A change is coming, a change is coming!!  We have been hearing this on the political campaign trail for oh so long!  Well, this is my 100th post since the birth of this site and change is also coming here as well!!!  My tech people( aka Jason) have added a few new features/widgets to the sidebar that I/we feel will add value to this publication.

You will notice that I have added a NASCAR Race Countdown feature.  This will countdown to the next week’s race.  Also it wll list a few interesting items associated with that race (closely look at the background, it’s AMP!!).  The second new addition is the NASCAR Standings widget, which will keep us all up to date of the NASCAR standings.  Lastly, I have added a quotes widget.  It will post various quotes that I feel might be appropriate each week!  I will also, from time to time, have a poll on my web site so that you can cast your vote on certain items that are of interest.  This should make for, maybe, some intersting interaction and discussions!!

So as you can see this off season I have had my best people (Jason) working  diligently to try to make this site both informative and very user friendly!!!  That is ultimately my goal.

So as you can see, 2009  has brought/is bringing many changes to us, not only in Washington D.C., and in NASCAR, but to my web site as well!  I will not enumerate the changes in D.C., since we have been saturated with the campaign for about the last two years nightly.    

I tried to publish all the known changes in the Cup Series on my last post.  I am now going to try to update you on the changes to the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series !

Nationwide Series:

1.   Larry Foyt to drive the #56 MacHill Motorsports entry

2.   Verizon to sponsor the #12 Penske Dodge driver by Justin Allgaier(Penske PR)

3.   Michael Annett full season in the Germain Racing #12 Toyota  (AnnettPR)

3.   Paul Menard drives 16 races in the #98 Yates Ford (Yates PR)

4.   Fastenal sponsors the #2 RCR Chevy driven by Bowyer and Truex

5.   Scott Speed runs some races for Michael Waltrip Racing (nascar.com)

6.   Ruetimann runs four races for Braun racing( Bruan Racing)

7.   Stewart (The Smoker) attempts Daytona in HMS #80 Chevy (HMS PR)

8.   Kerry Earnhardt to run #8 EGR(DEI) in Daytona

9.   Joe Nemechek (Front Row Joe) in NEMCO #78 Chevy

10.  Michael Mc Dowell drives the JTG/Daughtery entry(scenedaily)

11.  Kyle Busch(TLVW)  18 races for JGR (espn.com)

Truck Series:

1.   Ricky Carmichael drives KHI #4 Monster Energy Chevy (KHI PR)

2.   Max Papis six races for Germain Racing

3.   Kyle Busch(TLVW) in #51 Ballew Racing Toyota (scenedaily)

4.   Mike Wallace drives #71 TRG truck

5.   Johnny Benson moves to #1 Red Horse Racing

As is my tradition, I will tie in the picture to my post.  The picture is the 1959 Chevy that Junior Johnson won the 1960 Daytona 500.  That is when, as the story goes, Junior discovered a thing later called “the draft“!!!  His Chevy was so much slower than all the other cars, running by itself.   But when he was out on the track with other cars he could “suck” up  behind them, then pull out and sling-shot past them effortlessly!!!  The next year “change” came to Daytona when everyone  figured out how to “draft”!!!!

As always, I looked it up so that you wouldn’t have!

GO#88!!

THIS WEEK’S STORY LINES:

1.  EDWARDS WINS @ TEXAS:

2.  KYLE BUSCH DONATES $100,000 TO SAM ARD (espn.com)

3.  HORNISH BACK TO INDY CARS IN ’09? (yahoo sports)

4.  GILLIAND PARKS MONTOYA-NASCAR PARKS GILLILAND!(scenedaily)

5.  BRUTON SMITH REAFFIRMS DESIRE TO BUY NASCAR: (espn.com)

Most of the year T is for Talladega, but Sunday T was for Texas!!!  T was also for toughness, for teeth-clinching tussles, for high speed tangles, for two and three wide racing, and for tempers flaring!!!  But the REAL T was for thinning the points lead in the Chase!! 

“Cousin Carl” defied all the odds in fuel mileage logic!!  He and crew chief Bob Osborne turned a “mistake” in not pitting into a stretching of fuel mileage far beyond what was supposedly feasible!!  The theory of the fastest car wins the race definitely was proven totally wrong!!  For the last ten laps, Edward’s crew chief had to continually tell Carl to slow down, get out of the throttle, let it roll thru the corner!  It is a concept that is hard to understand, slow down to win the race!!!  Because the Office Depot #99 Ford did not stop when everyone else did, he inherited a huge lead and lots of track position!!!  So he slowed way down.  Lower RPM’s means less fuel burn per lap, thus allowing them to stretch their fuel out to 69 laps and win the race!!!

COMMENTARY

Ol Kylie Busch, aka The Las Vegas Weasel, won the Nationwide race in Texas on Saturday.  That win tied ol Kylie and Sam Ard with 10 victories in the Nationwide in one season.  That is quite a feat!  Last year Kevin Harvick came up one victory short of bypassing Mr. Ard’s accompolishments.  It is very possible that TLVW  may surpass Sam Ard’s record, with two races left this season!

Sam Ard had a brilliant but shortened racing career.  Back in 1984 he suffered head injuries in a racing crash that ended his career. In Sam’s days of racing, there were no “BIG PAYDAYS”. He raced because he was a RACER!!!!  Over the years, the Ard family has run across some extremely hard times.  Sam suffers from Alzheimers and is confined to a wheel chair. The family has used all of their funds just trying to care for Sam.  A few weeks ago Kevin Harvick bought and donated the “Shell Van” from the commercials to help the family’s transportation needs.  It appears that their automobile just recently ”died”!!  

On hearing of the Ard family’s struggles, ol Kylie donates $100,000 to the Ard family to help.  Once again the NASCAR family comes to the rescue!!  As hard as this reporter has been on ol Kylie, I am very impressed that he appears to have a kind heart.

Story Lines This Week:

1.  Surprise, Edwards wins:  www.nascar.com

2.  Kylie cinches top spot in Chase: www.jayski.com

3.  2009 schedule realignment:

  http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/official/08/19/2009.schedules/index.html

4.  Subway moves to #99 Edwards:

     http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=447449

5.  Newman to drive #39, not #4:

      http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/08/19/rnewman.tstewart.car.number/index.html

6. David Ragan finishes a career best third:

7.  Joey Logano will make a few Cup starts this year:

   http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/08/18/jlogano.tstewart.jgr.announcement/index.html

8.  Compare Joey Logano to Casey Atwood:

  http://nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=62124

9. Four out of top five, Rousch/Fenway Fords:

This weekend it was The Carl Edwards Show!!  It is not often that there is a sweep in both the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series races, but it happened at Michigan last weekend.  This is one of the tracks where the Fords dominate, Roush/Fenway Racing in particular!!!  This is also one of the tracks where fuel mileage and long green flag runs always plays a big part in the deciding the winner!!  Remember the June race where Dale Jr. won  on fuel mileage?????  Well, not this time!  Fuel mileage was not a factor in the race outcome.   It was strictly hard racing for 400 miles.

Is Joey Logano the real deal?  He is been touted as the next “rising star” in NASCAR!!  He might be just that, time will tell.  But a few years ago I remember another “rising star” that every car owner was salavating over, Casey Atwood.  He was a 19 year old phenom that was tearing up the tracks around Nashville.  Ray Evernham signed him to drive the # 19 Dodge to start his entrance into team ownership.  He lasted not quite 2 seasons and slipped into obscurity!!!  We shall see if Joey can handle all the pressure that goes with the high profile NASCAR race car driver’s obligations.

Once again, you didn’t have to look it up ’cause I already did!!!

The Story Lines:

1.  Ol Kylie wins yet another race!  www.nascar.com

2.  Big crash causes a 45 minute Red Flag:  www.jayski.com

3.  Possible date swaps between Calif., Atlanta, and Talladega:

     www.jayski.com/pages/2009cup_sched.html  

4.  Newman’s plans will be announced Friday: 

    http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=3533186

5.  Logano to make Cup debut at Richmond:

    www.captainthunderracing.com 

6. Rain washes out qualifying again:

NASCAR visited the beautiful surroundings of Watkins Glen, N.Y., located in the finger lakes region of western ( upstate) New York.  The track was the former home of the U. S. Grand Prix ( Formula One Racing).   This is the second race of the season on a road course for NASCAR.  The differences between Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen are  many.  Watkins Glen is a higher speed road course with only a little elevation change, and RAIN!!!  The track is a few feet wider and that does allow for a bit more passing than Infineon Raceway.

Road courses offer a different strategy in racing.  Instead of calculating how far you can go in a fuel run, road couses dictate that you work backwards.  These two races, Infineon and Watkins Glen, are shorter in duration, typically 200 miles.  So as a crew chief you work backwards from the last lap and schedule your pit stops at the first opportunity that will alllow you to get to the end on fuel and tires!!  Having that information will make you understand just how easy it is to make a mistake in your pit strategy!  Therein lies what Tony Eury, Jr. had to deal with during the race Sunday.  He kept Dale Jr. out too long and that strategy totally backfired on the #88 crew chief!!

Road courses are not known for huge crashes.  However, Sunday there was a big crash with ten laps to go that caused a 45 minute Red Flag delay.  Coming out of turn 11 Michael McDowell ran David Gillilland out wide and into the fence.  Gillilland hit the fence and bounced back out on the track right in front of Bobby LaBonte.  Labonte T-boned Gilliland and the whole race track got cluttered with trashed out cars.  Forty-five minutes later the  race was restarted and TLVW, aka ol Kylie Busch, was leading the race.  Once again nobody had any thing for TLVW and he posted his eighth win in Cup this year!! 

 Just remember, last year Jeff Gordon ran away with the points lead but was unable to close the deal with the championship.  So don’t be too quick to give the championship to Mr. Las Vegas Weasel yet!!!!