Was The New Hampshire Finish Really Rain Affected

I've been chatting with a few folks and it's interesting that even though everyone was focused on the fact that the race was rain shortened, that no one seems to be remembering that the front runners all had to stop for fuel anyway, regardless.

With the rain taking the blunt of the blame, we still have to keep the fuel mileage thing in mind. That brings to light that when the yellow came out, who stayed, who pitted, who took chances?

Kurt Busch said that with a few laps of caution, they probably would have won or contended for the win because of how they managed the fuel mileage.

Michael Waltrip, who finished 2nd, echoed the sentiment, saying strategy put him where he was, not rain and he even felt he could have contended for the win with Kurt Busch if the race stayed green. (Is Kurt running that badly these days?)

Reed Sorenson, who finished 6th said they stayed out just because the rain was that close.

What befuddled me a bit was when they showed the weather radar at one point near the end of the race, there was a massive yellow section indicating heavy rain heading for the track and it wasn't far off, why more top contenders didn't take the chance? Yea, it is a big chance, but the radar looked pretty nasty and if you knew it was coming, why come in? Live on the edge boys!

Tell you what though, this little fuel / rain debacle mixed up the points standings a little bit and definitely juggled up the bubble zone in Owners Points around 35th, but I'll be touching on that in a later post.

When all is said and done, I wasn't there, so obviously things looked different to different folk, but I'm just wondering out loud from my perspective on the couch, where I didn't get rained on.
-
Source: NASCAR News

Busch (The other one) wins at New Hampshire

The top 10 starting grid for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 was :

1 Patrick Carpentier*
2 Bobby Labonte
3 Kevin Harvick
4 Scott Riggs
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6 Reed Sorenson
7 Dario Franchitti*
8 Martin Truex Jr.
9 Matt Kenseth
10 A.J. Allmendinger

Interesting observation: Lap 100 saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. 9th, he was followed by his old sponsor Budweiser, who was followed by Jr.'s old car, the No. 8!

After 111 Laps, and only one caution, the field settled out with the biggest position changes from the start being:

Scott Riggs dropped 36 spots to 40
Dario Franchitti dropped 36 spots to 43rd
Brian Vickers climbed 36 spots to 4th
Patrick Carpentier dropped 30 spots to 31st
Tony Stewart climbed up over and around 25 other cars to 3rd
Casey Mears snuck up 23 spots to 1st by not pitting under caution
Elliott Sadler slid back 21 spots to 32nd
Sam Hornish Jr. regressed 19 postiions to 39th
Jeff Burton came 19 spots from 31st to 12th
Travis Kvapil dropped 17 spots to 38th
Jimmie Johnson gained 16 spots to be in 7th

Stewart took the race lead on lap 141 coming out of the pits from a caution stop and held the lead until the very end.

The last half of the race was a race as teams had a feel that the weather was coming, but the real excitement wound up with around 25 laps to go the word rain was mentioned.

The race pace was slowed by 2 cautions in the last 25 laps.

Lap 271 saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. get speared by Jamie McMurray as the 88 car was pitting for fuel.
Lap 280 saw some excitement as Hornish spun and collected Bowyer in his mess. The ensuing pace lap saw Montoya hit Kyle Busch and Busch spun.

The 2 cautions slowed down the race enough to let the rain come in. The irony was that the top 15 cars had pitted for fuel since they couldn't make the whole length of the race. Others made the gamble and stayed out.

The others that stayed out, being Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson, Casey Mears, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson were the top 10 cars when the red flag came out for rain and subsequently, the top 10 finishers when the race was called for rain.

Go figure, a 2nd place finish for Michael Walrip!

NASCAR Unofficial Results

New Hampshire Weather Predictions for June 28-29th

The forecast for Loudon this weekend does not instill confidence in my chance to spend quality time with the TV watching a race, but ya never know.

Weather.com is saying there's a 60% chance of precipitation, with Thunderstorms projected.  (At the time of this posting.)

Let's keep our fingers crossed gang!

Casey Mears Becoming a Free Agent

Despite last weeks statement by Rick Hendrick that he's behind Casey Mears, but dodging long term commitment questions, Hendrick confirmed for the world this last Friday that Casey Mears will not be back in the No. 5 Chevy for 2009.

Bu bye Casey.

Despite the announcement, Mears had known for a couple of weeks about this development, quoting having such a bad year this year.

This year, they moved Casey from the 25 to the 5 car and they've just not quite hit the right setups.  He noted an odd sensitivity to set ups in the new chassis.

"The biggest thing I've noticed is how sensitive these cars are," said Mears, a former open-wheel racer. "You can change everything and it doesn't do anything. It's the same. You can change about 10 million things on these cars and it doesn't respond. Then you pull an eighth of an inch out of the camber and it's the fastest car on the track. Finding the sweet spots on these cars has been difficult."

I think this bites for Casey.  He's under a good roof, probably one of the best in the business and now he may have to consider a 2nd rate team.  It will just never be the same as it is at HMS.  On the other hand, you have to wonder if HMS isn't pouring just a little bit more resource into Gordon, Johnson or Earnhardt Jr's camp to keep the performances up under public scrutiny / pressure.

http://www.boston.com

Clint Boyer: New 3 Year Contract

Clint Boyer announced on Friday that he signed on to Richard Childress Racing for three more years.

Now the pressure is on. I feel like he's got it in him to contend up front, but what a wacky year he's had.  He started out 2008 with 3 finishes of 19th and worse, popped off 7 top-10's, then 15th, and four consecutive races where he came in 25th or worse.  Sonoma was his bright spot in all this with a 4th place finish.

He ran well at New Hampshire last year, if you count winning, but the pressure is there to repeat or at least finish well to keep his Chase chances alive.

So all together now, Clint Boyer fans, start crossing your fingers and hoping for good!!

http://canadianpress.google.com

Biffle Re-Ups with Roush (Now, He Can Focus)

Greg Biffle renewed with Roush Fenway Racing with a three year deal, reported to be valued at $7 million a year for the Ford driver.

With this out of the way, now maybe everyone can focus on the job at hand.  I'm not dissing Greg.  I'm just saying that all the oversights and bad luck might just go away now that everyone is back on board and all looking in the same direction.

The odd part about it all is that despite missed lugnuts and sporadic engine issues, he's still seventh in the standings.

Good for Greg.  I'm not sure I could have seen in my mind him driving anywhere else.

Source:  Boston Herald

Qualifying for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301

When I had tuned in today, Reed Sorenson was sitting in the top spot and they were drying the track.  Having no faith in the idea of of them getting the rest of qualifying in, I got on my bicycle and did a quick 20 mile ride.  Guess I should have stuck around.

Now I read that Sorenson missed his first possible pole and is sitting in sixth.

On the other hand, Patrick Carpentier is now the proud holder of his very first Cup pole of his career.  Bobby Labonte is sitting outside of the all Dodge front row.  I bet this is sitting well his his fan base.  I've been a fan for sometime, so it's nice to see.

Row 1:  Carpentier, Labonte
Row 2:  Riggs, Harvick
Row 3:  Earnhardt Jr., Sorenson
Row 4:  Franchitti, Truex Jr.
Row 5:  Kenseth, Allmendinger

An interesting set of front 10 drivers.

Tony Raines and Marcos Ambros did not make the show for Sunday.

See the rest of the line up at NASCAR

Loose in Turn 3: The Price of Gas These Days

by Bruce Simmons

It's Friday and we've survived another week of fun filled work. That means we're coming at your with another edition of Loose In Turn 3 (LIT3) Despite most of them being millionaires, or dang close to it, NASCAR drivers are saying that even they are feeling the pinch at the pump.

Traditionally, airplane fuel has always been much more expensive than automobile fuel and the teams are feeling the pinch more acutely as they shuttle everything everywhere: team members by plane, equipment by 18-wheeler. Eesh, that has got to be expensive with the oil system being able to freely boost and dump oil prices at their own whim.

The Gillett Evernham shop says it costs ~$1500 to fill up their semi that hauls around 80,000 lbs of equipment each weekend. For them, the last track, Infineon, was fairly pricey for them since their haulers had to make 2 stops going, and 2 stops coming from the track to the shops.

At the track, all the fuel is supplied by Sunoco, who we are reminded by the airwave media every time they mention the gas, it's the Sunoco gas. (Has to be some concerted effort via a request to be more consistent in their product placement. My guess, Sunoco wants to make sure there's no confusion about who the official fuel is while Shell sits on Kevin Harvicks Chevrolet.)

This upcoming weekend, Sunoco (The official Fuel... on never mind) will be bringing nearly 3,000 gallons of race fuel for the NASCAR event at New Hampshire. By all estimations, each team will be using about 64 gallons of gas just for Sunday alone.

The fuel is a special make of fuel designed for the race cars themselves, and is made in a refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa., near Philadelphia.

Obviously NASCAR is aware that folks are eying the sport in these fuel pricey times. NASCAR says:

"The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series uses about 135,000 gallons of fuel, racing from Daytona and all the way through to the [season-ending] Ford 400 [in Homestead, Fla.]. And that compares to 360 million gallons used by Americans every day."

(Ouch, why don't they just come out and say it: Carpool or pedal to work!)

With that in mind, I thought I'd toss out the following question to my LIT3 Gang:


Fuel prices are going up and up. Everyone, everywhere is feeling the pinch in every aspect of our lives. Our beloved sport is starting to be looked at as a gas guzzling sport. Should NASCAR and Sunoco make a concerted effort to convert the sport over to a less fossil fuel centric sport?

Bruce: No. Not yet. Some say it's necessary as our supply of crude dwindles, so inevitably, something has to give. But as far as costs and environmental impact goes, on the surface, ethanol looks attractive. The underlying costs of farming, processing and converting the crops into Ethanol offsets most conservation that is initially apparent, never mind the pollution that comes from the efforts noted. Solar NASCAR. It just doesn't have the same punch now, does it?

Charlie Turner:(OnPitRow) Nope. That wouldn't solve the gas price problem. This is too big an issue for NASCAR. Leave it to the manufacturers and politicians. They have to do the big work on this issue.

Tim Zaegel:(DoYouNASCAR) Look, I'm all for limiting the use of oil in every sense of our everyday lives that we possibly can, but with or without NASCAR or any other motorsports - this problem lies within the realms of since an politics. I think we're headed there, though, because alternative energy is the next step that our nation needs to take to stay ahead of the curb. So, in that essence, NASCAR needs to start thinking ahead. Manufacturers and oil companys are already planning for the next phase, and NASCAR needs to do the same. There's no need to impliment any sort of alternative fuel policies with the sport just yet, but they need to be ready for the day that the rest of the country does in fact go green.


Of course, the boys had their own questions to ponder in the group:
Charlie (OnPitRow) asks: After what we saw at Infineon Raceway, is there still a place for "road course ringers" in the Cup Series?
Tim (DoYouNASCAR) Pondered: Can the no. 16 team keep it together long enough through the next 10 races to keep Greg in Chase contention?


Inspiration for my article / question: http://www.boston.com

NASCAR TV Schedule for June 28th Weekend

Wonderin' when to set up the BBQ or to order that take out pizza?  Maybe knowing the TV schedule for NASCAR will help!

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series  Loudon | 12:30 p.m. ET Sun. | TNT
NASCAR Nationwide Series Loudon | 2:30 p.m. ET Sat. | ABC
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Memphis | 8:30 p.m. ET Sat. | SPEED

Power Rankings Going Into NH

I don't always agree with power rankings.  They seem to rank a driver according to this moment, after the last race, and I am not all that sure that the last race should propel someone into or out of the top 15 of Power Rankings.  It needs to include many more things than I think they're counting.  When I'm ranking guys for fantasy leagues (When I'm serious about it), my picks tend to all be in the top 10 at the drop of the green flag.  The only thing I can't predict is tire failure and other drivers running out of talent!

With that said, here's how NASCAR.com ranks the drivers:

Kyle Busch  (Can't Argue this one)
Carl Edwards
Dale Earnhardt Jr.  (Staying consistently in place in the standings, but can he really contend for the Cup with the Shrub in it?)
Jeff Burton  (Quietly lurking in wait for someone to falter)
Jeff Gordon  (A big boost from Infineon, Let's see if he can keep the momentum going.)
Matt Kenseth 
Jimmie Johnson  (Dude, not the best of years, but I'm expecting Chad to pull it out soon)
Greg Biffle  (If it weren't for bad luck, this cat would be all over the top half of the chart!)
Kasey Kahne 
Denny Hamlin
Clint Bowyer
Tony Stewart  (Mr "You weren't in the car Marty" (wah!) stays put near the bottom, but everyone is looking for his usual late season pile on!)
Brian Vickers  (May have dropped 2 spots, but he'll recover)
David Gilliland  (I don't think he's top 15 material yet.)
Casey Mears  (Good day, miserable rumors floating over head...  Prove them wrong Casey!!)

Source:  NASCAR

Owners Bubble, After Sonoma

The race to avoid the Top 35 Owners Bubble spot is pretty heated from 29th to 36th so folks better stay on their toes and not make any mistakes in the upcoming weeks as this intense points battle continues as it has.

As you can see, the 00 and 55 cars benefited from the road course. Let's see if they can take advantage of that momentum now.

RANK	+/-	CAR	OWNER	POINTS	+/- 35th
27	-2	#15	Teresa Earnhardt	1443	215
28	1	#22	Bill Davis	1330	102
29	-1	#44	Michael Waltrip	1296	68
30	--	#01	Teresa Earnhardt	1263	35
31	4	#00	Rob Kauffman	1257	29
32	2	#55	Michael Waltrip	1251	23
33	--	#77	Roger Penske	1248	20
34	-3	#7	Robby Gordon	1239	11
35	-3	#41	Chip Ganassi	1228	0
36	--	#66	Joe Custer	1208	-20
37	--	#84	Dietrich Mateschitz	1099	-129
38	--	#96	Jeffrey Moorad	972	-256

Driver Standings and Chase Bubble after Sonoma

Looking at the standings after Sonoma, sometimes you expect big change, and there was some change as the top 12 was invaded by Matt Kenseth busting over the Chase Bubble into 12th, bumping out Kevin Harvick.

Don't count out Kevin yet because he is only 2 points behind 12th, in 13th. David Ragan is 47 points off the bubble.

The biggest mover in the top 12 was Jeff Gordon, leaping over three spots to 6th with his 3rd place finish last weekend.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2408	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	2305	-103
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2256	-152
4	--	Carl Edwards	2150	-258
5	--	Jimmie Johnson	2082	-326
6	3	Jeff Gordon	2041	-367
7	1	Greg Biffle	2019	-389
8	-2	Denny Hamlin	2008	-400
9	-2	Kasey Kahne	1958	-450
10	2	Clint Bowyer	1924	-484
11	--	Tony Stewart	1908	-500
12	2	Matt Kenseth	1892	-516
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP BUBBLE
13	-3	Kevin Harvick	1890	2
14	-1	David Ragan	1845	47

Carl - Where Did Your Back Flip Go??

Saturday night Carl Edwards won the Nationwide race at the Milwaukee Mile breaking a fairly long winless streak on his part in that series.  The odd part to the win was that we did not see the customary back flip that Carl always does when he wins, since he's joined NASCAR.

The reason he didn't do the back flip was the way that he won the race.   Several laps prior to the end of the race Carl ducked down under Clint Bowyer to pass him in the corner but instead, they touched, sending Clint sliding up into the wall, but Clint saved it, only losing a few positions, eventually getting back up to third.

In the end, Carl said the way he won, in regards to hitting Bowyer, did not deserve the standard back flip we've come to expect.  The crowd booed aggressively about the development, since they watched Carl for some laps, expecting the usual victory celebration.

Carl won the Camping World RV Rental 250, followed by NASCAR's newest golden child, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and David Reutimann rounding out the top 5.

In one respect, it was an admirable decision to not "celebrate" his win by spin.  Hopefully that will help Bowyer understand his sincerity.  On the other hand, it's all about the fans, and we were shorted our standard celebration we love to see.  No one wins in this one, but in the end Edwards may have very well made the best decision for himself.

The rest of the results of the Nationwide Race at http://www.nascar.com

Kyle Busch - All Around Cup Winner

by Bruce Simmons

Short tracks, Medium tracks and now road courses.  That makes it official:  Kyle Busch has won just about on every track type there is.  We need to get him in ice racing, see how he does there!

As much as I beat on him with his antics, I have to respect his talent.  This year alone in Cup, he's won at Atlanta, Talladega, Darlington, Dover and now Infineon Raceway as he smoothly hit his marks all day long, followed by David Gilliland, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears rounded out the top 5 spots of the Toyota / Save Mart 350.

And for the first time, the crowd cheered him rather than the usual crowd of boo's.

Overall, it was a quiet, uneventful race until the closing laps.  The most notable yellow flag involved 4 cars as they had wound down to 6 laps remaining and what looked like a rather overly aggressive move Kevin Harvick hit turn 4 a bit too quick, losing it and involving Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart and Ron Fellows.  The wreck eliminated McMurray and Stewart from the chance to cone in 2nd behind Kyle Busch 'cause no one was touching him on the restarts.

Unofficial results at:  http://www.nascar.com

Mears Leaving HMS?

TNT reported during the Infineon race that Casey Mears was told he will probably not be returning to Hendrick Motorsports next year.
There's an ouch.  When will the guy ever get a break?

NASCAR Tires Retreaded As Beer Coolers!!

regurgitated by Bruce Simmons

So what do you do when you have exclusive rights to recycle the 85,000 used tires that come off of the cars in NASCAR each year after a race?

Why create "used artifacts", or to be more specific, 32 lb beverage coolers that can fit several (5 1/2) cases of your "favorite" beverage with 30 lbs of ice?

Kevin Burns, who runs Racecooler Co., wrangled those rights, and recycles the tires into these alternative products.  Back in 2005 he noticed that fans wanted to buy the used tires, but NASCAR / Goodyear wasn't selling them.  So rather than the usual route Goodyear took of converting the used tires into asphalt, he was looking for a way to help preserve the tires and make them available to the fans.

Adding this to the idea that Burns realized one fascinating demographic is that 72% of NASCAR fans are more than likely to purchase products with a NASCAR affiliation.  He confirmed that by making a few hundred of these coolers and took them to the Daytona 500, selling them for $200 a piece and he didn't have to bring any inventory back home.

With that said, he charged on forward and just started up a website recently to help deliver these NASCAR themed coolers for our kegging ways at http://www.racecooler.net, and there, at the moment, he only has two products featured on his site HERE. 

Besides the obvious, do you know what else is neat about these products?  Burns enlists the help of hundreds of disabled veterans to make his products.  Hey Kevin, I'd be more than happy to field test any of your ideas if you'd need a field tester!

If anyone has one of these babies, let me know how you like it!

Inspiration Source:  Article by Laura Baverman at Business Courier

A Fascinating Perspective About Road Course Ringers

by Bruce Simmons

Kyle Petty made a very interesting statement and it pretty much boiled down to how writers spend a lot of time and energy writing about the threat of road course ringers and yet a Cup driver wins the race every time and to be honest about it, every time we visit a road course we're always looking at Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.  We also look at drivers like Robby Gordon, Terry Labonte, Joe Nemechek to be competitive in the race.

So while we talk about how a team devalues their regular driver with ringers, I'd suggest they put their drivers in some "quality time" with road course training like DEI did a few years back.  That way, they can show some in-team solidarity rather than quickly shuffling their primary driver to the back seat the moment a road course shows up in the schedule.

I'm just sayin', that's all.

Inspiration for this thought:  Sporting News

Motor Sports Loses A Driver Today

by Bruce Simmons

It is with a sad heart that I echo the reports that Scott Kalitta died today as a result of an accident where his DHL Toyota Solara burst into flames midway down the track and slammed into the end of the track during the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.

Kalitta was transported to Old Bridge Township Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Our sympathies go out to his family and friends.

~

It's a sad day in the world of motor sports, regardless of what anyone is driving.  Whether it's an airplane, a dragster, a stock car, motorcycle - everyone involved in any form of racing a machine is part of a larger common community of daring athletes who put their lives on the line every day and we get so complacent about the contests that fans become numb to the idea that someone can get hurt until something like this happens.

We just need to remember that during all the griping about rules or restrictions or new chassis', terrible TV coverage or what not, these rare personalities we call drivers need to be appreciated with every lap made, every race won...  or lost.

Toyota / Save Mart 350 Lineup

The smoother drivers prevailed on Friday in qualifying:

Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson own the front row of the Infineon Raceway race on Sunday, with Kahne on the pole.
Row two has Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte,
Row Three - Jeff Gordon and Elliot Sadler.
(Sadler looked like he had the pole but he hit turn 11 way too hard and slid up to the outside in the turn, losing his lead slot in the process.)
Row Four sees Marcos Ambrose and Robby Gordon.
(Marcos topped the speed charts, surprising everyone, including I think, himself.)
Finally, Row Five residents are Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle.

Oddly, Greg Biffle and Terry Labonte tied in time, but ties are figured out by standings position, and so Terry is relegated to 11th, but good job Terry.

7 Dodge's in the top 11 spots. Maybe I'm making a snap judgment, but it seems that the Dodge camps have the handling aspect of the car down pat. But could there be something with the aero of the make that holds them back on ovals? Just wondering out loud. Anyone have an opinion on this?

See the rest of the line up at NASCAR.

Are Pump Prices Hitting NASCAR Fans?

by Bruce Simmons

You bet they are?  With the price of gas on the rise as America gets squeezed by OPEC, we're feeling this from every angle.  Products we buy, services we use and especially at the pump.  Back in the late 80's I always wondered when we would start paying prices like the British do and other places.  I guess I finally got my answer.

The pump prices aren't being looked over either as far as NASCAR track attendance goes.  Though NASCAR isn't exactly free with it's statistics, insiders have been reporting that right now attendance is seeing a decline of about 10%, which doesn't seem big, but if you think 60 to 100 thousand fans an event, the number suddenly is huge.  Even on TV or Radio, the fans are starting to pass up the RV's and driving smaller vehicles.

Different tracks are doing different things to help stave off the additional damage to the wallet with incentives, specials and arrangements for the fans in attendance at their events.

When I lived near CA Speedway (Sorry, Auto Club Speedway) they had a pretty neat system where the local train services would set up rides from all over the region and there's a train station right at the track.  After a long hot day at the track, it was sweet to go sit down in an air conditioned train car and sleep it off.

Infineon has been reported to me as being a bear to get into and out of, not to mention the heat, but the track has teamed up with different organizations so if I wanted to, as part of my ticket purchase price, I could catch a party bus in San Jose and they would drive me to the road course...  if I wanted to spend those kind of bucks in blistering heat.  (IT IS HOT right now.)  I could also get a limo ride for almost the same cost.

New Hampshire, which is also a bear to get into and out of because unless they added roads since I've been there, was only service by one two lane road, is offering to pay someone's mortgage for the rest of the year.  (OK, now I'm thinking I need to go again!  See!  It's working on me already!)

And while we're seeing empty seats at the races now, it's going to get worse.  Right now is when we are being hit with the high price of gas and as we look to the fall, we now are aware how much more it's going to cost us to get to a track and the anticipation is that attendance is going to decline even further.

Source:  LA Times, Jim Peltz

Is the COT Loose In Turn Three?

It's another glorious Friday morning, and that means another wonderful triple segment of As the Wheel Turns, or more to the point, if you turn it wrong, how "Loose In Turn Three" You'll get.

This week I brought to the table the validity of NASCAR telling the drivers to quit complaining about the COT. Tim of Do You NASCAR? asks if a 2008 Cup start is too early for the up and coming star, Joey Logano and Charlie is wondering over at On Pit Row if it's OK that Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke some rules and got away with it while winning a race?

So strap on in and let's see what everyone has to say, here where three guys have three opinions on three subjects at three blogs on "Loose In Turn Three":


Bruce:
When Mike Helton calls a mandatory meeting for drivers and team owners, you just know something bad has happened. But on this occasion, it was the basis of NASCAR telling the teams it's time to stop airing their gripes about the COT and let it settle in with the fans.

To some degree, I'm not surprised by this. As a professional bowler, (PBA), we have rules and guidelines. All athletes do. When you're first indoctrinated into them, it can range from humorous to confusing. In the PBA's case, one rule states that we're not to bash the lane conditions or the house management, etc., etc.. In NASCAR, it surprised me how much constructive criticism came out of the garages and now NASCAR has put their foot down.

Basically, NASCAR is saying "Quit bashing the product" and hence, fueling fans unrest about the new car. Or maybe also, quit pointing out NASCAR's perceived flaws.

So the next time we see a driver get out of car, slide to the ground from heat exhaustion on an 80 degree day and he's asked what's up, he'll just start talking about his crew and how well they set up the car, and avoid mentioning why he's beet red, or bright pink after he got out of the car.


With that being said, I presented my question to the other guys in our Loose In Turn Three forum to see what they had to say to compliment or correct my opinion:


Tim Zaegel: I don't really think that NASCAR's telling the drivers not to talk about what's going on with the car, but it's got more to do with the manner in which they address it, and from a business standpoint, NASCAR is spot on in this case. What's happened is that so many of the drivers have - at times - talked so poorly about the car and the tire packages, that what it's accumulated into is one big verbal lashing on the COT. In turn, what that's done is prejuduiced the average fan's mind as it relates to the car, and now NASCAR's left with a product that the fans are upset with. And, to your point, Bruce, we're still going to know what the issues are with the car - if from nowhere else, the race broadcast booth - but, the issues can be addressed without giving the appearance that folks are airing their dirty laundry.

Charlie Turner: The message that drivers have been sending - and Pocono was the worst example yet - has just been negative and whiny and bitchy. It is counter to NASCAR's marketing message and I think that was/is the problem. I can see why NASCAR would want that to change. I can also see drivers ignoring the request, unless there are some kind of real consequences should they do so. Tony Stewart paid lip service to the spirit of the request after the Michigan race.

So there you have it on the teams' COT opinions and ours. Check out the other questions asked and what we say in Loose In Turn Three:

Over on Tim Zaegels Do You NASCAR?:
Is a 2008 Cup start is too early for the up and coming star, Joey Logano?

Charlie Turner asks over On Pit Row:
Dale Earnhardt Jr broke a NASCAR rule at the end of Sunday's race at MIS, went unpunished and won the race. Do you have a problem with that?

NASCAR TV for the Weekend of June 20th

Friday night we have the Truck Series on SPEED,
Saturday evening we have the Nationwide race on ESPN2
and on TNT, the Cup Series comes at us from the West Coast, right up the street, so to speak, from me.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Milwaukee | 8:30 p.m. ET Fri. | SPEED
NASCAR Nationwide Series Milwaukee | 8 p.m. ET Sat. | ESPN2
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Infineon | 3:30 p.m. ET Sun. | TNT

The Owners Points Bubble After Michigan

The owners points standings from 37th and up are actually pretty close, so nobody from 28th on back had better falter or they'll be looking at the bubble from the outside in! As you can see, the #5 car is hurtling ever so slowly toward that spot, but for now, they have an entire race buffer to keep them above 35th - for now.

RANK	+/-	CAR	OWNER	POINTS	+/- 35th
27	-2	#5	Mary Hendrick	1351	194
28	--	#44	Michael Waltrip	1253	96
29	--	#22	Bill Davis	1227	70
30	1	#01	Teresa Earnhardt	1187	30
31	-1	#7	Robby Gordon	1184	27
32	--	#41	Chip Ganassi	1179	22
33	2	#77	Roger Penske	1178	21
34	2	#55	Michael Waltrip	1163	6
35	-2	#00	Rob Kauffman	1157	0
36	-2	#66	Joe Custer	1150	-7
37	--	#84	Dietrich Mateschitz	1047	-110
38	--	#96	Jeffrey Moorad	941	-216
39	--	#40	Felix Sabates	922	-235
40	--	#78	Barney Visser	831	-326

Driver Standings Headed Into the Toyota/Save Mart 350

After Michigan, there weren't any real big changes though Ryan Newman has dropped off the Top 12 radar, but the spots just outside the Top 12 sure do look promising if anything were to happen to anyone outside of 10th because Ragan and Kenseth lurk within 15 points of 12th.

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2213	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	2181	-32
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2129	-84
4	--	Carl Edwards	2007	-206
5	1	Jimmie Johnson	1959	-254
6	-1	Denny Hamlin	1926	-287
7	2	Kasey Kahne	1889	-324
8	-1	Greg Biffle	1884	-329
9	-1	Jeff Gordon	1876	-337
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1817	-396
11	1	Tony Stewart	1774	-439
12	-1	Clint Bowyer	1764	-449
CHASE FOR THE SPRINT CUP - CURRENT CONTENDERS
13	--	David Ragan	1754	10
14	1	Matt Kenseth	1750	14

Kyle Busch Notes from Last Weekend and His New Fan, Ron Hornaday

It's been reported that Kyle Busch won't be contending for the championship in either the Nationwide or Craftsman Truck Series on a serious note after last weekend.

My first take was that he's just not winning, so he won't waste his time.  I got that from a statement he made early on in the year and it seemed a wee bit aloof-ish, but he's at least sticking to his guns on that one.  Even if several other drivers who aren't contending for a championship are still going to race the secondary divisions of NASCAR.  At least the fans will have the benefit of enjoying those Cup drivers on the track.

On an interesting note, there's one pretty good reason that Kyle might want to stay away from the Truck Series and his name is Ron Hornaday Jr.

It seems that Hornaday is at wits end with Kyle and has said as much:

Last weekend Kyle had both Hornaday and his truck owner Kevin Harvick ticked off at him as Busch ended up "helping" Hornaday from a 5th to a 23rd place finish in the last lap of the Truck Series race at Michigan.

Hornaday felt that Busch drove into him as retribution for a maneuver he pulled off earlier in the race and 1/2 way into the race Busch indicated his frustration at someone else driving like him by lifting the back of Hornaday's truck up.

As Hornaday stated:

"If he is going to race that way that is pretty chicken -- he doesn't deserve to be a racer. He has a lot of talent, but that is just flat stupid. If Billy Ballew needs a championship that bad for owners, he has the right driver.

"I don't knock any other driver, but I will tell you what, that kid has just about done wore me out. I don't know if I have to give up this championship to teach him a lesson -- I hope I don't hurt him, because if Joe Gibbs lets him do this, I am ashamed for them.

"I tried to talk to him as a friend. He is just out there; I don't know what it is. I guess it is an ego trip and if he is going to wreck me every week, I guess we are going to have to do it back to him."

Is this playing out again just like Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer??  Is Kyle stewing for a thumping? 

I think so, but we'll just have to tune in each and every week to As the Truck Spins!!   (I'd happily donate to Hornaday's penalty fund!)


Source:  NASCAR

2 Officials - Early Precautionary Casualties of Lawsuit?

By Bruce Simmons

With NASCAR investigating the $225 million lawsuit brought on by Mauricia Grant, they've taken an early set of actions after chatting with everyone involved and sent 2 Nationwide officials on administrative leave until things can be sorted out in the long haul.

I'm not sure if that's a "Look we are taking action" statement by NASCAR or if they actually did find something.  I'd be shocked if that's the case (found something) just by image alone of the sport that I get from the drivers, crews and team owners.  But I need to keep in mind that we don't see or hear anything about the track officials on any sort of personal level during the sport, so we, as outsiders looking in, have no real clue.

We can only hope these allegations just aren't the case.  It would be very damaging if they have any substance what so ever.

Besides the officials put on leave, the investigators noted that they did not uncover a single instance of Grant having complained to any of her supervisors or other NASCAR employees during this distressful time in her employment, though she states she has both e-mails and text messages to support her claims.

What that means is now they need a computer forensic expert to investigate these windows of proof.  I say that because I could send myself an email or fake headers and what, in both email or text messages to make things look a certain way.  (My computer admin past)  A computer forensic investigator will need to verify the emails, and the routes it's taken, and possibly trace it back to it's source to prove it's source validity.  It's a bit of work, but it's doable if all parties have retained their server records of such transactions, which most ISP's do.  It's the same for text messages.  Your cell phones work off of computer systems that are the same in principal.

For now, we wait and see.  Time will tell all.

Meanwhile, Brian France took a pretty strong verbal stand over the weekend in hinting (Or just outright saying) their perspective.

France did say,

"Obviously we found some violations of our policy. I would not jump to conclusions" and further added "I would be very, very cautious in making a leap of faith, even if we take action on any official in this investigation."

One thing he noted was the method of communication of the lawsuit and the lack of real time complaints about the scenario while it was actually, allegedly occurring.

"The most disappointing thing to me is that we found out about these alleged claims after you did in the media via a national lawsuit that seeks a lot of money," France said. "That's very disappointing because if any of those claims turn out to be accurate and have substance, we would have liked to have known about that two years ago so that we could have reacted and done something about it -- because it's inconsistent with anything, from a policy standpoint, about how a work environment for our officials should be."

He further pointed out that it seemed that Grant chose to make it about money, and they will deal with that approach in their defense.


(Source:  Google AP News,  NASCAR News )

Truck Racing at It's Closest

The ads all say how tough the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series is, and how racy it can be. They proved one thing for sure: The controversies can flare and the finishes intense.

Whether it be Ron Hornaday and Kevin Harvick having words with Kyle Busch about his driving techniques after the race, I think the fact that race officials had to seriously resort to reviewing the ever faithful photo finish!

The Cool City Customs 200 at Michigan had the No. 99 and No. 23 trucks side by side coming out of the final turn and crossing the finish line with Eric Darnell taking the checkered flag by a mere 0.005 seconds in front of Johnny Benson. This finish made this the closest in NASCAR history since the inception of electronic timing!

Despite all the technological advances we see in the Cup side of things, the truck series has given us some good, technological free racing. When a driver gets the boot from Cup because they aren't the youngest or hottest commodity out there, they can come to the truck series and either get a ride or make a ride for themselves and Bobby Hamilton proved that.

The ruck series is where the real wheel men can still do just that, wheel the beasts around the pavement. The COT is coming along and is now closer than ever to the trucks, but I've always enjoyed the racing where it can still get pretty rough and fender bumpin' and still be good racing and not be aero dependent like the old cars were.

What a finish. Sorry Ricky, we now have a closer finish to fawn over for a while!!

Truck Results

Dale Earnhardt Jr Finally Gets a Points Win!!!

He's proven he could win races in his new team, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had the worse luck or timing to date as far as getting the car into victory circle The Lifelock 400 was the usual fare for Michigan, the "hot dog wrapper" capital of the series, according to TNT.

Barring the rest of the chess match of the race, the last 20 laps got very interesting with fuel mileage.

My favorite dark horse driver, David Ragan, had the lead and I thought maybe the race, but he had to come in for a splash and go, and that gave the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr., whom we know had to look to conserve gas but he got into racing with McMurray and Jr. Nation watched and worried.

Then, the worst possible anxiety inducing situation occurred.  A caution was brought out by Sam Hornish Jr spinning the the No 77 Dodge.

Under caution, Jr had to run below the white line, coasting and intermittently passing the pace car to coast to conserve as much fuel as possible.

When the green flag flew, Jr. Nation held it's collective breath as Jr. had the best car and pulled away from the pack with a good restart, followed by Kasey Kahne, who had plenty of gas.

Crossing the line for the white flag, the 55 and 10 cars got together in the front stretch, bringing an end to what we know was the inevitable.  Jr motored across the finish line getting his first win in 76 races and giving proof that he can win under his new team banner, Hendrick Motorsports.

As soon as he crossed the line, he made a U-turn up pit road but still ran out of gas and had to be pushed to victory circle.

As Jr. said, it don't matter how he got it, he got it.

He was followed across the line by Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray to round out the top 10.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DALE EARNHARDT JR. IN HIS FIRST WIN UNDER HIS NEW TEAM BANNER!
Unofficial Results

Joey Logano: First Win at Kentucky

The Nationwide Series Meijer 300, in Kentucky; was Kyle Busch's to lose.

He started 43rd and by the end of lap 1, was 25th. By lap 20, in the top 10 and it only took him 40 laps to take the lead and cruise.

But as it stands, Kyle's luck struck and with less than 40 laps to go, Kyle went away.

As Kyle was chasing down Joey Logano, things looked like they were going to get very interesting between the two new stars of the NASCAR Nationwide Series when suddenly Kyle Busch lost it coming out of turn 2, all by himself and slams into the outside wall, destroying the car. Destroyed might be a strong word. He just made it useless to race.

With 31 laps to go, the green flag flew for the restart and Joey Logano took the flag, kept the lead, pulled away and got his first Nationwide Series win and became the youngest winner in the series history.

Performance Delivered as Expected
Joey Logano has arrived and he celebrated his first win in proper style. His victory burn out flattened both rear tires and he had to limp the car to victory circle. As it should be.

Joey was followed across the finish line by Scott Wimmer, Mike Wallace, Brad Keselowski and Bryan Clauson.

After the race when Kyle Busch was asked if he is going to Milwaukee, he quickly said no.

One Other Notable Event
Steven Wallace and Carl Edwards got together under caution, but it was more of a spotter communication thing than something between them, like it was last year at this same track!

Congratulations to Joey!!

Unnoficial Results

Heat Inside the COT is Extreme

The heat inside the COT cars is becoming an issue on the track. Drivers like Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers and Denny Hamlin have noted the heat issues and they're hoping that NASCAR steps in to help since, as Jeff Burton put it: NASCAR developed the car without a lot of input from the teams, they should partake in the process and help, but NASCAR says it's on the teams to deal with it.

Jeff Burton's theory is that the front splitter is restricting some of the airflow that they've become used to and I've heard over on SIRIUS that the location of the exhaust pipe under the floor boards also contribute to the scenario.

I agree that NASCAR should step in and help with THEIR design.

But John Darby of NASCAR questions why drivers complain about the issue, but don't use some of the resources that are available to them since there are no rules restricting the application of fresh air control.

I'm thinking performance issues are what teams are worried about and I think NASCAR invalidates part of their opinion when Darby says that Carl Edwards didn't even break a sweat. So they ask the tri-athlete? The guy who bikes between states to go to races? Eesh.

Darby did concede that switching to unleaded fuel might have added 10 to 20 degrees to the interior of the car, and as far as I remember, it was already dang hot in those cars before that!

In 2005, CNN medical reporter Dr. Gupta did a series on NASCAR and what extremes the drivers go through. In that series, he noted that the interior of the car (Back then, in '95) hits around 100 degrees, and 170 degrees at the floorboards. So if we add 10-20 degrees for unleaded fuel, and who knows how much due to the new design - wow.

It's being reported that NASCAR is starting to take readings and what not from different aspects of the drivers and the cars, so more quantitative data is coming everyone's way someday soon.

So for the moment, it's not going to be too bad this weekend in Michigan, but the hot months of July and August inevitably coming at us. Let's see if someone can figure something out without incurring a massive penalty!!

Time will tell.

Sources: USA Today , CNN , SportingNews

Earnhardt Jr. Is Not Grumbling About the Extra Work

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is working a lot more these days than he used to when he was under the DEI roof, and it shows.

Team Owner Rick Hendrick wants Jr.'s first season with the team to be a very successful season and in so doing, has got the team working hard at their trade, and that is how you get good.

OK, maybe Jr. is grumbling a little bit about the extra effort, and he's pre-warned Hendrick that he might do that, but he's also complying with the extra hours knowing that it's that extra effort that is going to net them what they want.

Though the No 88 team is third in the points standings, they have yet to win a points race, and they're working hard at it, while everyone else is chasing Kyle Busch.

An interesting quote from Dale Earnhardt Jr. might reflect the differences we're seeing between his days under DEI and now, under HMS: 

"We've tested six, seven times in the last two months," Earnhardt said. "And I wouldn't test six or seven times in a year before."

But don't fret:  Hendrick isn't just picking on Jr..  This is how he handles the other teams also.

Source:  The Salt Lake Tribune

Kentucky Has Sold Out

In case you didn't know: 

It's being reported that Kentucky Speedway has sold out their seats for the Nationwide event this Saturday, The Meijer 300 Presented by Oreo.  The track has sold out each of the last seven events.  In response to the sell-out this year, the track has made 3,000 additional "Standing Room Only" tickets available for $40.

Hurry, you've still got time!!  (Well, at least at the time that I posted this.)

Source:  BizJournals.com

Loose in Turn 3 for June 13, 2008

Welcome everyone to another rendition of our weekend pondering blog series. I’m joined here by Tim Zaegel of DoYouNASCAR and Charlie Turner from On Pit Row for our weekly rendition of “Loose in Turn Three”.

So another Pocono race has come and gone. And we will be treated to yet one more race there seven races later. Pocono just doesn't do it for me and obviously the owners aren't going anywhere anytime soon and their method of repairs seem to be strips of repair as opposed to total repaving projects like other tracks have done in the recent past.

If NASCAR retains two races at the facility, (And I don't see why they won't) I have to wonder if the track management should at least repave the track or is there something they can do to change up the action?

My thought is that it would be nice if they repaved the track. It might make for a wee bit closer racing. Heck, I'd would not even be against installing gradient banking in the corners and a dogleg out of turn 1 (turns 1/2?). Guys?

Charlie: What was wrong with Sunday's race? Did that short stretch of one turn that was patched cause the race to be bad? It was a great 500 mile race. 500 mile races, in 100 degree heat, are not enjoyed by any driver who doesn't finish first. Would re-paving improve the race track? It would make it smoother - and more of a tire tire which would piss off everybody who didn't finish first - again.

TZ: I've gotta go with Charlie on this one. I really didn't think that the racing was all that bad. It could've been better, but it wasn't bad. And, yeah, I think they could probably repave, but that would cost them a ton of money, I'm sure, with as big as the track is. But, really, I'm okay with them just leaving this one be.


Follow the rest of our discussion:

Charlie Turner - On Pit Row
- Would requiring race tracks that host multiple races, to have different race lengths for each race resolve the complaints of those who want to take races away from the Poconos and Californias?

Tim Zaegel - DoYouNASCAR
- Assuming that he was seriously contemplating the move, do the recent penalties awarded to Haas CNC Racing deter Tony Stewart from pursuing future ownership with that organization?

Weather For The Weekend

I don't mean to be a "Dour Dan" but someone this morning (Thanks Amy!) mentioned the weather issues going on out towards the Brooklyn, MI way so I looked it up, and right now it looks like we might be watching rain delay, human interest stories on Sunday.

According to "sources", (OK, weather.com),

Saturday, the 14th: AM Showers and a Precip chance of 30%
Sunday, the 15th: Isolated T-Storms with Precipitation chance at 30%
Hopefully this link to the weekend forecast for Brooklyn works:
The Weather Channel

For Sparta, KY (Nationwide Race)
They're saying AM Thunderstorms with a 70% chance of rain.
The Weather Channel

I hate rain when it comes to NASCAR and I know domed events are not a reality but that would be cool now.
Maybe we should introduce the NASCAR RC control car races or have them fight it out in Legends Cars when it rains.
At least we'd have something fun to watch! I bet the drivers would be game to play in the rain

Upcomng WeekendTV Schedule for June 14

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Michigan | 2:30 p.m. ET Sat. | SPEED
• NASCAR Nationwide Series Kentucky | 8 p.m. ET Sat. | ESPN2
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Michigan | 12:30 p.m. ET Sun. | TNT

Owners Points After Pocono 6-11-08

Michael Waltrip lost his grip on 35th last weekend and needs to make it on time this week in Michigan. The new bubble car is the No 77 Dodge of Hornish Jr., but he didn't take the spot from Waltrip, he fell two spots into.

One more good week from Vickers ought to get him up into the top 35 and the now infamous No 66 car is surging up two spots. Hopefully proving that their previous success was not modified induced.

RANK	+/-	CAR	OWNER	POINTS	AROUND 35th
30	-1	#7	Robby Gordon	1141	65
31	1	#01	Teresa Earnhardt	1120	44
32	-1	#41	Chip Ganassi	1118	42
33	1	#00	Rob Kauffman	1105	29
34	2	#66	Joe Custer	1086	10
35	-2	#77	Roger Penske	1076	0
36	-1	#55	Michael Waltrip	1064	-12
37	2	#84	Dietrich Mateschitz	936	-140
38	-1	#96	Jeffrey Moorad	901	-175
39	-1	#40	Felix Sabates	888	-188
40	--	#78	Barney Visser	752	-324

Drivers Standings After Pocono 6-11-08

Pocono saw a big move in the points with Denny Hamlin moving up 4 spots to 5th while the biggest drop in the top 12 was Clint Blowyer, falling three spots to 11th!

Meanwhile, David Ragan quietly sits outside of 12th by 7 points, waiting for someone to stumble. Ryan Newman is just three points behind him, also stalking that spot for now.

12th is our new bubble spot excitement zone!!

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2084	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	2063	-21
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1939	-145
4	--	Carl Edwards	1856	-228
5	4	Denny Hamlin	1800	-284
6	1	Jimmie Johnson	1799	-285
7	-2	Greg Biffle	1781	-303
8	-2	Jeff Gordon	1767	-317
9	3	Kasey Kahne	1719	-365
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1690	-394
11	-3	Clint Bowyer	1679	-405
12	-1	Tony Stewart	1614	-470

Here's the Chase Bubble Spot Look:

8	-2	Jeff Gordon	1767	153
9	3	Kasey Kahne	1719	105
10	--	Kevin Harvick	1690	76
11	-3	Clint Bowyer	1679	65
12	-1	Tony Stewart	1614	0
13	--	David Ragan	1607	-7
14	--	Ryan Newman	1604	-10
15	1	Matt Kenseth	1580	-34
16	-1	Martin Truex Jr.	1558	-56
17	2	Brian Vickers	1502	-112

Petty Enterprises To Be Run by Equity Firm, Labonte Extends Contract

It's the end of an era as NASCAR fans know it.  Petty Enterprises will be run by Boston Ventures, a private equity firm, who's bought controlling interest in the team.

Despite this change in leadershup, Richard Petty will remain involved in the organization.  Barry Baker, the managing director of Boston Ventures, will become PE's new chairman while David Zucker will be the CEO. 

Additionally, with the company changing hands, Bobby Labonte has signed a four-year extension with Petty Enterprises.

Who's Boston Ventures?  Boston Ventures invests in media and entertainment (And now motorsports). Its past investments include Motown Records, Six Flags Entertainment, Billboard Publications, Continental Cablevision and American Media Inc., publisher of The National Enquirer.  (Eww)

OK.  So who's this David Zucker guy?  Up until March, Zucker had been CEO of Midway Games (video games).  Previous to that, he was president and CEO of Playboy Enterprises and from 1988-1999 he was an executive vice president at ESPN under the Walt Disney Corporation.  He also was director of ESPN International.

Bruce's Take:

And again, an outside business invests in yet another team who has to do this to maintain viability in the sport.  At what point will the outside investors start to look for outside outside investors?  What happened to a sport who's purse winnings helped pay a team to stay competitive?  It seems that competing in NASCAR is just becoming a marketing tool for the hood and fender decals these days since the shops can't afford to spend the funds necessary to stay competitive.  I could be wrong, but that's just my emotional reaction to this development.  Somewhere down the road, it will be APPLE racing vs The Wall Street Journal racing teams.

You know what I do see, or more to the point, predict?  Kyle Petty can sit back and actually just drive the car.  The one year he did that, his performance improved greatly over his present output.  If that's what he does.  It would be a mistake to have him still do both now that they have an outside corporate structure.  He needs to choose what he wants to do.  I like him in the TNT booth.  It gives us some pretty fresh, competitive perspective.  I wouldn't mind if he went that direction.

Source:  USA Today

NASCAR Finds Themselves In a Discrimination Suit

An ex technical inspector for the Nationwide Series is suing NASCAR for $225 million, where she reports that she was on the receiving end of racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Mauricia Grant said she loved her job but there was an ongoing daily pattern of abuse during her tenure in the ranks of NASCAR from January 2005 until October of 2007 when she was let go.

She cites fascinating nicknames that the officiating staff used to reference her (You can follow the link because I am not putting that here) and various unwanted sexual advances.

The lawsuit lists 23 specific incidents of alleged sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination.


Here's what I'm thinking: If this is true, this is going to really hurt NASCAR's image as an equal opportunity employer and their Drive for Diversity. On the other hand, I'm surprised at the allegations. My own perceptions from my few visits at the tracks or watching television, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this. She sites very specific incidents in the article I've linked to, and some of the items just shock me that someone would actually say or do some of these things, period. Then again, I live a sheltered life inside my lab hole at work.

Like I always like to say, Time will be the telling factor in this matter.

Source: FoxSports

Kahne Wins the Pocono 500

Coming back from a miscue in the pits which set him back to the back of the pack, Kasey Kahne worked his way back up into the winners circle, followed by Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton rounding out the top five finishers.

Of note:  Kyle Busch wrecked early coming out of turn three and pulled up in front of Jamie McMurray clipping McMurray's nose resulting in Kyle smacking the outside wall, needing almost the entire front end replaced..  this relegated Kyle to 43rd for the day.  I'm waiting for someone to question if it was an exhaustion issue from running the other races Friday and Saturday, though I personally doubt it.  Those younger kids are pretty resilient.

Greg Biffle was having a good day and a late race pit road speeding penalty took him out of the contest and into 15th.  Tony Stewart was also caught speeding and he ended up 35th. 

An interesting set of observations:  12 minutes into the pre-race broadcast TNT had some interesting sound issues, and all I heard from the peanut gallery in my home was,"They're screwing up already?".  Things happen.

The more curious event was when Juan Pablo Montoya's car caught on fire.  He pulled past pit road and stopped in front of the emergency crews and extricated himself safely, but then the emergency crew stood around chatting with Montoya, extinguishers in hand while the back end of the car was making like a giant birthday candle.  Everyone was OK, so it wasn't an issue, but it just seemed odd.

Otherwise it was a quiet, long race from Pocono and I have to wonder when they just may repave the whole track and not just strips of it in turn three.

Unofficial Results over at NASCAR.

A Sports Journalist Legend Passes Away - Jim McKay

Jim McKay, the venerable and eloquent sportscaster thrust into the role of telling Americans about the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Olympics, has died. He was 86.

The voice of many a sport, including our beloved NASCAR, just had an emotional hole open up as Jim McKay left this world today.

In 1961 he started his forty year career as host of ABC's "Wide World of Sports" and was the voice we heard in the intro to the show, as we all remember, ".. the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" as that unknown skier (To me) goes for his infamous cartwheel.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, his friends and his peers.

Source:  AP
 

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Race in Texas

Last night I tuned in for the last 40, long, slow laps of the truck race in Texas.

The excitement hit in the last few laps as Kyle Busch had gotten up behind Ron Hornaday Jr. and they announcers said the only thing Hornaday didn't need was a yellow flag.  That's because on the green flag restarts Kyle made up spots in his usual, quick, furtive style after taking the green.

Sure enough, as if on cue, Scott Speed became Scott 'in the wall' and a yellow came out.

Now I was wondering what was going to happen.  Would the ace restarter in NASCAR hold off the kid who's gotten pretty good at making up spots on the restart?

Whew!  Ron Hornaday Jr. did what he does best and took the green flag and pulled away to win the Sam's Town 400 at Texas.  Those who followed behind him was Kyle Busch, Johnny Benson, Jack Sprague and Todd Bodine to round out the top 5 and with this win, Hornaday takes over the points lead in the truck series.

Race Results
Standings
Article - http://www.nascar.com

An observation:  When I tuned into the Speed Channel coverage of the race, it had the strangest atmosphere of dull, boring low toned coverage.  Maybe it was just me coming off of playing a video game, but when I turned on the TV, it was so uninteresting sounding.  It was probably just me, because that seemed unusual for their coverage.  The other odd thing I did note was that in the closing 10 laps, you can see Ron Hornaday Jr. putting space between him and the 2nd place truck of Kyle Busch, but the announcers tried confusing me (It's all about me, you know) because they said Kyle was closing the distance, when in fact he wasn't.  Ug... Weird night.

Loose In Turn Three, But Wreckin out of Turn Two in Dover

When a wreck happens, the yellow comes out.. the the yellow comes out, the field is frozen. When the field is frozen, you stop throttling the car.. it seems pretty simple to me. My disclaimer is that I was not in the car, and I am not sure when the yellow came out so I am OK with any corrections and what not, BUT with that said:

With that wreck in Dover on Lap 19, it was a high dollar value wreck that dragged some top 12 teams into the junk yard. Dale Earnhardt Jr was pretty much right behind the wreck and he got whoa'd up enough to not total his or another car, but what's with Mr "You throw a Rock, I'll Throw a Brick Back" Hamlin? He was much further back than Jr. and still managed to plow pretty hard into the No 19 Dodge of Sadler. On one good replay angle, it seems that Hamlin isn't even in turn 2 when Sadler starts his tire dance. He said he didn't want to stop suddenly to get hit from behind... Eh?

Hamlin passed a few cars that had avoided slamming into the melee at a rapid rate before hitting Sadler. So my question is more a statement, but I think Denny Hamlin could have avoided hitting as hard as he did because he probably could have slowed down a heck of a lot more... What's your guys take?


Tim: Honestly, I think folks came down on Denny Hamlin much harder than what the guy deserved. When the wreck happened, Denny was just coming out of Turn 2, which it's my understanding that it's very tough to see right there. These guys are already carrying a ton of speed at a track like Dover, and you've got to remember that just because we see the yellow come out on tv doesn't necessarily mean that the drivers do, too. They have to rely on their spotters and on the caution lights to tell them. Watching the replay, by the way, it looked like when the drivers first got a real indication that there was a pileup mounting, Bobby LaBonte and Scott Riggs were right behind him. Labonte ducked to the bottom of the
track, and Riggs just plowed his way right through. You can also see Hamlin trying to slow down, because his car was starting to slide when he hit Sadler. Just the nature of the beast, in my opinion.

Charlie: The comments that I heard during the broadcast surprised me. I thought it obvious that Hamlin either couldn't see the extent of the wreck or his spotter gave him late or bad info. Who knows what happened but my benefit of the doubt goes to Denny.

Courtesy of YouTube


(YouTube - a back up link in case the embedded part doesn't work here.)

Charlie Turner - Who is the most under-rated driver in NASCAR and how is he over-looked relative to his talent/value? On Pit Row

Tim Zaegel - Joe Gibbs Racing has won four times in the Sprint Cup Series this season, but in two years, they are the only Toyota team to win a race in Cup racing. Will a non-JGR driver reach Victory Lane in 2008? DoYouNASCAR

For the Kyle Busch Fan - He Be Busy

This weekend, Kyle Busch will be a busy bee as he tries to do something no one else has ever done.. run a race in all three series, at three different tracks, in three different states.

I'm tired just thinking of it!

His schedule will be:

• Truck: No. 51 Toyota in the Sam's Town 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night.
• Nationwide: No. 32 Toyota in the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway for Braun Racing Saturday night.
• Cup: No. 18 Toyota in the Pocono 500 for Joe Gibbs Racing on Sunday

Source: NASCAR

Prelude to the Dream Results

Hey all, in case you were wondering who did what in the Prelude to the Dream race results, Tony Stewart won his own race at his own track, Eldora Speedway.  Hmm...

All joking aside though, Tony was followed by Robby Gordon, Clint Bowyer rounding out the top trio in the 25 driver charity competition.

All proceeds from the race will support the Tony Stewart Foundation and the construction of a second Victory Junction Gang Camp, in Kansas City, for children with life-threatening health issues.


See all the details over at http://www.eldoraspeedway.com

Standings and Owners Points for 6-5-08

Last weekends junk yard fest on lap 19 at Dover may have involved some of the top 12 in points standings, but no one dropped out of the top 12 because of it, but Bowyer, Hamlin, Harvick and Stewart did give up spots from the altercation:

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	--	Kyle Busch	2050	Leader
2	--	Jeff Burton	1908	-142
3	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1779	-271
4	2	Carl Edwards	1713	-337
5	6	Greg Biffle	1658	-392
6	4	Jeff Gordon	1646	-404
7	2	Jimmie Johnson	1644	-406
8	-3	Clint Bowyer	1633	-417
9	-5	Denny Hamlin	1630	-420
10	-3	Kevin Harvick	1566	-484
11	-3	Tony Stewart	1551	-499
12	--	Kasey Kahne	1524	-526

As far as Owners Points go at the Bubble, 30th to 36th is where the action is these days as Michael Watrip is the man on that bubble spot, replacing last years perennial bubble guy, Kyle Petty and Ganassi, Kauffman and Custer have that sinking feeling this week.

RANK	+/-	CAR	OWNER	POINTS	Pts from 35th
30	2	#22	Bill Davis	1079	67
31	-1	#41	Chip Ganassi	1054	42
32	1	#01	Teresa Earnhardt	1041	29
33	3	#77	Roger Penske	1039	27
34	-3	#00	Rob Kauffman	1023	11
35	--	#55	Michael Waltrip	1012	0
36	-2	#66	Joe Custer	981	-31
37	--	#96	Jeffrey Moorad	870	-142
38	--	#40	Felix Sabates	848	-164
39	--	#84	Dietrich Mateschitz	809	-203
40	1	#78	Barney Visser	676	-336

The Detroit Redwings Do It Again

The Redwings win The Stanley Cup... again.
Congrats to Detroit.

Another Wireless Sponsor Battle On The Horizon for Sprint

by Bruce Simmons (6/4/08, 7:05 pm pacific)

Verizon Wireless is close to finalizing a $27 billion deal to to buy Alltel. This will effectively put Verizon up front as they would overtake AT&T as the top wireless provider. An announcement as soon as Thursday may hit the media if the details are worked out.

Once combines, they power house wireless company would then be able to boast more than 80 million customers. A wee bit more than the 71 million that AT&T has.

One other interesting tidbit is that both carriers use the same CDMA network so the transition would be seamless. It's the same network that Sprint uses, which has been struggling with customers losses.

OK, enough of the business news.

Here we go again.. with the advent of Verizon probably acquiring Alltel, what is Penske Racing going to have to go through once this takes place? NASCAR and Sprint already have a serious amount of experience dealing with this kind of wireless carrier transition but is was a long fight that was more than likely rather costly considering the delayed resolution that came of it, and all the on-track antics and legal injunctions.

Poor Ryan.. if he loses his sponsor, does Penske have a plan, or Sponsor B lined up?

I may be jumping the gun.. the deal still has to be finalized, but the business world seems to think it's dang near a done deal, as "sources" report. .. Ya gotta love sources.


Source: Forbes

TV for June 6-8, 2008

Don't forget that NASCAR coverage switches over to TNT starting this weekend:

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Texas | 8:30 p.m. ET Fri. | SPEED
• NASCAR Nationwide Series Nashville | 7 p.m. ET Sat. | ESPN2
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pocono | 12:30 p.m. ET Sun. | TNT

The McMurray Musical Continues

After his top ten finish at Dover, Jamie McMurray became one of the top 10 news items as reports were hitting the media that his reps were fielding out the premise that he will be available next year.

Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) said they weren't aware of any changes and McMurray has stated himself, as he should be saying, that it's only a rumor.

Is this the standard denial that has to happen contractually, or is he being honest?

I think he 'needs' to say that while he's still gainfully employed at RFR. That's tantamount to telling your own boss at work, hey, look, I'm out there looking for a job. Toodles!

Not good.. but then again, it never is.


Inspiration for post: Fox Sports
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Haas-CNC Motorsports Appeals

With the biggest COT penalties to date, Haas-CNC Motorsports is appealing NASCAR's ruling that both their cars were illegally altered for the Coca-Cola 600.

I can only hope that to some extent, they win their appeal because I don't feel it's fair to penalize a first time offender on any COT penalty.

We all knew what was going to happen if someone gets caught a second time breaking the ever tightening reign of rules on the COT, at least that's what I thought, but it seems that NASCAR is just headed towards the increased penalty path regardless of who it is.

OK, message delivered.  Don't "F" with the IROC, I mean COT.  Got it..  but wow, hopefully NASCAR hears the appeal and reduces the fines / penalty down to what they've hit other teams with.

That way, the message has been sent, but the first recipient of the stern classroom spanking is treated like the rest.

We can only wait!!


Inspiration for Post:  ESPN

Gordon and Jr. Slam Pocono; McMurray Looking For a New Ride?

Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. slam Pocono's track surface after a few days of testing.  The primary statement was that it needs to be repaved.  Maybe they're getting used to all the new tracks being repaved and getting that glassy like surface to race on rather than the bumpy tracks that need more of a wheel man's focus.. it ain't easy, I'll give you that, but for the bucks they get paid, shouldn't they just get on with it?

They said the there was a little repaved strip in turn three and they think that everyone is going to be aiming for the repaved strip in the races.  They said it will be interesting.  ..  Indeed.
Source:  That's Racin
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Another That's Racin article by Jim Utter says that Jamie McMurray will not be returning to Roush Fenway next season, saying that representatives on behalf of the driver have been notifying other teams of his availability next season.

If this were to be, then this gets Roush down to the four team limit that NASCAR is instigating..

Then there's the company line being touted by Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing saying that "You never know what's going to happen, but as of today there's no truth to that."  Hmm, sounds like there is not real denial going on there, but they have to toe the line until it's otherwise changed.  (Fox Sports)