Is Radio Chatter Allowable, When You're Tight In Turn Two?

The other weekend the rule was passed down, no, reinforced that radio traffic will remain public domain between teams.

It was reinforced because after the public airing of their "spirited debate", because Kurt Busch was inquiring about it as he was having terse words with Roger Penske at Martinsville.

Sorry for the redirect, but you can read the rest of the article on my new site location , Radio Chatter in NASCAR.

DIGGER, Stay In The Fraking Hole, Here In Turn Two

Tight In Turn 2 is kicking it back in gear. It may not be the weekly thing we had last year, but when something is burning our butts, it's gonna show up here! Today, I'm dragging Digger over the coals, because frankly, I'm insulted by FOX if they think I like this crap. It's not as bad as say, ABC heading off to America's Funniest Videos with just a few laps to go, but if they keep hitting me up with this cartoon puke, it will soon overtake that infamous moment in television history.

~~~~~~~
Let's hit Turn Two now, shall we?:

FOX is interesting. The group that telecasts the sporting events likes animated characters to boost up their sporting events. When FOX took over Soccer, a soccer fan said the telecast got all glitzed up and it hasn't been the same since.

Now with Digger seeming to get more air time, I am forced to suffer through these bits of cartoon FOX is shoving down our throats. Why? It's one thing when FOX has their football robot in the lower left corner. That's fine. It doesn't get out there and dance around on screen during the plays or when someone gets hurt. Digger, on the other hand tends to show up during racing scenes and accidents when they make Digger do cute things while race cars are wrecking. Digger trivializes the moment and the announcers have to jump in on the bandwagon and boost the gopher. Gads, I hope they're getting hazard pay, or stupid pay or whatever pay for doing that extra bit.

Digger is the name of the damn camera under the track. It has no purpose, no story, no redeeming feature or a place in this sports telecast except to show some pretty neat undercarriage shots when the cars do get that low. I'll give it that.

But what has me wondering is if FOX is worried about their ratings.

We have a ton more coverage of Digger. Yet from what I can tell, not a lot of people really like it. In fact I'm 2 for 2 in changing my channel to the Sci-Fi Channel and watching that rather than the rest of the pre-race show. Cripes, The Sci-Fi Channel should thank FOX. Digger makes them look good.

Now I've said this before, from both angles: FOX Looks like they're adding glitzy cute girls to their promo shots at the front of the show in mock victory lap scenes. I've never found it to be a good thing when a show adds a hottie to the cast. It usually means something bad is happening with the ratings. On the flip side, I am not technically complaining about having to see the girls on my TV screen.

Back on Track:

Personally, I'd like to see the actual tech behind the Digger 'Cam. If it's what I suspect it to be, it can be pretty cool. But FOX, leave us alone. Put your cheap Caddyshack mimic on the Cartoon Network and let us watch NASCAR, for real. If we need cartoon violence, we'll just replay Jimmy Spencer popping Kurt Busch in his car. OR watch wrestling on the Sci-Fi Channel.



Charlie from On Pit Row Has this to say about the issue:

I had fun during the race telecast from Auto Club Speedway, watching the race, while monitoring things on Twitter. There were a ton of negative - and often humorous - Tweets about Digger. I didn't see much positive. In fact, I don't remember anything pro-gopher.

I wonder if the producer of Fox' NASCAR broadcast was around, or is a disiple of, the original Tracy Ullmann Show. That's where, many moons ago, a little annimated short called the Simpsons got it's start. Maybe Digger will move on to bigger and better things. We can hope, at least.

Charlie Turner

~

Since Charlie was so nice to participate here, we chatted a little bit over on his site about Dale Earnhardt Jr and if he's in trouble already, this early in the season. See what we have to say over on On Pit Row.

Tight in Turn 2: A Dour Look At The Awards Banquet

This is another segment of Tight in Turn 2 where Charlie Turner (Of On Pit Row) and I exchange banter about various subjects.

This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet in New York is what's on my mind:


Well, the 2008 season is over.

History has been made and matched. Television delivered and yet at the same time, ticked us off on occasion. Drivers have switched teams and some have been screwed by the new rules for the first demo race of the year. Meanwhile others have been screwed by the new testing rules. Running the show is Brian France, and yet fans don't think he's qualified. It seems at any one time, not all of the people will be happy all of the time.

Case in point: The NASCAR awards banquet. I cringe at the thought of the event.

The annual awards banquet brings us the hi points of the year and presents awards to the top drivers in each of their categories as well as some other features. It's treated as the gala event of the year for the sport.

But.

For me, it is the longest 10 hours of my life. No, it's not 10 hours long... it just feels that way. In fact I no longer watch it live. I record it and watch it later.

What I don't get is that NASCAR, with their mucho denero resources, has access to the best and the brightest of the entertainment world and yet they don't seem to hit their mark.

Entertainment wise, they fall short every single year... in my humble, dis-stressed opinion. Are they pinching pennies when in fact they should be spending them?

The issues I experience are the following:

The Writing:
Whether it's the emcee or the host, the narratives fall short. Granted, the emcee's are usually sports reporters and not entertainers so I give them that. Though it wouldn't hurt to send them to a quick impromptu acting course to generate some real "genuine" emotional delivery when they actually deliver an old, just out of elementary school type joke that someone, somewhere thinks is "funny". It's not. And if it could be, it's killed by the monotone delivery of the line.

Host
The host is usually a known brand name. Last year it was Jay Mohr.

Jay Mohr has a funny, dry sense of wit and timing. Yet it's obvious that the material he's given just isn't up to par, and from what I can tell, he had restrictions on the ad lib opportunities, because who I saw on stage was not the Jay I know. Either that, or the material is so far off from funny that even Jay can't save it.

Speaking of Restrictions
OK, when the drivers come up to chat on stage, I cringe for them. I know this is a big moment but when they get up there, they are so rehearsed that it looks pretty uncomfortable. I'd rather see Tony Stewart's ease of chat or the "old" Jimmy Spencer type deliveries that come off the cuff.

I'd love to see them be themselves.

Announcer
The background announcer who presents the information for each upcoming award needs to be... something different. It's monoton-ish while whoever it is tries to deliver feeling in some way that comes out as failed emotional implications. It hurts to listen to her and I'd like to hear a different, more soothing voice. Not the roller derby queen sounding voice they have had in the past.

Entertainment
Awesome. NASCAR gets some name brand entertainment on stage. I wish the bands would have more runs at playing their tunes across the night. It would dispel the emotional pain that develops unabated throughout the show.

~~~
I break it down to what NASCAR is willing to pay for and I wish they would bust into their profit margins just a little bit more and give us something worth looking forward to that is also entertaining. They need to edit the show.

To be blunt: The awards show does not need to be as long as the usual length that a race runs. The Academy Awards takes the incredibly boring parts and does separate award presentations for things like the scientific awards of excellence and what not because people really don't care who made the special effect... or how. The audience just wants to see Hollywood while it spins around kissing it's own... well, you get the point. They don't want to be bored.

That's my take on the whole thing and like every year, I hope they kick it up just one more notch so I can almost enjoy the show. At least more than the year before.

Even though they're paid the big bucks for winning the Championship, I feel for the Lowe's team members and wives that have to sit up there on stage all night. I cannot imagine being in plain view of the world, in proper attire, in proper posture for such a long period of time all the while trying to look interested. Wow... that's worthy of some kind of hazard pay.

With that being said, I asked Charlie Turner of On Pit Row his take on the show:

Charlie?:

Bruce I guess it just depends on what you expect.

NASCAR is great - though plenty will argue with this too - at putting on a show at the race track. Better than anyone else in the business, in my opinion, anyway.

But there are two things they've proven that they can't do well at all.

One is make a credible movie about stock car racing. Talladega Nights wasn't even a good Will Farrell movie - how do you screw that formula up? And two, they can't duplicate the Academy Awards. Damned if I know why they even try.

So, around ON PIT ROW-land, we just go with it. We'll do a live blog and act like we're doing Mystery Science Theater. We'll make fun of the thing and have a blast. It actually makes the two hours or so pass by pretty fast.

My only fear now is that they'll hire someone who knows how to make one of these things work, and it will actually be good. Then what?

~~~

Charlie inquires over on his site: Is NASCAR competitive enough for you? Check out his take and my two cents!

Tight in Turn 2 Looks At: NASCAR Media Coverage

I say "we", but it's really my rant today, here in Tight in Turn 2.

Hmm, what am I gonna touch on today? Let me think. Jimmie Johnson looking to make history? Johnny Benson switching teams after a good season? Tight point races in 2 of the 3 series? A possible milestone in the Truck Series?

Nah.

The Shock:
I was distracted along with many others this week by how ABC (Entertainment) showed absolutely no respect for the NASCAR fan, the TiVo and DVR folk, and the antenna folk and shoveled the NASCAR fan off to ESPN2 so they could air America's Funniest Videos with less then 40 laps to go, in a history making season, during our playoffs, in the next to last race of the season.

In addition to cutting channels to in multiple time zones, all coverage was affected when the switch occurred because the extra pay features were interrupted for a short while also.

Everyone lost while ABC kept their Sunday night lineup just the way they want it so that the couch controlled comfort of AFV can lead into ABC Entertainments bread and butter line-up, Extreme Home Makeover, which leads into Extreme Emotional Destruction, I mean Desperate Housewives. when in fact, we were left as Desperate NASCAR fans.

I keep emphasizing the ABC Entertainment division because ABC does not have a sports unit anymore. It's ESPN, and the Entertainment division has the first and last say on what happens after 7:30 in each respective time zone. In this case, Easter, Central and Mountain were bitten by this travesty in one way or another. Even the West coast was hit because when "The Leader of the Band" changed our channels, the West Coast lost their High Def pictures.

This has been beaten to death this week like the dead horse it is. Even in the press conference I was a part of, Brian France tried to focus on the season itself, but the economy and ABC were the more focused issues that came up. France more or less indicated that NASCAR was not happy with the scenario and they've talked to them. Like that's going to change your contract stipulations!

We have to remember:
This TV thing is a team effort, or lack thereof. When the contracts are put together both sides create and prepare for whatever stipulations and events that might occur. In other words, NASCAR does not have any clauses dealing with the overrun of time on ABC, and ABC hasn't given them the time of day.

This year along, ESPN2 has screwed the pooch with the Nationwide series a few times too. How many times has the pre-race been dashed for a football game? A few, and that's fine. They stuck with the original game until it was over... Oh, there's an idea, huh? But on at least one occasion, the football game that was scheduled before the race ended a tad early. Before I could rejoice in the idea of actually watching the Nationwide pre-race show, they switched to a completely different college game and we not only missed the pre-race, but I believe the race start was put off a few minutes. LOL. Can't win for losing.

Network Confidence:
My take on the whole issue is that NASCAR was not very confident in their contract when they made the deal that lasts with ESPN through 2015 when they didn't negotiate overruns of time blocks. That's just my take, but there it is. That's all fine and dandy, but there were some other interesting tidbits that came to light from this.

Over on The Daly Planet, John touched on the ABC issue and the fans that responded were pee-o'd and ABC took a hit this week from the racing fan demographic, for sure. Additional casualties include ESPN. More and more fans seem focused on never watching another broadcast from the Mickey Mouse run companies (Disney does own ABC and ESPN's) but other options also seem diluted in marketing victimization.

Again, over on the Daly Planet, John asked his constituents about the different websites that offer NASCAR info to the fan, and there seems to be a consistent, across the board grumblings about how NASCAR.com and SPEED were revamped, and

A: Got way too busy,
B: Completely ticked at Videos being shoved down your throat when you get to the sites,
C: Are fairly complicated in the layout to the effect of making it hard to find what you're looking for.

So basically, as NASCAR developed momentum, an oogle of marketing minds and advertisers jumped on board and made the sites either too convoluted or ad ladened to make anyone's visit easy, or not worth their while.

With that said, just what informational outlets do we have that don't inundate us with online ads, or focus on what we really want in the world of NASCAR? Are we being diluted to the point of over-saturation?

Bruce: NASCAR is on way too many channels these days and the coverage gets diluted by being on the air so much these days. If you want TV info, SPEED TV is a great source if you want to make a statement and never watch another Mickey Mouse run broadcast agin, but their website is too busy for most and the recommended approach is via RSS feeds... for now.

As far as never watching another broadcast, I don't think that's a reasonable approach either.

Even the products you pay extra for come through the network you may so fervently wish to avoid. Besides, can you really say you'll never watch the 2nd half of the season ever again, until after 2015? I know I can't. Not with what I do, but at least I can dodge the network advertisers and speak my mind with my wallet, or lack thereof on the network advertisers. Why? Cause that's what keeps the networks afloat. Marketing money and advertisers. They're the one's that need to step up and make changes, that is if they want to woo the most die-hard, product sponsor supporting sports fans.

As far as websites go, Jayski's was noted quite a few times as a go-to site, but I'm not sure folk realize that ESPN bought him out a few years ago.

I'm not changing where I go for info. I've got RSS readers and I surf the web in FireFox with add-on called NoScript. NoScript blocks java and other scripts so about 80% of the time, I don't even realize there was an ad or video on a website. I've never had to hear the video blast me on NASCAR.com and I cruise the internet in ignorant bliss.

The bottom line: At least we have options and coverage so we can watch our beloved sport or have many resources to be able to look up decent information or opinions, just like here on NASCAR Bits and Pieces or On Pit Row.

OK, I'm done ranting. I asked Charlie Turner over On Pit Row his thoughts on the matter. I didn't leave him much room to chat about, but he still interjects that wisdom we've all come to know and love.

Charlie: I don't know that I can ad much that you haven't covered in your rant Bruce. I am surprised that the NASCAR TV contract negotiating team left open the possibility of being pre-emptented during the Chase. That was a boneheaded ommission in the TV deal.

Balancing the amount of advertising content on a website is a creative decision. Some sites care more about the look and - what would you call it, purity? - of their presentation. Others are in it to at least try and make some money, although the NASCAR blog reader is not a good demographic for that, in my opinion. Other sites seem like they have to try every new widget that comes down the web 2.0 pipe. Making content decisions can be easy or hard, depending on what you care about. Personally, I can't stand the Nascar.com or the new SpeedTV.com sites. They are just too complicated, slow and busy for me. But they also generate huge traffic numbers compared to independent NASCAR blogs. Personally, I think the comments that you read on either of these topics represent a very small, rather rabid percentage of the NASCAR audience. Most - maybe 95 percent of the people who watched that race Sunday - while they may well have been irritated - will tune in again. They probably couldn't even tell you what network they were watching. They were watching the NASCAR race. And they'll watch the next one too.

(Thanks to John Daly on The Daly Planet for the inspiration of this article.)

---

You can see the other half of the Tight in Turn Two series on Charlie's site, where he asks if I had to choose one person to pick for a fantasy league, who would it be? See my answer HERE.

How Would We Get More Folk Tight in Turn Turn 2?

Charlie Turner and I dabble some more in the Tight, no grip reaches of Turn 2. Today, I wonder how we more people can be lured to the track

The economy is hitting everyone. (Yea, I'm bringing that up again). Watching clips from last weekend, I saw seat colors peppering through the mass of fans in the stands at the Cup race in Texas.

Right now, when they look at track locations, NASCAR looks at the marketable fan within a reasonable distance, as far as location and marketing go, and if I remember correctly, they try to look at markets in a 400 mile range from a track location, optimally. Though they still expect outliers from as far away as 600 miles, 400 is the magic number.

I am not sure if it's driving or flying, though I suspect driving is the main mode of attendance when they think of attendance.

Charlie asked me about If I could change one thing in NASCAR, what would it be?, and In going with that theme of picking one thing, what would you do to help increase attendance in these tough economic times?

Face it, now a days, we have to be pretty picky on where we spend our money these days.


Bruce: On-site (track) rebates. You drop your ticket stub in bins and they pull out a fair number of winners, not 1, not 10, not 50, but a percentage of the attending crowd and give them cold hard cash back and discounts to future events so people can buy better seats!

Whether it be $10, or $20 or whatever, make it worth their while and get some sponsors in on it so the onus is not entirely on the track. This would even absorb a bad weather day to some degree if a race gets rained out.

What's your take on that idea Charlie? I'm open to amendments. And, what would your one change be for getting more people to the track?


Charlie Turner from On Pit Row

Charlie: I'm actually stealing the idea - or maybe joining the cause is more accurate - of Mike Mulhern.

Mulhern has been ragging on NASCAR to do something about the exhorbitantly high costs of hotel rooms on race weekends in the vicinities of the tracks. I think the empty seats you see may be due more to that than gasoline or ticket prices. Maybe NASCAR or the track promoters could pressure local Chambers of Commerce to make staying in town more affordable.

Good one Charlie!

Any other thoughts or ideas? Readers comments are always welcome here on NASCAR Bits and Pieces.

My Link to Charlie's Question over On Pit Row, about what one thing we can change to improve NASCAR Cup racing.

image credit: Wikipedia Commons

A Speedy NASCAR Cantina in Turn 2?

Here's something that'll make your car Tight in Turn 2!

Offbeat / Fun Stuff

SPEED Channel is opening a new cantina next to Phoenix International Raceway and should be ready for business by the time NASCAR hits the track next month.

SPEED wants to connect with the fans and offer more to them via the cantina so that when people go home, they have fallen victim to the marketing scheme and turn on SPEED when they get home.

The cantina will open on November 7th, the night of the truck race and network personalities will have a presence there. (Now if someone could buy them a lot of drinks, you might get some inside scoops!)

I think this is nice, and not.

From a fans perspective, I'd love a NASCAR themed "joint" to hit up in my local town. Even a SPEED Channel themed place. Staff it with Hooters girls, and the divorce rate would skyrocket in that town!

Fans are a helter skelter collection of hubs on the internet, tracks and the occasional diecast store.

I've hit up Twitter a few times asking folks from my region of The Bay Area in Northern CA if anyone knows of such a "joint" and no one comes up with an answer, so they are lacking. And when I say joint, I don't mean a place with peanut shells on the floor and one hood hanging form the ceiling. I mean a fully NASCAR committed, NASCAR decorated establishment. In fact, they have to have more stuff on their walls than I do at home!

The SPEED Cantina sounds like just the venture. Yet, I have to travel to Phoenix to get it? Nah.

On the dour, business side of things, I get the lack of licensing for such a venture from NASCARs side of things as they want to have quality control over their image and product. They would also probably swing some serious licensing fee$ out of the whole deal too. That in itself is probably a hefty pill to swallow.

And what happens in the off season? Unhappy hour until Daytona kicks in again? At least that's my take.

Charlie, you got anything on NASCAR bars... I mean "joints". Damn... I bars... I meant "cantina". Didn't I? (source)

~

Charlie Turner from ON PIT ROW: Well I've been to the NASCAR Cafe in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina a couple times. A Google search of "NASCAR Cafe" turned up one in Vegas at the Sahara Hotel and another at the Universal City Walk in Orlando, Florida. I think there may be more, but I'm not sure.

Personally, I'm partial to the Toledo Speedway Bar and Grill right here in my town.

It's a real racers' place, loaded with authentic memorobilia, including the coolest kind - a real race track right outside the back wall of the place. We broadcast ON PIT ROW live every Tuesday all year long, from the place affectionately known as the BAG. During racing season we also do the INSIDE ARCA show on the same night. One night this season, while we did the show, Brad Kesolowski's no. 88 Navy Chevy could be loudly heard during the show as he tested the JR Motorsports ride, right outside.

There's nothing like a racing bar.

~

Bruce sneaks in a counter-reply: Have I mentioned I hate this guy? I'm officially jealous now!

~~~~~

Over on Charlie's site, On Pit Row, he asks:

Is there any good reason that you see for a Petty Enterprises and DEI merger?

The Tight in Turn 2 Team Looks at: Wall Street, NASCAR and Other Venues

At the moment, the market crash has stopped swirling completely around the drain but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet. And if we're not out of the woods, how are mainstream sport entities faring?

NASCAR has situated itself in a pickle of bits. They've grown the sport in a reasonable fashion and in so doing, are asking comparable prices for such exposure and popularity. But can NASCAR sustain the return on the advertising dollar?

It may no longer be the prudent financial decision to sponsor a team from $10 to $25 million a season. That kind of advertising is pricey these days, especially when you can probably get a better deal with a direct ad on television itself. Or can they? If there is continued meltdown, future financial expectations will be affected. As it was, we can see swaths of empty seats at some of the NASCAR venues.

In other spectator sports, some venues with the largest stakes to lose are those that have heavy debt financing for acquisitions or stadiums and other sports that don't have the income from national TV deals and income producing components like long-term lease agreements on luxury suites in stadiums.

Even the NFL is pondering a limit on teams' access to an NFL managed line of credit.

Here's an eye opener: Britain's soccer leagues have amassed $6 billion debt for their venues as a whole. WOW!!

With these kinds of tidbits of info floating around out there, I have to wonder just how well NASCAR can fare the financial storm that not only just plowed through everyone's wallets, but next year while we still deal with the after affects?

Bruce: As it stands, there are around 26 teams that right now have full time sponsors and others like are juggling multiple sponsors to cover a year, like Stewart Haas Racing is doing with Ryan Newman, and the Army only sponsoring his car for a partial year.

Sadly, I think the monster teams will survive better than the smaller teams and in a fantasy worse case scenario, it's all going to end up under one garage roof: The Hendrick Childress Roush Evernham .... well, you get what I'm saying.

NASCAR may have very well priced itself out of some sponsors markets and wallets and it will be interesting to see how the teams will fare and if NASCAR will have to actually step in and lend a helping hand. It's hard to predict, but if we take another market hit like we just did a few weeks ago, you can bet we'll see something in our beloved sport affected by it.


Hey Charlie Turner, over there at On Pit Row. What's your take?

Charlie: Well, NASCAR doesn't exist in a vacuum. The current economy has affected the teams and the sponsors in the sport. Things will change. But it's a cycle. And a cycle that NASCAR has weathered before.

The sport is just too strong to fail as a system. Individual teams and sponsors will undoubtedly fail. Remember all the "dot com" sponsors of just a few years ago? Remember Ginn Racing? It happens.

Maybe the current climate will cause the topic of franchising to re-surface in a big way. I'm sure that it's proponents will sieze the day, if they think that they can.
But NASCAR will go on. The casual fan will probably not notice anything has changed. It's the fanatics like us, the hardcore fans that will note the passing of manufacturers and familiar paint schemes. For about a month.

Remember how tramatic it was for Junior to leave DEI and the Budweiser #8? What number and sponsor was Mark Martin inseparable from? Life goes on. NASCAR will too.


Charlie does have a point about how the sport will go on, but I don't have the confidence in sponsors that maybe I should have.

Over on Charlie's site, he asks:

According to various reports, Felix Sabates and or Chip Ganassi are predicting that NASCAR will reduce the size of starting fields in the three top series to as few as 36 cars. Do you agree?

Go see what we have to say on that issue over On Pit Row.

The Pesky Yellow Line Business Makes The Rules Tight in Turn 2

Boy, am I really tight in turn two this week, and I thought I could just share my angst with Charlie Turner of On Pit Row and see if he could inject some sanity in my following tirade!!!

NASCAR: Not Always So
Consistent Around Raceday.

Last weekend we saw a couple of confusing rule interpretations occur in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega and I'm not talking about the "Big Ones" either. I'm talking about how rules are applied to the sport and how they get created, rescinded or conflicted on the fly.

Does anyone remember the comic strip Calvin and Hobbs? They'd play a game called Calvin-Ball. The problem for Hobbs was that Calvin would make up rules while the ball was in play. This took me back to those days initially and I thought we were looking at Calvin-CAR!!

What added to my mystification was an unusual display of trying to dodge one of the hottest topics to come out of NASCAR that threatens trumping the Chase for the Cup, there seems to be a distinct effort by some media to move on from this event. At least that's what I took away from SIRIUS Satellite last Wednesday morning.

They were telling the listeners that tomorrow they will not entertain your calls if you ask about the yellow line. In the afternoon they were calling it the Bank of America week, pushing the subject to move on to the upcoming weekend. Which is weird because when things like Dale Earnhardt Jr left DEI, no one could shut up about it, but when fans want to vent about this, it's shut up, we're moving on.

When callers hit the airwaves with their questions, one of the personalities was acting more like Tom Leykis and rather than answer the question, fired a question back based on their question, and then faulting them for not answering his question. And it happened on a few calls. It was rather disappointing and I was a bit dismayed at his constant and skillful dodging of answering any question that was gray in nature!

And yet so many people feel ripped off that Regan Smith didn't get the win in the AMP Energy 500 that it's overly compelling to revisit this one scenario, but not in the way you think.

* The biggest point that's been overlooked: A yellow flag should have flown before the checkers. There was a multi-car spin in the back stretch that should have ended the race there, in the backstretch.
* Smith out-faked Stewart superbly coming to the line, forcing the No 20 Toyota to the outside.
* Smith got the line under Stewart
* Stewart did hit the RF of Smith. It wasn't a block at all from where I was sitting. It was a force and if there was a wall there, they and others behind them would have crashed.
* With Smith being forced off the line, he ducked to keep from wrecking or getting wrecked but maintained his momentum.

Right after that, fans and media everywhere were quoting "NASCAR"'s take on the issue.

• "The last lap is a free-for-all",
• "if you can see the checkers anything goes",
• "if you can see the flag stand, it's whatever you can get",

These perspectives stemmed from the Johnny Benson Truck series incident back in February of 2007. And yet they seem to have contradicted not only those statements, but ignored a fleeting moment last year when Dale Earnhardt Jr had gotten forced below the line and was allowed to keep going.

So Jr can get forced below the line, it's OK. A non-name driver can go below the line, it's not OK.
A name driver can force a driver below the line, it's OK, but if reversed?

But none of this makes for exciting television, or racing. Hell, at least the last lap drowned out the pain from the ESPN coverage.

So where am I going with this? What the heck am I actually asking?:

Should NASCAR take the winter off to actually create / print out a rule book for everyone involved?

In all fairness, they've more or less always said that going below the yellow line at Talladega or Daytona and advancing your position is a no-no. With an exception or two, as noted.

When I look for big league sport rules, I can find them in a flash. NBA, NFL, NHL all have the rules right on the web for all to see. Here at work, I'm surrounded by F1 and ALMS (American LeMans Series) fans and it seems that what we are experiencing is not unique to NASCAR at all, but would seem to be a function of Auto Racing in general.

In fact web searches do not turn up any rulebook for some of the auto racing leagues we see on TV.

In fact my office neighbors have touted similar incidents where F1 drivers or what not have created a stir and rules about not leaving the racing surface had to be enacted. Hence, this is really an affect of the medium, not the organization. So what we're seeing here, is something we shouldn't be actually blaming on NASCAR itself.

Sure, NASCAR has their hands full, and sure, they need to be A LOT more consistent. I feel they need to lead the field of auto racing and try to compile a rulebook for us to reference WITH them as they make their calls. Yes, they seem to quote one, but they are very secretive about this "rule" book and we never see it.

For me, right now, their obvious inconsistencies and neglect of previous calls where even the person who said "If you can see the checkers, anything goes", won't comment on his comment has taken the wind out of my NASCAR sails for the moment!

NASCAR needs consistency, needs rules they will actually follow regardless of whom may be breaking or applying them, and let us in on it. They also need to rescind this weeks' stance that the yellow line rule applies to all laps. It should be lifted in the last 1/2 lap of these races so we can see real, god for-saken racing to the finish. That's what they want, right? Let's give it to the viewer!

Oh, now that I'm done ranting, in a word to my own question: Yes.

Other sports rules links:
NBA
NFL
NHL

Charlie? Can you please inject some sanity in my rant?

Charlie: I had to go back aways to find the actual question, but your arguement is compelling Bruce. I just don't think it is the nature of auto racing ingeneral and NASCAR in particular to do what you suggest.

I have always felt that NASCAR likes having some control in their rulings. Not that they want to necessarily manufacture finishes. But black and white is black and white, you know? There's no room for cutting the sport's most popular driver any slack. The France family has been the ultimate promoter of auto racing. They've built a fantastic, ultra popula, money machine. It ain't all skill and it ain't all luck either. They play the controversy/publicity cards as well as anyone ever has. I have to admit, I kind of like it this way.

~~~

Over on his site, Charlie asks
Talladega reared it’s wild-card head again Sunday. It was entertaining but is the chancy nature of the plate-race big-ones just too random for ‘Dega to be included in the Chase?

Go on over and check it out: On Pit Row

Allmendinger, Is He Tight in Turn 2?

I think it's a shame that A.J. Allmendinger has to be at the butt end of Red Bull's iffy NASCAR Cup effort and is instead, opting for Scott Speed to replace him. Of course, it's conjecture that Scott Speed is replacing A.J., but since they've pulled A.J. from testing and Red Bull is all over the untested Speed, I'm thinking they needed to give it another year easy, but yet no, they toss out this open wheeler, Allmendinger.

Rumors are swirling about the now available A.J.. I like him, he's pretty funny to listen to, if you've ever caught any of his Sirius Satellite NASCAR Ch. 128 interviews. But where's he headed?

Do you think AJ Allmendinger (Dinger to his buddies) will replace Sorenson at Ganassi or does Ganassi have anyone else in mind? I didn't want to ponder this with myself, so as always, I asked Charlie Turner of On Pit Row to toss in his 2 cents too!



Bruce: I'm hoping A.J. gets a good chance to prove himself. I'd hate to see him go somewhere mediocre just because he wants to stay in NASCAR. That just doesn't work. Look at HOF Racing. They dumped Yeley, but in all likely-hood, it's the garage, not the driver. Considering Logano ended up 3 laps down in Loudon in one of their cars. Am I dodging my own question? Yes. If Ganassi is Allmendingers best opportunity, maybe he can do something with it. If not, I'm very on the fence as to where else, if anyone, he could end up at. Charlie?


Charlie Turner: Allmendinger has done enough in the Red Bull no. 84 to show that he deserves more of an opportunity in the Cup series than he's had. He would be a quality replacement for Ganassi in the no. 41. The plus side of moving to Ganassi for A J is that Chip and his teams have experience with converting - and attempting to convert - ex-road racers to Cup cars. The success has been mixed. But it looks to me like Ganassi is a black hole for stock car talent though. I think he'll end up there. But my expectations are low.

Bruce: I couldn't have said it better. Oh, wait, I didn't.

Charlie asked me my thoughts on the qustion: Is Kyle Busch choking? Check it out over on his site at On Pit Row.

(Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Are 12 Cup Chasers Too Tight in Turn 2?

This is a short supposition on my part, based somewhat on fact-less observations over the past year of how NASCAR is handling the Chase for the Cup. (That's tech speak for I'm going to rant off the handle and I'm dragging Charlie Turner of On Pit Row into the fray with me.)

When the Chase started in 2004, we had it set to the top 10 drivers from a 43 man field who would move on to the battle with each other within their own points structure. IE: Giving them a massive bonus over the rest of the field so no one else could catch them. This eliminated just about anyone else from competing for the championship, even if all 10 drivers crashed out the remainder of the races. And that first year, it was pretty exciting to see Kurt Busch win the championship by 8 points, even after fortuitously losing a wheel at the head of pit road.

We then had a 35 point spread behind Tony Stewart with Edwards and Biffle tied for 2nd in points in 2005.

2006, Johnson had a bigger point spread (56) in front of Kenseth, Hamlin, Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.. In 2007, Johnson extended that win margin to 77 points over Jeff Gordon, but then had a massive 357 point advantage over 3rd place finisher, Clint Bowyer. (So much for tight point races)

Then when Tony Stewart failed to make the 10 man field in '06, we now have the top 12 drivers competing for the championship? Hmm.

Additionally, despite the fact that this is probably one of the easiest programming stints in the world of web programming, when I went to NASCAR's website to look this information up, no matter what year you look at, they're treating the standings across the years as if there was a always a 12 man field chasing the cup. I'm sure it's not their intent, but it sure could be confusing to the new fan.

So now that I'm done ranting all over the board, my real question is:

If they insist on limiting the year end competition to top performing drivers, are 12 drivers too many?

Bruce says yes. Heck. I thought 10 were too many, but strangely, when Tony Stewart did not make the chase and ended up 11th, the next year included 12 drivers. The timing seemed ... interesting indeed.

With 10 drivers, that incorporated over 23% of a 43 driver field. With 12 drivers, we now see almost 28% of the 43 driver field in the chase.

At this point, I think they should just start eliminating drivers at the Daytona 500! Who ever comes in 43rd is automatically eliminated from the chase, and weed down, one race at a time. OK, I know, not realistic, but it sure would be interesting right from the get go!! And then we can play wild cards in the points standings with 11 races to go!.

Go crazy Charlie! I gave lots of different directions to go with this one!!!

Charlie Turner: I have no problem with twelve being the number. Before it was twelve, it was ten plus any driver within 400 points of the regular season points leader. Nobody ever came close. I think that this, combined with not only Stewart, but Jeff Gordon and Junior, not making the "playoffs" forced NASCAR's hand into increasing the number on drivers "in". I actually think that twelve is about right. There wasn't a driver that didn't make it this year that you could say "hurt" the sport by not making it. The real excitement of the whole deal is the Race to the Chase. Another way to qualify, on some wild-card basis wouldn't be bad either. Thirteen would be an interesting number. Fan vote? Ugliest girlfriend vote? How about the top finishing single car team is in regardless of where they actually finish in the standings?

~~~

With that said, Charlie pondered: If the rumors turn out to be true, and Gillette-Evernham Motorsports buys Bill Davis Racing and becomes a Toyota team, is it a good thing for NASCAR and the sport?

See what we have to say over On Pit Row.

Is The Truck Series Tight in Turn 2?

No, not tight! Way loose apparently!!

I've been hearing this, that and the other thing about the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series so I thought I'd not only toss out my opinion, but ask Charlie Turner over on On Pit Row his take. I'm glad I did because we've got some interesting material here! Chime in if you're inclined. No sign ups required.

What is Up With the Truck Series? Is it's existence at the televised national level in jeopardy?
Bruce: Craftsman is headed out of there after being the series sponsor since 1995. No one is lined up to slide into their spot. Rumors abound about the possibility of Dodge pulling out of the Truck series, and after all is said and done, will it just be called the Truck series next year? Will it be around after next year? At least at the national exposure it's been accustomed to getting? I just don't know. From a business stand point, though this just may be some of the funnest racing NASCAR has, is it still worth it to the marketers? I hate to say it, but I'm thinking no.

Charlie: I spoke with someone on Tuesday night who I believe knows what's going on. He thinks the truck series is a goner. Not only is Sears-Craftsman gone, but a near deal with Lowes-Kobalt brand for the title sponsorship was mis-handled and they backed away. Now it looks as if Ford and Chevy will pull out as well. NASCAR may move to consolidate the strongest of the truck and Nationwide teams into the Nationwide Series, to better be able to weather the increased investments that will be needed with the new NNS version of the CoT. The loss of the trucks opens dates for NASCAR's new baby, the Grand Am Series too.

Wow ... awesome insight Charlie.. thanks.

~~~

Of course Charlie didn't let me slide and tossed out a pretty good question my way:

Did Jack Roush sell out Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray, by raiding their teams of talent, in order to help entice Biffle and Edwards to re-sign?

You can check out our conversation over at On Pit Row.

As always, thanks for coming by everyone!

Tight in Turn Two: So Who's Gonna Make the Chase?

Here we are: Looking at Richmond for the determination of who's getting into the chase and who's not.

Richmond racing is fun enough, but the added complexity of that chase bubble makes it even more interesting to watch and analyze.

With that said, I have to wonder who will get in the Chase. And will Kyle be able to keep it together to win the Cup?

Being I don't like talking to myself... it makes me look funny, I thought I'd drag Charlie Turner of On Pit Row into the conversation and see what he thinks too!

Bruce: If we go on just plain old performance, I think Kasey Kahne can get himself back up into the chase field and Clint Bowyer will be on the outside looking in, right alongside David Ragan. Heck, they way Jeff Gordon's year is going, I would not be surprised to see him fall out of the top 12. (And then NASCAR can make it the top 14 next year!!)

But lady luck seems to have it's own idea of who she's looking at and with it being Richmond, dare I say David Ragan just might squeak in?

Positions 6th to 14th are all looking at each other. Kasey Kahne and David Ragan are going to spend the entirety of the race wondering who is going to break so they can surpass them into the chase.

In the end, it doesn't matter. Everyone will be chasing Kyle, Carl and Jimmie for the Cup.

Charlie from On Pit Row: Just a hunch, but I think Ragan will get in and Bowyer will slide out of the playoffs. Maybe Clint is distracted by his Nationwide Series championship battle. I don't know but I'll take the Roush-Fenway car over the RCR car there.

As for your champ - Jimmy Johnson makes it three in a row. Too much experience and he stomped everyone at these tracks in 2007. He'll win four races in the Chase.

Bruce: I don't normally blind side Charlie with a rebuttal, but I must say: I can't take another Jimmy Johnson Championship!!

I collect diecasts, and I have all but one diecast of NASCAR champions, all the way back to year one. I've already got two Number 48's in my display case... I want a different car this year!!!

~

Of course, Charlie asked me what I thought about the following:

Many, if not most, Dale Earnhardt Jr fans seem to be disappointed in Junior's season so far in 2008. Are they justified?

Check out what we had to say.
~

Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch ARE NOT Tight In Turn Two!

Despite statements NASCAR made earlier this year to let the boys handle themselves and not get involved, NASCAR has indeed stepped in and gotten involved in a feud.

It announced probations on Wednesday for our new spatting frenemies, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. There's been no wrist slap, but they are being watched for the next six races by Big Brother - NASCAR, starting with the Fontana, CA race. It's been declared that they violated Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing; hitting another competitor's car after the race had concluded) of the 2008 NASCAR rule book.

As I see it, Carl did no wrong in my book and did what NASCAR competitors do best: Police themselves. Or at least they used to be able to do that.

Kyle got out of hand after the race with his tantrum and Carl punted him. Deed done. Of course Kyle (The Child) Busch has to whine about how the win was taken from him and vent his frustration "kicking the trash can". If he had the win in hand, why wasn't he pulling away? How'd Carl catch him? Gimme a break Busch. Accept your fate now that you are at the other end of your very own medicine. Now, you know how Johnny Benson felt in a previous truck event! Or better yet, do we remember when we pushed Dale Earnhardt Jr out of the way at Richmond? Or more precisely, put Jr right into the wall, yanking a win away from Jr..

With that said, I thought to myself, "Self? This sounds like the makings of a great question for that other guy I have to fly Tight in Turn 2 with, Charlie Turner of OnPitRow." With that in mind, I showed Charlie my premise, then tossed him this question to follow up on my Edwards vs. Busch tirade:

So Is This Probation on Busch and Edwards Warranted?

Bruce: Up until the announcement, I was in anticipation of the next few races and wondering what was going to happen between these two. With the probation now in place, this takes the wind out of my anticipatory sails. For just one moment, everyone was looking at the feud with a certain amount of anticipation. The kind of media attention that NASCAR needs. It keeps things interesting and on edge, and it certainly helps with ratings and media attention. But now, it's just become a one week spat. For that, thanks NASCAR.

BUT: I think that where NASCAR is coming from is concern for innocent victims in this fray, so they're pretty sure the probation is warranted. If anything, they probably think they are looking out to protect the other Chase contenders from getting caught up in the aftermath of what Kyle may be planning, or at the very least, has proven what he's capable of when he's in one of his snits. Oh wait, Kyle planning? Is that even part of his vocabulary?


Charlie: Warranted? If all NASCAR wants to do is castrate its competitors, then yeah, its warranted. I don't think it's smart. I don't think that the probation is in the best interest of interesting, compelling, ultra-competitive auto racing.

What happened the the early season commitment to letting these guys express themselves more honestly?

Just when you get a couple drivers talking honestly about what happened on the track and how they saw it- who were still fresh from the heat of the action and about as worked up as you can get, by the way - NASCAR wants to do something that will create more mealy mouthed apologists and corporate sock puppets. If Kyle and Carl had talked more like Jeff Gordon or Kasey Kahne, there would be no probation.


Related posts to Carl vs Kyle:
Ding Ding: Carl Edwards Vs. Kyle Busch

~~~

Of course with that said, Charlie fired back a question, per the norm, that he had in his mind:

Do I like the new format of the Budweiser Shootout?

Is Gibbs Reputation Getting Tight in Turn Two?

After a few months of being Loose in Turn 3, we've had a bit of an adjustment and now Turn 3 isn't the issue any more. The moderation has now become a 2-man debate process between Charlie Turner from On Pit Road and myself and now we're finding ourselves getting Tight in Turn Two! Man, when are the adjustments going to kick in?

~

This week, I wasn't sure what to say or think about the shimmy shim shim scenario that was going on in the Nationwide Series, but I thought I toss this out at Charlie with one perspective I have:

With Gibbs accepting every bit of the responsibility for the shims on the gas pedal deal, I find it refreshing. Yet who is going to believe him?

With outsiders looking in, NASCAR gets called America's Most Crooked Sport and it's gloriously colorful past gets pulled back into the present.

Circumstantially speaking, putting the shims on the car when you know the dyno testing rig is on-site sure does say something, but who ever did it, made a bone head move and didn't trust the processes already in place. IE: Toyota power plants having been dialed back a bit. (15 HP?)

Obviously several staff on the Gibbs Nationwide team felt it necessary to try this stunt. Or as DW calls it, Reverse Cheating, seeing as how the cars had to run with less power available to them through the entire race.

How does this make people feel about Joe Gibbs Racing, or the sport in general?

Bruce: I'm fine with it... as long as it doesn't become a habit. Things happen, people screw up and I doubt anyone is going to be trying such blatantly stupid stunts in the future. NASCAR is about innovation and looking for the gray areas and it's part of the process. So things similar to this will continue to happen. Not like this stunt, but similar. NASCAR insiders know this and then some accept it while other rail against it. It is what it is.

As far as the outsider goes, who doesn't know anything at all about the sport, but calls it names looking in from the outside, this stunt isn't going to help the image of NASCAR for a little while. As long as these larger things don't keep happening, the sport will be fine. But a few more incidents to add to Edwards CA deal and now this, could go a long way towards hampering the potential fan from checking out NASCAR.


Charlie (From On Pit Road ): I couldn't disagree with you more on the outsider thing.

Casual observers who are popping out of there racing "gopher hole" to comment on this infraction will duck their clueless heads right back down the chute as soon as the the send button is hit on their keyboards. NASCAR - and auto racing is all about getting away with whatever you can get away with. Call it innovation if you want. If the innovation isn't in the rules, the rule-makers might just call it cheating. And will happen again, just as soon as somebody thinks the risk of getting caught is worth the potential penalty.

Should JGR care about outsider opinion? As a NASCAR blogger, do you think that baseball is a bad sport when a pitcher gets caught doctoring a ball? When a football player argues with a referee about a penalty that the player clearly committed, do you say that the game of football is a joke? If you do, I call you a fool. It's all part of the game. And cheating makes it more interesting.

~~

Charlie over On Pit Road asked the question:
Who do we think the Fords will be filling their seats with next year?