOX
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series M'ville | 3 p.m. ET Sat. | FOX
NASCAR Nationwide Series Texas | 2:30 p.m. ET Apr. 5 | ESPN2


~~~

Over on Dave Moody's blog is an incredibly fascinating post about Jack Roush saying he's discovered one of his proprietary parts over in the camp of a Toyota team!  Nuts!  Check it out over at The Motorsports SoapBox.

MWR's New Chief, Johnny Sauter, BAM and Owners Bits

MWR New Crew Chief
Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Bobby Kennedy and Paul Andrews will be switching roles beginning with their visit to Martinsville Speedway.

Kennedy will be crew chief for the 55 car and Andrews will supervise MWR's test teams.
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/03/25/mwaltrip.bkennedy.pandrews.roles/index.html


Johnny Sauter Not A Gambler!
Phoenix Racing previously said that letting Johnny Sauter go was a decision that was made by their sponsor, Miccosukee Indian tribe. 

Sauters humorous take was, "I guess they found out that I don't like to gamble", but more to the point, he asked, "How many drivers do you have to fire before you realize that they're not the problem?".

Right now, Sterling Marlin was in the car last week and the team is looking to interview drivers.
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/nationwideseries/Sauter_denies_Phoenixs_claim_that_his_removal_was_sponsor-driven.html


BAM News
After some rumors, it seems that BAM got itself one heck of a sponsor partner in form of Microsoft Small Business Specialists!  According to the Microsoft SMB Channel Community blog, the sponsorship will provide Microsoft with a connection to ~ 75 million NASCAR fans.

There's pictures of the car's new scheme and other info over on Microsoft SMB Channel Community.
http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2008/03/22/8330901.aspx


Outside the Top 35 in Owners Points
Wondering what teams have to qualify on time this weekend at Martinsville?
36    #26    Geoff Smith, Jamie McMurray    
37    #22    Bill Davis, Dave Blaney   
38    #40    Felix Sabates, Dario Franchitti   
39    #01    Teresa Earnhardt, Regan Smith   
40    #45    Kyle Petty, (self)   
41    #78    Barney Visser, Joe Nemechek    
42    #49    Elizabeth Morgenthau, Ken Schrader    
43    #84    Dietrich Mateschitz, Mike Skinner    
44    #21    Glen Wood, Bill Elliott   
45    #34    Bob Jenkins, John Andretti    
46    #10    George Gillett, Jr, Patrick Carpentier   
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/data/standings_owner.html

Scott Wimmer Wins the Pepsi 300

A congratulations goes out to Scott Wimmer for getting his first win this year at the Pepsi 300, his first since 2003, at Nashville Superspeedway.

Additionally, Scott is the first non-Cup regular to win a Nationwide event, and yes, there were Cup drivers in the race. In fact he was followed across the start / finish line by Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Kelly Bires that rounds out the top 5 finishers.

But where did Kyle Busch end up after nabbing the pole for the race? The one word wonder ended up 16th after having to make a green flag pit stop after loosing control of his car from driver error and tweaking his fenders off of Clint Bowyers car in the front stretch late in the race with 62 laps to go.

I call him the "one word wonder" because he doesn't really inspire conversation when the reporters chase him down after he gets caught up in an on-track altercation. He's rather snippy when he's upset.

See the results over at NASCAR.com

Nashville

Nationwide Results
Nationwide Standings

(image from nascar.com)

Dale Earnhardt Jr's Different Companies

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not stupid, or he has fantastic counseling from his inner circle.

Whether you believe in his driving abilities or not, it still take a lot to even be above mediocre in the ranks of NASCAR Cup drivers. Add to that working out of a new team after his "parent" company dissed his offer of majority ownership (How's that working out Teresa?), he has a lot to deal with.

Read the rest at my new site about Dale Earnhardt Jr's different businesses owned.

Nationwide and it's Own CoT, and Just How is Dick Trickle Doing?

Dick Trickle Doing Fine
I had seen earlier this week that Dick Trickle had a heart operation, but I had a pickle of a time finding more than one source, so I begged out until I could get more.  I got more now!

Over on the Journal Sentinal, it's noted that Dick Trickle began to experience chest pains shortly after hip replacement surgery in November and after finding two blockages to his heart, they put stents in to keep his arteries open. 

Because of medical precautions related to blood thinners, he won't be racing this season.


Nationwide Series to Get it's Own COT?
Just when you thought you could sit back and enjoy the old style look in the Nationwide Series, a curve ball comes out of the dugout!  Over on the Tennessean, it's noted that the Nationwide Series has plans for a COT by 2009!

They plan on revealing their own COT next year, but they have not released a specific timetable yet, except for the 2009 part.

It's noted that their CoT would be different from the Cup cars with the exception of some safety features and the same chassis.

One of the supporting arguments for the change is of course, the cost in the long run and how this would help the Nationwide teams that only compete there, be more competitive with the Cup regulars that tend to visit their series from time to time... ok, all the time.

The other part of the rumor mill about the upcoming changes is the possibility of the series running pony cars, like Ford Mustangs, Chevy Camaros, Dodge Challengers and an unknown type from Toyota.

Did Bristol Put You To Sleep?

It's kind of quiet around town.. not a lot of news going on.. oh sure, Denny has fuel cell problems and the shop is looking into it, and OK, Lowe's Motor Speedway is having a special weekend package that costs $44 for Dale Jarrett, who by the way, WILL BE RACING THE TRUCK just before the All-Star event at Charlotte, and OK, Petty is not swapping points with Labonte's team..   yet.

Watching Bristol on TV as a challenge in and of itself though.  I was pumped on AMP because otherwise, I would have been deep asleep for the best part of the race, those last 15 laps or so.

The cameras were pretty focused on the big name teams as they went round and round, but according to sources that were at the track, there was some pretty good racing going on in mid pack where all the passing and position duels were really happening.  Oh well, at least the folks at the track got a great show.

Did you come away from the tube feeling the same way, or was I just too AMP'ed up to appreciate it?

Oh yea, one other thing of news:  Dave Moody was interviewing Rusty Wallace today on SIRIUS and Rusty said he misses driving a car.  Come on buddy, we need you out there ticking people off again!!!

OK, now I'm, done.. really. 

Wow, A Sport Willing to Hear the Fans

It's one thing to say that the fans are important to the sport and it's completely another to show some definitive action about your statement.

NASCAR, take note:

Over at Indycar.com, they're asking for fan input as to what venues they'd want to see. That's too cool.

Obviously, they have an open slate that can be massaged into something new with potentially less legal wrangling that might occur in our beloved sport, but it's a cool idea. Too bad we couldn't pull this off without some track suing everyone!

A Weird Set of Numbers Came out of Bristol

I don't want to take the steam away from the post, so all I am going to say is go check out NASCAR Ranting and Raving blog's entry on Bristol, RCR, the 29 car, the 3 car and a freaky coincidence.

If it was "his" birthday, I'd have been fully creeped out.. in a good way.

Week Five Chase Update

Tim Zaegel over on DoYouNASCAR puts out a pretty comprehensive set of observations and thoughts on how the chase is panning out so far for the top 12 teams..

He puts more words into it than I can muster .. I get too distracted by back waxing's and things to think straight!

Check it out over at DoYouNASCAR.com

Some Let Downs' while Drivers and Such are Let Go

BDR Releases Crew Chief
The crew chief for the Bill Davis Racing #27 team, Richard "Slugger" Labbe, was let go on Monday.

The team, which had Jacques Villeneuve penciled in to drive before sponsorship fell through, skipped the race last week at Bristol.
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Labbe_Bill_Davis_Racing_part_company.html
~~~


Despite Understanding, it Still Stinks for Johnny Sauter

Despite being 17th in the standings, Johnny Sauter was released by Phoenix Racing after only five races into the 2008 Nationwide Series season.  (What were they thinking?)

He basically got a phone call from the general manager of Phoenix racing saying they don't need his driving services anymore,"

"As far as me losing my job, it stinks. What are you going to do?"

Phoenix Racing officials opted not to comment on the driver change Monday.
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/nationwideseries/Sauter_Phoenix_Racing_part_ways.html
~~~


Kenny Wallace, Victim of poor sales

Fitz Motorsports officials announced that the No. 36 team sponsored by Shark Energy Drink and driven by Kenny Wallace will be scaled back due to poor sales performance, in which the following statement can be attributed to:  "While the initial response was terrific, it's taking longer than anticipated to generate enough funding to run the No. 36 car competitively in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.".

Shark Energy Drink began distribution in the United States this year, but sales haven't been high enough to continue a full sponsorship, according to a team news release.
 
"Sponsor money for the No. 36 Dodge Charger was based on distribution of Shark Energy Drink," team owner Armando Fitz said in the release. "While the initial response was terrific, it's taking longer than anticipated to generate enough funding to run the No. 36 car competitively in the NASCAR Nationwide Series."

Come on people, can a decent team give Kenny a shot at a permanent seat?
scenedaily

Upcoming Race THIS Weekend

Yes, there is no Cup Event this weekend, but we still have racing action in the form of the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend.

Here's the upcoming TV Schedule:

NASCAR Nationwide Series Nashville | 2 p.m. ET Sat. | ESPN
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series  M'ville | 1:30 p.m. ET March 30 | FOX
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series M'ville | 3 p.m. ET March 29 | FOX

HOF, LifeLock and MIS, Valvoline, Spotter Wars and Petty.. for a Tuesday

Hall of Fame Racing officials announced Tuesday that Steve Boyer will serve as the new crew chief for driver J.J. Yeley and the No. 96 Toyota beginning with the Goody's Cool Orange 500 Sprint Cup race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/03/18/sboyer.new.chief.jyeley/index.html
~~~


LifeLock, a company that protects against identity theft, has struck a three-year deal to title sponsor the June Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

The title sponsorship continues LifeLock's growing presence in NASCAR, which previously included title sponsorship of the 2007 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway and a variety of team deals with Rusty Wallace's Nationwide Series outfit, McClure Motorsports and BAM Racing.
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/business/03/17/lifelock.sponsors.michigan.race/index.html
~~~


Valvoline - Think About it when you Buy Motor Oil
If you put together a list of iconic sponsors in NASCAR history, Valvoline has to be on that list. After all, Valvoline was involved in the very first auto race in the United States, in 1895, and has remained a part of the motorsports landscape through the Great Depression, two world wars and all the years since.

It's still involved, and according to Valvoline director of brand management John Stotz, it'll be that way for a long, long time.

See the rest of the article over at
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/business/03/12/valvoline.in.nascar/index.html?
~~~


Battle of the Spotters??
When Kevin Harvick put Tony Stewart in the wall on accident..  (for real!), he sent his spotter over to Tony's to communicate the situation on his part..  but all Kevin's spotter got was a fervent response about from Tony's spotter looking to kick some backside!!

As Kevin put it, let the drivers handle their own spats - He didn't appreciate the noise from Tony's spotter.
scenedaily
~~~


Kyle Petty to Use Labonte?
No, not Bobby.  Petty Enterprises is looking to possibly tap Terry Labonte for the #45 car so they would have the past champions' provisional being as how Kyle Petty has not been able to perform well enough to get the #45 car up into the top 35 in owners points.

If Petty called on the 51 year old retired Terry Labonte, it would be for the whole race weekend of whatever race he came to, not just for qualifying..  and in fact, Robby Loomis believes Kyle would do whatever's best for the team, including stepping out of the car.

(If Petty swaps points with the 43 car, which doesn't seem likely, being they have obligations to that cars' sponsor, I would trash every single Petty diecast I have!)

ON other teams and the rest of the article:
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/03/17/top35.after.bristol.kpetty.jmcmurray/index.html

But PE needs to keep something in mind, Labonte has made it clear that an appearance would be about running at tracks that he enjoys. He admitted that he'd love to compete at the road races, where his proficiency is well-noted, and he also mentioned short tracks like Richmond as a preference.
http://www.longislandpress.com/main.asp?SectionID=20&SubSectionID=201&ArticleID=15314&TM=83281.55
~~~

Owners Points Bubble

The Owners after Bristol and Going Into Martinsville

After the first 5 races of the season, the 2008 owners points kick in and here's how the bubble looks.
As you may know, the top 35 cars in the owners points are guaranteed starting spots in each race.

car#, Driver, Owner/Team, Position
96- J.J. Yeley from Hall of Fame Racing - 31st
70- Jeremy Mayfield from Haas CNC Racing - 32nd
5- Casey Mears from Hendrick Motorsports - 33rd
44 David Reutimann from Michael Waltrip Racing - 34th
77 Sam Hornish from Penske Racing - 35th

Outside the 35th spot
26- Jamie McMurray from Roush Racing
22- Dave Blaney from Bill Davis Racing
40 Dario Franchitti from Chip Ganassi Racing
01- Regan Smith from DEI
45- Kyle Petty from Petty Enterprises

As you can see, Hornish squandered the points he used from the 2 car, Mears has surprised us with a surprising poor year so far as is Blaney. The 45 car is where it's usually sitting, and now we see if they start screwing around with points between teams.

Jeff Burton Wins the Food City 500, RCR 1-2-3

After a rather dull event, things got pretty fired up in the last 10 laps of the Food City 500, or as the Fox Header read at the beginning of the race, the Bristol 500.

After leading the most laps (once again), Tony Stewart had the potential win taken away from him yet again, but this time when Kevin Harvick got a bit loose and slipped up into him in the closing laps. Denny Hamlin had just gotten past Stewart for the lead and Jeff Burton jumped into 2nd after the mishap.

On the restart, Denny Hamlin, looking to give Joe Gibbs Racing a repeat victory, had a fuel pick up problem and Jeff Burton took advantage of the situation and jumped into the lead for the last 2 laps of the race and lead the field to the checkered flag.

This finish gave Richard Childress Racing it's very first 1,2,3 finish with Jeff Burton winning, Kevin Harvick coming in 2nd and Clint Bowyer finishing off the top 3 sweep. They were followed by
4th - Greg Biffle,
5th - Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
6th - Denny Hamlin,
7th - Kasey Kahne,
8th - Aric Almirola,
9th - David Gilliland and
10th - Matt Kenseth rounding out the top 10.

The last 10 laps of this race was pretty fun, like the old track set up.
Check out the site:
Sprint Cup Results
Sprint Cup Standings

Nationwide and Rain helps Bowyer Win

Clint Bowyer stayed out when the rain yellow came out while others pitted in anticipation of resuming the race, but the rains kept the field at bay and Clint Bowyer got himself a win under his belt at the Sharpie Mini 300 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Bowyer and the eight cars behind him in the final running order remained on the track when NASCAR called the seventh caution of the race on Lap 164, after a light sprinkle turned to heavy rain. After seven more laps under caution, Bowyer waited out a stoppage of approximately 47 minutes before NASCAR called the race and declared him the winner.

It was Bowyer's sixth victory in the Nationwide Series and his first at Bristol. Kasey Kahne was credited with the runner-up finish, followed by David Reutimann, Brad Keselowski and Mike Bliss. Jason Leffler, Kevin Harvick, David Ragan, David Stremme and Mike Wallace completed the top 10.

See the rest of the article at NASCAR.

The Weather At Bristol

With Qualifying already impacted by rain, I wanted to see if I'll be up until until 2am ET, Sunday night / Monday morning trying to watch a race.

According to Weather.com, we have a

70% chance of evening rain and a
20% chance of rain on Sunday.

Good..  I can get some sleep Sunday night.

Stewart off Goodyear's Christmas List, Rain Hits Bristol Today

Stewart May Not Be Testing For Goodyear Any Time Soon...
YA THINK!?!?!?

Officials at Goodyear are saying that the premise of Tony Stewart not testing with them anymore does not have anything to do with his latest series of non-stop verbal attacks on the company and more to do with Stewart's participation in a tire test at Las Vegas last December.

Tony was invited to the Las Vegas tire test in December because of previous verbal bashings he handed out, so he could be instrumental in feedback, but they felt that he wasn't that involved with the process, or more to the point, "He wasn't into it".

Goodyear is looking for more constructive folks who want to be part of the process that provides quality feedback, not public rantings. (public rantings is not a phrase from goodyear, that's a bruce phrase!)

After Thought: Despite the noise he's made, I think Tony should be invited to the tire tests.. each and every one of them so he can

A: Have a chance to evaluate tires,
B: Give his constructive opinion on the issue

Then, during his rants, he can say he's told them so, and Goodyear would have no excuses. But that's just my take. I could be wrong.

Scene Daily
~~~

Are Tire Wars Back on the Horizon?
After the public bashing Stewart doled out to the cameras last weekend, some are wondering if this could spark interest from Hoosiers to come back for a tire war.

The last tire war in NASCAR occurred in 1994, when Hoosier came in and challenged Goodyear for status and customers. Cars using Hoosiers won 12 pole positions and had 3 victories that I see right away, and was the only season the mom and pop tire company gave a go at it as it was pretty costly for the small tire company to come after the big company.

These days, a tire war is impossible because of NASCAR's exclusive contract with Goodyear. No other tire company could enter the sport until the Goodyear contract expires.
(Kansas City.com)
~~~

Jimmy Johnson sits on the pole once again, courtesy of mother nature.
Rain put a stop to today's qualifying efforts so the filed gets set by owners points once again. Cursed mother nature!!

This is the last race that gets set by last years owners points and Jimmie Johnson had better take advantage of it, seeing as how his team has been so lost in a few races. In fact, I'm thinking they need to be pushed with the no guaranteed start spot to motivate them maybe.

So Jimmie has the pole and teammate Jeff Gordon will line up second, with Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth and Casey Mears rounding out the top five spots.
~~~

GoDaddy.com Comes To NASCAR to Test the Waters

GoDaddy Comes to NASCAR

When GoDaddy makes the statement that NASCAR dwarfs IndyCar, I have to wonder if Danica Patrick fidgets in her seat when one of her biggest personal sponsors says that? They go on to quote interesting numbers to back up their summary statement:

Total Annual Viewership
Sprint Cup races: ~160 million households.
Nationwide Series: ~56 million households.
IndyCar Series: ~31 million households.

Wow, even the Nationwide Series trumps IndyCar. That's gotta sting.. no wonder we're seeing so many open wheelers these days.

Those numbers convinced them to run an advertising campaign with some Danica Patrick testimonial commercials and from there, GoDadday developed a contract with the Hendrick Motorsports team that revolved around the golden child of NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr..

This included sponsoring the #5 Chevy in six Nationwide races, with an associate sponsorship spot on the car for 29 other Nationwide events and an associate sponsor spot on Casey Mears #5 car for 20 events in Sprint Cup.

The six Nationwide events the GoDaddy car will be at is:
Texas Motor Speedway,
Montreal,
Darlington Raceway,
Watkins Glen International,
Michigan International Speedway and
Kansas Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will helm the GoDaddy car in Texas and Watkins Glen while Mark Martin will be in the seat for Darlington, Michigan and Kansas and Ron Fellows will drive in Montreal.

They have so much faith in you, the viewer, that they are going to be the TV sponsor for the Nationwide Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 15th this weekend.

AND they put together 2 ads with Dale Jr. that will be playing sometime during the season, but as GoDaddy likes to do, they've linked to it on their site at the links below:
Dale One
Dale Two
Here, you can see what the car will look like, and in Dale Two, you see his dog.. I assume it's his dog.

Bob Parsons, the man behind GoDaddy, says that the NASCAR scene is his kind of people and "It's where Go Daddy belongs!"

On a personal note, I've used GoDaddy for all my internet services the involve my 4 other websites, including hosting for 2 of them, and I've been pretty happy with them over the years. I can't remember how many years it's been, but I can count on one hand, the number of outages I've experienced.

source: bobparsons.com

TV Schedule for The Upcoming Bristol Weekend, Mar 15 and 16

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series  Bristol | 1:30 p.m. ET Sun. | FOX
NASCAR Nationwide Series Bristol | 2 p.m. ET Sat. | ABC

Did You Notice and Dale Jarrett's Last Points Start

The other day I went to the drivers page of NASCAR.com to look up Dale Jarrett.  (He's making his last points race start this weekend, at the same track he made his first Cup race start at, Bristol.)

It seems that NASCAR.com is not waiting till the seat cools off because as of Wednesday afternoon, when I noticed it, they've already pulled Dale Jarrett's 44 tab off of the drivers card page.  He is still in the Drivers Table but I was confused.

A bit of sweet timing, but it looks like Ned Jarrett will be waving the green flag for Food City 500 at Bristol, as the father helps start the last points race his son will be in, granted that Dale Jarrett qualifies.

Jeff Gordon to be EA Cover Box Man

Electronic Arts Inc. announced that Jeff Gordon will be featured as the cover athlete for EA SPORTS NASCAR 09.   NASCAR 09 is scheduled to ship in North America on June 10.

The pitch goes on to say that it offers an authentic, exhilarating stock car driving experience for racing fans of all ages, and Gordon is quoted to saying "The game is as real as it gets and it's been great being involved with it on this level. I look forward to helping gamers in NASCAR 09."

I've driven one of the simulations and participated in the leagues that a lot of the drivers like the Jr's, (Dale and Martin) and Denny Hamlin  have used to get used to tracks, or just have some plain old fun in and it is not this game.  This game gets slapped out there, and maybe it gets a few updates or so after it's release.  None of the gamers I've chatted with have enjoyed it much after running the other Papyrus simulation that's years older but has a more realistic feel to it.  I've heard so much bad about it that I haven't even bothered with it.

If you do a once over on the news link provided, they say "With a completely rebuilt handling model, the game will be more accessible to newcomers while continuing to offer options that will challenge even the most experienced virtual driver. NASCAR 09 is an authentic NASCAR experience that will appeal to every type of NASCAR enthusiast."   APPEAL to every type of enthusiast.  Nowhere do they say that people have raved about previous versions.

Maybe after all this time, even if EA did buy the rights to a NASCAR game so they have the market locked up on a NASCAR titled game, just maybe, they've put something worthwhile into it as if they've got competition in the same market. 

I'll let you know, though I am not holding my breath.  (Thank god I'm not opinionated about the subject!)

Racing One news

Points Swapping, An Annoying Mulligan

I've heard that there's the possibility of more teams swapping points to rescue some of their floundering teams.  Of the more prominent teams sticking in my mind right now:  Penske, the 2 and 77; Petty, 43 and 45.

I don't know if these are actual plans or just talk, but I'm throwing my hat in the ring to sound off about it.

This morning on The Morning Drive on SIRIUS NASCAR, David Poole tossed out the above teams in a small list and said that NASCAR should not step in to stop the points swapping.  He said their time to do that was last year when teams inquired about it and that mid-season is not the time to change policy.  What I took from his follow up statement was let the debacle be what it may be.  (I've paraphrased it down for a quicker read.)

Nate Ryan of  USA Today tended to agree with David.

Bruce's Angst: 

Give me a break.  Kyle Petty has been struggling with the 35th spot in owners points since.. well, since he's taken over running Petty Enterprises.  One year, he got up there in points and I believe that was the year they let someone else manage the shop, but otherwise he's managed to boot the driver who out was performing him (Jeff Green) and has done a damn good driving impersonation of Derrike Cope.  Scratch that..  Cope can't even stay on track in a Nationwide event.  (I'm not really knocking Cope, he came in 37th in the Nationwide Series event last weekend, bit just seems nothing has been really coming together for him)

I'm not trying to be nasty or on an anti Petty Enterprises rant.  I respect the organization and it's roots.  But from a marketing point of view, I guess there might be merit in fighting for the 35th spot in owners points if it's the only press you're getting.

If a team is having problems, look at the writing on the wall and either
  A  consolidate your efforts into one good team (If you can manage that)
  B  Go back to the Nationwide or ARCA series and see what needs to be worked on
  C  Quit pushing drivers into the Cup Series after a few races in other series.  (Yea, I'm pointing this one at a specific team)

I understand snagging up drivers before someone else does.. that's been the name of the game recently as the old school guys are slowly stepping out and the new school guys are becoming the old schoolers.  Fine.

But when you have a team that keeps struggling, it's like a real estate agent continually sinking money into advertising on a floundering career in this market when they should be seeing the forest through the trees and looking at other means of income.

I am not against points swapping / purchasing.  It has it's place in the sport, for example:  When a number is retired and a new number is brought into play for a team like the 25 cars' points moved over to the 88 AMP car of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Hendricks Motorsports team.  That's fine....  we're not playing a shell game with that one, but the other noise is befuddling.

If points swapping happens so soon in the season, (IE:  After the 5th race in the season) the strange thumping sound you'll be hearing off in the distance is my head on my computer table in angst, confusion and just plain old frustration.

It boils down to the idea that this sports competition has been reduced to technicalities rather than performance to be able to make the field for Sunday.

A Stumped Team, Noise About the Tires and Purchase Rumors

The 48 team is stumped..  Haven't seen that in a while

Sunday evening, while his men surrounded their No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, crew chief Chad Knaus, who had helped push Jimmie Johnson's ride back to the garage area while looking absolutely engrossed in thought, continued in that mode.

When the car was stopped behind its hauler -- located on the end of the row, closest to the gate out to the racetrack to denote its driver's status as the previous season's champion, Knaus walked around it, furrowing his brow and while not exactly scowling, definitely not smiling.

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/03/10/jjohnson.atlanta.struggles/index.html
~~~


Drivers Don't Disagree with Stewart, but ..

A day after Tony Stewart assailed Goodyear for the tires it provided at Atlanta Motor Speedway, three other drivers echoed his complaints - but without the same venom.

"I think he went a little overboard," four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said. "He kind of made it personal."

Gordon, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman all tested tires for Goodyear at the newly paved Darlington Raceway on Monday, and all agreed the rubber at Atlanta wasn't favorable for driving conditions.

But none was as angry as Stewart, who said Goodyear gave him "the most pathetic racing tire I've ever been on in my professional career."

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7895954/Drivers-agree-Stewart-went-'overboard'-in-complaints
~~~


Tony Stewart Comes Real Close to Apologizing 

Tony Stewart still blames Goodyear for the difficulties drivers encountered at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, but he appeared to temper his remarks a little during the Monday night airing of "Tony Stewart Live" on Sirius NASCAR Radio.

"As much grief as I'm going to give them here in the next 15 minutes about what we had yesterday, they have done some good things in the sport, and they have had sparks of brilliance where we've actually had tires that were actually nice to drive on," Stewart said on a show that also featured NASCAR President Mike Helton. "But I've been a part of the Cup series for 10 years now, and problems of blowing tires and getting a bad set of tires, that problem the whole 10 years I've been here has never been resolved and never been fixed."

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Stewart_Helton_confront_Goodyear_tire_problems.html
~~~


And More on the Tire Noise From Other Drivers

"When you see a bunch of tires blow out in a race, corporate or whoever goes, 'Hey, we can't have this. We can't have our Goodyear tire blowing out and a guy go in the wall,' " Biffle said. "Well, there's pros and cons to that. Yes you can if the guy didn't have the setup right on the car and the car is way too tight and he just sat there and pushed the right front off it. It didn't fail.

"In order for us to have a tire that we can race aggressively, you're going to be able to punish that tire, meaning too much camber, overdrive, be too tight and the tire is going to blow up. There is no possible way that you can have a tire that you just can't blow out and it's going to be aggressive enough to race on with all the fast cars. There's no middle ground there."

NASCAR and Goodyear now set minimum right-front tire pressures to keep the teams from getting aggressive.

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Drivers_Tire_management_is_a_shared_load.html
~~~


Here are some Floating Type Rumors About Robby Gordon

Rumor has it that Alex Gillett has purchased Robby Gordon Motorsports and will run it as a separate entity from Gillette-Evernham Motorsports.

Yet other sources say that this isn't the case.  We'll see how this turns out.
~~~

Tony Stewart's Tire Tirade and Everyone's Take On It

Tony Stewart's tire tirade, though well intended, had some unfortunate words in the delivery and has prompted quite a few reactions across the board.

NASCAR said they continue to test as best they can, being they have a new chassis and all.

GOODYEAR, in response to Stewarts request that they pull out of everything tire related, said they pulled out of other series due to cost factors, (And in my mind, focus on NASCAR).


Apparently a lot of drivers had issues with the tires and here's a bit of my take on the issue:

The tires are a harder compound because of how the CoT is designed and how it puts more abuse on the RF, as Dale Jr pointed out this last weekend.

The elite drivers / teams will obviously be the ones that understand tire management better than most and it showed in the race results.  Should the drivers not just step up to the plate and do what they're paid to do?  When something new is thrown in the mix at my job, I don't have the luxury of complaining, I have the responsibility to adapt, to get the job done I am paid to do.  (Heck, look at Microsoft every time they "enhance" their product, lynch mobs are formed with every new version, but we keep moving forward, using their sh.. .. stuff.) 

Goodyear responded to the blown tires from previous races with a compound that won't blow up on most everyone, as they announced, so their goal was met and very few paint schemes were added to the wall colors.  Face it, they did not have a lot of time to design the appropriate answer.

Up until this last weekend, I thought these things (CoT / New Chassis) pushed, or had the aerodynamics of a brick.. well, now the car control is back in the steering wheel gang.

Of a curious note:

I like what Kyle Busch's crew chief had to say:  "We knew the track was going to be slick and we dealt with it."  Nice.. 

An observation on GOODYEAR: 

Despite the Trucks, Nationwide and Cup series' all being different types of chassis, why did all three series have the same tire setups from Goodyear?

Just food for thought.

PS:  You know we'll be hearing an apology out of Stewart before the week is over, or at least I expect it.

Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta

The Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway made a piece of history today with Kyle Busch powering his Joe Gibbs Toyota powered Snickers car to victory lane, making this the first time since 1954 that a non-american manufacturer visited victory lane in the Cup series.

His teammate, Tony Stewart was behind him in his Toyota for second place, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 5 spots.

The tire combination that Goodyear distributed to the teams gave them quite the challenge as the harder right side tires got the drivers ire up in the air while some drivers got their cars up into the wall. Some of those drivers that graced the wall were our bubble focused teams like Michael Watrips #55 car and Joe Nemechek added his Furniture Row Racing paint scheme to the wall also.

The tire combination brought the cream to the top to reveal the winning combination of wheel men and top notch teams.

After the race, Tony Stewart elicited quotes I've come to expect out of Kyle Busch, then again, they are team mates. (Joe Gibbs PR department is going to earn their keep for sure.) Tony's reflections were along the lines of "Goodyear can't build a tire that is worth a crap", and "they (Goodyear) should just pull out of the sport".

See the complete results over at the NASCAR website.
Image courtesy of NASCAR.com, Autostock images.

Fox Telecast Notes for Wins and Penalties and Jack Roush

2 snippets from the Fox Pre-Race show for the Kobalt 500:

While Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond explained the oil cover scenario, Darrell seemed to be clearly of the opinion that the oil cover thing was intentional, if you want to make any judgments from his body language while he uttered his lines.
After the technical piece, Jeff Hammond said on the pre-race show that Jack Roush will probably not appeal the oil cover penalty.  (No explanation as to why not)

Viewer emails answered:  The question more or less was will NASCAR ever take a win away from someone who receives a penalty.
The answer was that NASCAR does not want a fan at the track to see a win, go home, and when they get home, to find out someone else is the winner.
Is it me, or is that lame?

I would think it's more about all the contract associated with the sponsors.

One observation:  The race start, the stands are not full at all.  I'm guessing about 90% full.

T-Mobile Eyeing Sprint?

I Thought Sprint was the Last Name the Cup Series would see after what Nextel arranged with NASCAR, but the owner of the cell phone company T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, may be considering acquiring Sprint to block a price war in the mobile phone industry, analysts for Merrill Lynch said today.

It seems that Sprint is having operational problems and because they are not well situated in the U.S. wireless industry, might be forced to cut prices even further to attract additional new customers.

A Deutsche Telekom acquisition is possible now because of Sprint’s share price and the weakness of the U.S. dollar, Merrill Lynch said.

The issue itself is not so much what I'm focused on, but the instability of the primary sponsor of NASCAR and the impact that the unstable nature of the sponsor might seem to have on the sport. If this occurs, does this send a message to the team sponsors and what would they do in the event this happens?

NASCAR already has a business choke chain on the teams and who they can have as primary sponsors. If T-Mobile does take over Sprint, will we see another AT&T like battle erupt as the restricted companies lunge for the legal neck of Sprint to break those restrictions?

I can imagine so.

The Kansas City Star

Kenseth Holds Off Harvick to Win Nicorette 300

The Nationwide Series Nicorette 300 was a shoe in for Kyle Busch. His car was so strong that each restart watched him just walk away from the field and the race was for second but a blown right front tire removed that part of the equation, leaving the race for Kenseth, Harvick and Burton to fight it out for the win.

Matt Kenseth took the top spot, followed by Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Bobby Labonte rounding out the top 5 spots.

(results)

Kyle Busch didn't really do himself any favors in the post race interview with one word responses about his tire blowing, but he is what he is.

Stewart on Goodyear, Roush Defends his Team, Toyota Retracts Cheating Statement

Tony Stewart Razes Goodyear

Even though Goodyear marketing manager Justin Fantozzi is happy with the tire Goodyear brought for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart begs to differ.

Tony thinks that the right side tire is not the best they could have as compared to a test that was conducted in October and says that most the drivers in the garage would concur with him.

To add to the ditch Tony is digging with Goodyear, he said "I hate to say it, but the best thing that Goodyear does is to make that gold trophy at the end of the year (a special award for the Cup champion, which Stewart received in 2002 and 2005). That is the one thing that they always do right. Everything from that moment on until the end of the year -- it's a crapshoot."

Dale Earnhardt Jr added to the perspective by saying that the tires are pretty hard and you aren't able to come out of the gate as hard as a driver used to be able to and yet they still fall off pretty fast and he doesn't think that one could wear them out though.

nascar
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roush Comes to the Defense of Edwards

Despite a news conference that was scheduled at Atlanta, Jack Roush went to the media podium 4 hours early to state his case about the oil lid penalty after the statement that was made by Toyota execs the previous day.

In regards to the oil cap lid coming off or loose, “It’s something that happened on the racetrack that didn’t reflect culpability,” Roush said. “It wasn’t an action by the team that gave them the advantage.”

Lee White, the general manager of Toyota Racing Development who was was quoted in the newspaper USA Today saying that Edwards’s team caused the lid to come off to make the car faster. After that statement on Friday, White backed off those comments in a statement issued by Toyota, saying he had no knowledge of cheating.

Jack Roush reiterated the issue that the fastener holding the oil pan bolt in place came loose more than likely from vibrations in the car during the Las Vegas race. He indicated that he would appeal in an effort to reduce the sanctions against his team.

NY Times
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lineups for the Nationwide and Cup Series at Atlanta

The Front Row for the Kobalt 500 at Atlanta is a Rick Hendrick affair

Jeff Gordon has the pole for the race, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. sitting on the outside row.
Surprisingly, the DEI car of Martin Truex Jr is 3rd, with Carl Edwards on the outside of the 2nd row.

Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin round out the first 5 rows of top 10 starters.

See the rest of the field over at NASCAR.

The CoT speed that set the pole for Sunday's race of 185.215 mph is well below the track record of 197.478 mph and I believe, is one of the slowest poles set since 1995.

Ken Schrader, Bill Elliott, Johnny Benson, John Andretti and Burney Lamar did not make the show.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nicorette 300 Nationwide Series Line Up.

On the Nationwide Series, Jeff Burton has the pole for Saturday's race, followed by Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann rounding out the top 5.

See the entire line up for the Nationwide event over at NASCAR.

Oh, by the way, the line up was set by owners points because qualifying was SNOWED OUT!

Really!!! Scene Daily

Kyle Busch Wins 2nd Truck Race

Benefitting from an astute call from the pits, Kyle Busch held off Ron Hornaday on Friday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway to win the American Commercial Lines 200, the second consecutive victory for the Craftsman Truck Series points leader.

Mike Skinner finished 3rd, Matt Crafton 4th, Chad McCumbee 5th.

See the rest of the article and finishing spots over on NASCAR.

The Edwards Penalty, A Rehash and Some New Stuff - Sort of

The Rehash of Carl Edwards Penalties
So Carl Edwards team has been bitten with the 100 driver and owner point penalty, loss of their crew chief for 6 events, and dinged the standard $100k fine.

First off, the points do put them back in the standings, but that is probably easy to recoup from this early on in the season.  The same can be said for the owner points.

The $100k, well that can actually come from the $425,675 purse that Roush Fenway Racing pocketed for winning the race.  As I've said in a previous post, if you won by cheating, you should lose all accolades from winning, which would then make the $100k fine more of something for someone to appreciate and have your finishing position be officially recorded as last.

The RFR spokesman did say they would appeal this penalty because nuts and bolts can work themselves loose during the course of a race.  (I say, would this not have happened before now, like in the number of races that were run last year as a test of the CoT?)
(NY Times)


Some New Angles on the Edwards Penalty
Toyota is taking a pretty strong stance on the matter by stating that Carl Edwards team knowingly caused a lid to come loose on an oil tank in his Ford because it increased the car's speed during Sunday's victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

To be more specific Toyota said that wind tunnel tests revealed removing the cover on the oil tank (located in a steel box behind the driver's seat) resulted in 170 extra pounds of downforce, the aerodynamic measurement of keeping a car glued to the track AND pointed out that video of one pit stop showed a member of Edwards' pit crew pulling on a right rear fender to open a 3-inch gap to an inner panel, creating about 70 pounds of downforce.  Yet, NASCAR's only issue is with the car during inspection was the lid..

(Didn't NASCAR make a lot of noise last year about massaging the fenders on these cars?)

And furthermore, to add just a wee bit of needling to the scene, the Toyota spokesperson added that "I must applaud NASCAR. Given the safety implications of opening that oil tank to the driver, the penalty could have been more severe."
USA Today, Nate Ryan Article


But This Wasn't the First Time They Tweaked Fenders
Over on The Frontstretch, Amy Henderson points out an interesting scenario that no one seems to be paying attention to for some reason, and that is this:

This was the second week in a row that something was amiss with the fenders on the No. 99 car.

Fox Sports reported that after the California race that several teams had noted that the fender on Carl Edwards' Ford looked to be pulled out past the tire further than is allowed.  Even though it had fit the template in post race inspection, it got by.  Being that race teams tend to be self-policing, they "inquired" with a race official if the fenders were allowed to be out that far.

If the fenders were different enough for other teams to take note, just how bad was it? 

Heck, the Hendricks powerhouse teams were slapped around by NASCAR pretty hard by NSACAR at the Infineon track as it was made abundantly clear that no one could massage those areas at all.

I'm guessing there was a change of heart in NASCAR?  I can't tell, judging from the penalty adjustment they made on Robby Gordon's scenario.

As Amy asks out loud in her article, "Is Carl Edwards, NASCAR's answer to Opie Taylor, really above the "creative engineering" talk that seems to plague some drivers and teams?"

See the entire article over at The FrontStretch and read for yourself what she has to say, because in this writers mind, there's something fishy going on around here.

Home Depot Selling Hood Time

I hope this isn't a sign of the times, or things to come, but Joe Gibbs Racing made note that The Home Depot has sold off the primary sponsorship (Hood time) for some races to another company.

The 20 car has had other primary sponsors in the past, so this may be nothing to frown about, and from what else was said in the article I was perusing, that it MIGHT be Subway.

Source:  As the World Turns (Left).

Jeff Gordon's Vegas Impact May Have More Impact!

Jeff Gordon hitting the inside wall at Las Vegas sent a message to everyone in the industry that outside walls are not the only places people hit a wall.  I think we've all seen impacts on inside walls where the entry or exit way for emergency vehicles or race competitors exist and they aren't parallel to the racing direction.  Jeff Fuller in the 'Nationwide' series plowed a wall at Kentucky, but being the 2nd tier series, no one took enough notice.  I've seen some ugly crashes at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, CA..  Two to be exact.  Both on entry / exit lanes.  One looked so terrible it was really disturbing.  The other ended up with the drivers' death.  So you tell me if the expected spots on the track where hits might occur are the only spots soft walls should go.

In that regard, here's a few snippets to wet your appetite for the linked article:

Four years ago, in the scramble to add soft walls to every track, Dean Sicking's team* gave each facility a preliminary evaluation. They looked at historical records, found the points on each racetrack where the hardest impacts had occurred over the past five to seven years, and covered them with the barrier. The walls left bare were those in areas that, according to the historical data, offered the lowest probability of big hits.

*Dean Sicking, director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, helped to develop the SAFER barrier.

So it's very conceivable that Gordon's crash at Las Vegas, and the outcry afterward, could lead to protected inside backstretch walls -- and, hopefully, reconfigured infield access points -- at all 1.5-mile tri-ovals, which are the meat and potatoes of the Sprint Cup schedule. The impact of Gordon's accident may eventually be felt not just in Las Vegas, but in Atlanta, Texas, Kansas and other points far beyond.

So it's argued that with the technology in place, it's a shame that drivers can still be injured on sections of wall that stay unprotected. 

Toward that end, the impact of Gordon's crash may be much bigger than it appeared on Sunday. He just might have taken one for the entire garage.

And Kudo's to Darlington for adding soft walls to the inside walls during their rebuild!!!  (4th article down)

Source article for above:  NASCAR Opinion By David Caraviello

Dale Jr Call in Show, Possible Rain Impacts and Just How Rich is France??

Dale Earnhardt Jr to host a Call in Show: Dale Jr. will be hosting a special edition of his XM Satellite Radio program Tuesday [March 11th] and will take calls from 8-9 pm/et. The call-in number is (866) 967-6144.  Have fun gang.

Rain delays the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series Practice Friday morning.  The rain isn't hindering just the Truck Series, but it may also threaten Sprint Cup qualifying efforts.  (I guess with the rain, you have to keep the oil lid cap on.  dOh!!)

Rain delays truck series practice

Rain threatening Sprint Cup qualifying

Ouch, it pays to be a France.
NASCAR Vice Chairman Jim France has a net worth estimated at $1.4 billion, ranking him 843rd in the world, according to Forbes magazine latest annual survey of the richest individuals.

NASCAR's vice chairman among Forbes' richest

TV Schedule and Weather Thoughts for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta

The TV Schedule as set, looks like this for the weekend:

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series  Atlanta | 1:30 p.m. ET Sun. | FOX
NASCAR Nationwide Series Atlanta | 1:30 p.m. ET Sat. | ESPN2
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Atlanta | 8:30 p.m. ET Fri. | SPEED

That is, if it doesn't rain on anyone's parade there!

The garage cams are showing wet grounds, though people are out and about without umbrellas, and the forecast over on weather.com shows 100% chance of showers today, 30% of AM showers in the morning for Saturday and 10% chance of showers for Sunday.

That means that possibly, the Craftsman Truck Series may not get off the ground today, the Nationwide Series has a chance, and we probably don't have to wait until Monday..  again, to see a Cup race.

A Short Note About Penalties

Are Penalties Really That Prohibitive?

Penalties are all the rage these days but what's the impact they have on teams that spend millions to get where they are? Is it a pittance to their pockets, or does it really have an impact?

NASCAR is showing solidarity behind their penalty system for the new car, and now that the Commission has used some of it's powers to turn over a few penalties, it does seem like Christmas over in NASCAR.

The fines are consistent with their stance, and even though they overturned the 7 teams point penalties, they increased the fine. Hopefully that won't stifle the team that just lost millions when their other venture in the off road rally when it got canceled.

And the most recent penalty, where Edwards oil pan cover, whose four bolt(s) must have come off, went missing. The team got driver and owner points taken away, and the standard fine of $100k coming their way, if their appeal has no affect.

BUT with all the penalties of fines and points, why is not the most important aspect of an event left alone, and that's the finishing position, albeit, my focus, the win?

Yes, the points penalty does negate the effect of winning, but that trophy and what ever accolades that go with the win need to be pulled from the table also. That includes the many thousands of dollars they won by winning.

Enough of the points penalties. Whom so ever gets an infraction, gets put to last place, everyone else moves up one spot and let a car that did not have any rules bending take the win.

Is there a reason that does not happen these days? Is it too complicated with all the sponsors and legal wrangling associated with those sponsors? I don't know. Anyone have any other ideas?

Update (3/7/08): I'm not alone in wondering about the idea of wins being taken away, as Greg Biffle seems to be in agreement with me. (Fox Sports)

News from Wednesday, the 5th

Edwards Gets Penalty
NASCAR has issued penalties and fines to the No. 99 team that competes in the Sprint Cup Series, as a result of rule infractions found at Las Vegas. The No. 99 car driven by Carl Edwards 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 20-2.1J (any device or duct work that permits air to pass from one area of the interior of the car to another, or to the outside of the car, will not be permitted. This includes, but is not limited to, the inside of the car to the trunk area, or the floors, firewalls, crush panels and wheel wells passing air into or out of the car) of the 2008 NASCAR rulebook. The violations were found during post-race inspection at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2.
Read more at NASCAR.com


Robby Gets Rare Appeal
In deliberating, the Commission considered several factors. The bumper cover constituted an obvious rules infraction and the Appellants did not contest the legality of the part.

The Commission notes and reaffirms the following fundamental principal which is vital to maintaining the integrity of the sport: Regardless of the source of an unapproved part on a racecar, the race team that officially enters the car in a NASCAR race is ultimately accountable for that racecar's conformance, or non-conformance, to the rules.

However, the Commission believes that the facts presented during the hearing represented an extraordinary and unusual set of circumstances. While this does not excuse the infraction, the National Stock Car Racing Commission has decided to reinstate the car owner and driver championship points, lift the suspension, and increase the fine.

See the rest at NASCAR

2 Nationwide Penalties ALSO Reversed by NASCAR
(What is this, Christmas??)
The NASCAR appeals committee reduced the penalties Tuesday for two Nationwide Series crew chiefs punished for violations found before the season-opening race. Newt Moore, crew chief for Johnny Sauter at Phoenix Racing, had his suspension reduced from six weeks to two weeks by the three-member National Stock Car Racing Commission. Charlie Wilson, crew chief for Cale Gale at Kevin Harvick Inc., had his $15,000 fine reduced to $5,000 by a separate three-member panel.

Both crew chiefs were penalized because their cars had a loose cover on the oil tank before qualifying for the Feb. 15 season-opener at Daytona.  Talk about bad timing, Moore only became crew chief for the No. 1 three days before the race, agreeing to fill in at the last moment.  FoxSports

Darlington has New Track Surface
Paving of the racing surface at Darlington Raceway has been completed, track President Chris Browning announced today.

The new racing surface was part of a $10 million capital improvement project that also included an infield access tunnel large enough to accommodate car haulers, motor homes and emergency vehicles and the addition of SAFER barrier walls to interior concrete walls on the frontstretch and backstretch.

See the details over at Racing One.


Robby Thanks Everyone
"We see this as good news. We are grateful the commissioners rescinded the points penalty and suspension but disappointed by the fine. Still, we see this as a victory for Robby Gordon Motorsports. We feel like justice was done and appreciate NASCAR creating a system that allowed us to take our appeal to the National Stock Car Racing Commission. Now we plan to put this issue behind us and concentrate on making the "Chase" in 2008 as well as getting the Jim Beam Dodge into victory lane. I want to thank the thousands of fans and our sponsors who have supported us through this episode and want everyone of you to know how much we appreciate all that you have done. Our goal is to be a model team in the future and never go through something like this again."
Robby Gordon Site

Rumors of a Retro Dew Scheme

Over on Jayski.com, they're saying that there's a rumor that Dale Earnhardt Jr will be running a retro Mountain Dew paint scheme, though they aren't sure what race.

I'm a pretty intense diecast collector, and sometimes I take my clue from my diecast sources.

Over at RacingUSA, they already have a pre-order diecast of the scheme on their site, ready to be snapped up to the first come, first served.

At this point, I'm thinking more than a rumor because they are offering the item up for sale.
The image is from racingUSA order page.

Gordon and Kenseth Feel the Love... Again, and Hendrick Backs Up His Driver

Hendrick Backs Up Jeff Gordon on the Safer Wall Issue
Team owner Rick Hendrick thinks NASCAR should not return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway until the retaining wall Jeff Gordon slammed into is improved.

Special barriers are located in the outside walls at Las Vegas. But the track did not install them along the inside wall, which the four-time NASCAR champion hit in the closing laps Sunday. The force was so violent Gordon's entire transmission was ripped from under the hood.

"If the teams are asked to spend $8 million a piece for a car that is a little bit safer, then we need to fix the damn walls at the track," Hendrick told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "That ought to be priority No. 1, and if the tracks don't have the walls, then we shouldn't race there."

Track officials said owner Bruton Smith was assessing the walls and anticipated SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers installed along the inside before the Truck Series race there in September. NASCAR News

Come to think of it, a lot of tracks only have the safer barrier on the outside wall, where they are more likely to slap the wall, but let's face it folks, people hit that inside wall often enough.
 

Texas Motor Speedway Thinks Tests Are in Order
Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage wants a test session held at his facility before the Sprint Cup teams race there April 6. But NASCAR says he's not going to get one.

Concerned by a track-record 11 cautions Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and comments from some drivers who say Texas will be a bigger test for the new racecar, Gossage sent a release to the media inviting NASCAR to test at the Fort Worth facility prior to the Samsung 500. Although Clint Bowyer and Juan Montoya took part in a Goodyear tire test in January at Texas, it was not one of the six tracks chosen for an official open test like the one held in Phoenix on Monday and Tuesday.  NASCAR News


Here We Go Again:  Gordon and Kenseth Revisit the Love
Jeff Gordon denies Matt Kenseth's charge that he was "laying back" on the restart that ended up with the 24 car reshaping itself on the inside wall during the closing laps of the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"It's disappointing, but it all started back on the restart," Kenseth said after the race. "Jeff is kind of famous for laying back, and NASCAR has a rule that you can't lay back more than a car length or you can be black-flagged, but it's usually not enforced, so I saw him laying back.  See the rest of the raucus at Scene Daily.


The Agony that Is Dale Jr's
Over on ThatsRacin, there's a snippet about what Dale Earnhardt Jr was going through during the 17 minute red flag after the Gordon / Kenseth incident.

Skinner steps in, Edwards Car has Issues, Gordon Looks for Softwall

Skinner steps in for Allmendinger
Mike Skinner has been tagged by Red Bull to step in for A.J. Allmendinger in the No 84 Toyota and will attempt to qualify for Sunday's race at Atlanta.

Allmendinger has been missing the show by just a little bit each time, and hence, the team needs to start looking to get in the show.

Allmendinger said"Let's not kid ourselves. I'm a racer and I want to be racing, but I get the big picture here and obviously we need to improve our program," he said. "Do I want to be out of the car? No. But, I know Skinner can help both me and my team.

"All I can say is he better be prepared for me to eat, drink, and sleep with him. OK, well maybe not the sleeping part, but I'm ready to attach myself to him and learn everything I can."

(I do like his sense of humor.) (Fox Sports)
~~

Ratings Up for Vegas
If this stuff tickles your fancy, Fox's broadcast of Sunday's UAW-Dodge 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earned an overnight Nielsen Media Research rating of 6.2 and a 12 market share, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports.
Scene Daily
~~~

Edwards has After Race Inspection Issue
Carl Edwards is probably going to be losing some points from this last weekends race at Vegas.

NASCAR officials found "an issue" with his No. 99 Ford in post-race inspection late Sunday. NASCAR said Edwards' car did not fail post-race inspection, but something was amiss.

"We had an issue in post-race inspection with the 99. The lid on the oil reservoir encasement, or the oil tank box, was off," Poston said. "So we're going to take the 99 back to the [NASCAR] Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., and if there are any actions that need to be taken, those will be taken and announced next week."

See the rest at NASCAR.com
~~~

Jeff Gordon Wants Soft Walls Everywhere!
No, he's not slap happy, but I'm amazed he's still walking straight after slamming the inside wall after a spin off of turn 2. It sent his radiator sliding down the track after his Dupont Chevrolet came to a rest.

Gordon's concern was why the curved portion of the inside backstretch wall that he hit wasn't covered with the energy-absorbent materials used at most other parts of the track.

"I'm really disappointed right now in this speedway for not having a soft wall back there, and even being able to get to that part of the wall shouldn't happen, but I'm more thankful that I've got an awesome team ... that built a safe racecar. I'll tell you what, a few years ago, those types hits, you wouldn't be standing here."

See the rest of the article at NASCAR.com

~~~

Sunday Morning - March 2

Mark Martin Back to Victory Lane

Mark Martin went back to victory lane on Saturday in the Sam's Town 300 at LVMS after a race that had more spins than a roulette table and one of those spins included Martin (Who apologized for it) tapping out Carl Edwards and taking him and Brad Keselowski out of the event late in the race for the 13th caution of the day. Keselowski looked like he might be looking at his first win when this event relegated him back to 23rd.

Top runners Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart were taken out in different incidents as 16 cars were out of the race or off track when the race completed with only 14 cars on the lead lap. During his post spin interview, Kyle was a bit bratty in his replies, but to give him an out, he was upset about his incident considering that he wrecked his primary car for the race in the 2nd lap of qualifying, and took his back up car from last to first through the course of the race.

Teams were having problems Saturday with a bumpy spot in turn 4 and high winds possibly being part of the cause for some incidents there at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Martin won, giving him 48 career wins in this series now known as the Nationwide Series. He was followed up across the finish line by Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, David Stremme. Dario Franchitti, Mike Wallace, Patrick Carpentier, Brad Coleman and David Ragan rounding out the top 10. (Carpentier was filling in for Kasey Kahne who was suffering with a sinus infection.) Complete Results.

This even leaves Tony Stewart on top of the points standing for the Nationwide Series, followed by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. (Nationwide Standings)

Martin's win in the 5 car made a milestone for Dale Earnhardt Jr as this was his first win as a car owner. Earnhardt has aligned with Hendrick Motorsports this season to form a hybrid two-car effort, and the win was the first for JR Motorsports.


Bruton Smith Wants to Swap Dates for Atlanta

Bruton Smith is looking to swap race dates between his Atlanta Motor Speedway and ISC-owned Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

The Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman said he's discussed the exchange of dates with NASCAR officials that would results in bringing the 2009 Labor Day weekend Cup race to Atlanta and move the October Chase for the Sprint Cup event to Auto Club Speedway, where he argues this would help the CA track.


Too Busy to Grumble About the New Configuration

Last year, some were a bit grumpy about the face lift that Las Vegas Motor Speedway went through mid last year making it a faster track, which some said made the 1.5 mile oval a tricky place to race and it got dubbed "Spin City" after a bit of a challenge for the old car, and as we saw attested to in Saturday's Nationwide Series race with 16 cars off the track and only 14 cars only on the lead lap as the race finished.

As the Sprint Cup Series holds this year's UAW-Dodge 400 today, the grumbling isn't as prevalent while the teams are more focused on how the new car will perform on the new layout, but I think we may very well see the same thing as from what I watched in qualifying was a lot of hands doing the steering wheel dance as they navigated turns 3 and 4.