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)